I hope everyone got their weddings and other events out of the way already. It’s time to pack the coolers, light up the grills, and remind your neighbor, spouse, boss, teacher, preacher, etc. that their team serves no use other than to assume the role of proverbial punching bag.
While it may not exactly feel like fall in Alabama, football is back.
While Week 0 provided college football fanatics a small appetizer of what’s to come, Week 1 is upon us, and I know everyone is ready for the entrée to be served. In preparation for the new season, it’s due time for a preview of the greatest conference in all of sports: the Southeastern Conference.
Florida
After being one year removed from an appearance in the SEC Championship last year, the hopes and expectations were high for coach Dan Mullen and the Gators, despite losing quarterback Kyle Trask, tight end Kyle Pitts, and many others to the NFL draft.
The season took an ugly turn after a narrow loss to Alabama. Coach Mullen did not even finish the season as the head coach. Enter former Alabama assistant and University of Louisiana (Louisiana-Lafayette) head coach Billy Napier.
Coach Napier has hopes high in Gainesville as he has a proven record of being a winner. Napier and Florida’s season will rely upon the success and continued development of sophomore sensation Anthony Richardson.
Richardson was a dynamic playmaker with both his arm and legs in a limited role last year. While the defense did make some improvement last year and returns eight starters, the depth in the two-deep is a big question mark.
Ultimately, the Gators face a difficult schedule with College Football Playoff contender Utah coming to the Swamp this Saturday.
For the Gators, they are going to be a highly competitive team that makes significant improvement from last year, but they are likely a year or two away from being a true contender for the SEC and beyond.
Georgia
Georgia finally cleared the elusive national championship hurdle last season, and Bulldog faithful can quit living in 1980. The Bulldogs, under Saban-protégé Kirby Smart, look to replicate their success from the year prior.
They will return oft-criticized but winner nonetheless Stetson Bennett at quarterback. Bennett faces scrutiny of being a game manager as opposed to a gamebreaker, but it’s pretty evident, regardless of the game manager moniker, Bennett manages to win games.
Georgia has talent aplenty at every position as the recruiting efforts by coach Smart have resulted in a stockpile of weapons and nearly a plug-and-play system.
Georgia returns freshman phenom Brock Bowers at tight end. Last year, Bowers took the nation by storm and served as Georgia’s leading receiver in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He is the face of arguably the most talented tight end room in recent memory with former blue chippers Darnell Washington and Arik Gilbert (LSU transfer).
The Bulldogs fielded a historically good defense in 2021 that stifled nearly every offense they faced. As a result, they lost a ton of talent to the NFL, including five defensive players in the first round alone.
Coach Smart has little reason to be concerned as they return former No. 1 overall recruit Nolan Smith at linebacker, future first round pick Jalen Carter on the defensive line, and lockdown corner Kelee Ringo in the secondary.
Georgia is not going anywhere. They will be squarely in the conversation for a spot in the College Football Playoff, and fans can begin planning to watch the Dawgs December 3rd in the SEC Championship game.
Kentucky
Gone are the years of Kentucky being the doormat of the SEC. Kentucky is more than just a trap game on the schedule. They have proven to be a solid-to-good football team over the past few years.
This year, Kentucky is expected to make another leap in their progression under the leadership of coach Mark Stoops. Coach Stoops benefits from the return of some big-time playmakers as well as the addition of some key newcomers.
It all starts with the quarterback, and that is no different at Kentucky as Will Levis spurned the NFL to return to the Bluegrass State. Levis is a future pro that has a fantastic arm and can burn a defense with his legs as well.
Levis will be joined by All-SEC running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., who is within 1,500 yards of breaking the all-time Kentucky rushing record. Unfortunately, Rodriguez will begin the season serving a multi-game suspension for off-the-field issues.
Kentucky added former Alabama receiver Javon Baker and Virginia Tech receiver Tayvion Robinson to fill the hole left by the departure of Wan’Dale Robinson.
On defense, the Wildcats were spared when a host of players elected to use their extra year of eligibility afforded to them via the NCAA’s COVID-19 ruling.
There still exists a large talent disparity between Kentucky and the class of the SEC in Georgia. Kentucky is one of the few teams that truly has the opportunity to mount a legitimate challenge when they play the Bulldogs at home on November 19.
Expect the Wildcats to be a very good team this year that could vie for a New Year’s Six Bowl.
Missouri
Despite Missouri experiencing immediate success when they joined the SEC in 2012, the program still feels as though they are a neophyte even a decade later. Missouri has been the definition of average under coach Eli Drinkwitz, who is currently entering his third season at the helm in Columbia.
Missouri is currently riding a nine-game winning streak against teams with a losing record, while they have only won one against a Power 5 school that has a winning record in their last 12 outings.
Missouri does have a set of newcomers that look to make an immediate impact on offense. In addition to landing a transfer running back Nathaniel Peat (Stanford), Missouri beat out numerous blue blood programs for the number one wide receiver prospect and highest rated signee in program history when they landed East St. Louis product Luther Burden III.
Missouri returns a veteran offensive line with two tackles that could be in the all-conference conversation come years end. Unfortunately, Missouri has a major question mark: quarterback.
If only coach Drinkwitz had the likes of Chase Daniel, Blaine Gabbert, or Drew Lock at signal caller, we might be discussing them as a potential threat to Georgia. However, that is not the case for the Tigers.
They made a run for J.T. Daniels in the transfer portal only to lose out to former Troy coach Neal Brown and West Virginia. They will have to turn to last year’s backup in Brady Cook this year.
Last year’s defense was a disaster as they ranked 113th nationally in scoring defense and towards the bottom in every major category. Coach Drinkwitz is a defensive-minded coach that will have no lack of experience on that side of the ball as he returns eight starters.
This year’s Missouri Tiger team seems poised to be in a dog fight, check that: cat fight, for bowl eligibility.
South Carolina
One of the bigger surprises of the 2021 season was the South Carolina Gamecocks under first-year coach Shane Beamer. Last year, the Gamecocks opened the season with a graduate assistant having to suit up and get under center as they were plagued by injuries and other issues.
The Gamecocks were relentless and scratched out surprise wins against Florida and Auburn to earn a bowl berth where they defeated North Carolina. This year’s team is looking to improve upon last year’s success.
The Gamecocks made one of the largest splashes this offseason when they retained the services of last year’s preseason Heisman favorite Spencer Rattler from Oklahoma.
Although Rattler struggled at times and eventually got benched in favor of Freshman superstar Caleb Williams (now at USC), he is an extremely gifted quarterback that can make practically every throw on the field and can frustrate defenses with his mobility.
He will have an offensive line that returns all five starters from a year ago and a receiving corps that will benefit from a gunslinger that can tear the top off of a defense.
Last year’s defense was the best in the SEC against the pass (7th overall in the country); however, their run defense was so atrocious that a good junior varsity team from Alabama could post 200 yards on them.
The Gamecocks are in luck as they return nearly every member of that vaunted aforementioned secondary as well as seasoned veteran and former five-star prospect Zacch Pickens at defensive tackle. If Beamer and Co. can figure out how to stop the run, South Carolina is a team to not be taken lightly.
They have the offensive weapons and the talent on the back end of the defense to serve up some upset specials this season. They will need to find early success and continuity with their new superstar quarterback as their schedule is brutal.
South Carolina faces Arkansas and Texas A&M as their crossover games in the SEC and in-state rival Clemson looms at the end of the season as they look to bounce back from their “disappointing” 10-win campaign a year ago.
Tennessee
Let’s get one thing out of the way. Regardless of how you feel about Tennessee and their inside-of-a-pumpkin-colored jerseys, their fight song is one of the catchiest in the sport (plus, they play on loop in Neyland).
Much like South Carolina, the outlook for Tennessee heading into the 2021 season under first-year head coach Josh Heupel was bleak. The Volunteer faithful endured an offseason plagued with scandal that consisted of former head coach Jeremy Pruitt allegedly having a McDonald’s bag full of cash delivered to recruits.
After an investigation, Pruitt was sent packing and Heupel was hired after Tennessee missed on its primary targets.
The 2021 Volunteers proved to be everything but a walkover. They narrowly lost to Ole Miss before giving the Alabama defense its fair share of headaches. Now, the 2022 Volunteer team returns key players on both sides of the ball, including starting quarterback and budding star Hendon Hooker.
Hooker is a true dark horse for the Heisman as he will have opportunities against Alabama and Georgia to do the unimaginable. Hooker makes very little mistakes, makes explosive plays, and displays incredible leadership and poise. He will have the benefit of his leading receiver from a year ago split out wide with Cedric Tillman returning.
Additionally, running back Jabari Small appears to be in position for a 1,000-yard year behind the group of big uglies on the offensive line that returns four of five starters from last year.
Defensively, the Volunteers have a few more questions as they return six starters on a defense that was, well, a disaster. Linebacker and safety have far less question marks than the defensive line.
In the SEC, the battle of the trenches is pivotal to your team’s success. Tennessee is going to need their defensive line to quickly gel and make plays; otherwise, Hooker is going to be on the hook to hang 50 points in every game (which he is capable of doing against most opponents).
The expectation in Knoxville is that Tennessee can potentially be a 10-win team in 2022, but they are going to need Hooker to play at an elite level if those expectations are to become reality.
Vanderbilt
The lone SEC team to play in Week 0, Vanderbilt got off to an impressive start with a 63-10 win over Hawaii in the Aloha State. Clark Lea, now in his second year as Head Coach, hopes to find his first win in the SEC this year.
Vanderbilt showed marked improvement in the final four games of 2021, although it did not translate to victories. This year, Vanderbilt is going to rely heavily upon a rushing attack that posted a 404-yard performance in their victory this past week.
Led by dual-threat quarterback Mike Wright, Vanderbilt should find itself much more competitive in SEC play this year.
Furthermore, the defense returns six starters from last year. The upperclassmen in the secondary should provide the leadership and experience to help the younger guys in their development as the year progresses.
Vanderbilt also dipped into the transfer portal to add a former Clemson linebacker as well as a cornerback from Connecticut that had a productive year on an abysmal team.
That said, Vanderbilt will likely find itself hanging its hat on moral victories and tough-fought losses yet again.
Ben Richardson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News
