50 days from college football, here are 50 thoughts I have about the 2019 season
What do you call the stretch before the home stretch?
I feel like that’s where we are. Fifty days from the start of college football isn’t quite the home stretch. That would be more like a month from now.
But it does feel good knowing that we’re only 50 days from the opening kickoff.
In honor of that, I decided to compile 50 thoughts that I have about the upcoming season. That can be anything. It can be predictions, opinions about a coach/player/mascot. You name it and popped into my brain at some point during this offseason.
Here are those 50 things that are on my mind heading into 2019:
1. Bless the powers that be for moving up Florida vs. Miami
You all took away a week of the offseason by moving that matchup up a week, to Aug. 24. Even better? This game will take place in my neck of the woods without any other SEC matchups going on. It will have my full attention and then some.
2. Tate Martell and Sam Ehlinger will be most hated players in 2019
Speaking of Miami, I’d love to hear what visiting fans are going to say to the well-traveled Martell, who has probably burned a bridge or two in his brief college career. Then again, maybe I wouldn’t want to hear those things. And as for Ehlinger, the guy just oozes confidence. We need more characters like him in college football.
3. Jalen Hurts will be the most beloved player in 2019
If there’s a player with a higher approval rating in all of college football than Hurts, I’d have a tough time believing it. When even Alabama fans are rooting for you after leaving, you know you’re doing something right.
4. This will be the year of the SEC transfer QBs shining
The list is impressive:
- Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
- Justin Fields, Ohio State
- Shea Patterson, Michigan
- Jacob Eason, Washington
Will that group produce a Heisman Trophy? A Playoff berth? A title? I don’t think I’d bet against it. All I know is there will be plenty of SEC fans closely following how well that group does in 2019.
5. People are sleeping on Washington nationally
I’ve said throughout the offseason that I can’t wait to see what Eason does replacing the roller-coaster Jake Browning. I think Washington is in for a big year and that it should be considered the Pac-12 favorite instead of Oregon. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Huskies went into the Pac-12 Championship with their Playoff lives intact.
6. How is Syracuse’s preseason over/under for regular-season wins just 5.5?
That’s absurd. I think Syracuse is a legitimate Top 25 team that will give Clemson everything it can handle when that showdown rolls around. This flash-in-the-pan thing with Syracuse is totally underestimating the work of Dino Babers.
7. And the Kentucky disrespect needs to stop
Along those same lines, I’ve maintained this offseason that Kentucky ain’t falling off the face of the Earth. In fact, I think that despite some low preseason expectations following the loss of Josh Allen and Benny Snell, Mark Stoops is going to establish a much higher floor than the experts believe.
Coming off of a 10-3 season, will @UKFootball replicate their success, or take a step back?@cjogara thinks the program is here to stay, and that Mark Stoops is building something similar to what Dan Mullen did in Starkville circa 2009 pic.twitter.com/JUDzUhYEQj
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) July 2, 2019
8. This year’s Kentucky will be …
Non-existent. At least in the SEC. Even Tennessee, which seems the most likely to improve its 2018 win total of any team in the conference, wouldn’t follow that same path because preseason expectations are higher. The only teams really eligible to follow that path in the SEC are Ole Miss, Arkansas and Vandy. Well, and maybe Kentucky when you consider that Phil Steele doesn’t believe the Cats will make a bowl game.
So yes, maybe this year’s Kentucky will be Kentucky.
9. I sold my James Franklin stock last year
As for the team who Kentucky beat in the Citrus Bowl, I have a weird feeling that by season’s end, Franklin’s 2016 season at Penn State and even the job he did at Vanderbilt will feel like a distant memory. I thought the Lions had major issues offensively in their first year without Joe Moorhead and Josh Gattis. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Penn State fans have some frustrations with Franklin boil over.
10. Speaking of Moorhead, offensive improvement is coming
Nick Fitzgerald wasn’t a fit in Moorhead’s offense because of his inability to stretch the field. He didn’t get much help, but still. I think either Keytaon Thompson or Tommy Stevens will be better suited to do that this year. As for which guy earns the right to do that, well, that’s anyone’s guess at this point.
11. Kylin Hill is the hill I’m dying on
That is, that the Mississippi State back will be really, really good in Moorhead’s system this year.
12. Jonathan Taylor is extraordinary, but …
You can’t be considered the best back in America if you put the ball on the ground as much as he does. That’ll be the “yeah, but” when he runs into the record books this year (he’s 1 of 2 backs with 1,200 rushing yards and 10 TDs in each of the past 2 seasons).
13. 1 year of D’Andre Swift/Zamir White could be awesome
Speaking of talented backs, here’s hoping White can return from his second serious knee injury and become a star in Georgia’s backfield alongside Swift. As Georgia reminds us on a early basis, there’s plenty of room for 2 backfield forces. Watching the former 5-star recruits trade long touchdowns would be a treat, even if it is only for 1 year.
14. And same with Najee Harris/Trey Sanders
There could be a really strong debate about whether Georgia or Alabama has the best 1-2 punch at running back. Both have hungry, third-year guys starting with 5-star first-year players behind them. Maybe we’ll get to see that play out in an SEC Championship?
15. The Alabama secondary is the best bet of any unit in the SEC to …
Improve. It was an uncharacteristically frustrating year for that group, especially down the stretch. But with Xavier McKinney, Patrick Surtain and Trevon Diggs back, I like the odds of that group improving off Alabama’s worst season defending the pass since Year 1 of the Nick Saban era.
16. Let’s chill on the Alabama-Clemson schedule talk
I love how we argue about this stuff like the Playoff is going to be decided tomorrow. If Alabama and Clemson are sitting there in late-November with a loss and 1 win against a Top 25 team, then tell me about how bad their schedule is. But until then, let’s not pretend like we have all of this figured out.
17. Does Clemson have the No. 1 quarterback, running back and receiver in America?
I’m not ruling it out. There’s a really strong case to be made that Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne are tops at their respective positions and that Justyn Ross is on his way. Putting up over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Playoff alone is a good sign. If Clemson can claim that unbelievable trio (Johnny Unitas Award, Doak Walker Award, Biletnikoff Award), that would be an unprecedented feat.
18. This August’s ACC Network launch has me curious
The ACC was late to the party, but will this finally put the conference in the same neighborhood as the Big Ten and SEC as it relates to annual TV revenue? The ACC’s average distributions were just more than half of what the Big Ten and SEC brought in last year, both of which obviously have extremely successful conference networks. Perhaps the ACC will finally not lag behind in that department.
19. Basically all the best nonconference games involve the SEC
Here are the best SEC nonconference games:
- LSU at Texas
- Notre Dame at Georgia
- Miami vs. Florida (in Orlando)
- Texas A&M at Clemson
- Auburn vs. Oregon (in Dallas)
Now let’s compare that to the best non-SEC nonconference games:
- Notre Dame at Michigan
- Stanford at UCF
- Arizona State at Michigan State
Aaaaaand that’s about it? That third one was a reach, by the way. Sure, you could say a game like Nebraska-Colorado is good, but in terms of teams who were actual conference contenders last year, the nonconference slate outside of the SEC is pretty weak this year.
20. Man, Gus better win that opener
In what feels like a make-or-break year, Gus Malzahn’s future won’t be decided by that Oregon game. But man, it can put a whole bunch of pressure on him if he falls. Even worse would be if the offense looked disastrous with Malzahn calling plays. No, he won’t get fired with a loss, but Malzahn would love to give himself just a touch of breathing room with how difficult that schedule is.
21. I’ve come full circle on Joey Gatewood
Last year, it angered me that people compared him to Cam Newton before he stepped on campus. This year, I just want to see him play live. The Auburn quarterback impressed me in the spring game, and that was without the ability to truck dudes. He’s my guess to be Auburn’s starter, which would be a credit to how much work he put in after looking extremely raw as a true freshman.
22. But if a freshman movement is on the way, I’m here for that
That means if it’s time for Bo Nix and Ryan Hilinski in 2019, let’s do it. And save the dated rhetoric about true freshmen quarterbacks not being able to succeed.
23. I wish the best for Jake Bentley, but I don’t care about a contest at a quarterback camp
Sorry. Just thought you should know that.
24. Barring disaster/scandal, 2020 — not 2019 — is the year for Will Muschamp
I won’t buy any preseason take that says Muschamp needs to win 8 games to keep his job. That’s absurd given the dynamics in that athletic department and the schedule he’s up against. If the next 2 years are nothing but mediocre? That’s a different story.
25. And the same goes for Willie Taggart
As frustrated as I’ve been with Taggart’s start at Florida State — it’s not entirely on Jimbo Fisher that FSU was a complete disaster last year — I’m also not saying the guy is fighting for his job in Year 2. He set such a low bar last year that even the slightest improvement would be an easy thing for FSU to spin, which they’ll do by any means necessary.
26. This Ole Miss experiment is fascinating
I don’t think it can be overstated how rare it is to see a coach do what Matt Luke did. That is, fill both coordinator vacancies with coaches who were both leading Power 5 programs in the past 2 years. How Rich Rodriguez fits in with Luke will be an interesting week-by-week study, as will the improvement of the dreadful Ole Miss defense under Mike MacIntyre.
27. Memphis is my Group of 5 New Year’s 6 pick
The team Ole Miss will meet in the season-opener is going to have a prime opportunity to earn the Group of 5’s New Year’s 6 bowl bid. That experienced offense has a chance to be special with Mike Norvell running the show. After 3 consecutive thrillers with UCF, I think it’s the Tigers who celebrate an AAC championship en route to a nothing-to-lose New Year’s 6 Bowl.
28. A prediction? UCF caves on scheduling the 2-for-1 with Florida
I just have a feeling that reality will sink in this year and UCF athletic director Danny White will agree to a 2-for-1 matchup with Florida. He’ll realize that the Knights are hurting themselves by not taking an opportunity like that, and they’ll put their cards on the table even though they believe they deserve Power 5 treatment for having 2 special seasons.
29. More of the same would be awful for 4-team Playoff supporters
This isn’t really about UCF not getting a chance but if this is another year with a field that looks like Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma, the urgency to expand the Playoff will reach an all-time high. In the 5 years of the Playoff, Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Ohio State accounted for 14 of the 20 spots. If we’re being honest, I can’t blame anyone who’s frustrated by the lack of variance.
30. I honestly don’t know what it’d take for the SEC to get left out of the Playoff
Because at this point, beating Alabama or Georgia is such a significant occasion that it’s hard to imagine hurdling them wouldn’t warrant Playoff consideration.
31. Not winning a title isn’t a failure for Georgia
As much pressure as there might be on the Dawgs to win their first national title since 1980, a title-or-bust approach with a team that hasn’t won in that long doesn’t seem fair.
Have expectations for programs gotten loftier in the College Football Playoff era?@colecubelic thinks so, especially for big-time programs that haven't broken through yet since the playoff was formed pic.twitter.com/zYCiD2xXrm
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) June 24, 2019
32. If in fact Georgia is competing for a title at season’s end, Demetris Robertson probably went off
I just keep thinking that in a year in which UGA doesn’t return any of its top 5 receivers, Robertson is the one guy who has to become an All-SEC player this year. The former Cal transfer is, in my opinion, the biggest wild card in college football this year. If he can develop as a route-runner and hit the occasional home-run play, the Dawgs have a much better chance of overcoming their experience issues at receiver.
33. Dan Mullen has some actual quarterback juggling this year
Emory Jones wants to play. With his redshirt year in the books, I think Mullen is going to have to handle some egos in the quarterback room. It’ll either be convincing Feleipe Franks to get on board with Jones getting occasional meaningful snaps, or it’ll be Mullen convincing Jones that his time will come. Either way, it won’t be an easy thing for Mullen to do in 2019.
34. That LSU secondary, though
This has potential to be one of the best groups in program history, which is saying a lot. Kristian Fulton and Grant Delpit are legitimate stars and Derek Stingley has the makings of one as just a true freshman. The matchup of the year in the SEC is watching that group take on Alabama’s receivers because I think the LSU defensive backfield takes another step this year.
35. Who will be toughest defensive players to replace? Devin White, Quinnen Williams or Josh Allen?
I should probably add Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat to that group. All 5 were so incredible for their respective defenses, and so versatile at the same time. I think we’ll have moments throughout 2019 that reminds us all of how special those elite SEC defenders were last year. For now, though, Allen would be my bet as the toughest to replace.
36. With A&M’s schedule, 9 wins would be incredibly impressive
If we’re talking about the Aggies having the chance to win double-digit games in a bowl, I think Year 2 of the Jimbo Fisher era would be an extraordinary success. Considering these 5 games are on the schedule, just winning 2 of them would be huge:
- at Clemson
- vs. Auburn
- vs. Alabama
- at Georgia
- at LSU
And that’s essentially saying no letdowns the rest of the way. That’d be quite the feat.
37. Jim Chaney could be just what the doctor ordered for Jarrett Guarantano
Four coordinators in 4 years. Hey, fourth time is the charm? I like the chances of that for Guarantano working with Chaney, who did extremely good things with Jake Fromm the last 2 years.
38. Nebraska and Tennessee seem like the best Power 5 bets to have highest win total improvement, but …
… they should understand it’s not all about wins in Year 2 with a new coach. I say that with having reservations about both, especially with the lack of playmakers on defense. But still. A pair of teams that missed bowl games last year should make significant steps forward with their up-and-coming head coaches.
39. Wake me up when November ends
For the Heisman, that is. It’s now become such a narrative-driven award that if someone isn’t lighting it up at an all-world level in November, they lose.
40. Justin Fields is an intriguing Heisman bet
I’ve already written about why I hate a preseason bet on Tagovailoa and Lawrence. But Fields at +1,100 is definitely interesting. He has a better chance of following the Heisman narrative that voters fall for instead of getting picked apart like Tagovailoa and Lawrence will. And considering the year Dwayne Haskins had with Ryan Day, I don’t hate putting some chips on Fields to make a major push for the award.
41. Can Nick Starkel follow Joe Burrow’s 2-year path?
I’m not asking whether Starkel can lead Arkansas to a New Year’s 6 Bowl victory, but can the former A&M quarterback follow the Burrow path? That is, leave a big-time program, enroll over the summer and go in as a grad transfer with the perfect 2-year approach? Burrow won his starting gig and immediately won over that locker room. It remains to be seen if Starkel can do that at Arkansas, but I wouldn’t bet against him maximizing his opportunity the next 2 years.
42. Which grad transfer QB will have the best year in the SEC?
Starkel? Burrow? Ben Hicks? Kelly Bryant? Riley Neal? Malik Zaire?
Whoops. Dated reference.
My money is on Burrow just because I think he has the intangibles and we’ve already seen it from him, especially down the stretch. The addition of Joe Brady to implement the RPO-based system will only benefit the mobile Burrow.
43. What new Power 5 coach will have the best year?
Last year, that title belonged to Dan Mullen. This year? That’s a tougher question. I highly doubt it’ll be Mike Locksley at Maryland. Maybe former Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will find early success at Colorado. Manny Diaz at Miami seems to be the more likely pick, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Neal Brown rose above expectations in Year 1 at West Virginia.
44. Are we sure we don’t have any more coaching turmoil?
This tweet got me wondering:
Shocking college football coaching stories in each of the last three summers:
2016: Art Briles
2017: Hugh Freeze, Bob Stoops
2018: Urban Meyer, DJ DurkinIs another bomb gonna drop before this season?
— Andrew Doughty (@Adoughty88) July 1, 2019
This is the time of year when this stuff always seems to drop. I’ll be ready for it.
45. The most favorable pre-November Power 5 schedules belong to …
Mizzou and Minnesota.
Here’s Minnesota:
- vs. FCS South Dakota State
- at Fresno State
- vs. Georgia Southern
- at Purdue
- vs. Illinois
- vs. Nebraska
- at Rutgers
- vs. Maryland
And here’s Mizzou:
- at Wyoming
- vs. West Virginia
- vs. FCS Southeast Missouri State
- vs. South Carolina
- vs. Troy
- vs. Ole Miss
- at Vandy
- at Kentucky
I mean, my goodness. It’s amazing that both teams could actually be favored in nearly all of those games. They could even creep into the top 15 conversation by late-October if they take advantage of their favorable starts.
46. Is this the year Kadarius Toney is maximized?
Said every Florida fan ever. In their defense, a big offseason priority for Mullen has to be figuring out how to get speedster more involved after a year in which he only averaged 3.8 touches from scrimmage per contest. The Toney crowd will be heard loud and clear if that doesn’t change.
Kadarius Toney:
Most elusive player in the country ❗️❗️❗️ pic.twitter.com/AAZHvYvD8n— Gators24/7 (@Gators247_) January 18, 2019
47. I’m already sick of the Urban Meyer-USC talk
Did you roll your eyes when you found out Fox was going to have an Los Angeles-based pregame show with Meyer and a couple of USC legends? Oh, that was just me? If we’re being honest, can we just be done with Meyer in college football? Let him go run his new bar and “teach that class” at Ohio State in peace, and let’s all move on to someone else.
48. I’m actually pumped for Vandy’s “Big 3”
And you should be, too! Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Kalija Lipscomb and Jared Pinkney were the only Power 5 trio in the country who ranked among the top 3 in yards among the respective position players in their league. And now, all 3 are back. Vaughn is the in the running for “best player to watch in a game you have no rooting interest in.” Why? He had 10 runs of 40 yards or more and 6 runs of 60 yards or more last year. Red Mamba is a human highlight reel. Here’s hoping he and the rest of Vandy’s “Big 3” stays healthy and productive in 2019.
49. I cannot wait for LSU at Texas on Sept. 7
I feel like I’ve been saying that all offseason. Have I repeated myself? Probably. It’s worth saying one more time.
I cannot wait for LSU at Texas.
50. Shoot, just give me Southern Utah vs. UNLV
Because nothing is worse than turning on the TV on Saturday morning and realizing that the only thing on is yet another Property Brothers marathon.
Nice article. I’m definitely excited.
is it 9 more Saturdays?
I believe it’s 8 for most. There are some games even before that though.
I just discovered you for some reason very late to your party. You appear to be just what I am looking for, somebody that can actually still write like the greats from the past.
I will be adding you to my list of chosen football sites. It is also a bonus that most of the people commenting here are civil and have well-thought responses. I think of college football rivalries like playing a round of golf with your buddies, where you would step in front of a moving bus to protect your opponent.
I am an old SEC fan old enough to remember Georgia Tech and Tulane in the league. I wish there were sister sites to yours that were Saturdays up north, out west, and up east, as well as Sundays for pay.
For the younger SEC fans, the rivalries today are incredible, but I’ll take the 1960’s Raiders and Chiefs as the greatest football rivalry ever. The American Football League made football fanatics out of my generation. The NFL was for old fuddy-duddies, while the AFL was exciting and wide-open. Today’s SEC is similar to the AFL with wide-open offense and big play defense. Tua is Len Dawson. Jake is Daryle Lamonica. Kellen is John Hadl. Feleipe is Joe Namath. I can’t wait!
Great comment! ^^^^
Why do people think the 2020 season will be better for Muschamp? Much is made of SC’s improved recruiting but in 2020 they still have Clemson, UGA, Florida, and Texas A&M – yearly opponents who are all out recruiting them. Their cross divisional game isn’t much better. They swap a home game with Bama for a road trip to LSU.
I think the writer was saying that Muschamp won’t lose his job in 2019, but could after 2020 if he continues to be mediocre.
Keep things in perspective, last year was a down year, but we still won 7 games, and it was only such a disappointment bc expectations were sky high after pulling off a 9 win season his second year. It’s unrealistic to expect consistent top 10 classes already, which is what it would take to catch the programs u named. If there’s one thing we learned from Clemson’s rise, it’s that building a program takes time.
I don’t disagree with your point about the recruiting. That’s exactly why I don’t think 2020 will look much differently for Muschamp than 2019.
When you break down SC’s roster, they should have a team in 2020 that is capable of beating anyone. A team that will win the games they are favored in and put up a fight in the rest. And honestly, with national powers all around us, I think that could be this program’s ceiling for a while. And that’s OK. Maybe one of those years Carolina can score some upsets and either end the streak against Clemson or get to Atlanta.
Time will tell.
Buying stock in Justin Fields is an iffy proposition. For a guy that got a ton of practice reps, when he did get his chance in games to come in and run series (not just a one play and done), he looked terrible, even by what used to be freshman standards, and not the freshman standard Jake Fromm set in 2017 or Sunshine set at Clemson last year. He’s a one read and done QB.
Could he succeed in a dummy zone read spread offense like they run at OSU? Maybe, if Meyer was still the head coach. Ryan Day’s offense passes the ball a lot more, and even for a dummy zone read spread offense, even if the QBs never have to huddle, never have to audible, and never have to actually read a defense, they still need to, at the very least, go through their progressions.
Add that into Fields’ actually terrible performance in the Spring Game, outside of one long pass, and well, you’re welcome to waste your cash or belief that he’s going to kill it this year. I don’t think he has the “want-to” to study, to get better. He’s a guy whose athletics always allowed him to dominate. Well, he needs to work a lot harder than what I’ve seen. Will he? We’ll find out soon enough.
For once, we are in agreement here. I see him having some success there, but not being too dominant. Have also heard whispers about him having some leadership issues as well.
Those aren’t whispers. Those are full-fledged roars. Justin Fields was a malcontent last year. He’s not full-TO as of yet, but if he and his daddy aren’t getting their way, everyone will know it.
It’s one thing to have a big mouth if you can back it up and your teammates would run though a brick wall for you, like Baker Mayfield. It’s another thing to be a complainer and not take joy in your team’s success because you think you should be starting over the far better player and leader than you could ever be.
That’s easy to say from your couch on the outside looking in, but you have no idea what was said to him to convince him that signing with UGA was the right thing to do, especially when everyone else knew it was stupid. I’m sure by the end of the season he had every right to be pissed, especially with the joke plays he was given when given a chance. It was obvious to everyone outside of Athens that he was fed some lies. As far as his playing goes, you don’t really know what kind’ve player he’s going to be based off of what he did at UGA. The kid wasn’t given a fair chance. Everyone and their mother knew what was coming when he was in the game. It’s hard for anyone to perform under those circumstances. Funny to see now that he’s at OSU he sucks, but he was amazing when he was at UGA. Funny how that works.
While all of these may be accurate, he is still a teenager with lots of growing up to do. I think the assessment is more fairly made in a year or two.
I agree. Justin Fields seems to be the same sort of player we see all too often unfortunately. A player with fantastic natural ability but one who feels he’s so good, he doesn’t need to work at it. That works fine in high school, but when you get to college, the top tier schools are playing 5-star defensive players who are just as good at their position as you are at yours. The difference there has to be technique, knowledge and experience. If you’re just using natural ability against those guys, you’re not going to be successful.
I have way too much free time at my internship, so here goes nothing…
2- anyone who watched QB1 knows Martell has been a cocky f**k
4- Kinda crazy that they’re all better than every SEC QB outside of Tua/Fromm
5- Agreed, Eason slept on
6- idk ab top 25, but I’m taking over 5.5
7- I wanna see another successful year after all that turnover before saying Stoops has the same floor that Mullen had at MSU
9- Won’t lose his job with a true freshman qb, but prolly enters 2020 on the hot seat
12-i think he has a huge rebound year w/ Mertz taking their offense to another level, should contend for heisman
13/14- not looking forward to playing either duo
17- this is a reach, not saying it’s not possible, but I think Tua/Harris/Jeudy have the same if not a better shot at that.
18- not talked ab enough, If it’s a success, could b a big factor in getting Notre Dame to join the ACC full time.
19- Looks impressive on paper, but sec haters would b quick to tie this back to only playing 8 conference games
20/21- I think gatewood starts, but gets benched after losing to Oregon/TAMU, Malazan could b in trouble
22- s/o Hilinski. Also gonna say that if you haven’t seen it, google Hilinski’s hope, kids doing a lot of good at a young age.
23- Jake’s had so much negative press ab him that I’ll take what I can get, a bad bowl game makes for a rough offseason
24- agreed, but all it’ll take is a win over UF/TAMU to flip that narrative and turn us back into the east’s sleeper, ppl forget that years 1 and 2 under Muschamp were a huge success.
29- I think Michigan takes Ohio states spot, and the other three join em. The other teams I see cracking that list would b Texas, UGA, Washington, and Oregon.
30- Auburn loses to Oregon but beats UGA and bama? Still would prolly take all of them having 2 or more losses.
33- i think Emory will accept sitting another year, but after the Jalon Jones situation, they can’t afford a transfer.
34- Stingley looks like a real baller
40- I don’t think he wins, but those odds keep me interested, he certainly has a shot at the Heisman
41- Odds r that Ben Hicks wins and keeps the job, he could b great in 2020 tho
42- comes down to Burrow and Bryant for me, and i agree with picking Burrow there
45- I think we beat Mizzou, and Minnesota should lose to Nebraska
49- The bottom half of the east is weak, if Riley Neal plays well, they could sneak up on UK, UT, and maybe even mizzou
Can’t help but think KT must be mentally unsound or chemically imbalanced. Criminal how few touches he has gotten and historically Dan is not one to sit talent for moral reasons.
His problem is he goes off script too often. For every spectacular play he has, he has 2 more where he gets stuffed for a loss cause he tries to get cute and runs away from the designed blocking. Mullen’s obviously not a big fan of that. He was given the #1 jersey though so there’s no doubt we’re going to see a lot more of him this year.
This is a great article and a good preview to the many subplots that will unfold in the 2019 season.
I think you have about covered the subject!
I really hope Jacob Eason pulls it all together this year and lights up the PAC like the Griswold home at Christmas. He should be more comfortable in Washington’s offense than he was in Georgia’s, and the extra year of studying and practicing hopefully helped. If he’s added some lower gears to the howitzer on his right shoulder, he’ll be lethal anywhere on the field. Jacob always played hard for UGA and I wish him the best.
I’m from an older school that was taught both to win and lose with class. Apparently Eason was taught that as well. When the injury sidelined him and he couldn’t beat Fromm out to get his spot back, he didn’t immediately leave the team or cause any friction. He handled his new role like a true team player, unlike others I won’t name. Like you, I wish him tremendous success at UW.
I remember him diving into an end zone scrum for a loose ball when most QBs would have just watched. Like you said, he handled the loss of his job and transfer with class. He’ll always be a DGD in my book.
I wish him the best but am not entirely convinced he will be one of the top college QBs this year. I hope he is successful but will have to be convinced.
Agreed. My take on his accuracy problems was really two-fold. One, he never seemed comfortable under center, and especially with play action when he had to turn his back to his receivers for a couple of seconds. He was much more comfortable in the shotgun or pistol. The other was the velocity on his throws. He came in from high school throwing bullets and was pretty accurate when he could cut loose. He had a very hard time changing his arm and wrist motion to take some of the pepper off of the short/intermediate tosses. His high school coach didn’t care if he caved in a receiver’s sternum every now and then, but Chaney and Kirby wanted him to develop touch and control at lower velocities. That didn’t happen in his first year. Hopefully his 4th year in a CFB system will pay dividends.
Well said, MD
‘I think Mark Stoops is going to be the next Dan Mullen’.
You mean he is going to go from Kentucky to a school in Florida?
Or do you mean he is going to lose weight?
‘our version of Stoops found the sacred ‘nut’ when the squirrel died last year.
And I love how every article HAS to mention Allen and Passionate Benny.
They ain’t coming back.
But with Smoke, one carry last year and Rodrigues, two carries, filling Snell’s shoes, I doubt the offense will miss a beat.
Nice space filler though.
I’m not feeling the LSU-Texas drama. I don’t think Texas was as good as LSU last year, and they have less coming back this year. It could be like LSU-Miami last year, all hype and not much substance. I’m looking forward to the SEC games.
I’m looking forward to that game not because I think there will be much suspense after halftime, but because I think we need a thorough beat down to re-establish the natural order of things. Georgia’s players blew off their prep for the Sugar Bowl because they were under the impression that they could play at 50% effort and beat Texas. We see where that got them. Many Longhorn fans – and I hear them every single friggin’ day at work – think that victory proves their team is on par with the best in the SEC. I respectfully disagree.
For some of us, there’s a lot of drama in that game because we work alongside the loud-mouthed t-sips. I’m building my schedule already around September 7th. I’m planning to be a Tiger for part of that day…the latter part…I’ll be a Tiger killin’ Aggie for the early game.
College football drama isn’t always about the suspense of wondering who’s going to win the game. Sometimes, it’s about anticipating the silence on the Monday after game day.
I don’t know how you can not be excited about the Texas game. They aren’t some scrub team and the game is there. Hopefully the LSU team takes them seriously, or we will meet the same fate as UGA.
If the same teams are the best teams for several years at a time, then those are the teams that should go to the playoff. Selecting the actual best teams for the playoff shows that the system is performing as it was designed to.
Very true. The 4-team playoff is functioning as it should. Over time, people tend to bore of the usual and reach for something new. If that “new” thing is simply adding more games to the playoff, then I support it.
The Aggies will probably only be the favorite in one of those games. LSU would probably be their next best chance at a win and I don’t see that as a great chance as of now. The team may end up better than last year, but I don’t think the record will reflect it.
Love me some football…but man…don’t wish the summer away people!