Life comes at Matt Hayes fast.

Shot.

Because while this game against the Tide is important, it’s not the biggest potential game between the teams. The Gators could play Alabama again in December with much more on the line.

If Richardson is what the Florida staff believes he can be, the Gators can beat Georgia, LSU and Kentucky and win the SEC East Division.

Chaser.

It’s time to reevaluate the idea that Florida’s Dan Mullen is 1 of the 10 best coaches in college football.

You’ve heard it all by now, those same regurgitated talking points that have fortified the résumé of a coach who has never won a conference championship, yet is held in the same high regard as those with national titles.

A great football mind. A quarterback guru. The best play-caller in college football. A coach the NFL wants.

“There’s so much that goes into hiring a coach, but at the top of the list is, can you recruit and can you win games that matter?” a Power 5 AD told me Sunday. “I’m not sure what any of that other stuff means.”

Maybe we can help.

The great football mind is 2-6 in his past 8 games against Power 5 teams.

The quarterback guru has been playing the wrong quarterback for the past 2 games, and further mismanagement could cost Florida a generational talent (more on that later).

The best play-caller in college football had 6 points in the first half against an LSU defense that was missing 6 – yes, 6! – starters before one of those young replacement cornerbacks blew a Hail Mary coverage and gifted the Gators a touchdown.

Then again, if you never had Dan Mullen ranked as one of the ten best coaches in college football, you don’t have to spend any effort on reevaluation.

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A master class in Dawgrading

Over at Roll Bama Roll, Erik Evans is a Georgia skeptic, because schedule, y’all.

Georgia remains one of the more suspect No. 1 teams we’ve seen lately. Their secondary still hasn’t faced anyone above 80th in passing rankings. And that’s probably good: the vaunted defense didn’t get to Will Levis as expected, and each of those “big wins” is looking sketchier each week: Clemson is just a team this season, the Wildcats are still a one-dimensional program overranked from a hot mess SEC East and easy OOC schedule, while the Hogs went from the toast of the town to a .500 team in the space of three weeks.

Meanwhile, Alabama “finally put it all together against solid conference teams, with veteran coaches, in must-win affairs”… against Mississippi State.

If that’s meant as parody, he’s really good at it.

A study in play design

It’s good to see the praise Todd Monken is starting to garner from the national media.  When you consider that he’s got Georgia’s offense functioning at a reasonably high level (20th nationally in offensive ypp) despite the injuries, he’s had quite the year so far.

I continue to be impressed with his creativity when it comes to play design.  Here are a couple of clips from Saturday that caught my eye as I watched them unfold.

Georgia’s first score of the game:

Georgia's offense is starting to cook. pic.twitter.com/8xziPviTLj

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 16, 2021

The clip doesn’t quite do the play justice.  Yeah, Cook’s sharp cut back inside was excellent, and the formation helped spread space, but live, I could see that what really opened the field up was Washington’s route.  (He topped it off with an excellent block in the end zone.)  The play design is what got the score.

Speaking of Washington, listen to Dayne Young’s description of what occurred on this play.

Darnell Washington is a unicorn and adds so much versatility to Georgia’s offense.
More of this coming on Film Don’t Lie with me @BrentRollinsPhD on @UGASportscom. pic.twitter.com/CTLqmHMq0A

— Dayne Young (@dayneyoung) October 17, 2021

This is the kind of stuff I refer to when I talk about how good Monken is at scheming receivers open.  And one reason Stetson’s improved so much this season is that he’s started to trust Monken’s play design.

I’ll say it again:  I hope Monken gets the chance to scheme with a full deck sometime this season.  He deserves the chance.

“He’s the garbage that we find, he’s the dream we left behind.”

I found this on the SECRant message board and it’s too good not to share.

Needs a little more orange to be realistic, though.

Is there an emerging bye week narrative?

Dennis Dodd’s not sayin’.  He’s just sayin’, you know?

“Problem” is a relative term for a team that is angry about giving up double digits. But the quarterback situation begs the question: How does Smart change signal callers when Daniels is healthy?

“We evaluate that position just like we do corner, left tackle, everything,” Smart said. “It is different in the management of it, I get it.”

Sometimes, the world spins around a quarterback controversy. There isn’t one at Georgia at the moment because Bennett is playing so smoothly. Changing up at this point might upset the delicate balance of team chemistry.

I’m sure the significant amount of time Dodd has spent around the program watching practices and getting to know how the players feel about their quarterbacks makes him an expert on Georgia’s team chemistry.  But, of course, he’s just saying “might”.

Expect more of this sort of bullshit speculation over the next two weeks.  It’s more fun than trying to pretend Mullen’s gonna outcoach Smart in Jacksonville.  Then again, the media could always spend their time on a real quarterback controversy in Gainesville.  Just sayin’.

“If I was a betting man, I’d put all my money on UGA. They’re that good.”

Pete Thamel serves up a heaping plate of Dawg porn here.  Although, it comes back down to earth at the end:

This Georgia team would have to change the archetype of recent title winners. They’re certainly the favorite, especially among college coaches we spoke to. And especially with the field so flawed around them. But is the team balanced enough?

“I think Bama’s team as a whole is probably better,” said an NFL scout. “UGA probably has more elite talent on their defense. But Bama has a better wide receiver and better running back and quarterback and has a chance to be better. They are pretty well-rounded and steady in every area.”

I could be snarky here and say “chance to be better” is doing some heavy lifting there, but we’ve known all along that Georgia’s road to a truly special season is going to run through Tuscaloosa at some point.  When Georgia comes at the king, it had best not miss.

SEC Net YPP, Week 7

It’s taken a while, but we’re starting to see the net figures sort out in a way that indicates the quality of teams’ play over the course of the season.  There’s still more to come, of course.  (As always, stats via cfbstats.com.)

1. Georgia 3.19 (6.74 o; 3.55 d) [NC: +.30]
2. Alabama 2.04 (6.88 o; 4.84 d) [NC:  +.32]
3. Florida 2.00 (7.07 o; 5.07 d) [NC: -.37]
4. Auburn:  1.58 (6.48 o; 4.90 d) [NC:  +.02]
5. Tennessee 1.34 (6.25 o; 4.91 d) [NC: -.10]
6. Ole Miss 1.19 (6.87 o; 5.68 d) [NC:  -.53]
7. Arkansas 1.10 (6.45 o; 5.35 d) [NC: -.53]
8. Texas A&M 1.07 (6.01 o; 4.94 d) [NC: +.15]
9. Kentucky 1.03 (6.09 o; 5.06 d) [NC: -.97]
10. South Carolina .17 (5.38 o; 5.21 d) [NC: +.19]
11. LSU .13 (5.76 o; 5.63 d) [NC: -.02]
12. Mississippi State -.42 (5.41 o; 5.83 d) [NC: -.74]
13. Missouri -.54 (6.24 o; 6.78 d) [NC: -.25]
14. Vanderbilt -2.28 (4.39 o; 6.67 d) [NC: +.16]

Turnover margin, after week six:

• +7:  Alabama
• +5:  LSU, Ole Miss
• +3:  Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee
• +1:  Arkansas, Auburn, South Carolina
• -2:  Mississippi State
• -3:  Texas A&M
• -4:  Vanderbilt
• -7:  Florida
• -8:  Kentucky

Observations:

• Well, looky there:  Georgia and ‘Bama, finally first and second in net ypp.
• Florida is also at the 2.0 net ypp mark to be considered CFP-worthy, which makes the Gators the biggest underachiever in the conference.  That turnover margin figure is brutal.
• For all the talk about how Alabama’s got an offense and Georgia doesn’t, there’s a relatively small gap in offensive ypp between them.
• Kentucky’s net ypp figure has really plummeted over the past three weeks.  So has Arky’s.
• South Carolina got a Vandy bump and Vandy got a South Carolina bump.  That seems fair.

Today, in the annals of ain’t played anybody

If you are of the belief that Kentucky’s a decent team, then this is impressive:

Coming into yesterday's game, Kentucky's defense had allowed 12 plays of 20 yards or more in 6 games. #UGA managed 9 plays of 20 yards or more (6 pass and 3 run).

— Jake Rowe (@Rowe247) October 17, 2021

Georgia D didn't allow a play longer than 16 yards all day against a UK team with a very creative scheme that came in averaging 5 plays of 20+ and has the SEC's leading rusher. So impressive what UGA has and is doing on that side of the ball.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 17, 2021

Well, I’m impressed, at least.

SEC Power Poll, Week Seven

We know who one, two and fourteen are.  The rest of the conference continues to be a jumbled mess.

1. Georgia.  The Dawgs are +33.4 in net scoring per game in conference play.  Alabama is second, at +15.
2. Alabama.  Did a nice job of taking out their post-TAMU frustrations on Mississippi State.
3. Texas A&M.  The only other SEC West team with a positive net scoring average in conference play.
4. Kentucky.  A well coached, disciplined team that doesn’t have a top-end roster.  The opposite of Florida, in other words.
5. Ole Miss.  Lots of talk about how Kentucky’s got a good shot at a 10-win season, but don’t sleep on Junior’s team doing the same thing.
6. Florida.  Somehow, the Gators managed to lose a game to a coach who was already negotiating his departure.  There’s not a verb for that, but there ought to be.
7. Auburn.  Nice rebound on the road after the loss to Georgia.
8. LSU.  Just when you’re ready to see the Tigers fall apart completely…
9. Tennessee.  Vol fans continue to cover themselves in glory; the team, not so much.
10. Arkansas.  Maybe it’s too early to declare a pattern, but Pittman’s team fell off last season after a good start, too.
11. Mississippi State.  The only team in the conference with a worse offense is Vanderbilt.
12. South Carolina.  It may have been an ugly, last minute win against Vandy, but it was still a win.
13. Missouri.  Bowl eligibility hopes are fading fast.
14. Vanderbilt.  On the bright side, at least the ‘Dores have now scored in conference play.

210.93

This is just your weekly reminder that Stetson Bennett’s passer rating would be leading the SEC and would be second nationally, but for the awkward fact that he doesn’t average enough attempts per game to qualify.