Spring game takeaways from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Florida and Tennessee
On a beautiful mid-April Saturday across the country, a litany of schools held their spring game — including Alabama’s A-Day, Georgia’s G-Day and Ohio State’s Scarlet & Gray Scrimmage.
We saw long touchdowns, 5-star freshmen flashing, a hot dog eating contest at Ole Miss and multiple scrimmages end in ties.
It was fun, silly, and overall, enjoyable slate of “games.”
It’s dangerous, especially in this new-age post-spring portal world, to glean too many particulars from these scrimmages, though. Don’t get victimized by drawing sweeping conclusions by very scripted scrimmages.
Instead, it’s better to simply take notes on things that make you say, “Hmm?” View these spring games like you’re playing Clue. Statements should end with a question mark, not an exclamation point.
With that in mind, here are takeaways from several spring games over the weekend:
Georgia looks to have plenty of playmakers?
The Bulldogs are set to open the season as the No. 1 ranked team with the best odds to win a third national title in four years. Still, Kirby Smart’s team isn’t without question marks, with many wondering if UGA can reload at receiver and in the secondary.
TBD on Georgia’s defensive backfield — although former 5-star recruits Joenel Augero, a redshirt freshman, and KJ Bolden look like they’re going to push for real snaps in 2024 — but the Bulldogs look like they’re loaded with weapons for the fall.
Yes, Georgia must replace three of its top four pass catchers from 2023 — including likely Day 1-2 picks Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey — but quarterback Carson Beck has no shortage of weapons to work with based on what we saw Saturday in Athens.
Dominic Lovett, Dillion Bell, Colbie Young, Trevor Etienne, Oscar Delp, Rara Thomas, Arian Smith and Anthony Evans all made big-time plays on G-Day.
Beck wasn’t even all that sharp Saturday (couple of picks, several batted balls at the LOS), yet UGA’s offense flashed elite potential with all the playmakers that surround the veteran quarterback. Lovett made multiple crazy catches, Young is a major red zone mismatch and Bell might be the SEC’s First-Team All-Purpose honoree this fall.
Ohio State’s defense will be even better in 2024?
The Buckeyes finished No. 3 nationally in yards per play last season — but that was partly due to the watered-down quarterback play in the Big Ten. Six of the Top 10 defenses in 2023 (plus Notre Dame) hailed from the Big Ten.
And yet, Ohio State was really good on that side of the ball last season, and they could be even better this fall. The Buckeyes still must sort out their quarterback competition (which, frankly left a lot to be desired Saturday), but OSU’s defense made that difficult by constantly hounding the QBs all afternoon.
They had pressures. Lot of them. Sacks? Multiple. Turnovers? How about four interceptions? The linebackers were fantastic, and the returning pass rushers (Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau) will be among the best duos in the nation. After all the buzz around 5-star freshman Jeremiah Smith this spring, his name was hardly mentioned Saturday as Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock did a great job against OSU’s top receivers.
Good news, bad news for Alabama ?
Kalen DeBoer stood on the sidelines in Tuscaloosa for the first time Saturday, ushering in a new era for the Crimson Tide. Alabama’s offense looked a lot like Washington’s prolific attack — with lots of 21 personnel and deep shots from the quarterbacks.
The Jalen Milroe-Germie Bernard connection could be lethal as they continue to build chemistry, and Alabama’s running back room has some special talent with Jam Miller leading the way.
So the offense could be much improved in 2024. The bad news is the defense needs some real work this offseason. It’s not a surprise that Alabama might take a step back defensively after losing head coach Nick Saban and seeing several star players depart the program (Caleb Downs, maybe a trio of 1st Round NFL Draft picks), but as currently constituted, the Tide’s secondary doesn’t pass the championship smell test.
Not yet at least.
They’re talented but super raw. After getting torched early, the young unit — that’s replacing four starters with multiple freshmen — responded and actually made some plays that frustrated Milroe to the point where he had a bit of a conniption on the sidelines.
Still, DeBoer has been open throughout the spring that Alabama needs multiple defensive backs from the transfer portal, and that was only reinforced Saturday.
Florida is just fine at QB but elsewhere???
The Gators face an uphill battle in 2024. They have one of the hardest schedules ever and head coach Billy Napier sits among the hottest seats in the country.
But if they can make some moves in during the second portal window (hello, secondary help, please) perhaps they’ll be ok?
The irony for UF this fall is that the program looks just fine at the most important position on the team. Former Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz is a steady-eddie starter, who was better than many remember last season when he had 20 touchdowns to three picks and completed nearly 73% of his passes. Mertz was solid during the Orange & Blue Game, and he pushed the ball vertically more than he did in 2023.
Then there’s DJ Lagway, who is a physical marvel who simply can make throws most humans can’t. The 5-star freshman lived up to all the offseason hype in his debut, uncorking 50 cents worth of dimes on gorgeous throws.
There were absolutely some plays where Lagway looked like a freshman (pre-determined reads, starred down a defender for an INT), but he absolutely impressed (five throws over 20 yards) and will continue to make Mertz elevate his game as he breathes down his neck.
If Florida is going to make a bowl game in 2024, Lagway probably shouldn’t play much. But if he has to? The Gators have way bigger problems (still way too many dumb penalties, poor operation and iffy special teams play) than a 5-star freshman QB.
Tennessee will be improved at receiver in 2024?
Vols fans are naturally geeked about the Nico Iamaleava era — and they should be — but the talent surrounding the former 5-star prospect should only buoy that excitement.
Tennessee could (????) have much-improved receiver play in 2024.
Joe Milton wasn’t it last season, but the enigmatic quarterback wasn’t exactly helped by a receiver room that had a letdown season. For the first time since Josh Heupel’s inaugural season as a head coach, his offense failed to produce a 1,000-yard receiver.
I don’t think that will happen again this fall.
It’s still too early to know who the Vols’ No. 1 wideout will be, but Bru McCoy and Squirrel White are both back, while Tulane transfer Chris Brazzell and 5-star freshman Mike Matthews both had big catches Saturday. Toss in Chas Nimrod and Kalen Webb, and Tennessee’s receiver room is much deeper and more versatile than it was last season.
Who becomes Iamaleava’s favored target remains to be seen, but he definitely doesn’t lack support around him.