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Preseason predictions take up countless television hours, untold thousands of printed column inches and a ton of internet clicks each summer. A huge number of those predictions are proven wrong even before the air starts to cool each fall. I am no exception, as my preseason bowl projections prove. (Y’all will still continue to read our fine SDS content all year round, though, right? Cool, thanks.)
Anyway, one of the most refreshing aspects of any college football season is watching certain teams and players exceed all of those predictions. Witnessing a performance that few saw coming is one of the primary things that keep fans glued to their TV sets.
So, here are 10 SEC teams or players who have surpassed expectations, in alphabetical order:
Josh Allen, LB, Kentucky
When Lindy’s magazine put out its preseason SEC preview issue, it named an all-conference first, second and third team. Allen was not among the nine linebackers listed. But Sports Illustrated and USA Today both named the junior to their second-team midseason All-American teams last month. He has seven sacks, tied for 16th in FBS, and also leads the Wildcats in tackles for loss with 9.5, quarterback hits with 3.5 and forced fumbles with two (tied with two others). He’s fourth on the team with 51 tackles.
T.J. Brunson, LB, South Carolina
He was not a sure thing as a starter in the spring, but Brunson started the season with a bang and has been steady since. The former 3-star prospect set his season-high — and the top number on the team — with 16 tackles against N.C. State as the Gamecocks won a close one against a talented ACC foe in the opener. That surpassed his number of tackles (12) all last season as a freshman. In 2017 Brunson is second on the Gamecocks with 66 tackles, just one behind Skai Moore, who is one of South Carolina’s top defensive talents in recent years.
Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn
Like Allen, the Tigers junior was not even listed in the Lindy’s three-deep all-SEC preseason honor roll. But Davis did not take long to pick up accolades: ESPN and Sports Illustrated named him to their midseason All-American first team. Davis does not have stats that jump off the page in 2017, though he is tied for 10th in the SEC in career pass breakups (since 2005), according to sports-reference.com data. But Davis has earned high praise, and not just from a couple of national publications. “Carlton is a guy that works hard at everything he does,” Auburn safety Stephen Roberts told AL.com. “… He really doesn’t have that many bad days and he’s always being physical and competitive.”
Malik Davis, RB, Florida
His first college campaign ended far too quickly, as the true freshman from Tampa suffered a season-ending knee injury on Oct. 28 against Georgia. He was averaging 6.7 yards a carry and had quickly become the most reliable part of a most unreliable Gators offense. Davis had five consecutive games with at least 90 rushing yards, which is strong considering he never got more than 21 carries in a game. Florida has a lot of things to fix going forward on offense, but it should not fret about its running back talent in 2018.
Georgia Bulldogs
Yes, the Bulldogs were supposed to be good. But No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings good? With a freshman quarterback in Jake Fromm who entered the season as a backup? That probably comes as a surprise to many. Georgia entered the season as the favorite in the SEC East and has lapped the field, already clinching a spot in Atlanta for the league title game. However, the preseason rankings did not see this campaign coming: Georgia was No. 15 in the AP Poll, the coaches’ poll and Athlon Sports rankings. Auburn and LSU were ahead of the Dawgs in each poll.
Damien Harris, RB, Alabama
Like last year, the Crimson Tide are splitting carries pretty evenly among Harris, fellow running back Bo Scarbrough and quarterback Jalen Hurts. Like last year, Harris barely holds the team lead in yardage and in yards per carry. But two major differences lead to Harris’ presence on this list. First, he is averaging 8.1 yards a carry, tops in the SEC and sixth in the FBS. That’s also a full yard per carry more than last season’s already stout 7.1 average. Second, he’s finding the end zone in a way that he hadn’t in the past two seasons. Harris entered 2017 with just three career rushing touchdowns and two receiving. In 2017 the junior has 10 rushing scores, fourth in the SEC and tied for 20th nationally.
Drew Lock, QB, Missouri
Drew Lock has four 300-yard passing games this season and nine in his career with the Tigers.
He was hardly an unknown quantity heading into the season — he was second in the SEC in 2016 at 283.2 passing yards per game — but Lock has been better this season even after the Tigers lost top running back Damarea Crockett to an injury. Lock leads the nation with 31 passing touchdowns, is sixth in passing yards per attempt (9.6) and is fifth in QB rating (170.7). All for a Mizzou team that leans on him and the offense heavily because the defense is 13th in the SEC in average yards allowed and 12th in average points allowed.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
The defense could well earn its own entry on this list. The Bulldogs were 12th in the SEC and 110th in the nation in total defense last year at 459.1 yards allowed per game. This season MSU has risen to third in the SEC in total defense, behind only the top two teams in the nation, Alabama and Georgia. The Bulldogs are allowing 289.3 yards a game, seventh in the country and a remarkable 170 yards a game better than last season. Small wonder the 7-2 team exceeded last season’s win total in early November. Not bad for a team picked to finish sixth in the West.
J.R. Reed, DB, Georgia
The Tulsa transfer was a 3-star recruit coming out of high school in Texas. He was projected as a backup in his first season with the Bulldogs. Instead the sophomore has started all nine games and is second on the team in tackles (47), interceptions (two) and fumble recoveries (two). He also has blocked a field goal, plus in the Dawgs’ signature victory this season, at No. 3 Notre Dame, Reed led the team with nine tackles. Last week against South Carolina, Reed’s interception essentially ended the first half.
Johnny Townsend, P, Florida
How can a guy who led the nation in punting average last season exceed expectations? By increasing his average by about 1.5 yards this season. Townsend is averaging 49.4 yards on 46 punts, again tops in the nation. If that figure holds he’ll have the best mark in the FBS since LSU’s Chad Kessler recorded a 50.3 average in 1997. Townsend and Alabama’s JK Scott, the 2014 NCAA leader in punting average, have been dueling for SEC honors for the past few years. In 2017, Townsend has pulled ahead and should not only be first-team all-SEC but first-team All-American.
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a copy editor and writer with SaturdayDownSouth.com.
