As we continue to patiently wait for college football to come back, SEC Media Days are a great way to hold us over until Miami takes on Florida in Week 0. SEC Media Days Day Two features Georgia, Ole Miss, A&M, and Tennessee.
Georgia:
The first team on the lineup for SEC Media Days Day 2 is the Georgia Bulldogs. The last 2 season have been almost perfect for the Bulldogs. After a sub-par 8-5 season in Kirby Smart’s first year, the Bulldogs have been within 2 quarters of history. In 2017, led by the dynamic duo of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, Georgia advanced all the way to the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship. If not for a young quarterback named Tua Tagovailoa, the Dawgs would be hoisting their first national championship since 1980. Last year, Georgia took a 28-21 lead into the 4th quarter of the SEC Championship. This time, the dream was dashed by quarterback Jalen Hurts. After stopping Georgia on a fake punt, Hurts drove his Crimson Tide down to score the game winning touchdown. For the second straight year, Georgia fell short to Alabama.
We now enter year 4 for Kirby. Jake Fromm returns for his junior season without Elijah Holyfield and his top three receivers from last year. Despite losing some key cogs on offense, Georgia is still the team to beat in the SEC East. Led by 4 returning starters on the offensive line, this Bulldogs team could set records. The defense is return 6 starters, including their top three leading tacklers from last season. Studying under Nick Saban, you know Kirby can do more with less. The 2019 schedule for Georgia shakes out favorably. Home games include Notre Dame, South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Texas A&M. None of these games are cake walks but Georgia has not lost Between the Hedges in 2 years. The road test for Georgia begins with Vanderbilt (Vandy), then Tennessee, the neutral site game with Florida, @ Auburn, and @ Georgia Tech. I see Georgia struggling with Vandy and Notre Dame early, but the Dawgs will win both those games. The Bulldogs will more than likely be 7-0 heading to Jacksonville. If Georgia wins that game, the Dawgs will head to Atlanta for the 3rd straight year. The East may be competitive, but Georgia is still top dog until we see otherwise.
Ole Miss:
It has been six short years since Hugh Freeze brought glory back to the city of Oxford. The journey began with a monumental 23-17 win against Alabama, at home, on October 4, 2014. The Rebels proceeded to bring their record to 7-0, earning them a #3 ranking in the CFP bracket. Back-to-back losses and a leg injury to quarterback Bo Wallace allowed Ole Miss to finish the season 9-3. A blowout loss in the Peach Bowl put an end to the dream season. Coach Freeze and company would come back better than ever. The 2015 was again highlighted by a triumph over Alabama. Even with loses to Florida and Memphis, the Rebels were in prime position to win the SEC Western Division. Unfortunately, a fluke lateral play and a failure to stop a 2-point conversion led to a 53-52 overtime loss to Arkansas. Ole Miss would win the final 3 games of the season, but the dream was dashed again.
Matt Luke enters year number three and for the first time since 2016, the Rebels are bowl eligible. Ole Miss took a 2 year bowl ban for NCAA violations, but that is in the rearview mirror. The improvement from 2018 to 2019 begins with the Ole Miss defense. The Rebels last year, gave up an abysmal 36.2 points per game. Ole Miss returns all but 1 starter off last years defense. Add in a new defensive coordinator and the Rebels could be doing a 180-degree turnaround. The offense will have a new signal caller with the graduation of Jordan Ta’amu. Redshirt-freshman Matt Corral enters center stage for Ole Miss this year. Last year he only attempted 22 passes, completing 16 of them for 239 yards with 2 touchdowns. Corral will not have the Nasty Wide Outs (NWO) to throw to this year, but he will have senior running back Scottie Phillips. Phillips ran for 961 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. The pressure will be on Phillips to carry the offense to make Corral more comfortable. The Rebels have the longest stretch without a bye week this year. That could take its toll in the long run. The home schedule includes Arkansas, California, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and LSU. The road swing will feature Memphis, Alabama, Missouri, Auburn, and a Thanksgiving, Egg Bowl showdown with Mississippi State. Ole Miss can get to a bowl with wins over Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State. The Rebels have won the last 2 meetings in Starkville, make it a 3rd and you could be bowling at the end of it all.
Texas A&M:
Texas A&M begins their seventh season in the SEC. Despite a very impressive inaugural year, the Aggies have averaged just 8 wins a season since. A new era entered College Station last year with the hiring of Jimbo Fisher. Fisher led the Aggies to a 9 win season which included a hard fought 7 overtime game, at home, against LSU. This was Texas A&M’s first victory over LSU, and what a way to pick up that first win. Nine wins is not where the Aggies want to be, but it is a step in the right direction. Fisher now gets to transform quarterback Kellen Mond and take his game to the next level. It took Fisher three short years to win 3 ACC Championships and 1 national championship. Aggie nation may not have to wait that long for their first appearance in the SEC Championship game.
Kellen Mond enters year 3 under center for Texas A&M. The junior quarterback threw for 3,107 yards last year with 24 touchdowns. The trio of Courtney Davis, Cameron Buckley, and Kendrick Rogers returning makes this offense a force to be reckoned with in the SEC West. The Aggies do have to replace leading rusher from last year, Trayveon Williams. Good news is that Jashaun Corbin and Vernon Jackson return to the backfield for Mond and company. This defense is only returning four starters and will be without 6 of their top tacklers from last year. This defense could defiantly be susceptible to opposing offenses that can run and throw effectively. Texas A&M has a winnable first half of the season with only one true road game. That road game is against Clemson and the Aggies play host to Alabama. The last 3 weeks could make or break the season. I look at the South Carolina game as a trap game with road trips to Georgia and LSU lurking. Depending on how the season has worked out, Texas A&M could be positioned to control their own destiny at this point. Jimbo already returned one team to prominence, he is poised to do it again.
Tennessee:
2019 will mark the 12 year anniversary since Tennessee’s last appearance in the SEC Championship. It was 2007 and Phillip Former was the coach. The Volunteers went 9-3 and 6-2 in the SEC. The championship game pitted Tennessee against LSU. Things did not turn out good for Tennessee as Jonathan Zenon, on a pick six, provided the game winning touchdown for LSU. This was the beginning of the end for Tennessee football. Phillip Former ended his illustrious career with a 5-7 record in 2008. Enter Lane Kiffin for 2009, Derek Dooley for 2010-2012, and Butch Jones for 2013-2017. These 4 coaches combined to win 57 games with Butch Jones posting back-to-back 9 win seasons. Jones even triumphed over Florida in 2016. Despite the 2 year success of Butch Jones, none of the 4 coaches could return Tennessee to Atlanta. In the last 11 years, Tennessee has lost two games to Kentucky and have lost three in a row to Vanderbilt. At Tennessee, these two scenarios should never happen. When you play at Tennessee you expect to beat those two teams. When you fall short, bad things happen.
Much was the same for Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt in his first year. Pruitt won 5 games and went 2-6 in the SEC. Give Tennessee credit, in a year when they could have gone 0-8 again in the SEC, the Volunteers go on to defeat Auburn and Kentucky. Coach Pruitt’s offense returns 10 starters including quarterback Jarrett Guarantano. Guarantano threw for 1,907 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. The junior signal caller will have his top 2 running backs returning, as well as the entire receiving corps. This Tennessee offense will be much improved from last year. Like Kirby Smart, Pruitt comes from the Nick Saban pedigree. We already witnessed what Smart has done in 3 short years. Conventional wisdom tells you that Pruitt and his Volunteers could have a break out season. Pruitt’s defense returns six starters which can make for a 180 degree turnaround. Pruitt, like Smart, can do more with less and look for this Tennessee defense to return to the defenses of old. Tennessee will be 3-0 heading to Florida. That will be the first test that Pruitt will need to pass. If the Volunteers lose to Florida and Georgia back-to-back this season will not be any different. It also means road losses to Alabama and Missouri. Mix in a loss to South Carolina and Mississippi State, and Tennessee finished 6-6. The Florida game is going to make or break the 2019 season for Tennessee. If Pruitt’s team can defeat Florida, I give them an advantage against Georgia at home. Best case, Tennessee is 6-0 heading to Tuscaloosa but that will still be a loss. Avoid a hangover against South Carolina and the Volunteers could finish 11-1. Mark it down, September 21, 2019, the make or break game for the 2019 Tennessee Volunteers.
To read my coverage of Day One of SEC Media Days, click here.
