I never said he wasn't better than any Louisville back, I said he would have trouble starting for half the teams in the SEC and wouldn't be in the top 2 at several of them. He wouldn't have been top 2 at Bama, UT, UGA and wouldn';t have started at UF, LSU, Arky, UK for sure and may not have started at Vandy or Missouri. If he was that highly thought of he is stupid for staying in college another year and taking a year off his NFL career. .
Records are what they are, factual, was there not a huge drop off from UF UT and even UGA to Missouri and Vandy? Rival weekend the ACC went 3-1 against the SEC, in 14 that same weekend they went 4-0, last 2 years that makes 7-1. I am as big a SEC homer as anyone, but the SEC East is way down from top to bottom and to argue differently is having your head in the sand. All of us played 2 SEC west teams for a combined 3-9, which is the same winning percentage we had against the ACC on Rival Weekend.
I am not saying Stoops needs to win the East this year, what I am saying is he will never see the SEC east any weaker than it has been the last 2-3 years, almost half the teams have complete staff turnovers, huge question marks at crucial positions. He needs to take advantage of that this year, that window isn't going to be open forever. USC got a taste of big success under SOS and they liked it, UT has improved at a fast pace, If UF drops back some they won't hesitate to replace their coach, remember Muschamp had some success early there, UGA fired a coach who was a 9-10 game winner most years. None of those are going to stand still if their recent hires aren't successful. This is Stoops's time to take advantage, if he doesn't that window could close.
If Lambert starts at UGA Kirby could find some heat regardless of the outcome, Lambert is awful and bringing him in is ultimately what cost Richt his job. SC will start a former walkon or a true frosh, UF could very well be starting a true frosh as well, that's almost half the conference. I have no idea who will start at Vandy or Missouri, but UK's qb situation is better than anyone in the division except UT's..
Yes UK will be starting 2 new OT, so will UF, so will UGA, so will USC. To deny it isn't an important year for UK to take a step forward is just ignoring how weak the division is and how many question marks the rest of the division has. I just feel this is the year to make that move, if UK doesn't win at least 7 with all the turnover in staffs and question marks at key positions by almost every other division member THIS YEAR it will be tough to ever get to that point. Things are lined up for this too be the year with only one team with less question marks.
Well thanks for the thoughts from on high...but just because you say it, doesn't necessarily make it gospel to me and make it so. What you initially said was Clemson didn't have a "stud" running back(which is debatable given Gallmans ranking and stats) and still made it to the NC game as one of your supporting reasons why with UL's running QB, they could very likely beat Bama, just like Clemson, UT and OleMiss did or almost did. I reject that comparison, because those three teams clearly had/have better running backs (except OM) AND Olines than UL had and most likely has going forward. Clearly Bama's defensive scheme is vulnerable to a running QB, but you could have Michael Vick back there.. without a significant amount of talent around him to keep their D honest... you aint doing jack against Bama's D from the last couple years.
And here's some color to your rivalry weekend records...for that 1-7 record, FSU was 2-0 against UF, Clemson was 2-0 against USCjr, UL was 2-0 against UK (where we very easily should/could have won both games). Georgia Tech also beat UGA as I'm sure recall on some fluck play. So you had far and away the top 2 ACC schools playing(FSU and CU) and arguably the 3rd best ACC school (UL) beating UF,USC and UK as your clear cut reasoning why UL's ACC schedule would be just as tough as UK's SEC schedule...which was the entire topic of discussion in the FIRST place!
Take the two best teams off both UL's in conference schedule compared to UK's in conference schedule and you tell me which schedule you would rather have.
UL plays NC St, Duke, Syracuse, BC, Virginia, and Wake Forrest. UK plays UGA, UF, USCjr, MSU, Mizzou, and Vandy. Regardless of the SEC East being "down" is there honestly any question as to which schedule would be easier and correspondingly which conference is easier to succeed in?? If you choose to argue it's equal or UL's path is easier just keep it to yourself because you are clearly incapable of being wrong in your own mind and will come up with some additional crap.
As far as UK and Stoops having a window for success in down SEC they need to take advantage of...I agree with you. But your original contention that UK should win "at least" 7 games given the state of the other programs(and staff turnover doesn't have to be a negative- look at UF last year) and more importantly, the fact we had such an advantage at the QB position compared to the other schools in question is just plain wrong and inaccurate. I'll say it again..out returning QB has lots of potential, but he's STARTED 2 GAMES and had thus far thrown more INT's than he has TD's. AND he has less starts than EVERY other SEC team in the East. Those are facts. So despite the turmoil and instability across the SEC East at the QB position, UK surely isn't at a surefire and definitive advantage at the QB position. And there is no way we should be putting iron clad 7+ win expectations around out recently dumpster level program. And that is coming from someone(me) that knows our program, recruting, and roster as well as I assume you know Georgia's. It would clearly be great if we were in a position to take advantage of the state of unrest in our conference, but our QB is an unproven commodity and we are by all accounts a year away. If the window closes by that point...such is life. So thanks for the omnipotence about all things SEC football related, but you be the expert at setting wins for your program and we'll do ours...
All that said, I never denied this is a VERY important year for Stoops and the program. 6 wins or more should be very achievable. But more importantly, we want to see less mistakes than we saw from coaching decisions last year. We want to see an offense that looks well organized, creative, and disciplined. We want to see some physical results from the solid recruiting in how me match up with SEC foes. We want to see clearlt that our players are being developed. If that is there, the wins will come.
And when we have 20 starters returning in 2017 and hopefully a QB who has shown himself SEC quality with a year under his belt.....I'm all good with 7+ expectations..
