1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …
Better start to come to grips with it, people. Address it early and prepare to deal with it later should the unthinkable happen.
The SEC, king of all things oblong, is more likely to miss the College Football Playoff than make it.
MORE: Week 4 SEC Power Rankings | Highest-paid coaches | HAYES: End of Bama's run?
“The difference between teams in this league is a handful of plays,” says Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen.
That mantra, that tired, year-after-year cliché that every SEC coach rattles off with rote resiliency, actually hits home this season. But not how they want.
The SEC is full of good, not great, teams — all good enough to beat the other, but not good enough to build a winnable CFP resume.
By winnable, I mean avoiding a two-loss champion.
"The concern every year in this league is beating up on each other,” says Georgia coach Mark Richt. “I don’t think there’s any doubt there’s any number of teams that could win our league.”
Again, that’s not necessarily a good thing.
After three weeks, it is becoming increasingly clear that there is no elite in the SEC; no team that can run through the conference unbeaten and sit alone atop the College Football Playoff poll.
Are you really going all-in with Ole Miss, whose quarterback, Chad Kelly, is the same guy who was kicked off the Clemson team for fighting with coaches? The same guy who, even his new coach Hugh Freeze admits, “You know, he might be a ticking time bomb, but thus far, he has not been. Chad seems to be really grounded.”
Are you really jumping on LSU after Leonard Fournette went all Herschel on Auburn? Let’s not forget that, at some point, quarterback Brandon Harris is going to have to win a game with his arm.
Then there’s Alabama, which might just lose its second game (at Georgia, Oct. 3) before the halfway point of the season for the first time since Nick Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa in 2007.
“It’s not just one thing that needs to be fixed,” Saban says of his team, and he may as well be talking for the entire conference.
There are no dominant Alabama teams of recent years; no Florida and LSU teams from the mid-2000s. Just a bunch of quality teams that are all lacking a common denominator: an elite quarterback.
In the ultimate irony, the conference that recruits better than any other is lacking at the most important position on the field. Alabama and Auburn have already gone to backups, Texas A&M pulled Kyle Allen in Week 1 (he has since played much better), and Georgia’s Greyson Lambert was thisclose to getting benched in Week 2 (he, too, has played better).
I ask you, who wouldn’t want to face these big games with questions at quarterback:
— Ole Miss: Texas A&M, LSU, at Mississippi State.
— Alabama: at Georgia, at Texas A&M, LSU, at Mississippi State.
— Texas A&M: Alabama, at Ole Miss, at LSU.
— LSU: at Alabama, at Ole Miss, Texas A&M
— Georgia: Alabama, at Tennessee, Florida (Jacksonville), at Georgia Tech.
Big games are won with elite quarterback play; with teams that can protect the ball and not put their defense in bad position to defend short fields. Exhibit A of what not to do: Alabama’s meltdown last weekend.
“It seemed like everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong,” said Alabama center Ryan Kelly.
That’s just the first of at least 12 games (including the SEC Championship Game) that could leave the best conference in the game with its nose pressed against the CFP glass on New Year’s Eve.
Deal with it now. It’ll be easier to handle than in December when it’s reality.
2. Do as I say, not as I do
So here’s TCU coach Gary Patterson, explaining away two of his players getting arrested last weekend:
“It’s not even close to what happened south of here,” Patterson said, in obvious reference to a former Baylor player recently convicted of sexual assault.
This from a coach who three years ago had multiple players arrested for dealing drugs on campus.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: behavior problems aren’t teaching moments for coaches, they’re distractions. What better way to avoid the distraction than by deflection onto your rival?
3. All eyes on Kelly
After an offseason of turmoil and roster change, if Chip Kelly’s NFL Eagles tank this season — they’re already winless in two games — watch how fast he returns to college football.
The big question: what major program would be willing to fire their coach to land Kelly?
MORE: SN Week 4 overall Power Rankings
— Miami: Al Golden has to win big this season, anyway. Imagine Kelly’s offense with all of that South Florida talent.
— Notre Dame: Brian Kelly has talked about the intrigue of the NFL, and has also talked at length about the grind that is coaching the Irish.
— USC: We’re three weeks in, and a team that coach Steve Sarkisian said is championship-ready already has a loss. Sark’s impaired speech this summer at the Salute to Troy won’t help his case if this season goes bad.
— Texas: They’d be paying off a huge buyout of Charlie Strong to do it. Then again, it is Texas, and they could be competing with …
— Alabama: Saban isn’t staying forever, and he certainly isn’t staying around if last weekend is more the norm than an anomaly. Or maybe the improbable happens, the Tide wins it all and Saban walks away.
4. Striking out
Bob Bowlsby laid down a bombshell of sorts earlier this week that has gone virtually ignored.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Bowlsby, the Big 12’s outspoken commissioner, said he can foresee a day when a team strikes before a big game. This of course, is on the heels of Northwestern’s losing battle to unionize – but with an eye toward some significant future litigation between the NCAA and former players.
WEEK 4 POWER RANKINGS: ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
In the same week that NCAA president Mark Emmert declared amateur sports’ governing body will take landmark pay for likeness/play cases to the Supreme Court if needed — whatever that means – Bowlsby gave a more disturbing view of the future of college sports.
“I’m glad the unionization process has cooled for right now,” Bowlsby said. “But the fact is — and it probably will be in the sport of basketball — there will be a day in the future when the popcorn is popped, the TV cameras are there, the fans are in the stands and the team decides they’re not going to play.
“Mark my words. We will see that in the years ahead.”
This is a shocking statement from a man who has run the nation’s most successful athletic department (Stanford), and who currently is one of the most powerful men in college sports.
For those who don’t think college sports will ever reach pay for play, you better start connecting the dots: the NCAA already is talking about expecting to argue in the Supreme Court, the players have the nation’s No. 1 antitrust attorney (Jeffrey Kessler) on their side and one of the sport’s most prominent administrators is talking about striking college players.
Remember when Jim Delany’s threat — as recent as a year ago — was the Big Ten going to non-scholarship football if the pay-for-play issue continued to be pushed? How utterly laughable that looks now.
5. The Weekly 5
In the spirit of Gary Patterson dragging Baylor down with him, here are the five greatest coaching deflections of all time:
1. Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust: “What, Ara won every game?”
2. Ohio State coach Woody Hayes: “Bo had a kid in a headlock once.”
3. Louisville coach Bobby Petrino: “I crashed a bike; Bielema is crashing an entire season.”
4. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini: “You suck, too.”
5. Florida coach Urban Meyer: “I need to spend more time with my family.”
6. A crossroad week
Cody Kessler, Ronald Jones and the Trojans are coming off a loss. (Getty Images)
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Desperate Eight:
USC: at Arizona State. We know USC athletic director Pat Haden not only isn’t afraid to pink slip, he doesn’t care where it happens. Frankly, his hand-picked coach (Steve Sarkisian) has gone from embarrassing him off the field, to potentially doing it again (Stanford loss last week was awful) on the field.
HAYES: Best stadium experiences | 15 best from 15 seasons | 15 best teams
Arkansas: vs. Texas A&M. Bret Bielema had everyone believing in an Arkansas team that could contend for an SEC Championship. Now they’ve lost to Toledo and Texas Tech and might need at least a .500 record in SEC games to reach the postseason.
Georgia Tech: at Duke. Far and away, the biggest disappointment last week. Star QB Justin Thomas, the key for GT’s option attack, had 11 carries for 27 yards in a loss to Notre Dame. Now the Yellow Jackets play a Duke team that forced Thomas into the worst passing game of his career (6 of 15, 0 TD, 2 INT) in a loss last season.
Texas: vs. Oklahoma State. Texas lost another game last week, but found a quarterback (Jerrod Heard). That will be little solace if the Longhorns have three losses before the end of September.
Nebraska vs. Southern Miss. A Hail Mary loss in Week 1, an overtime loss in Week 3. At this point, are you really taking anything – much less lowly Southern Miss – for granted?
South Carolina: vs. UCF. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is playing run-first, throw-second freshman quarterback Lorenzo Nunez. Heaven help us.
Tennessee: at Florida. From giving up a 17-point lead and losing in overtime to Oklahoma, to trying to erase 10 years of futility to Florida. Win here, or the season turns bad quickly.
Auburn: at Mississippi State. Coach Gus Malzahn announced he is going with a new quarterback (Sean White) – almost two months to the day he brought Jeremy Johnson to SEC Media Days and compared him to Cam Newton.
7. It’s all about the experience
Dear Big Ten fans:
The Big Ten would like you to know that when you pull out of your driveway in future Septembers and it’s creeping on 90 degrees as you pull into your Big Ten stadium; when you’re sitting on hot aluminum stands and may as well be wearing a wet wool blanket of sweat; when you’re throwing down a couple hundred so your family can simply be hydrated for four quarters; when you then brave four or five hours of traffic to get home late so you don’t have to pay to stay in a hotel; when you do all of this instead of sitting in your air-conditioned home, eating your food, using your own bathroom and watching a 60-inch plasma, there is this:
The Big Ten now considers Army, Navy, Cincinnati and UConn as Power 5 opponents.
Cheers.
8. Moving forward, falling back
Gus Malzahn benched Jeremy Johnson this week. (Getty Images)
Urban Meyer has a quarterback quandary on his hands, and he’s not the only coach dealing with players who have regressed from last season.
Cardale Jones and JT Barrett have combined to throw four TD passes and four interceptions and complete just 56 percent of their passes after three games, numbers that are significantly lower than last season (41 TD, 12 INT, 63 percent).
Already we’ve seen teams with conference championship hopes dealing with quarterbacks who have regressed from last season:
Jeremy Johnson, Auburn:
2014 (top backup): 3 TD, 0 INT, 75 percent passes completed.
2015: 5 TD, 6 INT, 59 percent passes completed.
Where it’s headed: Benched earlier this week for redshirt freshman Sean White.
Maty Mauck, Missouri
2014: 25 TD, 13 INT, 53 percent
2015: 5 TD, 4 INT, 52 percent
Where it’s headed: Until Mizzou loses, it won’t be an issue. Once they do, heralded freshman Drew Lock will get more reps in practice and more snaps in games.
Mitch Leidner, Minnesota
2014: 11 TD, 8 INT, 52 percent
2015: 4 TD, 2 INT, 55 percent
Where it’s headed: Leidner is the best alternative, and gives Minnesota another threat with his ability to run with power.
Christian Hackenberg, Penn State
2014: 12 TD, 15 INT, 56 percent
2015: 1 TD, 2 INT, 49 percent
Where it’s headed: Another 40-plus sack season. Penn State can’t protect and its receivers can’t get open or create separation.
9. The beauty of the bizarre
Look, I don’t want to come right out and say Rutgers has a keeper with interim coach Norries Wilson, but everyone associated with the state university of New Jersey could learn a thing or two from a straightforward, no frills assistant thrown into an untenable situation.
After Rutgers’ loss to Penn State last weekend, Wilson walked into his first press conference and didn’t know how it worked. So he made up his own rules.
MORE: Tracking the mess at Rutgers
Instead of having the assembled media scream questions at him, he pointed to media members and asked them to ask him a question.
“What’s your name?” he said over and over. “What do you want to ask me?”
“Who are you?” he said. “Where are you from?”
This went on for 10 minutes of solid back and forth between an assistant coach trying to win a game and the media covering the team (and the turmoil).
When it was over, one thing was clear: Wilson had control of the situation.
Which, of course, is the first person in months at Rutgers to have control of anything.
10. Big Orange blues
Always remember, everyone: You can’t spell a Tortured Decade of Humility without a U and a T.