The door is wide open
At the start of the season, I mentioned that I thought A&M had as good a chance as anyone to come out of the west if they could handle some of their bigger issues. The reason was simple: everyone else has pressing issues to deal with too. We've seen that play out -- in some cases, painfully -- for SEC West team to date. A&M still has its issues, but nobody else has dealt with theirs either.
The teams with the biggest problems are evident: Arkansas and Auburn. They're both on the verge of watching their respective seasons utterly collapse. At the start of the year, I wondered how well their defense would improve with Will Muschamp at the helm and how good their offense would be with a new QB and complete change of scheme. Answers: their defense is WORSE and their offense is a disaster. Jeremy Johnson has gone from (alleged) Heisman candidate to possibly the worst QB in the conference. Unless they seriously improve, they are going to be hard-pressed to win a game in conference.
As for Arkansas, I thought they'd lost too much on defense and wondered if they had the horses on offense to keep pace. Brandon Allen has had a great year, for the most part, but they're terribly thin on D and now they're down both of their starting wideouts and their starting fullback, not to mention team MVP RB Jonathan Williams. They're not nearly as physical this year as last. They may have been overrated, but now they're not good and banged up.
Alabama's issues started with their quarterback, and that's still an issue. They turned the ball over 5 times against Ole Miss and still haven't played in a truly hostile environment. Their defense isn't playing as hot as expected either. They're still dangerous, but they've actually been kind of pedestrian in their last 19 games: 14-5.
Ole Miss has been very good on offense so far, but benefitted from Alabama's generosity Saturday. But Alabama's O is not all that and still put up 37, with some big long drives. The defense was the question before and is now.
Mississippi State lost 15 starters. That's enough right there.
LSU has the great Fournette, but their QB play remains subpar. Their defense still hasn't been tested, but it's not as deep or as good, I'd wager, as past years. If someone can stuff the run, they're in it deep.
So what's A&M's problems? Before the season began, it was a lack of depth at linebacker and corner. Those have not been as horrific as they could have been (they're still not great), but their biggest issue at the moment is consistency. They were up for ASU and defensively buried them. But the offensive line wasn't good in that game until late and has been sporadic at best through three games. The running game is there and then it's not. Kyle Allen is great -- really great -- and then turns the ball over. The defense stuffs the opponents for two straight 3 and outs and then gives up a long run because of a stupid misread on a gap.
The West is there. It's wide open, and don't think A&M can't win it. But if A&M wants to win it, consistency has to appear right now. If they're really good two series and really bad on one, they'll get pounced on that one series and it'll be costly.
Yes/No/Don't do that again, thanks
Yes: 3 wides, one tight end, one back OR 4 wides, one back. Those sets work.
No: Two wides, two tights. Didn't work. If you come out of the I, maybe.
Don't do that again: 5 wides. Blitz, sack. Horrible possession.
Yes: Use Zaycoven Henderson and Daylon Mack in the middle
No: Don't use them for multiple series in a row.
Don't do that again: Have them out there on 4th down. That's Alonzo Williams and Julien Obioha time. They're more experienced and more consistent.
Yes: Play press man.
No: Don't forget turning around to find the ball, even if you can faceguard in college.
Don't do that again: Jump over a receiver's back.
How you get greater consistency (maybe)
Here are few things to look for now that conference play is here to get the elusive consistency we've been talking about. Most of these are pretty obvious.
Cut down the line rotations. They're going to have to settle on a left guard (both had good movements this weekend) and reduce rotations on the D-line. That means more Garrett, Hall, Williams and Obioha and less Cunningham, Henderson, Mack and Johnson. Lockhart, Keke and Washington probably won't get much PT at all. When the 2s are in there -- and really, they've played pretty darn well except for some mental FUBARS -- they're going to be ordered to go all out every down.
Less exotic looks. A&M did a bunch of things that made me think that half of their offensive game plan was Arkansas prep, not Nevada play. I doubt we see 5 wides unless necessary, fewer trick plays and no tosses to Avery Gennesy. All that was to keep Arkansas' defense staff up later at night. When it comes down to it, they're going to do what fits them best.
Oh, most importantly, they'd better come out and play with the fire they've shown to start off games all the way through. ASU intensity is required for every snap from here on out.
One guy I'm really pleased with
Is Nick Harvey. This is a guy who last year played softer than ice cream on a warm summer day, and then had a subpar spring. He got told to toughen up or else, and came very close to transferring one Brandon Williams moved over to play corner. Since then, though, he's really done exactly what the coaches have wanted him to do and he's played very good in coverage with the exception of one play against Ball State. He's made a couple of real nice tackles Saturday. He's improved week to week and should give A&M cause for optimism the rest of this year and next.
SEC rankings
1. Ole Miss (3-0): They beat the king. Now they're the king. Let's see if they can stay here.
2. LSU (2-0): They crushed a fellow west team.
3. A&M (3-0): Be consistent and the world's your oyster.
4. Georgia (3-0): The best in the east by a mile.
5. Alabama (2-1): They'll rebound. Right?
6. Florida (3-0): They won't stay here long. A cocktail party is coming.
7. Mississippi State (2-1): Struggling running the ball. That's a big problem for them.
8. Tennessee (2-1): Attaway to beat up on Western Carolina. Sheesh.
9. Mizzou (3-0): Struggled to beat UCONN. This could be generous.
10. Kentucky (2-1): They're like that State Farm commercial: "Oh, almost had that one."
11. Auburn (2-1): SEC champions, they said. Gus is unstoppable, they said. Muschamp will change everything immediately, they said. Riiiight.
12. Arkansas (1-2): Banged up, embarrassed and their coach got verbally slapped around by CFB's resident metrosexual head coach.
13. South Carolina (1-2): They're on OBC retirement watch. Or, if he doesn't, they may just fire him.
14. Vandy (1-2): THEY WON! THEY WON!
The Bottom 10 (with musical accompaniment)
10. South Carolina (1-2; Suspicious Minds by Elvis): They're getting curbstomped, but they're caught in a trap. They can't walk out. They love Spurrier too much, baby.
9. Louisville (0-3; Girls Girls Girls by Motley Crue): Most appropriate song for a reprobate head coach with reprobate players, with the bonus of motorcycles revving up to start the song. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.
8. Texas (1-2; I Missed Again, by Phil Collins): Self-explanatory. Three ranked teams up next. See ya.
7. Rutgers (1-2; Long Arm of the Law, by Styx): Six players and their head coach suspended. Goon squad.
6. Vandy (1-2; Bye Bye Bye, by NSync): That's what happens to Derek Mason at the end of the year.
5. Kansas (0-2; Dust in the Wind by Kansas): That's all this season is. Dust in the wind.
4. UTSA (0-3; Amarillo by Morning, by George Strait): You know what else got up and left San Antone? Offense. 49 points in 3 games.
3. UMass (0-2; Oops, I did it Again by Britney Spears): They sucked last year and were a permanent fixture around 3. And with 37 total points and 73 allowed, they've done it again.
2. Wyoming (0-3; Imagine, by John Lennon): Imagine that we suck less...It's easy if you try...
1. UNLV (0-3; Viva Las Vegas, by Elvis): Great thing about that town is nobody notices if their football team is horrible.
At the start of the season, I mentioned that I thought A&M had as good a chance as anyone to come out of the west if they could handle some of their bigger issues. The reason was simple: everyone else has pressing issues to deal with too. We've seen that play out -- in some cases, painfully -- for SEC West team to date. A&M still has its issues, but nobody else has dealt with theirs either.
The teams with the biggest problems are evident: Arkansas and Auburn. They're both on the verge of watching their respective seasons utterly collapse. At the start of the year, I wondered how well their defense would improve with Will Muschamp at the helm and how good their offense would be with a new QB and complete change of scheme. Answers: their defense is WORSE and their offense is a disaster. Jeremy Johnson has gone from (alleged) Heisman candidate to possibly the worst QB in the conference. Unless they seriously improve, they are going to be hard-pressed to win a game in conference.
As for Arkansas, I thought they'd lost too much on defense and wondered if they had the horses on offense to keep pace. Brandon Allen has had a great year, for the most part, but they're terribly thin on D and now they're down both of their starting wideouts and their starting fullback, not to mention team MVP RB Jonathan Williams. They're not nearly as physical this year as last. They may have been overrated, but now they're not good and banged up.
Alabama's issues started with their quarterback, and that's still an issue. They turned the ball over 5 times against Ole Miss and still haven't played in a truly hostile environment. Their defense isn't playing as hot as expected either. They're still dangerous, but they've actually been kind of pedestrian in their last 19 games: 14-5.
Ole Miss has been very good on offense so far, but benefitted from Alabama's generosity Saturday. But Alabama's O is not all that and still put up 37, with some big long drives. The defense was the question before and is now.
Mississippi State lost 15 starters. That's enough right there.
LSU has the great Fournette, but their QB play remains subpar. Their defense still hasn't been tested, but it's not as deep or as good, I'd wager, as past years. If someone can stuff the run, they're in it deep.
So what's A&M's problems? Before the season began, it was a lack of depth at linebacker and corner. Those have not been as horrific as they could have been (they're still not great), but their biggest issue at the moment is consistency. They were up for ASU and defensively buried them. But the offensive line wasn't good in that game until late and has been sporadic at best through three games. The running game is there and then it's not. Kyle Allen is great -- really great -- and then turns the ball over. The defense stuffs the opponents for two straight 3 and outs and then gives up a long run because of a stupid misread on a gap.
The West is there. It's wide open, and don't think A&M can't win it. But if A&M wants to win it, consistency has to appear right now. If they're really good two series and really bad on one, they'll get pounced on that one series and it'll be costly.
Yes/No/Don't do that again, thanks
Yes: 3 wides, one tight end, one back OR 4 wides, one back. Those sets work.
No: Two wides, two tights. Didn't work. If you come out of the I, maybe.
Don't do that again: 5 wides. Blitz, sack. Horrible possession.
Yes: Use Zaycoven Henderson and Daylon Mack in the middle
No: Don't use them for multiple series in a row.
Don't do that again: Have them out there on 4th down. That's Alonzo Williams and Julien Obioha time. They're more experienced and more consistent.
Yes: Play press man.
No: Don't forget turning around to find the ball, even if you can faceguard in college.
Don't do that again: Jump over a receiver's back.
How you get greater consistency (maybe)
Here are few things to look for now that conference play is here to get the elusive consistency we've been talking about. Most of these are pretty obvious.
Cut down the line rotations. They're going to have to settle on a left guard (both had good movements this weekend) and reduce rotations on the D-line. That means more Garrett, Hall, Williams and Obioha and less Cunningham, Henderson, Mack and Johnson. Lockhart, Keke and Washington probably won't get much PT at all. When the 2s are in there -- and really, they've played pretty darn well except for some mental FUBARS -- they're going to be ordered to go all out every down.
Less exotic looks. A&M did a bunch of things that made me think that half of their offensive game plan was Arkansas prep, not Nevada play. I doubt we see 5 wides unless necessary, fewer trick plays and no tosses to Avery Gennesy. All that was to keep Arkansas' defense staff up later at night. When it comes down to it, they're going to do what fits them best.
Oh, most importantly, they'd better come out and play with the fire they've shown to start off games all the way through. ASU intensity is required for every snap from here on out.
One guy I'm really pleased with
Is Nick Harvey. This is a guy who last year played softer than ice cream on a warm summer day, and then had a subpar spring. He got told to toughen up or else, and came very close to transferring one Brandon Williams moved over to play corner. Since then, though, he's really done exactly what the coaches have wanted him to do and he's played very good in coverage with the exception of one play against Ball State. He's made a couple of real nice tackles Saturday. He's improved week to week and should give A&M cause for optimism the rest of this year and next.
SEC rankings
1. Ole Miss (3-0): They beat the king. Now they're the king. Let's see if they can stay here.
2. LSU (2-0): They crushed a fellow west team.
3. A&M (3-0): Be consistent and the world's your oyster.
4. Georgia (3-0): The best in the east by a mile.
5. Alabama (2-1): They'll rebound. Right?
6. Florida (3-0): They won't stay here long. A cocktail party is coming.
7. Mississippi State (2-1): Struggling running the ball. That's a big problem for them.
8. Tennessee (2-1): Attaway to beat up on Western Carolina. Sheesh.
9. Mizzou (3-0): Struggled to beat UCONN. This could be generous.
10. Kentucky (2-1): They're like that State Farm commercial: "Oh, almost had that one."
11. Auburn (2-1): SEC champions, they said. Gus is unstoppable, they said. Muschamp will change everything immediately, they said. Riiiight.
12. Arkansas (1-2): Banged up, embarrassed and their coach got verbally slapped around by CFB's resident metrosexual head coach.
13. South Carolina (1-2): They're on OBC retirement watch. Or, if he doesn't, they may just fire him.
14. Vandy (1-2): THEY WON! THEY WON!
The Bottom 10 (with musical accompaniment)
10. South Carolina (1-2; Suspicious Minds by Elvis): They're getting curbstomped, but they're caught in a trap. They can't walk out. They love Spurrier too much, baby.
9. Louisville (0-3; Girls Girls Girls by Motley Crue): Most appropriate song for a reprobate head coach with reprobate players, with the bonus of motorcycles revving up to start the song. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.
8. Texas (1-2; I Missed Again, by Phil Collins): Self-explanatory. Three ranked teams up next. See ya.
7. Rutgers (1-2; Long Arm of the Law, by Styx): Six players and their head coach suspended. Goon squad.
6. Vandy (1-2; Bye Bye Bye, by NSync): That's what happens to Derek Mason at the end of the year.
5. Kansas (0-2; Dust in the Wind by Kansas): That's all this season is. Dust in the wind.
4. UTSA (0-3; Amarillo by Morning, by George Strait): You know what else got up and left San Antone? Offense. 49 points in 3 games.
3. UMass (0-2; Oops, I did it Again by Britney Spears): They sucked last year and were a permanent fixture around 3. And with 37 total points and 73 allowed, they've done it again.
2. Wyoming (0-3; Imagine, by John Lennon): Imagine that we suck less...It's easy if you try...
1. UNLV (0-3; Viva Las Vegas, by Elvis): Great thing about that town is nobody notices if their football team is horrible.
