Tennessee Volunteers

Tennessee Volunteers

In 2007 the Volunteers snuck into the East Division’s top spot and battled the soon to be national champion LSU Tigers in the national title. Why say they snuck into the top spot? Well, that is because of their wins were not impressive. In a down division, the Volunteers got clobbered by rebuilding rivals Florida and Alabama. It took them 5 overtimes to be Kentucky and needed last second heroics to take down Vanderbilt at home. I was so unimpressed by their performance that I projected the Vols to finish fifth in the East in 2008. Not to my surprise, the Volunteers struggled early. They began the season with a heart retching overtime loss to UCLA in Pasadena and never fully recovered. Their head coach Phil Fulmer was fired after 17 seasons at midseason and the struggled to find any identity the rest of the season. This year is a new day in Knoxville. The Volunteers have been the most talked about team in college football thanks to recruiting violations and smack talk handed out by their new head coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin talks the talk and if he can get the Vols to “walk the walk”, Rocky Top might be able to bounce back from a disappointing 5-7 2008 campaign.

OFFENSE
Last season the Vols had to replace a senior quarterback for a junior that looked to have the tools to be a solid SEC quarterback. Jonathon Crompton is a 6’4 pocket passing quarterback that looked to be stronger than that of what he was replacing. But Crompton struggled early and was pulled in favor of sophomore Nick Stephens midway through the season. Inconsistency at quarterback held up the rest of the offense as their play maker, running back Arian Foster took leaps and bounds backward gaining a mere 527 yards last season. This year the starter at running back appears to be true freshman Bryce Brown. Brown was the number one running back recruit and should be ready to produce immediately for the Volunteer offense. The line returns bigger and stronger than last season’s group. All averaging at least 300 pounds, Tennessee should have enough experience to open holes and give Crompton more time to throw.

DEFENSE
The defense should improve on their #3 ranked SEC defense with athe addition of NFL defensive guru coordinator Monte Kiffin. Returning for senior season in are the middle of the defense—tackle Wes Brown and Dan Williams. The experience in the middle will help slow down the SEC’s top rushing attacks and give the linebackers the ability to see the plays develop and get to the ball. The line will need to make plays early especially, because the line backers are inexperienced and untested. In the defensive back field all eyes will be on strong safety Eric Berry. Tennessee has put Berry on the Heisman watch list as he looks to improve upon last seasons 72 tackles, 3 sacks, and 7 interceptions. Having Berry roam the field will be critical to the Vols success early this season.

SEASON PROJECTIONS
Inability to move the ball caused the Volunteers to start off slow and never get into a winning groove. Last year was tumultuous in Knoxville. The Vols lost to all their rivals—Florida, Auburn, Georgia, and Alabama. As well as suffer the most embarrassing loss ever- at home to Wyoming on Homecoming. This year,look for the Volunteers to avenge some losses and retake their place nationally in college football. Although they have to go to Gainesville, which will be humbling for Kiffin, the Vols will be able to pull upsets against West foes Alabama and Mississippi. Rocky top should bounce back to form this season….

9-3

Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia faces a rebuilding project this year as they lose their most productive offensive weapons at quarterback, running back and receiver. Last year the Bulldogs entered the season as the preseason #1 team. Injuries and a tough schedule landed the Dogs to a three loss season and the Capital One Bowl. This year Georgia hopes that their ability to recruit can lead them back into the national picture. The Dawgs will be tested early and if the replacements at the skill positions can fill in with little drop off the Bulldogs can be a dark horse in the 2009 season.
OFFENSE

Fresh faces at the skill positions will be the story early in Athens. Georgia replaces three year starter Mathew Stafford with senior Joe Cox at quarterback. Cox, although a senior is untested, but seen as a leader amongst his teammates. Gone also is running back Knowshon Moreno. His replacement is sophomore Caleb King. King got some experience last year as he gained 247 yards and averaged 5.1 yads per carry. The running game might be stronger than last year’s due to a healthy offensive line. The line returns all five starters and returns 2 starters from the 2007 season that were out with injuries last season. This line should be one of the strongest and deepest in college football. A lot of hope rest on the cohesion of this unit. At receiver look for A.J Green to continue putting up good numbers; in his freshman season last year, Green led the Dawgs in receptions (56), yards (963), and touchdowns (8).
DEFENSE

The defense returns 8 starters and should be primed for a better year. Last year the Bulldogs were 8th in SEC defenses. This can be attributed to so many injuries to the defensive line. This year the front 7 returns 2 All SEC players in defensive tackle Geno Atkins and Will linebacker Rennie Curran. The defensive backs look to be a weak spot as they lose 3 of their top performers. Look for teams to test their pass game early as the Bulldogs are projected to have a youth movement at the corner positions.

SEASONAL PREDICTION
Having to replace veteran leadership is tough for any school even the schools that get top 10 recruiting classes yearly. Once again the Bulldogs will be tested early, they face Oklahoma State in Stillwater to begin the season, then play back to back conference games before hosting Arizona State and traveling to LSU. In fact, the Bulldogs youth and inexperience might put them in a hole before getting out of the first week of October. Look for Georgia to lose games early.

8-4

Kentucky Wildcats

Three straight years the Kentucky Wildcats have reached a bowl game and have won all three. Known for basketball, the football team has stolen some headlines in Lexington as they enter the 2009 campaign looking to go bowling four straight years—something NEVER seen in Lexington in over 100 years of existence. In their way is a brutal SEC schedule, a loss of some star talent on defensive line, and huge question marks on offense. Head Coach Rich Brooks doesn’t seem too phased by the national and local media calling for the Cats to drop to last in the East as Brooks put it; “We are picked last every year.” And since they are picked last, Kentucky can only surprise teams in the coming season.

OFFENSE

In Lexington the talk has been centered around the quarterback position. Last season, Kentucky began with sophomore Mike Hartline under center, but when he was unable to move the ball he was replaced by true freshman Randall Cobb. Cobb was recruited to play receiver and play in the Wildcat formation, but Hartline’s inability to lead allotted Cobb to get a majority of the reps until an injury at the end of the season. This past offseason, Kentucky recruited two of the nation’s top quarterbacks- running quarterback Morgan Newton and true pocket passer Ryan Mossakowski. Prior to fall camp, both were thought to have a strong shot at the quarterback position. However, both have shown some their age and lack of maturity behind center. It will be Mike Hartline’s team as for as long as he can hold it. Randall Cobb will now move to fulltime receiver and run the Wildcat formation when needed. The running game should continue to be strong with senior Alfonzo Smith getting a bulk of the carries. Also coming back will be Derrick Locke. Locke is has a tremendous freshman season but last year had a devastating knee injury. If Locke can return to his freshman form, Kentucky should have a solid one-two punch in the backfield. The offensive line returns seven players with starting experience, which should only create more time for quarterback Mike Hartline and create holes for the running game.

DEFENSE
Defensively the Wildcats hope to get back to the early season form of a year ago. Entering the fifth game of the season, Kentucky was in the top 10 defenses in the country. However injuries at the line backing core and inconsistency at the corners caused the Cats to struggle the rest of the season. A major cause for worry on defense within the interior, The Wildcats must replace 3 fourths of their defensive line. The huge strength to the Cats though will be at the second and third levels. At corner, Kentucky fields pre-season first team All-American Trevard Lindley who last year picked off four passes and shut down opposing team’s top receiver. At linebacker, senior Micah Johnson will lead the defense. Johnson had an opportunity to leave early last season and possibly be a solid second round draft choice. However, he decided to give it a go one more year and with an injury free year he could put himself in the first round of the NFL draft in April. Other than the two standout players, Kentucky only returns 2 other players and must rely on their strongest recruiting class yet, to mature quickly and play at SEC speed.

SEASONAL PROJECTIONS
With fall camp 3 weeks in the books, Rich Brooks has said numerous times that this team is the best all around team he has seen since he has been here. If that is the case Kentucky could be bowl bound for a fourth consecutive year. Kentucky will be battle tested early as the schedule appears daunting. After an opening game in Cincinnati against Miami of Ohio, the Cats get a bye week. Following the bye, Kentucky must play 11 straight weeks. Depth has always been an issue for Kentucky in the SEC, so the Big Blue faithful will truly see how ready Kentucky is to compete in the most competitive conference in football early this season. Following the bye, Kentucky faces rival Louisville, Florida, and Alabama in consecutive weeks. In October, the Wildcats head to Columbia and play Steve Spurrier and South Carolina and go to Auburn. Although Kentucky has NEVER beaten a Steve Spurrier led team, if they can get by the Gamecocks, and win all the nonconference games- Miami, Louisville, Eastern Kentucky, Louisiana-Monroe; Kentucky has a shot at finishing the season with seven wins (assuming a win in Vanderbilt and hosting Mississippi State). Rich Brooks has been known to pull an upset or two in his tenure here in Lexington, taking down Georgia in 2006 and LSU in 2007 so the ball is really up in the air to see if he can pull another this season. Look for Kentucky to finish around the same as the past three years and reach a fourth consecutive bowl.

8-4

Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt Commodores
The school that is known as one of the most prestigious learning institutions in the country became a Cinderella story for college football. After taking down a ranked South Carolina squad in week 2 and going to Oxford and taking down Mississippi, the ‘Dores were ranked for the first time in more than a decade and hosted SEC powerhouse Auburn. Vanderbilt won another close one. The Commodores reached as high as #13 nationally. The rest of the season however Vanderbilt nice carriage turned into a pumpkin as they lost 6 of their last 7. Thanks to the terrific 5-0 start, Vandy still made a bowl, their first since 1982 and won! This year hopes are high for Vanderbilt as they hope to build on last year’s success.

OFFENSE
Vanderbilt has one of the most experienced teams coming back. They have 8 players on offense that started last season. An important item to keep your eyes on is the situation at quarterback. Last year MacKenzie Adams and Chris Nickson shared snaps until the end of the season. Then with both going down to injuries late in the season redshirt freshman Larry Smith stepped in and led the Commodores to a bowl victory going 10 for 17 for 121 yards. Entering camp Smith is the starter but behind him is MacKenzie Adams who also has experience and can step in if Smith is not the answer. Vanderbilt has NOT had a 1,000 yards rusher since 1995, but that record might fall this year as they have all 5 starters back on the line and an experienced senior running back in Jared Hawkins. Hawkins led the team in rushing last year with 593 yards and 4 touchdowns.

DEFENSE
Last year’s team relied heavily on playing stout defense. The defense held opponents to under 20 points a game and got after the quarterback well. This year hopes to be more of the same for Bobby Johnson’s squad. The defense returns 9 starters from last year’s unit and should have a little more depth to deal with the bumps of bruises that occur playing in the SEC.

SEASON PROJECTION
With 17 of 22 starters coming back a bowl winning season it is easy to think that the Dores will take more steps forward in competing in the SEC. But the schedule is not in their favor. Vanderbilt starts the season on September 5 and plays nonstop without a bye week through the middle of November. Without a bye in the middle of the season and already lacking the depth of most SEC schools the Commodores will struggle. Vanderbilt is getting better, but this year the record will not show it…

4-8

South Carolina Gamecocks

5 years ago all was excited in Columbia. Steve Spurrier was leaving the NFL and coming to South Carolina to bring the Fun ‘N Gun offense to a school in desparate need of a lift. By this time Gamecock fans figured to be atop the SEC and vying for national titles just as Spurrier helped Florida do. However these five years have been tenuous and outlined by sporadic quarterback play. The Ole Ball Coach can’t find the quarterback to run his system and therefore the Gamecocks have floundered. This season there is only 11 players coming back. One of the 11 is quarterback Stephen Garcia, someone who was part of the three quarterback rotation last year. With the same quarterback and young skill players, look for another inconsistent year in Columbia.

OFFENSE
For the past three seasons South Carolina has been looking for a quarterback that can move the ball, not throw interceptions, and lead the Gamecocks through the SEC schedule. And for the last three years there has been rotating quarterbacks- game to game, quarter to quarter, and series to series. This year Steve Spurrier hopes sophomore Stephen Garcia has been beaten down enough in the past 2 years to make better decisions and be the ONE signal caller for the Gamecocks. It was Garcia that started the bowl game against Iowa. He looked less than impressive or ready to play. He made 4 turnovers in the first half as South Carolina got destroyed to Iowa 31-10. Garcia needs help and the team can only get better. Last year the line allowed 39 sacks and gave little room for running backs to rush through as the averaged a meager 2.9 yards per carry. The receiver position should be better due to more experience. In fact, Spurrier is calling red shirt freshman Jason Barnes the second coming of Sidney Rice(1st round selection for Minnesota Vikings 2006). The line is key for the Gamecocks to improve this season, they have 7 returning with six or more games started.

DEFENSE
Not necessarily a trait of the Steve Spurrier Florida years, but in Columbia the Cocks have been led by their defense. The defensive line is full of experience and looks to continue on last year’s success of getting after the quarterback. The line achieved 31 sacks last season and bring back 3 of their 4 starters. The line backing unit looks to take a step back this year since they lose their top backer Jasper Brinkley in the middle. The Cocks will look for leadership from 1st team All SEC Eric Norwood. Norwood started his career as a defensive end but was moved to linebacker last season. In his first season of duty he led the team in tackles with 75 and reached the quarterback 9 times. The corner positions are unproven and will likely struggle early. Both starters are underclassmen and have yet to have much experience under their belts.

SEASONAL PREDICTION
South Carolina can be either really strong or really weak….my guess is for weak. The up and down tenure for Steve Spurrier should continue since the quarterback position is not truly solidified. Add that to a tailback and an unimpressive line….the offense will be HORRENDOUS. Last year the Cocks could rely solidly on their defense. They returned 9 and were able to get turnovers and create points on defense. This year they only return 6 and are young at the corners, which will test them early at NC State and in Georgia. They also take a trip to Tuscaloosa and Knoxville. Look for this team to struggle all season and end with a subpar record.

4-8

BOLD PROJECTION—This season will go so badly that STEVE SPURRIER retires after it…..

SEC East

Well, we just finished with the SEC West division projections and 2009 outlooks. I project five of the six teams in the conference to finish bowl eligible. However, everyone's preseason favorite, Ole Miss, I think will NOT live up to the preseason hype. After last year's rebuilding year in Baton Rouge and season long hunt for a quarterback, the Tigers appeared to find an answer at the Chic-Fil-A Bowl where they took down one of the hottest teams at the end of the season- Georgia Tech. So, I feel the LSU is primed to win the West and quite possibly be a dark horse for a national title.

Now....let's ge to the SEC Eastern Division projections....