Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
College Football Progress Reports
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are only a few weeks into the college football season but we have learned about some of the prominent teams around the country.
It’s a little too early for report cards but we can make progress reports for some of the programs around the Southeast.
Georgia: The Dawgs are 3-0, which is good. They beat up on #14 Clemson 34-3 to start the season. The biggest take away from that game was the Tigers are not very good.
They followed that up by beating FCS Tennessee Tech 48-3. Last weekend they struggled at Kentucky and won 13-12. These are the same Wildcats that lost 31-6 to South Carolina the week before. I think UGA will be fine but the next test comes September 28 at Alabama.
Grade: A-
Alabama: Nick Saban is gone and Kalen DeBoer has stepped in. The Crimson Tide have beaten Western Kentucky, USF and Wisconsin. The South Florida game was close in the first half but they won 42-16.
These wins are not impressive but the schedule will get harder. We will learn a lot about this team when they play Georgia.
Grade: A
Tennessee: This has to be the most surprising team in my opinion. Redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava stepped in as the starter and he looks like a Heisman candidate.
The Vols started the season with FCS Chattanooga and won 69-3. They played #23 NC State in Charlotte and won 51-10. Last weekend they demolished Kent State 71-0.
Grade: A+
Miami: Are the Hurricanes back? We seem to ask this question every few years. They opened the season at Florida and won 41-17. They followed that up with blow out victories against FCS Florida A&M and Ball State.
QB Cam Ward transferred in from Washington State and he’s playing great. Their next game is at USF. You can’t say I have something against the state of Florida with this grade.
Grade: A
Florida State: The wheels have completely fallen off in Tallahassee. They started last season 13-0 but have not recovered since losing the Orange Bowl.
The Seminoles came into the season ranked #10 and lost to Georgia Tech in Ireland. Then they dropped home games against Boston College and Memphis to fall to 0-3.
Mike Norvell’s seat is burning up right now.
Grade: F-
Florida: Speaking of hot seats, Billy Napier’s is in flames. Unlike Norvell, he has not had double-digit wins in Gainesville.
He actually has not had more than 6 wins in a season. We talked about the embarrassing loss to Miami earlier. They did beat FCS Samford for their lone win this season.
The Gators lost to Texas A&M at home 33-20 over the weekend. The score makes this game seem closer than it was. They travel to Mississippi State for their next game.
Grade: F
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are 3-1, which is better than most people expected them to start the season.
The wins are against FSU, Georgia State and VMI, an FCS team. The loss was at Syracuse, 31-28. I thought that was a game they were going to win. They play at #19 Louisville this week.
Kick It Off
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Week 1 of the college football season kicks off this week.
Let’s take a look at some of the teams from the South.
Florida at 14 Utah: This was a very close game last year that Florida won at home, 29-26. Now the Gators travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utes on Thursday.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson left for the NFL draft and was picked fourth overall. Fifth-year redshirt junior and Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz has been named the starter.
Florida coach Billy Napier is entering his second season but he’s already on the hot seat. Utah is the better team and I expect them to beat the Gators by double digits.
Virginia vs 12 Tennessee: This game is in Nashville at Nissan Stadium, the home of the Tennessee Titans. It’s considered a neutral site game but the Vols will have most of the crowd cheering for them.
QB Hendon Hooker played great last season before suffering a season ending injury. He’s now in the NFL and his former backup, Joe Milton is the starter.
Milton is 6’5, 236 pounds with a very strong arm. He was named the MVP of the 2022 Orange Bowl against Clemson.
The Cavaliers were 3-7 in 2022, which was head coach Tony Elliott’s first season. Tennessee should easily win this game.
Georgia Tech vs Louisville: This is the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday night. Both teams have new head coaches this season. Jeff Brohm was hired to coach the Cardinals in December. He was previously the head coach at Purdue and his record is 36-34.
Brent Key was the interim coach for the Yellow Jackets last season and went 4-4 to become the head coach. I think this will be a close game but I give the edge to Louisville.
21 North Carolina vs South Carolina: The battle of the Carolinas is a neutral site game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
The Gamecocks have Spencer Rattler in his second season as the QB there. Coming out of high school he was the MVP of the Elite 11.
He was also featured on the show QB1: Beyond the Lights. His career initially looked promising at Oklahoma before things fell apart. Let’s see if he can finally put everything together this season and be an elite quarterback.
Drake Maye is the signal caller for the Tar Heels and he’s projected to be the second quarterback picked in the 2024 draft. Last season he passed for 4,321 yards, 38 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
I think this game will be decided in the trenches so I give South Carolina the advantage.
5 LSU vs 8 Florida State: This game is at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The Seminoles won this game last season 24-23.
The defense is led by defensive end Jared Verse. He transferred from FCS Albany and in his first season at FSU he had 17 tackles for loss and 9 sacks.
Redshirt senior QB Jordan Travis had a good 2022 season and he’s expected to take the next step this season.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels transferred in from Arizona State last season. He was pretty good and led the Tigers to an upset win over Alabama.
I think this will be a close game but I’m picking FSU.
Shuffling The Deck
By: Garrison Ryfun
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With the ACC going division-less in 2023, the championship will now be played by the top two teams in the conference, instead of the winners of each division.
Since the conference is going division-less, teams will now play what is described as a 3-5-5 schedule.
This means that from at least 2023 to 2026, ACC teams will have three primary opponents and a rotation of the other ten teams in the conference.
The ACC guarantees that through this new scheduling format, each team will have a home and away game against all 13 other teams in this four-year window.
Though not all that common, this will prevent a championship game played by a 7-5 or 6-6 winner of either the Coastal or Atlantic division.
Once again, the divisions will not exist anymore but every team will be locked into three specific opponents.
Here are the primary opponents for each team in the ACC:
Boston College: Miami (FL), Pittsburgh, and Syracuse
Clemson: Florida State, Georgia Tech, and NC State
Duke: North Carolina, NC State, and Wake Forest
Florida State: Clemson, Miami, and Syracuse
Georgia Tech: Clemson, Louisville, and Wake Forest
Louisville: Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), and Virginia
Miami (FL): Boston College, Florida State, and Louisville
North Carolina: Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia
NC State: Clemson, Duke, and North Carolina
Pittsburgh: Boston College, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech
Syracuse: Boston College, Florida State, and Pittsburgh
Virginia: Louisville, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech: Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Wake Forest
Wake Forest: Duke, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech
Notre Dame, though not an official member of the conference for football, will still play their contractually obligated five ACC opponents under this new system.
This move just makes sense for the health of the conference.
In the upcoming age of super conferences, with Texas and Oklahoma moving to the SEC and USC and UCLA making their move to the Big Ten, having the two best teams in your conference title game will only help with national perception for the top of your conference.
It will already be hard enough to convince teams like Florida State and Clemson to not look elsewhere during this era. Super conferences will only create more revenue, especially in the television space for their member teams.
This is a step forward, albeit small, for the conference, and could give fans some fun in-season rematches in the championship game for years to come.
The biggest problem the ACC has left is figuring out how to navigate college football in this upcoming era.
Convincing Notre Dame, whose contract with NBC expires in 2025, and another high-profile team to join the conference is the next big step the ACC has to take to remain relevant in the football space.
The Coastal Life
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are getting closer to the start of the 2022 football season.
Let’s take a look at the ACC Coastal Division and predict the final standings.
#7 Duke 3-9 (0-8 ACC): The Blue Devils struggled in 2021. Head coach David Cutcliffe is now gone and former Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko has taken over.
The offense averaged 14.9 points per game in conference play last season. They lost quarterback Gunnar Holmberg and leading receiver Jake Bobo to the transfer portal and running back Mataeo Durant (1,241 yards) departed for the NFL.
The defense allowed 46.6 ppg and 7.1 yards per play in ACC games.
#6 Georgia Tech 3-9 (2-6 ACC): Head coach Geoff Collins is 9 – 25 over the last three years. The roster only returns four starters and the non-conference opponents are Ole Miss, UCF and Georgia.
Tech lost two offensive pieces in quarterback Jordan Yates, who transferred out, and running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who left for Alabama.
Jeff Sims returns at quarterback after passing for 12 TDs and 7 picks, but there isn’t a ton to work with around him moving the ball.
Drastic improvement is needed for the defense that has ranked 13th or worse in the ACC in points allowed in each of Collins’ three years at the helm. The offense averaged 24 ppg last season, which was third worst in the ACC.
#5 Virginia 6-6 (4-4 ACC): The Cavaliers will be led by first-year head coach Tony Elliott.
He previously served as a coach at Clemson from 2011 – 2021, most recently as associate head coach, offensive coordinator, tight ends coach and running backs coach. He has learned a lot from Dabo Swinney, which should mean good things for UVA.
Elliott inherits one of the ACC’s top quarterbacks (Brennan Armstrong) and receiving corps (Billy Kemp IV, Dontayvion Wicks, Keytaon Thompson and Lavel Davis). Armstrong led all Power 5 quarterbacks by averaging 427.3 total yards a game last fall.
They need to establish balance in the running game and take some of the pressure off of him. They lost all five offensive line starters.
#4 Virginia Tech 6-7 (4-4 ACC): Brent Pry takes over as the head coach in Blacksburg. Pry was the defensive coordinator at Penn State from 2016 – 2021. His experience should help make an impact immediately for the Hokies defense that’s returning seven starters. They held opponents to 25.3 ppg but only had 16 sacks in ACC play.
Transfer quarterbacks Grant Wells (Marshall) and Jason Brown (South Carolina) are battling for the starting job.
#3 North Carolina 6-7 (3-5 ACC): The Tar Heels lost QB Sam Howell, four offensive line starters and the bulk of the rushing attack.
Coach Mack Brown recruits well and a couple of good recruiting classes should make the difference.
Talented redshirt freshman Drake Maye will battle Jacolby Criswell for the starting quarterback job.
#2 Pitt 11-3 (7-1 ACC): The Panthers shocked everyone by winning the ACC last year. QB Kenny Pickett and receiver Jordan Addison are major losses.
USC transfer Kedon Slovis should win the quarterback job. They have a solid stable of running backs and the defense returns seven starters.
#1 Miami 7-5 (5-3 ACC): Mario Cristobal left Oregon to take the head coach job at his alma mater.
He hired Josh Gattis as offensive coordinator. Gattis led Michigan to the College Football Playoffs last season.
QB Tyler Van Dyke returns after throwing for almost 3,000 yards, 25 TD’s and 6 interceptions. He had seven games without a turnover and the U went 5-2.
The O line returns three starters, including All-America candidate Zion Nelson.
Ill Play There
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
National Early Signing Day has come and gone for college football and here is what the top 10 looked like:
1.Texas A&M
2.Alabama
3.Georgia
4.Ohio State
5.Texas
6.Penn State
7.Notre Dame
8.North Carolina
9.Michigan
10.Oklahoma
Here are some of my take aways from National Early Signing Day:
Texas A&M-This is Jimbo Fisher’s first #1 class, however A&M has consistently been in the top 10 over the last few years. This has not translated into being relevant in the National Championship picture or even in the SEC West.
Notre Dame and Oklahoma-Both of these programs did well to finish in the top 10, considering they both lost their head coaches weeks before National Early Signing Day.
North Carolina-The Tar Heels once again finished inside the Top 10, second straight year. Possibly a rising ACC power?
Kentucky-The Wildcats finished with the 11th class in the country. Yes, you read that right, 11th! Kentucky is making a case to replace Florida as the second-best team in the SEC East.
Florida State and Tennessee-Two blue bloods hoping to wake up the echoes. Their recruiting classes will help. FSU finished 13th and Tennessee 14th.
Clemson-The Tigers were a perennial Top 5 program when it came to recruiting for a decade. Looks like the guard is changing in the ACC as the Tigers finished 17th.
Georgia Tech-The Yellow Jackets have recruited well the last few years under Geoff Collins, without a lot of wins to show for it. Tech finished 25th last year, but dipped to 41 this season. A bad omen for Geoff Collins.
UCF and Cincinnati-These two soon-to-be Big 12 teams have been the flies in the ointment of the college football playoff and you would think that would translate to better recruiting classes, it hasn’t. Cincinnati finished 38th and UCF 42nd.
Vanderbilt-Something must be in the water in Nashville as the Commodores netted a top 40 class for the first time in… who knows how long. 38th
Florida-The Gators’ dumpster fire only gets worse. The mighty Gators ended up with the 50th ranked class in the country. New Hire Billy Napier was left with a mess. Recruit after recruit decommitted from the swamp. Good luck, Billy.
Miami-Another big mess to clean up in the state of Florida. Mario Cristobal will have his work cut out for him too. The Hurricanes finished 62nd.
USC-The mighty Trojans finished with only 6 commits. SIX! Good enough for 81st.
Georgia State-The Panthers must get credit. They cracked the top 100 with the 84th class. This program keeps getting better.
Georgia Southern-The Eagles must improve from being outside of the top 100 to compete. They reeled in the 109th class.
Returning Sting?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia Tech kicks off the college football season September 4th at home against Northern Illinois.
Geoff Collins is entering his third season as the head coach in Atlanta. His record is 6 – 16 and he won three games in each of his first two seasons. The question is ‘can the Yellow Jackets finally turn the corner this season?’
Last season true freshman quarterback Jeff Sims started. As expected, he went through growing pains learning and gaining experience. He passed for 1,881 yards, 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with 492 yards and 6 TD’s. I think he will be drastically better as a sophomore.
True freshman running back Jahmyr Gibbs was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. He missed several games in 2020 due to injury. He rushed for 460 yards, 4 touchdowns and averaged 5.2 yards per carry. He was also second on the team in receptions with 24 catches, 303 yards and 3 scores. If he can stay healthy, he should run for a thousand yards.
Junior running back Jordan Mason can run effectively when he plays. In 2020, he rushed for 352 yards, 2 TD’s and averaged 4.3 YPC.
They did lose the leading receiver last season, Jalen Camp. He graduated and was drafted in the 6th round by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Left tackle Devin Cochran is a grad-transfer from Vanderbilt. He’s 6’7, 320-pounds and should immediately improve the offensive line.
Tackle Kenneth Kirby is also a grad-transfer from Norfolk State. He was a three-year starter and two-time All-MEAC selection.
You may be noticing a theme so far with the grad-transfer players. Linebacker Ayinde Eley joined the team in January after transferring from Maryland. He was voted a team captain for the spring game and has been a leader since showing up on campus.
Georgia Tech needs to improve in every aspect because they have not done anything well in the Geoff Collins era. We have seen they can win three games but they will need to double that to become bowl eligible. One thing that was promising is that all of the wins last season were against ACC teams. T
hey are starting to level the playing field and they now need to win one more conference game and two non-conference games to get to six wins.
I believe Tech will win the season opener against Norther Illinois.
The following week, September 11th is also at Bobby Dodd Stadium against Kennesaw State. The Owls are an FCS team but they are tough. I think this will be a close game but I give the advantage to Tech.
Week 3 is the first away game against Clemson. We all know that GT will be slaughtered. Last season they were embarrassed 73 -7. I think this game will be closer but that would still be a forty-point loss.
The fourth game is against North Carolina at Mercedes-Benz stadium. The Tar Heels are a better team. Collins needs to start winning games like this if he plans to turn the program around. I give the advantage to UNC.
The next two games before the bye week are Pitt and at Duke. I think Tech can beat Duke.
After the bye, the next four games are at Virginia, Virginia Tech, at Miami and Boston College. BC and UVA are the games they have a chance in.
The final two games are at Notre Dame and home versus Georgia. These will be blow out loses.
I think GT will improve and win 5 games but they will not become bowl eligible.
Dumpster fire
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As you look around the Southern college football landscape you see the Alabama, Clemson, Florida, and Georgia’s of the world playing a very good brand of football, but you can also look around and see some programs not performing very well.
We have a few programs in our geographical region that currently look like dumpster fires. Let’s take a look at my top five programs that have fallen on hard times.
- Georgia Tech: The Jackets were number one on this list two years ago. Now they are about remove themselves from lists like this. Georgia Tech is doing the right things to not be included on lists like this much longer.
Teams 1-4 on this list need to follow the Jacket blueprint. The Jackets land here as a motivational tool for 2021.
- Florida State: My how the mighty have fallen. This once proud football program has sunk to an all-time low.
Gone are the days of ruling the ACC with an iron fist, and now we see FSU backing out of playing home games against Clemson and using Covid-19 as an excuse after Clemson had already made the trip.
FSU used to be a recruiting machine and now they fight Georgia Southern and South Alabama for 3-star athletes.
FSU will be back eventually but how in the hell should a program of this magnitude ever appear on a list like this? It cost Clemson $250K to travel to Tallahassee for a pre-game meal, but they got to see a top five dumpster fire in person.
- South Carolina: Are you starting to see a pattern of the SEC East yet?
South Carolina is a State with good high school football, Columbia is 80 miles from Charlotte and less than 3 hours from Atlanta. The recruiting base is there.
South Carolina’s biggest problem is that they are Clemson’s little brother and they can’t shake that label.
You mention that to the fan base and they get fighting mad. How can Clemson be so good and South Carolina be so bad currently? I just don’t get it and many football observers in the south don’t either.
Will Shane Beamer fix this dumpster fire?
- Vanderbilt: Vandy has never been very good in football. We all understand that the academic prestige of Vanderbilt presents some competitive challenges for this fine University.
Derek Mason has been fired and been replaced by Clark Lea from Notre Dame.
Vandy needs to get back to work of becoming a competitive football team. The Commodores did not win a football game in 2020, and decided they were just not going to show up and play Georgia in their final game of the season. That mentality alone has to go and makes Vandy a dumpster fire.
- Tennessee: How did we get here Vol fans? You are the biggest dumpster fire in college football currently. A ten-year-old boy and Tennessee fan asked his father “What is it like to beat Alabama dad?” Dad answered “I don’t know son we are Vol fans.”
Tennessee just suffered through the worst decade of football in its proud history. Six head coaches in 12 years.
Now apparently Tennessee has as many as 30 level 1 and level 2 major recruiting violations. Rumors of giving away cash in McDonald’s bags and so on.
Due to NCAA sanctions forthcoming it may be 2025-26 until Tennessee has a full complement of scholarships to offer (they could lose up to 30 over next 4 years).
This program is about to be on life support. Tennessee is having a mass exodus via the transfer portal.
Memphis is the best college football program in the State of Tennessee right now.
Damn, just damn, Big Orange nation you are the biggest dumpster fire in all of college football.
ACC Pulse
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As you all know 2020 was a year like we’ve never seen in our lifetime. Everything was affected by the global pandemic, including sports.
We’re going to take a look at the current state of the ACC up to this point.
The two blue blood programs, Duke and North Carolina are both unranked for the first time since 1982.
The only undefeated team in conference play is Virginia (9-2, 5-0). The Cavaliers are the highest rated team in the ACC, ranked 13th. When is the last time the first-place team in this conference wasn’t in the top 10?
Right now, UVA is the most consistent team and they play great defense. Senior forward Sam Hauser is the team leader in points per game and rebounds per game with 13.8 and 7.5.
#16 Virginia Tech (11-2, 5-1) is in second place. The lone conference loss was at Louisville 73 – 71.
The Hokies don’t play their archrival until January 30th. If they can get past Boston College, Syracuse and Notre Dame before that then that game will be for control of the conference. Junior forward Keve Aluma is the best player on the team with 14.8 ppg and 7.3 rpg.
Florida State (8-2, 4-1) is one of the most dangerous teams in the country. The Seminoles are full of tall and athletic playmakers.
They recently beat Louisville on the road 78 – 65. That was only the second conference loss for the Cardinals so that is an impressive win. I’m not sure how FSU is not ranked.
Pitt (7-2, 3-1) may have the best player in the conference. Sophomore forward Justin Champagnie is averaging 18.7 ppg and 12.9 rpg.
They’ve had three games against Duke, Florida State and Georgia Tech postponed. The lone conference loss was against Louisville. We’re going to learn a lot about the Panthers soon when they play Duke this week.
It’s surprising that Duke is the fifth ranked team in the conference. The Blue Devils (5-3, 3-1) rely heavily on talented freshmen and they are having a hard time adjusting.
They have had five games cancelled or postponed so they lost valuable time to gain experience. All three loses were to ranked teams: #8 Michigan State, #6 Illinois and #20 Virginia Tech.
I think this is a pretty good team and that will show as the season progresses.
Georgia Tech (5-2, 2-1) has to be the most surprising team. The Yellow Jackets have had four games postponed or cancelled.
They lost to Georgia State, Mercer and FSU.
The next four games are against Clemson, Virginia, Duke and FSU. I think Tech’s record is inflated and they’ll come back down to earth after that.
#20 Clemson is 8th in the ACC but nationally ranked above several teams in front of them.
The Tigers (9-2, 3-2) lost to UVA and Virginia Tech.
The team’s leading scorer, Aamir Simms only averages 11.6 ppg. I think Clemson is a decent team, but they are not a contender.
North Carolina is coming off of a disappointing 2019-20 season. The Tar Heels (8-5, 3-3) are following that trend this season.
The next five games are against Wake Forest, NC State, Pitt, Clemson and Duke. They need to win four of those games to position themselves to make the NCAA Tournament.
They lack talent so I don’t think it’s possible. Armando Bacot leads the team with 11.2 ppg.
NC State, Miami, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Boston College and Wake Forest are the remaining teams. These teams do not have a chance to get in the NCAA Tournament.
Lost Rivals
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The SEC announced it would be moving to a 10-game only conference game schedule for the 2020 football season.
With this news it means it means people will not see Georgia/Georgia Tech, South Carolina/Clemson, Florida/Florida State, nor Kentucky/Louisville play their rivalry games this fall.
The start of the season will be pushed back until September 26th.
If you are a UGA fan this probably means you open the season in Tuscaloosa against Alabama on that date. It is unclear at this time which teams the Bulldogs would add to the schedule.
It’s assumed that they would play the six teams from the SEC East and keep the Crimson Tide, this year’s SEC West rotational opponent, and Auburn, the annual SEC West opponent, on the schedule.
The SEC is developing a formula based on strength of schedule to determine the remaining two games for each SEC team.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the shift to late September will allow schools to reintegrate their entire student bodies on campus amid the new challenges presented by the pandemic.
“This new plan for a football schedule is consistent with the educational goals of our universities to allow for the safe and orderly return to campus of their student populations and to provide a healthy learning environment during these unique circumstances presented by the COVID-19 virus,” Sankey said in a statement. “This new schedule supports the safety measures that are being taken by each of our institutions to ensure the health of our campus communities.”
Clemson and South Carolina have played every year since 1909.
Georgia and Georgia Tech, which have played 114 times, have met in each season since 1925.
Florida and Florida State started playing each other in 1958. I hate losing these three games as a fan in 2020.
Other Big SEC non-conference games that were cut in 2020 are Alabama vs. USC in Arlington, Texas, was canceled when the Pac-12 opted to play only conference games.
Two other ACC-SEC games Georgia vs. Virginia and Auburn vs. North Carolina at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta are gone.
Other games that won’t be played: Texas at LSU, Arkansas at Notre Dame, Tennessee at Oklahoma, Missouri at BYU, Vanderbilt at Kansas State and Mississippi State at NC State.
2020 will go down as one of the worst years in history with the Covid-19 pandemic. I lost a family member to this deadly pandemic.
College football is like comfort food to many of us in the South, currently. I’m hoping the season takes place. As a UGA fan it bothers you that you can’t play a rival that is only 70 miles from your campus, but I applaud the SEC and the University Presidents for doing everything in their power to have a football season.
Questions to be answered now:
Once play begins will we even have fans in attendance?
Will UGA/UF be played in Jacksonville this year?
With the conference only format, will Florida and Georgia lose a home game?
What does a competitive balanced additional two SEC games mean?
Does that mean Florida picks up Texas A&M and Auburn while Alabama picks up Vanderbilt and Missouri?
Long time SEC fans know how everything seems to benefit Alabama in the long run. Yes, I said it prove me wrong from a historical perspective. It is going to be interesting when the additional two game rotation rolls out.
The ultimate goal is to have SEC football this fall, and Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate will resume in 2021 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
I Will Take My Talents To…
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With the Early Signing Period in the rearview mirror and bowl season over, the last big day for college football before spring practice is National Signing Day.
With many of the top recruits from the 2020 class already signed, who is left for the top programs to pick up on Wednesday, February 5th?
Five Star Running Back Zack Evans is the number 1 running back in the class of 2020.
By far the wildest recruitment of the 2020 cycle. Evans signed a LOI (Letter of Intent) with the Georgia Bulldogs back in December, got cold feet, and asked to be released from his LOI.
Georgia obliged and now Evans is back on the market as an extremely talented athlete with some off the field issues.
This recruitment still seems very cloudy through, as Evans has left a lot of coaches guessing. This is shaping up to be a Tennessee, Ole Miss and Georgia battle. Alabama, Florida and LSU have rescinded their offers over the past few weeks. My Pick: Georgia
Four Star Safety Avantae Williams backed off his early commitment to the Oregon Ducks back in December.
Williams is the 9th ranked safety in the 2020 class.
He is a hard-hitting safety that can cover a lot of ground. Williams’ recruitment is a battle between Miami, Florida and Georgia. My Pick: Florida
Four Star Offensive Lineman Sedrick Van Pran has been committed to Georgia since August.
Van Pran has taken official visits to Alabama and is scheduled to be at Florida this weekend.
With the departure of former Offensive Line coach San Pittman, Van Pran seems to have opened up his recruitment. It would be shocking if Van Pran is not a Bulldog come National Signing Day. My Pick: Georgia
Four Star Running Back Jahmyr Gibbs has been committed to Georgia Tech since May.
After a very strong senior season, Gibbs has received offers from Ohio State, LSU, Georgia and Florida.
While Florida and Ohio State have put on the full court press, Gibbs will stay firm to his commitment. My Pick: Georgia Tech
Four Star Athlete Damarcus Beckwood has hopes of playing college football and basketball.
The 6-foot-4, 220 pounder is a versatile weapon on offense playing both wide receiver and tight end in high school. This is a battle between Tennessee and Florida. My Pick: Florida
February 5th marks the final day of the 2020 recruiting cycle. National Signing Day will still be important as there are a couple highly touted 2020 high school prospects that remain uncommitted.
And there will always be the few flipped prospects that make headlines on National Signing Day.
Since Dan Mullen’s time at Florida, the Gators have used the transfer portal to pluck talented players. The Gators have landed four star Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes in Mullen’s first year at Florida.
Last season, the Gators landed five-star defensive end, Brenton Cox.
This season is much different, the Gators signed a pair of five stars in running back Lorenzo Lingard and wide receiver Justin Shorter. Both players have applied for waivers with the NCAA.
Kirby Smart used the portal to add quarterback Jamie Newman. Newman has one season of eligibility and should be the front runner for QB1 for the Bulldogs.
Can Newman do what Joe Burrow did for LSU?
