Alabama football appears set to roll through SEC and into College Football Playoff
By Patrick Stevens August 25
Link to full story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-news:page/in-the-news&utm_term=.125f736a3f11
EAST DIVISION
1. Florida (No. 15, 9-4): The Gators won the division for the second consecutive year with a so-so- offense and an elite defense. They’ll be a lot younger on defense, even with stellar senior cornerback Duke Dawson, which means the offense needs to take a step forward for Florida to again flirt with 10 victories. The Gators still haven’t named a starting quarterback, with incumbent Luke Del Rio, Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire and redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks all competing for the gig. Whoever wins it won’t have time to settle into the role; Florida faces Michigan and Tennessee in the season’s first three weeks.
2. Georgia (No. 17, 8-5): Continuing with a trend that plagued some of the SEC’s high-profile programs last year, the Bulldogs (like Florida and LSU) simply couldn’t muster enough on offense to back up a high-end defense. Playing a promising freshman, Jacob Eason, at quarterback was only part of the issue; the receiving corps was unremarkable and the line allowed 24 sacks for the first time since 2012. Eason showed promise with his decision-making, and Georgia can always fall back on its tailback tandem of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. That should be enough to see improvement in the win column, especially with a defense that brings back nearly everyone.
3. Tennessee (No. 27, 9-4): Champions of both life and the Music City Bowl but not the SEC East, the Volunteers have finally achieved a measure of stability that has eluded them for almost a decade. Butch Jones warrants credit for producing back-to-back 9-4 seasons, even if last year’s was disappointing after a 5-0 start that included defeats of Florida and Georgia. This could be a team that isn’t quite as good but ends up with a similar record. The Vols should be better than the bottom four teams in the division, and the nonconference schedule is navigable even with an opener against Georgia Tech. But Alabama and LSU loom in crossover games, and Tennessee must replace veteran QB Josh Dobbs. A 10-win season seems unlikely.
4. Missouri (No. 48, 4-8): At this time last year, the Tigers had a first-year head coach (Barry Odom) and not a lot back from an anemic offense, but returned more than half their starters from a stout defense. So naturally, Missouri more than doubled its scoring average while the defense plummeted to last in the SEC. Sports can be weird sometimes. QB Drew Lock progressed from overwhelmed as a freshman to capable of picking apart average defenses as a sophomore. It helped to get a breakout year from J’Mon Moore, who had 1,012 yards and eight touchdowns to emerge as one of the SEC’s top wideouts. The offense should be okay, and modest improvement on the other side of the ball should get the Tigers back to a bowl game.
5. Kentucky (No. 49, 7-6): The Wildcats went .500 in the league last year, which is only a slightly more common occurrence than a solar eclipse in North America. (Just kidding, though it was the first time in a decade the Wildcats went 4-4 in the SEC and just the second time this century.) Kentucky was better, and it did land in a bowl for the first time since 2010. Mark Stoops’s rebuilding project enjoyed early recruiting buzz, considerable improvement in Year 2, an irksome plateau the following season and then a postseason trip. The Wildcats do some things well (rushing the ball with TB Benny Snell) and still have things to work on (stopping the run, which went from subpar to bad last year). The talent base is much better than four years ago, and maintaining an ability to win seven or more games is Kentucky’s next logical step.
6. South Carolina (No. 52, 6-7): The midseason decision to yank the redshirt off QB Jake Bentley proved a wise one for Will Muschamp last year, and the freshman led the Gamecocks to victories in four of his first five games. The result was an unanticipated bowl bid for a team that endured half a season with an entirely inert offense. Bentley might be the best quarterback in the division already, and one of the top four or five in the league. That’s a good place for South Carolina to start, but it needs a better rushing attack and its defense to make progress. Neither is a sure thing, especially against a schedule littered with toss-up games. With a September slate of N.C. State, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M, any early returns between 5-0 and 0-5 are on the table.
7. Vanderbilt (No. 65, 6-7): Like South Carolina, the Commodores scraped into the postseason with an average defense and a middling offense. But Vanderbilt produced an able rushing attack behind TB Ralph Webb, who rumbled for 1,283 yards and enters his final season already in possession of the school’s career rushing record. The Commodores are poised to follow last year’s blueprint, which means more than a few low-scoring games. It’s also easy to look at a four-week stretch that begins Sept. 16 and features games against Kansas State, Alabama, Florida and Georgia and view it as a potential backbreaker. The Commodores will likely need a strong second half of the season to get back into the postseason.
By Patrick Stevens August 25
Link to full story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-news:page/in-the-news&utm_term=.125f736a3f11
EAST DIVISION
1. Florida (No. 15, 9-4): The Gators won the division for the second consecutive year with a so-so- offense and an elite defense. They’ll be a lot younger on defense, even with stellar senior cornerback Duke Dawson, which means the offense needs to take a step forward for Florida to again flirt with 10 victories. The Gators still haven’t named a starting quarterback, with incumbent Luke Del Rio, Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire and redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks all competing for the gig. Whoever wins it won’t have time to settle into the role; Florida faces Michigan and Tennessee in the season’s first three weeks.
2. Georgia (No. 17, 8-5): Continuing with a trend that plagued some of the SEC’s high-profile programs last year, the Bulldogs (like Florida and LSU) simply couldn’t muster enough on offense to back up a high-end defense. Playing a promising freshman, Jacob Eason, at quarterback was only part of the issue; the receiving corps was unremarkable and the line allowed 24 sacks for the first time since 2012. Eason showed promise with his decision-making, and Georgia can always fall back on its tailback tandem of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. That should be enough to see improvement in the win column, especially with a defense that brings back nearly everyone.
3. Tennessee (No. 27, 9-4): Champions of both life and the Music City Bowl but not the SEC East, the Volunteers have finally achieved a measure of stability that has eluded them for almost a decade. Butch Jones warrants credit for producing back-to-back 9-4 seasons, even if last year’s was disappointing after a 5-0 start that included defeats of Florida and Georgia. This could be a team that isn’t quite as good but ends up with a similar record. The Vols should be better than the bottom four teams in the division, and the nonconference schedule is navigable even with an opener against Georgia Tech. But Alabama and LSU loom in crossover games, and Tennessee must replace veteran QB Josh Dobbs. A 10-win season seems unlikely.
4. Missouri (No. 48, 4-8): At this time last year, the Tigers had a first-year head coach (Barry Odom) and not a lot back from an anemic offense, but returned more than half their starters from a stout defense. So naturally, Missouri more than doubled its scoring average while the defense plummeted to last in the SEC. Sports can be weird sometimes. QB Drew Lock progressed from overwhelmed as a freshman to capable of picking apart average defenses as a sophomore. It helped to get a breakout year from J’Mon Moore, who had 1,012 yards and eight touchdowns to emerge as one of the SEC’s top wideouts. The offense should be okay, and modest improvement on the other side of the ball should get the Tigers back to a bowl game.
5. Kentucky (No. 49, 7-6): The Wildcats went .500 in the league last year, which is only a slightly more common occurrence than a solar eclipse in North America. (Just kidding, though it was the first time in a decade the Wildcats went 4-4 in the SEC and just the second time this century.) Kentucky was better, and it did land in a bowl for the first time since 2010. Mark Stoops’s rebuilding project enjoyed early recruiting buzz, considerable improvement in Year 2, an irksome plateau the following season and then a postseason trip. The Wildcats do some things well (rushing the ball with TB Benny Snell) and still have things to work on (stopping the run, which went from subpar to bad last year). The talent base is much better than four years ago, and maintaining an ability to win seven or more games is Kentucky’s next logical step.
6. South Carolina (No. 52, 6-7): The midseason decision to yank the redshirt off QB Jake Bentley proved a wise one for Will Muschamp last year, and the freshman led the Gamecocks to victories in four of his first five games. The result was an unanticipated bowl bid for a team that endured half a season with an entirely inert offense. Bentley might be the best quarterback in the division already, and one of the top four or five in the league. That’s a good place for South Carolina to start, but it needs a better rushing attack and its defense to make progress. Neither is a sure thing, especially against a schedule littered with toss-up games. With a September slate of N.C. State, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M, any early returns between 5-0 and 0-5 are on the table.
7. Vanderbilt (No. 65, 6-7): Like South Carolina, the Commodores scraped into the postseason with an average defense and a middling offense. But Vanderbilt produced an able rushing attack behind TB Ralph Webb, who rumbled for 1,283 yards and enters his final season already in possession of the school’s career rushing record. The Commodores are poised to follow last year’s blueprint, which means more than a few low-scoring games. It’s also easy to look at a four-week stretch that begins Sept. 16 and features games against Kansas State, Alabama, Florida and Georgia and view it as a potential backbreaker. The Commodores will likely need a strong second half of the season to get back into the postseason.
