What each SEC fan base is most afraid of heading into 2019
As fall camp kicks into full gear, optimism is running high across the SEC. Today, we’re here to crush that. These fan bases will try to tell you that all is well, but deep down there is a nagging thought or nightmare scenario lurking, kind of like Urban Meyer at Ohio State.
So here is the one thing that scares each fan base the most heading into 2019:
Alabama
There’s not really anything that can scare Alabama fans in the Saban era … at least there wasn’t until a floppy-haired, sunshine-kissed quarterback dropped 44 on them in the National Championship Game. The good news is if Bama does face Trevor Lawrence again, it won’t be until January. Until then, the mere memories of Trevor Lawrence will haunt them.
Arkansas
When you’ve seen rock bottom, you’re not that afraid of falling any farther. The only thing that should scare Arkansas fans heading into the season is that last year wasn’t rock bottom. Chad Morris brought in some talented transfers, including former A&M QB Nick Starkel, along with a solid recruiting class to get things going in the right direction. But another 0-fer in the SEC would be pretty scary.
Auburn
It’s still a mystery who will start Week 1 against Oregon, but the scariest scenario for Auburn fans is that neither Joey Gatewood nor Bo Nix separates himself and the Tigers spend the whole year going back and forth to find their answer. The only thing worse than spending another year watching Gus Malzahn force a pro-style quarterback to unsuccessfully run his spread system is watching him juggle 2 QBs every game.
Florida
The Gators have a ton of momentum, but the one thing that could slow it all down is the offensive line. Only 1 starter returns and if the new starters don’t step up, the new Feleipe Franks might start looking like the old Feleipe Franks. Equal to that on the nightmare scare for the Gators is the annual game against Missouri, which for some reason recently has turned Florida into Wile E. Coyote.
Georgia
You might think another halftime lead against Alabama would be the scariest thing that could happen to the Bulldogs this year. Or, perhaps, just the sight of an Alabama backup quarterback warming up. But no, the real nightmare for UGA would be letting the Gators close the gap in the SEC East this year. For the past few years, Georgia has built a pretty distinct advantage on the field and in recruiting. But if Dan Mullen can even the rivalry, the Bulldogs might be watching someone else lose in heartbreaking fashion to Alabama in Atlanta for the next few years.
Kentucky
Mark Stoops and the Wildcats are desperate to prove that last year’s 10-win season wasn’t a fluke, but what has to scare UK is the thought of what if last year was their best shot? Is the window for Kentucky football being competitive in the East opening or closing? That will be determined by what the Cats do this year, but until we know the answer, Kentucky fans will have to sweat it out.
LSU
Coach O has brought a spark of joy back to the LSU program, but Coach O and Tigers put up exactly that many points against Bama last year. In fact, they’ve gone scoreless against Alabama 2 of the past 3 years. The history of that series says you don’t need too many points to win, but you need more than 0, and the thought of another shutout against Alabama is about as scary as it gets.
Mississippi State
The Bulldogs have one of the most interesting QB battles in the SEC to sort out before Week 1. Hopefully they sort it out quick because not much was scarier in the West last season than their offense against ranked teams. Mississippi State put up single digits against Florida, LSU and Kentucky, and got shut out against Alabama. The Bulldogs might play even more ranked teams in 2019, so let’s hope for their sake this nightmare trend doesn’t continue.
Missouri
The NCAA appeal process is scary enough, but what if Kelly Bryant isn’t all he’s advertised to be or he just doesn’t fit in the system? Or even worse, what if Drew Lock was as good as it gets for this Mizzou offense because if the responsibility to win games starts to fall on this revamped defense, that’s scary.
Ole Miss
Ole Miss fans have gone from being deathly afraid of the NCAA to deathly afraid of their own defense. The Rebels had the worst defense in the conference last year, and if the group up front doesn’t take a leap this year under new coordinator Mike MacIntyre, then they might not even need a postseason ban to stay home this bowl season.
South Carolina
For the Gamecocks, nothing is scarier than Jake Bentley’s decision making. The Carolina QB led the SEC in interceptions last season, and while they weren’t all entirely his fault, another season of helplessly watching Bentley play catch with the other team is sure to keep Gamecocks fans up at night.
Texas A&M
It’s certainly not a surprise for A&M fans that the scariest thing about this season is their schedule. Road games at Clemson, UGA and LSU with home games against Alabama and Auburn is more of a punishment from the NCAA than anything North Carolina or Miami got. If the Aggies can get through this season with a respectable record, they should be set up well for a big run in 2020. If not, then Jimbo Fisher’s buyout might be the new scariest thing they have to worry about.
Tennessee
The Vols’ 2019 campaign could go in any number of directions, but the worst would be losing to Vanderbilt for the 4th consecutive year. Jeremy Pruitt is all about building momentum for the program, which would be impossible to do with another loss to the Commodores. Vandy had 3 wins in this series from 1974-2011. The Dores haven’t won 4 in a row since the Roarin’ 20s. If history repeats itself almost a century later, it might be a low moment in a decade full of low moments for the Vols. The good news is that there’s probably no other program more excited to turn the page on the 2010s than Tennessee.
Vanderbilt
Nothing that happened to Vandy’s team last year was scarier than when its opponent had a 3rd down. Vandy let opponents convert 46% of 3rd downs in 2018 … dead last in the SEC by a large margin. Trying to climb up the ladder in the SEC East is tough enough, but when your defense is rolling out the red carpet for offenses on third down, it’s more than enough to give your fan base nightmares.
You’re insane, Houston Barber. More insane than your ridiculous name.
The Dawgs are frightened of Floriduh? A team coached by Sideshow Dan the Clown, a man with a big mouth whose myth is far grander than his actual coaching record (he doesn’t coach players up, he simply wins the games he should win and loses the games he should lose) and Third and Grantham? Two coaches they’ve absolutely OWNED not just on the field but on the recruiting trail?
The gap between Georgia and Floriduh hasn’t been this big in decades. They don’t have the blue chip talent to stay on the field with the Dawgs, and their overrated coach isn’t going to do anything to change that.
The only thing frightening to Georgia is the idea that Nick Saban learns the solution to anti-aging and lives forever.
What exactly do you do with your life besides this?
LOL what a meltdown
Corch is right… The only fear UGA has out of Gainesville right now is that Mullen will learn to keep his mouth shut. He’s UGA’s best recruiter in the state of Florida right now!
When was the last time Mullen said anything that offended you? At what point to y’all move on to something else.
Sure DaJerk whatever you say. You are like the baby corch, following his lead and doing your best to join the doosh bag triumvirate. Keep trying, you are close but not there yet.
45 year old Corch
It’s not losing to Alabama. It’s losing to someone else. 11 wins would be expected. And the 1 loss would be expected. Beating Bama would be a pleasant surprise.
I have to agree. One of these times, we are going to beat Alabama. It will be great when we finally do, but until then, I don’t want to lose to anyone else.
Yep, and Auburn’s going to win in BR too…Been way too long..
That too, will happen one day.
Yes I certainly agree. I wouldn’t be surprised if LSU lost two games in regular season. We have Florida, Miss State, Auburn back-to-back. Miss State is one of the hardest stadium’s to play at with those annoying cowbells. We play at Ole Miss the weekend after Bama and Ole Miss has knocked us out the top rankings in the past. I’m just being realistic fan. Bama, Ole Miss, Miss State, Texas, Texas A&M, Auburn, and Florida all have special marks next to our match up with them so it’s going to be a gauntlet of a season. It’s going to take a blessing from the football gods to win out this season.
One particular UGA goof seems to be nervous about Jax …based on the obsession
LOL
I can’t imagine anything more sickening than losing to Vandy 4 years in a row.
Losing 5 in a row to Kentucky is pretty sickening not as bad as Vandy but not far off. I remember losing to Vandy two years in a row and was absolutely disgusted. 5 to Kentucky, 5 to aTm and 5 to Tater Tech.
Florida may not rent space in UGA’s mind but they have an entire apartment complex in Corchs head.
Too funny and predictable how he responded, talk about obsessed
If you haven’t figured out that he post that stuff to get a reaction, idk what to tell ya. I agree it is annoying though.
Sorry, but Corch has moved past the posting to get a reaction stage and has moved into full blown obsession stage.
dang for a reaction he did pretty good 11 comments about his post not bad
on a more serious note can u stop ranting about sec teams and focus on the big 10 or someone else?
its like hes fixed on one thing: to destroy dan mullen on a fan site. Joe Marks and the rest of the UF fans, good luck on November 2!
I’m going out on a limb here (and please correct me if I’m wrong), but I would think the biggest fear for Bama fans would be not making the playoffs this season and being forced to determine if the past two seasons are the first downward slopes of Saban’s run.
I don’t think Saban is on the downward side yet. That Clemson game was an absolute fluke, if aTm and USC both gave them a run for their money especially aTm, had it not been for the blatant ACC screwjob, aTm wins that game.
That game was no fluke, it was a trip to the woodshed. What I am most afraid of is loosing my 12 character password for this site. It’s like they are trying to secure the Pentagon.
My biggest concern is injuries… If Bama stays healthy there is no reason they can’t cruise through the SEC again. A injury or two at key positions and the entire outlook can change in a hurry for Bama. They’re very talented but losing so many to the draft each season leaves them with limited experience in the two deep..
I would think injuries would be the main concern for every team. If we lose one of our starting corners again that would be very concerning. If UGA were to lose Fromm that would be an epic disaster for them.
Of course but that doesn’t mean it’s not my biggest concern for Bama.. I’m not concerned about the coaches, talent, or ability to execute so what’s left?
We can all agree on this. Georgia and Bama are probably in the best shape filling those spots. That’s why I believe LSU is not realistically going to make it to the playoffs this year. If we get one or two more classes in 2021 and 2022 like our 2019 and 2020 (hoping they stay committed), then we will be stacked. If our second string team last year had gone up with Bama or Georgia’s second string, it wouldn’t have been much of a game. Last year was a prime example of how lack of depth past first string caused a couple more losses for us.
i see ur point but i dont think bama is missing the playoffs this year there are questions surrounding lsu and a&m to the point where they can come close but cant finish. bama will be fine.
South Carolina INJURIES. 18 defensive players out for the loss to Clemson, which ended up being the decided factor in the ball game. USC embarrassed the alleged best defensive in country. The fact the that 4th and 5th stringers were playing on defense for USC allowed to the entire defense to get gassed against a team that hadn’t played a team with a pulse since aTm.
Razorbacks should be afraid of going 0-8 in SEC play. If it happens this year, I don’t see any hope for Morris’s job. I’m a realistic fan and see 5-7 or 6-6 at best..please shock me and do better
Our biggest fear is that Kirby takes an NFL job. Our second biggest fear is that the last 2 years are as good as it gets, that after an initial flurry of results that are better than what we’d been seeing, we regress to that previous level.
Not to be disrespectful, but I don’t think Kirby is in the running for an nfl job at this time. Nfl coaches don’t recruit, and that is what Kirby does best. NFL coaches are required to be game managers, and Kirby hasn’t shown that he has mastered that as of yet.
I didn’t say it was a rational fear. :)
I guess I could simplify it to say that our fear is that we’ve seen our peak and that we’ll slide backward. That’s the nagging, lingering doubt, but it’s easy to push it from the mind when there’s so much reason for optimism.
I certainly don’t think UGA has peaked. Too much talent for that to happen. It will be interesting to see how long the undefeated streak against the East lasts.
BC I’m not so sure about you needing to have NFL fears either, but as far as your other fear, it is nice to see a Dawg fan speak the truth for a change. That is a legit fear that I’m sure a lot of other Dawg fans have but would never admit. Far too many on here act like the Dawgs are a never ending unbeatable dynasty.
BCinNC is right, in my opinion at least. I all too well remember seeing the high-water mark during Richt’s tenure and then the slow, painful slide to relative mediocrity. Though there are some key differences, the first three years of CKS’s and CMR’s tenure have been similar. With a resurgent East, I think any clear-eyed UGA fan would be most afraid that losing in OT in the NC game to Bama is as far as CKS will go. I think that there’s plenty of rational and irrational optimism that wont be the case, but it’s still a fear.
Now a days I think a lot of guys would maybe prefer to be a college coach than an NFL coach. I know I would, especially at a top tier university. You get paid as much if not more than a lot of NFL coaches and in some cases you get extra benefits like having your mortgage paid for you. Facilities are equal to, if not better than NFL facilities. You are usually in a better position to control your own roster than you would as a non-Coach/GM in the NFL. You don’t have to worry about the dynamics of contracts with players being uneven and therefore some players being literally valued higher than others and the pressure that comes from the front office to justify that money spent. You get to be a god on campus and answer to just about nobody.
2 QBs? That can’t be near as bad as the Clemson game a couple of years ago. We probably would have won that game if he had stuck to just 2 QBs on a single drive. I’m afraid of OL injuries. Help is coming next year, but they’re extremely thin right now.
I assume, Houston, that you trying to go for alphabetical order with these teams but failed miserably with Tennessee and Texas A&M. Try again…
I think our worst fear is how much beer is going to cost in the stadium this year (like I’m going to stop sneaking in a flask).
If that is your worst fear, you have a good life, my friend.
bro even if beer is sold in tiger stadium no one will buy it everyone will keep smuggling their own stuff. and Pfarmer that is a very good life bro i agree with gary420
Worst fear as far as LSU football is concerned.
Felipe Franks of Florida scares me the most. He defines mediocrity. Can’t believe they have not found a 5 star guy with good judgement to replace him or at least have a shot at starting. I think GA is safe in the East for at least another year.
I would love to see somebody in the West really challenge Bama. Kind of sick of Clemson and Alabama in the title game.
for what my opinions worth i think uga vs uf will be a banger to watch
aub will beat lsu in br all streaks come to an end at some point.
also to lsu people sleeping on msst last time we were in starkville we got whupped 37-7
uga should be scared of injuries to any key offensive player (swift, fromm, etc.) also uga is thin at WR right now
personally corch, dan mullen isnt overrated at all i think hes a great coach. this man did great things in starkville and is building a good team in gainesville. plus, the sample size u refer to isnt very large as dan mullen has been the coach for one season bro. Thats not dominating.
“the Gators close the gap” right…. FL is the most overrated team in this year’s preseason poll and the gap is so far from close you could fly a C-17 through it. What a laugh the only thing that could haunt UGA this season is an injury bug, up until the end of regular season they should be cruise control although every once and a while a team might creep up on them… But it won’t be the Gators
Corch’s cousin from Columbia. How cute.
The truth hurts?
So you are related
Y’all going 7-5 deal with it
So we’ll have a peak SC year?
Oh please the only reason y’all over achieved last season was because after beating the crap out of y’all for 3 quarters our lack of depth due to injuries allowed y’all to come back the outlook of both our seasons layed solely on that game
Whatever you have to tell yourself. Its cracking me up you guys havent put a finger on this injury bug thing yet.
Total BS