First and 10: Week 1 is here, so let's just start the countdown to the Cocktail Party. Why? It's personal
1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …
This is all on Dan Mullen. He set the bar for the Florida Gators in this unconventional college football season, and now there’s no avoiding it as the SEC begins play this weekend.
“I expect us to go undefeated,” Mullen told Pat McAfee in June.
Now here we are. As the SEC prepares to begin an extraordinary season amid unthinkable obstacles, Mullen has left his program an unavoidable target.
Win the SEC, or the season is a bust.
And for those who think Mullen was simply speaking like any coach would – what coach wouldn’t say they expect to win every game? – he quickly followed the idea of an unbeaten season with talk of a national championship.
“I’m not guaranteeing it because I’ll be honest with you, I have two national championship rings here (at Florida),” Mullen said, “and we didn’t go undefeated in either of those two seasons.”
The Gators haven’t won the SEC since 2008, and haven’t been a legitimate November factor in the national title race since 2009. Florida hasn’t even beat bitter rival Georgia – the critical step in winning the East Division – since 2016.
That’s where this story begins. Since Mullen arrived at Florida in 2018, the focus of returning the Gators to the elite of the SEC and college football was getting on the right side of the Georgia rivalry.
Georgia has won both games vs. Mullen’s Florida teams, physically imposing its will and leaving a void in the Gators’ feel-good, back-to-back double-digit win seasons.
But unique factors surrounding an offseason impacted by a global pandemic — and critical transfers that have contributed to a closing a talent gap — has Florida on the verge of catching Georgia and returning to the SEC Championship Game.
The Gators’ staff last year desperately wanted another shot at LSU in the SEC Championship Game because it believed Florida could have won the first game in Baton Rouge despite two unhealthy starting defensive ends. It was also the 4th career start for quarterback Kyle Trask.
That’s where confidence of this season begins and ends. The elimination of critical offseason months will give an advantage to teams that return experienced quarterbacks, especially if they’re among the elite of the game.
Make no mistake, Trask – a 5th-year senior who before last season hadn’t started a game since high school – has quickly become one of the game’s best quarterbacks. He has the nation’s best tight end (Kyle Pitts) and a potential first-round pick at wideout (Travon Grimes) and 2 former 5-star transfers (TB Lorenzo Lingard and WR Justin Shorter) adding speed and athleticism to an offense that has scored a combined 34 points in the past 2 games against Georgia.
One NFL scout told me this summer he expects Trask, with all that talent around him (including sophomore WR Jacob Copeland), to make a huge jump from Year 1 to year 2 as a starter.
“He throws on time, he throws with anticipation, he’s accurate. He’s a first-round pick right now,” the scout said. “His deep ball has to get better, but he can make every throw. He’s a winner and he’s a tough kid. You could’ve made that exact assessment of Joe Burrow going into last season. I’m not comparing the two because Burrow’s jump from one season to another might be the best we’ve ever seen in the college game. But I expect Trask to really play well this season.”
Meanwhile, there’s the Georgia offense: a big ball of questions. New quarterback, new offensive coordinator, new offensive line.
In one short fall camp, the Bulldogs went from one projected starting quarterback (Wake Forest transfer Jamie Newman; opted out), to another (USC transfer JT Daniels; not medically cleared), to redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis starting the season opener against Arkansas.
Daniels is likely the starter if he’s cleared (he tore his ACL in Week 1 last season), but no matter who plays, it might take at least half a season for Georgia to get comfortable on offense.
“There’s a lot going on with that offense,” one SEC coach told me last week. “But I guarantee you, by the time that (Florida) game rolls around (in Week 7), that’s going to be the best game in our conference this year.”
2. The back (biting) story
Mullen and Smart don’t like each other. There’s no other way to say it.
Many coaches involved in bitter rivalries don’t necessarily enjoy being around each other, but there’s more than just simple friction between these two.
One SEC coach told me this offseason that 2 years ago at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, “you could tell there was tension there. It was almost uncomfortable. A couple of us tried to joke about it to lighten the mood – and they weren’t really having it.”
Smart, for the most part, has stayed above the fray because he has the upper hand on the field. Even when Mullen took numerous subtle jabs at the Georgia program last offseason, Smart didn’t respond — though some in the Mullen camp believe Smart politicking for the Florida-Georgia game to move to campus sites and away from neutral Jacksonville was Smart’s response.
However you look at it, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is a big deal for both coaches:
— Mullen must prove he can beat Georgia, win the East Division and win the SEC. Another loss and another missed opportunity at the SEC Championship Game, and all the capital he built with the impressive turnaround from the disastrous Jim McElwain years will be gone.
— Smart must win to not only stay on top in the East, but to distance Georgia from a growing trend of losses in big games. From losing double-digit leads to Alabama in the College Football Playoff Championship game and the SEC Championship Game, to being physically manhandled by Texas in the Sugar Bowl, to an ugly loss to LSU in the SEC Championship Game, the big game losses are beginning to pile up for a program that is as talented as any in the nation. A loss to Florida in the Cocktail Party would be especially galling, and likely prevent the Bulldogs from playing for the SEC title for the fourth straight season.
Make no mistake, these are two of the safest coaches in the game. But a loss for either in the Cocktail Party will start grumbling and grousing among the masses.
3. The big target, the Epilogue
When Mullen arrived at Florida, he talked like another 40-something coach (Steve Spurrier) who strolled into Gainesville in 1990 with a cocksure attitude and turned the SEC sideways with an innovative offense.
Mullen has coached a group of the most prolific quarterbacks in college football in the 2000s, including Josh Harris (Bowling Green), Alex Smith (Utah), Chris Leak and Tim Tebow (Florida) and Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald (Mississippi State).
This is a coach who rolled into Florida and made an efficient quarterback out of Feleipe Franks, and a potential All-American out of an afterthought recruit (Trask) who last started as a 9th-grader.
Mullen’s game day acumen is Spurrier-esque, with one NFL personnel man telling me “he might be the best play-caller in college or the NFL.”
With all of that as the background, why would anyone second-guess Mullen’s declaration that this Florida team can win every game? While he added a qualifier that he would never want his assistant coaches to think any other way, he has never publicly stated such a statement with any of his previous teams.
How good does Mullen feel about this team? Early in fall camp when Grimes, Copeland, wideout Kadarius Toney and Florida’s best defensive player, rush end Zachary Carter, skipped the first few days of practice, Mullen didn’t panic and publicly reach out to the group.
The last thing he wanted to do was show desperation. And frankly, he believes in a group of young receivers and knows one player doesn’t make a defense.
“Of course we wanted them to play, but that was a health decision they had to make on their own and we supported them 100 percent,” one Florida staffer told me. “But if we’re at a point where four guys derail our season, we’ve got much bigger issues. We moved forward, and it was very clear it was next man up.”
Within a week, all four players were back in camp and committed to playing.
4. Bryce Young vs. Mac Jones
The last time Nick Saban had a freshman talent like this at quarterback at Alabama, it took him nearly the entire 2017 season to get Tua Tagovailoa significant minutes. And only because of ineffective play from Jalen Hurts in the national title game.
Don’t expect that to happen with freshman QB Bryce Young.
Barring injury, Mac Jones will be the starter when Alabama opens the season against Missouri. In an offseason of uncertainty, Jones has been the one constant in the locker room and on the field.
But Young’s talent is undeniable, and his ability to stress defenses in the run and pass games makes an already dangerous Tide offense full of future NFL players more dangerous with Young on the field.
Young is Tagovailoa with dynamic run game ability, and is one of the fastest players on the team. Young will play from Game 1 because of a shallow depth chart at quarterback.
The only question that remains: How quickly will he see significant minutes?
5. The Weekly Five
Five picks against the spread:
- Kentucky at Auburn (-7.5)
- Tennessee at South Carolina (+3)
- Florida at Ole Miss (+10.5)
- Alabama (-21) at Missouri
- Mississippi State (+17.5) at LSU
Last season: 39-34-1.
6. Your tape is your résumé
An NFL scout breaks down a draft-eligible player. This week: LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase, who opted out of the 2020 season:
“This is an interesting one. I don’t begrudge any player who decides he doesn’t want to play in the middle of a pandemic. But you have to understand, (Chase) plays a position where guys climb up and down the (draft) board all the time. He has elite speed, he’s fluid and deceptively strong and I love the way he plays. But while he’s sitting out, a guy like Jaylen Waddle is going to have a huge season. So will (Rashod) Bateman if he plays, as will (Chris) Olave. So I completely understand why guys want to sit out to avoid any Covid complications. But they better, too, understand that because they’re sitting out – especially at that position – there’s a chance they get passed.
“(Chase) will have gone more than a year since he last played. If you don’t think that’s not a concern to some personnel guys in this league, you’re way off the mark. If you’re going just on 2019, it’s going to be hard for anyone to pass (Chase). He’s probably the first receiver taken in the 2020 draft if he’s eligible. But there’s a lot of talent at the position for 2021 (draft). It will be fun watching those guys compete.”
7. Power Up
This week’s SEC Power Poll (and one big thing):
1. Alabama: The only question on this team is quarterback. And that might not be for long (see: Jones seizing control, or Young winning the job).
2. Florida: Carter, Brenton Cox and Jeremiah Moon will be a devastating trio of rush ends for a defense loaded with guys who played significantly over the past 2 seasons.
3. Georgia: The best defense in the SEC (maybe the nation), and the biggest questions on offense among the SEC elite.
4. Auburn: The defense carried the 2019 team; the offense and QB Bo Nix are the focus of 2020. Can Nix become more efficient and extend the passing game vertically?
5. Texas A&M: If the Aggies aren’t playing games that matter in December with a 3-year starter at quarterback (Kellen Mond), the $75 million experiment that is Jimbo Fisher is officially a waste of money.
6. LSU: Coach Ed Orgeron made every right move in 2019. Can he work his magic to get a gutted LSU team back into meaningful late-season games?
7. Tennessee: Give coach Jeremy Pruitt a ton of credit for salvaging last season after back to back ugly losses. Now he’s dealing with a different animal: expectations.
8. Kentucky: If Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood becomes eligible, the Wildcats could win 6 or 7 games. If he doesn’t, Terry Wilson’s repaired knee will dictate the season.
9. South Carolina: A crossroads season for coach Will Muschamp revolves around his good friend (and new USC OC) Mike Bobo, who brings his QB (Collin Hill) from Colorado State to help turn the fortunes in Columbia.
10. Mississippi State: Mike Leach is finally back in the SEC (he was with Hal Mumme at Kentucky in the 1990s), and has a legit quarterback in Year 1 (Stanford transfer KJ Costello). A lot of yards, a lot of points, a lot of fun.
11. Missouri: Eliah Drinkwitz was gifted a championship-ready team in his first season as an FBS coach at App State. He turned it into a champion. He was given an uneven roster at Missouri. Time to work some magic.
12. Ole Miss: The lines of scrimmage are iffy, but I can’t wait to see how new coach Lane Kiffin develops QB John Rhys Plumlee. A dynamic runner, Plumlee must be more efficient in the passing game – and protect the ball.
13. Arkansas: At the very least, Franks will have a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator (Kendal Briles) with a history of developing players at the position. But the rest of the roster? Woof.
14. Vanderbilt: A true freshman at quarterback, and too much uncertainty on the offensive and defensive lines. A bad, bad combination in a line of scrimmage league.
8. Ask and you shall receive
Matt: All of you sportswriters are overlooking LSU. Do you think we don’t recruit here? Coach O is the best recruiter in the SEC! You’re going to doubt him replacing those stars? We’re just going to reload, bubba. Get on the train!
Trent Sanders
New Orleans
Trent: LSU under Orgeron has recruited as well as anyone in the SEC. That’s not the issue. You’re talking about replacing 14 players drafted by the NFL and 3 other critical players who opted out (Chase, DT Tyler Shelvin, CB Kary Vincent – all potential NFL first-round picks). More important, LSU will use a first-year starter at quarterback (Myles Brennan), whom Orgeron recruited behind in 2018 (when he landed Joe Burrow as a transfer) because Brennan wasn’t ready to play.
That doesn’t mean Brennan won’t play well; it means a 4th-year junior quarterback will be surrounded by new (and some inexperienced) players, and asked to play at a high level in the toughest division in college football. With hefty expectations.
This has nothing to do with recruiting, and has everything to do with a limited number of players that have been through weekly battles in the SEC. Preparing and playing, then recovering in a day or two, and preparing and playing again the following week. It takes time for most young players to find their groove in that process. It will be the same with LSU this fall.
9. Numbers game
6.29. Auburn QB Bo Nix is on every Heisman Trophy watch list. His second half in 2019 included just 1 interception in his last 225 throws over 7 games (three vs. Top 5 opponents), with 8 TD. Yet this is the number of concern: 6.29 average yards per attempt, a half yard under his season average of 6.7 that finished 88th in the nation. Auburn must throw vertically to win games of substance. Of all the good Nix gave the offense in 2019, Auburn isn’t winning the West Division without throwing vertically in big games.
10. Quote to note
Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt on the challenges of the offseason: “There’s probably not one family in American that has not suffered in the last six months. It’s unusual times. To me, there’s a big part of all this that I’ve been very concerned about with all of our players and all of our young people, is mental health. I can’t imagine being a child from 5 or 6, to age 25 or 30, that they feel like their youth is being taken away. The things that they’re used to doing.”
“These guys are as safe as any in the nation”.
Next sentence: “if they lost this one particular game in a hectic, unforeseen season, their fanbases will start grumbling”.
Really?
Ya I don’t get how you can write those back to back.
I’ll say if Mullen loses there would be some frustrations from the Gator fans but none of those (except the truly idiotic) would be calling for him to be fired.
For Kirby, if he loses it really doesn’t change much. He’s replacing a QB this year. I can’t imagine many fans of UGA would do more than be frustrated at losing that game. No way they’d call for his head.
True. Losing Fields has made this a transition year. Probably UF best chance.
Agree, specially now that Fields will finally get to play this season after all and will be a real Heisman candidate. As opposed to the fake Heisman candidate you also lost
fans dont usually hire and fire coaches…
Boosters sure do though
Tennessee fans beg to differ…
I agree with most of this, but not the part about Florida closing the talent gap with Georgia from last year.
Florida and Tennessee love to repeat how they are closing the talent gap with UGA. But the recruiting rankings beg to differ, and a transfer here or there is not as impactful as it may seem.
The “closing talent gap” is wishful thinking.
It is closing. Compare Fla vs UGA roster now vs 2 years ago. It’s not even debatable. No one is saying it is on par … but UF has more than doubled its blue chips from the pre-Mullen years.
I agree. Florida was a mess under Mac. Mullen has made an impressive turnaround in a short amount of time. I will say that Kirby seems to understand how to defend his offenses. IMO I think Florida will need improvement on the defensive side of the ball if they are going to overtake UGA in the east.
I actually think it’s the opposite. The defense has some dudes. It’s the deepest it’s been in a decade. The offensive recruiting is ok but not stellar.
The spot I’m most concerned about on Florida’s team is the center of the defense. We should have a stellar offense, and we have great dudes at End, and in the secondary. It’s the nose guards and middle linebackers who might cost us the game against Georgia. Teams that can run the ball up the middle are going to be our biggest challenge.
The only gap that isn’t closing is the one from 1980
Hey Matt Hayes, answer me this one question if you can talk with your lips firmly placed on Sideshow Dan the Clown’s backside:
If Dan MuLLLen is such an offensive genius, what does that make Kirby Smart?
I’m serious. Answer the frakking question.
If Cousin Eddie is a play-calling genius, WHAT DOES THAT MAKE KIRBY SMART???
How many times has Sideshow Dan’s offense scored more than 17 points against a Kirby Smart defense in ELEVEN STRAIGHT LOSSES?
How many, Matt?
If Dan MuLLLen is such a genius, THEN WHAT DOES THAT MAKE KIRBY SMART???
I know its hard for you to read and comprehend…. but it is a direct quote from an “NFL personnel man”
Oh, so just like all those anonymous “sources” that people like Nicole Auerbach and Pat Forde used for months to get the CFB season shut down?
I’m done with writers using anonymous “sources.”
Still doesn’t answer the question.
If Dan MuLLLen is a “genius,” then what does that make Kirby Smart, who absolute owns MuLLLen on the field?
11 straight losses, right.
Guarantee a win against UGA this year. I dare you. You won’t.
No I won’t cause I never do but we have as good a chance as any
it sounds like you don’t necessarily have faith in your own program, you just hate ours.
This entire article is ridiculous. Didn’t you write something extremely similar last season when you picked the ‘turds to beat Georgia?
I love the fawning from your “NFL Source” about MuLLLen, an “offensive genius” that Kirby Smart factually owns on the field to the tune of 11 straight losses, 10 of which he held Dan’s offenses to 17 points or less, and about Trask, who PFF has rated as one of the worst returning QBs in CFB.
It’s obvious you have a close personal relationship with Cousin Eddie, thus all the “insider info” from his “camp.” You play down the fact that he spent two years running his mouth like an idiotic fool about Georgia and Kirby responded by burying his team in Jacksonville.
Then you actually have the gall to print that Kirby wanted to move the Cocktail Party on campus because he was “offended” by what that idiot had to say.
Yeah, I’m sure it had NOTHING to do with wanting to be able to have recruits attend the most important game of the year. I’m sure that isn’t the reason at all from the SEC’s best recruiter, Matt. You know recruiting, right? It’s the thing your pal Sideshow Dan the Clown and his entire staff suck at doing? You know, so Dan can knock off early for the summer and spend some time on the lake?
Eleven straight losses by the offensive genius to just some guy. How does Kirby fall bass ackwards into these wins?
I guess we’ll never know.
Oh, and Matt (see how I broke up my main thought into three sections?), I absolutely love it how national CFB writers always define “big losses” as “A game that Georgia loses.”
I mean, I guess it doesn’t matter that Kirby’s won the SEC, three straight divisions, three straight vs. the Gators, Tennessee, and the NATS, or that he’s 4-1 in four seasons against Auburn.
I guess it doesn’t matter that he’s made the playoff and won the Rose Bowl.
Nope. All that matters are the two losses to Bama, the loss to one of the greatest teams ever (hey, didn’t Bama and Clemson lose to them, too?), and the loss to Texas in the Sugar Bowl.
I guess it doesn’t even matter that they’d go on to win the Sugar Bowl the next year.
Nope, all that matters is the losses which is giving Kirby a “reputation.”
Not a reputation for beating Sideshow Dan the Clown’s fat mouth into the dirt every year, but I digress.
Dude you need to get some help. Obsession over a person that doesn’t even know you exist on this planet isn’t healthy.
BINGO! Finally. Got ‘turds, Sideshow, MuLLLen, Eddie and the free space diagonally. Suck it, Corch.
Hey Corch. I think you’re on to something with this Matt Hayes guy. I just quickly googled “Matt Hayes Bleacher Report” and his LinkedIn showed first up in the search. Well guess where he went to school: University of Florida – College of Journalism and Communications. No bias from Matt Hayes. Mullen is the GOAT!!! Lol.
You are right, how dare this Matt Hayes guy say anything positive about Mullen and the Gators when everybody knows Kirby is the GOAT and his teams, players and assistants are the best in the Universe. You are definitively on to something. Moron
I can smell a rat a mile away. Two miles in your case NoCojones. Lol.
Too funny how you get triggered every time someone says something positive about Mullen. What an obsessed Moron
It’s not just talent, but the ability and experience of the players working together. That’s especially critical on offense where you have to be able to take the initiative and impose your will on a defense.
Joey Gatewood is not starting over Terry Wilson if he becomes eligible. Why do people keep saying that? Especially people who are paid to write about college football.
Joey is the real deal, but Wilson is the starter.
No he isn’t. Gatewood will never be a consistent starter at UK..
I hope that’s sarcasm
I hope the most of yours are too but sadly they aren’t. Joey wasn’t even the full starter at his high school and got beat out by Nix after already being on campus for over a year. He’s an okay QB with size.
Joey is a tremendous athlete, and being beat out by Nix has nothing to do with it. Nix pulled ahead in the last few days of practice. Joey is an incredible QB, young too. He’s gonna be really good at Kentucky, way better than he was here. Just wait.
I could be wrong but isn’t he a Junior? How long do
You remain young in college?
This is the part where I tell you that your post is nonsense. Nix did not pull ahead in the last few days of practice.. the competition wasn’t close. Gatewood struggles big time in practices. All he has to do is throw for 100 yards and he’ll do better than he did at Auburn..
BT he is a sophomore, and wde, it was the closest QB competition in school history.. Like do you remember nothing?? Gatewood was the one turning heads before Nix took a step and won the job.. This is the part where I tell you you’re an old grump and your opinion from where I see it is wrong.
Wasn’t Gatewood at Auburn in 2018? So he is a redshirt sophomore? He has still been in college for three years. He isn’t a “young” Player anymore…
It doesn’t matter he has three whole years to play and what do you care?
You make it sound like he is just getting into college.. He has three years in college. He is not a young player.
I care because you care so much about Bama players… I can’t let you care so much and not return the love…
I don’t care what you think.. please just stop posting inaccurate information. Closest qb competition in school history? Laughable. If it was that close Joey would’ve played when Nix struggled but he didn’t. Just stop.
BT he’s not an Auburn player though.. He’s a Kentucky player.
wde, my opinion is as valid as yours. Laugh all you want. Gatewood may not have the best development traits but he’s going to be a stud. Who knows, maybe Auburn wasn’t the fit for him.
“BT he’s not an Auburn player though.. He’s a Kentucky player.”
Then why do you care? He has moved on from Auburn right? You couldn’t pass up telling a UK fan he didn’t know about his own team could you?
Saying: “Nix pulled ahead in the last few days of practice” and “it was the closest QB competition in school history..” is not an opinion. It’s just inaccurate.
Okay boomer
You think you’re so cool using “okay boomer” lol. Not even close to a boomer so try again.
Don’t think I’m cool. Just felt like it.
I’m gonna chill though because the conversation doesn’t even matter.
Is this another one of those “classy” conversations you like to have?
Is this another one of your comment police patrols?
Is that another one of your nonsense posts?
How is it nonsense if the shoe fits to what I’m applying to you.. loti
Read that back to yourself..
Keep in mind SDS is the “Entertainment Tonight” of CFB. Can’t take anything you read here seriously.
Hear, hear!
Seems like you’re getting wayyyyyy ahead of yourself there. I thought this was an article about Week 1. What about the top 25 matchup in the SEC this week where we’ll start to find out if auburns offense is legit or if Terry Wilson has taken a step forward after being injured? Or what about Tennessee v South Carolina, have these programs taken a step closer to relevancy, who will be #3 in the East?
There’s a lot of football to be played between now and GA-FL, seems like this story could’ve waited. Maybe won’t be a top 10 matchup by the time it rolls around. This just feels like a UF grad harping on some pipe dreams of winning the East, as the old adage says “one game at a time”.
Yep.
Agree. You look at UF and UGA schedules and there is a possibility one or both show up at the cocktail party with two losses. It’s been such a strange off season, nothing would surprise me. Also the reason the writer’s snide comment about Jimbo is simply ridiculous.
This article wreaked of fandom and slants for uf and critique against cks and smart.
by my count, cks is 5-4 in ‘big games.’
– losses: bama in ’17 nat’l champ, bama in ’18 sec champ, tx in ’18 sugar bowl and lsu in ’19 sec champ
– wins: nd in ’17, aub in ’17 sec champ, okla in ’17 rose bowl, nd in ’19 and uf in ’19 cocktail party
this writer’s slant would have a person believe uga is 0-4 in ‘big games.’
Eh, don’t sweat it. Coach Smart is 44 and 4 years into the job. Pretty good bet he is going to win a lot of big games.
“Georgia: The best defense in the SEC (maybe the nation)”
I feel like you have to completely prove that you are a good defense rather than assume they will be because of recruiting. Obviously Georgia returns a lot of guys that did great on D last season, but I need them to prove their consistency. For example, they had a great defensive game against Auburn, but in the 4th, nearly allowed a comeback. South Carolina, well, the defense was horrible in that game. Texas A&M wasn’t great either. And let’s just say they didn’t allow LSU to score just 23. But I feel this way about every team. Every team has to prove their dominance on defense. You can assume they’ll be good, but you can never know for sure.
The defense was “horrible” in the USC game? Really?
South Carolina had 36 rushing yards, 155 passing, were 5-18 on 3rd down and scored 13 points. We lost that game because of 4 turnovers. Not because our defense was bad. The reason everyone thinks UGAs defense will be one of the best in the nation is because they return almost everyone from last year. We’re 3 deep at LB and DL and our defensive coaches remained intact. UGA’s defense will be nasty. Our offense is the only question.
Sorry they had 36 rushing attempts for 142yards. 297 total offense.
Let’s see it first. But I am exited to see it. SEC football is in 4 days!
So freaking excited
Yeah, the take that UGA’s defense was “horrible” in the South Carolina game is an ignorant one, to put it mildly.
Apologies. I was only remembering the score, not the stats.
C21 just runs his mouth. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Uh oh…
Pschh, okay
“14. Vanderbilt: A true freshman at quarterback, and too much uncertainty on the offensive and defensive lines. A bad, bad combination in a line of scrimmage league.”
Talking with a local betting tout, he told me that it is very rare for a line to open at 29 1/2 and move to 31, because 29 1/2 tops two semi-frequent college outcomes of 27 and 28 points. The fact that this line has moved to 31 as of this hour, could be a sign that some big money has come in on A&M at -29 1/2, -30, and -30 1/2.
The Totals have dropped in this game, so the experts are predicting this to be a slaughter with Vanderbilt possibly being shut out. My early thought on this game was A&M leading 10-0 after Q1 and 24-0 at the half, and 38-0 after Q3. A&M might play their scrubs in Q4 and allow the inept Commodore offense to score, but A&M should top 40 in this game, while Vandy won’t get to double digits.
An update check of my online account shows 82% of the tickets in this game on A&M and 84% of the money on A&M.
Outside a couple of true freshmen scholarship players and some walk-on players, I don’t see many “scrubs” on this Aggie team. Jimbo is doing a great job upgrading the depth of talent. One more great recruiting class and we are talking a depth of talent that has never been seen in College Station.
Yeah but will you be able to match the 5 star 5 deep that Master Kirby has accumulated
Both coaches are completely safe, though Kirby is in some danger of taking over the “Big Game” title from Big Game Bob Stoops.
On Kirby’s stellar record as a head coach, let us not forget that McElwain won two Easts right before Kirby, and that Kirby has a two year recruiting headstart at Georgia on Mullen at Florida. Let us also not forget that Kirby’s SEC championship win was over an Auburn team that had beaten Georgia earlier that year but had to play the rematch without its best running back (Kamryn Pettway); and its other star running back (Kerryon Johnson) played with an injured shoulder and bruised ribs.
@PT, counting regular season wins as “big games” seems a bit forced.
The one time that Mullen and Kirby faced off with comparable rosters (2008), Florida beat Alabama 31-20. When I brought that up last week, someone pointed out that Florida had the superior roster in that game. Perhaps. But to argue that Kirby’s Alabama defense lost to Mullen’s Florida offense because of roster disparities is to invalidate the argument that “Kirby owns Mullen” based upon the Mississippi State games and Mullen’s first two years at Florida.
Corch’s repeated fallback to the flawed methodology of the British soccer quants at PFF is getting ridiculous. PFF is useful for grading one-on-one matchups on the offensive line and with DBs, but it doesn’t work with quarterbacks because it isn’t possible to know what the receiver was supposed to do on a particular play. (Incidentally, a guy named Bill Belichick has the same complaint about PFF.)
Trask was 15th in 2019 NCAA QBR, a few tenths of a point behind Justin Herbert, who played against weaker competition and was drafted sixth. His 2019 CMP ratio was 67% and his TD:INT ratio was 3.57 to 1. And I’ll keep repeating this as often as Corch spouts his silliness.
Florida’s roster has improved from two 5-stars and 26 4-stars in McElwain’s last season to four 5-stars and 46 4-stars this season. From 28 blue chips to 50. LSU had 51 last season. And Trask would be at least a high 4-star had he transferred in high school and not stayed on the same team as D’Eriq King.
Georgia does indeed have a talented roster, but the important question isn’t whether Gerogia’s roster is more talented than Florida’s. The question is whether Florida’s roster is now talented and deep enough. By the often thrown around metric of 50%-plus blue chips against an 85 scholarship roster as a threshold to compete for a national championship, it is.
Florida lost last year’s WLOCP primarily because of offensive line inexperience. Georgia won last year’s WLOCP primarily because of outstanding pass protection (watch Fromm’s highlights and count how many seconds he had to throw). Yes, Florida’s two star edge rushers played hurt. But Florida didn’t have the depth and experience at those positions to overcome the injuries.
This year they do.
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying here. The “Kirby can’t win the big game” mantra is a little misleading. He’s won some and lost some. Both Bama games came down to the wire and LSU was historically good.
I don’t buy into the “Kirby owns Mullen” talk but he absolutely seems to have his number defensively. Mullen’s struggles against a Smart defense is well documented and pulling out the 1 victory seems very selective.
Are you trying to somehow discredit UGAs SEC Championship in 2017 because Auburn had injuries?? Everyone has injuries in December. We avenged our only regular season loss in dramatic fashion and honestly would have probably beaten Bama in that game because Bama was beat up at that time too. The long break in between the regular season and the CFP was huge for Bama.
Mullen is definitely got Florida going in the right direction. I’m new here but it seems to me that this Corch guy is a bit of a troll. I wouldn’t put much stock in what he says. I look forward to a good game in Jax this year.
Corch is an embarrassment to UGA fans. But, to his credit, he has an amazing ability to trigger gator fans.
Look, if Florida had won an SEC Championship against a banged up team, we would absolutely claim the title. Roster attrition is part of football. I may hate Georgia, but while I have contempt for FSU, I respect Georgia.
The one victory is selective; but not a lot different than using statistics constructed from Mississippi State going against Saban-era Alabama rosters.
Corch isn’t the worst Georgia troll but he’s probably got third place locked down. Generally speaking, TDOW is the worst because he traffics in personal attacks and insults. Negan is largely ignored because his comments aren’t legible. Corch, frankly, is just too easy and too much fun to refute. Leghumper trolls, but he’s funny.
I agree and the Bama vs MSU games can be thrown out for sake of this conversation. I generally look at Smart as Bama’s DC vs Mullen as Florida’s OC and the head to head matchups as HC to measure the two. Many forget when MSU came into Athens in 2017 a lot of people had MSU pegged to win that game. It turned into one of the most dominate performances of Kirby’s young career.
If I were to pick the one game where Smart deserves the most credit for beating Mullen, it would be the 2017 MSU game in Athens. MSU did not show up, and that’s on the head coach.
Not to be nitpicky here but again it’s like you refuse to give Kirby any credit. To you “MSU didn’t show up” to me Kirby had his team prepared on both sides of the ball and completely dominated for 60 minutes.
You know, nowhere on this page have I mentioned any of Kirby’s coaching gaffs. And not one word about South Carolina last year. You want me to celebrate his success? I’m a Florida Gator.
But sure. OK. Kirby coached a wonderful game against MSU in 2017. Magnificent. And you know what else? He had a very sound defensive plan against Florida last year, which kept Florida’s offensive line off balance most of the game (notice I didn’t mention the offensive line’s inexperience).
The Georgia Moron Triumvirate:
TDOW
Corch
Negan
Only in Athens
I’ve seen your posts as well. While they are much shorter they aren’t much better. Tell us all about 1980 again. You haven’t used that one in the last 30 minutes.
In my experience the people who constantly call everyone they disagree with “morons” are usually… well, you can figure it out.
Of course, but the thing is, I don’t call everyone I disagree with that moniker. It is saved for a special few of your Georgia half brothers
Oh about 1980. Yep, that’s the only gap that keeps getting wider every single year. Don’t know when Kirby will be able to close that gap, so far he has failed miserably
What is this “half brother” crap? I don’t know or have anything to do with any of them. If Kirby has “failed miserably” what has Mullen done?
Jesus man if we had Mullen for a head coach I’d be so embarrassed every time he opens his mouth. Also how can anyone say Trask is one of the best quarterbacks in college football? Does anyone really believe this?
Don’t know man but maybe if you look at his numbers and stats you may get an idea why, or you can go the Moron route and use PFF
Oh, and no Gator fan is remotely embarrassed by Mullen, quite the contrary. We have nothing bad to say about Kirb or whoever your QB turns out to be. Big difference
No gator fan has ever criticized Kirby Smart. Hmmmm I’m not sure about that one. I know you gators aren’t embarassed by Mullen, but maybe you should be. I don’t care about what PFF says. I watched some of yall’s games last year and the Trask is just not elite to my eyes. Sorry
I’m not saying we have not criticized Kirby, I’m saying we have not called him the equivalent of Mullet, Cousin Eddie, Clown and such names routinely used by your half brothers.
No we should not be embarrassed and we are not.
I don’t care what you think about Trask, I care about his 70% completion %, his QBR, TD:INT ratio, passing yards and TDs. Much better numbers than all of your QBs put together
Mullen may (or not be) a genius quarterback whisperer, but Kirby Smart won the SEC and played in the title game with a true freshman QB.
Mullen can continue to geniusly watch the SECCG from his couch.
UGA wasn’t winning an SEC title and playing for a national title because of a true freshman QB. It was 2 NFL RBs who combined for 2600 yards rushing and a great defense that got you there. You could’ve put any QB in that offense and had the same success. You probably would’ve won the title had Kirby allowed Eason to reclaim his job when he was healthy. Fromm looking fully like the true freshman he was, was arguably the reason you lost that game when he threw for a total of 26 yards and an int in the second half. Lets not act like Kirby is a genius for getting that far with a true freshman.
Fromm did have some really good performances in 2017. Give the kid a little credit.
Good grief, he had a higher QB rating than all but 5 QBs in the country. His 2017 freshman results were what set tongues wagging about Jake nationally. To suggest that UGA wins the SEC, Rose Bowl, and almost the NCG without it having a LOT to do with Jake’s play is ludicrous.
I love the logic here:
Kirby Smart: Plays in big games, loses sometimes.
Dan Mullen: Can’t make it to big games, best coach ever.
Who has the better record against top 10 teams? Who has the better record against teams that finish with 9 or more wins?
(Hint: Not Dan Mullen)
Three of those “big game losses” were against arguably the greatest coach of all time (both 1 possession games) and an historically good LSU team. For a young coach I like where Kirby is at and the direction he has UGA going.
Because of structural recruiting limitations at MSU and the fact that Smart has a two year recruiting head start right now, Florida fans will probably not accept that Smart is a better head coach than Mullen unless he continues to win head-to-head over the next few years.
I’m a homer Florida fan but I recognize that Kirby is an excellent recruiter and a good defensive coach. Again, I’m a Florida fan, but I think a lot of his recruiting success is momentum based, starting with his departure from Alabama.
I look at Mullen turning around a roster with 33% blue chips and a 4-7 record the year before his arrival to a New Year’s Six Bowl in his first year.
I know all about Mullen’s record against top 10 teams, which is heavily skewed by coaching against the SEC West in Starkville, but here’s an interesting trivia question for you:
With Smart and Mullen as the head coach, and with all of Smart’s success in 2017-2018, which coach’s teams would you guess have spent more weeks ranked #1 in the AP poll?
Appreciate the level headed take.
The answer to your trivia question is Dan Mullen has spent a week or two as #1. The catch is that they attained that ranking early in the season after beating LSU, A&M, and Auburn who all ended up having 8-5 seasons. In the same season he was briefly ranked #1, he also lost the Egg Bowl and his bowl game against GA Tech.
Kirby; however has only been HC since 2016 in an era of unquestionably Clemson/Bama #1 until the CFP Championship.
As a testament to Mullen, a lot of people point to that 4-7 season, but actually that McElwain team had talent. They even beat UGA in 2016. They just gave up on their coach and that season. So (in my opinion), Mullen didn’t exactly inherit an empty cupboard like a lot of people seem to think.
I was going to make the same point about the team quitting on Mac. They had talent but they quit midseason.
The trivia answer: MSU spent five weeks at #1 in 2014. Their three losses at the end of the year were to #1 Alabama, #18 Ole Miss and (believe it or not) #10 Georgia Tech.
The 2017 McElwain team only had a 33% blue chip ratio (just 26 4-stars and two 5-stars). The best running back (Scarlett) and best wide receiver (Callaway) were suspended all year. Callaway left at the end of the year. The strength and conditioning program was a joke.
It wasn’t an empty cupboard, but it was a mess.
I agree it was a mess and Mullen is making huge strides toward getting the Gators back to where they are used to being. My point was they weren’t as bad as the W-L record showed.
That MSU team finished 10-3. If that factoid is considered credible evidence, then there’s a whole lot more on both sides’ arguments we should make room for.
“With Smart and Mullen as the head coach, and with all of Smart’s success in 2017-2018, which coach’s teams would you guess have spent more weeks ranked #1 in the AP poll?”
Are you serious? I assume this is about MSU being so overrated that they reached the #1 ranking only to lose 3 of their last 4 games. Their big wins that booted them up the ranking were agaist LSU and Auburn who both finished the season 8-5. What do you think this proves?
You seem to give Mullen all kinds of credit (rightfully so) but also try and discredit everything Kirby has done. Kirby is a “good” defensive coach? He is arguably the best defensive coach in the nation. What would his departure from Bama have to do with his recruiting at UGA? Mullen is a good coach. Kirby is too. They are both great at certain aspects of coaching (Kirby at recruiting and defensive game planning and Mullen at player development and offensive game planning) and have flaws in other areas (Kirby in game decisions and Mullen recruiting and WR wristbands ;-)). You do yourself a disservice by trying to cherry pick facts to show Mullen is better. I think they are pretty close in any kind of “ranking” but Kirby gets the edge because of head to head throughout their careers even if you remove his time at MSU.
“Florida fans will probably not accept that Smart is a better head coach than Mullen unless he continues to win head-to-head over the next few years.”
Just curious. How many years will it take before you give Kirby credit?
No, I’m not completely serious.
I agree that MSU was overrated in 2014, and that it’s a pretty much meaningless stat. But it took some coaching to get a roster dominated by 3-stars to #1, regardless of how LSU and Auburn finished. Two of the three losses at the end of the season were to top 10 teams.
What would Kirby’s departure from Alabama have to do with his recruiting at Georgia? You’re really asking that?
Yes, even so, I think Kirby is an excellent recruiter. And I apologize for not saying he is an (insert superlative) defensive coach. I wouldn’t go so far as best in the nation. Given apples-to-apples rosters, off the top of my head, I’d probably rank Kevin Steele first, Brent Venables second (or maybe tied for first) and Dave Aranda third. Just my opinion.
Kirby deserves credit for winning the SEC, getting to the CFP and beating Oklahoma in 2017, but I suspect he’ll forever be questioned for not doing the Dabo Swinney/Trevor Lawrence move with Justin Fields if he doesn’t manage to win an NC at Georgia.
I do dispute that Mullen is deficient in recruiting. I think he had less foundation to work with for momentum when he arrived and far fewer preexisting elite recruit relationships coming from MSU than Kirby had coming from Georgia.
Do I think Mullen is as good a recruiter as Kirby? No. Do I think the difference will matter over time? No. History suggests that Mullen will continue to develop difference maker quarterbacks, and history also suggests that with a difference maker quarterback, you can have the fifth (2019 LSU) to ninth (2016 Clemson) ranked roster on paper and still win a national championship against rosters loaded with recruiting service rated 5-stars.
I don’t think any objective person gives two seconds’ thought to the wristbands incident, or associates it with Mullen’s coaching ability.
How many years will it take for me to give Kirby credit?
Honestly — and I mean this in all seriousness — I don’t know and I think only time will tell. If Mullen becomes John Cooper at Ohio State, Kirby’s clearly going to end up as the better overall coach. But I kind of suspect that what may happen is a kind of back and forth over the next few years, with both of these guys winning national championships.
I assume you’re implying that Kirby’s “preexisting relationships” that he brought over from Alabama have practically zero effect in recruiting now, yes? Those ties ended with the 2018 class in all practicality. The kids being recruited now were in middle school when Kirby was coaching at Alabama. So too, within the next year or two Mullen’s roster deficiencies at Florida have all but been resolved by his sharp uptick in well-rounded recruiting compared to McElwain’s.
Last I knew Mizzou was a +27 so either the line has gone down to the 21 you posted or it has gone up to the 27 I saw on Fanduel. Not that it matters, I don’t expect the Tigers to cover either way.
Bo Nix isn’t going to cut it. Sorry Auburn fans.
Thing I been wondering is exactly how long had it been since Trask started a game when he made his first start last year for the Gators.
In his 2nd season as a Head Coach, Kirby Smart takes a true freshman QB to the NC game and loses in double overtime to College Football’s GOAT coach and GOAT program.
In his 2nd season as the UF Head Coach (11th season total), dancing dan mullet got his aass kicked at the WLOCTP in part because he supplied his team with the wrong wrist bands. Or, at least that was the excuse for that beatdown.
“The Georgia Moron Triumvirate:
TDOW
…”
“Generally speaking, TDOW is the worst because he traffics in personal attacks and insults”
Ah isn’t that precious, 2 of my bytches just howling for TDOW attention.
—————-
Nash
“TDOW is the worst because he traffics in personal attacks and insults”
… the worst because he traffics …, really???? When I read that a whiney, persnickety, valley girl type sounding voice just naturally comes to mind.
let me guess, you’ve never been laid (and no, cojones bending you over and checking for covid doesn’t count)
Thanks for the typical reply bro, another clear example of what Nash called trafficking in personal attacks and insults. That’s why you are #1 in the Georgia Moron Triumvirate. And for your half brothers that try to defend you and say I do the same, not even close
BTW, hate to break it to you but someone is taking advantage of you when they told you to bend over for a Covid test. Sorry but that is not the way it is done. So heads up next time you are due for another “covid test”