The ultimate tailgate machine?

I don’t know if you’ve seen the news on Ford’s upcoming F-150 Lightning truck, but, holy cow, this thing is built to tailgate.  It’s a beast of a machine that, with the right battery, can go up to 300 miles on a charge, but more importantly (at least for my selfish interest), the damned thing doubles as a generator that can power a home for roughly three days if equipped with the larger battery pack.

If it can power a whole house for three days, I think it can handle a tailgate without breaking a sweat.

Then, to top things off, there’s what you get when you realize there’s no motor up front.

The front trunk has a volume of 14 cubic feet and can hold 400 pounds of stuff, and there are four electrical outlets and two USB ports in there. It also has a basin in the floor that features a drain, and Ford says that it can be used to store food and drinks.

Woo!  I am in awe.

No, I’m not gonna go out and buy one.  But I’d sure like to be good friends with someone who does.  Take this bad boy to Jax and rule the Cocktail Party.

Consider this an upcoming addition to the gift guide.

Get your hindsight in early.

Athlon asks a question — “Who will be the SEC’s top quarterback in 2021?”  One answer:

The best quarterback in the SEC is a signal-caller who has only thrown 22 passes in college: Alabama’s Bryce Young. No, he doesn’t have the track record (yet), but he’s also the No. 2 overall recruit from the Class of 2020 and the sixth-best QB recruit of all-time, per 247Sports. It may take him a few games to get up to speed, but as we’ve seen the last few years with Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones, Alabama is built to create star quarterbacks. And they’ve never had a quarterback recruit like Young before. Even with the departure of two first-round receivers and a first-round running back, tight end, and offensive tackle, Young will have plenty of talent surrounding him to help put up a Heisman campaign.

So, after reading that, I’ve got a question:  in a few years, will people be criticizing Nick Saban for not benching Jones to start Young instead?

I keed, I keed… I think.

“Does Kirby Smart have a problem developing talent at Georgia?”

Bud Elliott asks and Graham Coffey answers:

Your Daily Gator attains enlightenment.

Well done, grasshopper.

They have met the enemy, and they are us from 15 years ago.

The Georgia Way’s never ending commitment to excellence

The whispers about this have been swirling about for a while.

Georgia is about to lose the best track coach it has ever had.

Petros Kyprianou, who led the Bulldogs to both men’s and women’s national championships in the past three years, is leaving UGA after the conclusion of the NCAA Championships next month, several people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week.

And this, Georgia fans, is why we can’t have nice things:

At issue is facilities. Kyprianou would like UGA to invest more significantly in track and field. The Bulldogs do not have an indoor track facility, as most of the major powers do, and they have to share the Spec Towns Track and Field facility with the university.

If that sounds familiar, it’s why Georgia no longer hosts tennis championships after a long period of neglect of its once stellar tennis facilities by Greg McGarity.  It’s what you get when you don’t believe in a facilities master plan and commit to a policy of building things only after a significant donor pool is established to pay for it.

Meanwhile, Josh Brooks is Greg McGarity now.

Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks declined to discuss the situation.

“Our primary focus is supporting our coaches and student-athletes as they prepare for the NCAA regionals and nationals,” Brooks said via a text message.

At Butts-Mehre, it’s football or bust.  And my bet is that’s just fine with a majority of the fan base (not to mention the boosters).

The most bittersweet moment of the 2020 season

This play.

Inside, @dayneyoung and @PFF_Brent take a look at two non-quarterbacks who will help determine Georgia’s 2021 ceiling https://t.co/uMHNRdXpp7 pic.twitter.com/UEVj5uMcpi

— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) May 21, 2021

I have no illusions that Florida’s offense would have been held in check all day.  Georgia’s defense was too beat up and Trask had too many receiving weapons for that to happen.  But Georgia’s offense had flat out ripped up Grantham’s defense to that point and could have kept it up without the two injuries suffered on that play.

But what really makes that moment so bittersweet is that it was one of the times when Stetson played it perfectly — stood in the pocket, made the correct read and delivered a perfect pass.  Nobody gets hurt then and I would have honestly taken the Dawgs’ chances in a shootout.

Damn.

A measure of respect

Athlon has posted its 2021 All-SEC preseason teams (four in all).  Here’s how it breaks down by school:

There are quibbles — quite a few, as a matter of fact — I could make with some of their individual projections, but as a overall assessment of talent, it’s fair to say there are two teams and then there’s the rest of the SEC.

A different kind of opt out

What do y’all make of this?

23 signing out✌🏾 Thanks to everyone for the support #HookEm🧡🤘🏾 pic.twitter.com/RrpbWCfZGW

— 23🏈 (@JaydonBlue) May 20, 2021

More importantly, I wonder what Texas, where he’s committed, makes of it.  He’s good enough they’ll keep a spot for him, but I wonder if he discussed his decision with the program before he announced it.

I also wonder if this is the start of a new trend.

Meanwhile, in Columbia

If you want to get a feel for the pulse of the South Carolina program right now, check out this nugget ($$):

Beamer chose not to put a punt team on the field during the spring game because he didn’t want to give away any secrets, which is an indication of how seriously he and Lembo are taking what they see as an advantage.

Insert your Vince Dooley “long snappah” joke here.

Rivals’ 20-year class rankings

I would have assumed Alabama would be at the top, but I am wrong.

1. GEORGIA (6.45 average class ranking)

The Bulldogs have been on an incredible run under coach Kirby Smart with three-straight No. 1 classes before finishing sixth in 2021. Georgia finished with five five-stars in 2020 led by a tremendous West haul of RB Kendall Milton, TE Darnell Washington and CB Kelee Ringo.

In 2019, Georgia held off Alabama in the slimmest of margins for the top spot and in 2018 the Bulldogs had eight five-stars in one of the best classes in Rivals’ history. Consistency has been key for Georgia as it has never finished lower than No. 15 in the team rankings.

Alabama is third.  SEC teams make up the top four on the list.

Now, just shut the doubters up, Kirbs.