ESPN SEC East Preview

[1vol8]

To see improvement and missed opportunities you have to stop looking at just wins and losses. This is a game played with an oblong ball that takes funny bounces. Focus on things like the O-line improving their blocking and blitz pick up. WRs getting separation. QBs reading the defense and calling audibles. Defenders only playing their gaps. Safeties not getting confused in zone coverage leaving a WR wide open. Return teams not getting out of their lanes. Vocal leaders stepping up on and off the field.

I don’t look at wins and losses when looking for improvement. I brought that up simply due to the strength of schedule of last yr. I think our o line problems were addressed in S&C and recruiting as they were just plain small and weak last season. Blitz pickup can be multiple things outside of a weak line. Could also be the backs and qb playing style. It’s no secret we don’t have speed on the outside but getting open isn’t about how fast you can run, it’s how fast you can stop so I look at route running. JG can definitely improve in his presnap game and working the pocket. Defensively I agree with all that. I think last year, especially early they were confused so they played a half step behind where they’ll play this yr.

 

[Atlanta917]

Jim McElwain beat Kirby, you damn well know Mullen will. Kirby is 1-0 v Mullen at Florida and that goes to 1-1 this year. Mullen’s first year at UF was way more impressive than Kirby’s first year at Georgia.

Nobody cares if Kirby beat Miss State, Florida-Georgia is a different deal.

And all Mullen has to do to beat kirby’s second year is win a championship. I can admit Mullen had a good first year at UF. However, I doubt his second year will measure up. Mullen will need a better qb than franks to beat UGA. Emory Jones has talent, I’d expect UF to have a better shot when Fromm and Franks go pro.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

You are what your record says you are.

I heard that somewhere before...

Its complete BS

 

[GreyWolf1129]

Its complete BS

You might have already posted it. I'm too lazy to look. But I do value your opinion. So what do you think about the '19 Vols?

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

You might have already posted it. I'm too lazy to look. But I do value your opinion. So what do you think about the '19 Vols?

I think its going to be an improvement over last year. I am concerned about both lines. Especially the depth on the DL. But I believe we will see some really good LB and DB play this year. If the offense can put it all together and Chaney has worked some magic, then we may be in for a big surprise this year.

Barring catastrophic injuries to most skill positions, we should win 7 games. There is also a decent chance that we really surprise and win 8 or 9 games.

 

[VOLnMiami]

I am waiting for Harrison Bailey to get on campus...I hope he brings a lot of elite talent with him...When he starts to develop then we will see the upswing of UT football again...No matter how badly Pruitt coaches this year he will be given enough time to try and build a winner here...He's Fulmer boy and Fulmer will fight to the death to keep him and let him work on building us back up...Not sure he can but I can always hope.

 

[NeverWe'llSever]

They’re beating Georgia. And so is Tennessee. So we’ll see what happens from there.

Are y’all as delusional as Jaws?

@99gator
@Lawrence Wright
@lawgator1
@HialeahGator

 

[GAfan2123]

Are y’all as delusional as Jaws?

@99gator
@Lawrence Wright
@lawgator1
@HialeahGator

I understand people being homerish towards their own team, but I personally try to only make predictions/beliefs that I would personally be willing to bet money on

I have put down money on the over for TN and put down money on the under for Florida. I will also probably put down money on the under for Kentucky, but haven't done it yet. I did not put down money on Georgia because I believe it will be a push. The over for South Carolina is also a possibility since they are sitting at 5.5

 

[GAfan2123]

Who has been a head coach for 10 years, has won more than 8 games in the regular season only twice, has a conference record of 43-45, is 6-15 against top 10 teams and is 10-33 against top 25 teams?????

^^^ Dan Mullen

 

[lawgator1]

Are y’all as delusional as Jaws?

@99gator
@Lawrence Wright
@lawgator1
@HialeahGator

There is a historical basis for predicting UGA to lose 1-2 games every year that they should not lose, but in my view that was a function of Richt inexplicably imploding a couple times every season. Jaws seems more knowledgeable than me about Kirby, but Kirby seems to me to have kept up the recruiting success of Richt and maybe even gotten better at that than Richt was, so I am not as sure as Jaws that UGA is due to keep tripping over their own feet as they did under Richt. Put it this way: UGA has absolutely no excuse not to control the East for the foreseeable future, and that's even if UF can continue to improve.

 

[jakez4ut]

There is a historical basis for predicting UGA to lose 1-2 games every year that they should not lose, but in my view that was a function of Richt inexplicably imploding a couple times every season. Jaws seems more knowledgeable than me about Kirby, but Kirby seems to me to have kept up the recruiting success of Richt and maybe even gotten better at that than Richt was, so I am not as sure as Jaws that UGA is due to keep tripping over their own feet as they did under Richt. Put it this way: UGA has absolutely no excuse not to control the East for the foreseeable future, and that's even if UF can continue to improve.

pretty much agree.

and i'd say he's recruiting at a higher level than Richt did, for sure.

and so far, really, they're only stumbling block has been how to close out a game against Bama. by all rights, they should have wont he last two match ups........and didn't. but man for man, they have the players to match up against a Bama, Clemson, OSU, OU etc....

on your last point....that's what GA fans are afraid of. they've been here before. "almost" good enough.

remains to be seen if they can take the next step.

either way, they're still a whole lot closer to it than we are, so for that reason alone, i'd trade places with them in a heartbeat lol.

 

[Jaws]

There is a historical basis for predicting UGA to lose 1-2 games every year that they should not lose, but in my view that was a function of Richt inexplicably imploding a couple times every season. Jaws seems more knowledgeable than me about Kirby, but Kirby seems to me to have kept up the recruiting success of Richt and maybe even gotten better at that than Richt was, so I am not as sure as Jaws that UGA is due to keep tripping over their own feet as they did under Richt. Put it this way: UGA has absolutely no excuse not to control the East for the foreseeable future, and that's even if UF can continue to improve.

The amazing thing to me is how many UGA fans now seem to think they are at a stage where any Florida fan who could possibly believe Florida will beat UGA this year is crazy delusional and it’s the most unbelievable suggestion they’ve ever heard. It’s like they don’t realize Florida finished ranked 6th last year and will start this year in the top 8. It’s like they think Florida is still unranked and being coached by McElwain. The game was extremely competitive last year for 3.5 quarters, and in my opinion UF will be much improved, Georgia will be about the same or maybe a notch down due to new OC and newcomers at WR.

Now I’ll admit that I’m ribbing UGA fans by saying Tennessee will beat them, and I’m basing that more out of hope than a conviction, but Florida has a damn good shot at beating UGA this year, and Georgia isn’t at a level where they can swat away that notion by calling UF fans delusional. All the sudden, they want Clemson/Bama cockiness without the rings to back it up.

 

[Jaws]

Are y’all as delusional as Jaws?

@99gator
@Lawrence Wright
@lawgator1
@HialeahGator

It’s delusional to suggest a team who ranked 6th in the country last year, will start about 8th this year, will beat a team that finished with a similar ranking and the exact same number of losses? Florida and Georgia are close right now, the game last year showed that for 3.5 quarters. It’s more delusional to think UF couldn’t possibly beat UGA than the reverse.

 

[lawgator1]

The amazing thing to me is how many UGA fans now seem to think they are at a stage where any Florida fan who could possibly believe Florida will beat UGA this year is crazy delusional and it’s the most unbelievable suggestion they’ve ever heard. It’s like they don’t realize Florida finished ranked 6th last year and will start this year in the top 8. It’s like they think Florida is still unranked and being coached by McElwain. The game was extremely competitive last year for 3.5 quarters, and in my opinion UF will be much improved, Georgia will be about the same or maybe a notch down due to new OC and newcomers at WR.

Now I’ll admit that I’m ribbing UGA fans by saying Tennessee will beat them, and I’m basing that more out of hope than a conviction, but Florida has a damn good shot at beating UGA this year, and Georgia isn’t at a level where they can swat away that notion by calling UF fans delusional. All the sudden, they want Clemson/Bama cockiness without the rings to back it up.

I agree our trend line is moving in the right direction, and the team especially at the end of last season really spiked. Just hope we don't flatten out.

Also agree that UGA fans are out of their collective minds, but I have seen this before with them a number of times the last 10 years or so. And frankly by all rights they have had reason to be confident at the start of each season. And then by November they are back to finding reasons why they came up short yet again when it makes no sense.

 

[Atlanta917]

It’s delusional to suggest a team who ranked 6th in the country last year, will start about 8th this year, will beat a team that finished with a similar ranking and the exact same number of losses? Florida and Georgia are close right now, the game last year showed that for 3.5 quarters. It’s more delusional to think UF couldn’t possibly beat UGA than the reverse.

In your previous post you said UGA wasn't on the same level as Bama, yet the Bama UGA game was much closer than the UGA UF game. I'm curious as to how UF is on level with UGA due to playing them close for 3 quarters of the game, but UGA isn't near Bama when they played them closer? I don't think all UF fans are delusional, but you are a massive homer that doesn't apply the same logic to UGA that you do for UF. IMO you can't compare teams off a 1 game sample size, but using your logic Bama and UGA would be closer than UF and UGA. No UGA fan thinks its impossible for UF to win, just that UGA will be favored barring an injury to Fromm.

 

[pimo1]

Or dogs named cornbread.

Asparagus

 

[Jaws]

In your previous post you said UGA wasn't on the same level as Bama.

The Georgia and Bama comparison was regarding national titles. Nobody compares with Bama there, but Georgia doesn’t even compare with Florida in that regard. Florida has played for 4 national titles in the last 23 years and won 3 of those. As you know, 1980.

 

[Lawrence Wright]

I don’t share Jaws’ optimism.

This time, with Smart and UGA, it just feels different.

If they don’t win a national title in the next 4-5 years, I may never witness another UGA national title in my lifetime....which is totally cool with me.

 

[Atlanta917]

The Georgia and Bama comparison was regarding national titles. Nobody compares with Bama there, but Georgia doesn’t even compare with Florida in that regard. Florida has played for 4 national titles in the last 23 years and won 3 of those. As you know, 1980.

The reason UGA fans believe they are currently close to Bama is because of how close the games have been. I would think you would understand considering you are using the same logic in regards to UGA and UF. No UGA fan thinks UGA has the same amount of titles as Bama, but nice strawman I guess. The reason for UGA's optimism is Kirby's success and the talent on the roster. Last year was supposed to be a down year with the seniors leaving and true freshman replacing them and yet UGA still came close to making the playoffs. It's not crazy to think those freshman got better with experience and UGA will improve. As for the championships, I don't think Spurrier's and Meyer's past accomplishments really mean anything to this coming season. Neither will be coaching at UF this year. Mullen will and he is currently 0-2 against Smart and hasn't been able to keep a game within 2 scores.

 

[Bellevue vol]

Who has been a head coach for 10 years, has won more than 8 games in the regular season only twice, has a conference record of 43-45, is 6-15 against top 10 teams and is 10-33 against top 25 teams?????

^^^ Dan Mullen

Luckily for him, many people, like some here, don’t look at record when evaluating a coach. I would think more of him if he had conference record of 73-15, but for some, apparently record isn’t important.

 

[Boca Vol]

Luckily for him, many people, like some here, don’t look at record when evaluating a coach. I would think more of him if he had conference record of 73-15, but for some, apparently record isn’t important.

Record is important but so is context.

If a coach at Vandy consistenty goes 6-6/ 8-4 with the occasional win vs. UT he would be given a lifetime contract or go on to bigger schools like Franklin did. IT'S VANDY for Pete's sake.

UF won the SEC East in '15-'16 and they couldn't wait to get rid of McElwain because the higher ups at UF knew he wasn't the answer. Once the door barely cracked open with the lying thing, he was gone.

Miss. St. being competitive in the SEC W for the last decade tells me Mullen is a pretty good coach. Going against Bama, LSU, aTm, Ark, Auburn, and your rival Ole Miss hasn't been a walk in the park the last 10 years. Again, it's MISS ST!

Record is important but who that record is against is also important. The AD at UF thought Mullen was the man to get UF back to the top of the SEC E. AND contend on a national level. Winning the division is the goal at some schools. Others aim a bit higher.

 

[Jaws]

I don't think Spurrier's and Meyer's past accomplishments really mean anything to this coming season. Neither will be coaching at UF this year.

Except that Dan Mullen was a vital part of Urban Meyer’s success at Florida, having been the OC for the two titles. It’s no coincidence that UF’s decade of malaise on offense started when Dan Mullen left.

 

[Bellevue vol]

Record is important but so is context.

If a coach at Vandy consistenty goes 6-6/ 8-4 with the occasional win vs. UT he would be given a lifetime contract or go on to bigger schools like Franklin did. IT'S VANDY for Pete's sake.

UF won the SEC East in '15-'16 and they couldn't wait to get rid of McElwain because the higher ups at UF knew he wasn't the answer. Once the door barely cracked open with the lying thing, he was gone.

Miss. St. being competitive in the SEC W for the last decade tells me Mullen is a pretty good coach. Going against Bama, LSU, aTm, Ark, Auburn, and your rival Ole Miss hasn't been a walk in the park the last 10 years. Again, it's MISS ST!

Record is important but who that record is against is also important. The AD at UF thought Mullen was the man to get UF back to the top of the SEC E. AND contend on a national level. Winning the division is the goal at some schools. Others aim a bit higher.

Just saying that all the other stuff is fun, but for me, the record is the most important thing. If we look like crap, but go 12-1 I will be much happier than if we look great and go 6-6. You can put that in any context you want, but at some point, the record is the most important thing.

 

[Boca Vol]

Just saying that all the other stuff is fun, but for me, the record is the most important thing. If we look like crap, but go 12-1 I will be much happier than if we look great and go 6-6. You can put that in any context you want, but at some point, the record is the most important thing.

I completely agree. At some point, the record is the most important thing. Do you think it is easier to win at UF vs. Miss. St.? That's the question. In a year or 2 the answer will be clear. If UF is stuck in neutral...7-5 to 9-3 then he clearly isn't the answer.

As for context, look at Pruitt this year. If UT goes 6-6 with a$$ beatings against UF, UGA, Bama, Mizzou, and Vandy have they really improved? If UT goes 6-6 and the above losses from last season are much closer or even a win or 2 I'd feel better about UT's situation.

 

[ZippyMorocco]

Mullen could have hung from Urban Meyer’s sack as an assistant for several more season’s until a Florida-like job opened up, like Kirby did from Saban’s sack at Bama. But Mullen, because he’s got more stones than redneck Kirby, went to Miss State and only became their best coach ever. He did that while Kirby was “yessir-ing” it and bringing Saban coffee. So Kirby hops into all that Richt talent and basically does the same underwhelming job. Mullen is about to go on an absolute tear in the east, so I hope Georgia enjoyed those cute little non-Championship season’s over the last couple years. That’s over.

36-17.