Category Archives: Football

Bringing all the latest news and updates related to SEC football.

Emmit Smith has ‘seen enough’ of Jeff Driskel

Well the hits keep coming for Jeff Driskel and I’m not talking on the field.

The unranked Florida Gators suffered a 42-21 beat down against No. 3 Alabama on Saturday. Former legendary Gator running back Emmit Smith tweeted for Driskel to be benched during the fourth quarter.

We all know Driskel had a bad game. He completed 9 of his 28 passes for 93 yards, two interceptions and once touchdown. Driskel attempted a career high of 13 passes for 15 yards or longer with just one completion.

He also led the Gators in rushing, carrying the ball 11 times for 59 yards and a touchdown.

If the Gators continue to struggle offensively, its going to be another long season and you can say good bye to Will Muschamp.

The Gators (2-1, 1-1) will travel to Tennessee next Saturday.

Week 1 Recap In SEC Football

Well we finally got to see some college football games this past weekend. I have to say that overall, I was very impressed with the overall play in the sec football games. The only teams that had a bad week was South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Here’s a quick recap of the games around the sec conference.

Saturday, 8/30
Sunday, 8/31

My vote for players of the week have to be QB Kenny Hill of Texas A&M and RB Todd Gurley. Hill, who won the starting job over freshman Kyle Allen two weeks ago, was 27 for 35 in the first half for 299 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with a school-record 511 yards and 44 completions in the 52-28 upset over South Carolina. Gurley finished the night with 198 yards on 15 carries with three touchdowns, and a 100 yard kickoff return for a TD in the second quarter.

Demps, Patton signs with Tampa Bays practice squad

Former Gator running back Jeff Demps and wide receiver Solomon Patton have signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad just one day after being cut. Both had solid camps for the Bucs but were questioned whether or not they would make the official roster. Now with their second opportunity to impress the Buccaneers staff, they must give their all if they want to land a spot on the active roster.

According to Thomas Goldkamp of Gatorbait, the minimum practice-squad salary is $6,100 per week which turns out to a $107,100 for a full 17-week season.

Georgia Gets Some Big Recruits In Football 2015 Class.

 Trent Thompson, the 5-star defensive tackle from Albany’s Westover High School, committed to UGA over Alabama and Auburn last Tuesday. That was a big deal in Georgia, because for the second year in a row they landed the states top recruit. Receiver Jayson Stanley of Creekside High School in Fairburn announced his commitment last Saturday night. Rated a four-star prospect, Stanley (6-foot-2, 198 pounds) dedicated his commitment to his late brother.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Jonathan Ledbetter, a 4-star defensive lineman from Tucker High School, announced his switch from Alabama to Georgia this past Saturday night. Georgia was around 10th in recruiting rankings before Thompson committed but now the are 5th according to the latest rankings out by 24/7 sports. Those rankings could soon change again if. top prospect recruit DE Josh Sweat commits. Sources are saying that defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt a making a big push for Sweat Georgia also got four-star OL Patrick Allen and three star JUCO RB Chris Carson a couple weeks ago too. 

The only setback in recruiting was Rico Mcgraw who flipped from Georgia to Alabama, claiming he was just more impressed with Alabama facilities than Georgia’s. With Ledbetter flipping from Alabama to Georgia. it’s almost like these two schools are competing for the same recruits.   Either way I’d have to say that the month of August has been big for the Dawgs future in football.

The Florida Gators Looking To Make Fans Forget First Losing Season since 1979.

The Florida gators 2013 season was the first losing season (4-8) since 1979. I mean you really have to feel bad for those guys because they was littered with injuries and just could not overcome them. 2013 looked promising until quarterback Jeff Driskel was sidelined before camp even started with an appendectomy, while running back Matt Jones was held back with a nasty viral infection. At the end of the 2013 season, 23 players had missed games with injuries. While the Gators were in a constant battle against players missing time, there’s simply no excuse for losing to the Georgia Southern Eagles.     

So needles to say, that the theme this year around fall camp is lets stay healthy. That much was obvious after the team’s best player, sophomore cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, was hurt last at Thursday’s practice. Will Muschamp has taken the time to preach strength and conditioning and to hydrate and take plenty of vitamins to all his players. With all hands on board and healthy, the Florida gators know that they can get back to the same type of team that fans were used to see winning and competing for the SEC crown before 2013.

   On offense they return key starters like QB Jeff Driskel, RB Kelvin Taylor, RB Matt Jones, OT DJ Humphries,and  OL Max Garcia. Driskel will have to play to form like he did in 2012 when he lead the team to a 11-2, 7-1 (SEC) record. With new offense coordinator Kurt Roper, Driskel will have more chances to spread defenses out and throw the ball down field. The gators will also have a good back field with returning starter RB Kelvin Taylor and backup RB Mack Brown, they will balance the offense out well. I think with these changes and the returning starters, then the offense will be much improved.

             On defense they return key starters  DE Dante Fowler, DL Jonathan Bullard, LB Antonio Morrison, LB Michael Taylor,  and CB Vernon Hargreaves. The defense has been good since Muschamp took over a couple years ago and will continue to be good this year. Dante Fowler Jr. is the key figure if Florida is going to improve its sack numbers. The Gators ranked 11th in the SEC in sacks per game last season (1.6) and haven’t ranked higher than sixth since 2009. Fowler’s 2013 season, though, took a turn after tackle Dominique Easley was lost for the season in September, and now Easley is gone for good. Beyond cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, talent in the secondary is unproven, but they do have a stable of 4 and 5 star talent.

If the gators are going to return to SEC dominance, then they have to navigate a pretty tough schedule in which they play on the road at Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida State. Then they will still have to play Georgia in Jacksonville and South Carolina. In my opinion I do feel like the gators will be a much improved team this year just by staying healthy alone. Remember that this team has a lot of big time talent on it and they are ready to showcase those talents. So to you the Forida fans, go ahead and rip up all those old 2013 articles that mentioned all the downfalls of the gators. This year these gators are going to the fans much more to cheer and brag about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema Says Razorbacks Will Be Better.

   Bret Bielema’s first season at Arkansas resulted in an overall record of 3-9, including 0-8 in the SEC. It was the Razorbacks’ worst SEC mark since entering the league in 1992 and their first winless in-conference season since 1942. It was a season that all razorback fans agree they would like to forget. Bret Bielema changed the offense and defense playbooks last year and did not have the right players for his system. He hopes that after recruiting well and training the returning starters, that he can get this year’s team to buy into his system and be a hard nose grind it out type of team.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    The offense will return 7 starters with key starters being QB Brandon Allen, RB Alex Collins, TE Hunter Henry, OL Brey Cook, OL Denver Kirkland. Alex Collins may be the featured player in this year’s offense. Last year his four 100-yard rushing games ranked second in school history among freshmen and tied for second in the nation for 2013 freshmen. He led all NCAA freshmen in rushing yards. The razorbacks will be searching for a go to guy at the WR position. They lost WR Javontee Herndon, WR Julian Horton, with Herndon being QB Brandon Allen’s favorite target last year. Bielema thinks that Keon Hatcher can become that go to receiver, but TE Hunter Henery will see a lot of receptions this year as well.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The defense will return 8 starters with key starters being DE Trey Flowers, DT Darius Philon, LB Braylon Mitchell, S Alan Turner, CB Telvin Mitchell, S Rohan Gaines. The defense was not good last year. The D-line was ranked 78th in the nation  in yards allowed per game (178.4). With Flowers coming back for his senior year, and the young talent like  DE Deatrich Wise, th should be a lot better this year. Although nobody is expecting Arkansas to make big strides in the win loss record this year, they should be much improved over last year’s team. I say give Bielema another year or two in recruiting for his system and the razorback’s will be back to competing for that SEC west crown.

  

 

Vols WR Cody Blanc Out For The Year

Tennessee Vols coach Butch Jones announced on Tuesday, that receiver Cody Blanc had torn an achilles tendon and will be out for the year. Cody had hurt the Achilles during workouts last Friday. Cody had played in 21 games for the vols in 2 years and was expected to be more implented into the passing game this year. If not the passing game, then he was for sure going to be on the specials team where he was pretty good last year. His only real highlight came last year when he had a 43 yard reception against Alabama.

Cody was a 3 star player out of high school and was a hometown guy in Knoxville. With him being gone for the season, coach Jones will have to change up the depth chart at receiver and find another special team talent to fill Cody’s spot. With returning starters like WR Marquez North, WR Pig Howard, Cody was sure to be 3rd or 4th on the depth chart. It has not been released yet how long it will take him to rehab the injury. 

The Vols first game will be against the Utah State Aggies on Aug 31st. I’m sure coach Jones is thinking, lets just stay healthy.

 

 

 

Auburn Ready To Repeat As SEC Champions In 2014

This time last year auburn fans did not know, that they were about to witness a season for the ages for auburn football. It was one of those seasons that you would never see a team have after going 3-9 and 0-8 in the SEC the previous year. The Tigers will want to prove that last year’s remarkable run to the BCS Championship game (and a record of 12-2, 7-1 in the SEC)  was not a fluke and they are well positioned to stay near the top. They return 14 starters including eight on offense led by quarterback Nick Marshall who becomes the first two-year starting quarterback that Gus Malzahn has had at the college level (coordinator or head coach). They do have to replace running back Tre Mason, but return four of their top five rushers and their top four receivers. 

They will have to replace key starters on defense like DE Dee Ford, MLB Jake Holland, CB Chris Davis, DB Ryan Smith, but returning starters like  DE Carl Lawson, DT Ben Bradley, DT Gabe Wright, DT Montravius Adams, LB Roninson Therezie, LB Cassanova McKinzy, LB Chris Frost, CB Jonathon Mincy, DB Jermaine Whitehead, should keep auburn fighting for the top spot in the SEC west.   

They do have a pretty tough schedule this year opening with the Arkansas razorbacks on Aug 30th, but they are still talented enough to navigate their way to a 9 or 10 win season this year. Key games will be at Kansas state, at Georgia, at Alabama,and 2 key home games with LSU and South Carolina. That is tough for any team in the SEC to navigate, but with the talent already there and the a couple top 10 recruiting classes under coach Gus Malzahn, the tigers are poised to make another run at the SEC Championship                                                                                        .

Tennessee’s Fans Are Ready For A New Winning Era

  The Vols are 16 years removed from 1998. The incoming freshmen were two years old when Tennessee won the national championship in 98. They have a very good 2nd year coach in  Butch Jones, a great stadium, and  a winning tradition to not get back into having winning seasons again.  They probably (because of all the new starters on the team this year) won’t make big splashes in the win column this year. The vols are only returning ten starters. Five on offense and five on defense. That much inexperience with a SEC schedule will probably lead to third or fourth  best record in the SEC east this year.  The Vols have not had what we consider a great season since 2007. Despite a 21-14 loss to eventual national champion LSU in the SEC Championship game, Tennessee defeated Wisconsin, 21-17, in the Outback Bowl and finished the season ranked No. 12. That’s what vols fans these days are hoping Jones can get this team back to. With key returners like QB Josh Dobbs, RB Marlin Lane, WR Marquez North on offense, and  LB AJ Johnson, LB Curt Maggitt, DB Brian Randolph, CB Cam Sutton on defense, and  the vols with two seasons of top 10 recruiting classes are poised to get back to fighting for the SEC East title again.  Yes Knoxville TN does have a lot to expect from this years team, but lets give the vols maybe one or two more years to get back to 10 wins seasons again. Lets see what Jones can do when he finally has his team that will be full of 4 star talent next year on the field. Be patient vols fans, because the vols are building brick by brick, and we are seeing it play out before our very own eyes.

Alabama Quarterback Battle Brewing

With AJ McCarron and his now wife Katherine Webb now living in Cincinnati, Alabama fans were left to wonder just who their next QB would be in the Saban era. While some have jumped to the conclusion that graduate transfer Jacob Coker (transferred from FSU) will be handed the starting job, Nick Saban has said otherwise. Saban gave non-committal answers to the press about his quarterbacks, even going as far as to say he hadn’t seen them throw the ball very much yet. While that’s hard to believe from a control freak like Saban, it is very believable that the quarterback race is wide open as the new SEC season approaches.

Along with Coker, two other names can be thrown into the ring in this boiling QB battle. Senior Blake Sims who has been a backup for the tide the past two seasons, and redshirt freshman Cooper Bateman (solid name).

While Bateman is considered to be a longshot to win the job, both Sims and Coker have a legitimate shot to be the face of the Alabama offense this year as they try to climb to the top of the mountain again. In fact the two have been battling so tightly and the race is so close that Saban even said he has considered running some sort of a two quarterback system at the start of the year.

Here is what Saban had to say about that possibility:

“It’s not something that I would hope would happen. Is it something that I can totally rule out? Not really because I think the skill set of Blake Sims can create problems for a defense. If we wanted to utilize him to do that in some kind of way, I guess you could say that we could possibly have a two-quarterback system.”

While I don’t believe that will actually happen (if you have two quarterbacks, you have zero), it speaks volumes to just how neck and neck these two are coming down the stretch into August.

Blake Sims seemed to be headed towards becoming the lead man as last year ended and AJ departed to the NFL, but Coker coming in shook up the plans. At 6’5 Coker is the prototypical QB and could fill the shoes of Mccarron quite nicely if given the shot, and would give Alabama a similar look and style on offense as we have seen the past few regimes under center. Sims on the other hand presents an entirely different set of skills under center and can wreak havoc on a defense from inside or outside of the pocket with the ball in his hands. With the speed of SEC defenders, Sims’ play making ability and use of his legs when plays break down can become increasingly valuable and as the game evolves, the mobile QB becomes increasingly more effective as well. Don’t forget, Saban badly wanted Jameis Winston, a guy who has a huge arm but also posses the ability to make something out of nothing and throws on the run at a high level.

Both Coker and Sims have proven they can handle the reins of the Tide offense and will have an excellent safety valve to lean on in the backfield with junior running back TJ Yeldon lining up beside them. Along with Yeldon, Kenyan Drake will also be featured in the ever star studded running game that we have become used to seeing from a Nick Saban led team. As the season inches closer and closer, so does the quarterback race, and with reviews raving for both players, Saban will have one of the most difficult decisions he has ever made on his hands when choosing his new leader as he aims to further cement his legacy with another championship year.

The Tide will open their season against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Georgia dome on August 30th.