I Hate You, John Crist: Responding to reader comments from Crystal Ball series, SEC East version
My annual Crystal Ball series, which predicts game-be-game wins and losses for every team in the SEC, was rolled out the last two weeks.
In the East, I agreed with the majority of the people at Media Days in July and went with Georgia to take the division. While the Bulldogs are the best team on paper, I’ve written repeatedly that I’m not incredibly confident with my selection.
I’m looking for both South Carolina and Kentucky to build upon their success from 2016 and continue to make waves. While I don’t expect either to be a legit threat to make it all the way to Atlanta, neither the Gamecocks nor Wildcats lose very much from a year ago and each has done relatively well on the recruiting trail. However, going from 6-7 wins to 8-9 is a sizable leap.
Conversely, I’m predicting a major step backward for Tennessee. There are too many questions still to be answered for the Vols, both offensively and defensively. No matter what coach Butch Jones thinks, employing a two-quarterback system isn’t the solution.
Here are some of my favorite reader comments from the last two weeks. I picked one from each of my seven previews for the East.
To be perfectly honest, the further that Media Days gets in the rearview mirror, the more I wish I’d gone with Florida over Georgia.
There were more lows than highs for Bulldogs quarterback Jacob Eason last year, and even though he was only a true freshman, fewer folks are now predicting stardom for him down the road. Kirby Smart had some snafus as a first-year coach, too.
As for the Gators, they’re coming off consecutive division titles despite average QB play — actually below average too often — from the likes of Treon Harris, Luke Del Rio and Austin Appleby. Fans all over Gainesville are going ape for Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire, yet his highlight reel with the Fighting Irish is awfully short.
Still, the defense continues to fill in the gaps no matter who gets hurt or leaves early for the NFL. On top of that, UF’s schedule is very favorable. Not to mention the fact that the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is a pseudo-home game.
This is exactly what McElwain wants. He could care less about public perception if he keeps going to the ATL.
Maybe your experience has been different than mine, but college football seasons don’t tend to shake out exactly as we anticipate.
Is Georgia a better team than Notre Dame as presently constructed? Of course it is. Eason should improve. Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are back for more. The defense returns 10 quality starters off what was already a solid unit.
True, the Fighting Irish were a four-alarm fire last year at 4-8. That was with a pretty talented signal caller in DeShone Kizer putting up quality numbers and going in Round 2 of the draft. In 2015, the Golden Domers won 10 games and only lost to then-No. 2 Clemson, then-No. 3 Stanford and then-No. 4 Ohio State. What a precipitous drop indeed.
Bouncing back to respectability shouldn’t be a tall task. Strange things happen in South Bend, too. You know, luck of the Irish and all.
Unaffected? That’s a laughable statement. Just because the locker room is intact doesn’t mean it’s business as usual in Oxford.
Ole Miss was supposedly a threat for the College Football Playoff this past season. Instead, the Rebels went 5-7 and finished dead last in the division. Well, the circumstances are much more dire now. Hugh Freeze is history, and he signed every player on the depth chart. The NCAA is getting closer to pulling the trigger. Don’t try to tell me the kids are all wearing bulletproof blinders.
Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Last September, I read comment after comment about this D-line being loaded. Then it got run over weekly. If this team is “unaffected,” as you say, then it’s the same 5-7 disappointment from 2016.
How exactly am I “dismissive” of Missouri? Last season, I had the Tigers finishing 5-7. They promptly went 4-8. Was I dismissive or simply right to doubt what first-year coach Barry Odom had to work with in the wake of Gary Pinkel’s retirement?
This season, I have Mizzou at 6-6. All things considered, I think that’s generous. Sure, Drew Lock and Co. should score a ton. But the D was miserable in 2016, and we have no tangible evidence that it’ll improve. Plus, you better pray that no game comes down to a field goal, not after last year.
What’s that you say? You don’t see South Carolina losing to N.C State, Mizzou or Tennessee this season? Well, of course you don’t.
Just like the Wolfpack didn’t see themselves losing last season to East Carolina. And yet they did. Just like the Tigers didn’t see themselves losing last season to Middle Tennessee. And yet they did. Just like the Volunteers didn’t see themselves losing last season to Vanderbilt. And yet they did. Fans never see these things. And yet they happen.
The Gamecocks have gone 3-9 more recently than 9-3. While I’m buying what coach Will Muschamp is selling right now, don’t start planning a December trip to Atlanta just yet.
Somebody needs further clarification on exactly what a Hail Mary is. It’s more than just a long touchdown pass in the waning seconds.
Eason fired an absolute missile down the left sideline to Riley Ridley for what appeared to be the game-winning score. Tennessee’s secondary got caught napping just for a split second, opening up a window for Eason to make the throw of his life.
On the complete other end of the spectrum, you have the Joshua Dobbs completion to Jauan Jennings. It was no less magical, especially since it ended up being the real game-winner, but the play required little more than Dobbs lobbing the ball into the end zone and simply hoping for the best. Jennings made a terrific catch, don’t get me wrong, but a certain degree of luck is involved in every Hail Mary.
You wanted me to YouTube the game? I didn’t have to since I remember both plays vividly, but I did anyway. You couldn’t be more wrong.
In the most general terms, a “blue blood” — at least my definition — is a traditional power on the college football landscape.
There’s no specific way to quantify it, but it’s some cocktail of consistent on-the-field success mixed with a certain off-the-field gravitas. Amazing facilities. Fertile recruiting grounds. Insatiable booster clubs. A limitless supply of money certainly helps.
Typically, blue bloods have been blue bloods as far back as anyone cares to remember. You can’t just string together a couple of 10-win seasons, build an indoor practice facility and then call yourself a blue blood. My alma mater, Florida State, essentially became a blue blood in the 1980s. An argument can be made for Oregon in the 21st century.
But if your only measuring stick is Alabama, then almost no program can be qualified as a blue blood. In the SEC, you have Florida, Georgia and Tennessee in the East. It’s ‘Bama, Auburn and LSU in the West. Perhaps Texas A&M. Perhaps.
It’s more than just counting national championships. By that rationale, Minnesota is more of a blue blood than Clemson.
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SDS CRYSTAL BALL SERIES
SEC West
ALA | ARK | AUB | LSU | MISS | MSU | TAMU
