Spring Football Around The SEC: Five Questions

I like the questions. Here is my take:

1. Will John Brantley find new life with Charlie Weis?
-A lot is being made of the transition from a CUM spread team to a Charlie Weiss pro-style attack. With the talent UF has on hand, UF will be a factor and make the adjustment just fine.

Weiss had his best two years at ND in year one and two, so the idea that it will take them time to adjust to Weiss isn't necessarily true as UF no doubt has much better talent to adapt to his style of play/coaching than ND did.

Weiss didn't handle the management of the organization aspects of being a HC very well. But, there are few better OC's in football period. He will have Brantley and the UF O ready to go this fall. UF will win the east and I think we are in for a real battle in Gainesville.

2. Can Dan Mullen keep riding the wave?
-Short answer is NO.

I think Miss St has a big drop off this year after appearing to be headed in the right direction. Losing their entire LB corps and Manny Diaz will be a lot to overcome. They didn't have the strongest defense in the SEC by any means but they played well enough to keep them in games. I think their D drops off this year and the team follows.

They return a lot (basically all the key parts) on offense, but I think CDM's offense style is a lot more effective against opposing staffs and teams that haven't seen it around every year since 2005. In spite of all the excitement that MSU fans had over last season and how they praised CDM, the East Mississippi Bulldogs still finished 11th in the SEC in total offense against SEC competiton. Frankly, I'm not impressed and feel that CDM's offensive philosophy is close to running its course in the SEC.

Not to say he won't adjust things as he seems to be a good offensive minded coach. But, I don't think things will change next year which will result in more lack of production against SEC opponets and their D stuggles to adjust and fill voids.

I think they could easily slip to 6-6 next year.
Their Schedule:
W at Memphis
L at Auburn (actually benefit of the doubt here as it is @ the Barn)
L LSU
W Louisiana Tech
L at Georgia
W at UAB
L South Carolina (I think MSU has a good shot in this one as USCe is on the road and they have a lot of defensive losses up front that could hurt them against CDM's running/screen game; but Spurrier has enough experience against CDM to get it done.).
Open Date
W at Kentucky (The Wildcats lost a ton on offense and they are changing defensive schemes this off-season, unless they get some surprise performances and quick defensive learners they will not play MSU as close as they did last year (even if it is a home game for them)
W UT Martin
L Alabama
L at Arkansas
? Ole Miss (toss-up- two bad teams, two up-and-down coaches, and in-state rivalry)

3. Could Zach Mettenberger be the man at LSU?
- Yes, with a new OC in town it will be fair competition. Steve Kragthorpe runs a philosophy where he believes in putting the best 11 players on the field and minimize personnel groupings to avoid giving clues to the defense as to what they are going to do. This desire to avoid creating personnel tendancies complements his idea of keeping the best players on the field.

I think that his idea of best players are those that provide the most flexibility at each position. That said, based off of observation of their on field results I think Mettenberger easily has the advantage in size, talent, and ability to be a strong armed QB and a running threat. If he has learned from his off-field transgressions, I think he wins the job this spring.

4. Will Tyler Wilson make Arkansas forget about Ryan Mallett?
- YES.
For all of Mallett's measurables, talent, and hype; he was not a good pressure situation QB. He has consistently made game changing mistakes against more talented teams.

I think he honestly has a lot of difficulty recognizing coverages which has affected his play against better coached teams. He obviously has a lot of potential, but I honestly think he'll be a bust in the NFL.

Petrino's offenses have made lots of QBs look really good on paper. I think Mallett was the beneficiary of having great natural ability and being placed in a college world of Ds with Petrino as a coach. Look for the NFL to be an eye opener for him.

Mallett's poor play kept us in the game last year. This year I think the Hogs will actually be better off as I think Tyler Wilson is a much better game manager at QB. He knows how to run the offense and will not make as many mistakes as mallett (IMO). He has an awesome WR corps returning and fully expect another battle in Tuscaloosa.

I see Arky and LSU as the key contenders for the west alongside Bama. Both are must wins as either could be 1 loss teams this year.

5. Is Georgia's starting tailback even on campus yet?
-NO.
And, at the rate the others are going. There may not be a UGA scholly RB on the team before he gets there. Crowell will be an instant contributor for the Dawgs. Like Lattimore at USCe, he will carry the bulk of the carries. Hopefully, he stays in shape to endure the pounding he will take this season.