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What we’re not overreacting to in the SEC

Chris Wuensch

By Chris Wuensch

Published:

Here’s what we’re not overreacting to in the SEC after the regular season:

The Florida Gators’ SEC East title – Congratulations are in order to the Florida Gators for winning their first SEC East title since Tim Tebow was under center in 2009.

But we’re not ready to chisel a new Mount Rushmore just yet for this year’s Gators, who limp into their Citrus Bowl matchup against Michigan with two straight losses. Jim McElwain’s squad hasn’t looked strong since wrapping up the division on Halloween with a thumping of Georgia.

It’s due in large part to a passing game that hasn’t been the same since the NCAA suspended quarterback Will Grier for a year due to PED use. The Gators still have an elite defense that ranks No. 6 in the nation and carried them this far. McElwain should be a frontrunner for the conference’s Coach of the Year honor, but the specter of former head coach Will Muschamp and “his players” will always loom over this season’s team.

Help is on the way offensively with several elite quarterback prospects knocking on the door in Gainesville and the SEC East title at least makes for a nice recruiting chip to maintain the vicious Gator defense. The future is bright for Florida and McElwain, but we think we’ll take it slow when celebrating a division crown in a year that saw four of the East’s seven teams fail to qualify for a bowl game.

Ole Miss’ Fabled 2013 Recruiting Class – Hugh Freeze sent shockwaves through college football in 2013 with a recruiting class that featured the nation’s No. 1 prospects at offensive tackle (Laremy Tunsil) and wide receiver (Laquon Treadwell), as well as the top overall recruit (DE Robert Nkemdiche). That class just finished its third year of eligibility in 2015, meaning they can test the NFL draft waters — several of them justifiably so. The class more than lived up to its hype, pulling Ole Miss within a freak loss to Arkansas from likely earning a spot in the College Football Playoff. At the very least, it cost them an SEC West title. The centerpiece was Robert Nkemdiche, who put it all together as a junior (29.0 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks) to lead a hard-nosed Rebels defense. Tunsil lived up to the hype and could be among the top offensive linemen taken in the Draft. Treadwell enters Ole Miss’ Sugar Bowl-matchup with Oklahoma State with 2,322 career yards and 18 touchdowns and can pass Donte Moncrief for third in program history for receiving with 50 yards against the Cowboys. Still undecided if Treadwell returns to Oxford for his senior campaign, he’ll need just 324 yards to become Ole Miss’ all-time leading receiver. The class also featured five-star Tony Conner, who, despite playing in just five games this season due to injury, is considered among the better defensive backs in the conference, averaging 67.5 tackles in this first two seasons. All told, 17 players from that recruiting class made an impact on the stat sheet this season — including DE Fadol Brown (32 tackles, team-high 10 quarterback hurries), WR Quincy Adeboyejo (581 receiving yards, 7 TDs and team-high 15.7 YPC) and RB Jordan Wilkins (361 all-purpose yards, 3 TDs). This class reanimated Ole Miss recruiting and put the Rebels back on the map. Had it faltered, the program could have easily slipped back into mediocrity and no one would have blinked. Instead, Freeze has been able to build off the class and the program’s success with strong classes since, turning Ole Miss into annual contenders.

Chris Wuensch

Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.

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