Each week, Matt Hayes uses his sources around the country to bring you insider knowledge about what’s going on in the SEC ahead of this week’s games.
This is what he’s hearing from SEC coaches and NFL scouts in Week 12 …
The Tua Decision
An NFL scout’s take on Tua Tagovailoa, and why he’s playing this weekend against Citadel: “All things being equal, you have to think (Alabama coach) Nick (Saban) knows what the hell he is doing. Even if Tagovailoa is only going to play for a quarter or for so many snaps, I can see the value. It’s the consistency of the routine. Here’s how we prepare every week, here’s how we stay at the team hotel on Friday night, how we wake up Saturday morning and go through meetings and everyone knows who our starting quarterback is, and we go to the park and there’s no drama.
“We’re all creatures of habit. Coaches are more than you could ever imagine. Tua not playing by choice, not injury, would change that routine with a big game against a big rival a week later. They’ve been in this same routine since Week 1. All that said, I’d feel a whole lot better about it if (Jalen) Hurts weren’t injured, too. It’s a crazy game. Anything can happen.” …
The fall of Kentucky
Two weeks ago, the narrative was the greatest Kentucky football season in half a century, and how would the Wildcats keep Mark Stoops from moving to a bigger Power 5 job?
Now look: The Wildcats are in a familiar position, looking up at the upper half of the SEC East Division. Two SEC coaches had two distinctly different takes on the fall of Kentucky.
“It was sort of Fool’s Gold, but everyone refused to see it,” one SEC coach told me. “That Missouri win never should have happened, and Vandy should’ve beaten them, too. You have to have a quarterback in this league to win a division. They’re solid on defense, but very predictable everywhere else.”
Said another SEC coach: “I don’t buy the overrated thing. I think what you saw last week against Tennessee was a team that was emotionally spent. They’ve never been in this position before. They’ve got everyone telling them they’re great, they’re doing more media than they ever have, they’re talking about the biggest game in program history and then, BAM!, they get beaten badly by a better team. A much better team. That sucks the life out of you – and they played a Tennessee team that is starting to figure it out. Look, (Kentucky) can still win 9 games. That’s a helluva season.” …
Coach/quarterback relationship at Mississippi State
Mississippi State is one of the nation’s most intriguing teams. Despite 4 losses, the Bulldogs are solidly entrenched in the College Football Playoff rankings, and have been ranked in the coaches poll all season.
The question is, with a senior-heavy roster and the SEC’s No. 2 defense (behind Alabama), should the Bulldogs have done more?
“A couple of things happened: The transition to a new coach, and the connection between the quarterback (Nick Fitzgerald) and the new head coach (Joe Moorhead), for whatever reason, took some time,” one NFL scout told me. “I think Joe wanted to make (Fitzgerald) more of a Trace McSorley-type player, but that’s not what (Fitzgerald) is.
“McSorley can throw it, and he’s accurate. I hear people talking about underachieving, and I don’t know that I’d go there. There are two games you look at: Kentucky and Florida. Those two games, in the first month, are in the middle of that quarterback/coach relationship working itself out. They could’ve won the first three games with the backup. So it got rocky there a bit when the important games showed up. Even against Alabama, they got screwed on a few calls, and Fitzgerlad missed that flea-flicker, or it could’ve been much closer.” …
Tennessee has one goal, and a problem Saturday
Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt has reached an important moment in his first season in Knoxville, and the Vols’ defense – Pruitt’s specialty – will be front and center Saturday against Missouri.
The Vols are playing right now for both 2018 and 2019. Winning one more game in November would not only get Tennessee to the postseason (and 15 more practices), it would set the tone for 2019 through recruiting and momentum.
Getting there means beating Missouri and its high-powered offense, and/or beating rival Vanderbilt. Splitting the two games still gets the Vols into the postseason.
Winning both – and the chance to win a bowl game and finish the season on a 5-game winning streak — is the goal. That means finding a way to stop Missouri QB Drew Lock and a strong receiving corps.
“They’re not that good in the back end,” one SEC coach told me. “Jeremy tries to mix things up and show some phantom coverages and rotate prior to snap. That’s all window dressing because they’re not at the point where they can line up and cover. That’s not going to be a problem for Lock. He’s seen that stuff for four years; it’s not going to bother him. They’re going to have to outscore Missouri to win that game.” …
Auburn’s problem? It’s Gus’ system
One NFL scout weighed in on Gus Malzahn’s “job security” at Auburn:
“I’ve been critical of Gus in the past because I think he has misused (Jarrett) Stidham – who, by the way, is going play in our league, there’s no doubt about that. That kid was never a fit for that offense. I still don’t know why he transferred there.
“That said, Gus has proven he can beat the king when he has a quarterback that fits his system. I don’t like the system. Not because I think it’s a tricked up offense, but because it takes a specific guy at the most important position on the field. He has to have that one guy who can do this, this and this. Throw with accuracy, throw on time, be an important factor in the run game. Be a willing runner. Know how to mange and run an option-based offense.
“Like (Cam) Newton or (Nick) Marshall. Those dudes don’t grow on trees. Newton is a once in a lifetime player, and Marshall was a helluva college quarterback. If that’s what you need to make your offense work, you’re going to have seasons just like this one every once in a while.”
Matt Hayes is a national college football writer for Saturday Down South. You can hear him daily from 12-3 p.m. on 1010XL in Jacksonville. Follow on Twitter @MattHayesCFB
