“Toto, we’re not on the Gus Bus anymore.”

Culture shock on the Plains:

Auburn OC Mike Bobo: "I don't know if (Bo) Nix has taken 10 under-center snaps in his career, but — knock on wood — he's been the best at it so far. We're not gonna be primarily under center, and we're not gonna be primarily out of the gun. We're gonna be a mixture of both."

— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) March 22, 2021

It’s gonna be a real trip to watch, Bo.

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Early SEC win projections

247Sports’ Brad Crawford and Bud Elliott have combed through every schedule in the SEC this spring to project each team’s win total that will be announced by oddsmakers later this year. These are simply guesstimates and may not reflect the numbers from the experts in Vegas when those are released…

And here’s how they breakdown the win totals for all fourteen teams (links to schedules):

• Alabama — 11.5/11.5
• Georgia — 10.5/10.5
• Texas A&M — 9.5/9.5
• Florida — 9.5/9
• LSU — 8/8.5
• Ole Miss — 8.5/7.5
• Kentucky — 7.5/7.5
• Auburn — 7/7.5
• Missouri — 7/6.5
• Arkansas — 7/6
• Mississippi State — 6/6
• Tennessee — 6/5.5
• South Carolina — 4.5/5.5
• Vanderbilt — 3/3.5

If your first thought was “welcome back, cupcakes!”, well, you’re not wrong.  There are more than a few embarrassing non-conference schedules sprinkled in there.  But there also seems to be some optimism about improved personnel with a few of those teams that I’m not sure I share (on the other hand, I kind of wonder if they’re underselling LSU just a little bit).

And if you raised an eyebrow about those Ole Miss numbers, check out the schedule.  The non-conference slate is Louisville, Austin Peay, Tulane and Liberty; the crossover games are against Tennessee and Vandy.  Even with a bad defense, 8 wins isn’t much of a stretch for Junior’s team.

What do y’all think this far out?

Is the transfer portal affecting offensive schemes?

This is an interesting thought.

College football in 2021 has become the inverse: high-quality transfer QBs are increasingly available, and offenses are simplifying to become more "plug and play" for QBs.

Free agency at the QB position is becoming the hallmark of CFB, while the NFL relies on development. https://t.co/hh7dSyKxIT

— parker (@statsowar) March 22, 2021

You buy that?  What about at Georgia, where two high profile transfers with different skill sets transferred last season?

In the abstract, I can see how it would make sense to some extent to do so.  On the other hand, when there are so many quarterbacks resorting to the portal, how necessary is it to simply what a program has been using?

Top Georgia Football Moments of the 2010s

Welp, this is a fun 16+ minute watch.

At least as long as you don’t consider how many of those moments came in games Georgia lost…

Trolling, trolling, trolling…

I get a daily email from the folks at Saturday Down South.  Here’s part of today’s offering:

Georgia’s DB situation is getting interesting

A lot has been made about Georgia’s lack of depth in the secondary this spring. Coach Kirby Smart recently mentioned Chris Smith and Lewis Cine as leaders in the secondary, but there’s not much depth behind those guys.

How dire is the situation in the defensive backfield? Well, Smart recently revealed that LB Adam Anderson and RB Lovasea Carroll were getting some work at cornerback. With a lack of depth like that, it’s no wonder Smart also said the Georgia quarterbacks are “light years ahead” of where they were last year. Considering a linebacker and a running back are lining up at cornerback, that’s no surprise.

You know, between an inexperienced group at cornerback and a new position coach, there are enough real facts to find the secondary’s situation interesting without having to invent things.  But that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?

Whither The Portal Master™ ?

So, yesterday I jumped into a lengthy Twitter debate that Graham ignited with this:

The more I think about it and discuss it with folks on here, the more I wouldn’t be shocked if Dan Mullen is fired in 1-2 seasons. He hasn’t built a foundation, and is going to have to start “Mr. Check Down” or a freshman next season. He lacks the political skills to survive.

— Graham Coffey (@DawgOutWest) March 21, 2021

Call me underwhelmed by the rationale.  Nobody’s above getting canned, of course, but it seems to me after a season in which his team won the Cocktail Party in fairly decisive fashion and went on to give Alabama a decent showing in the SECCG, Dan Mullen’s got a little rope to play with for now.  For Florida to go full Auburn on Dan’s ass, there’s gonna have to be a pretty spectacular flame out — say something akin to his predecessor’s disastrous 2017 season.  Problem with that is the East is gonna be pretty shitty overall for the next couple of seasons, at least, which ought to buoy Florida’s record in the eight- or nine-win area at a minimum.

Which leads me to Graham’s question:

Yeah, the Mac incident involved the state police and a whole lot of other problematic issues.

My question is this- Do you think Dan could survive a .500 season after the incidents last year and the anger the fan base had after he tried to get out of G’ville this offseason?

— Graham Coffey (@DawgOutWest) March 21, 2021

My answer was — it depends.  How much of it would be attributed to bad luck and how much to bad coaching (with the realization that it wouldn’t get any better) would be the key, considering Florida’s never been a program that likes throwing money at buyouts the way Auburn and Tennessee do.  (Not to mention what the replacement would cost.)

As an aside, it’s also worth noting that Florida’s hiring/firing track record when it comes to football head coaches has been hit and miss, to say the least, so if it ever comes to it, things may not turn out too badly from Georgia’s perspective.  (Then again, it’s embarrassing to remember that Jim McElwain has a winning record against the Dawgs.  But I digress.)

Anyway, what’s your answer to Graham’s question?

Mike Farrell makes a random list.

Fresh off his “Kirby Smart wastes all that talent!” list, Farrell’s back with another hit.

Player development is always important, as critical as recruiting in many ways. So how have Power Five teams been developing quarterbacks in the last decade? At the conclusion of our weeklong series we look at the grade for every Power Five team from 1-65.

Note: Grades are based on the 2010-2020 seasons factoring star rankings of QBs, transfers and overall development as factors.

Just to give you an idea of his methodology, he gives Georgia and Georgia Tech the same grade.  Honestly, I may be insulting “random” with my header.

Musical palate cleanser, let me jump in your game edition

Let’s get the week started with a little live Lizard King and his boys: