We’ve now seen every SEC team take the field — even LSU, before torrential rains and lightning arrived in Baton Rouge.
It’s a small sample size, but at 12 regular-season games, we must draw conclusions fast.
After a short glimpse at the 2015 versions of each program, the SDS editorial staff debates which team will be the biggest surprise, good or bad, the rest of this season.
WHICH SEC TEAM WILL BE THE BIGGEST SURPRISE IN 2015?
Jon Cooper (@JonSDS):Â Florida Gators
With the SEC East wide open, Florida could be the team that emerges. OK, I’m getting ahead of myself. But one penalty and more than 600 yards of offense ushered in a new era under Jim McElwain. Nobody is appreciating just how bad Florida’s offense was under Will Muschamp. We know Florida will have a top three or four defense. Now, it’s about finding the right quarterback to execute this offense. The Florida Gators are going to surprise teams this season.
Nick Cole (@NickColeSports):Â Texas A&M
I’m not saying this is a surprise based on talent, because we know this group is loaded, but it would be considered a surprise based on preseason expectations. The Aggies were picked to finish sixth in the SEC West in the Media Days poll back in July. And aside from perhaps Alabama, there was no team more impressive in Week 1. The Aggies enjoyed a decisive win against the No. 15 team in the country, and did it with a surprisingly defensive approach. If new defensive coordinator John Chavis has already turned around what was a disastrous defense in 2014, this team has the ability to not only make some waves in the SEC West, but perhaps the national scene as well.
Brad Crawford (@BCrawfordSDS):Â Alabama
Throughout the offseason, I wasn’t sure why national media was collectively down on Alabama, the defending SEC champs. Maybe not so much down, but more impressed with other teams like Texas A&M and Arkansas as teams who could potentially unseat the Crimson Tide. I recall SEC Network host Peter Burns piloting the “Alabama’s overrated” plane after projecting four losses this season and a fifth in the bowl game. There’s no way this squad, with this much talent (especially on defense) will see that much of a drop-off during the regular season.
Saturday night’s performance at AT&T Stadium against a team that will likely win 10 games this season further intensified my belief that the Crimson Tide will once again reach the College Football Playoff. I think the quarterback situation was overblown and as long as Derrick Henry stays healthy, Alabama will continue to impose its will at the line of scrimmage — a recipe that’s worked well for Nick Saban.
Kevin Duffey (@KevinDuffey):Â Auburn
Auburn has the look of a good, not great football team, and that will result in a surprise to the downside. The excessive preseason hype will lead to disappointed fans. It seems that few fans recall that Auburn was 8-5 last season, and they lost quite a bit of talent on offense from last year’s team.
Jeremy Johnson might put the Louisville game behind him and become the next Cam Newton, but if he doesn’t, Auburn could easily lose 3 or 4 games this season. Johnson’s 11-of-21 performance for 137 yards, 1 TD and 3 INT was disappointing, but perhaps more concerning is the run game and the offense not clicking in the Gus Malzahn-like fashion we’ve become accustomed to.
It’s too early for Auburn fans to freak out, but the preseason hype was also too much, too soon. The Auburn-LSU game in two weeks could determine whether or not Auburn meets expectations on the 2015 season.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
