Spring game-apalooza is here.
Nearly half the SEC will host its annual spring game Saturday, all of which will have different things to watch for. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been keeping up to date with our “5 things to watch for” in each SEC spring game.
Consider this a hybrid of that and just random thoughts I have about each SEC team ahead of their spring game:
1. Florida — I can’t wait to see who Dan Mullen trolls with the attendance
Mullen revealed earlier in the week that he’s been known to fudge some spring game attendance numbers. He said “maybe the attendance matches the score of a certain game or something like that during the season,” such as changing the attendance to 41,140 to troll Florida State, which the Gators beat 41-14 in Tallahassee last year.
My question is who will Mullen take a jab at with this year’s attendance? If he wanted to take a little poke at LSU, he could make the spring game attendance 27,190. Or in the event that Florida has a much better fan showing, Mullen could go with 47,210 to troll Tennessee.
The only number that’s off the table would be 36,170. Why? Well, I don’t think Mullen wants to remind his fans of the 36-17 loss to Georgia.
Still, though. It seems like Mullen’s developing a Steve Spurrier-like confidence. Gators fans can rally behind that.
2. Alabama — Let’s see the next chapter in Alabama’s future quarterback battle
Where have you heard this before — there’s an extremely interesting quarterback battle brewing in Tuscaloosa this spring.
OK, so technically nobody is battling for the starting job this spring. We know that belongs to Tua Tagovailoa, which Nick Saban made the bold declaration about earlier in spring camp. We also know that Mac Jones will back up Tagovailoa after Jalen Hurts transferred to Oklahoma.
But after that? It’s all sorts of fascinating.
Nick Saban: "Tua is obviously the starter. Mac is the guy that has the most experience, got some playing time last year. … He's the guy that can execute the next as the next player."
Taulia Tagovailoa played some with the 2s. Paul Tyson also played in the scrimmage.
— TideSports.com (@TideSports) March 30, 2019
By now, everyone knows that you’ve got Taulia Tagovailoa, the little brother of Tua and Paul Tyson, the great-grandson of Bear Bryant. Both are 4-star early enrollees from the state of Alabama. And both have a major afternoon ahead of them.
Keep in mind that with this new redshirt rule, there’s a decent chance that Alabama’s third-string quarterback sees the field as a freshman. If Tyson or Tagovailoa impresses on Saturday, they’ll also make a lasting impression before the ultimate battle, which is expected to begin next year if and when the elder Tagovailoa leaves Alabama for the NFL.
We’ve seen Tyson and Taulia Tagovailoa battle on the field in high school. But getting to watch them share reps in Crimson will make Alabama fans want to tune in until the final whistle.
3. Auburn — This feels like now or never for Joey Gatewood at Auburn
I think of any SEC player this spring, Gatewood has the most on the line. Even though the second-year player has all 4 years of eligibility left — he redshirted last year — it feels like Gatewood is either going to run with it or get passed up by 5-star freshman Bo Nix.
Gatewood’s arrival on The Plains was well-documented. The 4-star recruit — he was listed as an athlete and not as a quarterback — has been a work in progress as a passer. Because of how he performed in last year’s spring game, I said we needed to hold off on the Cam Newton comparisons.
But if we see significant improvement in that area a year later and Gatewood looks like the starter, I wouldn’t be surprised if that chatter resurfaced. Physically, the tools are there. But Saturday is a huge, huge showcase for Gatewood in this 4-quarterback battle with Nix, Malik Willis and redshirt freshman Cord Sandberg.
All the talk about Gatewood is that he’s made major strides as a passer since last year’s spring game. We’ll see how big those strides are.
4. Mississippi State — How different is this defense?
The popular topic of conversation in Starkville is how the Bulldogs are going to look after boasting one of — if not the best — defenses they’ve ever had. Montez Sweat, Jeffery Simmons and Jonathan Abram are all gone and now, Bob Shoop is tasked with finding the new playmakers in his defense.
The good news is the middle of MSU’s defense should be even better than it was last year. Linebackers Willie Gay Jr. and Erroll Thompson are the new leaders of the unit.
By the way, Thompson is a treat in coverage:
Erroll Thompson, woah. pic.twitter.com/ORhuFc9OSO
— Connor O'Gara (@cjogara) September 8, 2018
And Shoop has had some new standouts on defense, especially up front. He has been impressed with the play of former 4-star defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy, as well as Marquiss Spencer, who returns from an injury-plagued 2018.
In the first year of the Joe Moorhead era, the top-ranked defense did most of the heavy lifting. Saturday will provide some insight as to whether the Bulldogs are a bit more evenly matched on each side of the ball.
5. Tennessee — Show me what ya got, Jim Chaney
Chaney didn’t leave Georgia to escape scrutiny. The Vols’ new offensive coordinator certainly will get plenty of that if Tennessee doesn’t light up the scoreboard this fall. But he did leave to get a fresh start and to inject some life into an offense that hasn’t had that in recent memory.
Come Saturday, Tennessee fans wouldn’t mind getting a few reminders of why Chaney got that rich deal to come to Knoxville. As strange as it sounds, I wouldn’t base too much of that on what we see from Jarrett Guarantano on Saturday. He’s in his fourth system and fourth coordinator in as many years. It wouldn’t be surprising if it took him a bit to get used to Chaney’s play-calling.
But what would be encouraging is if the Vols have some big offensive plays. They lacked the home-run threats last year, and part of that had to do with the struggles on the offensive line.
I wouldn’t expect to see much of 4-star early enrollee Eric Gray, who has been limited all spring following shoulder surgery, and senior Carlin Fils-aime is out for spring with a left leg injury. That means we’ll see plenty of Ty Chandler, Jeremy Banks and Tim Jordan.
Chaney won’t bust out a whole bag of tricks, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go to extra lengths to make sure the offense closes spring on an encouraging note.
6. Mizzou — All here for the Kelly Bryant show
What’s the best way for Mizzou fans to move on from the Drew Lock era? By getting excited for a year of Bryant. The Clemson transfer might actually be a more natural fit in Derek Dooley’s system than Lock, which might sound crazy, but he could pick apart defenses with his ability to connect on intermediate throws and extending plays with his legs.
Bryant said that he’s comfortable in his surroundings right now. He admitted that “he can be who he actually is” at Mizzou, which is quite the statement for someone who had a successful career at Clemson before losing the job to Trevor Lawrence.
All signs point to Bryant fitting in well with a full offseason to get on the same page as his new teammates. Does that mean he’ll be perfectly in sync with them on Saturday? Not necessarily, but there won’t be any power struggle. Bryant never wavered on his commitment to Mizzou in the wake of the bowl ban, which only helped him internally and externally.
Bryant has potential to be one of the feel-good stories in college football a year after some labeled him as the face for what’s wrong with this new era of transferring quarterbacks. I bet he takes a step in that direction on Saturday.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
