SEC East

[dyersburgcatfan]

Ok, for a number of years we (along with Vandy) were the doormat in the East. Last couple of years we moved up just a bit. Beat SC twice. We SHOULD now move to the middle of the pack. No reason we shouldn't be very competitive with SC, Missou, and Vandy. In fact, I think we will be better than all three and if we play well could/should win all three. That should put us in the middle of the East, behind UT, UF, and UGA (assuming SC, Missou, and Vandy don't pull some major surprises by beating top tiered teams). That is the step I think we need to make THIS year. You have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run. This year we should start walking and get out of the crawl stage. Finish with 3 SEC wins (or perhaps 4), and future recruits start looking at us as a team on the way up. We NEED to win at least 6 THIS year.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

Ok, for a number of years we (along with Vandy) were the doormat in the East. Last couple of years we moved up just a bit. Beat SC twice. We SHOULD now move to the middle of the pack. No reason we shouldn't be very competitive with SC, Missou, and Vandy. In fact, I think we will be better than all three and if we play well could/should win all three. That should put us in the middle of the East, behind UT, UF, and UGA (assuming SC, Missou, and Vandy don't pull some major surprises by beating top tiered teams). That is the step I think we need to make THIS year. You have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run. This year we should start walking and get out of the crawl stage. Finish with 3 SEC wins (or perhaps 4), and future recruits start looking at us as a team on the way up. We NEED to win at least 6 THIS year.

There were some bad teams in the SEC east last year. I am not sure we had a team who deserved to even play in the SEC championship. UF used a bunch of good fortune and catches some teams in their worst games of the year to win the East, I think they might be in trouble this year, they have no playmakers other than the WR they just let back on the team and lost alot of their defense. I think Missouri will be better offensively, but they may have had a worse offense than us after Chubb's injury. But their defense is likely to take a dip. USC is much like UF, only less talented overall, no playmakers on offense or defense. Vandy has me concerned a little, I really like Mason as a defensive coach, I think he is the best DC against the spread HUNH offense in the country, teams will overpower them but I think they cause spread teams issues and offensively I think they will be quite a bit better. UK brings alot of experience offensively, qb is a first year starter but alot of experience everywhere else, should be able to put points up. Defensively up front is a big question mark, can they stop the run and get pressure on the qb. UT returns alot of experience on both sides of the ball, the only real question they have is can Dobbs make enough passes to take some pressure off the running game. UGA has tons of questions on both sides of the ball, one was answered in the scrimmage, Chubb is back and looks like he did pre injury, WR, QB and OT are question marks. Defensively the front 7 is a question mark, replacing 6 starters, including all 4 LBs, one was passed and transferred out the other 3 are playing in the league. They are being replaced by some very talented guys who all played quite a bit last year. One DL will be a true frosh the other 2 true soph, very young up front. Secondary is very experienced, every DB on the team last year returns and we added a grad transfer from Bama and a 5* DB who will play alot this fall, if not start by mid season.

UK is actually one of the more settled teams in the division, Stoops is the co grandfather of the division as far as head coaches go alone with Butch Jones. UK's secondary matches up pretty well against UT. But UT is stronger up front on both sides of the ball and Hurd/Kamara is a better combination than Boom/and whoever UK can put in there with or to give a breather.

 

[dorkmeister]

Vandy has and will always be the doormat of the SEC n

We picked a ripe time to put money and attention on football. USC is way down and Mizzou is right there with them. They both have dropped as fast as we are rising. We are now better that Mizz, USC and Vandy for sure. That already puts us in middle of the pack.

One or two good bounces and we win 4 SEC games this year.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

Vandy has and will always be the doormat of the SEC n

We picked a ripe time to put money and attention on football. USC is way down and Mizzou is right there with them. They both have dropped as fast as we are rising. We are now better that Mizz, USC and Vandy for sure. That already puts us in middle of the pack.

One or two good bounces and we win 4 SEC games this year.

I won't argue Vandy has been the doormat of the SEC. But Franklin had them playing better than the doormat and if he had stayed, without their own rape scandal, they could very well have won the East a time or two the last 4 years. Mason is one of the best defensive minds in the country, his defenses shut down the best HUNU spread offense in the country multiple times. He hasn't shown to be a good head coach either, but his defense was top 25 last year with an offense that was pretty bad and kept them on the field far too much. That may not translate to wins for them, if it does they lose their coach, but they improved a great deal from 14 to 16 and return almost every starter. I don't think they will be the doormat this year.

 

[SanAntonioCat_rivals376502]

I won't argue Vandy has been the doormat of the SEC. But Franklin had them playing better than the doormat and if he had stayed, without their own rape scandal, they could very well have won the East a time or two the last 4 years. Mason is one of the best defensive minds in the country, his defenses shut down the best HUNU spread offense in the country multiple times. He hasn't shown to be a good head coach either, but his defense was top 25 last year with an offense that was pretty bad and kept them on the field far too much. That may not translate to wins for them, if it does they lose their coach, but they improved a great deal from 14 to 16 and return almost every starter. I don't think they will be the doormat this year.

I agree Grumpy. Franklin boosted Vandy by recruiting questionable characters who somehow were accepted into the program. They won, but a rape scandal tarnished Franklin's years. Franklin moves to Penn State where he has largely been a disappointment. Mason is, in fact, a very good defensive coach who struggles as head coach. Charlie Strong at Texas and Will Muschamp as struggling head coaches. At the end of the day, Mark Stoops (exceptional defensive coordinator) has experienced growing pains as head coach, but has made successfull coaching hires and changes. I look for UK to become increasingly competitive in the SEC.