This isn’t rocket science, people. Stop me when you see a difference maker at the most important position on the field.
Treon Harris, Patrick Towles, Anthony Jennings, Kyle Allen.
Shall we continue?
Maty Mauk, Brandon Allen, Johnny McCrary, Josh Dobbs.
“You can’t hide anything in that position,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze says. “You either have it, or you don’t.”
Welcome to the story of SEC regression: the league doesn’t have it where it matters most. In this era of college football where elite quarterbacks win championships, the 14-team monster conference has one quarterback of significance.
And Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott threw eight of his 11 interceptions in games against SEC West Division opponents and the Orange Bowl loss to Georgia Tech.
There’s no AJ McCarron or Tim Tebow or Cam Newton or even Matt Flynn in that group. At least not yet.
The obvious question: in a conference that recruits better than any other, how can a majority of the teams whiff on the most important position? One starter in 2014 (Allen) was a major recruit; the others were either four-star projects (Harris, Jennings) or three- and two-star recruits who waited their turn and played when there was no one else.
Want to know why Alabama struggled to score points in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State? Look no further than quarterback Blake Sims, who had three interceptions in the game, including a pick six.
Of the SEC’s two top quarterbacks from 2014, one switched positions for the Senior Bowl (Auburn’s Nick Marshall), and the other (Sims) all but proved he’ll have to switch positions, too, if he wants to play in the NFL.
In three New Year’s Day major bowl games — all losses for the SEC — Sims, Prescott and Bo Wallace of Ole Miss combined to throw seven interceptions.
“I don’t think I’ve seen the quarterback play (in the SEC) this bad in a long time,” said one AFC scout.
Florida had a five-star recruit (Jeff Driskel) who never played to his potential and transferred to Louisiana Tech after the season. LSU toyed with the idea of playing five-star recruit Brandon Harris (and he played well in spots), but went exclusively with Jennings over the final seven games of the season — and Jennings responded with a 118.3 quarterback rating (only Driskel was worse in the SEC).
In fact, there's no better example of the SEC's quarterback drought than Will Muschamp’s tenure at Florida.
He couldn’t develop an elite player at the position, and was fired after four seasons. Think about that: Florida, in the most talent-rich state in all of college football, couldn’t recruit and develop a quarterback.
At one point not so long ago under Urban Meyer, the Gators’ roster had Tebow, Newton and five-star freshman John Brantley on the depth chart.
“It’s a combination of things that go into building a quarterback,” said Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen. “It’s talent, it’s knowledge of the game, it’s experience, it’s mental and physical toughness. If you’re missing in any of those areas, it’s going to get exposed in this league.”
So as we head into another National Signing Day, another February when the SEC is king of all things recruiting, there may be hope.
Of the 15 five-and four-star pro style quarterbacks rated by Rivals.com, four are committed to SEC teams. Of the 17 four-star dual-threat quarterbacks, five are committed to SEC teams.
The highest-rated quarterback of the bunch is Blake Barnett, who originally committed to Notre Dame before flipping to Alabama and will be one of a handful of quarterbacks to compete with Jacob Coker for the starting job. Less than two months from now, elite recruits from the last two recruiting classes will compete for starting spots at Auburn (Jeremy Johnson), Florida (Will Grier) and LSU (Harris).
Of the 14 SEC teams, five will have new starters (Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Ole Miss), and two others (Florida, LSU) are competition away from making it half of the SEC with new quarterbacks for 2015.
If there’s any consolation, the two quarterbacks who led Ohio State to the national championship weren’t supposed to play in 2014. So there’s that.
Which is better than the alternative: seven interceptions — two returned for touchdowns — for the SEC in three New Year’s Day major bowls.
And the end of a championship streak.