2021 Cocktail Party
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Heading into the 2020 college football season the Georgia Bulldogs looked to be a force to be reckoned with in the SEC east.
That came crumbling down relatively quickly for the Bulldogs.
A two-loss season would normally not be worrisome for Georgia fans but when you are limited to ten games and they’re all conference games, it makes it a little more difficult.
Georgia fans always expect to be in Championship contention and with the news of quarterback JT Daniels returning to Athens next season, that puts the Bulldogs back in the conversation for next year.
After just four games of action this past season Daniels accounted for 1,231 yards, 10 touchdowns, and only 2 interceptions, which gave the Bulldogs a much-needed passing presence on offense.
Daniels is fortunate enough to have a good group of wideouts to throw to, including Kearis Jackson, Jermaine Burton, and George Pickens; allowing Bulldogs fans to enjoy some home run pass plays for the first time in a while.
Complementing the passing game next season will be, once again, very reliable running backs that get the final push when it matters. Along with an experienced offensive line the Georgia Bulldogs look to be a championship contender once again in the 2021 season.
However, down in Gainesville things will look a little different next year for the Florida Gators.
After winning the SEC east and coming up short in the SEC championship game against top-ranked Alabama, the Gators got manhandled against the Oklahoma Sooners 20-55 in the Cotton Bowl.
However, Dan Mullen led the fans to believe that there were more players out than there were ‘I thought our scout team guys played well’.
Either way, it didn’t put a good end towards what seemed to be a step in the right direction for the Gator program.
Florida was able to put an end to Georgia’s three-year SEC East title streak in Jacksonville this season, one of the first items on each Gator fan’s annual checklist.
Along with the win in Jacksonville, the Gators put up historic numbers, while being led by Heisman candidate Kyle Trask alongside Kadarius Toney and Kyle Pitts, both of whom proved to be matchup problems all season long.
It was only Todd Grantham’s defense that seemed to be the weak link throughout Florida’s season falling from seventh in efficiency a season ago to out of the top 30 this year.
As for next season, the Gators have some searching to do, as they lose all three of Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney to the NFL Draft.
With Dan Mullen as head coach Florida will most likely come back with another stout offense looking to get the ball into the endzone often.