We don’t revise “The List” during the College Football Playoff, which means no matter how things shake out for the SEC’s 5 Playoff teams, a champion will be crowned below.

The end of a regular season, like the end of a calendar year, is also a great time to take inventory.

What did we learn about the SEC and college football this year in a season where, well, most of us media folks (and even some of you brilliant fans out there) knew so little?

The top 3 teams in the preseason polls? None made the Playoff. One — Penn State — fired its head coach. Another — Clemson — probably can’t get rid of its coach even if both parties agreed it was best. And Texas? Well, at least Arch Manning showed signs of being who we thought he was late in the season. But the noise in Austin will be loud if Steve Sarkisian has the audacity to miss 2 College Football Playoffs in a row.

Arch wasn’t the only hyped quarterback we were wrong about.

Will DJ Lagway follow Bill Napier to James Madison? Sun Belt GM Jacob LaFrance will make a hard push, making you wonder how much new Florida head coach Jon Sumrall and his offensive coordinator, Buster Faulkner, will fight to keep the 5-star in Gainesville after a disappointing sophomore campaign.

LaNorris Sellers wasn’t as disappointing as Lagway, but he was inaccurate and mistake prone in South Carolina’s biggest moments.

Garrett Nussmeier started the season on All-American lists. His coach, Brian Kelly, was fired and while the Tigers and Kelly postured over Kelly’s buyout, Nussmeier was benched at LSU.  

Of these 4 SEC quarterbacks tapped as preseason all-conference or All-America candidates, only Manning appears (Honorable Mention) on “The List” at season’s end.

We really knew so little.

But what if the real story of the 2025 college football season is the friends we made along the way?

Friends like Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, who taught us the valuable lesson that if you fail in life or you are treated unfairly, it’s best to take your ball and go home and be loud about your grievances on national television. After all, you can’t spell accountability with ACC and it’s all that league’s fault, right?

Friends like Diego Pavia, who went from true underdog story to unlikely villain to true underdog story again in a matter of 3 months. Not since Gotham’s masked avenger has a Dark Knight ever felt so deeply appreciated, unappreciated, and loved in a season-long wash cycle.

Friends like Lane Kiffin, who reminded kids everywhere that it really is all about them and no one else. On the bright side, if you do some hot yoga, adopt a PR puppy, and make the strangest Pat McAfee Show appearance of all time, you’ll almost get away with it? Okay, maybe not. But at least you’ll have monopoly man money.

And who could forget friends like Kalen DeBoer?

Sure, you just took a roster loaded with Nick Saban’s talent to a disappointing 10-3 record. But at least you coach a brand so valuable that you get a College Football Playoff invite anyway, even after losing your conference title game by 3 touchdowns. Being rewarded for that spectacular failure has to feel much better than having two-thirds of your fan base hoping you leave for Michigan, right?

Lane to Alabama, confirmed?

With charity in our hearts and championship football on our minds, here is the final “List” of 2025.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Germie Bernard, WR; Deontae Lawson, LB. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: O’Mega Blake, WR. Florida: Myles Graham, LB; Jake Slaughter, C. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; KJ Bolden, S. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB. LSU: AJ Haulcy, S; Harold Perkins Jr., LB. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, S; Brenen Thompson, WR. Missouri: Chris McClellan, DT; Connor Tollison, C. Oklahoma: Gracen Halton, DL; Kip Lewis, LB. Ole Miss: Princewill Umanmielen, Edge; Jayden Williams, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, DB/Return. Tennessee: Chris Brazzell II, WR; Wendell Moe Jr., OG. Texas: Arch Manning, QB; Colin Simmons, Edge. Texas A&M: KC Concepcion, WR; Trey Zuhn III, OL. Vanderbilt: Eli Stowers, TE; Jordan White, C.

10. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

The SEC’s rushing champion powered his way to 1,560 yards this season, scoring 16 touchdowns (second in the SEC). Hardy averaged 6.5 yards per carry and registered 4 games with 150 yards rushing or more, including a 300-yard, 3 touchdown performance against Mississippi State.

Most impressive? Over 1,000 of Hardy’s yards came after contact, on staggering runs like the one above. Hardy’s tendency to go quiet in big games limits his final ranking — but a tremendous season nonetheless for the Mizzou star.

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9. Kadyn Proctor, OT (Alabama)

Proctor wasn’t poor against Georgia. He allowed only 1 quarterback pressure and graded out fairly as a run blocker on a day when some of Alabama’s other high-profile linemen, like center Parker Brailsford, graded out in the dire-to-bad 50s, per PFF. But it’s hard to rank Proctor much higher than 9th as the star lineman for an offense that’s been less effective week by week since October. Still, an All-American campaign for the big man, who was fun with the football in his hands, too.

8. Jadan Baugh, RB (Florida)

The brightest star among SEC teams that disappointed in 2025 was Baugh, who ranked third in the SEC with 1,170 yards rushing and finished second in the league in yards after contact and missed tackles forced. If Jon Sumrall hopes to continue his trend of winning immediately at new jobs, retaining the powerful Baugh is step one.  

7. Mansoor Delane, CB (LSU)

One of the nation’s best coverage corners, Delane graded out at 91.1 in coverage, per PFF. That’s good enough for third in the Power 4 and best among SEC corners. Delane also produced a game-sealing interception against Clemson and a clinching pass breakup against South Carolina, proving he possesses a clutch gene to accompany outstanding technique and speed.

6. Trinidad Chambliss, QB (Ole Miss)

The Ferris State transfer started the season on the bench but ends it a Playoff starter. It’s a fairy tale story and that’s before you look at the numbers, which show Chambliss ranking top 5 in the SEC in passing yards, completion percentage, yards per attempt, and efficiency rating. The Rebels led the SEC in total offense and success rate offense with Chambliss at the helm.

5. Keagan Trost, OT (Missouri)

No offensive tackle in America graded out better than Trost, who capped his final campaign of college football with a 90.9 rating, per PFF. The Tigers finished the season 8th in America in rushing offense, with Trost the anchor of one of America’s best offensive line groups. My favorite Trost nugget? Two of his 3 highest grades this season came in ranked matchups: Alabama and Texas A&M.

4. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)

Georgia’s most consistent player all season, Allen has fought through injuries to captain one of the nation’s most prolific defenses. Georgia’s final game was a masterpiece, with Allen registering 4 tackles and a pass breakup in a 28-7 win over Alabama where the Dawgs allowed just 209 total yards and held Alabama to -3 yards rushing. Allen should finally be 100% healthy (a first since the Cocktail Party in early November) when the Dawgs take the field in the College Football Playoff.

3. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

Howell led the SEC in sacks on his way to SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Howell’s ability to force double teams also limited what opposing offenses could do on third down, contributing to Texas A&M’s nation-best (23%) third down conversion rate defense. A bona fide star on a team that was one of the season’s best stories.

2. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

Speaking of great stories… Lacy transferred from Missouri after the Tigers pondered a position change. He then went out and led the SEC in rushing touchdowns (20) and ranked second in rushing yards (1,279).

“He was, more than any guy they have had, the man who made that offense go,” a SEC defensive coordinator told SDS.

Now without Kiffin, the Playoff is next for the budding star.

1. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

A well-deserved Heisman finalist, Pavia has a strong argument to win:

He won’t, largely because Vanderbilt played a tougher schedule than Indiana and Pavia lost 2 games while Fernando Mendoza lost none. But Pavia still had the single greatest season for a Vanderbilt player ever, leading the Commodores in rushing and passing yards on his way to over 3,600 yards of total offense. Vanderbilt finished 10-2, and Pavia will finish his stellar career with a Heisman trip to New York, a ReliaQuest bowl berth, and most valuable of all, a “List” championship.

The post Top 10 players in the SEC in 2025 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Now? I suppose it means Duke could make the College Football Playoff as the ACC champion, but I’m not sure anyone on that campus would notice, what with Duke basketball off to a 9-0 start. But let’s not touch on the full chaos scenario just yet.

The more fascinating scenario is in the SEC, where Alabama’s fate will be in the Committee’s hands should it lose a rematch to No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon. Then what?

We know the 5 highest-ranked conference champions in the CFP make the Playoff. The Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC champions are guaranteed to be in that group. The American seems destined for inclusion as well. Spot 5? That’s the Duke path, unless Virginia wins.

But Alabama? At 10-3 with an albatross of a loss to FSU, would the Crimson Tide be in jeopardy? Probably not if quality wins matter. The Crimson Tide have a win over fellow bubble team Vanderbilt and the best win among contenders with their victory in Athens. Would the committee still value the Georgia win if Bama loses the rematch? We are about to find out.

How many teams will the SEC get in the field? Are the days of the SEC Championship Game numbered, especially in a world where conference champions continue to get automatic Playoff bids? If we’re punishing teams for posting elite regular seasons, what are we even doing here?

These were the questions that raced through your faithful scribe’s mind during Rivalry Week, while most of the world was wondering what a 50-year-old man child who woke up on third and thought he hit a triple would do next with his coaching career. I’ll spare you the moralizing on Lane Kiffin if you stop insisting he’s winning big at LSU.

Kiffin’s never won a conference title as a Power 4 coach and his most talented team, the 2024 Ole Miss Rebels, missed the Playoff entirely. Furthermore, thanks to Keith Carter’s bizarre power play in the face of player dissent (this is about the players, right?), the next College Football Playoff game Kiffin coaches will be his first Playoff game. Perhaps it all comes up aces for LSU. It’s a top-5 job in the sport and a place where you can win a national championship as a head coach even if you eat grass or star in the world’s most awkward Hummer commercial (Tell ‘em about it, Jo Jo!).Or maybe Lane will get fired in 5 years or less like the last 2 hires in Baton Rouge, including the national title winning Ed Orgeron. No LSU coach since Nick Saban has left the job willingly. Kiffin feels unlikely to buck that trend.

Will a defensive player buck the trend of offensive stars winning “The List?” Texas’s rivalry week victory over Texas A&M renders that unlikely, what with Cashius Howell out of the SEC Championship Game picture.

“The List” is a regular season and Championship Week award, much like the Heisman. When it’s close — as it is this season — an SEC Championship Game matters immensely. Howell doesn’t enter Championship Week No. 1. He won’t finish there, either.

But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost for defensive players this season. In fact, the only player playing on Saturday who can likely win at this point is Georgia LB CJ Allen. A Butkus Finalist, Allen has been limited by a knee injury for the past 3 weeks. If healthy and a force in a Georgia win on Saturday, perhaps he catapults to the top.

As for Alabama, it’ll have 1 player in “the List” this week and 3 others, Deontae Lawson, Bray Hubbard, and Ty Simpson, who spent time on the greatest list ever born into southern football earlier this season. But while the margins are smaller between spots 1 and 5 this season than any year in “List” history (2019 is when we started this thing), there’s still a sizable gap between honorable mentions and spots 6-10 and the top 5 contenders.

After a stirring rivalry week filled with upsets, heartache, and Arch Manning and Jadan Baugh touchdowns, here is the penultimate “List” of 2025. As always, honorable mentions, limited to 2 per school, start us off below.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Bray Hubbard, S; Deontae Lawson, LB. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: O’Mega Blake, WR. Florida: Myles Graham, LB. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Gunner Stockton, QB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB. LSU: AJ Haulcy, S; Harold Perkins Jr., LB. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, S; Brenen Thompson, WR. Missouri: Ahmad Hardy, RB; Chris McClellan, DT. Oklahoma: Gracen Halton, DL; Kip Lewis, LB. Ole Miss: Princewill Umanmielen, Edge; Jayden Williams, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, DB/Return. Tennessee: Chris Brazzell II, WR; Wendell Moe Jr., OG. Texas: Anthony Hill Jr., LB; Arch Manning, QB. Texas A&M: KC Concepcion, WR; Trey Zuhn III, OL. Vanderbilt: Eli Stowers, TE; Jordan White, C.

10. Colin Simmons, Edge (Texas)

The former 5-star recruit has lived up to the billing and more down the stretch in 2025, collecting at least 1 sack in each of the last 5 Texas games, including Saturday’s win over A&M. On the season, Simmons has 11 sacks, ranking second behind only Bednarik Award finalist Cashius Howell. Simmons has 53 pressures and 30 hurries in 2025, both of which rank first in the SEC. Because his star turn came later in the year, All-American honors may not be in Simmons’s grasp, but the data says this is a budding superstar and he’s “List” worthy.

9. Jadan Baugh, RB (Florida)

Baugh ran over, past, and around Florida State on Saturday, piling up 266 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns in Florida’s 40-21 rout of the hated Noles.

Baugh did all this by forcing 13 missed tackles and averaging 3.47 yards after contact per carry on the afternoon. The former is the most missed tackles forced by a SEC running back in a game this season. On the year, Baugh rushed for 1,170 yards at a 5.3 yard per carry clip despite facing 7 and 8 man fronts consistently thanks to the inconsistency of DJ Lagway. Consider retaining the incredibly productive Baugh priority 1 for new head coach Jon Sumrall.

8. Mansoor Delane, CB (LSU)

The LSU senior graded out as the nation’s third-best coverage corner this season, per PFF. He allowed completions on just a stingy 37% of targets against (15% better than the SEC average) and broke up 9 opposing passes. Delane was the unquestioned leader of one of the nation’s best secondary units — helping bring respect and rep back to the place that used to define what it meant to be DBU.

7. Keagan Trost, OT (Missouri)

Trost graded out as the nation’s best offensive tackle this season, per PFF. His tremendous run blocking (90.5 grade!) paved the way for Ahmad Hardy to capture the SEC rushing crown with 1,560 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns on the season. The Tigers roll into bowl season ranked 8th nationally in rushing offense, which is 2nd best (Utah) among Power 4 football teams. Trost doesn’t receive the national acclaim he’s warranted — logo bias, I guess — but he’s undoubtedly posted one of the best seasons for an SEC lineman in recent memory, and Hardy and Mizzou are better for it.

6. Kadyn Proctor, OT (Alabama)

Alabama kept its College Football Playoff and SEC Championship hopes alive on Saturday with a thrilling 27-20 win at Auburn. Proctor was terrific, allowing 0 sacks for the 12th-consecutive game and surrendering just 2 pressures against a stout Auburn front 7. In addition to being a human highlight reel with the football in his hand, Proctor surrendered just 13 pressures all season in passing situations, keeping Ty Simpson’s pocket clean from the blind side on 99.4% of snaps. For his efforts, Proctor has been named a finalist for the Lombardi Award, honoring the nation’s best offensive or defensive linemen.

5. Trinidad Chambliss, QB (Ole Miss)

From Ferris State to All-SEC. What a journey for Trinidad Chambliss, who saved his best for last in Ole Miss’s resounding Egg Bowl win last Friday. Chambliss connected on 23-of-34 passes for 359 yards and 4 touchdowns, marking his 7th 300-yard passing game in 10 starts this season. He became just the 7th Ole Miss QB to pass 3,000 yards in a year in the process.

Keith Carter’s pride and Lane Kiffin’s ego will keep Chambliss from having his head coach in the College Football Playoff. But it might not matter if he’s dropping dimes like this one.

4. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

Howell’s 11.5 sacks lead the SEC, but he was relatively quiet against Texas (3 pressures, 1 hurry) and didn’t register a single hurry or pressure against Samford the week before the rivalry defeat to the Longhorns. Howell hasn’t graded out in the 70s since the month of October, per PFF, struggling to be as impactful against an array of double teams and blocking schemes designed to minimize his strength as a pass rusher. There’s value, of course, in being the centerpiece of your team’s game plan, but Howell needs to produce sacks, too, if the Aggies hope to stick around the College Football Playoff.

3. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)

The Georgia captain has played through an injury the past 3 weeks, fighting to help the Dawgs constantly improving defense, which now ranks 8th in the nation in SP+ efficiency and 10th in success-rate defense. Allen ranks 6th in the SEC in tackles and has 12 pressures, 4 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles this season. A near-lock All-American, Allen was named a Butkus Award finalist late last month. The SEC Championship looms next.

2. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

Lacy rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown in Ole Miss’s 38-19 win over Mississippi State last Friday. On the season, Lacy has 1,279 yards rushing (second in the SEC) and 20 touchdowns, which leads the conference and ranks second in the country (Caleb Hawkins). Lacy’s 3.31 yards per rush after contact also third in the SEC, behind only Jadan Baugh and Ahmad Hardy. A splendid season that will end in the College Football Playoff.

1 Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

My SEC Player of the Year vote narrowly goes to Pavia, who has led Vanderbilt to unthinkable heights in 2025, helping the Commodores win 10 games and threaten to crash the College Football Playoff party. In Vanderbilt’s 45-24 rout of Tennessee at Neyland Stadium last Saturday, Pavia was his usual brilliant self, gashing the Volunteers with 268 yards passing, 165 yards rushing, and 2 total touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 passing).

If Pavia played for almost any SEC program other than Vanderbilt, would he be a lock for the Heisman Trophy? It’s a reasonable enough question. Pavia’s 3,192 yards passing are easily a career high, and his 9.4 yards per completion is almost a full 2 yards over his 2024 campaign, when he first took the SEC by storm. He’s also Vanderbilt’s leading rusher, with 826 yards and 9 rushing touchdowns. That feat is all the more impressive because, as Tennessee found out this weekend, Vandy running back Sedrick Alexander is really good at football. It’s just that Pavia is better.

Should Vanderbilt be in the Playoff? It’d be a lock if it was named Ohio State. Let’s leave it there.

What “The List” can control is the respect it affords Pavia. Heading into SEC Championship week, he’s the leader in “the List” clubhouse. How about that for an underdog story?

The post Ranking the top 10 players in the SEC entering Championship Week appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The ACC stormed to a 6-3 lead on Tuesday, only to see SEC teams benefit from home-court advantages on Wednesday to rally for the Challenge victory. Arkansas, Alabama, and Auburn all secured wins that should age beautifully in the process.

From the ACC’s perspective, it was a solid showing, more evidence that the conference is vastly improved from the meager 4-bid league it fielded in 2024-25, when only Duke advanced beyond the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

For the SEC, it was proof that rumors of the league’s demise as a basketball power were overstated. Sure, the league isn’t the absolute wagon it was a year ago, when 7 SEC teams reached the Sweet 16, 2 advanced to the Final Four, and Florida won the program’s third national championship. But the SEC is still a force to be reckoned with, the top ranked league in both KenPom and Bart Torvik’s analytical rankings, and well on the way to double-digit NCAA Tournament bids for the second-consecutive season.

Here are 5 takeaways from the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Duke’s narrow win over Florida was one of the best games of the year to date

Saturday Down South was in Cameron Indoor Stadium for No. 4 Duke’s nip-and-tuck 67-66 win over No. 15 Florida, which was by far the best game in the 16 game ACC/SEC Challenge.

After a tight first 10 minutes, Duke closed the opening half on a 17-5 run, buoyed by the brilliant play of freshman Cam Boozer. Just a year removed from Cooper Flagg winning National Player of the Year honors as a freshman, Boozer is an early frontrunner himself, and he was magnificent on Tuesday, getting to most of the spots he wanted to on the floor in the first half and doing an incredible job finishing over Florida’s excellent post defense, length and athleticism. Boozer would finish with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Florida’s guards struggled mightily with Duke’s length and defense in the opening half, with the trio of Boogie Fland, Urban Klavžar, and Xaivian Lee shooting just 2-17 in the opening half and a dismal 1-10 from beyond the arc.

The Blue Devils led by as many as 15 points, and when they scored the opening basket of the second half, the lead was 14 again.

That’s when Florida found itself for perhaps the first time since early in the season opener against Arizona.

Boogie Fland played more assertively, getting into the paint at will and scoring in the midrange and at the rim. Tommy Haugh (24 points, 6 rebounds) continued to build on his All-American campaign, hitting massive shots and playing outstanding defense on Caleb Foster, Dame Sarr, and whichever member of Duke’s supporting cast was thrown his direction.

Alex Condon got involved in the mid-post, facing up defenders and attacking the basket, forcing the Duke defense to help and scoring multiple big-time buckets to help Florida chip away.

Todd Golden wisely refused to double Boozer, relying on the tremendous defense of Rueben Chinyelu to force Boozer left and make him uncomfortable for the first time in his college career. Boozer missed 7 consecutive field goals in the second half, almost exclusively a product of Chinyelu’s physicality and quickness.

Klavžar hit a huge 3 to cut Duke’s lead to 3 in the second half and later swiped the ball from Boozer to help the Gators tie the affair at 59. A Boozer 3 quickly gave Duke the lead again, but Florida wouldn’t go away, and the Gators reclaimed the lead, 66-64, when Fland buried a 3 off a beautiful horns set with just 30 seconds remaining.

This was the Florida team most folks thought the Gators had built in the preseason.

But just as it seemed Florida would swipe the best win of the year for any program, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer drew up a beauty:

Duke ran an inverted pick-and-roll, getting the ball to Boozer at the top of the arc off a ball screen. Klavžar tagged screener Isaiah Evans initially but then cheated just a bit to help Chinyelu force Boozer to his weaker left hand. The extra help created just the space Isaiah Evans needed to veer and flash open off the ball screen. Evans was 0-7 from deep on the evening, but this time, given a clean look, he was pure.

Scheyer, whose Duke team scored 18 points after timeouts on Tuesday evening, said the play was “exactly” what was drawn up — and called the ensuing roar “the loudest he’d ever heard Cameron Indoor,” either as a national title-winning player, assistant, or head coach.

Duke still needed 2 stops to win, but Fland dribbled off his leg on the first possession and Tommy Haugh’s desperate pass with 1.5 seconds remaining was deflected by Maliq Brown, sealing the win for the Blue Devils.

The game wasn’t without controversy.

An obvious Duke goaltend of a Haugh layup late in the first half was not called, costing the Gators 2 points in a game Florida lost by 1. And Haugh was bizarrely called for a dead ball technical while shielding his body in the air from an oncoming Patrick Ngongba on this sequence, which allowed Duke to send a free throw shooter of its choice (Evans) to the line and gave Duke an extra possession, allowing Duke to extend its slim lead late in the second half.

That call may have been justice for a similarly controversial flagrant called on Maliq Brown in the opening half, except that Duke was without a challenge (it had lost its challenge earlier in the game) on the Haugh play, making Scheyer’s pleas for a review especially suspect.

Still, as Golden pointed out after the game, you have to expect you won’t get the benefit of the doubt from officials on the road, and you have to fight through it to win at a place at Cameron against a team as talented as Duke.

Florida had its chance to win with 1 stop. The Gators didn’t get it.

The Gators are now without a clear Quad 1 win, and things won’t get any easier with yet another tough game in a hostile environment coming next week when Florida plays UConn at the Jimmy V Classic.

Can Florida bottle what it found in the second half rally at Cameron? It’ll need to do that and perhaps be even better to avoid matching its season loss total from last year’s national championship team in just 9 games this season.

Long term, Florida will be fine, as long as the Fland the Gators have seen the last 2 games is the one they get for the next few months. But being a defending champion is different, no matter how much you insist you aren’t defending anything in the offseason.

As for Duke, the 9-0 start is the best in nearly a decade, and even though this group lacks the high-end talent of last year’s Final Four team, there’s an argument they defend better as a group. The Blue Devils are certainly Final Four good.

A win that will last for Arkansas

No. 25 Arkansas couldn’t finish against Duke on Thanksgiving, overwhelmed by a 27-11 Duke run over the final 10 minutes that saw the Blue Devils simply suffocate the Hogs offensively and get whatever they wanted in the paint offensively.

The Hogs responded with aplomb in Fayetteville on Wednesday night.

Arkansas led No. 6 Louisville by 18 points in the first half, stifling the Cardinals’ explosive offense on the perimeter in holding the Cardinals to a season-low 22% (8-37) from beyond the arc. Trevon Brazile (21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) was fantastic for Arkansas, as was sensational freshman Darius Acuff Jr. (17 points, 10 assists, 4 turnovers).

But the story of the game for John Calipari’s team was defense.

Limiting Louisville, who entered the night ranked second in the country in offensive efficiency, to just 29 points in the first half, and zero in transition, is stupendous.

If Arkansas is going to guard at that level, the Hogs are good enough to win the SEC Championship.

Is it time to panic for Kentucky? Or will getting healthy fix it?

There’s no question Kentucky is banged up.

The Wildcats didn’t have Jaland Lowe, Jayden Quaintance, or Mo Dioubate in their 67-64 loss to No. 16 North Carolina at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night, and it showed.

Kentucky was pummeled 41-30 on the glass by the Tar Heels, who weren’t terribly efficient (1.05 points per possession) but made good use of the 20 offensive rebounds they collected to claw out a win in the final 5 minutes. The win was the first Power 5 nonconference road win of the Hubert Davis era. No, really.

Kentucky should compete better inside when Dioubate returns, and if Quaintance can play this season and be productive, there’s still upside to Mark Pope’s pricy frontcourt.

But will it matter if they don’t get more from their guards and wings?

Denzel Aberdeen has been excellent defensively, but he’s still plagued by the offensive inconsistency and shot selection issues that made it easier for Florida to decline to match Kentucky’s lucrative NIL offer this offseason.

Colin Chandler is a great shooter, but he is a young player still learning to finish at the rim.

And Jaland Lowe might give Kentucky a guy who can get into the paint and get to the free throw line when he returns, but he’s not a good shooter, and won’t solve the problem Kentucky has when defenses stay attached to Chandler and dare someone else to make a play late in the shot clock.

That player was supposed to be Otega Oweh, the preseason SEC Player of the Year who donned many All-American lists. But he’s best as a cutter or driver off zoom and dribble hand-off actions, not as a late-shot-clock isolation threat.

Without a post scorer, Carolina was able to key on halting dribble penetration, and the result was a scoring drought of 10 minutes and 25 seconds for Kentucky in the second half, a run that included 13 consecutive missed field goals.

Kentucky is now 0-3 against the Power 5, with Gonzaga, Indiana, and St. John’s all looming.

It’s too soon to call this $22 million roster a bust. But Kentucky is in trouble. And it’s not clear simply getting healthy fixes it.

The Jungle remains magical for Auburn

Auburn has recovered beautifully from being shellacked by Michigan in Las Vegas, and on Wednesday night, the Tigers demonstrated the Jungle will still rock in a world without Bruce Pearl.

The Tigers (7-2) shot 59% from the field, 55% from deep and scored 1.19 points per possession in manhandling Will Wade’s talented NC State team 83-73 in a game that felt less close.

Most important? On a night when Tahaad Pettiford went AWOL (1-7 FG, 0-3 from 3, 4 turnovers), the Tigers got a monster game (28 points, 10 rebounds) from Keyshawn Hall and an electric night from Kevin Overton (29 points, 6-9 3P FG) to overcome the poor showing from their All-American candidate. Hall also gives Auburn a guy who can make something out of nothing when everything breaks down. There aren’t many teams in America that have one of those players, let alone 2 like Auburn.

Hall has scored 20 points or more in all but 2 of Auburn’s games, proving he is a SEC Player of the Year candidate in his own right — and giving Steven Pearl an offense that can score on anyone while Auburn figures its defense (61st in KenPom efficiency) out ahead of league play.

An impressive win for a team that is building a nice résumé.

Is Vanderbilt the SEC Favorite?

It isn’t too early to suggest this and we’re going to keep suggesting it until Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, or Auburn prove we shouldn’t.

No. 17 Vanderbilt continued its red-hot start by mauling previously unbeaten SMU 88-69 at Memorial Gym. Tyler Tanner was sensational, building on a brilliant Battle 4 Atlantis with a 26-point, 6 assist, 5 rebound evening where he once again played at an absurdly efficient level (10-14 from the field, including 2-5 from 3).

Mark Byington’s team is the lone SEC team in the top 10 in KenPom (7th) and they are the nation’s second most efficient offense, behind only Purdue.

The frontcourt continues to punch above its weight, too. The Commodores rank in the top 50 nationally in defensive rebounding (42nd), answering the biggest question about the team on paper with a resounding display of will and want on the glass early this season.

This is the team to beat in the SEC.

The post 5 takeaways from the ACC/SEC Challenge appeared first on Saturday Down South.

There were no burning pitchforks or Sunday protests.

There was no coup d’état of Florida’s athletic department as the coup de grâce for the failure of Florida’s administration to land their longtime preferred candidate, Lane Kiffin.

Instead, Twitter (or X), that sinkhole where self-restraint goes to die, proved to yet again not be real life.

Florida introduced new head coach Jon Sumrall — still of Tulane (more on that in a moment, since Lane Kiffin has suddenly made that controversial and unique) — as its new head coach on Monday afternoon, welcoming him at the Gainesville airport, ushering him off to meet with national championship winning basketball coach Todd Golden, and holding a press conference which, to no surprise of anyone who’s ever listened to Sumrall talk, proved impressive to most Florida fans.

I won’t go as far as suggesting that Florida won the press conference Monday.

Unless Florida hired Lane Kiffin, it would never win the press conference after loud posturing from Florida’s fan base made “Lane or else” the mantra for weeks after Billy Napier was fired. The Florida athletic department, famously close-vested, did little to douse the flames as Ole Miss fought to keep its most successful head coach since integration and another well-moneyed suitor (LSU) noisily entered the fray.

Florida also wasn’t ever going to win the press conference by hiring a Group of 5 head coach from a school in Louisiana, who, fairly or not, is perceived as a spitting image of the Group of 5 head coach from a school in Louisiana who the same athletic director, Scott Stricklin, hired the last time he picked a football coach.

When Sumrall stepped off the plane with his family on Monday wearing a suit and tie combination that echoed Napier’s choice 4 years ago well, occasionally the football gods give the football writers a little manna from heaven.

The messy conclusion and postmortem to Florida’s coaching search is still being written. Florida’s biggest booster was initially blamed, despite the actual evidence being that he was willing to give Kiffin what he desired. Scott Stricklin’s failure to see eye-to-eye with the people’s champion, Lane Kiffin, appears more credible a criticism, though in the end, Florida offered Kiffin everything he and his superstar agent, Jimmy Sexton, asked for and desired. An existential battle royale played out on message boards, with the most despondent Florida fans wondering if Florida was destined to remain mired in mediocrity for years to come.

None of this alligator’s nest of problems has anything to do with Sumrall. It isn’t fair to him or his family, either.

At Monday’s press conference, in fact, Sumrall acquitted himself just fine.

“The standard (at the University of Florida) is to win championships,” the 43-year-old Sumrall said on Monday afternoon. “That’s why I came. I’m built for this job. I was made for this job. Winners win; I’m a winner; we’re going to win.”

On that point, Sumrall truly gets it.

Florida was never winning the press conference hiring Jon Sumrall, but who cares?

Whether it’s the late Pat Summerall or Jon Sumrall, the key to winning hearts in Gainesville will be doing what Florida hasn’t done nearly enough of lately: win games.

None other than Florida’s very own Steve Spurrier, patron saint of southern sidelines, pointed that out on Monday afternoon.

“I like (Sumrall’s) attitude and emotion, to start with,” Spurrier said. “Teams take on the characteristics of their coaches. I guarantee you this guy hates losing. You can tell that just talking to him. You find me a guy who hates losing, he doesn’t lose too much, it seems like.”

While Napier was calm to the point of docility, Sumrall is fiery and passionate.

But the differences from Napier mostly stop there.

Like Napier, who was 40-12 at Louisiana before taking the Florida job, Sumrall hasn’t lost much, at least yet. But his 42-11 record is at the Group of 5 level, and his playing and coaching experience in the SEC doesn’t distinguish him from Napier, it reinforces the comparisons.

To end those comparisons and build a winner in the SEC, Sumrall will need to fix 3 long-term systemic issues that have contributed to Florida’s program being lost in the swampy wilderness for nearly a decade and a half.

First, Sumrall, a defensive coordinator by trade, must fix the Florida defense. From 1990-2019, only Alabama and Ohio State had more top-10 defenses than the Gators. Since 2020, Florida has never finished inside the top 50 in total defense, success rate defense, or yards allowed per play. While Florida’s innovative, prolific offenses grabbed headlines and fans’ imaginations, defense was the anchor that made Florida the winningest program in the SEC from 1990-2019. Florida’s defensive failings must be fixed, and quickly, under Sumrall’s watch.

Second, Florida has not fielded an elite offensive line in over a decade. This season’s unit was supposed to be just that, led by All-American center Jake Slaughter and preseason All-SEC tackle Austin Barber. Instead, the unit struggled early in the season and only showed glimpses of the talent the roster possessed.

If Sumrall can’t fix the line of scrimmage issues that plagued Florida under Napier, Dan Mullen, and Jim McElwain, his tenure won’t last any longer than those eras did.

Finally, Florida needs to be Florida.

Florida’s desire to chase Nick Saban’s Alabama or Kirby Smart’s Georgia by hiring the next process-oriented Saban or Smart clone has failed spectacularly.

Florida became who it was by recruiting speed from its home state, spreading it out on both sides of the ball, and blending modern offensive schemes with downhill, attacking defense. Under Spurrier and Meyer, that process worked. Sumrall would do well to be his own man and chase that history, not Alabama’s or Georgia’s.

Sumrall will coach out the Playoff process at Tulane, honoring his commitment to his players in New Orleans. That’s admirable, and how it should work, and full credit to Florida and Tulane for being the adults in the room to make that happen.

Once the Green Wave are eliminated, though, the work in Gainesville starts.

No coach in the history of Florida football will have the financial support, booster investment, facilities, and infrastructure to win Sumrall inherits.

If Florida was behind its SEC brethren throughout the 2010s, the Gators are now at least on level ground with most, and likely past the bulk, of their SEC rivals.

If Florida wasn’t a top-10 job over the last decade, it is again, at least in terms of administrative commitment, in-state talent pool, and NIL support.

There are no excuses.

Against that backdrop, it’s fair to wonder if Scott Stricklin and the Florida administration missed the moment.

Was this really the time for an up-and-coming process-oriented grinder? Or was it a time when, resources fully loaded and boosters and institutional commitment aligned, Florida made the type of hire that alters the gravitational trajectory of a program lost in the muck?

If Sumrall’s right, and he’s a winner, the question will answer itself.

Winning press conferences doesn’t matter.

Florida needs to win games.

The post Jon Sumrall wasn’t who Florida fans wanted. It won’t matter if he wins appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It’s Rivalry Week on the football field, Thanksgiving in our homes, and gratitude fills our hearts. Especially Lane Kiffin’s. I’m not sure how the Lane Kiffin love triangle soap opera ends, but I’ll sure be glad when it’s over.

The good news?

We have Feast Week, bar none the best week of the college basketball season until March, to distract and entertain us. Yes, the days of the Great Alaskan Shootout are gone forever and, in the age of NIL, 3-game bracketed multi-team events (MTEs) like the storied Maui Invitational appear to be dying or in decline.

But the buffet of basketball that begins on Monday is as good as ever, even if the names of the events that made Feast Week before it was Feast Week have changed.

All told, there are 8 SEC teams in Feast Week tournament action this week, with Georgia (2nd at the Charleston Classic), South Carolina (4th at the Greenbrier Tip-Off), and Mississippi State (4th at the Hall of Fame Classic) having wrapped tournaments contested last week.

We preview every Feast Week event involving SEC competition below, in order of watchability. From appointment television (hello, Players Era) to hoops for junkies (I’ll never forgive the Emerald Coast Classic for this field, but I’m sure LSU fans will spot Knox Kiffin the crowd), we’ve got your Thanksgiving week of hoops covered.

A special thank you to my friend Chris Dobbertean’s MTE tracker, which is an amazing resource for Feast Week viewers everywhere.

Players Era Festival (Las Vegas, November 24-26)

SEC Teams in the Field: Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee

The “Rest” of the Field: Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State, St. John’s, Syracuse, UNLV

The Skinny: Are you kidding me? This thing is loaded. National runner-up Houston headlines a tournament that also includes Gonzaga and Louisville, both ranked in the top 10 in KenPom’s efficiency metrics early this season.

Is there a drawback?

Sure. The format is stupid. There’s no bracket. There are just 2 pre-set games and then the tournament will seed a “championship” between the 2 teams with the best records and point differentials from Monday and Tuesday. That makes it unlikely the best team in Vegas is crowned champion, given the absolutely stacked matchups on Monday and Tuesday. But I think this is still the best event by some distance, simply based on the amount of teams and college basketball royalty descending on Sin City beginning Monday.

Best Games: Gonzaga and Alabama’s matchup on Monday night (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT) is the Monday headliner. Tennessee and Houston meet in an Elite 8 rematch on Tuesday. Keep an eye out for Kansas, who has a softer draw (Notre Dame, Syracuse) and could easily sneak into the championship given the weird format. St. John’s has disappointed early. The Johnnies play Monday against a tenacious Iowa State and have a quick turnaround against Baylor on Tuesday. The tournament feels huge for Rick Pitino’s team, who won’t get a lot of opportunities to make seeding statements in a weak Big East. Auburn and Michigan (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT) showcase Tuesday night’s action.

Predicted winner required by SDS: Houston, but the format is silly, so maybe Kansas? I think Michigan will run past San Diego State on Monday night, but Auburn has played very well of late and will upset the Wolverines on Tuesday evening. Alabama and Gonzaga are unlikely to make the final because they play each other on Monday night. That leaves Houston, who should throttle Syracuse and frustrate a Tennessee team playing competition with a pulse for the first time this week. But if Tennessee beats Houston, it could also make the final, given the Vols should crush Rutgers in their opener. In the end, I wish the format made sense, but the event will produce a smorgasbord of stellar hoops.

Maui Invitational (Lahaina, Hawai’i, November 24-26)

SEC Team in the Field: Texas

The “Rest” of the Field: Arizona State, Boise State, Chaminade, NC State, Seton Hall, USC, Washington State

The Skinny: I don’t want to declare Maui “dead” yet, for 2 reasons. First, while the allure of NIL riches and the easier travel make the Players Era Festival the current “it” destination in the sport, the reality is Maui is 1-year removed from a field that included Final Four bound Auburn, back-to-back defending national champion UConn, blue-blood North Carolina, Iowa State, and Michigan State. It was must see TV all week. Second, the field at the event this year isn’t as bad as folks make out. NC State spent a boatload of cash on players like Darrion Williams and Tre Holloman and the Wolfpack look second-weekend good. Eric Musselman feels good about where his program is in Year 2 at Southern California. And Sean Miller’s first Texas team looks much better than advertised. There’s plenty to like about this field and well, I’m sentimental this time of year and it’s still Maui.

Best Games/Potential Games: A USC-NC State semifinal will be electric, as long as the Trojans get past a Boise State team that has made 3 of the last 4 NCAA Tournaments under longtime coach Leon Rice. Texas cannot shoot (31% from 3 and 51.9% effective FG%) but it can rebound (35th in offensive rebounding percentage nationally) and guard (21st in KenPom defensive efficiency). The Horns should roll past a bad Arizona State team in Round 1 and even if they miss shots, shouldn’t be pushed by Washington State or Chaminade in the semifinals. Texas’s defense and rebounding kept it in the game against Duke earlier this year. There’s no reason it can’t push NC State or USC in the championship on Wednesday.

Predicted Winner Required by SDS: NC State. The Wolfpack have the tournament’s best player in Darrion Williams. They’ll cut down the nets thanks to an explosive offense that runs away from both USC (semifinals) and Texas (finals) late.

Rady’s Children Invitational (San Diego, November 27-28)

SEC Team in the Field: Florida

The “Rest” of the Field: Providence, TCU, Wisconsin

The Skinny: This 4-team bracketed event features the reigning national champions in Florida and 3 teams in the KenPom top 75 (Florida at 5, Wisconsin at 22, Providence at 62). Are the Gators and Badgers on a collision course for a Friday championship game (5:30 p.m. ET, FOX)? TCU has played better of late, pushing preseason B1G title contender Michigan in Fort Worth last week. Jamie Dixon’s team really defends, but can it score enough to beat Florida? Unlikely. Wisconsin and Providence will be a fun Thanksgiving watch. Both teams get up and down and shoot the 3 with gusto. The Badgers are excellent in the pick-and-roll, too, an offense that has tormented Todd Golden’s outstanding teams for 2-plus years. With John Blackwell and Nick Boyd making plays in the backcourt, Wisconsin matches up well with Florida if it doesn’t get dominated inside.

Best Game/Potential Games: Wisconsin and Florida in a championship.

Predicted Winner required by SDS: Florida. This is a big tournament for the Gators. Florida hasn’t shot the ball well (26% from 3-point range) but they rebound so prolifically (45.1% offensive rebounding rate) and guard so well (4th in KenPom defense) it hasn’t mattered since an opening night loss to Arizona. Florida is one of 2 teams in America (Alabama) playing 7 of its first 9 games against Power 5 competition. Florida visits Duke on December 2 and plays a functional road game against UConn at Madison Square Garden on December 9. Those will be tough places to get wins — so Florida needs the résumé builders in San Diego.

Battle 4 Atlantis (Atlantis, Bahamas, November 26-28)

SEC Team in the Field: Vanderbilt

The “Rest” of the Field: Colorado State, Saint Mary’s, South Florida, VCU, Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky, Wichita State

The Skinny: There’s an argument the Players Era Festival did more damage to the Battle 4 Atlantis than Maui. The battle in the Bahamian ballroom had been a destination event for blue-bloods and Final Four mainstays alike in years past, hosting the likes of North Carolina, Kansas, UConn, Florida, and Villanova on multiple occasions. This season, Vanderbilt is probably the best team in the field, depending on how much you like Randy Bennett’s Saint Mary’s Gaels. After those 2, mid-major darling VCU is here, and Mike Young’s Virginia Tech is a team I slotted into my preseason Field of 68, but I’m not sure there are 5 interesting basketball programs or teams in this tournament. That’s a far cry from what this event used to be.

Best Game/Potential Games: A championship game between Vanderbilt — who might be the best offensive team in the sport (62.5% effective field goal percentage, 100 points or more in 4 of its first 5 games) and Saint Mary’s would be a rematch of one of the most entertaining games of the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March. Saint Mary’s has a bona fide All-American candidate in Mikey Lewis — the best player you probably haven’t heard of in college basketball this season. Mike Young’s Hokies hit the portal jackpot with bouncy VCU transfer Tobi Lawal and Greek forward Neo Avdalas is one of the better international prospects in the sport. A Saint Mary’s-Virginia Tech semifinal would be fun.

Predicted Winner Required by SDS: Saint Mary’s. I’m on record suggesting that the Kryptonite for the Commodores in 2025-26 will be elite rebounding opposition. The Gaels, who get 41.5% of their misses and use those second chances to bury 3-pointers (45% from deep early this season!) are exactly that type of team. They’ll win a memorable final.

Acrisure Classic (Palm Desert, CA, November 25-26)

SEC Team in the Field: Ole Miss

The “Rest” of the Field: Grand Canyon, Iowa, Utah

The Skinny: Three teams that should compete for NCAA Tournament berths meet in the Coachella Valley with at least 1 showcase game — Iowa vs. Ole Miss — guaranteed. The Hawkeyes are led by All-American candidate Bennett Stirtz, who transferred to Iowa from Drake after his head coach, Ben McCollum, took the post in Iowa City following the dismissal of longtime Hawkeyes’ head coach Fran McCaffrey. Tavion Banks, Cam Manyawu, and Isaia Howard all followed Stirtz, giving Iowa continuity from a group of players who advanced to the Round of 32 a season ago, albeit at Drake. Ole Miss has a big-time transfer in AJ Storr who looks more like the All-B1G player we saw at Wisconsin and not the bust he was at Kansas a year ago. Couple him with Malik Dia, one of the nation’s most underrated and complete players, and the Rebels have a terrific 1-2 punch offensively. Can they guard? Early returns are mixed, and we’ll find out more in California. Grand Canyon, coached by Bryce Drew, has struggled out of the gate but it should own the glass enough to outlast Utah, the worst team in the Big 12 by some distance.

Best Game/Potential Game: Ole Miss vs. Iowa, by some distance. Two great coaches and teams with second-weekend top-end potential.

Predicted Winner: Iowa. The Hawkeyes’ continuity as a group puts them a little ahead of Ole Miss right now. Iowa’s offensive ability to get the shots it wants (the Hawkeyes rank in the 96th percentile in shot quality early in the year, per Synergy) will make life difficult on Ole Miss, who doesn’t really turn you over or play a disruptive style defensively.

Emerald Coast Classic (Niceville, FL, November 28-29)

SEC Team in the Field: LSU

The “Rest” of the Field: DePaul, Drake, Georgia Tech

The Skinny: This is the event insomniacs will DVR to go to sleep. I get that maybe it wasn’t as bad when they invited Drake, but now that Ben McCollum is off to much-greener pastures at Iowa, this is basically the Charlie Brown Christmas tree event of MTEs. At least the Florida panhandle is nice this time of year?

Best Game/Potential Games: Drake’s best players went to Iowa with McCollum. That means the best game in this tournament might be… DePaul and Georgia Tech? Chris Holtmann is a good basketball coach and DePaul is vastly improved, especially offensively. I think it might finish in the top half of the Big East for the first time in nearly 2 decades. Georgia Tech ranks in the top 20 in KenPom defensive efficiency (16th). It won’t be a pretty game, but it will be a close one.

Predicted Winner Required by SDS: LSU. I’ve been buying Matt McMahon’s team since SEC Media Days, when McMahon told me his team was “going to be pretty good.” Cynical, I dug a little deeper and well, I started to like the roster more than I did when I picked the Tigers 15th on my SEC preseason ballot. Jalen Reed is healthy and a force inside who can play comfortably with the ball outside. Mississippi State transfer Mike Nwoko appears to have given LSU a rim protector and offensive rebounder to help a team that’s never going to shoot it great. Dedan Thomas is a bucket. Marquel Sutton is a glue guy who knows how to win after reaching the NCAA Tournament with Omaha. There’s a lot to like in Baton Rouge — and it’s been a while since we said that about their basketball program. The Tigers will roar in Niceville.

The post Previewing Feast Week for SEC basketball appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Tennessee Volunteers are unbeaten against unranked foes this season and looking for their first win in Gainesville since the first term of the George W. Bush Administration (2003). The Florida Gators have not dropped 2 consecutive games against Tennessee since 2003-2004.

The Gators will honor legendary head coach Urban Meyer in a ceremony before the game. Meyer won 2 national championships in Gainesville and finished his career at Florida a tidy 6-0 against the rival Volunteers. Florida interim head coach Billy Gonzales, now 0-3 at the helm, was a vital assistant under Meyer during the latter’s tenure in Gainesville.

Tennessee marks the 8th game for the Gators against a ranked opponent in 2025. That’s the most in the country. The Gators’ strength of schedule ranks second in America. Tennessee’s ranks 45th — one of the easiest slates in the SEC.

The 2 programs were the center of the SEC universe in the 1990s and early 2000s– the SEC’s premier rivalry during the Steve Spurrier and Phil Fulmer years. Now, the rivalry is mostly a parochial afterthought, diluted by long runs of mediocrity at both institutions. In fact, due to the SEC moving to a 9-game schedule in 2026, the Gators and Volunteers will no longer play on an annual basis, ending a 36-year run of consecutive games that dates back to 1990.

Who will emerge victorious on Saturday night? Here are 3 matchups that will define a rivalry that may not command national attention, but certainly captivates the hearts of 2 fan bases.

Can Florida pressure Joey Aguilar and create some short fields?

Florida managed to stay in the game on the road at Ole Miss thanks to a pass rush that created 14 pressures and 5 sacks (a season-high allowed by the Rebels) against QB Trinidad Chambliss. Florida’s pass rush will be without George Gumbs, a key cog in their pass rush all season, but the Gators will get a boost when Caleb Banks, the team’s first-team preseason All-SEC defensive lineman, returns from injury. Banks has played just 29 snaps this season, and his absence has been felt — especially late in games as Florida grows tired.

A fully healthy Banks could be a game-changer for the Gators, who have had to rely increasingly on simulated pressures and blitzes to generate pressure the past 3 weeks.

Like most quarterbacks, Aguilar is far less effective when pressured. Aguilar has 10 interceptions this season– 8 have come under pressure, per PFF. Aguilar’s adjusted depth of target of 10.1 is among the top 3 in the SEC this season, but the number drops to just 7.8 under pressure. The shorter throws make it harder for Tennessee to hit the explosive plays (37 passes of 20 yards or more) that make their offense one of the best in the country (2nd in scoring offense at 43.4 points per game).

Give Aguilar time and, with perimeter playmakers like Chris Brazzell II, he’ll rip you apart.

Get him under pressure and the Vols are still potent, but beatable.

DJ Lagway showed signs of life vs. Ole Miss. Was it fool’s gold or will he exploit a poor Tennessee secondary?

The continued absence of All-SEC corner Jermod McCoy has hurt Tennessee’s defense this season, but the Volunteers have larger problems in the secondary than the absence of their best player. Tennessee’s safety play has been woeful, with the Vols ranking 102nd in explosive pass plays allowed (35) and 113th in pass defense.

Andres Turrentine has allowed more completions of 20 yards or more in coverage (12 on just 15 targets) than any safety in the SEC. Edrees Farooq is a big hitter, but he’s allowed 5 completions of 20 yards or more on his own in just 8 one-on-one coverage situations. And that’s just the 2 safeties playing the most snaps! The corners are a little better, but only Colton Hood has allowed a completion percentage of 50% or lower this season — and he’s right at 50% through 10 games.

In other words, the Vols’ secondary is what their numbers say they are.

DJ Lagway finished second in the SEC as a true freshman in average depth of target and explosive passing plays per snaps played, behind only first-round draft pick Jaxson Dart. This season, he has just 11 big-time throws (7 fewer than 2024!) and 19 turnover-worthy plays (12 more than 2024!) That’s not regression — that’s a cataclysmic drop-off that almost boggles the imagination.

Still, Lagway’s first half against Ole Miss was promising — with the Gators posting 24 points and moving the ball consistently and explosively down the field. Sure, the Gators were shutout in the second half when Pete Golding switched to a zone defense. And yes, Lagway threw a critical pick with Florida driving for at least a tying field goal late in the fourth quarter.

But there was something to build on in the Ole Miss game. Can Lagway replicate it — without the mistakes — at home?

Lagway will have to do so without his best 3 receiving targets: Eugene Wilson III, Dallas Wilson, and Vernell Brown III are all expected to miss the game due to injury.

But if Florida wants to win a rivalry game this season (the Gators are 0-3 thus far in 2025 in rivalry contests) — DJ needs to figure himself out again in the final 2 weeks of the season.

Myles Graham and the Florida linebackers vs. Tennessee’s tempo and run game

The Volunteers rank third in the nation in tempo (plays run vs. time of possession) and their tempo doesn’t just wear on you physically, it takes a toll mentally.

The Vols bang on you with the run game, which they run at one play per 20-second clip, led by DeSean Bishop, who has 770 yards and 10 touchdowns this season at a beautiful 6.5 yards per rush. Bishop is solid after contact, too, with a 3.68 yards after contact per rush average that is in the top 5 among SEC running backs, per PFF. He runs hard and is difficult to tackle when he gets to the second level.

Florida struggled to finish plays against Kewan Lacy, allowing the Ole Miss back (who leads the nation in yards after contact) to gain over 140 of his 224 yards after contact last week.

Can Florida clean that up in a second consecutive game against a team that plays with great tempo?

“We had some players in position to make tackles, and we didn’t make tackles, whether they grabbed cloth, whether they ducked their head at a time, whether we got moved out of the gap,” Gonzales said. “Again, we played hard, but as a coaching staff, we got to make sure that we’re playing well. And our players, again, that’s why I said, we got to take accountability as a coaching staff, and as players, to go make those plays.”

Myles Graham, who was sensational at Ole Miss (9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defended) will be at the center of the efforts, tasked with organizing the Florida defense and making sure the mental — not just the physical — challenge of playing the Vols’ fast pace doesn’t cause the Gators to blow run gaps and help the Vols establish the run on the road.

Prediction: Florida 30, Tennessee 27

There’s almost zero reason to pick Florida in this game. The Gators have nothing to play for and the Volunteers are an explosive offensive team that should simply outscore the Gators even if Florida’s offense plays well, which it hasn’t for an entire game this season. And yet… I’ll believe Tennessee wins in the Swamp as soon as it happens again. The Gators in a big upset.

The post 3 matchups that will define Florida vs. Tennessee appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Universally, though, November is the season of gratitude.

At the intersection of this Venn Diagram is Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

Ahead of the Egg Bowl, which, if you aren’t well-versed in your Mississippi history, remains the biggest sporting event of the year in the Magnolia State, Kiffin has plenty of reasons to give thanks.

After an ignominious exit after 1 tumultuous season at Tennessee and the fired-on-the-tarmac flameout at USC, it was reasonable to wonder if Kiffin would ever again earn a high-level head coaching opportunity. Even after Kiffin helped Nick Saban modernize Alabama’s offense and win the 2015 national championship, proving yet again Kiffin’s offensive genius, questions lingered. After all, even Saban tired of the off-field wanderlust and sideshow Kiffin seems to attract like flies to honey. When Kiffin took the Florida Atlantic head coaching job late in Alabama’s run to the 2016 national championship, Saban dismissed Kiffin ahead of the National Championship Game, citing off-field “distractions.”

Lost in the impromptu, too-much-to-do sports scene of South Florida, Kiffin flew under the radar, more or less, at Florida Atlantic, save a handful of “Joey Freshwater” sightings at local watering holes that were occasionally reported by local media.

But mainly, for the first truly sustained period as a head coach, Kiffin won in Boca Raton, guiding the Owls to a 26-13 record in 3 seasons at the helm and winning his first (and only) 2 championships of any sort as a head football coach. The success, along with the quieting of the off-field noise, led Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter to tab him as the next University of Mississippi head coach in December 2019.

For that opportunity, Kiffin should be — and it should be said, seems to be — forever grateful.

Kiffin’s certainly made the most of the opportunity.

Off the field, Kiffin has found sobriety, peace, and joy in what he’s called a second chance to be a partner and parent. When his legendary father Monte passed away a season ago, the Ole Miss family (and yes, many around football nationally) embraced him as he began the non-linear, never truly ending process of grief. Kiffin has been forceful and consistent in expressing his gratitude for that warmth, grace, and growth.

On the field, Kiffin is 54-19 with the Rebels, with 4 seasons where he’s won 10 games or more, easily the best stretch of football for Ole Miss since integration. After blowing a Playoff opportunity in late 2024 with a disappointing defeat at Florida, Kiffin and Ole Miss appear to have gotten over the hump in 2025, heading into Egg Bowl week 10-1, with an at-large Playoff berth and home game likely and an outside shot at playing in the SEC Championship Game for the first time in school history.

That success, of course, has helped make Kiffin, and by association, the lovely town of Oxford, Mississippi, the center of the college football universe this autumn.

Kiffin is “Candidate 1” for 2 of the nation’s highest-profile job openings: LSU and Florida.

As rivalry week and the College Football Playoff draw nearer, scrutiny on Kiffin’s 2026 coaching destination has reached full moon fever.

We’re talking fan base Twitter wars, dueling message board battle royales, hysterical conspiracy theorists, flight tracking fanaticism, and real estate housing market wishcasting. We’ve even had politicians shaming Kiffin’s indecision publicly, because well, of course we have.

Being glued to a coaching search is as southern as believing on Saturday that God himself favors our football teams, no matter how many of us (and the coaches who lead our favorite teams) are backsliders and blasphemers 6 days a week. For Southerners, to say we do not care who remains or leaves Ole Miss or who is hired at Florida or LSU is to invite suspicion. When we say, “It just means more,” it’s not just a catchy phrase. It’s a cultural reality, as indelible a part of the fabric of our reality as Sunday school lessons. And no, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing that people care so much.

In fewer than 5 years, we’ve gone from the modernized plantation economy of “play for books, directions, and a degree” to a world where young men of across racial, economic, and social lines can build generational wealth on Saturdays.  

Maybe that new universe is bothersome to you. Maybe you long for the days when playing for a degree and a logo was sufficient. Maybe you think pay-for-play and the portal have ruined the sport. The revenue streams and television ratings beg to differ, but I’m not here to lecture.

What I can assure you is that the genie isn’t going back in the bottle.

If you don’t think leadership choices matter more in the world of Saturday millionaires, I have a lovely bit of oceanfront property in Arizona I can sell you.

As such, Kiffin’s decision looms large, certain to be a centerpiece of discussion around plenty of Thanksgiving tables next week.

Kiffin’s efforts to obfuscate and dance around question after question only compound the intrigue.

Take this week’s SEC Media teleconference call.

Kiffin’s weekly 10-minute segment featured so many non-answers about his future that when asked whether it was flattering to be pursued by 3 programs and beloved (for now) by 3 fan bases, Kiffin deadpanned, “It doesn’t feel good on this call.”

The uncertainty won’t go away until there is certainty, and at present, perhaps not even Kiffin knows when that will be.

Reports from both the New York Times and ESPN this week have suggested that Keith Carter and Ole Miss are pressing — if not outright demanding — Kiffin to decide whether he intends to remain the head coach at Ole Miss before Thanksgiving and the Egg Bowl.

But Kiffin and Carter remain close, to hear them both tell it independently.

Carter praised Kiffin and the constant dialogue between the 2 in a conversation with Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger last week.

“We have a great relationship,” Kiffin reciprocated, speaking about Carter on the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN on Wednesday this week. Kiffin also denied that there had been any ultimatum, telling McAfee, “I don’t know where that came from,” while casually noting he and Carter enjoyed hot yoga together on Tuesday morning.

“We’re having a blast. I love it here,” Kiffin added.

I don’t think anyone doubts, or should in good faith doubt, the authenticity of Kiffin’s love for Oxford and Ole Miss. Kiffin’s life has changed for the better in Oxford and, in Carter, he has one of the nation’s top athletic directors and the administrative commitment necessary to continue winning for a long time.

I also don’t think there’s any question that LSU is a top 5 job in the sport, a talent-rich state where LSU is the only show in town, blessed with resources and riches that outweigh the current insanity swirling around Brian Kelly’s exit, which appears headed for litigation, and the interjection of the Louisiana political machine into Kelly’s termination and dismissal of the man who hired Kelly, the now former LSU athletic director Scott Woodward.

I also don’t believe there’s any question that Florida is also a top job and one that’s always intrigued Kiffin, who grew up idolizing Steve Spurrier and who married and has children with Layla Reaves, a Florida native who attended the University of Florida where her father, John Reaves, was a Gators football legend. What’s more, Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin has, by all accounts, given Kiffin everything he could hope for or ask for if he took the job at Florida. Long behind other programs in administrative support and commitment, Florida hasn’t just closed the gap — it is invested in winning football at a level unprecedented in its school’s history. It’s just a matter of finding the right leadership at the program Bear Bryant famously called the SEC’s sleeping giant.

Which brings us back to Lane, the former boy genius now turned 50-year-old man at the intersection of gratitude and desire, smack dab in the center of the college football universe.

If he leaves Ole Miss, he may learn quickly that you can’t ever go home again.

If he turns down Florida, a place he’s always wanted to be, he’ll never have another chance to be a Gator.

If he turns down LSU, well, where else will he ever receive the type of consistent resources coupled with in-state recruiting talent?

It’s the type of decision that would overwhelm many capable men. Earlier in his career, I’m confident it would have overwhelmed Lane Kiffin.

It’s also a scenario to approach with profound gratitude.

Kiffin has earned this moment. Now what?

The post In this season of gratitude, does anyone have more to be thankful for than Lane Kiffin? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Kirby Smart’s Georgia is beatable and vulnerable, playing with fire consistently and asking to be beat, you say? That was so October. It’s November now. Georgia is playing its best football, and Kirby Smart is starting to feel this team and is getting a little loud about it. A week after bulldozing an improved Mississippi State in Starkville, the Dawgs decimated Texas 35-10 on Saturday, scoring the game’s final 21 points and putting the preseason No. 1 Longhorns out of their Playoff hope misery.

Gunner Stockton isn’t quite “List” worthy, but it’s time to acknowledge that, like Stetson Bennett IV before him, Stockton is an asset for Georgia, not just a game manager. The Dawgs are good enough to win Kirby Smart’s third national championship, and as the defense continues to improve, they are sneaking into “favorite” territory.

Speaking of favorites, it was a week of near-failure for other SEC Playoff “favorites.” Then again, the name of the game in the 12-team Playoff era is “Survive and Advance.”

That’s exactly Oklahoma did in its win at Alabama.

That’s also what Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss did on Saturday against Florida. The Gators, released from the fires of Bily Napier’s 2-year long battle with a hot seat, played excellent football for the second time in 3 weeks. It was nearly enough for Florida to fell the less-talented Rebels in Oxford. Then DJ Lagway made a crucial mistake — as he’s done so often this year — and Ole Miss escaped with a 10-point win (thanks to a Kewan Lacy TD run in garbage time that made the final margin much wider than the game itself).

Was that Lane Kiffin’s last game as the Ole Miss coach at Vaught Hemingway? We’ll know soon, I reckon, but even if Kiffin is on another sideline next autumn, is Keith Carter truly Machiavellian enough to dismiss Lane before Ole Miss plays in the College Football Playoff? In an era where the end goal for every SEC program (even Clark Lea and Vanderbilt!) is to play for championships, will Ole Miss cut off its nose to spite its face? Perhaps Lane will stay in Oxford. If he doesn’t, I don’t envy the diabolical decision Keith Carter must make.

Speaking of diabolical, should we discuss South Carolina’s collapse in College Station?

How in the world is Shane Beamer 3-7 with a team that has at least 2 future first-round draft picks (Dylan Stewart, LaNorris Sellers), the fastest receiver (Nyck Harbor) and probably the SEC’s best special teams player (Vicari Swain)? Has a SEC coach ever won SEC Coach of the Year one season and done his worst coaching job the following season? If not, Shane Beamer is first. A woeful coaching job in Columbia, punctuated by the Gamecocks blowing a 27-point halftime lead last weekend at Texas A&M.

Meanwhile, the Aggies feel like a team of destiny.

Not every champion is 2019 LSU or even 2022 Georgia.  You usually need luck to win a championship, even in the rugged SEC. Coming back from 27 points down after the worst half of Marcel Reed’s career felt like a stroke of destiny, even if it wasn’t just “luck.” Reed’s bounce back from half 1 to half 2? That felt like great coaching, which we’ve come to expect from Mike Elko and this A&M staff.

And yes, Elko is a great lesson for fanbases teetering on the edge of the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes.

If you don’t land your first choice, you aren’t necessarily doomed.

The grass is often greener on the other side of a big buyout. Trust the process.

The process for crowning a “List” champion will go deep into November and probably December this season.

It’s a 3-horse race (for now), but probably the most competitive “List” battle we’ve had since we started the most important “List” in college football in 2019. The decisions at the top get tougher and tougher, and this week’s new No. 1 is the 7th player to top the list this season — a record. Which player will close strong and wear the crown as the best football player in America’s best conference? Stay tuned.

Last week’s “List” is here.

As always, we begin with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per school.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Parker Brailsford, C; Ty Simpson, QB. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Myles Graham, LB; Jake Slaughter, C. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Gunner Stockton, QB. Kentucky: Jalen Farmer, OL; Daveren Raynor, LB. LSU: AJ Haulcy, S; Harold Perkins Jr., LB. Mississippi State: Nic Mitchell, LB; Brenen Thompson, WR. Missouri: Connor Tollison, C; Keagan Trost, OT. Oklahoma: Febechi Nwaiwu, OG; R Mason Thomas, DE. Ole Miss: Suntarine Perkins, LB; Diego Pounds, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge. Tennessee: Chris Brazzell II, WR; Wendell Moe Jr., OG. Texas: Anthony Hill Jr., LB; Colin Simmons, Edge. Texas A&M: KC Concepcion, WR; Trey Zuhn III, OL. Vanderbilt: Eli Stowers, TE; Jordan White, C.

10. Vicari Swain, DB/Return (South Carolina)

Swain’s 3 punt returns for touchdowns this season lead the nation. He’s also been outstanding in coverage, with 4 pass breakups to his name and a completion percentage against under 50%.

On Saturday, his 2 interceptions helped the Gamecocks storm to a 27-point halftime lead. There was a second half, of course, but Swain, as he has all season, did his part to make the Gamecocks a winner.

9. Kadyn Proctor, OT (Alabama)

Proctor grades out as Alabama’s best offensive linemen in 2025, and he allowed just 1 pressure on a night when the rest of Alabama’s offensive line was shaky against an outstanding Oklahoma defense. In 400 drop-backs this season, Proctor has allowed just 1 sack. Throw in his versatility as a short yardage piece and his excellent run blocking, and you have one of the best offensive linemen in America.

8. Kip Lewis, LB (Oklahoma)

With R Mason Thomas out with a quad injury, Lewis had 7 tackles and 2 sacks to lead the outstanding Oklahoma defense in a 23-21 upset of Alabama. Lewis has 60 tackles this season for a Sooners defense that ranks 11th nationally in stop rate and 5th in SP+ efficiency. Oklahoma produced 3 turnovers in Saturday’s win, tormenting Ty Simpson for 4 quarters to come out of Tuscaloosa with its Playoff dreams very much intact.

7. Trinidad Chambliss, QB (Ole Miss)

Chambliss shook off an early interception to help rally Ole Miss past Florida on Saturday night, throwing for 301 yards and a touchdown in the victory. On the season, the Ferris State transfer has 2,657 yards passing and 14 touchdowns and he’s added 444 yards rushing and 6 scores on the ground. Kewan Lacy is the bell cow and red-zone machine that makes this offense consistently lethal — but Chambliss gives it an extra gear.

6. Mansoor Delane, CB (LSU)

Delane was marvelous in LSU’s 23-22 win over Arkansas, breaking up 2 passes and intercepting another in a performance that should cement his All-American candidacy.

Delane has played through an undisclosed injury over the past few weeks, an ode to the toughness of a player who has allowed just 13 receptions on 34 targets against in 2025.

5. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)

By his lofty standards, Allen had a quiet evening against Texas, collecting just 3 tackles (1 takcle for loss) in Georgia’s 35-10 win over the Longhorns before he exited with an injury. That said, Allen’s starting to get more help around him, and under his on-field leadership, the Dawgs have risen from the 30s in SP+ defense in early October to 11th in mid-November. Georgia has allowed 21 points or fewer in 5 of its last 6 games, with the lone exception being a 43-35 win over Ole Miss.  

4. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

Hardy seized the national lead in rushing yardage again with 300 yards on the ground in Mizzou‘s 49-27 rout of Mississippi State. Hardy’s 3 touchdowns give him 15 on the season, which ranks third in the country. The Tigers are 7-1 when Hardy rushes for 100 yards or more. Another huge opportunity and tough defense looms Saturday when the Tigers visit Norman and former Big 12 rival Oklahoma.

3. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

The Vanderbilt quarterback had a bye ahead of a 2-game close that will define the Playoff future of the Commodores. Pavia ranks in the top 6 in the SEC in passing yards, touchdown passes, and completion percentage and continues to be the lone player in the SEC to lead his team in passing and rushing.

2. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

The Aggies’ best player had a strange Saturday afternoon. He was active early in the first half, creating 3 pass breakups. He then went quiet for a quarter-plus, only to reemerge to create havoc as Texas A&M rallied to win late. Howell was targeted repeatedly by South Carolina in the run game Saturday, and graded out a season-low 47.4 (very poor) against the run. But Howell still managed a sack, adding to his SEC-high total of 11.5, and he remains the SEC’s leader in pressures and hurries as well to key one of the nation’s most disruptive defenses.

1. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

The Ole Miss sophomore powered his way for 224 tough yards on 31 carries on Saturday night, adding 3 touchdowns to his nation-leading total of 19 on the season. Lacy’s first touchdown Saturday night broke a single-season Ole Miss record.

Florida’s played solid run defense all season, but Lacy continues to challenge even stacked fronts. An astounding 809 of his 1,136 yards this season have come after contact, and he’s forced 84 missed tackles, the most in America. Not bad for a kid who is only 19 years old.  

The post Ranking the top 10 players in the SEC through Week 12 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

As we get closer to Turkey-eating season, the stakes at “The List” heighten.

There’s no new No. 1 for the third consecutive week. That means at this point, there’s a clear “favorite” for “List” champion. But it’s hardly over, and if Diego Pavia wants to keep saving Vanderbilt’s bacon like he did last weekend against Auburn well, you get the idea.

Pavia and the Commodores deserve better than they are getting from the College Football Playoff committee, too, for what it’s worth. No. 14? Why? Vanderbilt’s 2 losses, both of which occurred on the road, came against teams now ranked in the top 10.

It’s unreasonable for Vanderbilt to be anchored down by being well, Vanderbilt, while Notre Dame sits at No. 9, presumably for (checks notes) a nice win over a bubblicious Southern California team and a tough home loss to Texas A&M?

If Vanderbilt wins out, it should be in. Full stop.

Speaking of winning out, is Kirby Smart’s team going to stop playing with its food just in time for championship-winning season?

It sure looked like it on Saturday, when the Dawgs blitzed Mississippi State in Starkville to improve to 8-1. The Dawgs still need help to reach Atlanta and the SEC Championship Game, but playing your best game of the season just before a resurgent Texas visits Athens has the Georgia faithful energized about this team again.

Death, taxes, college football season being too short, and Kirby Smart’s Georgia in November and December. These are a few of life’s certainties.

This week won’t be a defining slate at the greatest “List” ever gifted the Harris Teeter regional media footprint, but it sure is interesting.

In addition to Texas’s trip to Georgia, Oklahoma visits Alabama, who has looked wobbly the last 2 weeks but weathered an upset bid from South Carolina and a game against LSU to stay unblemished in the SEC. Any dreams the Sooners and Longhorns have of the Playoff depend on an upset Saturday. Ole Miss is probably a Playoff team even if it stumbles against suddenly listless Florida Saturday night in the Grove. But Ole Miss fan fiction says Lane Kiffin beats the Gators 56-2 and signs a 201-year contract extension at the postgame press conference. Spot the Ball!

Here at “The List,” we’re always ready when they spot the ball. We also feel good about this week’s top 10, which features more defenders than any “List” in recent memory.

Last week’s “List” is here.

As always, honorable mentions are first, with a limit of 2 players per school.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Bray Hubbard, S; Kadyn Proctor, OT. Auburn: Cam Coleman, WR; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Jadan Baugh, RB; Devin Moore, CB. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Raylen Wilson, LB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB; Daveren Raynor, LB. LSU: Mansoor Delane, CB; Harold Perkins Jr., LB. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, S; Brenen Thompson, WR. Missouri: Chris McClellan, DT; Keagan Trost, OT. Oklahoma: Febechi Nwaiwu, OG; Tate Sandell, K. Ole Miss: Trinidad Chambliss, QB; Antonio Kite, CB. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, PR/DB. Tennessee: Chris Brazzell II, WR; Wendell Moe Jr., OG. Texas: Anthony Hill Jr., LB; Colin Simmons, Edge. Texas A&M: KC Concepcion, WR; Ar’maj Reed-Adams, OL. Vanderbilt: Eli Stowers, TE; Jordan White, C.

10. Deontae Lawson, LB (Alabama)

Lawson was a force to be reckoned with in Alabama’s 20-9 win over LSU, collecting 9 tackles, including a tackle for loss, in the win. Lawson’s 47 tackles this season rank second on the Tide (Justin Jefferson), and he’s added 3 pass deflections and the season’s most important forced fumble to that list of contributions. Alabama ranks 13th in scoring defense this season, and the Crimson Tide have been prolific at home—surrendering 20 points in just 1 home game (a 37-20 rout of Tennessee).

9. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

The SEC’s leading rusher went over 100 yards in a 38-17 loss to Texas A&M, but much of that damage was done after the Aggies built a big lead. Hardy still ranks third in Division I in rushing yards (and second in the Power 4). With Missouri’s Playoff hopes extinguished, he’s playing for accolades now — and shouldering a heavier load with freshman quarterback Matt Zollers at the helm.

RELATED: Fans in Missouri will be able to bet on Hardy this bowl season. Missouri sports betting promos will go live on Dec. 1, 2025. Be sure to learn more about Underdog Sportsbook Missouri ahead of launch day.

8. Xavier Atkins, LB (Auburn)

The sophomore linebacker was excellent against Vanderbilt, posting 9 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, in a heartbreaking overtime defeat. Atkins is the SEC’s leading tackler (78), and he ranks in the top 5 in the SEC in tackles for loss (15.5) and sacks (7.5).

Even in a lost season on the Plains, Atkins has emerged as one of the SEC’s brightest young stars.

7. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

The SEC’s leader in rushing touchdowns (16) grabbed 3 more in Ole Miss’s 49-0 win over The Citadel. Lacy has rushed for 912 yards on the season, edging closer to 1,000-yard season status. With a touchdown against the Gators, Lacy will break the single season record for rushing touchdowns at Ole Miss, set by Quinshon Judkins in 2022. As good as Trinidad Chambliss has been, “it’s the consistency of Lacy that makes them a better offense this year than last,” one SEC defensive coordinator told me this week.

6. R Mason Thomas, DE (Oklahoma)

The Sooners had a bye to prepare for a Playoff-hope defining trip to the Capstone to tangle with Alabama. Thomas will key any hopes to a Sooners upset. His 25 pressures and 18 hurries lead Oklahoma’s defense, which continues to be one of the nation’s best units, ranking 7th in total defense, 6th in yards allowed per play, and 8th in success rate defense.

5. Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)

The Crimson Tide quarterback played well enough to win against LSU, throwing for 277 yards and a touchdown on a night when Alabama struggled to get the run game going and provide Simpson needed balance. Other than another lost fumble (Simpson’s fourth this season), the junior played mistake-free ball, too, which was good enough on a night Alabama’s defense dominated. Simpson is more than a game manager, as he’s shown in electric performances against Vanderbilt and Tennessee. He’s also still making stupendous plays like this one.

But we haven’t seen that guy consistently for a couple weeks, and the Tide will need him if they intend to stick around the College Football Playoff for a few weeks.

4. Trey Zuhn III, OL (Texas A&M)

Zuhn III spent most the season protecting Marcel Reed’s blindside beautifully for the unbeaten Aggies. On Saturday, on the road against one of the nation’s best defenses, Zuhn was forced into duty as a center. Easy peasy, right? Zuhn sure made it look easy, surrendering 0 pressures and grading out as Texas A&M’s best lineman on the afternoon (for the 5th time this season). The Aggies need midseason All-American Ar’maj Reed-Adams to be healthy to win a SEC or national championship but having a captain and deserving All-American like Zuhn on your team sure helps.  

3. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)

The Bulldogs’ stalwart defender collected 6 tackles, including a tackle for loss and sack, in Georgia’s 41-21 rout of Mississippi State. Allen grades out as the SEC’s top linebacker, per PFF.

His 75 tackles are second in the conference, behind only the outstanding Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins (78). The best player on a defense that is starting to play like the championship-caliber units we’re accustomed to in Athens.

2. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

Pavia played his best collegiate game, in this writer’s view, in rallying Vanderbilt past Auburn 45-38 in overtime last Saturday. Pavia threw for 377 yards, averaging 11.4 yards per completion, including 3 touchdown passes. He also rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown in the victory. The 489 yards of total offense were a career-high and Pavia became the first Vanderbilt player with back-to-back seasons of 3,000 yards of total offense in the win.

1. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

Howell made 5 tackles and added yet another sack to his season tally, which is now at 10.5, good for second in the country. Howell and the Aggies lead the nation in third-down defense (24% conversion rate against) and rate 18th overall in SP+ defensive efficiency. Howell’s 36 pressures and 24 quarterback hurries are the SEC’s best in both categories, and his havoc rate leads the country. The best defender in America’s best conference.

The post Ranking the top 10 players in the SEC after Week 11 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Happy trails, Hugh Freeze, who in the least surprising news ever, at least if you read Saturday Down South, failed to make it to Year 4 at Auburn.

It was never going to end well for Freeze on the Plains, especially after he opened the 2024 season throwing quarterback Payton Thorne — and not his antiquated scheme — under the bus for early season losses that largely snuffed out the chance Freeze’s second chance at a high profile SEC job would end in a happy marriage. The fact Freeze gaslit everyone who called him out for throwing Thorne under the bus is just… more evidence?

Let’s call Freeze’s termination out for what it truly is. If you aren’t accountable or kind to other people, you can sometimes get away with it as long as you win. Freeze didn’t.

Freeze was 1-11 at Auburn vs. ranked foes and his 6-16 SEC mark was no better than Bryan Harsin’s 4-9 record in league games on the Plains, rendering a hire that was deemed a big “win” back in 2023, when Freeze was hired, a shambolic failure.

After losing its way through the first half of this decade, Auburn, like Florida, needs to get the next hire right. But the Tigers made the right call — and took a huge first step in the right direction — dismissing Freeze.

There were other big stories in Week 9, of course.

Georgia won its 3,451st consecutive Cocktail Party, edging hated Florida 24-20 with what has become a patented fourth quarter rally. Sure, Georgia didn’t fumble away the game and caught (or Florida didn’t catch) a few breaks from the boys in stripes.

But you make your own breaks sometimes, too, and CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson refused to let Georgia lose.

The Gators are 3-5 because they don’t make enough plays to win games at the margins. Georgia is a Playoff contender because it does. It’s really not that complicated.

One thing that is complicated? “The List.” It’s the most wide-open season since we started the most talked about list in the Piggly Wiggly media footprint in 2019. And no, none of the 3 most-discussed quarterbacks of the preseason in the SEC: DJ Lagway, LaNorris Sellers, and Arch Manning — are contenders or even close to the top 10. But hey — at least Arch is starting to look like, well, a Manning on the field.

But there are 2 quarterbacks on “The List,” along with 2 running backs, 2 offensive linemen, and a host of defenders who are aiming to join this prestigious group of players who have earned the right to be called “Best Player in the SEC.”

2019 — Joe Burrow, LSU

2020 — DeVonta Smith, Alabama

2021 — Nakobe Dean, Georgia

2022 — Bryce Young, Alabama

2023 — Jayden Daniels, LSU

2024 — Dylan Sampson, Tennessee

Who’s next? It will come down to November.

As always, we begin each week with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per program.

Last Week’s “List” is here, for those scoring at home.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Deontae Lawson, LB; Kadyn Proctor, OT. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB. Arkansas: Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Jadan Baugh, RB; Myles Graham, LB. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Gunner Stockton, QB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB; Jordan Lovett, DB. LSU: Mansoor Delane, CB; AJ Haulcy, S. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, S. Missouri: Chris McClellan, DT; Connor Tollison, C. Oklahoma: Febechi Nwaiwu, OG; Tate Sandell, K. Ole Miss: Diego Pounds, OT; Suntarine Perkins, LB. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, PR/DB. Tennessee: Chris Brazzell II, WR; Wendell Moe Jr., OG. Texas: Colin Simmons, Edge; Malik Muhammad, CB. Texas A&M: Mario Craver, WR; Marcel Reed, QB. Vanderbilt: CJ Heard, S; Eli Stowers, TE.

10. Keagen Trost, OT (Missouri)

Trost grades out as the SEC’s best offensive tackle, per PFF. He anchors a Missouri run game that ranks 10th nationally in rushing offense and first in the SEC. Trost has allowed just 8 pressures in 303 pass snaps this season, and he’s committed only 1 penalty (a Week 2 false start, against Kansas). Trost has been playing college football for an absurdly long time — a COVID year and graduate school year oddity but the Wake Forest by way of Morgan State transfer is precisely the type of story that makes that odyssey worth it.

9. Brenen Thompson, WR (Mississippi State)

The Bulldogs finally vanquished the demons last weekend by rallying to defeat Arkansas, 38-35, giving Jeff Lebby‘s much-improved Mississippi State team its first SEC win since October 2023. At the center of the W was Thompson, who caught 6 passes for 107 yards in the victory, moving him to second in the SEC in receiving yards despite fewer targets than any other receiver in the top 5.

Thompson’s 17.5 yards per catch also ranks second in the league, behind only Texas A&M‘s Mario Craver (17.9). Thompson’s teammate, Anthony Evans (above) deserves all the acclaim he gets as a reliable move the sticks receiver. But it’s Thompson who takes the top off a defense and makes this State team explosive.

8. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

Should the SEC’s leading and the nation’s fourth-leading rusher be higher? Perhaps. But Hardy has not been as effective in league play, trailing both Kewan Lacy (below), Florida’s Jadan Baugh, and Mike Washington of Arkansas in yards gained in conference action. After almost a month without a 100-yard rushing performance, a showcase opportunity awaits Saturday afternoon when No. 3 Texas A&M visits Faurot Field.

7. R Mason Thomas, DE (Oklahoma)

The big senior out of Fort Lauderdale rumbled and stumbled his way to 6 in Neyland Stadium on Saturday night, setting the tone for Oklahoma‘s 33-27 win at No. 14 Tennessee.

Thomas also did a tremendous job holding the edge, helping the Sooners limit Tennessee to just 1.8 yards per carry on the ground, a season low.

Oklahoma remains in the College Football Playoff conversation after the win, and it appears increasingly likely Thomas will stay on “The List” for the remainder of the season.

6. Trey Zuhn III, OT (Texas A&M)

Zuhn III anchors the SEC’s last unbeaten team by protecting Marcel Reed’s blindside. He’s been sensational at it, surrendering just 5 pressures on 246 passing snaps for the Aggies this season. Texas A&M ranks 2nd in SP+ offense and 3rd in offensive success rate this season, seemingly well on their way to a College Football Playoff berth.

5. Anthony Hill Jr., LB (Texas)

Texas’s do it-all linebacker posted 4.5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack in the Longhorns 34-31 win over No. 9 Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon. On the season, Hill ranks third in the SEC in tackles (63.5) and leads the Longhorns in tackles for loss (6.5). He has 4 sacks and an interception as well, and also leads the SEC in forced fumbles (3).

4. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)

Allen was phenomenal in Georgia’s Cocktail Party win over Florida, posting a game-high 13 tackles, including one that saved a touchdown on Florida’s second possession and another that prevented Florida from gaining a vital first down while driving with the lead late in the fourth quarter. Allen’s teammate, Raylen Wilson, would blow up the next play — a fourth-and-1 run by Jadan Baugh, to give Georgia the ball. Gunner Stockton did the rest, and Georgia survived. Allen leads the SEC in tackles with 69 to go along with 3 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles. An All-American year for the leader of an improving Georgia defense.

3. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

Diego Pavia heard your chatter about how he only feasts on lesser defenses.

He would like you to reevaluate.

Pavia nearly willed Vanderbilt to a comeback win for the ages — against one of college football’s best defenses — on Saturday in Austin, throwing for 365 yards and 3 touchdowns and piling up 43 yards on the ground in a 34-31 defeat. Pavia continues to lead the Commodores in both passing and rushing yardage and he’s accounted for an SEC-high 24 touchdowns in 2025 (18 rushing, 6 passing).

2. Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)

Simpson ranks top 5 in the SEC in yards, completion percentage, touchdown passes, and turnover ratio, guiding a Tide offense that ranks 15th in SP+ efficiency and 14th in success rate offense. As Alabama’s schedule softens down the stretch (only No. 12 Oklahoma on November 15 feels threatening), those numbers should improve, meaning Simpson may be a Heisman finalist.

1. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

Howell ranks third in the country in sacks, fourth in quarterback pressures, and is the primary reason Texas A&M leads the country in third-down conversion defense. The Aggies are allowing opponents to convert at just a 22% rate on third down, and Howell has collected 5 of his 9.5 sacks on third down. This weekend, Howell and the Aggies will face a Missouri team profoundly competent at converting on third down, ranking second in the SEC (Arkansas) with a 50% conversion rate. Whether Howell and Mike Elko‘s defense win that battle may decide the fate of Texas A&M’s perfect record.

The post Ranking the top 10 players in the SEC after Week 10 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Once again, it was Georgia that dominated in closing time.

A season ago, Florida headed to the fourth quarter down a touchdown, but very much in position to finally fell the hated Bulldogs and perhaps shift the narrative on Billy Napier’s tenure for good. The Gators tied the game in the fourth quarter, but surrendered 2 touchdowns late, losing 34-20.

A year later, on a sun-splashed chamber of commerce November Saturday in Jacksonville, Napier was gone, but the Gators once again headed to the fourth quarter with the Cocktail Party hanging in the balance.

This season, it was tied. This time, Florida wasn’t pinning its hopes on a third-string quarterback who just transferred from Yale.

Instead, Florida entered the final quarter with DJ Lagway, its preseason Heisman candidate, at quarterback, and a defense that had shown flashes of dominance, not simply resilience, throughout the game.

For half of the final quarter, that looked like it would be enough.

Lagway connected with Tre Wilson just before the end of the third quarter to put the Gators in field goal range and after Trey Smack drilled a 54-yard field goal with room to spare, Florida had its first lead in the fourth quarter of a Cocktail Party since 2020, Dan Mullen’s lone win in the series.

Ron Roberts’ defense, which generated double-digit pressures and a turnover against one of the nation’s most efficient offenses on Saturday, forced a second consecutive 3-and-out, giving Lagway the football with a chance to build on their lead.

Lagway led the Gators on a 48-yard march down to the Georgia 18-yard line, eating over 5 minutes of clock in the process.

But with Florida needing just 2 yards on 3rd down, Georgia made the plays it has consistently made to seize control of this rivalry under Kirby Smart.

After a Lagway run came up a yard short on third and 2, interim head coach Billy Gonzales elected to go for it, riding his best player, Jadan Baugh, to get 3 feet.

It wasn’t meant to be.

Baugh was stuffed by Georgia’s Raylen Wilson and Elijah Griffin well short of the line, giving the Bulldogs the football and finally, a needed jolt of momentum.

The decision to go for it — and give the ball to Baugh, made sense.

The play call, an inside run into the belly of an 8-man front, made little.

Florida had generated a nice push off tackle Austin Barber’s side much of the afternoon. Why not run outside? Why not audible to a quick throw, given Georgia had 8 in the box and a safety creeping that direction?

Florida fans will have another year to think of what might have been.

After Georgia made the stop, the outcome, at least if you’ve watched Florida play Georgia over the bulk of the last decade, felt like fait accompli.

Gunner Stockton helped Georgia convert on 3rd-and-8 with a dart to Zachariah Branch, and just 4 plays later, Georgia freshman Chauncey Bowens, a former Florida commitment, made a stupendous cut in traffic and galloped 36 yards to the house to score what proved to be the winning touchdown.

Lagway had one more chance, of course, and once again, Florida nearly had the football game in their reptilian grasp.

On third and 4, with Lagway flushed to his left, J. Michael Sturdivant broke free behind the Georgia defense.

A good throw would have been a Florida touchdown.

Unfortunately for the Gators, Lagway underthrew the ball, forcing Sturdivant to stop and lunge towards the football. Sturdivant appeared to make a spectacular catch, but referee James Carter’s crew called the pass incomplete on the field. Multiple video replays appeared to clearly demonstrate Sturdivant got his hands under the ball and made the catch, but Carter was unconvinced on review. The call on the field was upheld. Lagway nearly threw a pick-6 a play later, and Georgia took over on downs.

For SEC conspiracy theorists, Georgia winning yet another rivalry game shrouded in referee controversy will clearly be related to its status as a College Football Playoff contender. First there was touchdown and timeout-gate against Auburn. Now the Dawgs beat the Gators on a catch that wasn’t ruled a catch. Throw in an overturned Gunner Stockton fumble late in the first half (the right call, in my view, but that’s a debate I don’t want to have on social media) that helped Georgia grab a tying field goal, and there’s plenty for the “it has to be rigged” crowd to talk about on Bill King, Paul Finebaum, and Chuck Oliver this week.

Alternatively, you could just give a little credit to Georgia, who keeps finding ways to win, no matter how ugly or unlikely it seems for long swaths of SEC Saturdays this season.

“They did a good job on defense,” Gonzales said of Georgia after the game. “They threw some different pressures (at Lagway). They mixed coverages. Played some 2 high, played some 1 high, showed some different zone under looks with man behind it. They did a good job.”

They did. Kirby Smart’s teams almost always do.

But for the Gators, it was the latest in a rivalry of “almost” and frustration.

Florida needed to win 1 of essentially 4 critical plays and the game may have ended differently.

Georgia won all of those plays.

The Bulldogs so often do under Smart, whose vise grip on the Cocktail Party makes his annual lamentations about why the game shouldn’t be played in Jacksonville feel sillier with each passing autumn.

Why move a game you constantly win? Why end the Cocktail Party, one of the few precious things in the ever-changing world of college football that still feels authentic and sacred?

The game will be moved, by necessity, in 2026 (Atlanta) and 2027 (Tampa), before returning to its rightful home in Jacksonville in 2028.

Where they play probably won’t matter much, as long as Kirby’s coaching in this game.

At least that’s how it must feel to Florida fans who trudged out into the crisp north Florida night wondering when they’ll leave a Cocktail Party without a Sunday hangover and a season-long broken heart again.

If Steve Spurrier was the “Evil Genius” to Georgia fans, Kirby Smart’s Georgia has become the Evil Empire to Florida.

Resistance seems futile.

The mean machine in red and black marches on.

With Napier gone and Gonzales only an interim, Kirby’s imperial death star, and Florida’s white whale, is now the next guy’s problem, whoever the next guy is.

Scott Stricklin has to find someone who can fight back. Florida’s football fortunes won’t change until he does.

The post After more Cocktail Party heartbreak for Florida, Kirby Smart’s evil empire is now the next guy’s problem appeared first on Saturday Down South.

I’d say I haven’t been ready to return, but the truth is I won’t know until I go again, cross the Mathews Bridge over the St. John’s River, and see the splendid regalia of orange, blue, red, and black flashing below.

That view is one of the greatest scenes in collegiate sports, one you store away in dreams.

That’s when I’ll know if returning in the flesh to a game that’s been as intimate a part of the fabric of my life, my mom’s life, and my family’s life as almost anything in sports or otherwise will feel joyful, bittersweet, sad, or most likely, all of the above.

I’ll find out this Saturday morning.

I know I’ll be thinking about my dad.

When my dad died — of cancer, just 36 days after he was diagnosed and less than 3 months after he retired after an immensely successful career in investment banking — I spent much of that first autumn and winter without him in a state of flux.

I was angry about the good years of his life cancer robbed from him and by extension, our family, his wife, and his grandchildren. In many ways, I did whatever I could to avoid his absence, losing myself in work, relationships, church, coaching basketball, and fatherhood.

A busy mind is a poor elixir for a broken heart, but grief is a ferocious, caged tiger, unpredictable if left unmoored.

I wrote about football that first autumn and as fall bled into winter, I spent weekends touring as many college basketball venues as possible, painfully marking the time by fulfilling a bucket list dream of several of the arenas we’d wanted to visit together after he retired.

On those cold, wintry weekend mornings, I would drive across North Carolina and other parts of ACC and SEC country in my car and, in those quiet moments where the frantic pace of life briefly allowed for honest reflection, I began to realize that outside of being a father myself and marrying my wife Becca, nothing I’d done in my life had meant more to me, at least in terms of bringing me pure, unadulterated joy, as the Saturdays down South in stadiums and arenas with my Dad.

There were so many more games he wanted to see.

There were no games he loved more than Florida-Georgia.

Like any self-respecting Florida or Georgia fan, Dad called the game the “Cocktail Party,” even after the 2 universities, in some pretense to piety that sounds good on paper but makes no intellectual sense in practice, decided the nickname too loudly celebrated the drunken debauchery and partying long associated with the famous 50/50 tailgating scene in Jacksonville each season.

CAPTION: The author and his Dad before Florida’s 41-17 win over Georgia in 2009.

The cocktail party aspect of the Cocktail Party is glorious.

The game is about so much more than that.

Growing up, the Cocktail Party marked the time.

Falling so often, as it does this season, on Halloween weekend, the Cocktail Party was the line of demarcation, the moment autumn started the march to Thanksgiving (Dad’s favorite holiday) and soon, Christmas, the holidays, and the New Year.

There was college basketball, too, and Dad was also a Tar Heel. This meant he took college basketball seriously. He cared even more about it because I played basketball and loved it, and dad was the type of father who was for what I was for. He wasn’t going to pressure me to love one sport or another sport or pursue one career instead of his preferred career.

But the Cocktail Party was different.

To Dad, whether the Gators beat the Dawgs loomed so large it reduced almost any other game of the season to a vanity exercise or pleasant indulgence. Let me count the ways.

Lose to Bobby Bowden’s FSU in a heartbreaker in Tallahassee?

“Doesn’t matter,” Dad would say. “At least we beat the pants off Georgia.”

Lose a thriller in The Swamp to Tennessee in 2001?

“It would have been electric to play in the Rose Bowl.  But at least Spurrier won his last Florida-Georgia game.”

Win only 8 games and get clobbered at home by Miami in 2002?

“Sure, the season could have been better, but Rex Grossman sent all those Dawgs home disappointed, didn’t he?”

Win 11 games and an Orange Bowl in 2019 under Dan Mullen?

“If Florida had decided to play anything but zone against Jake Fromm in the Cocktail Party, they’d have won at least 12.”

I doubt anyone reading this will find the notion of putting so much stock into one football game mystifying. This is a part of the country where governors intervene in coaching decisions and a whole brand has been built on “It just means more.”

For dad, the Cocktail Party was a masterpiece, an homage to his love of the University of Florida, his begrudging respect for the University of Georgia (“That dang Kirby, he’s so good,” he’d text Saturday after Saturday in his last few years), and fatherhood.

Whether it was taking my sister to the game, buying dinner for me and my fraternity brothers (I was an ATO at Florida, because that’s what dad was) after a long Friday chasing redfish in the no-name canals that litter Jacksonville’s intracoastal waterways, or simply making sure Sunday’s breakfast was paid for before the long drive home, my dad made the Cocktail Party about family.

He also made it a celebration.

For several years, he and one of his best friends, Chuck Patterson, a Jacksonville native and successful businessman we also lost too soon, threw a Friday night clambake together in Arlington.

Everyone was invited and there was a smorgasbord of food and plenty of libations for all, as long as you tossed your car keys in a hat on your way in the door. In a house that often became filled with college-aged kids, Dad and Chuck were often the last guys up and the first guys awake, grown men enjoying a football rivalry like kids at Christmas.

I lived for those weekends, and the accumulation of memories that slowly ballooned, year-by-year, into something grand and irreplaceable.

Relationships between fathers and sons are always complex, even when you are as close as my dad and me.

We moved a lot, from Atlanta, which will always feel like home, to suburban New Jersey, which I grew to love, to Jupiter, Florida, where I finished high school.

Nowadays, Jupiter is a lifestyle of the rich and famous type of place, a place where Jimmy Buffet recorded music videos and where Tiger Woods and what feels like half the PGA Tour have waterfront homes. I’m aging myself, but growing up, Jupiter was mostly a sleepy beach town, filled with commercial anglers and a handful of white-collar folks like my dad who decided an extra half acre was worth the work commute to West Palm Beach.

When my parents split, my little sister went to live with my mom and it was just me and my Dad, and partly because we moved a lot and partly because I was a quiet kid, more likely to enjoy books and hours of ESPN than trying repeatedly to make new friends in another new city, I grew up without many friends.

Dad and I did everything together, especially when I was in high school.

We shot baskets, putted golf balls on an artificial putting green on a pool patio and spent hours traveling to sporting events or on the golf course. When we were home on Saturdays, Dad would drink a beer and I would drink a Coke and during college football and basketball seasons, we’d break down the games and crack jokes and nurse drinks for hours — a Manningcast before the time of Manningcasts. For the most part, my closest friends were my dad and his college friends.

When I became a father, my goal was to be half as good to my daughters as my dad was to me. I’ve added a stepdaughter and stepson in my blended family since Dad died, but the goal remains. My Dad wasn’t perfect, but I don’t feel the need to cleanse myself from any fundamental weakness or deficiency in his approach to fatherhood. As a template, Dad’s approach works.

Like failure, imperfection is inevitable. Even Smart and Spurrier, the two greatest coaches to grace this storied rivalry, lost football games.

All we can do, as dad reminded me in a Father’s Day card he sent a few months before he died, is live with courage of conviction, kindness, integrity, and do our best until our best becomes a little better.

Weekends like the Cocktail Party honor the consistent pursuit of impossible perfection.

Win or lose, the Cocktail Party and rivalries like it are special because of their sense of occasion, and the occasion, whatever the records of Florida and Georgia (or Georgia and Florida, if you must), is time spent with family and friends. This is the fabric of a life worth living. This is why a Cocktail Party weekend matters and marks the time.

The game matters too, of course.

For Georgia, Kirby Smart can send a second-consecutive group of seniors to the NFL or other walks of life without a loss to the hated Gators.

For Florida, the Gators, led by an interim coach who lived and coached at Florida in the Meyer and Tebow glory days, can deliver at least one moment to savor in the latest in a string of lost seasons, one that now will end, win or lose on Saturday, with the program’s sixth head coach since Tim Tebow graduated in 2009.

Fans, families, and fathers and sons from reaches all across the country will arrive early Friday morning and come Saturday evening, one side’s loyalists will trudge back to their hotels or to trips in cars traveling dark highways feeling heavier and more defeated than usual, their sense of loss and longing cured only by only one promise or prayer.

There will be another season.

There will be another Cocktail Party.

Savor them together while you can.

The post The Cocktail Party isn’t just a game. For Florida and Georgia fans, it marks the time appeared first on Saturday Down South.

More than any other section of the country, we southerners still live off the land. We hunt and fish for food, not just sport. We have miles and miles of fertile farmland where we grow cotton we do not wear and raise tobacco we do not smoke. We grow timber and mold furniture we do not use. It’s not the most forgiving place economically, but it’s the economy we know.

Change comes slowly, often with bitter, violent resistance. Sometimes that resistance makes no sense and has no moral defense.

But the South is also beautiful, brimming with hard-working people who fill houses of worship on Sundays and live with compassion and decency Monday through Friday. Southerners are rarely hesitant to share a meal or help a neighbor in need.

Despite compulsive and constant upheaval, change and the slow fight for it has also resulted in triumph.

The South has delivered a city, Atlanta, with more new wealth (mostly Black) than any other city in the country. The South is the birthplace of some of the country’s greatest art and much of the country’s best music.

The South is also home to the best football.

This isn’t up for debate, no matter what the heathens from the B1G say thanks to their 2-consecutive national championships, which I am told somehow makes them experts on winning, even though the SEC has won more than half the college football titles since 2005.

No matter how slow we talk down South, we all agree — across racial, political, religious, and class lines — that the best football happens in the SEC. We’ve had that belief since Paul Finebaum played in our living rooms while we were infants, and if you disagree well, you are welcome to explain to us how Michigan, Ohio State, Miami, Clemson, or Oregon would fare over the rigors of an 8-game SEC schedule.

We might feel a little twinge of cringe when someone calls the Finebaum show or tweets at the SDS Pod and argues that it’s tougher to win a SEC Championship than a national championship, but what we don’t say, at least out loud, is that there’s a part of us that agrees with that caller.

We’re a little whack-a-doodle down here in the SEC, and we know it.

And the one change we’ll always make quickly is football coach.

Despite Tim Brando’s protestations, Florida’s fanbase was hardly toxic in wanting their administration to dismiss Billy Napier, who was finally fired earlier this month after going 22-23 in just over 3 seasons at Florida, the worst mark for a Gators coach since World War II.

LSU?

Well, outsiders might view their fanbase as crazy for dismissing a coach who went 34-14 and coached the program’s third Heisman winner just 2 seasons ago. But when you know it isn’t working, you just know, okay?

Alabama?

The fans were about to fire Kalen DeBoer again last weekend, at least on Finebaum on Monday. Then Deontae Lawson made the play of the season for the Crimson Tide and Alabama left Columbia, South Carolina, with a 29-22 win. DeBoer is back to being the frontrunner for SEC Coach of the Year.

Kentucky?

Basketball season starts November 3.

Texas?

Steve Sarkisian’s offense isn’t working, Arch Manning is in concussion protocol, and a season that began at No. 1 feels on the brink. Naturally, Sarkisian may be seeking a parachute to the NFL.

Auburn?

Hugh Freeze staved off the executioner with a narrow win over Arkansas.

But in a world where Vanderbilt is a power and College GameDay was in Nashville for a Vandy-Mizzou game in October, is any coach not named Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, Clark Lea, or Eli Drinkwitz truly safe?

The season of perpetual discontent in the conference of constant coaching turnover has produced the closest “List” race since we started the Greatest List in College Football way back in the year of Burrow, 2019.

With 3 quarterbacks on this week’s list (the most since Week 1), it’s increasingly possible that a player at the most important position in sports will top the list for the 4th time.

It’s also possible that a defender joins Georgia’s Nakobe Dean (2021) as “List” Champion, or that Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson has a short-lived reign as the only running back to conquer the rankings.

What’s clear is nothing is decided, and we’re about to play November football. Talk about turmoil!

Last week’s “List” is here.

As always, we start with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per program.

Honorable Mention: Alabama:  Deontae Lawson, LB; Kadyn Proctor, OT. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Alex McPherson, K. Arkansas: Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Jadan Baugh, RB; Myles Graham, LB. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Ellis Robinson IV, DB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB. LSU: Mansoor Delane, CB; AJ Haulcy, S. Mississippi State: Brenen Thompson, WR; Brylan Lanier, DB. Missouri: Chris McClellan, DT; Keagan Trost, OT. Oklahoma: Kip Lewis, LB; R Mason Thomas, DE. Ole Miss: Kewan Lacy, RB; Diego Pounds, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, PR/DB. Tennessee: Joey Aguilar, QB; Lance Heard, OT. Texas: Colin Simmons, Edge; Michael Taaffe, S. Texas A&M: Mario Craver, WR; Marcel Reed, QB. Vanderbilt: Langston Patterson, LB; Eli Stowers, TE.

10. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)

Kirby Smart’s best player is Allen, who ranks 8th in the SEC in tackles with 56, has 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and the SEC’s best tackle rate (94%) of players who have played over 200 snaps this season. This isn’t Georgia’s best defense in the Smart era — far from it — but Allen has provided leadership and stability to the group as Gunner Stockton continues to improve. A deserved spot on “The List” as the Dawgs head to the Cocktail Party.

9. CJ Heard, S (Vanderbilt)

Heard made the play of the season for Vanderbilt, forcing and recovering this fumble with Mizzou driving in a tie game late in the fourth quarter on Saturday.

The Commodores scored on the next possession and held on to win, 17-10. On the year, Heard has 43 tackles, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery. A freshman All-American at FAU, Heard is now making good on his promise at Vanderbilt, leading what is quietly one of the nation’s best secondaries with big plays and excellent coverage (Heard has allowed just 2 explosive pass plays in coverage this season).

8. Chris Brazzell II, WR (Tennessee)

Welcome back to “The List”, Chris Brazzell II. The Volunteers wide receiver went nuts against Kentucky, posting 138 yards receiving and a touchdown in Tennessee’s 56-34 rivalry game win.

Brazzell II leads the SEC in receiving yards (740) and touchdowns (8) while ranking 5th in receptions (43). His explosiveness is a huge reason the Volunteers lead the SEC in total offense and success rate offensively.

7. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

The SEC’s leading rusher ran for 97 yards against Vanderbilt, leaving open the question of why Eli Drinkwitz didn’t feed the big fellow more in Missouri’s 17-10 loss on Saturday afternoon. Hardy has 937 yards rushing this season — good for second nationally — but he’s eclipsed 100 yards just once in SEC play and failed to score a touchdown for the second time in 3 games. With freshman quarterback Matt Zollers now the starter in CoMo, it may get worse before it gets better for the Tigers’ star.

6. Trey Zuhn III, OT (Texas A&M)

Zuhn III continues to have a stellar season protecting Marcel Reed’s blind side. Zuhn III graded out at 87.2 as a pass blocker in Texas A&M’s Brian Kelly tenure-ending rout of LSU, surrendering 0 pressures against what had been one of the nation’s best defenses entering the evening. On the season, Zuhn III has allowed just 4 pressures, second-fewest among SEC linemen (Missouri’s Keagan Trost). That’s been vital for the unbeaten Aggies, who rank 21st nationally in total offense and 20th in success rate.

5. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

It wasn’t Pavia’s best day on Saturday against Missouri, but when the Commodores needed a drive to keep their College Football Playoff dreams alive, Pavia answered the bell, capping a 12-play game-winning touchdown drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to keep Vanderbilt in the top 10 and win the biggest game played at FirstBank Stadium this century. Pavia is the only player in the SEC who leads his team in both passing yards and rushing yards and he’s accounted for 20 touchdowns this season.

4. Trinidad Chambliss, QB (Ole Miss)

One of the stories of the year in college football, Chambliss, who transferred from tiny Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, was sensational in the Rebels’ thrilling 34-26 win at Oklahoma last weekend. Chambliss threw for 315 yards and a touchdown and ran for 53 more yards, helping the Rebels carve up one of the nation’s best defenses to the tune of 431 total yards at nearly 5 yards per play (a season high against Oklahoma in 2025).

Chambliss has now thrown for 250 yards or more in all 6 games he’s started this season. That’s the longest streak in the SEC this year.

3. Anthony Hill Jr., LB (Texas)

Hill earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the third time in his career, collecting 4 tackles for loss, 4 pressures, and 2.5 sacks in Texas’s rally at Mississippi State. Hill’s best came in the fourth quarter. With Texas trailing 38-28 and needing a stop, Hill came up with a sack to force a quick 3-and-out with 9 minutes remaining in the game. Then, with the game tied and 2 minutes to play, Hill generated a pressure to force an incompletion on first down and caused a fumble on a sack on third down, all but assuring the game would go to overtime. Texas won the game — which it trailed by 17 points on 2 occasions — in the added session.

2. Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)

Simpson wasn’t great at South Carolina, losing another fumble and averaging under 6 yards per attempt for the first time since Alabama’s season-opening loss at FSU. But even on an “off night” against relentless South Carolina pressure, Simpson tossed 2 touchdown passes and orchestrated a 14-play, 79-yard drive in the fourth quarter that helped Alabama tie the game at 22. Great players find a way to win, and Simpson is a great player.

1. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

The best player on the last undefeated team in the SEC, Howell was productive against LSU, registering 2 more sacks and another pair of pressures and hurries to add to his SEC highs of 34 pressures and 23 hurries this season.

Howell’s 10 sacks rank second nationally for a defense that leads the nation in quarterback pressures, hurries, and sacks.

The post Ranking the top 10 players in the SEC after Week 9 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The hire will be Florida’s fifth full time football coach since 2010 and Scott Stricklin’s third as Florida athletic director, defying the historical trend suggesting most Power 4 athletic directors get only 2 bites at the football coaching apple and bucking the prediction of many, including this author, who suggested that Stricklin’s fate at Florida may be tied to Napier’s success as Florida’s football coach.

Instead, Stricklin, one of the most gifted fundraisers in collegiate athletics, signed an extension this past spring. The Stricklin extension provides stability to the Florida athletics program, even at a time when the university as a whole grapples with leadership challenges. Earlier this year, the University of Florida hired an interim president, Donald Landry, after the eminently qualified Dr. Santa Ono, the former President of the University of Michigan, was rejected for political reasons. Compounding UF’s leadership vacuum, the university’s 2 top graduate programs, the law and medical schools, each have interim leadership. Stricklin offers rare stability, and after his basketball hire, Todd Golden, won the school’s third basketball national championship this April, UF had public-facing reasons to retain Stricklin beyond the steady fundraising and stable leadership the Florida athletic director has offered behind closed doors during an era of change at Florida.

Stricklin’s new job security has allowed him to move more nimbly, with a long overdue athletic department administration overhaul underway and a necessary Swamp stadium renovation on the horizon. Stricklin’s stable athletic program also offers a transparent rebuke to the understandable but misguided criticism that Florida is not a desirable job because the university is in tumult.

While there are certainly long-term leadership decisions to be made at Florida, the athletic department is on firm footing, with an arsenal of resources at its disposal.

 Still, the best way to fundraise and promote long-term stability is to win games.

Florida hasn’t won a SEC or national championship since 2008 and has never appeared in the College Football Playoff in any format. Only 3 Florida teams have won 11 or more games since 2008, and only 1 team (2019) has managed that feat since 2012, when the last of Urban Meyer’s recruits helped Will Muschamp to an 11-2 season and Sugar Bowl appearance. Things have gone from middling and mediocre to worse this decade, with Florida’s 30-27 record since 2020 their worst half-decade mark for the program since the late 1970s.

Put plainly, the Gators have spent the better part of a decade and a half lost in the swampy wilderness, occasionally peaking their heads out of the tall grass to compete for SEC Championships under Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen, but never consistently managing to return to the national relevance the program became accustomed to from the 1980s through the Meyer era (2005-2010).

Stricklin rightly pointed out that unlike past administrations, where coaches failed, at least in part, due to a lack of administrative commitment to football and a willed refusal to engage in the resource wars that helped Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson build southern behemoths over the past 2 decades, there has “never been a time” when “as many financial resources and as much commitment has gone into making Gator football” elite. From a strong NIL infrastructure to world class facilities, Florida offered Napier everything he needed to compete. He failed, but the program is better positioned to compete now than it was when he arrived, and whoever Florida hires will walk into a situation where, at least from a foundational standpoint, winning big and winning quickly is possible.

Florida does have to navigate costs.

Florida’s 2025 roster wasn’t cheap, and Napier’s buyout approaches $21 million dollars. Speaking to the media this week, Stricklin acknowledged that the financial burden “is not insignificant.” Stricklin cautioned, however, against any narrative suggesting Florida won’t spend what is necessary to compete.

“We all want to be competitive, whether it is NIL, whether it’s coaching salaries,” Stricklin said. “We’re all responding to what the market dictates. We could sit here and talk high and mighty about we’re going to draw the line, and it would probably impact the pool of candidates you have depending on how strict you draw the line. We’re going to try to be as smart as we can with our resources and make the best possible decision. But we’re also going to be very competitive.”

Nonetheless, paying Napier’s huge buyout may limit what Florida is willing to pay to buyout another coach it might otherwise pursue aggressively. A good example of this is Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, an obvious candidate for any job but one whose buyout is reportedly in the 8-figure range.

That outlines the foundation and terrain facing Stricklin and the Florida search committee in the weeks to come.

This week, Saturday Down South spoke with multiple industry and program sources for a glimpse at Florida’s coaching search. What follows is our reporting on names discussed as potential replacements for Napier as well as potential drawbacks and obstacles to each candidate. The list of candidates is based only on information gathered by Saturday Down South, and not necessarily exclusive. Multiple sources confirmed that Florida has vetted or will vet each of the candidates discussed below. Multiple sources also confirmed that it is unlikely Florida will make any hire quickly. While no timetable for the hire is set, it seems possible, if not likely, that Florida will not announce a new football coach until early December. The coaches discussed are listed in alphabetical order.

Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri

Record at Mizzou: 44-25

Record vs. Ranked Opponents at Mizzou: 7-15

Pros: Drinkwitz is an outstanding roster construction coach built for the NIL era. He’s recruited better than any Missouri coach since the Tigers joined the SEC, inking 2 classes ranked in the top 20 in the country. He has recruited talented hotbed St. Louis beautifully, keeping 5-star Luther Burden at home in 2022, and he’s excelled in the transfer portal, landing big time talents like Ahmad Hardy, the SEC’s leading rusher, defensive tackle Chris McLellan and Zion Young, 2 of the SEC’s most disruptive defensive linemen, and quarterback Beau Pribula who all leaders on this season’s team, to name a few.

Drinkwitz also appears immune to the ego-driven choices that cost Napier dearly at Florida.

Drinkwitz is a remarkable 27-6 since 2023, when he gave up play calling and turned his offense over to Kirby Moore, who was on staff already but has thrived as Missouri’s play caller. Drinkwitz is 5-4 against ranked foes since 2023. Bizarrely, some Florida fans have claimed Drinkwitz is a product of Moore’s success. This is a weird argument given a huge criticism of Napier was he wouldn’t hire competent coordinators. It also falls flat given that Drinkwitz has also proven adept at hiring outstanding defensive coordinators, from Blake Baker (who left for LSU to become the highest paid DC in America in 2024) to current DC Corey Battoon, who currently guides a defense ranked 5th nationally in total defense and 6th in success rate.

Drinkwitz is also a proven quarterbacks coach who has gotten the most out of his talent at the position dating back to his first job at Appalachian State.

If Florida hands a gifted CEO the reins and that leader gets the most out of DJ Lagway, who any hire will push to retain, look out.

Cons: The record against ranked opponents leaves something to be desired and Florida fans, at least the loud ones on X and other social media platforms, don’t seem to like Drinkwitz’s personality. Is there something to the “nerdy Spurrier” wisecracks and Luke Skywalker costumes that rubs folks the wrong way? Perhaps. But Twitter isn’t real life, and to borrow from Todd Golden, who found his team name-dropped in a Drake song this offseason, “People love you when you win.”

More concerning should be the fact that Drinkwitz certainly plays games at the margins, especially offensively. The Tigers average over 2 yards per play less in SEC play than nonconference play offensively in 2025, and as a result, Missouri plays a ton of close football games. Drinkwitz is 11-2 in games decided by 1 touchdown or less since 2023, the best mark in the SEC in close games. What happens when and if the games at the margins start to flip to the other team?

Brent Key, Georgia Tech

Record at Georgia Tech: 25-16

Record vs. Ranked Opponents at Georgia Tech: 7-6.

Pros: Where do we begin? Key has taken a program that won 4 games in the 2 seasons prior to him becoming head coach and turned it into a College Football Playoff contender in less than 4 full seasons. He’s done it with a team that has just 12 “blue-chip” (4 or 5 star) players and ranks 39th in the 247Sports talent composite. For perspective, Florida has a record of 3-4 in 2025 with 52 blue chips. The Gators rank 12th in the talent composite. In other words, Key gets everything out of what he has.

Before he was a head coach, Key earned a reputation as an elite offensive line coach and one of the nation’s top recruiters. His offensive lines have been nominated for the Joe Moore Award (best offensive line) 4 times, including this season. He was named the nation’s No. 1 recruiter by 247Sports in 2020 and ranked No. 2 on 2 other occasions. He’s been a finalist for the Broyles Award, honoring the nation’s top assistant coach, on a preposterous 5 occasions, including 3 times at UCF, where he helped the Knights go unbeaten, helping build the roster that eventually (after Key had left for Alabama) made Scott Frost rich and Danny White a national champion (wink, wink). Key won a legitimate national title at Alabama as a top lieutenant for Nick Saban.

Key has recruited the state of Florida, grew up in SEC country, and has seen the operation of a SEC behemoth from the inside. One of the most respected coaches in the sport, Florida could give him resources he’ll simply never have at Georgia Tech. And oh, by the way, Key understands the Georgia rivalry, which he has played in and coached in at Georgia Tech, and he won’t be bothered competing against Kirby Smart.

Cons: Key’s offense isn’t flashy and the name won’t inspire the more casual element of the fan base. More vital? Key is building something special at his alma mater. He won’t ever have Florida style resources in Atlanta, but playing in the ACC, he is set up to consistently compete to make College Football Playoffs and eventually have a statue built of his likeness outside Bobby Dodd Stadium. Why enter the fishbowl furnace of the Florida job when you can win plenty at home in Atlanta? Plus, while his ceiling might be higher at Florida, if you are in the Playoff constantly at Georgia Tech, perhaps he can breakthrough? He’s already competed with Kirby better than Napier ever did at Florida, despite a talent deficit. Given Key’s allegiances to Georgia Tech, Florida would also likely have to overpay substantially here. For all these reasons, this hire seems unlikely, but it makes too much sense not to explore.

Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Record at Ole Miss: 50-19

Record at Ole Miss vs. Ranked Opponents: 9-10

Pros: Lane is the People’s Champion. Florida fans have been clamoring for Kiffin for months and he’s candidate 1 in the eyes of 2 prominent boosters who spoke with SDS as well. Part of the Lane love is the cult of personality, to be sure. Kiffin is playful on social media, has a high-flying offense, isn’t afraid to take a jab at a conference foe, and wins with swagger. Florida fans, desperate for the joyous bravado of the Spurrier era, see an intellectual heir in Kiffin.

Kiffin’s football track record is strong, too. He’s an offensive mastermind who revolutionized Nick Saban’s offense at Alabama, allowing the Crimson Tide to compete and win national championships while playing a more modern offense than what Saban originally brought to Tuscaloosa. He’s also won at levels unprecedented at Ole Miss in the modern, post-integration SEC. A savvy roster builder who has excelled in the transfer portal, Kiffin is also a quarterback whisperer. That means that if he is hired and he can keep DJ Lagway on campus, Florida could win quickly in 2025.

What’s more, Kiffin has embraced his role as a CEO, hiring Pete Golding, one of the best football minds in the sport, to coach his defense, a change that elevated his program in Oxford from competitive to Playoff contenders.

Given the season Ole Miss is having, would Kiffin leave? The Gators will likely want an answer before the early signing period. Ole Miss may want their coach to coach in the College Football Playoff. A sensible solution? An announcement after the Egg Bowl.

Cons: Kiffin has established roots in Oxford. His family is happy, he’s built a consistent winner, and Keith Carter is one of the best in the business at getting his hires what they need to succeed.

From a football standpoint, Kiffin has won plenty but nothing of substance beyond New Year’s Six bowl games and 2 conference titles at Florida Atlantic. He’s not nearly as good a recruiter as Key and he’s at best equal to Drinkwitz on that front, and he’s rarely seemed motivated to improve in that area, despite the fact that recruiting, even in the world of the portal and NIL, remains the lifeblood of the sport. Florida has hired offensive geniuses who succeeded in Mississippi before. The world of NIL and an expanded College Football Playoff make the comparison with Mullen imperfect, but if Kiffin is Mullen 2.0, will Florida fans be satisfied?

Rhett Lashlee, SMU

Record at SMU: 34-14

Record at SMU vs. Ranked Opponents: 3-5

Pros: Lashlee has marshaled excellent resources (SMU has a ton of money!) and utilized it to take a program to the College Football Playoff in Year 1 in a Power 4 conference. The Mustangs were blown out by Penn State, 38-10, but they played in a Playoff game, something the University of Florida has never done. Lashlee doesn’t call his own plays, but his scheme has succeeded at multiple stops, earning him a Broyles Award nod while the offensive coordinator at Auburn under Gus Malzahn. While his 2025 offense is middling (55th in total offense, 51st in success rate), his team ranked 27th in total offense and 25th in success rate in their Playoff season and finished in the top 20 nationally in 2022 and 2023.

Cons: This hire won’t move the fan base or the national needle. Lashlee is 0-3 in bowl and Playoff games, has just 3 wins over ranked foes as a head coach, and he’s never signed a recruiting class ranked in the top 30. Sources told Saturday Down South that Florida was impressed with Lashlee last season, but there’s a sense, at least among those sources, that the Gators interest here has waned.

Lashlee also may feel that competing at SMU, where he only has to reckon with ACC competition and has rich NIL resources and a terrific recruiting base, is a better place for him to build his coaching résumé before he takes on a job at a pressure cooker program like Florida.

The post Breaking down the early chatter on the Florida coaching search appeared first on Saturday Down South.

At least that’s what Lord Petry Baelish (AKA Littlefinger) told us in Game of Thrones.

I think there’s merit to the sentiment, though I wouldn’t wish Littlefinger’s fate on anyone.

Take the 2025 SEC.

The best team in the conference turned Paul Finebaum’s show into a statewide therapy session after a loss to Florida State in Week 1. The Seminoles, it turns out, are abysmal, so it would serve Kalen DeBoer’s team well to win out or win the SEC Championship Game, but the point remains that in college football in 2025, there are no certainties beyond uncertainty. Yes, Alabama can lose (handily) to Florida State. Yes, Alabama can look like a team with a Heisman candidate at quarterback that can beat anyone put in front of it.

What about Georgia, you ask?

Sure, there are times when Kirby Smart’s Death Star doesn’t quite look like the Evil Empire anymore. There are also times, like in Saturday’s furious come-from-behind rally over then-No. 5 Ole Miss when the Dawgs appear Vader-like in their ability to bend time and space to overcome defeat. And if Gunner Stockton is becoming an asset, not a question, at quarterback… well we’ve all seen that movie in Athens before. The Resistance doesn’t win.

Mizzou finally left CoMo. It took 2 overtimes, but Eli Drinkwitz’s team still controls its own destiny on the way to the College Football Playoff. So does Vanderbilt, by the way, who beat LSU and now hosts Missouri—and College GameDay—this coming Saturday in the “Chaos is a Ladder” bowl. The game will be Missouri’s first College GameDay appearance in over a decade (2014). It will be Vanderbilt’s third ever. Unbelievable.

“The List” is not immune to this season’s chaos.

We’ve had 6 different players in the top spot, which shifts again this week after Texas A&M’s defense no-showed against Arkansas. We’ve had nearly 20 different players in the Top 5, a record for what many (OK, at least one of my family members) in the Piggly Wiggly footprint are calling the greatest list ever born into the world of SEC football. Things are stabilizing among the top 4, but it feels like if ever there was a season where that would change, this is it.

If you are contrarian, you might point out that the chaos is simply a veneer of parity, obfuscating the fact that well, Georgia and Alabama are potentially on track for a SEC Championship Game rematch.

That’s fine, I suppose, except that Texas A&M (picked 8th by the preseason media) is still unbeaten and Vanderbilt (picked 13th) and Missouri (12th) are ranked in the top 15 and about to play a mid-October game on College GameDay. Did I mention that preseason league favorite Texas nearly lost to one of the worst teams Mark Stoops has ever fielded at 2-4 Kentucky?

What’s next? A Morgan Wallen song about Miami that’s such a bad trap beat disaster you can see it from space? Oh wait.

Speaking of Florida, man…happy trails to Billy Napier. We hardly knew you. A golden parachute averaging just under a million per win ($21 million buyout, 22 wins at Florida) is not a bad way to say goodbye, though, am I right?

Last week’s “List” is here for those of you who want to write me emails and tell me why I can’t stand your favorite team or player. I’m truly riveted by all your ad homs (err, arguments).

As always, “The List” begins with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per school.

Honorable Mention: Alabama:  Zabien Brown, CB; Bray Hubbard, S. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Keldric Faulk, Edge. Arkansas: Taylen Green, QB; Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Jadan Baugh, RB; Myles Graham, LB.  Georgia: Ellis Robinson IV, DB; Gunner Stockton, QB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB. LSU: AJ Haulcy, S; Patrick Payton, DE. Mississippi State: Brenen Thompson, WR; Brylan Lanier, DB. Missouri:  Keagan Trost, OT; Zion Young, DE. Oklahoma: Kip Lewis, LB; Febechi Nwaiwu, OG. Ole Miss: Kewan Lacy, RB; Diego Pounds, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, Return/DB. Tennessee: DeSean Bishop, RB; Joshua Josephs, Edge. Texas: Colin Simmons, Edge; Michael Taaffe, S. Vanderbilt: Langston Patterson, LB; Brock Taylor, K.

10. Drew Bobo, C (Georgia)

The big Georgia center reclaims a “List” spot after paving the way for 510 yards and 43 points in Georgia’s big win over Ole Miss. Bobo has allowed just 4 pressures all season on 491 snaps. He’s yet to surrender a sack. A Rimington Trophy nod may be next.

9. Mario Craver, WR (Texas A&M)

Craver continues to lead the SEC in receiving yards (674) and yards per reception (18.7) among players with 20 receptions or more. He’s become a focus for defenses, opening the way for his teammate KC Concepcion, who scored a touchdown in the Aggies’ thrilling win over Arkansas and now ranks sixth in the SEC in receiving yards in his own right. Craver’s PFF grade is the highest among all SEC wide receivers and ranks 5th in the Power 4.

8. Kadyn Proctor, OT (Alabama)

Keeping with the theme of honoring the hogmollies up front, Proctor earns his spot after another week of weathering a big time challenge as a pass blocker. The big man surrendered just 1 pressure against a talented Tennessee pass rush. His overall PFF grade of 80.9 is the best on the Crimson Tide’s offensive line, which keeps playing better as the season goes on.  

7. R Mason Thomas, DE (Oklahoma)

The Sooners star returns to the “List” after picking up 1.5 sacks and 2 tackles for loss in Oklahoma’s 26-7 road smackdown of South Carolina. Thomas is the consummate stat-sheet stuffer, with 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble, 9 tackles for loss, 21 pressures, and 15 hurries this season. He rarely misses tackles as an edge-setter as well, and he’s doing all of it facing double teams on 35% of the 246 snaps he’s played this season. That’s an All-American résumé.

6. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

Hardy gained just 58 yards on 24 carries in Missouri’s win at Auburn, but he found the end zone twice, pushing his season touchdown total to 11, good for second-best in the country. The sophomore remains the Power 4 leader in rushing yards this season, with 840 yards. That’s third in the country. Not bad for a back who didn’t appear on preseason All-SEC ballots.

5. Anthony Hill Jr., LB (Texas)

The All-American linebacker was masterful in Texas’s 16-13 escape from upset-minded Kentucky in Lexington. In addition to the interception below, Hill posted 12 tackles and a pass breakup in the victory.

On the season, he ranks second on the Texas defense in tackles and grades out as one of the nation’s best linebackers.

4. Mansoor Delane, CB (LSU)

The LSU corner did not allow a reception in coverage in LSU’s 31-24 loss to Vanderbilt. He did miss just his second tackle in league play, but finished with 3 tackles and a pass breakup despite the defeat.  The LSU defense would love more big plays from Delane, but in fairness, offensive coordinators have essentially stopped attacking him. He’s faced just 5 targets, allowing only 2 receptions, in LSU’s last 4 SEC games.

3. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

Howell “went quiet” against a barrage of double teams and Taylen Green, a gifted runner, in Texas A&M’s narrow 45-42 victory over Arkansas. And by “went quiet” we mean he had 8 pressures, even if he registered only half a sack. Howell leads the SEC in pressures (32), hurries (23), and sacks (8) on the SEC’s last remaining unbeaten. He plays with passion and a chip on his shoulder, out to prove everyone who left him off the All-SEC preseason ballots wrong. An All-American season in College Station.

 2. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

I’d be mad about Pavia doing a Heisman pose in the midst of Vanderbilt’s 31-24 win over then No. 10 LSU, but honestly, has a player since Manziel been as brilliant at making unscheduled plays as Pavia?

It’s not just that he had 246 yards of total offense and produced 3 touchdowns in Vanderbilt’s win over an outstanding LSU defense. It’s the fact that he consistently finds a way to make magic, even when things look doomed.

Pavia has a very good running back on this team in Sedrick Alexander and an extremely underrated offensive line. He leads the team in rushing yards anyway, averaging 5.7 yards per carry despite playing against defenses that consistently leave a spy at home in contain. But we already knew he could scramble. He doesn’t get enough credit for the improvement he’s made as a thrower. With a 70.5% completion percentage and 8.6 yard per attempt average—both career highs—it’s the improving passer in Pavia that makes the Dores a legitimate Playoff threat.

1. Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)

Simpson beat Pavia head-to-head so he is at the top of “The List” this week after a 253-yard, 2-touchdown passing performance in Alabama’s 37-20 win over Tennessee. Simpson leads the SEC in touchdown passes and touchdown-to-interception ratio and ranks second in yards and yards per attempt among qualifying quarterbacks. In other words, he’s an efficiency machine leading a prolific offense whose defense seems to quietly get better every week. That’s a championship formula, which also means Simpson has a Heisman shot.

The post Ranking the Top 10 players in the SEC through Week 8 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

But setting aside the Bill Parcells “you are what your record says you are” litmus test, Napier’s time in Gainesville was ultimately undone by a lack of attention to the little details and mistakes he was brought to Gainesville to fix.

Given unprecedented administrative support and arriving at Florida at a time when long overdue new facilities were opening, the hope was Billy Napier, who was a critical recruiter in building Nick Saban’s imperious empire at Alabama and later built a tidy, championship-winning operation at previously moribund Louisiana, would construct another sleek machine given SEC resources and access to the most fertile recruiting ground in the sport.

Napier went to work, assembling an army of support staff, personally overseeing talent evaluations, re-establishing vital recruiting connections frayed during the “We don’t talk recruiting until recruiting season” Dan Mullen years, and insisting on a NIL operation that met the challenges of a rapidly evolving sport.

All of that work was necessary and completing it makes Napier’s failures all the more perplexing to industry insiders, who walk into the Florida building from Monday to Friday and see an operation and infrastructure very similar to the championship-producing environments in Tuscaloosa and Athens.

Just like Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, Napier talked constantly about being “process oriented,” about “stacking days” until eventually a championship culture and program was rebuilt in Gainesville. Unlike Saban and Smart, Napier’s couldn’t figure out what to do with all that infrastructure on Saturdays, the day process matters most.

Florida lost constantly because of a lack of attention to detail.

Locked in a nip and tuck road game at Utah in the 2023 season-opener, the Gators gave the Utes a first down when they put 2 players on the field wearing the same jersey number. The Utes scored a few plays later and the game never tightened again.

Later that season and just a week after a thrilling come-from-behind win at South Carolina, the Gators found themselves tied at home against a woeful Arkansas team. Despite playing terribly, the Gators were in position to win on a 39-yard field goal by Trey Smack, one of the nation’s best kickers. Instead, Florida received an illegal substitution penalty due to having too many men on the field, pushing the kick back 5 yards. Smack missed, and Florida lost in overtime. The Gators would lose their final 5 games and fail to qualify for a bowl.

Early this season at home against USF, Florida had the USF Bulls backed up deep with under 4 minutes to play. That’s when Napier’s team beat itself again. Dijon Johnson committed a pass interference penalty, moving the Bulls out of the shadow of their own goalposts, and that mistake was followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Brendan Bett after he spit on USF offensive lineman Cole Skinner. The Bulls kicked a field goal after an 89-yard drive and won in The Swamp, 18-16.

Even on Saturday, in a rare SEC victory for Napier, the Gators struggled to get out of their own way. This time, Florida lined up with 12 men on the field for a critical 2-point conversion leading by 12 in the fourth quarter. After the illegal substation penalty, Napier was forced to kick an extra point. The end result was that Mississippi State had a chance to win, rather than simply tie, a 23-21 game on the final possession.

If you are scoring at home, the penalty marked the 5th time since 2023 that Florida failed to line up with the requisite 11 men on special teams.

For a program obsessed with “process,” those types of mind-numbing mistakes on Saturday are stupefying.

More remarkable was Napier’s failure to relinquish control of the offense.

Napier’s best offense at Florida was his first one, which finished 38th nationally in total offense and 33rd in yards per play (6.58). Every subsequent offense was worse, with the Gators finishing 47th in total offense and 45th in yards per play in 2023, 66th in total offense and 63rd in yards per play in 2024, and ranking 92nd in total offense and 78th in yards per play through 7 games this season.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that Napier’s offense wasn’t working, and the legion of high-level offensive minds who have given up play-calling to the benefit of their program over the past decade (see, Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, or Eli Drinkwitz at Missouri, for notable offensive examples), Napier stood firm as a Florida live oak.  

“It’s what got us here,” Napier insisted when again asked why he continued to call plays earlier this month, seemingly oblivious to the notion that “here” wasn’t good enough at Florida, and the walls were closing in around him. Napier, a high-character family man of impeccable integrity, was an unlikely candidate to lose control of his program based on his pride, but cautionary tales are often full of confounding curiosities.

Is it possible Napier became so consumed with process he failed to see the forest for the trees?

The great North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith used to say if you are process-oriented without goals, you are just an ego lost in the relentless pursuit of impossible perfection.  

Napier spoke often about embracing the weight of expectations at Florida, but rarely spoke of anything beyond process, even when Florida was clearly falling short of even the modest expectation of steady program improvement.

The egoless thing to do is hard for coaches, who achieve great things by trusting in their own methodologies. But sometimes a course correction is needed, and sometimes, it’s okay to say the quiet part out loud.

At Florida, the expectation is to win championships. For going on more than 17 years, Florida has failed to do so. Napier, given abundant resources and time, simply couldn’t do what was necessary.

In the end, the greatest coaches tend to shed ego in the face of consistent or even occasional defeat.

Napier refused to correct course.

Now, for the fifth time in 15 seasons, Florida must.

The post In the end, Billy Napier’s play-calling pride doomed his process and tenure at Florida appeared first on Saturday Down South.

From the mighty Gators to the closing act of Oklahoma and Mizzou, here are 5 thoughts from Day 2 of SEC Tipoff.

The Gators will have as good a starting 5 as anyone in the sport. Again.

The reigning national champions lose all 4 members of what was, at least analytically, the greatest backcourt in the history of SEC basketball. Three of those players (Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard) were taken in the NBA Draft. The fourth, Denzel Aberdeen, will bring his competitive fire and defense to Florida’s biggest basketball rival after transferring to Kentucky.

There are scenarios, even in the portal era, where the loss of that much talent would suggest a rebuild is in order.

Not at Florida.

The Gators return the nation’s most formidable frontcourt, led by preseason All-SEC first team selection Alex Condon and second-teamer Thomas Haugh. Micah Handlogten and Rueben Chinleyu, 2 of the best rebounders and rim protectors in the sport, round out the embarrassment of riches in the paint. Whether Haugh, an analytics darling who ranked among the 10 most efficient offensive players in the country a year ago, per Evan Miya, can build on a breakout 2024-25 while playing some at the 3 (instead of his usual 4 spot), is a mystery, but NBA scouts and Florida’s staff alike rave about what they’ve seen from Haugh in practice at his new position.

That leaves the new look backcourt.

Enter Boogie Fland, the former 5-star guard and McDonald’s All-American who dazzled for 2 months at Arkansas before he was lost to an injury that cost him most of the SEC season. Razorbacks fans and cynics point to the fact that the Hogs were 0-5 when Fland was injured a year ago, only to rally and become a Sweet 16 team largely in his absence.

The data says this is unfair to Fland. In fact, Fland was having, at least statistically, the most efficient season for a first-year freshman point guard in college basketball since Nico Mannion at Arizona in 2020, and his overall analytics profile compares admirably to Duke sensation Tyus Jones, who won a national title at Duke in his freshman year in 2015.

Fland, now healthy, will start next to Xaivian Lee, a walking bucket who transfers from Princeton and who will give Florida yet another dynamic shot maker. Lee’s 37.3% assist rate in 2024-25 was among the best in college basketball, too, meaning he can use his wide bag not just to take and make tough shots, but to facilitate.

It’s unfair to compare Fland and Lee to Clayton, Martin, Richard, and Aberdeen, but Todd Golden wasn’t shy in expressing his confidence in the duo on Wednesday in Birmingham.

“I love ’em both already,” Golden said. “Boogie, really hard worker and coachable. He came in with a great mentality, allowing us to coach him and guide him. A great competitor. An incredible on-ball defender. I’m excited for him to be picking up opposing team’s point guards at the top of the paint, making plays for others. He’s a great facilitator. He does a great job of getting into the paint and making plays for others. Really unselfish.”

As for Lee, Golden sees another elite creator.

“(Xaivian) is a really fantastic offensive player,” Golden said. “Really quick and explosive with the ball in his hands. Another true point guard, but we’ll be able to play him off the ball a little bit. A guy that can score at all 3 levels.”

Collectively, the quintet should give the Gators one of the most explosive starting 5s in the sport. Again.

That gives the Gators a chance to compete for SEC and national championships. Again.

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Tennessee’s frontcourt might be the most underrated in the sport. It’s that versatile.

While most the focus on Tennessee this offseason has been about what the Volunteers look like without program stalwart Zakai Zeigler, the most compelling story to me is the way Rick Barnes has taken a weakness of his past 2 teams and transformed it into a strength.

Tennessee reached the Elite Eight in the past 2 seasons with competent, but hardly dynamic, frontcourt play. Last year’s team had only 1 frontcourt player average more than 7 points per game, and that was Igor Miličić  Jr., much more a stretch 4 who stayed on the perimeter than a post presence. Jonas Aidoo offered a bit more in 2023-24, but the Vols were thin behind him, and lacked the optionality to play big and stretch defenses with a player like Miličić.

This season, Barnes has both, with defensive specialist Felix Okpara, do-everything Cade Phillips, Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey, the getting healthier JP Estrella, and freshman DeWayne Brown giving the Vols a group that can pressure a defense in a variety of ways.

Rick Barnes agreed when I asked him if this was the most versatile group he’s had at Tennessee.

“I think the versatility is that Cade can swing out and play some perimeter, too, because of his ability to guard. Getting JP back. We’re still working him back full speed. We needed that the last couple years. Felix has improved. I think his confidence, his leadership, he’s taken that to a different level. Jaylen Carey, he hurt us more than any post player we played against last year. But he’s learning to adjust what we’re doing, which is different for him. We’re excited about that. Probably the biggest surprise is DeWayne Brown as a freshman coming in. We weren’t exactly sure. We knew we wanted DeWayne, no question about that. We wasn’t sure how long it would take him to grab ahold of it. I think with JP being out, he had to go up every day pretty much against Felix. It’s helped him grow. There’s no doubt he’ll be a big part of our rotation of 5 guys.”

A versatile frontcourt that can score in a number of ways will complement star point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, one of the top transfers in the portal who will take over for Zeigler.

That’s an imposing group, and that’s before we discuss freshman Nate Ament, who Barnes has called “special,” a word he doesn’t use lightly and one that makes you think the Kevin Durant comparisons aren’t just Vols fans telling preseason lies.

Dennis Gates and Missouri return a ton of production. They are the sleepers in a stacked SEC.

A season ago, the SEC ranked first in the country in minutes returning, and Florida and Auburn, 2 of the most experienced teams in America, reached the Final Four, with the Gators cutting down the nets in San Antonio.

This season, the league is younger. The B1G and Big 12 are more experienced conferences, and in the SEC, only Arkansas returns more than 50% of its minutes played in 2024-25. Mizzou (38.9%) is second, though, just ahead of Vanderbilt (35%).

That returning core, led by All-SEC selection Mark Mitchell, should give the Tigers a legitimate chance to outperform their middle of the pack SEC projectioin.

“The retention, you have to protect it,” Dennis Gates said on Wednesday. “When you look at the national championship game, they had about, (Florida and Houston) had a good portion of minutes returning and 3 starters returning to give them a chance to move forward.”

Gates knows that he’ll need a jump from Mitchell, a stat-sheet stuffer who can score at all 3 levels, rebound, and guard. But he believes he’ll get it, and he can’t stop raving about Anthony Robertson II, one of the most underrated defenders in college basketball who should take a huge jump as a junior.

“We do a great job in our player development. Ant Robinson and any other young man that wants to play for us is part of our recruiting pitch,” Gates said.

Robinson is a testament to Missouri’s development program and should build on a season where he improved his offensive field goal percentage numbers by an astounding 11% from 2 and 20% from 3 and bumped his assist rate from a pedestrian 13% to a Top 10 in the SEC 25%.

If both Mitchell and Robinson take another leap in 2025-26, the Tigers, who have a deep, physical frontcourt and should defend better than preseason analytics suggest, could surprise and break through into the top 4 in the SEC.

SDS All-SEC Preseason Ballot

The SEC went with 5-man teams this season, which was a refreshing change from past years, when there were more than 5 players on preseason balloting. Limiting the team to 5 was a significant challenge, but here’s a look at our preseason ballot. Please note the decision between Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard was easily the most difficult. In the end, Hubbard’s SEC experience won the day.

First Team:

Otega Oweh, Kentucky (Player of the Year)

Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn

Thomas Haugh, Florida

Mark Mitchell, Missouri

Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State

Second Team:

Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee

Alex Condon, Florida

Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama

Karter Knox, Arkansas

Malik Dia, Ole Miss

SDS Preseason Awards       

The only preseason award the SEC recognizes is Player of the Year. SDS cast its ballot for Kentucky’s Otega Oweh for that honor. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with projections and awards. Here are 4 other honors and prognostications we think merit conversation in the preseason.

Freshman of the Year: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas

Coach of the Year: Mark Pope, Kentucky

Defensive Player of the Year: Boogie Fland, Florida

NCAA Tournament Teams: Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Georgia, Ole Miss.

The post 5 thoughts from Day 2 of SEC Basketball Tipoff 2026 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

From world class dining, fashion, nightlife, and art to iguanas falling from trees to half-naked men on Segway scooters carrying live flamingoes, Miami — which brought us Pitbull, Dave Barry, Scarface, Dan Marino, Ace Ventura and the iconic Freedom Tower — truly defines what it means to live out the American dream one steamy “it’s always summer” day at a time. Dale!

College Town Season 2 is here! You can find all the episodes we’ve done here, but today’s episode focuses on Miami and Coral Gables. Check it out below:

The Magic City tends to be too hot to be hot and bothered and the surrounding areas, including Coral Gables, home to the University of Miami campus, embrace the Magic City’s “What are we doing now?” impromptu.

The city of Miami also invented the sport of football in 1972 and perfected college football in the 1980s and early 2000s. Just ask a local! They’ll tell you all about it!

While Mario Cristobal and the resurgent Miami Hurricanes may not play in Coral Gables, that shouldn’t prevent Canes fans and college football lovers alike from making the trek to the City Beautiful to tour the grounds of the University of Miami and enjoy a weekend in one of the most picturesque college settings and cities in the United States.

If you get down there, be sure to pack white linen, sunglasses, and sunscreen.

Once you have the wardrobe ready, here are 10 things to be sure to check off your list on any campus trip to Coral Gables.

10. Rent a kayak and cruise the Gables waterway and canals for a taste of old Florida

There are myriad places in Coral Gables and nearby Pinecrest where you can rent a kayak for the day and the payoff is worth the rental fee and deposit.

George Edgar Merrick, the famed Florida real estate developer who designed Coral Gables, used a series of canals and a main waterway, locally known as the Gables waterway, to build a city that features grandiose homes, old Spanish style architecture, and idyllic water views. The waterways themselves beckon back to old Florida, with mangrove and cypress trees soaking up the brackish water, sabal palms flourishing on the water banks, and in wider water areas, enchanting views of the royal palms that line the city’s broad boulevards.

If you rent a kayak and travel through the waterway and Gables canals, you’ll also get a unique view of some of the University of Miami’s hottest spots on campus, from Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field, home to the powerhouse Miami baseball program, or Lake Osceola, the man-made lake that dominates the landscape of the UM campus. Titanic Brewery, a longtime Gables watering hole, also sits just off the waterway if you want to grab an adult beverage on a hot afternoon.

9. Grab a drink at “The Bar”

The Bar opened in 1946 in the post-war boom as one of the first Coral Gables beer halls.

It’s been an institution since, playing everything from Jimmy Buffett on weekday afternoons to hosting karaoke and DJs on Saturday evening. The crowd trends younger, but there’s still plenty of Gen X and millennial clientele who remain loyal long after they become “professional.” The Bar’s unofficial motto is that it’s a place “where spirits are high, the lighting is low, and the vibe is just right” and there’s no weekend trip to the Gables that shouldn’t include a check-in. If you are hungry, don’t knock the pared down menu, either. The chicken wings are terrific and the loaded tater tots hit different after a long walk/swim through the South Florida heat and humidity.

8. Catch Miami Baseball at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field

 Miami isn’t just a football school. The baseball program has won 4 national championships and advanced to the College World Series on 25 occasions, both the high water marks in the state of Florida. While Hall-of-Famer Alex Rodriguez didn’t play for the Canes, he grew up in Miami idolizing Hurricanes baseball and his connection and contributions to the program led to the University of Miami naming the picturesque ballpark the U calls home in his honor. Miami hasn’t been to the College World Series since 2016, but new head coach J.D. Arteaga won a NCAA Regional last summer in just his second season and if you’re in the Gables in the spring, there’s not a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than at the ballpark. Get a milkshake at Mark Light ice cream and learn why it’s one of the most famed ballpark concession items in collegiate athletics.

7. Spend a morning at Lowe Art Musuem

As on-campus art museums go, it’s tough to top the range and diversity of the art you’ll see at The Lowe. From celebrated permanent exhibitions featuring acclaimed sculpture and glass artists, an incredible display of art from the ancient Americas, and relics from the Spanish colonization of Florida to a rotating set of exhibitions exploring everything from landscape photographers to contemporary artists pushing boundaries, there’s a little something for everyone, even the grumpy Boomer who doesn’t think art is anything beyond paintings from the 15th to 18th century. (And yes, they have that stuff, too!)

6. Have a picnic at Matheson Hammock Park and Marina

Scenic Matheson Hammock Park offers splendid views of Key Biscayne across the water and is famous for its beach and a man-made atoll pool, flushed naturally with tidal water from the Biscayne Bay. The park has a full-service restaurant, marina, and snack bar and is open from sunrise (gorgeous) to sunset. Pack a lunch, grab a table under a moss-draped oak, and let the warm, salty air spill over you for a little while. You’ll realize why so many folks have come to Miami and found it difficult to leave, from Ponce de Leon in 1513 to the thousands of newcomers who make the city a new home each year.

5. Dinner at Daniel’s Steakhouse or Talavera Cocina, 2 Gables classics

Depending on what you’re in the mood for, there’s really no meal you can’t find in the Gables.

The 2 prize spots, though, are Daniel’s Steakhouse on San Ignacio in downtown Coral Gables or Talavera Cocina Mexicana, also downtown off Ponce de Leon Boulevard.

The 2 spots couldn’t be more different. They also couldn’t be much better at what they do.

Daniel’s is a classic steakhouse, with a no-frills interior that’s all about the quality of the beef, the bulk of which is farm-to-table cuts from North Florida’s famed cattle industry. The restaurant also has partnerships with cattle ranches in Australia, helping deliver renowned Australian wagyu to diners for many years. The steakhouse doesn’t forget its Miami roots, either. There’s a fresh seafood menu daily, the bulk of which includes shrimp and other offerings caught by fishermen in the Florida Keys. A world-class wine list and cocktail menu will make sure you wash things down, too.

Talavera, the author’s favorite restaurant in Coral Gables, features cuisine from both Mexico City and Oaxaca, which infuses southern Mexico sauces like mole and ingredients like cacao and chiles into traditional Mexican dishes, making the dining experience authentic and menu offerings unique. Fresh snapper, locally caught, cooked in a tomatillo sauce, is memorable, as is their take on the classic chile relleno, the stuffed poblano chile pepper filled with Oaxaca cheese and draped in eggwhite batter and roasted tomato sauce. Talavera’s old world comfort food is complemented by an ever-changing cocktail and margarita menu, assuring you’ll never leave the place thirsty.

4. Walk the Miracle Mile for shopping and scenes

Coral Gables is one of the few quality “walking cities” in the state of Florida, and the Miracle Mile, where the word “Miracle” refers to the odds of securing a parking space, is ideal for walking, shaded by royal palms and Spanish moss draped live oaks even in the doldrums of Miami’s endless summer. Grab a coffee at Café Grumpy on Ponce de Leon and start your trek, which will feature incredible people watching and world-class shopping, a host of outstanding restaurants (especially on Giralda Avenue), and plenty of options for libations. Books and Books is a Gables staple — and one of the best independent bookstores in the United States. Spend some time browsing or catch a flick at the Coral Gables Art Cinema, which is just across the street and renowned for showing independent films and early releases, many set in Miami.

3. Spend an afternoon at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Want to truly immerse yourself in old Florida?

The 83-acre Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden affords that opportunity, offering 3,000 species of plants and animals on property, including a collection of 15 endangered species from the South Florida and Puerto Rican archipelago. The Botanic Garden serves as an important research and education center aimed at conservation and protection of Florida’s precious natural resources. It’s also fun, with walking trails, guided tours, and grounds abundant with tropical plants, native Floridian flowers, and plenty of family-friendly events, from live music to safari tours.

All told, a special place to spend an afternoon.

2. Head up north to see the Canes!

The Hurricanes don’t have a home stadium, but the program doesn’t lack pageantry or passion and Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, is one of the best football venues in the country.

There’s no bad seat, tremendous food options, and when Miami is good, the place is louder than a jet engine, with Hurricanes fans shaking the foundations with every “That’s a Miami Hurricanes First Down,” the PA refrain that has followed the Canes from their old home at the now gone-and-buried Orange Bowl site in Little Havana to their new home up the Florida turnpike.

Miami is a fickle sports town. This is a known fact and in a city where there’s always something to do, some construction to avoid, and the average attention span is shorter than a TikTok video, it’s not easy to persuade folks to drive the 35 minutes to 2 hours it can take, depending on traffic, to get from Coral Gables to Miami Gardens for a college football game.

But when the U is good? What a special place, home to 5 national championships, the greatest college football team to ever play (2001), and a bright future under Mario Cristobal.

1. Visit the Biltmore Hotel

The iconic Biltmore Hotel in downtown Coral Gables is world famous for its Mediterranean architectural style filled with local Italian and Spanish influences. With 271 guest rooms and 173 suites, the hotel is known for its vibrant colors and individual room-to-room flourishes and breathtaking balcony views. The hotel grounds, which feature a 23,000 square foot pool, state-of-the-art spa and wellness center, tennis courts, and a world class golf facility, have been the set of many Hollywood hits, from Bad Boys to countless episodes of Miami Vice. The architecture alone made the Biltmore a national historic landmark, but the landscaping and views make it hard for words to do the place justice. Just visit in person!

The post 10 things every fan must do when visiting Miami and Coral Gables appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Or not call timeout (wink, wink). I don’t have any opinions on whether college football happens too fast and I wish we could halt time. I’m just worried about Georgia and Ole Miss. Or that’s what Kirby Smart would have you believe.

Speaking of things we believe in at “The List,” if Alabama is obvious (what a win at Mizzou) how about Texas A&M?

The Aggies are 6-0 for the first time since 2016. That season didn’t end well. The Aggies lost 5 of their last 7 games, marking the beginning of the end for Kevin Sumlin in College Station. Mike Elko’s team will close differently. I know this because you simply won’t find more than 5 teams in the sport better on both lines of scrimmage than the Texas A&M Aggies, who whipped Florida on both sides of the ball in a 34-17 win last weekend.

The Aggies limited the Gators to 1 conversion in 10 third-down attempts, meaning that in the last 3 games, opponents are just 2-for-34 on third down. That’s preposterous, but it’s also a testament to marvelous roster construction. The Aggies pressured Florida quarterback DJ Lagway 12 times, generating 9 hurries, 2 sacks, and forcing 2 fumbles. That sounds incredibly productive — but it was actually the fewest pressures the Aggies have generated in their last 3 games. Texas A&M generated 26 pressures against Auburn and 16 in its win over Mississippi State. In other words — a 12 pressure night is almost “subpar” for this Aggies defensive line. At most programs, it would be a cause for celebration.

Offensively, the Aggies aren’t flashy, but thanks to an offensive line that’s allowed the third fewest pressures and fourth fewest sacks in the SEC, Texas A&M is balanced and efficient, ranking 34th in rushing offense, 36th in passing offense, and 29th in success rate. With elite playmakers in Mario Craver and KC Concepcion and an improving quarterback in Marcel Reed, the Aggies have enough offensively to ride a terrific defense to the College Football Playoff.

Don’t be stunned when it happens.

“The List” isn’t buying… Hugh Freeze’s offense. “I promise it wasn’t a timeout”-gate aside, Auburn lost to Georgia because the offense withered on the vine in the second half. Auburn gained just 40 yards (10 rushing) in the second half, failing to convert a single third down. It’s hard to win when you don’t score, and the Tigers have averaged just 12 points in 3 SEC games. That’s even worse than Billy Napier and Florida and Mark Stoops’s Kentucky. Not good, Hugh!

As we head down the back 9 of another college football season, “The List” is hardly stabilized. A new No. 1 graces “The List” this week, and a top 5 mainstay early in the year falls out of the top 5 altogether.

Could a defender top the greatest list in college football for the second time this season? Nakobe Dean (2021) would love the company. With a half season to go, he may get it.

Last week’s “List” is here, for those scoring at home.

As always, we list Honorable Mentions first, limited to two per school. If your favorite player is missing — they should play better. Or I don’t know ball. It depends on your perspective or whether you read my weekly emails.

Honorable Mention: Alabama:  Germie Bernard, WR: Bray Hubbard, S (Alabama). Auburn:  Keyron Crawford, DE; Keldric Faulk, Edge. Arkansas: Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Myles Graham, LB.  Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Ellis Robinson IV, DB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB. LSU: Tamarcus Cooley, S; Harold Perkins Jr., LB. Mississippi State: Fluff Bothwell, RB; Jayven Williams, DB. Missouri: Connor Tollison, C; Keagan Trost, OT. Oklahoma:  Kip Lewis, LB; R Mason Thomas, DE. Ole Miss: Zxavian Harris, DT; Diego Pounds, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, Return/DB. Tennessee: Chris Brazzell II, WR; Arion Carter, LB. Texas: Malik Muhammad, DB; Colin Simmons, Edge. Vanderbilt: Nick Rinaldi, LB; Brock Taylor, K.

10. Kadyn Proctor, OT (Alabama)

The big Alabama tackle continues his sterling play, having surrendered just 1 sack all season to anchor one of the nation’s best offensive lines. He did allow 3 pressures against Missouri, bringing his season total to 12 allowed. Proctor also continues to feature in the Crimson Tide short-yardage offense.

In Alabama’s win over Missouri, he took a snap from center and nearly bulled his way to 6 points. Next time, big fellow.

9. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

Pavia has become a true hero to heel tale.

A hero leads Vanderbilt back to relevance, prevails in litigation against the NCAA, and ranks 12th in the NCAA in passer rating, trailing only Alabama’s Ty Simpson among SEC quarterbacks.

A heel spends a whole week talking about beating Alabama and practices the game-winning kneel down in the pregame warmups before losing to Alabama.

Is Pavia right to still talk about Vanderbilt’s national championship aspirations? Absolutely. But he doesn’t need to be so loud about it.

8. Trey Zuhn III, OT (Texas A&M)

The Aggies offensive line is led by Zuhn III, who has surrendered just 1 pressure and sack in 2025. Against Florida, he graded out at 86.1 as a pass blocker, per PFF, helping the Aggies hold a Florida defense that swarmed Texas with 35 pressures to just 5 pressures all evening. Zuhn III and the Aggies made winning a Joe Moore Award, honoring the nation’s best offensive line, a preseason goal. Through 6 games, they grade out higher than any group in the SEC, with Zuhn III leading the way.

7. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

Lacy totaled 161 yards (142 rushing, 19 receiving) in Ole Miss’s 24-21 escape against Washington State. The centerpiece of Lane Kiffin’s offense ranks second in the SEC in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. Lacy’s 57% success rate as a runner is third in the SEC, behind only Ahmad Hardy of Missouri and Tennessee’s DeSean Bishop.

6. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

Hardy managed just 52 yards rushing in the Tigers’ 27-24 defeat to Alabama. He also fumbled on a frustrating afternoon for the Missouri run game. Still, Hardy ranks second nationally in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns at the midway point of the season, making him the SEC’s most productive running back in 2025.

5. Michael Taaffe, S (Texas)

The Texas All-American had 9 tackles and a sack in the Longhorns’ 23-6 rivalry win over Oklahoma. On the season, Taaffe grades out as the best defensive player on one of the nation’s best defenses, per PFF. The Longhorns rank 11th nationally in total defense, 14th in success rate defense, and Taaffe has the highest PFF mark of any safety in America.

4. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)

Georgia’s star linebacker had a game-high 10 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss and a sack in Georgia’s come from behind win over Auburn.

Allen ranks second in the SEC in tackles this season with 46, adding 3 sacks, 3 pass breakups, and a SEC-leading 2 forced fumbles. The best player on the latest edition of a salty group of junkyard Dawgs.

3. Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)

Simpson fumbled and struggled with consistency at times against Missouri, but when it mattered most, he came up with big time throws.

Simpson leads the SEC in passer rating, big time throws (12), and touchdown passes (16) and ranks second in passing yards (Joey Aguilar).

2. Mansoor Delane, CB (LSU)

The LSU corner made the game-clinching play in the Tigers’ 20-10 win over South Carolina. With the Gamecocks driving in the fourth quarter, LaNorris Sellers boldly went right at the LSU star. It didn’t end well.

Delane grades out as the best corner in America — and he played like it again on Saturday night in Death Valley.

1. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

Is this controversial? Perhaps.

But here’s the data on the SEC’s best football player at the season’s midpoint: 24 quarterback pressures (first in the SEC), 15 hurries (first in the SEC), and 8 sacks (first in SEC, second in nation). The Aggies lead the nation in third-down defense and rank 10th in success rate defense. Howell’s done all of this facing a barrage of double teams and running back/tight end help.

And oh by the way: Texas A&M is undefeated.

It might be controversial. But it shouldn’t be. This is the best player in the SEC.

The post Ranking the top 10 players in the SEC after Week 7 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

A year after the SEC set records with an NCAA Tournament-record 14 programs receiving tournament bids, 7 programs reached the Sweet 16, 2 advanced to the Final Four, and Florida captured its third national championship, the league is hoping for an encore in the 2025-26 season, with a record-tying 7 SEC schools appearing in the preseason AP Top 25 and 6 teams slotted in the KenPom preseason top 25.

Day 1 of SEC Media Days featured 3 of the 5 programs picked in the top 5 of the preseason media poll, including blue-blood Kentucky (picked second) and home state heroes Alabama, whose earliest March Madness exit over the last 3 seasons was a Sweet 16 as the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed in 2023. Here are 5 thoughts from Day 1 of a full day of hoops in Birmingham.

Nate Oats and Alabama are flying under the radar — but that backcourt can beat anyone

Does Alabama need to get healthy?

Absolutely. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. has been cleared for 5-on-5, and seemed optimistic he’d play when Alabama hosts North Dakota on November 3.

Former McDonald’s All-American and Miami transfer Jalil Bethea may take longer to recover from a left foot injury suffered in September, but Nate Oats expects him back when league play begins in January.

Still, when the pieces come together, Alabama will field one of the most formidable, if not the very best, backcourts in college basketball. Even without All-American Mark Sears and Chris Youngblood (who is shining for Oklahoma City in exhibitions), Oats loves the composition of his backcourt.

“Our backcourt, we feel confident in,” Oats said from the podium Tuesday. “We have some guys that were out last year, Houston Mallette and Latrell Wrightsell Jr., and I think they really add something to the team. They’re smart, they’re tough, they’ve played a lot of basketball. You add (First-Team preseason All-SEC selection) Labaron Philon back, great freshman year, decided to come back. (Aden) Holloway, I think he made a big jump from his freshman to sophomore year. I think he’s going to make a bigger jump. He looks really good in practice.”

The questions are in the frontcourt, but even without Cliff Omoruyi to protect the rim, the Crimson Tide should be more skilled. Aiden Sherrell, a former 5-star recruit, is as versatile a big man as Oats has ever had — rangy, athletic, an explosive leaper, a capable shooter and passer. London Jemison, a bouncy wing who can play the 2, 3, or 4, should help Alabama guard better. Finally, Florida State transfer Taylor Bol Bowen won’t replace Grant Nelson’s offense or leadership, but his 7-2 wingspan does give Alabama a potent rim protector, as evidenced by an impressive 7.1% block rate that ranked among the top 100 in America a season ago.

Alabama has been picked to finish in the top 3 in the SEC in each of the last 3 seasons. That makes this season’s fourth place projection motivating.

“Yeah, I think anyone thinking there will be a drop off is in for a surprise,” Wrightsell told SDS on Tuesday. “With our backcourt and 3 bigs who are perfect fits to play with us, we know what we’re capable of doing.”

An undervalued Nate Oats team? Buy stock now.

Cal says Arkansas has a long way to go, but the ceiling is immense

John Calipari opened his 16th trip to SEC Media Days referencing his team’s scrimmage this past Sunday in Hot Springs.

“I’m not going to say it was a debacle,” Calipari said with a smile. “But what’s the next word up from debacle? We’ve got a long ways to go.”

That might be true.

But this Arkansas roster might be the most talented in the SEC. The dynamic freshman duo of Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas couldn’t be any different from a personality standpoint. Thomas is confident — some might even say loud.

“When he scores, he lets you know about it,” Arkansas junior DJ Wagner told SDS.

Acuff is quieter, a mature-beyond-his-years guard who lets his play do the talking.

The duo, along with the constantly improving Wagner, will give Arkansas one of the nation’s most versatile backcourts. Throw in Karter Knox, a 6-6 swing with a 6-10 wingspan and lottery upside, and you have a deep group that can guard and score.

The frontcourt will be better, too. Malique Ewin is a great rebounder who was a top-100 effective field goal percentage player a season ago at Florida State. Trevon Brazile won Calipari over with his effort a season ago and while he’s no longer considered a likely NBA Draft pick, he has outstanding athleticism, rebounds, and plays terrific defense. Nick Pringle will give Arkansas a force on the glass off the bench.

In other words, the Razorbacks will have a lot of ways to win.

Will they be able to make shots? Knox is the best returning shooter (35%), which likely explains the gap between what humans think of Arkansas (top 15 in the AP Poll) and computers (29th in KenPom, 20th in Evan Miya). But if Acuff and Thomas (and DJ Wagner, who Calipari insists can shoot better than the 30% he’s shot in his career from beyond the arc) can open up defenses, there’s SEC title potential in Fayetteville.

Doubt a Chris Beard team at your own risk

On paper, Chris Beard’s third Ole Miss team figures to take a step back from his second, which won 24 games and reached the Sweet 16, losing an epic game to Michigan State.

Just don’t tell Chris Beard that.

“Our objective is to build a program that can sustain success,” Beard said on Tuesday. “It is not to be a one-hit wonder in Mississippi.”

There are data-driven doubts. Two reclamation projects, AJ Storr, on stop 4 in 4 years, and Koren Johnson, on stop 3, need to find themselves and play better basketball. Beard pushed back on the narrative on Storr a bit Tuesday.

“I believe in AJ Storr. Not to put all the pressure of the world on his shoulders. Truth-telling program. I think AJ has a chance to re-establish himself as one of the best players in college basketball.”

That may be true.

But Storr hasn’t been one of the better players in the sport since Year 1 at St. John’s. Is that player, who shot 40% from 3 and posted an efficient 51.2 eFG%, still in there somewhere?

If anyone can squeeze the best out of Storr’s prodigious talent, it’s Beard.

On the bright side, Beard returns Malik Dia, one of the most productive frontcourt players in America, to lead the team. Dia, an honors student on top of being a decorated player, was perhaps the most impressive young person in a building full of them on Tuesday. Dia loves the idea of playing for a team many are doubting.

“We’re projected No. 8 in the league and that just gives us fuel. I think we’re a really motivated team. What you can expect is that we’ll play hard. We know there are people who don’t think we are going to play in the NCAA Tournament. That’s fine. Our guys all have a lot of stories. They have a lot to prove. If we come together because of that, we’ll be an elite team. You can say we won’t be one. You can say ‘It’s Ole Miss.’ But I think bringing a lot of underdogs together, we have a chance to be special.”

A group of underdogs coached by Chris Beard? Sign me up.

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Yes, Mark Byington and Vanderbilt are as good as the analytics suggest

One of the most surprising things from the preseason analytical rankings has been the high placement of Vanderbilt, who was an afterthought much of the offseason but finds itself situated in the top 25 of KenPom (19th), Bart Torvik (21st), and EvanMiya (24th).

It begins with player retention. The Commodores retained sharpshooting Tyler Nickel (the best returning 3-point shooter in the SEC), glue guy Devin McGlockton, and impressive point guard Tyler Tanner.

“The players we have coming back were priority No. 1 for us,” Byington said Tuesday. “They are unbelievable people, really good basketball players, and they care about winning. I don’t know how many kids do (care about winning) right now. Having those guys that will sacrifice and do different things because they care about winning, that was the most important thing we did this spring.”

Throw in a top-25 portal haul that includes TCU guard Frankie Collins, Louisville wing Mike James, Oklahoma shooter Duke Miles, and North Carolina big man Jalen Washington, and you have a Commodores team that is not only more talented than last year’s NCAA Tournament team but should be among the best offensive teams in the country.

Byington also thinks Vanderbilt being a bigger team will help it weather the grind of SEC play and, potentially, avoid the late-season fade that plagued the program a year ago, when the Commodores lost 7 of their final 10 games.

“You look at our size, our length. We’ll play bigger, not just at the center position. We’ll also play bigger at the guard spots and the other 4 positions. I just thought we had to make sure that while we’re not trying to be everyone else, we had more size, which was something we couldn’t overcome last season. You’ll see a big improvement from length and everything else with our team.”

If the added size helps Vanderbilt guard even a little better than a year ago (79th in KenPom defensive efficiency), a second weekend is distinctly possible.

Denzel Aberdeen is a different type of competitor who’ll change the culture in Lexington

The angry BBN supporter will read that headline and ask what was wrong with a culture that helped Mark Pope reach the Sweet 16 in season 1 at his alma mater. The short answer is “not much.”

But when you ask Mark Pope about Denzel Aberdeen, who transferred to Kentucky from rival Florida fresh off helping the Gators win the national championship last season, you understand that yes, Aberdeen was primarily brought in to change the way Kentucky competes.

“Denzel Aberdeen, everybody at Florida knows this too — beautiful, just a pure competitive spirit, which kind of our whole team feels they are embodying right now. His love of competition. The fearlessness about how he competes, how he’s willing to step on the floor and he’s not afraid of taking an L, but he’s going to fight you to the death to win everything,” Pope said. “If we put him out there to play Tiddlywinks or a game of Uno, I think our guys would lose their mind watching him compete.”

It helps that Aberdeen is a fine player. He guards at a high level and is a better 3-point shooter than he ever gets credit for, shooting 35% on relatively high volume over the last 3 seasons as a role player at Florida.

But just as Florida brought in Alijah Martin, a fiery competitor with Final Four experience, to inject added fire to last year’s Florida roster, Pope plucked Aberdeen from the hated Gators to do the same in Lexington.

Aberdeen gets it, too.

“I definitely watched guys like Alijah Martin, Will Richard, Walter Clayton Jr., who I played with last year. I took a lot of stuff from that. They are great leaders. They are great competitors. There’s a reason they are in the league right now. I’m so happy for them. But yeah, I definitely watched them, watched their leadership, and I wanted to bring that over here to Kentucky. I wanted to show my new teammates the ropes, and just how hard you have to play to win the national championship, and that playing that hard starts in practice. You try to win championship 9 every day in practice.”

Denzel Aberdeen is a different type of competitor. Kentucky might be different this year, too.

The post College basketball is back! 5 thoughts from Day 1 of SEC Tipoff appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Gators are coming off a home win over then No. 9 Texas, but the heat is still very much on much-maligned head coach Billy Napier, who remains under .500 (21-22)  in 3 and a half seasons as Florida’s coach.

The Aggies will be Florida’s fourth consecutive game against a top-10 opponent, dating back to a 20-10 loss at LSU on Sept. 13. Three of those 4 opponents have been ranked in the top 5 at kickoff, with Texas the lone exception. It’s the last game in a dizzying and difficult run for Florida and Napier, who have faced more ranked opponents than any program in college football since Napier’s first season at Florida in 2022. But Napier is just 5-16 in 21 ranked matchups at Florida, and 0 of Florida’s 5 ranked wins have come on the road. In other words, Florida will need to overcome some serious history if it hopes to pull another stunning upset on Saturday.

As for Texas A&M, the program is ascendant under Mike Elko, who is 13-5 in a season and a half in College Station after taking over for the expensive and failed Jimbo Fisher. Elko is unbeaten at home against unranked opponents in his tenure, with his lone home defeat coming a season ago against rival Texas. The Aggies enter the Florida game playing some of the best defense in America, ranking 17th in the country in SP+ defensive efficiency, 14th in success rate defense, and 21st in total defense. Texas A&M can get to 6-0 for the first time since 2016, Kevin Sumlin’s fifth season, by handling business as a home favorite.

Battling a rash of injuries, outside noise, and the incredible environment at Kyle Field figures to be a daunting test for the Gators as they continue the fight to save their season and head coach’s job.

Here are 3 matchups that will dictate whether the Aggies keep rolling or Florida pulls the upset.

DJ Lagway vs. Mike Elko’s third down defenses

A season ago, Elko made life miserable on both Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway by showing a host of different looks to confuse the Florida quarterbacks in a 33-20 Aggies rout in Gainesville. Lagway especially struggled with exotic pressures like this one, where who brought pressure and who dropped into coverage was hidden until the last moment.

Elko and the Aggies have been stupendous on third down in their wins over Auburn and Mississippi State, allowing just 1 conversion in 24 attempts. That dominance isn’t a typo.

Elko and A&M pull it off by showing a host of different looks, including 3-3 looks with 3 down linemen, 3 linebackers (a group that could include former Florida linebacker Scooby Williams, who excels in coverage, if Williams can play on Saturay), and 5 defensive backs. While Elko mixes coverages consistently, the cover 3 fire zone is the bread and butter look—and one that has frustrated Lagway in the past, most recently against Miami.

In that look, they bring pressure with 4, getting a rusher off the edge, and dropping 2 linebackers into coverage, so that the defense is essentially an under 3 deep cover 3. In the play below, they use a similar look to essentially show cover 3 but the linebacker takes the motion and flat, transforming the defense to cover 6, but still allowing A&M to have a numerical advantage on the trips look from the opposing offense.  

The variety of Elko’s looks allow the Aggies to create pressure but also play conservatively, a combination that has helped them allow just a 31.6% success rate against on third down this season, good for 5th best nationally.

In other words, it’s a handful for an opposing quarterback to navigate presnap, especially one like Lagway, who has struggled against third-down variance, especially on the road.

Texas A&M may be down one excellent corner, with Tyreek Chappell’ status up in the air (despite being off the injury report midweek). But the Aggies will get Bryce Anderson, who has missed 2 games, back at safety and Jordan Shaw has played well in Chappell’s absence.

Two weeks ago, I’d have told you this is the biggest mismatch in the football game. Last Saturday, though, Lagway earned SEC Player of the Week honors lighting up a Texas defense ranked in the top 5 in the country to the tune of 298 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Which Lagway shows up on the road will dictate Florida’s upset chances.

Jadan Baugh and Florida’s zone run game vs. Texas A&M’s front 7

Florida’s Jadan Baugh boasts a 65.8% rushing success rate in 2025, good for third in the SEC overall, behind only Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy and Auburn’s Jeremiah Cobb.

The Gators sophomore is especially dynamic in zone concepts on either side of the talented Florida offensive line. Baugh averages 6.08 yards per rush in those concepts, whether they are run inside or outside, per SEC Stat Cat. Baugh also ranks third in the SEC in broken tackle rate and he’s elusive even if you manage to split a run gap, as evidenced by this touchdown run early in the Texas game.

It’s no secret that the Gators must run the ball effectively to win, especially in a hostile environment on the road.

Texas A&M ranks 32nd in the nation in rushing defense, but it gives up 5.1 yards per carry in zone concepts, as opposed to just 3.37 yards per attempt overall. That should suggest a small edge to Napier and Florida in this matchup, and a pathway to a Gators’ upset.

Mario Craver vs. Devin Moore and the Florida safeties

I love strength on strength, and we have that with Texas A&M’s talented slot receiver Mario Craver and Florida’s outstanding coverage corner Devin Moore.

Typically, Moore plays on the boundary, meaning Craver could get matched up with a Florida nickel or a younger corner, such as Cormani McClain. But I’d expect the Gators to shadow Craver, who ranks third in the country in explosive receiving plays (20 yards or more) in 2025.

Moore, a ball-hawking and fast corner who plays with excellent technique, has shown an ability to make elite plays as a boundary or inside corner, and he allowed just 1 catch on 5 targets against Texas to accompany this marvelous interception.

But even with Moore tracking Craver downfield, the Aggies are excellent at getting him the ball and space and stressing defenses by forcing open field tackles. Craver leads the SEC with 274 yards after the catch and missed tackle rate, per PFF.

Once he makes you miss, Craver has tremendous speed and plays with great balance. That will pressure Florida’s safeties, Bryce Thornton and Jordan Castell, who have limited explosives better this season than a year ago but have still given up 14 pass plays of 20 yards or more in 2025.

Prediction: Texas A&M 23, Florida 14

There’s just too much for the Gators to overcome at night in one of the SEC’s best environments. Two outstanding defenses keep the game tight for a while but a big Marcel Reed to Mario Craver connection late puts the game to bed for the Aggies, who remain unbeaten.

The post 3 matchups that will define Texas A&M and Florida appeared first on Saturday Down South.

In case you haven’t been paying attention — and judging by the preseason SEC media poll, the current AP and Coaches’ Polls, and the lack of College GameDay in CoMo this weekend, you probably haven’t — Missouri has managed to win a few games (26 of its last 31 since the beginning of the 2023 season, if you want to get super technical about it), quietly building one of the most consistent programs in college football.

SEC fans, and yes, media alike tend to ignore Mizzou’s ascent to the top echelon of the SEC, as if Eli Drinkwitz has been operating with the secrecy of Marty and Wendy Byrde, building their Ozark empire.

No matter. Missouri keeps winning.

Drinkwitz didn’t want to dwell on the lack of outside validation for what he’d built at Missouri much Wednesday, when I asked him if Mizzou relished in being underrated, underdiscussed, and underappreciated.

“We aren’t going to spend much time on what we’ve accomplished here,” Drinkwitz said. “Our players know what we’ve done but we’re only as good as our next opportunity and our players are focused on the challenge ahead of us. We can’t dwell on what happens beyond that or worry about what people outside of our program think or don’t think about us.”

That’s a diplomatic answer, and ahead of a formidable opponent like Alabama led by a man in a black death hoodie in Kalen DeBoer, a sensible one.

But if Drinkwitz won’t dwell on what Missouri has accomplished, perhaps it’s worth revisiting, at least briefly.

The Tigers haven’t lost at Faurot Field in 2 years and are 2-1 against ranked opponents at home under Drinkwitz, with the lone defeat coming to eventual Heisman winner Jayden Daniels and LSU in 2023. That was their last home loss. Drinkwitz is 5-5 against ranked opposition since 2023, which gives him as many or more wins against ranked foes in that span than Lane Kiffin (4-3), Brent Venables (3-6), Brian Kelly (3-7), Billy Napier (4-11), and Josh Heupel (4-6), among others. That’s a rough data point for the “Drink doesn’t win big games” crowd.

This year’s Missouri team features the nation’s third-ranked rushing offense, fifth ranked rushing success rate offense, seventh ranked scoring offense, and the SEC’s highest-graded offensive line through Week 6, a nod to both Drinkwitz’s wisdom as a roster builder and his wise decision to give up play-calling after early stumbles in Columbia. Missouri features a bona fide Heisman candidate in Ahmad Hardy, the nation’s leading rusher, and the nation’s top ranked run defense. Dating back to Tim Tebow’s Florida in 2008, the last 4 teams to lead the SEC in both rushing and rushing defense won the SEC Championship Game.

Let’s not get ahead of our skis.

Drinkwitz rightly acknowledged that Alabama’s defense will be an altogether different test than anything the Tigers have faced to date, even in the friendly confines of Faurot. There’s also the scary scenario for Missouri fans where the Tigers establish the run, quarterback Beau Pribula hits a few shots down the field in play action, and the Tigers still can’t score enough points thanks to a leaky secondary that, despite high-profile transfers like former All-SEC safety Jalen Catalon and productive Clemson corner Toriano Pride, has struggled over the top, surrendering 5 explosive pass plays of 30 yards or more and 3 of 40 or longer. Against a confident quarterback playing as well as Ty Simpson and a loaded Alabama receiving corps, that could be the difference in the football game.

Still, just like David Koechner’s Champ Kind was down for a newsman street fight in Anchorman, you can bet Drinkwitz and his staff will be ready for whatever DeBoer and his Death Hoodie offer. Okay, maybe Drinkwitz won’t pull a Brick Tamland and take Ty Simpson out with a trident.

But Brad Pitt’s bare knuckle boxer Mickey O’Neill, sans the impossible accent, certainly comes to mind when you watch Missouri fight.

There’s no backdown with Mizzou.

“We embrace physicality,” Missouri center Connor Tollison told me at SEC Media Days. Tollison, in keeping with our theme, has quietly graded out as the SEC’s second-best offensive linemen since the beginning of the 2023 season (Jake Slaughter, Florida), an anchor of leadership and production despite consistently being left out of the end-of-season accolade conversations.

“I think we embrace the opportunity to show what Missouri football is about on the field. We aren’t blind. We’re aware (of not being discussed much among the SEC elite). We embrace the fight to prove it on Saturday.”

If Missouri proves it come 11 a.m. local time Saturday against Alabama, the Tigers will be firmly in control, not only of their College Football Playoff destiny, but of their SEC Championship Game destiny as well, unbeaten with a daunting stretch of at Auburn, at No. 20 Vanderbilt, and a home date with No. 5 Texas A&M all on deck over the next 30 days.

Lose? Well, when you are picked 12th in the SEC a season after winning 10 or more games for the second consecutive season, it’s clear what folks expect from Mizzou, no matter how often it does the opposite.

For a while, Missouri fans didn’t expect to win these types of games, either.

It was all reminiscent of when Steve Spurrier went to South Carolina and, early on in his tenure, had to admonish the Gamecocks faithful for applauding the team after a narrow loss.

“Please don’t clap,” Spurrier, a patron saint of southern sidelines said, “when we lose the game.”

Faurot Field used to feel like that, a place where hope was the main feeling about winning, not expectation.

That won’t be the case Saturday, even if it takes a blur of early morning Boone’s Farm.

Missouri’s fan base will be ready for Alabama. The team will, too.

Another chance for the SEC’s most underappreciated program to prove it on Saturday.

The post Against Alabama, Missouri and Eli Drinkwitz can earn the national respect they already deserve appeared first on Saturday Down South.

As in, we are all Jon Snow. We know nothing.

Take your loyal scribe.

Was I among the 80-90% of college football media to pick one of Clemson, Texas, or Penn State to win the national championship?

Yes. For the record, I had Clemson over Alabama in the national championship game, a pick that looked dead on arrival after Week 1 but suddenly seems at least potentially half right thanks to a resurgent Alabama, though since I had Alabama losing, “half right” feels more like a close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades situation and not a “Clemson can still win this thing” redemption story.

Did I think Texas was a near certainty to reach the College Football Playoff? Absolutely. I had questions about Texas’s youth on the offensive line, but trusted Steve Sarkisian, the immense talent of Arch Manning, and what I figured would be one of the nation’s saltiest defenses.

Did I believe Ole Miss would take a step back after losing Jaxson Dart and more NFL talent on defense in one draft than it had lost in the previous 5 combined? I didn’t pick the Rebels 9th in the preseason poll like media consensus but I did have them 7th, well out of Playoff contention.

Did I pick Texas A&M higher than 8th? Nope. I had the Aggies 9th in my preseason ballot, slightly worse than consensus. They are now ranked in the top 5 in America and a bona fide SEC title contender.

But this is the year we know nothing.

We are 6 weeks into the season, and the teams picked 1-5 in the preseason SEC media poll are a combined 6-5 in the conference. Take out Alabama, picked third, and they are 4-5.

The 3 preseason All-SEC quarterbacks were Garrett Nussmeier, LaNorris Sellers, and Arch Manning. Only Sellers ranks in the top 5 in the SEC in efficiency through a month and a week of football.

We know nothing.

There were 6 SEC running backs picked on preseason all-conference teams. Not a single one of them ranks in the top 10 in the SEC in rushing yards. Both the backs on my ballot (Kewan Lacy, Jadan Baugh) rank in the top 5, but I’m in no position to take a victory lap (Cade Klubnik for Heisman, anyone?).

We know nothing.

But our lack of any real knowledge at this point should make October and November more exciting than any season in recent memory. Whatever we don’t know, we’ll learn plenty about in the weeks ahead.

That drama means an exciting finish for “The List,” too. The greatest list in the history of SEC football media has featured 5 (new No. 1 this week!) different No. 1s this season, a rate of drama not seen since 2022, when Christoper Smith II, Bryce Young, and Will Anderson Jr. traded places at the top almost the entire season.

Will a defensive player capture the crown for just the second time (Nakobe Dean, 2021)? Will a Heisman-winning quarterback capture the crown for the fourth time (Joe Burrow, 2019, Bryce Young, 2022 (Heisman 2021), Jayden Daniels, 2023)? Will the “List” topper come from a Playoff team, as they have in every season save 2023?

We know nothing. Fortunately, we have plenty of college football remaining.

Last Week’s “List” is here.

As always, we start this week’s grouping with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per program.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Germie Bernard, WR; Deontae Lawson, LB. Auburn: Jeremiah Cobb, RB; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: Corey Robinson II, OT. Florida: Myles Graham, LB; Tyreak Sapp, DE. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Ellis Robinson IV, DB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB. LSU: AJ Haulcy, S; Harold Perkins Jr., LB. Mississippi State: Fluff Bothwell, RB; Jayven Williams, DB. Missouri: Keagan Trost, OT; Chris McLellan, DT. Oklahoma: Gracen Halton, DT; Kip Lewis, LB. Ole Miss: Jayden Williams, OT; Patrick Kutas, OG. South Carolina: Brandon Cisse, CB; Vicari Swain, Return/DB. Tennessee: Arion Carter, LB; Joshua Josephs, DE. Texas: Jelani McDonald, DB; Michael Taaffe, S. Texas A&M: Daymion Sanford, LB; Trey Zuhn III, OT. Vanderbilt: Nick Rinaldi, LB; Brock Taylor, K.

10. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)

“The List” is used to having Kirby Smart linebackers in the mix so CJ Allen’s first appearance this season should come as no surprise. Allen was a force in Georgia’s 35-14 rout of Kentucky, collecting 6 tackles, including 2 for loss, nabbing a sack and pouncing on a Kentucky fumble. Allen’s 36 tackles rank fourth in the SEC this season, making him the undisputed production leader for a Georgia defense that held Kentucky to just 4.3 yards per play and 2 yards per rush in Saturday’s win.

9. Dylan Stewart, Edge (South Carolina)

Stewart and the Gamecocks had a bye last week ahead of a Week 7 showdown at LSU. The Gamecocks are 3-2, which would be fine if they hadn’t entered the season with College Football Playoff aspirations and a favorable early schedule that included just one game against a ranked opponent (a loss at Mizzou). The next 2 weeks are a chance to change the narrative, and Stewart will be critical to that effort, as his 18 pressures and 14 hurries on the season rank in the top 3 in the SEC.

8. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

Pavia isn’t falling out of “The List” entirely after Vanderbilt’s 30-14 defeat in Tuscaloosa, but the 29th year senior should stop practicing kneel downs before road Ls.

The Commodores have pounded preseason darling South Carolina already this season and will get another shot at a signature win in 2 weeks when LSU visits Nashville. Until then, Pavia will have to endure sloppy jokes about his lack of production in big games, which comes with the territory when you run your mouth as much as Pavia did before the Alabama game. The reality, though, is Pavia ranks in the top 5 in the SEC in passing yards, leads the SEC in passing touchdowns, and continues to lead Vanderbilt in rushing. These are all “List” worthy attributes. And if they are talking about you, that means you’re relevant.  

7. Kadyn Proctor, OT (Alabama)

The Outland Trophy candidate has played every snap in Alabama’s season-changing wins over Georgia and Vanderbilt. On Saturday, Proctor graded out a team-best 84.5 as a blocker as the Crimson Tide rallied for a 30-14 victory. Proctor has allowed just 1 quarterback pressure in the past 2 games and even better, he’s become a staple of big fella getting the football television, registering an offensive touch for the second-consecutive game on this first-down run.

Entering Saturday’s showdown at Missouri, Proctor grades out as one of the nation’s top 10 offensive tackles, per PFF.

6. Chris Brazzell II, WR (Tennessee)

The Volunteers had a bye to ready for Arkansas. Brazzell will enter that football game ranked first in the SEC in receiving touchdowns, third in receptions, and second in receiving yards. Not bad for a Group of 5 transfer completely left off preseason All-SEC squads.

5. R Mason Thomas, DE (Oklahoma)

The do-everything Sooner was outstanding in a 44-0 blanking of Kent State, collecting 6 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss, 5 pressures, and a sack. Thomas graded out at a preposterous 96.4, the best rating for a defensive linemen in a game this season. Thomas hasn’t missed a tackle this season, either, shining as both a dominant pass rusher and edge setter for the nation’s best defense.

4. Mansoor Delane, CB (LSU)

LSU was off last week but Delane’s claim to a top 5 spot on “The List” is unthreatened. On the season, Delane grades as out as the second best corner in the Power 4 (La’Khi Roland of Maryland), with an 87.7 coverage grade, per PFF. LSU ranks 20th nationally in pass efficiency defense and second in the SEC, behind only Mississippi State, with 7 team interceptions. Thanks to Delane, perhaps DBU has returned to Baton Rouge?

3. Cashius Howell, DE (Texas A&M)

The Aggies stifled Mississippi State’s vastly improved offense on Saturday night in College Station, limiting the Bulldogs to just 219 total yards in a 31-9 win. Over the last 2 games, Texas A&M opponents have averaged 9.5 points per game and converted just 1 of 24 third-down attempts. That’s next-level dominance. Howell remains at the center of everything, and he terrorized State with 6 pressures and 3 sacks on Saturday night, giving him 7 sacks for the season, which ranks second in college football. This is the most productive defensive player in the SEC on what looks like the a SEC championship-caliber defense.

2. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

Hardy drops a spot during Mizzou’s bye week, but with Alabama looming, he’ll have every opportunity to prove his Heisman Trophy candidacy is real. The nation’s leading rusher enters the Alabama game with what appears to be a favorable matchup. The Crimson Tide rank just 88th in the country in rushing defense and are 80th in rushing success rate defense. If Hardy, Keagan Trost, Connor Tollison and the Missouri offensive line can push Alabama around up front, look out. Either way, it’s appointment television.

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1.   Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)

After a Week 1 debacle at Florida State, I didn’t have “Ty Simpson, Heisman Candidate” on my bingo card.

But this is the year we know nothing.

Simpson led Alabama to a second-consecutive ranked opponent win on Saturday, torching Vanderbilt for 340 yards and 2 touchdowns against just 1 interception. Simpson’s 70% completion percentage includes 3 games of 70% or better, including Saturday’s 23-of-31 performance. He’s extending plays with his feet, making the right reads, and delivering accurate footballs.

On the season, Simpson ranks first in the SEC in passing yards and efficiency and second in passing touchdowns.

Those are Heisman-type credentials on what is starting to look like the SEC’s best football team.

The post Ranking the Top 10 players in the SEC after Week 6 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Florida Gators entered the game without a win against FBS competition, wondering if it would be the final chapter in the star-crossed, subpar tenure of head coach Billy Napier.

The Longhorns arrived still ranked in the top 10, presumably prepared to make a statement after a narrow Week 1 loss at Ohio State knocked the Longhorns from their perch as the preseason No. 1 team in America.

As a rainy Saturday afternoon bled into a picture perfect Saturday evening in Gainesville, any remnants of that number 1 team appeared lost in Florida’s Swamp.

For a month, the narrative around Texas was that the Horns would fire on all cylinders as soon as celebrated recruit and first-year starter turned preseason Heisman candidate Arch Manning adjusted to big-time college football.

Sure, Week 1 at The Shoe was a disaster, with Manning posting a 17-30, 170 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 38 yards rushing stat line that in truth is flattering to his performance in a 14-7 defeat. But strength of competition aside, Manning showed signs of improvement in the 3-game cupcake-fest leading up to Texas’s SEC opener at Florida, and while the Gators have a stout defense, a coming out party against a 1-3 Florida team was certainly possible, if not universally predicted.

It didn’t happen, but Manning was hardly poor against Florida.

The sophomore threw for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Gators, and he consistently kept plays alive with his legs and rushing ability. A third quarter touchdown strike to Ryan Wingo was a perfect example of both Manning’s arm talent and his presence and skill in keeping his eyes elevated in the face of a furious pass rush. It was, without question, the best throw of his young collegiate career, given the road environment, quality of defense, and situation.

Manning wasn’t perfect, or even “really good” against the Gators, who were playing without their 2 best defenders in defensive tackle Caleb Banks and do-everything nickel Aaron Gates. Arch missed multiple open receivers, especially in the first half, and appeared slow in reading progressions, especially against Florida’s various simulated pressures. But 300 yards of total offense from your sophomore quarterback ought to be good enough to win in the SEC, at least when you are as good as Texas was supposed to be around him.

It wasn’t on Saturday, and that’s the Texas-sized problem facing Steve Sarkisian as the Horns head to the State Fair for next Saturday’s Red River Rivalry showdown with Oklahoma.

The issue with Texas is that there are a host of issues bigger than Arch Manning.

First and foremost, the Longhorns can’t block a soul.

Florida entered Saturday’s Swamp showdown ranked last in the Power 4 in quarterback pressure and sack rate.

The Gators generated 35 pressures of Manning on Saturday, along with a preposterous 22 quarterback hurries. Florida registered 6 sacks. Those numbers doubled what Texas had allowed all season entering the game, but did not appear to be a “one-off” for an inexperienced offensive line playing in one of college football’s most electric environments.

More concerning, Florida harassed and harangued Manning all night with just a 4-man rush on 85% of the contested snaps in the football game. Florida rarely blitzed and still managed to produce consistent pressure.

One way to alleviate pressure is to run the football, but Texas was horrific in that area on Saturday, posting just 52 yards rushing and getting a woeful 1.1 yards per carry from its running backs.

“We couldn’t run it tonight when they didn’t know we were gonna run it, (let alone) when they knew we were gonna run it,” Sarkisian said. “So we’ve gotta improve that. We cannot be a one-dimensional team. When guys can just start rushing the passer and not worry about the run, the game gets really difficult.”

It’s going to be hard for any quarterback, even one as talented as Manning, to win when defenses don’t respect the run.

Sarkisian is right, but his scheme, rightly lauded as one of the best in the sport, hasn’t helped Manning enough.

Arch’s bloodlines suggest he’s a pocket passer. The reality is he’s a dual-threat who is fast and elusive on his feet. Manning’s best moments through 5 games consistently occur when he’s on the move or Sarkisian relocates the pocket to give his quarterback the freedom to run. Given the fact Sarkisian’s offensive line can’t consistently get a push in the run game or hold protections in the passing game, Sarkisian will need to adjust schematically to compensate for these weaknesses.

The Texas defense, marvelous over the first 4 games of the season, showed frailties Saturday as well.

Yes, Florida has its own 5-star super talent at quarterback in DJ Lagway and a veteran offensive line led by 2 preseason All-Americans.

But the Gators hadn’t played like a talented offense all season, and entered the game ranked 131st of 136 teams in offensive success rate. Texas, who arrived in The Swamp ranked 4th in defensive success rate and third in yards allowed per play, figured to be a huge beneficiary of this mismatch.

It wasn’t.

The Gators pushed the Horns around up front, led by 107 yards rushing from Jadan Baugh, and Lagway took advantage of the consistency of the run game to light the Horns up with 298 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, including a backbreaking 55-yard strike to Dallas Wilson late in the third quarter. On the afternoon, Florida gained 457 yards, converting 7-of-13 on third down and averaging 7 yards per play — the most given up by a Texas defense since its loss to Michael Penix Jr. and Washington in the 2023 Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinals.

Is it reasonable to expect Pete Kwiatkowski’s loaded defense to bounce back? Absolutely. But Florida exposed some questions, especially at cornerback, that you can bet other SEC offenses will probe in the weeks ahead.

As thousands of orange-clad Horns who traveled to Florida expecting a victory exited The Swamp in near shock on Saturday evening, Texas’s problems appeared much bigger than the Arch Manning questions that predominated the pregame chatter this week.

With Oklahoma looming, whether Texas can fix them quickly will define what’s left of a season that began with so much hype and promise.

The post Swamped by Florida, Texas has bigger problems than Arch Manning appeared first on Saturday Down South.

King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings.

The 101st Airborne at Bastogne.

History is filled with storied last stands, rightly romanticized not just as tales of ultimate, crushing defeat but for what they represent about the human experience. A last stand is about the human capacity to fight with determination, defiance, and courage, even in the face of imminent and near-certain doom.

Aside from the bravery of the 101st Airborne in the cold of Bastogne, which is deeply personal to our family given one of our grandfathers was among the 101st present and fighting through the frozen cold at the Battle of the Bulge, my favorite “Last Stand” story has always been “The Alamo.” Maybe being an American from the south makes the story resonate. Maybe the idea of a hungry band of brothers outnumbered nearly 10 to 1 holding off Mexican regulars for 13 days makes it an easy to identify with underdog tale.

Or maybe I just love the idea of Jim Bowie, terribly ill and confined to bed, knife in hand, bravely fighting to the bitter end regardless.

Perhaps there’s a little bit of Bowie in Billy Napier, who will coach his 43rd, and perhaps final, game for the Florida Gators on Saturday when No. 9 Texas visits The Swamp (3:30 p.m., ABC).

Napier was a hot commodity in football circles after a 40-12 run at Louisiana, where he rebuilt a moribund Ragin’ Cajuns program and won 2 conference championships. But it hasn’t worked at Florida, where he’s posted just a 20-22 record in 3-plus seasons, the worst 3-year-and-4-game run for Florida football since 1978-1981, when the combination of Doug Dickey and Charley Pell went just 14-23-1.

Every coach fancies themselves a competitor. Everyone wants to win. That’s part of why it’s hard.

But Florida fans have rarely seen the type of open fire and passion from Napier that suggests all the losing is wearing away at him the way it is the school’s loyal fanbase, which is now nearly 2 decades removed from its last SEC championship.

Stoic to an almost Gainesville live oak-like degree and not prone to yelling or grabbing a player by the jersey and giving a quality “Nick Saban butt chewing,” Florida fans are often left wondering what, if anything, it would take to get Napier to openly show his desire to win or even his frustration with constant defeat.

That’s not to say Napier’s competitive fire doesn’t burn deep.

Every person is different, and it’s untrue that the most intense competitor needs to be a wellspring of emotion. Scottie Scheffler is the greatest golfer on the planet, but a smile after a birdie or a frown after a stunning Ryder Cup defeat are exceedingly rare. Andy Reid is a 3-time Super Bowl champion. He’s also famous for his even temperament on the sideline, with players drawn to his calm, soft-spoken demeanor, even at times of adversity. Even at Florida, Billy Donovan built a basketball powerhouse with a suit, tie, arms crossed and an occasional smile. There weren’t sideline outbursts or public-facing displays of emotion for emotion’s sake. Process and culture reigned.

Open fire and passion aren’t prerequisites for competitive want to.

Maybe there’s a side of Napier no one sees. I’m sure that would be the story behind the story if you asked his players.

But on Saturday, Florida fans probably wouldn’t mind a little Jim Bowie. If you are going down, don’t go lying down — at least not metaphorically.

In Gainesville, unfortunately, complaints with Napier run much deeper than Napier’s lack of open emotion on the sideline.

Florida, with its most talented roster since the Gators’ last great team (the 2019 Orange Bowl champions who won 11 games and were a bad Todd Grantham game plan against Georgia away from a College Football Playoff) has 0 business being 1-3. Florida ranks 22nd in total defense, 25th in success rate defense, and has yet to play a game in 2025 where it has surrendered more than 1 touchdown drive of 50 yards or more.

The Gators have a 5-star former National High School Player of the Year at quarterback who ranked among the top 10 passers in America as a true freshman in 2024. They start two All-American candidates on their offensive line and have a running back, Jadan Baugh, who averages 5.9 yards per carry and trails only Ahmad Hardy of the Missouri Tigers in rushing success rate this season.

Put plainly, the Gators have the talent to beat Texas, even with a rash of injuries to their defense that leaves Florida playing the bulk of the 2025 season without its best 2 defensive players, Caleb Banks and Aaron Gates.

Which brings me back to Napier.

You see, occasionally a “last stand” story also teaches lessons about the foolishness of zealotry and pride. George Custer at Little Bighorn, for example. The mythology of the battle involves thousands of Lakota and Plains Indians attacking Custer and his calvary unit in an encampment as the Americans fought to the end. The reality is Custer, relying on bad information from exhausted scouts, divided his men and launched an ill-prepared and doomed attack at overwhelming numbers. Custer’s army was promptly annihilated.

Napier is a high integrity and generally humble guy with immensely appealing virtues.

But his fatal flaw as a head coach, somewhat ironically, is his inability to see that he is not an effective Power 4 offensive coordinator or playcaller, let alone a talented enough playcaller to be head coach and CEO of a storied program while also calling plays on Saturday.

Napier offenses have gotten worse each year at Florida, from a high water mark of 38th in his first season in 2022 to 47th in 2023 to 66th in 2024. These were all red flags made even louder by the success of other SEC head coaches, such as Eli Drinkwitz, who surrendered play-calling duties to focus on the herculean demands of being a head coach and CEO of a SEC program in the NIL era.

But Napier’s play-calling and schematic woes have been exceedingly obvious in 2025.

If you remove the 55-0 win over FCS Long Island from the numbers, Florida’s offense ranks 135th (out of 136) in America in points per game, 131st in yards per game (287), 128th in rushing yards per game (97), 132nd in third-down conversion offense (24%), and 129th in success-rate offense.

In other words, when Napier insists on retaining play-calling duties because “It’s year 8 of me doing this” and “that’s what got us here,” Napier is both stubbornly ignorant of reality and obtuse about why “here” isn’t good enough. No matter the infrastructure challenges facing Napier on arrival at Florida, the truth is he’s been, at least to date, the least effective head coach in Gainesville since the pre-integration era. At 20-22 through 42 games with a 3-12 record against rivals and and just 4 wins over ranked opponents, you’d think a coach with Napier’s high regard for accountability would change course.

He hasn’t and worse, he won’t.

So while Saturday’s tilt against Arch Manning and Texas could be Napier’s Alamo, there’s a chance it looks more like Custer at Little Bighorn.

That’s a shame, and yet another indictment of the Napier regime.

Weekends like Saturday, with a top-10 Texas visiting The Swamp, Gainesville hotels and businesses stuffed to the gills, the first signs of autumn apparent on cooler October mornings, and a national television audience, are the stuff fans set their calendars by in SEC country.

This should be a showcase weekend for Florida’s program, fanbase, and recruiting. It should be a circle the calendar and tailgate early type Saturday.

Instead, College GameDay is at a Vanderbilt game. The biggest game in the state of Florida is being played in Tallahassee. Florida commits are skipping the Gators game to attend the (checks notes) Seminoles game. And most of Florida’s fan base is consumed less by the Texas matchup than they are by wondering whether athletic director Scott Stricklin can make the splash hire the program so desperately needs later this autumn.

When a coaching staff takes the anticipation and childlike joy out of a big game weekend, that’s often as good an intangible indicator as any that it’s time to move on.

Whatever the Florida fan base thinks, Napier and the Gators must approach Texas like the big game it was supposed to be. They have to play like a win changes everything.

For Napier, it’s not just a big game. It’s his Alamo. Or his Little Bighorn.

We’ll soon find out.

The post Texas in The Swamp feels like Billy Napier’s Alamo appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Spooky season for many.

Separation season in the SEC.

I don’t know about you, but the beauty of college football that keeps your rambling raconteur coming back for more year after year, no matter how much money and grownups try to spoil the sport off the field, are the Saturdays that stun you.

Take last weekend, for example.

Alabama, flattened by Tommy Castellanos and Florida State in Week 1 (who naturally built on the momentum of beating Alabama by losing to the Fighting Tommy Jeffersons in Charlottesville this week!), storms into Athens and grabs the season’s best win, snapping Georgia’s home win streak at 33 and perhaps safely announcing the arrival of both quarterback Ty Simpson and head coach Kalen DeBoer, the subject of much early September scorn in the State of Alabama. Stars fell on Alabama, or so Ella Fitzgerald sang, but she could have also sang that stars are born at Alabama on autumn Saturdays, and the song would still be an old standard. Welcome to “The List,” Ty Simpson. May your stay last longer than Jalen Milroe’s.

Meanwhile, as the first chilly mornings of fall descended on Oxford, Mississippi, perhaps the ghost of William Faulkner was whispering in Brian Kelly’s ear as he shook hands with Lane Kiffin after Ole Miss spoiled Kelly’s guarantee that LSU would retain the Magnolia Trophy.

“The next time you try to seduce anyone, don’t do it with talk, with words,” Faulkner wrote. Kelly should listen, lest his decision to move his fam-uh-lee to Baton Rouge conclude Year 4 with yet another missed College Football Playoff.

Lane Kiffin’s reaction on social media was less surprising, but you have to respect how he managed to also troll Florida’s Billy Napier (and all the Florida fans whose longing for Lane has gotten steamy and to be quite frank, a little awkward) after beating LSU, something Napier failed to do earlier this month.

As for Kiffin’s team, I’m not ready to put Trinidad Chambliss on “The List” yet but it’s amazing that a guy who played at Ferris State a year ago and was headed for Temple until Lane needed an insurance policy is potentially going to lead Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff. I’m not sure even Faulkner could dream that up.

In “ho-hum,” what was once unusual has suddenly become ordinary, news, Vanderbilt won again.

We don’t talk enough about Diego Pavia being one of the most consistent players in the SEC over the past 2 seasons. That’s almost entirely because he plays at Vanderbilt, long an SEC afterthought in every sport not played on a diamond. Pavia accounted for 6 touchdowns in Vanderbilt’s rout of Utah State on Saturday. Clark Lea now gets a chance to beat Alabama twice in a row, something the Dores haven’t done in the modern, post-integration era of SEC football (1971).

We also don’t talk enough about how awesome it is when fat men get the football. If there’s a play more glorious than what Kadyn Proctor did against Georgia on Saturday this season, send me a DM and I’ll feature it with accreditation next week.

Finally, “The List” bids farewell to Sam Pittman. Fired by an athletic director who then openly admitted Pittman lacked the resources to compete in the modern, NIL SEC, Pittman lost his final game with the Hogs 56-13 to Notre Dame. Still, Pittman went 32-34 in 5-plus seasons in Fayetteville, posting 3 winning seasons, which is 2 more than William Hall Napier has at Florida, if you are scoring at home.

Last week’s “List” is here.

There’s no new No. 1 this week for the first time this season, but there is movement and attrition. October, naturally, will bring separation.

As always, we start with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per program.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Germie Bernard, WR; Kadyn Proctor, OT. Auburn: Jeremiah Cobb, RB; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: Corey Robinson II, OT. Florida: Myles Graham, LB. Georgia: CJ Allen, LB; Drew Bobo, C,. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB; Seth McGowan, RB. LSU: AJ Haulcy, S; Harold Perkins Jr., LB. Mississippi State: Blake Shapen, QB; Isaac Smith, S. Missouri: Cayden Green, OT; Chris McLellan, DT. Oklahoma: Kip Lewis, LB; Grayson Miller, P. Ole Miss: Jayden Williams, OT; Patrick Kutas, OG. South Carolina: Brandon Cisse, CB; Vicari Swain, Return/DB. Tennessee: Arion Carter, LB; Joshua Josephs, DE. Texas: Jelani McDonald, DB; Michael Taaffe, S. Texas A&M: Mario Craver, WR; Ar’maj Reed-Adams, Texas A&M. Vanderbilt: Nick Rinaldi, LB; Brock Taylor, K.

10. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)

Howell notched a game-high 6 pressures, 4 quarterback hurries, and a sack in Texas A&M’s 16-10 rock-fight win over Auburn at Kyle Field. The Bowling Green transfer has made the most of the move to the SEC, ranking in the top 3 in the SEC this season in hurries, pressures, and sacks. He’s also been perfect in run support on the edge, missing 0 tackles through the Aggies’ first 4 games. Thanks to Howell and a big play defense, the Aggies have College Football Playoff potential even when their offense struggles, as it did against Auburn.

9. Anthony Hill Jr., LB (Texas)

The Texas Butkus Award candidate had the week off but has to be licking his lips ahead of a trip to Gainesville to face the Gators, who rank dead last in the SEC in explosive plays, success rate offense, and yards per play and second to last in the SEC in total offense (South Carolina). Hill leads a defense that ranks 4th nationally in total defense, second in success rate defense, and first in yards allowed per play. It could be a long day for Florida and a big day for Hill.

8. Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)

“The List” thinks that in a year full of high-profile duds at QB (looking at you LaNorris Sellers, Arch Manning and DJ Lagway!), Alabama appears to have found another Dude. Ty Simpson, much maligned for appearing timid and statuesque in the pocket in the Crimson Tide’s stunning Week 1 loss at Florida State, was magnificent on Saturday night in Athens. He threw for 276 yards, accounted for 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing), and protected the football when both defenses stiffened after halftime. Sure, Georgia made its own bed, dropping a potential game-winning touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, declining to take a tie at home, and mismanaging its timeouts in one of the worst games Kirby Smart has ever coached at Georgia. But Ty Simpson still went to Athens and helped his offense convert 13 — no, really, 13 — first downs on 19 tries, the best any offense has ever done against Georgia in the Smart era. Simpson has now thrown 11 touchdowns this season, is averaging 9 yards per attempt, and has yet to throw an interception. He’s a Dude. And Alabama is a Playoff team and title contender. Same as it ever was.

7. R Mason Thomas, DE (Oklahoma)

Thomas and the Oklahoma Sooners had a bye last week but return to action this week with a Red River Rivalry tuneup game against Kent State. Thomas and the Sooners defense enter October ranked 4th nationally in SP+ defense, 5th in success rate defense, 4th in yards allowed per play and 3rd in scoring defense. They’ll have to hold down the fort until John Mateer returns to the field, but Thomas, a near certainty to appear on All-American lists, has the talent to help them pull it off.

6. Dylan Stewart, Edge (South Carolina)

Stewart was dominant in South Carolina’s 35-13 rout of Kentucky, collecting 3 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in the victory. Stewart also graded out among the best defenders in the country on Saturday, posting a 90.6 grade, per PFF. Stewart also forced 2 fumbles, one of which teammate Jatius Geer took 41 yards to the house for a touchdown.

Stewart’s 18 pressures and 14 hurries on the season rank in the top 3 in the SEC.

5. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

Lacy piled up 108 total yards and a touchdown in the Ole Miss’s 24-19 upset of LSU, remaining option number 1 for Lane Kiffin’s offense as the unbeaten Rebels march into a well-deserved bye week. On the season, Lacy ranks second in the SEC in yards (445) and touchdowns (8). With defenses keying on Lacy, the Ole Miss offense continues to hum along, ranking 8th in SP+ efficiency and 13th nationally in success rate offense.

4. Chris Brazzell II, WR (Tennessee)

The Tennessee Volunteers escaped Starkville with a 41-34 overtime victory that featured yet another Chris Brazzell II touchdown, his SEC leading 7th of the season. Brazzell now leads the SEC in receiving yards as well with 531 in just 5 games. Defenses are starting to scheme him, too, meaning he’s now opening things up for teammates. Brazzell faced safety help or double coverage on 40% of Tennessee’s offensive snaps in Saturday’s game. That’s how you impact winning.

3. Mansoor Delane, CB (LSU)

Delane racked up 11 tackles in LSU’s 24-19 loss at Ole Miss. Delane still grades out as the SEC’s best corner (second in the Power 4), per PFF. Ole Miss didn’t target Delane much, but they did complete both attempts when they attacked him, racking up 41 yards on those passes. Still, no corner in the SEC has been better in coverage this year, as Delane has allowed just 6 receptions on 20 targets against as an anchor for one of the nation’s best secondaries.

2. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

The man whose college football career began when James Franklin was losing big games at Vanderbilt is now a Heisman dark horse, thanks to a monster September where Pavia threw for 1,211 yards and ran for 294 more — both tops on the Commodores. Pavia has accounted for an SEC-high 15 touchdowns (13 passing, 2 rushing), is averaging a career-high 9.6 yards per attempt, and continues to make mind-boggling plays with his feet, extending plays and yes, throwing bone-crushing blocks.

Next up? The Crimson Tide, who will have revenge on their mind after getting Pavia’d last season in Nashville.

1. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

Hardy stays in the top spot after slicing his way to 130 yards and 3 touchdowns in Missouri’s 42-6 win over UMass. The sophomore from Mississippi leads the SEC and the nation in rushing yards, with 735, and in rushing touchdowns, with 9. Missouri heads into its open week ranked 3rd nationally in rushing offense and 10th in success rate, both best in the SEC.

The post Top 10 players in the SEC through September appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Almost a month of football has been played in the SEC, and we don’t know a whole lot, other than Florida’s probably heading for a coaching change, most of us (but not “The List!”) probably slept on Missouri a little bit, and Arch Manning isn’t going to win the Heisman Trophy. John Mateer might have won the Heisman Trophy, but won’t now, following the unfortunate news that he’ll miss time with a hand injury. John will stay in “The List” this week, but like all injured players, he’ll depart after he misses more than 1 game. We hope he gets well soon—Oklahoma has been a joy to watch this season.

If September has taught us anything, it’s that we don’t know what we just don’t know.

“The List” has been around since 2019 and it’s hard to remember a year with more turnover in the first month.

DJ Lagway, Arch Manning, LaNorris Sellers? None have made “The List” in 2025 despite all being on preseason Heisman favorite lists.

Tennessee had its first “List” winner in 2024 (Dylan Sampson). Is a late spring transfer quarterback a threat to top it again in 2025?

For the first time in the Kirby Smart era, the Dawgs returned fewer than 40 career starts on the offensive line. There were legitimate questions about the unit in Athens this summer. Now “The List” wonders which Dawgs linemen to feature each week.

Alabama? Left for dead after being clobbered by Florida State in Week 1, Kalen DeBoer’s team has rallied and heads to Athens this week with confidence and a chance to make a statement. But naturally, even if they win, unbeaten Vanderbilt lurks around the bend. Unbeaten Vanderbilt. What a time to be alive.

Last Week’s “List” is here.

As always, we begin with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per school. If your school has less than 2 players on Honorable Mention, you aren’t good at football or you are coached by William Hall Napier. If your favorite player is missing, they should probably play better. Or “The List” thinks your favorite team stinks. You decide.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Germie Bernard, WR; Bray Hubbard, S. Auburn: Cam Coleman, WR; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: Quincy Rhodes Jr., DE; Corey Robinson II, OT. Florida: Myles Graham, LB. Georgia: CJ Allen, LB; Micah Morris, OG. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB; Seth McGowan, RB. LSU: Garrett Nussmeier, QB; Dashawn Spears, S.  Mississippi State: Blake Shapen, QB; Isaac Smith, S. Missouri: Cayden Green, OT; Chris McLellan, DT. Oklahoma: Kip Lewis, LB; Grayson Miller, P. Ole Miss: Zxavian Harris, DT; Diego Pounds, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, Return/DB. Tennessee: Joey Aguilar, QB; Boo Carter, DB. Texas: Jelani McDonald, DB; Michael Taaffe, S. Texas A&M: Cashius Howell, DE; Marcel Reed, QB. Vanderbilt: Nick Rinaldi, LB; Eli Stowers, TE.

10. Anthony Hill Jr., LB (Texas)

The Texas Butkus Award candidate continues to be a force for a defense that ranks 2nd nationally in yards allowed per play and success rate defense through 4 games. Hill leads the SEC with 2 forced fumbles and a 100% tackle rate (0 missed tackles this season). He’s the heartbeat of a team that has the defense to stay in the Playoff hunt while Arch Manning continues to slowly improve and figure things out.

9. Drew Bobo, C (Georgia)

Bobo is earning Rimington Trophy buzz for his play early in the season, which sees him currently grading out as the SEC’s top center, per PFF. Tougher tests are ahead for the Dawgs, beginning with Alabama’s visit Between the Hedges this weekend. But Bobo and the Georgia offensive line have been tremendous to date, allowing the fewest pressures in the SEC through 4 games.

8. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

Frequently on “The List” a season ago, Pavia makes his first appearance in 2025 after a spectacular performance (331 total yards, 1 passing touchdown, 1 rushing touchdown) in Vanderbilt’s 70-21 evisceration of Georgia State. On the season, Pavia leads the Commodores in both passing and rushing yards and is averaging 9.7 yards per attempt, easily the best per throw average in his career. Does the schedule get more daunting moving forward? Yes. But Vanderbilt has laid waste to all comers early in 2025, making Pavia’s preseason Playoff prediction look… possible?

7. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

The do-it-all tailback scored 2 touchdowns and accumulated 71 yards on 21 touches in Ole Miss’s 45-10 rout of Tulane. The numbers were pedestrian by Lacy’s standards, but the Dallas product remains the centerpiece of Lane Kiffin’s offense, ranking first in the SEC in touchdowns and rushing attempts while standing fourth in rushing yards gained. With 8 receptions on 10 targets, Lacy also looks likely to stay a factor in the passing game, especially if the flux between Austin Simmons and Trinidad Chambliss continues in Oxford whether due to injury, production, or both.

6. R Mason Thomas, DE (Oklahoma)

Thomas returned from a suspension early in the game to dominate, collecting 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks in a short day’s work. Thomas has always been a freakish combination of speed and athleticism coupled with monstrous size. This bull rush for a vital safety late in Oklahoma’s 24-17 win over Auburn is exhibit one.

The Sooners head into their bye week unbeaten with the nation’s fourth ranked total defense and third ranked success rate defense. If Oklahoma returns to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019, you can bet Thomas will be a mammoth reason why and have “List” staying power in the process.

5. John Mateer, QB (Oklahoma)

Mateer wasn’t brilliant against Auburn, but he was good enough, accumulating 300 total yards, 2 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing) and committing just 1 turnover (a fumble) against a salty Auburn defense. The news that Mateer suffered a hand injury in the Auburn game and fought through speaks to his toughness. If the Sooners weather his absence, his legend will only grow. For now, Heisman dreams are on hold. Playoff dreams, thanks to an incredible Sooners defense and a schedule that doesn’t heat up again until the Red River Rivalry against Texas on October 11, may not be.

4. Chris Brazzell II, WR (Tennessee)

Another week, another touchdown for Brazzell II, who leads the SEC (and country) with 6 receiving touchdowns.

Brazzell II ranks second among SEC receivers in a host of other metrics, including PFF grade and PAR (points about replacement). He’s rocketing up NFL Draft boards as a result of his excellent play and making a Tennessee offense many thought would take a step back after offseason turmoil look like it may, in fact, be a strength of the football team through one month.

3. Mario Craver, WR (Texas A&M)

The only receiver with a higher PFF grade and PAR rating than Brazzell II? You guessed it—it’s Texas A&M’s Mario Craver. With a PFF grade of 92.3 (highest in Power 4), Craver is a YAC machine, averaging 13.7 yards after catch per reception. Craver also has 0 drops on 27 targets and a yards per reception number over 20 yards. The last receiver to post that big a number? Ole Miss’s Tre Harris, a “List” mainstay who became the first SEC receiver since Florida’s Jabar Gaffney to average over 100 yards per game over his SEC career. Big time stuff.

2. Mansoor Delane, DB (LSU)

The nation’s top corner wasn’t targeted by SE Louisiana in LSU’s 56-10 win last week, a sign that defensive coordinators are starting to give Delane the Patrick Peterson treatment: acknowledge that much of the world is covered by water and at least one boundary or perhaps the rest of the world is covered by Mansoor Delane. The LSU star grades out as the SEC’s best defensive back, per PFF, and he’s allowed just 4 completions this season on 18 targets, a 22.2% completion rate that is the best in America.

1. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)

Y’all.

We need to discuss the fact that Ahmad Hardy scored on this play.

And yes, my colleague Connor O’Gara is correct that Hardy absolutely belongs in early season Heisman conversations.

The numbers are outrageously good: 600 yards (first in SEC), 7.6 yards per carry (first in the SEC), 6 touchdowns (second in the SEC), 90.3 PFF grade (second in the country). Did I mention that 458 of Hardy’s yards are after contact? Did I mention he’s forced 37 missed tackles—which also leads the SEC?

I think Missouri’s offensive line, which I wrote earlier in the season was the most underrated in the sport, deserves a ton of attention and credit. Hardy would agree. But this is the best football player in the conference right now, and if he maintains this play as Missouri’s schedule toughens, the gap will grow.

The post Top 10 players in the SEC after Week 4 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Where do Lagway and the Florida Gators go from here?

What do you do next when you go from being a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate and campus celebrity to having disgruntled fans calling for your backup in a matter of 3 weeks of football games?

These are among the questions swirling around Florida’s immensely talented sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway as the 1-2 Gators prepare to travel to south Florida where No. 4 Miami awaits Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium (7:44 p.m. ET, ABC).

Scrutiny is the nature of the beast when you play quarterback at Florida, where 3 Heisman winners and 5 Heisman finalists have lined up under center and a patron saint of southern sidelines, Steve Spurrier, is canonized for not just winning the Heisman but dragging the 3 yards and a cloud of dust SEC of the 1980s out of the stone ages and into the modern world.

The fishbowl of being QB1 at Florida gets even smaller when you go out and throw 5 interceptions, as Lagway did last weekend in a 20-10 loss at No. 3 LSU.

Lagway’s errors, often as simple as uncharacteristic late reads or simple overthrows, have fans and media types flummoxed.

Even Spurrier is perplexed. This week, in an appearance on the Dooley Noted podcast by longtime Gainesville Sun great journalist Pat Dooley, Spurrier said Lagway “looked off.”

Lagway has promised to respond.

“I’ve never had a performance like that in my life, so it’s kind of hard to process it,” Lagway said after the LSU game, before adding: “It’s all about how you bounce back. How do you respond to adversity? I’m planning to do so.”

Questions linger.

Is he still hurt after missing the spring with a shoulder injury he originally suffered in high school but re-aggravated last season in a win over LSU?

Is he rusty, given he missed spring ball and, after suffering a calf injury late in the summer, didn’t play 11-on-11 in practice until the final week of camp?

Is Billy Napier’s play calling and offense simply a crusty recipe for reptilian regression?

Some of these questions require a more urgent answer than others.

It was probably unfair to dub Lagway the “savior” of Florida football when, as a 5-star high school recruit and the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2023, he defied convention and stuck with a commitment to Billy Napier and Florida despite the young head coach posting a record of 12-14 in Years 1 and 2 at UF and having little in the way of proof of concept.

Lagway’s commitment was, without question, a huge deal.

Lagway received a prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp invitee, won the High School Heisman and led tiny Willis High School to a district championship in big-time Houston-area prep football, all indicators of his prodigious talent that made him one of Florida’s biggest football recruiting victories in years —perhaps, as I wrote in this space at the time, the biggest pure recruiting win since Tim Tebow.

As a true freshman, he consistently demonstrated why hype was warranted. Lagway finished first in the country among 27 true freshman to play in 2025 in quarterback rating, whether you use the flawed college football efficiency metric or the vastly superior adjusted quarterback rating system deployed in the NFL.  Lagway’s overall pass efficiency rating (154.93) ranked 10th in the country overall in 2024, and his NFL adjusted quarterback rating ranked 9th in the country.

Cynics and haters have pointed to the high interception number in 2024 (9), growing louder as Lagway’s struggled early in the 2025 campaign.

But the numbers paint a different story. They show a young quarterback who was outstanding as a freshman and has played the worst football of his young career as a sophomore.

In 2024, only 6 of Lagway’s 9 interceptions came on “turnover worthy” passes, per PFF. That means Lagway threw 3 interceptions a season ago that shouldn’t have happened but did, whether due to a tipped ball by his own receiver (2) or a spectacular play by a defensive back (1). On the season, Lagway finished with just 7 turnover worthy passes in 2024. He has tied that number in 3 games in 2025. Yikes.

In 2024, Lagway finished second in the SEC, behind only Jaxson Dart, in average depth of target (11.8) and yards per attempt (10). Lagway ranked first in the SEC in “big time throws” per attempts (8.8%), per PFF. A season later, Lagway is averaging just 6.3 yards per attempt (a 3.7-yard drop off!) and his big time throw percentage per attempts is 3.8%, which ranks 12th among SEC starters. Yikes again.

These grisly numbers aren’t just about the LSU game.

 Lagway had 2 drops in Florida’s upset loss to South Florida, including one by Vernell Brown III late that if caught likely seals a narrow win for Florida.

But Lagway actually made more big-time throws (2-1) against LSU than he did South Florida, and against LSU, he at least led a full length of the field touchdown drive. Florida’s lone touchdown against South Florida came on a short field after a huge Brown III punt return.

That’s 2 consecutive “off” performances and, given that Lagway himself felt Florida “didn’t play its best ball” in Week 1 against lowly FCS foe Long Island, there’s more than sufficient data to be concerned.

But why is Lagway struggling? And can it be fixed?

Napier spent an offseason preaching that while Lagway wasn’t playing physically beyond a few handoffs in the spring, he was getting the “mental reps” necessary to improve as a quarterback.

Flash forward several months later, and Napier’s finally acknowledging rust and a lack of timing may be a factor, not just in Lagway’s game as a passer, but in Florida’s entire offensive operation.

“DJ’s got to continue to improve as we go,” Napier told the media this week. “I think we have to keep things in perspective here relative to how much experience he has, the offseason that he’s been through. I think it’s important to evaluate things from that perspective and not necessarily on one performance.”

In other words, Lagway’s rusty and a little behind. The offensive line struggles are related to this too, according to Napier, who acknowledged when I asked late last week that timing and precision with Florida’s first team group have been “off” this season and that it was a “healthy assumption” that some of those struggles had to do with the first unit offensive line spending most of its time with backup quarterback Trammel Jones throughout fall camp.

DJ is getting used to playing again. DJ’s teammates are getting used to DJ.

But perhaps bigger than all of that is the reality that defenses are getting used to DJ.

Lagway’s first interception against LSU was a tremendous example of the way defenses are adjusting to Lagway’s gargantuan talent as a downfield thrower.

Florida is running an inverted smash concept. Sitting in a 2-high look, LSU shows pressure in the middle but ultimately brings only 4, dropping a linebacker just “under” the 2 high safeties. Once the free LSU defender attaches to a shoddily run corner route, the play is doomed.

Could Lagway have read this better and tried to seam route? Probably. But he missed it. Two-high, 3-under and “Cover 7 man-match” looks are increasingly common in college football, especially on third and long. Lagway is seeing a healthy diet of those 2 looks, which were the only defenses LSU played (save 1 creeper pressure), on Florida’s 13 third-down passing attempts. Lagway finished 6-for-13 for 57 yards with 4 interceptions on third down against the Tigers.

If the formula isn’t broke, defensive coordinators aren’t going to rush to fix it.

Defenses have adjusted to Lagway. Can DJ adjust to the adjustment?

Once again, Billy Napier’s future at Florida may depend on it.

That’s a heady thing and big ask for a 20-year-old, no matter how mature or high character, which are qualities Lagway possesses in spades.

In the end, demanding task or no, it’s DJ Lagway, the man with all the questions swirling about him, who is the only Gator who can provide answers to what ails Florida football in 2025.

The post Defenses have figured out DJ Lagway. Can he adjust to the adjustment and save Florida’s season? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

From noon until near midnight, last Saturday was a glorious day filled with high quality football. From Kalen DeBoer’s ascending Alabama showing those overmatched Yankees from Wisconsin what is what to DJ Lagway throwing every football he could find to the team in the white jerseys in the roaring cauldron of Cajun fury that is Tiger Stadium on a warm, muggy Louisiana Saturday Night, it was a Saturday filled with statement performances, signature standouts, quarterback implosions, and at least 1 road comeback for the ages.

Tennessee talk radio this week has been filled with chatter about how the Vols proved they belong, and I guess that’s true, but didn’t they do that last year when they made the College Football Playoff? Josh Heupel isn’t paid to claim moral victories. When you blow a 2-touchdown lead at home in a Checkerboard Neyland with College GameDay in town, you don’t talk about “proving you belonged.” You don’t ask the audience to clap. You play to win the game.

Gunner Stockton played to win the game, and his “List” worthy throw earned him a spot in this week’s Honorable Mentions. A week full of questions surrounded the Georgia quarterback entering the game. He left answering most of them and proving, yet again, why Kirby Smart’s imperious Death Star is still the SEC’s meanest machine (in red and black) on the tracks.  

Georgia’s furious rally wasn’t the only big-time performance of Statement Saturday in the SEC.

Ty Simpson was nearly flawless (24-29, 382 yards, 4 TD) in Alabama’s 38-14 win and that seems flattering to the other guys out of Wisconsin. It was a much-needed win for Alabama, still smarting from being pantsed by Florida State in Tallahassee in Week 1. I’m not saying that Bama fans should start strutting around the Capstone in Houndstooth hats and Nick Saban national title shirts yet, but the way Alabama’s passing game came alive and pass defense put the game to bed had to encourage Tide fans ahead of the Sept. 27 showdown with Stockton and the Dawgs in Athens. Alabama and Georgia in the national spotlight? Same as it ever was.

We also need to talk about Mike Elko, who is doing the dadgum thing at Texas A&M. The Aggies fell behind, rallied, fell behind, and rallied again to win against an excellent Notre Dame program in South Bend.

Marcel Reed finds himself in our Honorable Mention section this week after throwing for 360 yards, including the game-winning touchdown to Nate Boerkircher with 13 seconds remaining. The loss was Notre Dame’s second this season in the final 90 seconds of a game. For the Aggies, it was the latest reminder that sometimes, the best hire isn’t the sexiest one, and the best quarterback in the state of Texas isn’t the one with the famous last name.

Speaking of highly touted quarterbacks, shout out to DJ Lagway for single-handedly bringing back DBU. Okay, okay, that’s not quite above board. Billy Napier helped.

In all seriousness, though, Dashawn Spears and the LSU secondary intercepted 5 — no, really — Lagway passes Saturday night to help the Tigers win a game when their offense managed (checks notes) 10 first downs. The Gators were great defensively but lost by multiple scores thanks to Blake Baker’s championship-level LSU defense. Florida, who spoiled a generational offense in 2020 by throwing shoes and declining to play any defense, appears to have finally rebuilt on that side of the football. If only their preseason Heisman candidate quarterback were living up to his side of the bargain.

As for “the List,” we’re now 3 weeks into the season and on our third “No. 1.” That’s only the second time in “List” history (2019-present) that we’ve had a new No. 1 in all 3 editions of “the List” to begin a season. There’s usually turnover in September, but this season feels especially tumultuous, with no clearly dominant football team and a host of hyped preseason stars (I’ll let y’all figure out and debate which ones) that have yet to live up to the talkin’ season billing. In other words, we might have a really tight race on “The List” this season, which will either make for fun “List” making or leave me more confused than a northerner trying to figure out how to properly order their hash browns at Waffle House (scattered, smothered, and covered — thanks for attending my TED Talk).

Last week’s “List” can be found here. Fan mail can be sent to me via email. I promise to respond but please remember that if I’ve left your favorite player off “The List” it’s not because I hate your team. It’s because your favorite player needs to be better at football. If I left them off “Honorable Mention,” it’s because I hate your team and not because I have a self-imposed cap of 2 great players per team on the “Honorable Mention” portion of “the List.”

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Germie Bernard, WR; Bray Hubbard, S. Auburn: Jackson Arnold, QB; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: O’Mega Blake, WR; Taylen Green, QB. Florida: Austin Barber, OT; Myles Graham, LB. Georgia: CJ Allen, LB; Gunner Stockton, QB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB; Seth McGowan, RB. LSU: A.J. Haulcy, S; Dashawn Spears, S.  Mississippi State: Brenen Thompson, WR; Blake Shapen, QB. Missouri: Ahmad Hardy, RB; Connor Tollison, C. Oklahoma: Jaren Kanak, TE; Sammy Omosigho, LB. Ole Miss: Zxavian Harris, DT; Diego Pounds, OT. South Carolina: Nick Barrett, DT; Vicari Swain, Return/DB. Tennessee: Joey Aguilar, QB; Jesse Perry, OT. Texas: Anthony Hill Jr., LB; Jelani McDonald, DB. Texas A&M: Marcel Reed, QB; Scooby Williams, LB. Vanderbilt: Diego Pavia, QB. Eli Stowers, TE.

10. Dylan Stewart, Edge (South Carolina)

Stewart falls from the top spot to tenth after a lethargic outing in South Carolina’s 31-7 loss to Vanderbilt. Stewart had 3 pressures, 2 hurries, and 2 tackles for loss in the defeat, but was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct in the second half. On the bright side, he’s cleared to play in Saturday night’s prime time tilt at No. 23 Missouri, a huge break for the Gamecocks, who will need all the pressure they can get on Mizzou quarterback Beau Pribula to have a chance to win and avoid a disappointing 0-2 start to SEC play.

9. Micah Morris, OG (Georgia)

The big Georgia lineman surrendered 0 quarterback pressures and helped Georgia impose its will on the football game in the Dawgs’ 44-41 win at Tennessee on Saturday afternoon. The Dawgs gained 492 yards in the comeback win, with Morris grading out as the team’s best offensive lineman, per PFF. Morris has yet to surrender a pressure or hurry this season in 214 snaps, making him easily the most productive Georgia offensive linemen to date.

8. Beau Pribula, QB (Missouri)

We will know more about Missouri on Saturday, but right now, the blend of offensive firepower between Ahmad Hardy, Kevin Coleman Jr., Brett Norfleet, and a powerful offensive line might make this the most dangerous team Eli Drinkwitz has had in CoMo. That’s a frightening thought considering the Tigers won 21 games over the 2 seasons preceding the 2025 campaign. Pribula leads the SEC in completion percentage and ranks top 5 in a TD-INT ratio (7:1) and efficiency rating (4th), all key factors in Missouri’s fast 3-0 start. He’ll face his first SEC defense — and a test of his staying power on “The List” — this weekend when the Gamecocks visit Faurot Field.

7. Harold Perkins Jr., LB (LSU)

Whit Weeks was ejected early in the game for a targeting penalty, putting pressure on Perkins to replicate his standout performance in LSU’s Week 1 win at Clemson. Arguably, the All-SEC linebacker was even better against the Gators, drumming up 3 pressures, 2 hurries, 2 quarterback hits, and batting down a DJ Lagway pass on a critical third down. Perkins also registered 5 tackles in the LSU win while grading out as one of LSU’s best run stoppers on the evening (78 PFF grade) against a talented Florida run game. The key for Perkins, who was inconsistent and oft-injured as a sophomore, is building upon this performance. But there’s no question the gargantuan talent that made him a Freshman All-American is present and he’s beginning to flourish in defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s scheme.

6. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

Lacy tallied 84 yards on 21 touches in Ole Miss’s 41-35 win over Arkansas last weekend, helping the Rebels open SEC play 2-0 ahead of a brutal 4-game stretch that includes duels with unbeaten Tulane, unbeaten and No. 3 LSU, and unbeaten and No. 5 Georgia. An Oct. 11 home tilt with Washington State is the sole game in the next 4 where the Rebels won’t face a team widely considered to be a College Football Playoff contender. As staying power tests go, that month will likely define things for Ole Miss and Lacy, who ranks second in the SEC in rushing touchdowns and fourth in rushing yards, will be at the center of things if Ole Miss hopes to survive and reach its first College Football Playoff.

5. Chris Brazzell II, WR (Tennessee)

In devastating news to Tennessee fans who have sent emails over the past week accusing me of hating Tennessee even though a Volunteer won this list a season ago, the Vols have an entry this week and I need to ask:

Does Josh Heupel have a bona fide star blooming on Rocky Top? Brazzell II looked the part on Saturday, torching the Georgia secondary for 177 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 6 receptions. If a consistent knock on the Heupel offense post Hendon Hooker has been the lack of explosiveness in the downfield passing game, Brazzell II appears to be answering the bell.

He ranks second in the SEC in receiving yards (364) and receptions (20) while leading the conference in receiving touchdowns (5). A home date with a soft UAB defense should only pad those numbers and solidify Brazzell II’s case as one of the breakout stars of September in college football.

4. Nick Rinaldi, LB (Vanderbilt)

Vanderbilt’s star linebacker had 7 tackles, including 2 for loss, with a sack in the Commodores’ 31-7 rout of South Carolina. Rinaldi is instinctual as a pass rusher and run stopper and has worked relentlessly to improve as a coverage linebacker, efforts that have paid dividends as evidenced by a 72.4 PFF coverage grade in 2025.

The result is also that Vanderbilt can play Rinaldi, who was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 2 and dominated again in Week 3,  all over the field, trusting him on the edge, in the middle of a box, or in the slot covering a tight end. Rinaldi’s versatility is a big reason the Vandy defense ranks 34th nationally in yards allowed per play this season and an even more impressive 21st in defensive success rate.

3. John Mateer, QB (Oklahoma)

Mateer wasn’t perfect in Oklahoma’s 42-3 win over Temple, as evidenced by a second quarter interception. But he was really good again, throwing for 282 yards and a touchdown and adding 63 more on the ground with another rushing score. On the season, he’s thrown for 944 yards and rushed 161 more and is responsible for 9 Sooners touchdowns.

The talk of Heisman frontrunner status is certainly premature, and he’ll need to cut down on the turnovers for Oklahoma to hit its ceiling. But with another showcase home game coming this weekend in Norman (No. 22 Auburn, 3:30 p.m., ABC), he’ll have plenty of opportunities to play his way into the Heisman race and help the Sooners play their way back into another College Football Playoff, where the program feels it belongs.

2. Mario Craver, WR (Texas A&M)

Craver was all over the field at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night, including this stupendous 86-yard catch-and-run touchdown to help the Aggies tie the game early.

Craver finished the evening with a staggering 207 yards receiving in the Aggies’ 41-40 win over the Fighting Irish. On the season, the sophomore from Birmingham has racked up 3 consecutive games with 100+ yards receiving, ranking first in the country in receiving yards (463) through 3 games. Perhaps most impressive? At 22.2 yards per reception on the season, Craver has 274 yards after the catch. That’s nearly 90 YAC yards per game!

1. Mansoor Delane, DB (LSU)

Delane’s PFF grade of 88.7 is best in the Power 4 among defensive backs, but what’s most impressive is that teams keep testing him and he keeps answering the bell. After Clemson threw at him 8 times and he allowed just 1 reception, Florida came at him 6 times on Saturday night, convinced it could beat him 1-on-1, especially on intermediate routes (4 of Florida’s 6 targets). The Gators failed to complete a single intermediate route against Delane and managed just 2 completions for 11 yards overall against Delane, who added another pass breakup to his team-high collection (4) on the young season. Opponents have completed just 16% of their targets against Delane in 2025, clearly the stingiest defensive back in a secondary that is bringing DBU back to life on the Bayou. Did we mention he’s great in run support? Delane had 4 of his 5 tackles in run support on Saturday, notching his season total up to 9 tackles to accompany his pass breakup and interception totals. A complete player on what looks like the SEC’s best defense.

The post Top 10 players in the SEC after Week 3 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Florida fought. Competing hasn’t been an issue under Napier. Florida entered Saturday night’s game in Death Valley 9-8 after losses under Napier, with 4 of those losses coming by a score or less. For all their warts and flaws, Napier’s teams don’t give up. But Florida isn’t supposed to be a program that prides itself in having pride. Moral victories don’t move the needle at a place with 3 national championships.

Another thing that won’t move the needle?

The performance of DJ Lagway, Florida’s 5-star recruit turned preseason Heisman aspirations throwing 5 interceptions leading directly to 13 LSU points. A Freshman All-American a season ago, Lagway threw for 287 yards and helped Florida move the football for 4 quarters, but was confused all evening by LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who cooked up a host of 6-man pressures and disguised zone defenses that kept the Florida quarterback guessing, especially on third downs.

Lagway’s issues aren’t entirely attributable to rust, but the lack of practice repetition has undoubtedly contributed to his lack of rhythm and progress early in his sophomore campaign. Lagway didn’t practice 11-on-11 after an injury suffered against Georgia late last season, and he didn’t play 11-on-11 in practice until the final week of fall camp. On Saturday night, that lack of high-level, full speed competition showed. On all 5 of Lagway’s interceptions, including a pick 6 by LSU defensive back Dashawn Spears that functionally put the LSU victory to bed, Lagway made an incorrect read, tossing the ball into double or, in the case of the first interception, triple coverage. Lagway finished 6-13 for 57 yards with 1 TD and 4 interceptions on third downs, plays that ultimately proved to be the most consequential in an otherwise evenly matched football game.

Lagway’s struggles breathed life into Tiger Stadium on a night when the Florida defense stifled LSU most the first half, blending its own brand of pressure defense and terrific coverage to limit LSU to just 7 first downs at halftime. No matter. LSU led at halftime 13-10 thanks to turning 2 Lagway interceptions into 2 field goals, and the Tigers would extend that lead in the third quarter on Spears’s 58-yard interception return for a touchdown.

By the time Dijon Johnson intercepted Garrett Nussmeier to produce a Florida turnover with 10:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Gators trailed by 10 points and Tiger Stadium was a cauldron of Cajun fury and sound.

Florida moved the ball into LSU territory and kicker Trey Smack’s field goal range, threatening to cut the lead to a single score, before Lagway tossed his fourth interception, an especially silly deep shot for Tre Wilson thrown into triple coverage in the end zone that was easily hauled in by LSU’s Tamarcus Cooley. As the Tigers’ faithful roared “Neck” in approval, Florida fans had to wonder what happened to a season that started with so much promise.

What happened to the fastest, deepest wide receiver room Florida’s had since at least 2020, a group assembled to exploit Lagway’s ability to take the top off defenses downfield?

What happened to the notion that this Florida team would be able to impose its will in the run game behind the best offensive line at Florida in over a decade, a group anchored by an All-American center and a bona fide All-American candidate at left tackle? Florida never committed to the run on Saturday night, giving Jadan Baugh, the SEC’s second-leading rusher entering the game, just 9 carries from scrimmage.

Most importantly, what happened to Lagway, who led all freshman quarterbacks in 2024 in pass efficiency and led all SEC quarterbacks in average depth of target (11.4) and big time throws per snaps (1 in 6 in 2024)?

If there are any silver linings for Florida in a loss stemming from a Lagway meltdown, it’s that Florida’s defense stood incredibly tall, giving Lagway, playcaller Billy Napier, and the offense chance after chance to rally and pull the game from the fire.

LSU managed just 3 first downs in the second half, gaining the bulk of their yards on a long run by Caden Durham with the game already decided and a 65-yard Nussmeier connection with Bauer Sharp on the lone coverage Florida’s secondary busted in the second half. Florida’s defense played, without question, well enough to win the game on the road. They lost by multiple scores anyway because their quarterback, listed consistently on preseason award and All-American lists, couldn’t stop tossing the football to the other team.

One might suggest it’s just a learning experience for Lagway, an immensely talented quarterback with program-changing potential and intangibles.

That’s fine in theory, but the reality is things are likely to get worse before they get better.

The Gators travel to another top 5 opponent, Miami, next week. The Hurricanes are sharper than LSU offensively and will put more pressure on Lagway to consistently move the Florida offense. If Lagway forces passes and commits turnovers at Miami, the Hurricanes will do far worse to the Gators than the 13 points LSU managed off Lagway’s errors. They’ll feast and make a scene about it. It will, put plainly, get lopsided and ugly awfully quick.

Speaking of getting ugly, how do you continue to justify these losses if you are the Florida administration?

Napier is now 20-21 as Florida’s head coach. He’s 3-11 in rivalry games. He hasn’t defeated a ranked road opponent in his tenure at Florida.

Despite these middling results, Napier continues to double as the Florida offensive coordinator and playcaller, a decision that has yet to produce a top 40 offense at Florida, the school that revolutionized SEC offense in the 90s and did it again by bringing the spread to the league in the 2000s under Urban Meyer.

Lagway’s performance in Napier’s scheme hardly inspires confidence that Florida will change that stat in 2025, and Napier reiterated this week that he has no intention of giving up playcalling duties to any other human being, no matter how evident it is to anyone else inside or outside the building that such a change is essential for Napier to succeed as a high-level head coach.

What’s worse, Napier appears ill-equipped to improve Lagway, who has the talent to become the 6th Florida quarterback to be named a Heisman finalist but on Saturday looked like a kid more likely to find a seat on the bench than at the Downtown Athletic Club.

Now 1-2, with games against top-10 Miami and Texas teams and a terrific Texas A&M team looming, Florida may find itself 1-5 before an improved Mississippi State visits The Swamp in mid-October.

Will Napier be around by then?

That mostly depends on Lagway.

Unfortunately, Lagway’s progress mostly depends on Napier.

The post DJ Lagway implosion dooms Gators in Death Valley, leaving Gators to wonder when the nightmare ends appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The September meeting is the earliest battle between the 2 tradition-rich programs since 1984, when the teams tied 21-21. That Florida team would go on to win the SEC and an unclaimed national championship, finishing the campaign ranked No. 1 in the New York Times and Jeff Sagarin polls, both of which have been used by other SEC schools to claim titles historically.

This Florida team is not currently focused on pursuing a national championship, or certainly shouldn’t be, particularly following last week’s disappointing 18-16 home defeat to South Florida.

Instead, the Gators are hoping to use a rivalry game win to take heat off their head coach, Billy Napier, and perhaps find a springboard for the remainder of a season that until last weekend’s debacle was supposed to be the most promising in years in Gainesville.

As for LSU, the Tigers opened the campaign with an impressive 17-10 win at Clemson, dominating the second half in one of college football’s toughest environments. The Clemson win was validating and important in many ways for Brian Kelly, who has had some highs in Baton Rouge (the Jayden Daniels Heisman win, a 20-2 home record), but has also lost at least 3 games in each of his 3 seasons at the helm. A ho-hum victory over in-state foe Louisiana Tech followed, but the Tigers, with a revamped defense and one of the nation’s smartest, toughest quarterbacks, appear poised to finally compete for a championship under Kelly.

Both teams are playing their SEC opener. Who has the edge? LSU is a substantial favorite (7 points at bet365), but Florida should play desperately and loose, even in a raucous night environment at Tiger Stadium.

Who has the edge?

Here are 3 matchups that will define the 72nd edition of LSU and Florida.

DJ Lagway vs. Blake Baker’s third-down variance on defense

LSU’s defense has been spectacular on third down early in the season, allowing opponents to convert just 23% of their third-down opportunities.

Florida’s offense has been fair to middling on the critical down, with just 11 conversions on 25 attempts (44%).

Defensive coordinator Blake Baker is known for exotic blitz packages, but he’s especially creative and innovative on third down.

LSU will show 2 safeties and play 3 deep on occasion, using 6 to front pressure the quarterback and force quick throws underneath, before the sticks. They also like this unique Cover 2 look, where they run a creeper pressure with the hole defender crashing late and Whit Weeks capably dropping to play cover two.

 If it’s 3rd-and-long, they get aggressive. Baker has played straight man, all out pressure Cover 0 on 5 third downs of 7 or longer this season.

If it’s 3rd-and-short, they’ll make sure your quarterback can’t run, which Lagway appears (finally) prepared to do again as his calf has fully healed from an injury in summer camp. Using the same Cover 2 look above, they’ll blitz the inside linebacker (Weeks) but spy with a defensive end (usually Patrick Payton, who runs really well) and drop one more linebacker into coverage, cutting off the safety valves.

And these are but a few examples of how LSU will attack you with different looks and eye candy pre-snap on third down.

A season ago, Lagway struggled with exotic pressures, especially when defenses disguised who was in coverage until the last moment. The real danger in this football game for Florida is that Lagway, in his first SEC road start, is confused and forces things coming off a hard loss. If that happens, this game could get sideways for the Gators.

This week, Napier lamented that the next step for his young quarterback is handling front pressures and disguised coverages.

“Yeah, I think this offseason we went really hard to work on defensive structure, front pressures and coverages,” Napier said. “He’s made huge strides, but he’s missed time.”

On Saturday night in Death Valley, time is up. To win, Lagway has to apply what he’s learned and put it into practice.

Lagway was the better quarterback in this game a season ago. The only way Florida wins Saturday is if Lagway replicates that feat.

LSU’s bread and butter: Empty and Shock Sets vs. Florida’s Outstanding Secondary

Florida gave up one long touchdown pass to South Florida last week — a 66-yard catch and run by Keshaun Singleton that was likely intercepted or incomplete had either Florida defensive back properly timed his jump.

Outside of that completion, Florida has allowed under 5.5 yards per attempt and the Gators rank 14th in success rate defense against the pass. Success rate, for those unfamiliar, measure how many yards are gained towards a first down given down and distance. A play is successful if it gains 40% on 1st down, 60% on 2nd down, or 100% on 3rd or 4th down.

LSU ranks 88th in passing success rate to date, with Garrett Nussmeier averaging just 5.9 yards per completion. Nussmeier and LSU have produced just 6 explosive plays of over 20 yards as well, a number that ranks an anemic 104th in the country.

A big reason? LSU’s offensive line isn’t holding up in their favored sets. The staple of Brian Kelly’s offense is a series of empty and 1-back sets the Tigers call “Shock.”

The concept features 3 receivers to one side, a boundary receiver on the other side, and an “X” figure who can flex in the slot or as a solo running back. The concept is lauded in NFL circles for how multiple it makes an offense despite the base simplicity. LSU runs a host of concepts out of the formation, adapting it to any number of coverages. At its core, however, it involves 3 basic routes by the overloaded side of the field: a shallow hitch at the boundary, a slot fade, and a stick route by the inside receiver in trips — sometimes a tight end depending on concept. This base framework allows LSU to attack in a number of ways — and in the Kelly era, the Tigers — when they block — have feasted on the Gators in this concept.

Above is the standard Shock/Lucy. The Florida defense pushes to the strong side, where the overload is located. That’s a simple read for the quarterback, who hits the intermediate route runner in the space vacated by Florida’s strong side push.

Here, Florida switches to man coverage, and LSU attacks vertically, hitting the isolated go by the backside receiver. Florida’s young safety has to choose between the slot-fade and the backside go — and with elite receiver talent, that split-second choice is enough to create separation.

LSU will also run the ball out of this look too — as seen above — but again, it is currently underperforming in this set, averaging just 4.01 yards per attempt in the look.

“Shock” is still LSU’s best concept (8.1 yards per play this season). But with a young offensive line now missing outstanding center Braelin Moore, can they hold up long enough to get open against a talented Gators secondary? This will help decide the football game, along with…

Florida’s ability to avoid negatives in the run game and run the Baugh

Florida’s run game has been feast or famine this season.

The Gators have 24 run plays that have gone for 1 yard or less. They lead the SEC in negative rushing plays.

They also have an astounding 70.3% success rate on Jadan Baugh rushing plays. The sophomore running back currently ranks third in the SEC in rushing yards (197) and first in the SEC in yards per run 7.3 (minimum 25 carries). A season ago, it was Baugh who broke the game open with this jaunt around left tackle in the fourth quarter.

LSU’s run defense has been special in the early going. The Tigers rank 7th in the nation in rushing defense and success rate defense. They have 9 (most in the SEC) run defenders grading out at 70 or better, per PFF, and they have registered 9 tackles for loss against the run. Harold Perkins Jr. looks strong playing his natural position again and Florida transfer Jack Pyburn has given LSU a genuinely stout player to hold the edge against the run.

Florida’s offensive line, featuring first-team All-American Jake Slaughter and second-team All-SEC selection Austin Barber, has yet to play its best game.

This is strength on strength, and the Gators must run to win.

Prediction: LSU 20, Florida 17

Take Florida and the points, but in the end, I expect Mansoor Delane and the LSU defense to make enough big plays in the fourth quarter to stave off an inspired upset bid from Florida. A late DJ Lagway turnover will be the difference.

The post 3 matchups that will define LSU vs. Florida, and a prediction appeared first on Saturday Down South.

One day a program is in the talking season penthouse. By the second weekend in September, the program might as well be in the poor house because all the fans are talking about is when they can pay the coach’s buyout.

Sometimes you’re the windshield. Sometimes you’re the bug.

Find a better example of that than Week 2 in the SEC.

Jeff Lebby was “Left for Dead” Lebby during talking season, coming off a 2-10 record in Year 1 and picked at the bottom of the SEC ahead of Year 2.

On Saturday night, State fans stormed Scott Field in his honor after Lebby’s Bulldogs rallied past defending Big 12 champion Arizona State for a 24-20 victory. Blake Shapen was magnificent, with 3 touchdown throws of 40 yards or more in the inspiring win, including this game-winning 58-yard strike to Brenen Thompson.

Suddenly, Lebby’s portal heavy rebuild looks whippersnapper smart, and well, Lebby’s futures have gone from gloomy and grim to “I told y’all Jeff was building something in Starkville, PAWWWLLL” in one statement Saturday. What a difference a weekend makes.

Meanwhile, in Gainesville, well, I’m tired of writing about it all the time. It’s not just that Billy Napier spent a summer celebrating the culture he’d built and telling anyone who’d listen he’d eliminated “entitlement” and a lack of discipline from the locker room only to lose a game to South Florida thanks to over 100 yards in penalties and a selfish, boneheaded, flat out gross spitting penalty. All of that happened in Saturday’s humiliating 18-16 loss in The Swamp. It’s that Florida spent big-time money assembling this roster and after big-time wins over LSU, Ole Miss, and Florida State to close the season a year ago, the return of a budding star in quarterback DJ Lagway and a superbly talented supporting cast had Gators fans talking College Football Playoff.

PLAYOFFS? Y’all want to talk PLAYOFFS?

How about you look at Florida’s schedule and tell me where you are certain they’ll win another game. I’ll wait.

Or maybe I won’t wait since “The List” waits for no man, not even Arch Manning, who bounced back from his Week 1 stumble at the Shoe to look, well, adequate in a comfortable Texas win over San Jose State. Manning isn’t sniffing Honorable Mention territory on “The List” yet, but it was a step in the right direction.

Speaking of steps in the right direction, I’m not all in on Jackson Arnold the same way I’m all in on John Mateer and Oklahoma just yet, but the change in scenery has done Arnold wonders. Ball State isn’t a good team, but Arnold built off a great performance against Baylor by throwing for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns (with just 4 incompletions) in Auburn’s 42-3 win. A Hugh Freeze offense with balance is a scary thing. And Auburn hasn’t really unleashed Cam Coleman yet. Good times seem just around Toomer’s Corner on the Plains.

If I told y’all the SEC would have at least 5 quarterbacks playing at an elite level in the first 2 weeks of the season and none of them would be Arch Manning or DJ Lagway, would you have believed me? What if I told you the list of the SEC’s best quarterbacks through 2 weeks would also not include LaNorris Sellers of South Carolina (good, not great) or Gunner Stockton of Georgia (middling)? And if you had Parker Livingstone as Arch Manning’s number 1 target?

I wouldn’t have believed me, either.

But “The List” isn’t won in September. Football games, of course, are.

Here are the top 10 players in the SEC through Week 2, with Honorable Mentions (limit 2 per school, sorry Nic Mitchell, you BALLED out) first, of course.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Germie Bernard, WR; Deontae Lawson, LB. Auburn: Xavier Chaplin, OT; Jackson Arnold, QB. Arkansas: Taylen Green, QB; Xavian Sorey Jr., LB. Florida: Jake Slaughter, C; Bryce Thornton, DB. Georgia: Micah Morris, OG; CJ Allen, LB. Kentucky: Seth McGowan, RB; Jordan Lovett, DB. LSU: Whit Weeks, LB; Patrick Payton, DE. Mississippi State: Brenen Thompson, WR; Blake Shapen, QB. Missouri: Connor Tollison, C; Brett Norfleet, TE. Oklahoma: Jaren Kanak, TE; Febechi Nwaiwu, OG. Ole Miss: Zxavian Harris, DT; Harrison Wallace III, WR. South Carolina: Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy, DT, WR; Fred Johnson, LB. Tennessee: Shamurad Umarov, OG; Arion Carter, LB. Texas: Michael Taaffe, S; Anthony Hill Jr., LB. Texas A&M: Trey Zuhn III, OT; Cashius Howell, DE. Vanderbilt: Diego Pavia, QB. Nick Rinaldi, LB.

10. Scooby Williams, LB (Texas A&M)

The senior from Birmingham had 3 tackles and a sack and graded out as one of the top 3 linebackers in the country, per PFF, in the Aggies’ 44-22 win over Utah State. On the season, Williams has 9 tackles, 6 pressures, 2 hurries, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and has allowed just 1 reception on 3 targets in coverage. He’s a 3-down linebacker on a defense that could carry the Aggies to the College Football Playoff.

9. Vicari Swain, DB/Returner (South Carolina)

Last week, Swain changed the football game for the Gamecocks with a gargantuan return to help South Carolina pull away a tough Virginia Tech team. For an encore, Swain returned 2 punts for touchdowns in South Carolina’s 38-10 win over South Carolina State this past weekend.

Swain is now the first player in South Carolina history to return 2 punts for touchdowns in a game, and his 3 touchdown returns this year have tied a single-season record. That’s not bad for Week 2, and it gets Swain a spot on “The List.”

8. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

With Austin Simmons in a blender in his first SEC start, Lacy bailed the Rebels offense out with 138 hard-fought yards and a touchdown in Ole Miss’s 30-23 win in Lexington this weekend. Lacy leads the SEC in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns through 2 weeks and is moving quietly into “list fixture” status.

7. Will Whitson, DE (Mississippi State)

Sadly, this will be the last week that Will Whitson appears in the list, as injured players are removed from the list after missing either 2 games or suffering a season-ending injury. Whitson was dominating Arizona State with 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack when he left the game with an injury in the first half. Whitson walked off under his own power, but did not return, and Jeff Lebby confirmed the grim news earlier this week that Whitson’s season is over. That’s a brutal blow for a player who wasn’t even among the top 300 players in the transfer portal, but was delivering on the field, leading the SEC in pressures (8) through 2 weeks and delivering 2 sacks and 3 tackles for loss. Get well soon, Will.

6. Beau Pribula, QB (Missouri)

The first of 3 quarterbacks to make the list this week (we know, boooring!!), Pribula’s majestic performance in leading Missouri to a Border War rally and win over Kansas left Penn State fans wondering if they chose the right quarterback. After backing up Drew Allar a season ago, Pribula showed he’s ready for the big time on Saturday, throwing for 334 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 42-31 Mizzou win. What impressed “The List” most, though, was how Pribula bounced back from adversity. After he fumbled in the first quarter, Missouri trailed 21-6. No matter. Pribula stayed the course, dropping dimes and protecting the football.

Pribula’s passer rating through 2 games is a staggering 188 and he’s now thrown 7 touchdowns with just 1 turnover (0 interceptions). That’s big-time, “List” worthy stuff.

5. Alex Afari Jr., LB (Kentucky)

What stands out about Afari is his ability to play all 3 downs with great technique and discipline. He has 20 tackles and has missed just 1 in 2 games. He’s allowed just 2 receptions on 7 targets in coverage. He has a sack, 2 tackles for loss, and registered a pressure on Saturday, headlining a Kentucky defense that consistently had Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons confused and hurried. Big Blue didn’t get enough from their defense for that to matter, in the end, but Afari warrants top 5 status in Week 2.

4. John Mateer, QB (Oklahoma)

For the second consecutive season, a Washington State transfer sure looks like an All-American at his new location. Mateer was magnificent on Saturday in Oklahoma’s 24-13 manhandling of Michigan. All Brent Venables has been asking for is a competent offense. Mateer is giving them more than that (51-71, 662 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 98 yards rushing, 3 TD) early on this season. He’s giving them a weapon, a difference maker that can help Venables, who has built a salty defense in Norman, win games at the margins. There’s a long way to go, and in truth, we don’t know how good anyone Oklahoma has played yet will be. But “The List” knows “it” when we see it, and Mateer has “it.”

3. Garrett Nussmeier, QB (LSU)

Nussmeier’s offensive line was a concern in Week 2, and the loss of center Braelin Moore certainly compounded matters on Saturday. Without time to challenge Louisiana Tech downfield, Nussmeier battled and took what the defense gave him, throwing for 237 yards and a touchdown in the win. The rather pedestrian numbers drop him from the top spot this week, but he remains in the top 5 as we’re just 1 week removed from a classic Nussmeier performance against a tenacious Clemson defense in one of the toughest environments in college football. Could Nussmeier’s “List” ceiling be limited by offensive line issues? Time will tell. It’s also possible the group will come together. Either way, Nussmeier is going to make smart decisions. With a Blake Baker defense, that might be sufficient this season.

2. Mansoor Delane, DB (LSU)

Delane has surrendered a stingy 2 receptions on 12 targets this season, a dominant 16% completion percentage against in 2 games. He’s also been solid in run support, and has yet to miss a tackle. He grades out as LSU’s best defender through 2 games, per PFF, an impressive accomplishment on a defense that’s been outstanding early this season. Is DBU finally back in Baton Rouge?

1. Dylan Stewart, Edge (South Carolina)

For the second-consecutive season, Stewart will spend at least 1 week atop “the List” after registering 2 tackles for loss, 2 pressures, 2 hurries, and a quarterback sack in just a half of duty against South Carolina State. On the season, Stewart’s 7 pressures are tied for second in the SEC. He’s also garnered 4 quarterback hurries, 2 sacks, and 4 tackles for loss. He’s done all that against double teams on 45% of snaps played, a number that is already opening things up for teammates, like edge rusher Bryan Thomas Jr., who feasted with 4 pressures, 2 tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry on Saturday. In other words, Stewart is doing what dominant players do: making teams scheme to stop him — and making his team better at football as a result.

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For the Florida Gators, it was the latest in a series of mystifying September setbacks spoiling another summer filled with grandiose promises of Billy Napier returning Florida to the program’s past glory.

This was supposed to be the year.

Year 4.

Napier’s players. Napier’s culture. Elite discipline. No more entitlement.

A team that said, “Spot the Ball,” and then prided itself on execution and discipline.

A team with a “championship mentality.”

One of Napier’s mentors, Nick Saban, once said you “have a championship culture when the discipline comes first and the entitlement is gone.”

All summer, Napier said making progress towards a championship mentality was one of the things he had become most proud of during his time at Florida.

“We don’t have those (entitlement or discipline) issues, in my opinion, we don’t have distractions,” Napier said last month. “I think that these guys appreciate everyone’s role within the organization, how they treat people,” he continued. “Nobody feels entitled with what they have.”

You wouldn’t have known it watching the Gators on Saturday night.

Florida played without discipline, committing 11 penalties for 103 yards, including 2 backbreaking penalties on South Florida’s game-winning drive, both of which helped the Bulls escape from the shadow of their own goalposts. The second of those penalties, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on defensive linemen Brendan Bett for spitting on a South Florida player, was inexcusable on any field, let alone in a program whose foundation is supposed to be culture and discipline.

When asked about the lack of accountability and discipline, Napier was blunt.

“The procedure penalties, obviously, we can live with the technical penalties. The ones that keep you up at night are the ones that are player decision-making. There has to be responsibility there. The (players) are under my leadership. We have to eliminate those. I think that players make mistakes. It’s part of the game. But ultimately it is coaching,” Napier said.

It’s a sober and honest answer from a man and coach of high character and integrity.

But it’s not good enough to own the problem. Napier is compensated handsomely to fix it. He knows it.

“There’s no excuse. The football has to be better,” Napier said.

But can Napier fix it?

There were too many questions and issues on the football field on Saturday night to believe he can fix it.

Florida’s celebrated quarterback, DJ Lagway, continues to look like a player who didn’t throw in spring practice, was on a pitch count throughout the summer, and didn’t play 11 on 11 until the final week of camp. He was out of sync on intermediate throws, and when he did throw down field, missed badly for an incompletion (first half, to a wide-open J. Michael Sturdivant) or interception (overthrown ball downfield intercepted by a diving James Chenault). A late fourth quarter drop by budding star Vernell Brown III on arguably Lagway’s best pass of the night didn’t help matters, but Florida’s inability to get consistent first downs, let alone points, speaks to Lagway’s growing pains.

Looking deeper under the hood, it feels like Lagway’s issues aren’t just about rust.

The book is out on the young quarterback, too.

After feasting on single high looks early in his Florida career, defenses have adjusted. Like Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl and FSU in the regular season finale a year ago, South Florida planted 2 high safeties deep, daring Lagway to make quick reads and drive the length of the field. The sophomore quarterback has his moments, but the consistency is lacking.

“Coaches watch film, too. They know my strengths. I have to go prove I can adapt,” Lagway, as self-aware as ever, said following the game.

Napier’s play-calling did little to help.

The Gators gashed the Bulls on single gap and off tackle runs in the first half, averaging 7.1 yards on those concepts. But Napier insisted on incorporating misdirection and east-west running concepts into the game plan in the first half, negating Florida’s size advantage on north-south runs and allowing South Florida’s small but fast defenders to chase horizontally. Florida’s east-west run game failed, putting the Gators behind the sticks at inopportune times and allowing the Bulls to build confidence.

The players around Lagway underperformed, too.

For all the talking season chatter about Florida having the most talented offensive in the SEC, multiple players on the unit struggled for a second consecutive week.

A Kam Waites hold negated a nifty Ja’Kobi Jackson touchdown run. A Bryce Lovett false start contributed to Florida settling for a field goal on a first half possession. All-American Jake Slaughter was called for a hold in the second half, negating a first down run by Lagway. All-SEC tackle Austin Barber committed a brutal false start penalty on 3rd and 2 late in the third quarter, spoiling another Florida possession. The Gators also surrendered a sack for the second consecutive game.

Even with the miscues and playcalling missteps, Florida averaged 6.4 yards per play in the opening half but failed to finish 3 drives deep in South Florida territory, settling for 3 Trey Smack field goals. As the third quarter dragged towards a gut-check fourth quarter, you could sense the collective confidence of a sold-out Swamp waning.

The reason? South Florida’s senior quarterback, Byrum Brown.

While Lagway and the Florida offense struggled, Brown was outstanding.

Dodging Florida pressure all evening, Brown kept a host of successful Bulls plays alive with his ability to both buy time and scrap for yardage with his legs. No play better embodied this than the penultimate play from scrimmage in the first half. As George Gumbs and Jayden Woods closed in for a sack, Brown pirouetted his way past both pursuing Gators and turned what would have been a drive-killing sack into a 20-yard run to set up a Nico Gramatica field goal to cut the Florida lead to 9-6 at the half.

Then, with the third quarter winding down, Brown found Keshaun Singleton for a 66-yard touchdown, zinging the throw perfectly between 2 converging Florida defenders for a touchdown and South Florida’s first lead.

A possession later, the Bulls added a safety when All-SEC long-snapper Rocco Underwood overshot punter Tommy Doman, who saved a potential touchdown by knocking the ball out of the endzone. Those 2 points proved vital, and by the time 89,909 strong sang “I Won’t Back Down,” the Bulls had the football and a 6-point lead.

That’s when The Swamp roared to life, and so did the Gators.

Feeding off a frenzied crowd, Florida forced a 3-and-out. A play later, Vernell Brown III, whose Dad captained Urban Meyer’s first Florida team, returned a punt 40 yards down the right sideline to set Gators up deep in South Florida territory. Five plays later, DJ Lagway found Tre Wilson on a slant to tie the game, and a Smack extra point put Florida back in the lead.

For a moment, it seemed as if Napier and the Gators would escape, learning a valuable lesson in victory instead of a harder lesson in a devastating defeat.

With USF driving, All-SEC defensive end Tyreak Sapp, back for his senior year despite being assured of a NFL Draft selection last spring, roared around right tackle and dragged Brown down for a huge sack, pushing the Bulls back to the 43-yard line. South Florida reclaimed the sack yardage a play later, but the damage was done, and Nico Gramatica’s 58-yard field goal fell 5 yards short.

But the Bulls, aptly named and game for a fight all evening, forced a 3-and-out of their own, earning one last chance.

On the final drive, Florida couldn’t get out of its own way.

On second and 10 from their own 11, Brown fired incomplete for Singleton, but Florida’s Dijon Johnson was called for pass interference, giving the Bulls breathing room and a first down at the 24. The Bett ejection came a play later. Brown then completed a screen to Alvon Issac that appeared doomed, but the Bulls running back broke 3 Florida tackles near the line of scrimmage before galloping 29 yards to the 32, well into the range of Gramatica, a preseason Lou Groza Award favorite.  This time, Gramatica didn’t miss.

The Gators, on the other hand, missed a vital opportunity.

A win over a good South Florida team was almost essential to any Playoff hopes Florida had, and a Playoff berth, which would be Florida’s first as a program, was a spoken goal for this group from the first day of spring practice.

It only gets harder from here.

Florida will play 4 ranked teams — and 3 ranked in the top 10 — over the next month. Two of those games will come on the road.

Late Saturday night, Napier and DJ Lagway talked about embracing what’s next.

“I’m heartbroken,” Lagway told the media following the game. “I’m excited to get back to work, though. Great teams peak in December, not September.”

That may be true.

But championship cultures beat USF on their home field in September.

Napier’s Florida?

They played like a team that expected to win. That played like a group that felt entitled to win.

But as they’ve done half the 40 games Napier has coached in Gainesville, Florida lost.

A championship mentality is nice to talk about.

Mediocrity is Florida’s reality.

The post Billy Napier spent a summer preaching championship culture and discipline. In stunning loss to USF, the Gators had neither appeared first on Saturday Down South.

No matter.

The schedule and gauntlet now facing the Gators will handle that in short course.

Beginning with Saturday’s home tilt against South Florida (4:15 p.m. ET, ESPN), the Florida Gators will face 5 consecutive opponents who are either ranked or currently receiving votes in the AP Top 25. The Bulls, fresh off a 34-7 whipping of then No. 25 Boise State, are the only team among Florida’s next 5 foes currently unranked. The rest are ranked No. 3 (LSU), No. 5 (Miami), No. 7 (Texas), and 19 (Texas A&M), respectively. If Florida manages to win 3 of these 5 games, they will almost assuredly make the College Football Playoff simply by finishing 5-1 in their final 6 games. If they finish 2-3, they’ll likely need to run the table, with games against Georgia, Tennessee, and suddenly resurgent Florida State all waiting down the line.

But first things first.

South Florida can play, and Billy Napier knows it.

It isn’t just that the Bulls beat Boise State, a respected program that appeared in the 2024 College Football Playoff. It’s the way they dominated them along the line of scrimmage.

“Yeah, I think the film itself of Game 1 gets the attention of the players. It doesn’t hurt that Boise, obviously, was a Playoff team and ranked in the top 25. The old saying, ‘Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.’ That’s just not for failure. This game requires a certain level of humility. And I think it’ll be critical,” Napier said. “You look at them up front and the way they pushed a quality team around. That’s difficult to do.”

Alex Golesh is an outstanding coach, and he’s guided the Bulls to consecutive bowl appearances (and wins) after the program won just 4 games in the 3 seasons prior to his arrival in Tampa.

Quarterback Byrum Brown (253 total yards, 2 touchdowns vs. Boise State) gets the attention, but it’s the Bulls’ defense that shined brightest last weekend, limiting the Broncos to just 4.39 yards per play offensively and forcing 3 turnovers.

“I think that (USF defensive coordinator) Todd Orlando is one of the best defensive coaches in football,” Napier told the media on Monday. “This guy’s been around the block. He’s always been a tough prep. You go back to the Houston days, the Texas days. And I mean, I think in general, he’s got front variables, pressure variables and coverage variables. And I think he gets them to play hard. Look, this is a team that was in a tie game right in the fourth quarter last year at Tuscaloosa. It’s tied up. So, we’ll have no issue getting the attention to the players here. They’ve got a really good football team.”

If Florida can’t block a little better than it did Week 1, when the right side of the offensive line struggled to hold up against Long Island, the Gators could become the victims of a huge in-state upset.

Here are 3 things I’m looking for from Florida, who needs a decisive win to build confidence ahead of the road gauntlet (at LSU, at Miami) that will close a challenging September.

A better afternoon for the right side of the Florida offensive line

It was a strange opener for the Gators experienced offensive line.

All-American center Jake Slaughter graded out as the best offensive linemen in college football in Week 1 and left tackle Austin Barber wasn’t far behind (best OT in the country, per PFF). The duo surrendered no pressures and handled their business in pacing a Florida run game that tallied 201 yards on opening night. Left guard Knijeah Harris, another third-year starter, was steady.

The right side? They’ve had better days.

Bryce Lovett will make his second start at right tackle despite a shaky debut which saw him grade out at a gruesome 39.1. Lovett completely fanned on a block on Florida’s first play from scrimmage, resulting in DJ Lagway taking a season-opening sack. Right guard Damieon George played just 22 snaps before giving way to Roderick Kearney, who outshined him in every way, grading out better as both a pass blocker and run blocker.

Napier spent much of camp talking about how this team had more offensive line depth than any he’s coached at Florida.

They’ll need to prove—and find the right combinations—against a talented USF front led by Ira Singleton, who terrorized Boise State with 6 pressures and 6 quarterback hurries, lining up both at defensive end and on the left edge—where he’d get the chance to work on Lovett. Dennard Flowers, the defensive end who tends to line up opposite Singleton, was also marvelous against Boise, collecting 4 pressures, 3 hurries, and a tackle for loss.

Has DJ Lagway shaken off the rust?

Lagway was a perfectly acceptable 15-for-18 for 120 yards and 3 touchdowns in a half of football last week in The Swamp, but he left the game frustrated.

He took a sack, missed multiple open receivers down the field, and generally felt like the offense was lethargic under his leadership.

“We didn’t play our brand of football,” Lagway told media following the win.

By all accounts, Lagway’s had an incredible week of practice since disappointing himself — even if he didn’t disappoint the fans or team — last weekend.

“He’s been on a mission this week,” Napier told media Wednesday. “He’s showed up with an edge every day, and I think he’s excited about getting back out there and proving he can play better.”

 Opportunities to make big plays should be there for the Gators, who flashed big play potential at various receiver spots in their Week 1 romp. From the speedy Tre Wilson to freshman Vernell Brown III to speedy UCLA transfer J. Michael Sturdivant, Florida has no shortage of riches on the perimeter. Can Lagway deliver?

It’s hard not to be rusty when you play your first live, game-speed football of the year after missing 11 on 11 for an entire spring and the bulk of summer camp. But for Florida to reach its ceiling in 2025, Lagway needs to show he’s back to being the sensational five-star difference maker who won every game he started and finished for Florida in 2024.

A statement game from the Florida defense

Napier insisted this defense had all the makings of the group that could return Florida to its longstanding tradition of defensive excellence.

From 1982 (when Jeff Sagarin and the NYT started tracking total defense) until 2019, Florida ranked behind only Alabama and Ohio State in fielding top 20 defenses. Steve Spurrier may have revolutionized SEC football with the Fun-N-Gun Offense, but the staple at Florida has long been elite defense. That hasn’t been the case recently. Florida hasn’t fielded a top 50 defense since Todd Grantham’s unit finished 9th nationally in 2019. Not so coincidentally, that season was the last time Florida won 11 games.

This group should be different and looked different on Saturday, surrendering just 86 yards and 2 first downs.

But Long Island never stood a chance.

USF, with the electric Byrum Brown, who threw for over 3,000 yards as a redshirt freshman and was balling out again in 2024 before an injury, can move the football. Brown, a gifted runner, makes the type of unscheduled plays that have frustrated Florida defenses throughout the decade. The Bulls also have outstanding talent at receiver in Tennessee transfer Chas Nimrod (96 yards vs. Boise State) and Keshaun Singleton (5 catches, 93 yards). Their ability to get vertical should push Florida’s secondary, which was prone to giving up explosive plays a season ago.

The difference should be Florida’s revamped linebacker room. All camp, Napier told anyone who would listen he felt this linebacker room was special, perhaps the best in America. Led by sophomore Myles Graham, they looked the part Week 1, but it’s hard to measure much against a Long Island team that never challenged the Gators physically or vertically. If the Gators can manage to contain Brown as a runner and slow the South Florida run game, that will take pressure off the Florida secondary. But that’s easier said than done, and if Brown manages to extend plays with his legs—Florida will need to hold up on the back end to avoid a nip and tuck, four quarter football game.

Prediction: Florida 38, South Florida 14: The trending pick is to go with the Bulls, who are getting 17.5 heading into Saturday’s Swamp showdown. I don’t see it. Florida will dominate the line of scrimmage and Jadan Baugh, who looked All-SEC good in Week 1, will explode against a Bulls defense that bent — but didn’t break — against Boise State. Florida will make USF one-dimensional by slowing the run game and this game won’t be interesting by the time 90,000 strong roar “I Won’t Back Down” on Saturday night.

The post 3 things I’m watching for in Florida vs. USF appeared first on Saturday Down South.

I know this not just because the great Dave Barry told me as much, though as a kid who came of age in Jupiter, Florida, back when it was a sleepy beach and commercial fishing town, before half the PGA Tour followed Tiger Woods there, I have to admit Dave Barry helped with the realization that Miami is, in fact, a weird place.

I know this because I’ve lived it, coming from a family with long ties to the place and later working in Coral Gables, which is where the University of Miami is located but 27 miles and 40 minutes to 2 hours in traffic from where Mario Cristobal’s Miami Hurricanes, fresh off an impressive season-opening win over a top-10 Notre Dame team, play their home games.

Miami is a weird place, and not just because if you take an afternoon stroll through the Brickell neighborhood downtown, you’ll see men and women donned in the latest Parisian fashions and flashing frozen smiles on faces showcasing the work of plastic surgeons whose genius is directly traceable back to Ponce de Leon, the famed explorer who arrived in Miami in 1513, looking for the Fountain of Youth. The rumor is he found something more valuable: a parking space along the Miracle Mile. But that tale is for another day.

Miami also invented football.

I know this because I’ve worked with Dolphins fans who still open a bottle of champagne every year when the last undefeated NFL team loses and, though their hair is graying or long since gone, they pass the affliction of cheering for the team that sold its soul to go 17-0 to the NFL Devil in exchange for a half-century’s worth of misery and mediocrity on to the next generation.

But Don Shula invented football in the city of Miami just before he perfected steakhouses, and if he didn’t, well, Howard Schnellenberger and the U certainly invented college football. Just ask anyone over the age of 13 at a Hurricanes tailgate, which for “home games” occur closer to mortal Miami-Dade County enemy Broward County than they do the University of Miami’s pristine Gables campus, but that’s because Miami invented college football before it fully invested in classrooms, which the NCAA once upon a time deemed necessary to play college football, or so the story goes. Time will tell if that remains the case in the era of NIL.

In any event, it was Schnellenberger who drove from neighborhood to neighborhood in Miami and the surrounding South Florida area on Friday nights in the early 1980s and realized that athletes who grow up running from or chasing, in no particular order: hurricanes, alligators, venomous toads, bulldozers, traffic on expressways named for Don Shula, jackrabbits, pythons, parrots, sea level rise, flamingoes, and the occasional falling iguana might be faster, stronger, and better conditioned than the hog mollies and heathens who grow up around midwestern cornfields and boast about mystical things like seasons, buildings with good plumbing, or football existing before the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Once Schnellenberger figured out this formula, Miami built an imaginary fence around the tri-county South Florida area and used those recruits, along with the occasional barbarian quarterback from Minnesota (Steve Walsh), Ohio (Bernie Kosar), or California (Ken Dorsey, Gino Toretta), to win 5 national championships in an 18-year span between 1983 and 2001. After that, well… as Thad, my old Gables barber who also worked as a cupcake maker at a bakery in Coconut Grove (Miami contains multitudes) tells it, the “referees conspired to rob The U of a title in 2002” and “The U hasn’t been the same since” but “when the U is back, man, it will be lit.”

As an aside, it is unclear when Miami became “The U,” but at an Art Basel event in 2019, I met a twitchy fellow named Paolo 4 cafecitos deep who told me  that having Canes fans make a “U” sign with their hands was an easier method of paying homage to football excellence in the 305/954/561/786 than the more traditional holding up the No. 1, which is 1 index finger removed from the hallowed and timeless salute given by Miami drivers to other drivers, regardless of country of origin, on I-95 from the hours of 5 a.m. until 4 a.m. Monday through Sunday. That’s as reasonable an explanation as any you’ll get in the Magic City, I think.

I was thinking of Thad and Paolo on Sunday night, watching Miami win a game against a top 10 opponent for the first time since 2017, which, incidentally, was Year 2 of the Mark Richt era and the last time Miami was dubbed “back.”  

Miami wasn’t “back” in 2017, but there’s also some truth in the Miami madness.

For example, 2017 represents the only season Miami played for a conference title since that fateful, feckless, preposterous, unconscionable, and likely unconstitutional (cruel and unusual punishment) pass interference penalty in 2002 that denied Miami a 6th national championship.

That Hurricanes team, propelled by a high-level recruiter and alum from the Miami glory years, started 10-0 before faceplanting in their final 3 games and missing the College Football Playoff.

Will Mario Cristobal’s team this season do the same? Are they capable of arriving at what looks like a critical November 1 ACC showdown with SMU unbeaten, holding their conference championship and Playoff fates in their own hands?

On Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium, everything about The U looked the part of a Playoff team and title contender.

First, there’s the veteran quarterback. Carson Beck isn’t Cam Ward, the star of last year’s 10-3 Canes team that, like the 2017 group, fell short of the Playoff with crushing losses in November. But Beck is an immensely coachable SEC champion from the University of Georgia. Against Notre Dame, he largely eliminated the risky throws that plagued parts of his 2024 campaign with Georgia. The lone hospital ball Beck tossed on Sunday resulted in a touchdown, thanks to a spectacular catch by CJ Daniels.

While Beck can’t count on that type of catch all the time, a headier, more efficient, safe Beck is what Shannon Dawson, one of the sport’s better offensive minds, needs, along with the steady veteran leadership he’s already gotten since Beck set foot on campus.  

Second, the team around Beck is more talented than any in the Richt era. The Canes rank 15th in the 247Sports talent composite and the team’s overall rank of nearly 875 in that composite is the highest in the Cristobal era. What’s more, after beating Notre Dame, the only remaining opponent on Miami’s regular season schedule more talented from a 247Sports composite standpoint is Florida, and that game will be played in front of a friendly crowd, just off the Florida Turnpike in Miami Gardens.

Third, the bulk of Miami’s talent is on the line of scrimmage, a testament to Cristobal’s intelligence and the lessons he learned from Nick Saban at Alabama, where he was a key recruiter and offensive line coach in the middle of the Saban dynasty. With 5-star talent across the offensive line, the Hurricanes should be able to run the ball on almost any occasion, making them a tough out on the road, where the run game matters more because of the need to control tempo and the crowd. On defense, a healthy Rueben Bain looked unblockable on Sunday night, and if you double Bain, Akheem Mesidor remains one of college football’s most underrated ends. The interior, a question mark in camp, looked capable, and highly touted Justin Scott looked ready to take a leap.

Finally, there’s the matter of who Miami already beat and what it tells about this team’s character.

This wasn’t some overrated giant or blueblood in decline. This was an ascendant Notre Dame, the program with perhaps the best coach under 45 in the sport, loaded with talent and less than a calendar year removed from playing in the national title game. When the Fighting Irish rallied from 2 scores down to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, other Hurricanes teams, ones deemed capable of bringing The U “back,” may have wilted. This group didn’t. It went and seized the game from Notre Dame again instead, and the much-maligned Hurricanes defense came up big on the game’s final drive.

It is, of course, just one game. And Miami did this last season, too, blasting what proved to be a decent Florida team in The Swamp in Week 1 before faltering down the stretch with losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse.

If Miami slips up against the hated reptilians in 2 weeks, this win, shining like a summer sunset over Key Biscayne, will be forgotten quickly.

After all, Miami is weird.

As Jimmy Buffett so rightly said, there’s an “impromptu” to the place, a laissez faire, what have you done for me lately, TikTok generation attention span sentiment befitting a city that started as a trading post.

Win now, and Hard Rock will stay full. Miami fans will flood the turnpike on Saturdays, sporting makeshift turnover chains and Tommy Bahama tops and pumping Pitbull and Rick Ross as they dance in convertibles stuck in gameday traffic on the Golden Glades interchange. Win now, and a city whose sports fans are too hot and bothered to be hot and bothered by defeat will coalesce and rise up to become the roaring cauldron of sound that made Hard Rock an incredible place for football last Sunday night. Win now, and Mario Cristobal will become nearly as immortal as the 2 national championship teams he played on, a legend forever known as the man who brought Miami “back.”

Lose?

Miamians will find something better to do, like trying to park a golf cart in Dadeland, picking a fight with the city commission over the 42nd Miami International Airport renovation in the last 41 years, or traveling to outside Miami to see Leo Messi play soccer in Fort Lauderdale for a team called Inter Miami or buying season tickets to see the world champion Florida Panthers play ice hockey in the Everglades because well, what’s more Miami than a sports team that doesn’t play in Miami?

The post Miami has done this before. Can Mario Cristobal bring The U back for good this time? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

That means “The List” is back too, granted a seventh season by providence and the good folks who edit my work here at Saturday Down South.

What is “The List,” you wayward souls might ask, having obviously only recently converted to college football, the south’s most cherished Saturday tradition.

Well, I’m glad you asked. It’s the definitive list of the 10 best college football players in the country’s best college football conference.

Like southern hospitality served up on game day in The Grove, it’s a “List” with all the fixins’—no positional limitations, an honorable mention list limited to 2 players per school, and a concern for production over reputation and NFL scouting projections. “The List” doesn’t care how many mock drafts you are in or how many preseason All-SEC lists you donned. “The List” likes the guys who prove it on the grass.

While it is obviously a simple job to rank the 10 best players in a 16-team league that prides itself on gridiron excellence and is known as a NFL factory, it’s still an honor to do it. After 7 years, I’m told “The List” is essentially SEC gospel (or was it fish wrapping?) in Harris Teeters and Piggly Wiggly’s across the SEC footprint. In other words, pay attention. You might learn something. Or you might decide (rightly, of course) that I hate your favorite player and the reason your team’s star didn’t make the top 10 is because (1) I do not know ball and (2) I hate your favorite team. After all, it’s easy to pick only 10 players from a 16-school league that’s dominated the sport for the last 4 decades.

In addition to being great paper for wrapping a bespoke butcher cut Sunday roast, “the List” is also predictive. Here are the 6 players crowned “Best Football Player in the SEC” since this Nick Saban-like (too soon, Alabama fans?) journey to the summit of college football listhood began in 2019:

• 2019: Joe Burrow, QB (LSU)
• 2020: Devonta Smith, WR (Alabama)
• 2021: Nakobe Dean, LB (Georgia)
• 2022: Christopher Smith II, S (Georgia)
• 2023: Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)
• 2024: Dylan Sampson, RB (Tennessee)

That’s 5 College Football Playoff appearances, 3 national champions, 3 Heisman Trophy winners, a Butkus Award winner, 5 unanimous All-Americans (Dylan Sampson was robbed). In other words, the winner of “The List” is almost certainly a player who earns individual acclaim while attaining tremendous team success.

Who will join them this season?

We were told it would be Arch Manning, the kid from college football royalty who entered the season as the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy despite starting just 2 career games. We learned this past weekend that at least as of Week 1, Arch isn’t even a top 10 quarterback in the SEC.

We were told South Carolina might suffer a bit defensively after losing “List” mainstay Nick Emmanwori (last year’s No. 3) and multiple defensive linemen from Shane Beamer’s best defense in Columbia. The Gamecocks stifled an excellent Virginia Tech offense to open their campaign, quickly silencing critics.

We were told Ryan Williams and a ferocious defense would help Alabama overwhelm a Florida State team coming off a 2-win 2024 season that spent too much time talking trash in the summer. The Seminoles beat Alabama in every facet of football on Saturday and Williams was a non-factor.

And that’s just the start of a Week 1 that brought upsets, statement wins, and special teams magic, like this Rayshawn Pleasant 98-yard, high speed jaunt to the house in Auburn’s 38-24 win over Baylor last Friday night.

Largely to let folks know that we at “The List” watch as much SEC football as humanly possible even when it’s a tape delay of a 61-6 Mizzou bloodletting of hopeless FCS Central Arkansas—we have an “Honorable Mention” section, limited to two players per program. If your favorite player isn’t on that list…well, I don’t like them. Or they should play better. You decide.

Keep in mind a Week 1 list is pure chaos. No player has ever won “The List” and been No. 1 after Week 1. But chaos is a ladder, or something. It’s better to be in the mix than not discussed.

Starting with Honorable Mentions, here are the best football players in the SEC after Week 1.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: Germie Bernard, WR; Keon Sabb, S. Auburn: Damari Alston, RB; Jackson Arnold, QB. Arkansas: Taylen Green, QB; Shakur Smalls, DB. Florida: Austin Barber, OT; Bryce Thornton, DB. Georgia: Zachariah Branch, WR; CJ Allen, LB. Kentucky: Dante Dowdell, RB; Jonquis Hardaway, DB. LSU: Braelin Moore, C; Patrick Payton, DE. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, DB; Brylan Lanier, S. Missouri: Connor Tollison, C; Jeremiah Beasley, LB. Oklahoma: John Mateer, QB; Febechi Nwaiwu, OG. Ole Miss: Zxavian Harris, DT; Harrison Wallace III, WR. South Carolina: Nyck Harbor, WR; Fred Johnson, LB. Tennessee: DeSean Bishop, RB; Arion Carter, LB. Texas: Michael Taaffe, S; Anthony Hill Jr., LB. Texas A&M: Trey Zuhn III, OT; Mario Craver, WR. Vanderbilt: Diego Pavia, QB. Eli Stowers, TE.

10. Jeremiah Wright, OG (Auburn)

Wright graded out as Auburn’s best offensive linemen (78.6 PFF grade) on an evening when the Tigers simply steamrolled Baylor in the run game, piling up 307 yards rushing and 4 rushing touchdowns on their way to an impressive 38-24 win in Waco. Wright also did not surrender a single quarterback pressure on the evening, making him Auburn’s best pass blocker in the win in addition to best overall lineman. Hugh Freeze felt his veteran offensive line was one of the nation’s more underrated units all offseason. Wright helped show why in Week 1.

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9. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)

Lane Kiffin poached Lacy from Missouri after the compact Texan touched the ball just 23 times for Eli Drinkwitz as a freshman. Lacy eclipsed his total season yardage at Missouri in just one game in Oxford, tallying 108 yards on 16 carries and scoring 3 touchdowns in a 63-7 Ole Miss romp over Georgia State. Will Lacy have staying power on “the List”? That’s tough to say, given LSU-by-way-of-Notre Dame transfer RB Logan Diggs is also on the roster and will command carries of his own for an Ole Miss team committed to running the ball more effectively than a season ago, when Jaxson Dart or bust was the mantra too often in big games. But it’s instructive that Lacy played 56 snaps on Saturday, nearly 40 more than Diggs (17). His flexibility and willingness to block should assure him of future Saturdays where he’s the primary option for the Rebels, affording him the chance to hang around on “The List.”

8. Will Whitson, DE (Mississippi State)

Whitson was a bit of a portal afterthought after transferring in from Coastal Carolina this spring, but he looked like one of the SEC’s best football players in Week 1, collecting 4 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and a sack for Mississippi State in its dominant 34-17 win over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg. Whitson, who graded out as the SEC’s top defensive lineman in Week 1, per PFF, added a game-high 5 pressures and 4 quarterback hurries in the win, which should help State build confidence for a huge home opener this coming weekend against 2024 College Football Playoff program Arizona State.

7. Harold Perkins Jr., LB (LSU)

A “List” mainstay early in his career as a freshman, Perkins battled injuries and inconsistency since but looked like a dominant player again on Saturday night at Clemson. Perkins tallied 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and a sack in LSU’s 17-10 statement win. More vitally, he showed none of the negatives that made him a run defense liability at times a season ago. Perkins played under control, assignment football, missing 0 tackles and helping LSU limit Clemson’s run game to just 1.6 yards per carry on the evening. With Whit Weeks bound to appear on “the List” or honorable mentions this season, the re-emergence of a dominant Perkins could be a championship level difference maker for this LSU program.

6. Raylen Wilson, LB (Georgia)

Wilson was all over the field for the Junkyard Dawgs defense in Georgia’s 45-7 rout of Marshall. The junior from Tallahassee tallied 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 3 quarterback pressures, and 2 hurries to help Georgia limit the Thundering Herd to just 207 total yards and 7 first downs on the afternoon. Kirby Smart’s embarrassment of riches at the linebacker position (CJ Allen was fantastic Saturday, among others) makes it difficult to pick just one Bulldogs defender for “List” honors, but Wilson’s Week 1 warranted inclusion as it was the best performance on a Saturday full of brilliant ones for Georgia’s outstanding defense.  

 5. Alex Afari Jr., LB (Kentucky)

The preseason Butkus Award candidate was absolutely dominant in Kentucky’s opening week win over Toledo, registering 13 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, a sack, and a hurry for Big Blue. A 3-year starter who is a clinical tackler, Afari was a perfect 13 for 13 in tackle opportunities on Saturday.

His performance was the highest graded performance by a linebacker in the SEC in Week 1, helping earn the senior a spot on “The List.”

4. Mansoor Delane, DB (LSU)

It’s too soon to know if “DBU” is back in Baton Rouge, but Delane’s performance, allowing just 1 catch on 8 targets against one of the nation’s best receiving corps, is a huge leap in the right direction.

Delane punctuated the performance with an interception and was perfect (2 for 2) in tackle opportunities, showing a willingness to get dirty defending the run and preventing yards after the catch on the rare instance Cade Klubnik found a receiver in space. If Blake Baker is as good as LSU looked schematically in Week 1, Delane could be a secondary anchor for a national championship contender. That’s the kind of thing that keeps a guy on “The List” all season.

3. Jake Slaughter, C (Florida)

In a week when plenty of preseason award candidates stumbled, Slaughter delivered. The Florida senior center, a 2024 First-Team All-American and the SEC’s highest graded returning offensive lineman, per PFF, graded out at a preposterous 91.4 in Florida’s season opening rout of overwhelmed Long Island. Slaughter did his work blocking for 2 quarterbacks (DJ Lagway in the first half, impressive freshman Trammel Jones in the second half), while helping the Gators grind out 201 yards rushing in ho-hum 55-point win.

RELATED: Florida faces a tough Week 2 matchup against USF. Check out all the best Florida sports betting apps to get in on the action.

2. Dylan Stewart, Edge (South Carolina)

Stewart became the first freshman to ever sit atop “The List” last season and he begins this season just 1 spot removed from pole position after a terrific opening week performance in South Carolina’s win over Virginia Tech. Stewart registered 7 tackles, showcasing improved edge setting in run defense, helping the Gamecocks limit the Hokies to just 3.1 yards per carry and a 27% success rate running the football. Meanwhile, the first step and burst that made him an elite pass rusher in year showed up too, as Stewart tallied 4 hurries and a sack in the South Carolina victory. In other words, a preseason All-American looked like an All-American.

1. Garrett Nussmeier, QB (LSU)

If it was just about numbers, it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to shrug at Garrett Nussmeier’s 232 yards, 6.1 yard per attempt, 1 touchdown performance in LSU’s 17-10 win at Memorial Stadium in Clemson on Saturday night. But football is played on grass, not stat sheets, and Saturday night’s LSU win — the best victory of the Brian Kelly era — belonged to Nussmeier. In one of college football’s toughest road environments, playing behind a rebuilt offensive line against a steady pass rush, Nussmeier’s toughness and ability to stand in and make the correct read and throw consistently were the difference in the football game. He also should have had better numbers — a dime to Barrion Brown (below) should have been a touchdown and there were 0 hospital ball throws or turnover worthy plays:

In other words, in a battle of 2 quarterbacks on preseason awards list, Nussmeier played the smarter, more efficient, cleaner game against an extremely talented defense. His development is an incredible story — and LSU’s 2025 story may become legendary because of it.

RELATED: Sports betting is live in Louisiana. Check out the best LA betting apps head of LSU’s Week 2 contest.

The post Top 10 players in the SEC after Week 1 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The game has immense implications for both programs.

This matchup will be Notre Dame’s second contest at Hard Rock Stadium in its last 3 games. The Fighting Irish defeated Penn State 27-24 to win the Orange Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinal this past January. The Fighting Irish ultimately lost the national title game to Ohio State. For Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame, the game is an opportunity to emphasize that last season was no fluke, and the Fighting Irish have all the makings of a program capable of being a perennial contender in the NIL and Playoff era.

Snubbed from the Playoff after a 10-2 campaign last season, Miami and fourth-year head coach Mario Cristobal are looking for the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2023 and the program’s first win over a top 10 opponent since Mark Richt routed Notre Dame in 2017. In fact, Miami defeated more ranked opponents (2) in the final season under Manny Diaz than it has the entirety of the 3-plus years Cristobal has roamed the sidelines in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes are just 1-6 in games against ranked opposition under Cristobal, with the lone victory coming against No. 23 Texas A&M during what proved to be the final year of the Jimbo Fisher era in College Station. Another loss on a big stage will only supercharge the doubts about whether Cristobal, a marvelous recruiter, has the candle power and attention to detail needed to return a championship dividend on his tremendous talent acquisition efforts.

On the field, the game features no shortage of subplots.

Both teams start new quarterbacks. For Miami, No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Cam Ward, who elevated the play of everyone in the program, is gone. Once again, however, the Canes landed the best quarterback in the transfer portal, bringing in SEC champion Carson Beck of Georgia, who has over 7,500 yards passing and 52 touchdown passes in the past 2 seasons as the starter in Athens.

Notre Dame debuts CJ Carr, a highly recruited, but entirely unproven, redshirt freshman who played only a handful of snaps a season ago.

Advantage, Miami? Perhaps.

Here are 3 matchups that will define Miami and Notre Dame on Sunday evening:

Jeremiyah Love and the Notre Dame counter run game vs. Miami’s front 7

Despite a frustrating loss in the Pop Tarts Bowl, Miami’s much-maligned defense was actually quite stout against the run in 2024. The Hurricanes ranked 22nd in rushing defense and 20th in rushing success rate defense (the number of times a play is successful depends on yards gained given down and distance). Conference USA star David Blay will help, but the Canes still must replace the production of Simeon Barrow, C.J. Clark and Marley Cook, 3 key contributors inside a season ago. The Hurricanes’ new-look interior depth will be tested by a stout Notre Dame offensive line that returns over 1,500 snaps from a season ago but will be without starter Charles Jagusah, who broke his arm in July.

The battle up front will feature plenty of Notre Dame’s run game bread and butter: the counter.

The Fighting Irish bullied Georgia and wore Penn State out with these runs, and they run it out of various personnel groupings. In each concept, the guard pulls and kicks out, the backside tackle leads up, a tight end pursues the outside linebacker, and if the play is a handoff (they also like to run the quarterback on the counter), the handoff is frontside.

If the quarterback runs, they will occasionally move a receiver or tight end inside to occupy the alley linebacker, or put a running back in motion, which tends to pull the box linebacker and safety a bit wider, making it easier for the quarterback to attack an inside lane while also shortening the distance the running back has to go to block the alley backer.

Either concept is difficult to defend because the Fighting Irish block and execute so flawlessly.

Even if there is gap integrity and the Hurricanes manage to slow Jeremiyah Love, they’ll still need to tackle him. As Penn State learned a season ago on the same field they’ll play on this Sunday evening, that’s tough.

Love gained a preposterous 711 of his 1,125 yards last season after contact. In other words, a Miami defense that ranked 12th in the ACC in missed tackle rate (not great!) better wrap up or it will be a long evening for The U.

Carson Beck and TE Elija Lofton vs. the middle of the Notre Dame defense

Al Golden is off to the NFL, but new Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash is unlikely to depart from Golden’s core principles.

 Notre Dame is going to trust its boundary corners to play man and strong safety Adon Shuler to flood and help on speedier slot receivers. A season ago, All-American Xavier Watts played single high concepts more than any free safety in the sport (27% of Notre Dame snaps!). That number will decrease with Jean Stroman and Tae Johnson playing deep, but Notre Dame isn’t going to shy away from using a boundary safety to funnel offenses inside.

Can Carson Beck, who was outstanding with tight ends at Georgia, showcase a quick rapport with ultra-talented Elija Lofton?

Lofton caught only 9 passes a season ago, but his freakish athleticism and speed has drawn some eye-opening comparisons at a program that has churned out elite tight ends for generations.

Christian Gray and Leonard Moore are 2 of the better cover corners in America. They should limit the damage done by Miami’s new wide receiver room.

But Lofton is a matchup problem, too fast for any of Notre Dame’s linebackers and 3 inches taller and 30 pounds bigger than any Notre Dame safety or nickel.

The middle of the field will be open throughout the evening on Sunday. Beck has proven he can find an elite tight end.

Lofton’s unproven, but this might be the biggest mismatch in the football game?

Miami’s power run game vs. Notre Dame’s smaller front

Notre Dame’s lone defensive weakness in 2024 was halting power run games.

James Franklin’s decision to throw at times in the second half, despite Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton gashing the smaller Fighting Irish front, may have cost Penn State the Orange Bowl. In the national title game, Quinshon Judkins and Will Howard controlled the clock and football game on the ground until eventually and reluctantly, Notre Dame cheated a safety, and the dam broke over the top.

The Fighting Irish are marvelous at linebacker, led by 5-star Jaylen Sneed and the steady Drayk Bowen, one of the best tacklers in the sport (94% tackle rate).

But Mario Cristobal’s recruiting prowess — and his coaching zone of genius — is up front. Francis Mauigoa leads a talented offensive line and the addition of TCU transfer James Brockermeyer, an outstanding center, makes the group even stronger. The left side is a bit more uncertain, but the bottom line is the group has 5-star recruits like Samson Okunlola on the bench. The Canes are big and nasty up front and might be able to push Notre Dame around come the second half in the heat and humidity. Plus, Mark Fletcher Jr., Miami’s best running back, is quick to hit the hole and needs little space to succeed.

Notre Dame believes it will be better on the defensive line in 2025. Senior Jason Onye is making his return from injury, adding experience, and Jared Dawson transferred in from Louisville after grading out as one of the nation’s best run stoppers in 2024 (84.5 run defense grade, per PFF).

Notre Dame’s defense has to keep the Fighting Irish in the game long enough for Carr to settle in and realize he’s capable.

That will start with run defense.

Prediction: Miami 16, Notre Dame 10

A low scoring struggle turns on a big Elija Lofton catch and score, and Miami’s run game ices the game in the fourth quarter as CJ Carr struggles in his first start. A huge win for Mario Cristobal puts The U firmly in the Playoff picture.

The post 3 matchups that will define Notre Dame and Miami’s top 10 opener appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Every college football season has these players. They aren’t “X Factors.” They aren’t always unproven, unrecruited, or undiscussed, either.

But they are essential. They are names that you need to know ahead of SEC football this autumn. And once you know these names, you’ll look good at the family tailgate. Trust.

Call them: “The Underdogs.”

The roster- and data-cruncher fans will insist they saw it coming or they knew it “back when.”

Coaches will give you high level coach speak on how you could see it in the way “they prepare.”

Teammates will talk about how these players “love ball.”

No matter how it gets buttoned up, these are the guys every team needs. Maybe they are household names and breakout stars come November. Maybe (more likely?) they are team leaders you simply can’t win without, even if the public glory is garnered elsewhere.

This isn’t “The List,” a celebration of the 10 best football players in America’s best football conference. That “List,” which I’m told is gospel in Waffle Houses and Harris Teeters across the southeast, returns in one week. I can’t wait. I promise y’all I’m profoundly aware of how easy it is to choose only 10 players from the mighty SEC and rank them. I know you all could do better than me.

But for now, let’s set aside petty differences and bickering and discuss 10 players whose work wasn’t at the center of every offseason awards conversation but who, when toe finally meets leather this week, will help tell the story of SEC football in 2025. And, yes, if your favorite undiscussed, underrated, future breakout star isn’t on this list… it’s obviously because I don’t like that player or haven’t heard of them, and not because I could only choose 10 players from a 16-team league that has dominated the sport for most the century.

Here are 10 Underdogs who will help define SEC football in 2025.

10. Sedrick Alexander, RB (Vanderbilt)

There’s real energy around Clark Lea’s program and for good reason. The Commodores finished with a winning record for the first time this decade a season ago, defeating both Alabama and Auburn in the process. That hadn’t happened in the same season since before integration. Now, star quarterback Diego Pavia returns along with 17 starters, giving Lea one of the most experienced football teams in the SEC. Pavia led Vanderbilt in rushing in 2024, but Alexander added 586 yards and 6 touchdowns, and Lea expects him to shoulder a larger load in 2025, running behind a retooled offensive line Lea says will be the best he’s had in Nashville. Alexander was the leading freshman rusher in the SEC in 2023, and his blend of speed and power suggests a breakout season is just around the bend. We are betting it happens this autumn as Vanderbilt heads to a bowl game for the second-consecutive season.

9. Nyck Harbor, WR (South Carolina)

Harbor is a guy who would make my “guys who look the part getting off the bus” list, too, if such a list existed. He’s 6-5 and 235 pounds with track star speed. Think… Megatron? It’s not an overreaction. Getting off the bus, Harbor “looks” like Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson. The rumblings out of Columbia are that this is the season Harbor cashes in on that talent on the football field. It isn’t that the first 2 seasons were bad. He caught 38 passes and started 13 games. It’s just that there’s more in the talent tank. He knew it, too, which is why he quit track to focus on football, shining throughout the spring. With LaNorris Sellers back to throw him the ball, Harbor has the feel of a guy who takes South Carolina from 7-to-8-win territory to College Football Playoff contender.

8. Keon Sabb, S (Alabama)

Finally healthy, Sabb should anchor an Alabama pass defense that ranked in the top 20 nationally a season ago but was 7.5% better in success rate pass defense with Sabb than without him. A former top-100 recruit and impactful member of Michigan’s 2023 national championship team, Sabb was a prize portal get for Kalen DeBoer in his first season on the Capstone and he delivered last autumn when he was able to play. A full season of Sabb should elevate a deep Crimson Tide secondary to a top 10 group nationally. If that happens, this could be the best defense in the SEC.

7. Trevor Goosby, OT (Texas)

Texas cannot win the national championship if Trevor Goosby doesn’t make good on his immense talent. There’s just too much quantifiable data to the contrary, namely in the form of over 10,000 career snaps departed from the Texas offensive line, which loses All-American Kelvin Banks Jr. and 3 other starters from last year’s national semifinalist. Goosby showed flashes in 2024, but a PFF run blocking grade of just 61.3 ranks among the worst (14th) in the SEC among projected starting left tackles. The pass blocking grade (above 80) is among the top 5, though, and protecting Arch Manning is where Goosby will make his name and money. It’s also probably the story that defines Hook Em’s season.

6. Aaron Gates, DB (Florida)

If you ask people inside Florida’s football building who the best football player in the program is, at least 5 out of 10 will answer: Aaron Gates. The juice the Florida defense got when Gates arrived at camp ready to play at full speed only 9 months removed from an ACL injury, was palpable. Gates was absolutely dominant at times last season, including the Georgia game, where he registered an interception, 3 tackles for loss, and a pass break up…all on 2 consecutive possessions.

Billy Napier loves his flexibility, in addition to his “relentless effort.”

“He can play anywhere in the secondary for us, probably corner if we needed him, too.”

Teammates talk about his consistency and leadership.

“AG is the first one in the building. He is the last one to leave. It’s not a cliché. It’s a guy who loves football and who will do anything to win,” Florida safety Jordan Castell said of his teammate.

Florida has not finished in the top 50 nationally in total defense this decade.

“Yeah, I think that we are on a mission here to play championship-caliber defense. That’s what I would say. We are on an absolute mission to play defense at a high level. It’s one of the things that we have failed to establish here since I’ve been the head coach, to be blunt.”

That could change this season if Gates makes the leap he’s capable of making for the Gators.

5. Eric Singleton Jr., WR (Auburn)

Singleton Jr., who brings over 100 career receptions and 1,400 career receiving yards to the Plains from Georgia Tech, is hardly unproven. One of the top-ranked receivers in the transfer portal, he isn’t unheralded, either. At most places, he’d be one of the most discussed players in “talking season.” At Auburn? He’s the “other receiver” — the one that isn’t All-American Cam Coleman. Whoever calls plays or plays quarterback at Auburn, Coleman is going to get his against every defense Auburn faces. Singleton Jr. is the guy that raises Coleman’s level from All-American candidate to Biletnikoff finalist good. He’s the guy who makes Auburn fans tell lies about things other than winning 9 national titles. He’s been, according to Auburn staff, “unguardable” in camp.

 You can’t key on Cam when Singleton Jr. can beat you on any given snap. You can’t key on Singleton because you have Cam Coleman. It’s a certified problem, and if Auburn finally turns the corner under Hugh Freeze, Singleton Jr. will be a huge part of the story.

4. Connor Tollison, C (Missouri)

Look, I understand that the SEC has a First-Team All-American center (Jake Slaughter of Florida) and Second-Team All-American center (Parker Brailsford (Alabama). Those 2 deserve every accolade that comes their way. What I don’t understand, though, is how Connor Tollison, who grades out higher than any SEC center but Slaughter in the past 2 years, per PFF, is left off the preseason All-SEC team. Another classic case of Missouri disrespect? Perhaps, but Tollison probably won’t care if Mizzou, which as a program has as many or more wins during the past 2 seasons as every SEC school save Texas and Georgia, keeps winning. To do that, they’ll need Tollison calling out the defenses for a new quarterback and continuing to improve as a run blocker for a new look Missouri running back room. The accolades Tollison deserves may — or may not — follow.

3. Patrick Payton, DE (LSU)

Payton is a strange player to land on an “Underdogs” list. He’s more of a “Redemption” candidate. In 2022, he was named the ACC Defensive Freshman of the Year. In 2023, he garnered All-ACC honors on a Florida State team that went 13-0 and won the ACC Championship Game before not being invited to the College Football Playoff and promptly throwing in the towel in righteous disgust at the Orange Bowl (a 63-3 FSU loss to Georgia). A season ago, like everyone else on his 2-10 FSU team, Payton underperformed. He registered a career low in tackles, pressures, and sacks and hit the portal after FSU’s season-ending loss to Florida. Given a second life at LSU, Payton has looked splendid since arriving in Baton Rouge, earning praise for his motor and approach from Brian Kelly himself. If Payton reclaims the form that made him an anchor of one of the nation’s most fearsome defenses at FSU in 2023, the entire conversation around LSU starts to trend away from Playoff good to Championship good.

2. Elo Modozie, Edge (Georgia)

Before you yell “Boring!” at the lack of imagination in picking an edge defender from a program that churns out dominant front 7 players as efficiently as the Chick-Fil-A drive through, take a step back and acquaint yourself with Modozie’s story. A tremendous student, Modozie had 1 FBS offer out of his Jacksonville area high school (Bartram Trail near St. Augustine) — the United States Military Academy, to play wide receiver. Jeff Monken and his defensive coordinator Nate Woody took a look at him, saw explosive athleticism and toughness, and decided he’d be more impactful for the Black Knights on defense. Instead of pouting, Modozie bought in, learning a new position and eventually blossoming into an All-AAC performer in 2024. On a Kirby Smart defense loaded with talent but lacking in proven pass-rushing experience, Modozie has more career pressures (42) than the rest of the returning Georgia roster (39) combined and nearly as many career sacks (7.5) as all red and black returnees (8). Defenses may key or load up on the big-time talents of Christen Miller, Gabe Harris, or Jordan Hall. That will be a mistake, thanks to Modozie, who has All-SEC and household name written all over him. Not bad for a 0-star recruit.

1. Suntarine Perkins, LB (Ole Miss)

Suntarine Perkins is a second-team preseason All-SEC selection. He’s hardly an unknown or unheralded commodity.

And yet he feels underrated and unappreciated, in some respects, given he’s one of the most dominant returning havoc creators in college football. Pete Golding utilized Perkins all over the field a season ago — Perkins even registered 19 snaps as a slot corner (largely on tight ends, but a wild number nonetheless) due to his coverage skills —but it’s ability to chase the football and pressure the quarterback that makes him a difference maker. Perkins tallied 10.5 sacks and 43 hurries in 2024. Scroll above for perspective: SEC champion Georgia returns fewer sacks and pressures on its entire roster until you add Elo Modozie to the mix. The big question for Perkins is whether he can improve as a run defender. He graded out at just 62.4 against the run last season, and the bulk of the players who helped Ole Miss finish the season with the nation’s No. 2 success rate run defense (Walter Nolen, Princely Umanmielen, JJ Pegues, and Jared Ivey, among others) have all moved on to the NFL.

If Ole Miss is a top 20 defense again, Lane Kiffin has another Playoff contender. If Perkins becomes a star, they might not have to lobby the committee again come early December.

The post 10 ‘underdogs’ who will help define SEC football in 2025 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

If they are, don’t say Dabo Swinney didn’t warn you.

He was out there all along, telling you that if Clemson was a stock, you needed to “buy all you can freaking buy right now” in November 2023. I’d understand if you didn’t empty your wallet back then, given the Tigers were 5-4 at the time, grinding their way through the toughest year in Tigertown since a 6-7 campaign in 2010, Swinney’s second full season in charge.

Swinney offered the sage stock tip again in 2024, though, as Clemson lingered just outside the top 20 and Playoff picture most of the year before clipping SMU in the ACC Championship Game to win Swinney his 9th ACC title and send Clemson back to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020.

In other words, you were told to invest.

You were told not to bail on a stock that’s delivered 14 consecutive seasons of 9 wins or more.

You were told not to abandon a program that’s advanced to the College Football Playoff 7 times since 2015, winning 2 national championships and playing for 2 others in that time span.

You were told that Tyler in Spartanburg and the folks like him who felt Clemson was no longer perched among the national elite simply because they managed 40 wins and 2 ACC championships in the past 4 seasons — preposterous levels of success for about 98% of the other programs in America — were part of the problem.

I hope some of you listened. Wealth may be just around the corner.

Clemson enters the 2025 college football season as one of the Vegas frontrunners to win the national championship, sitting anywhere from 9-1 to 12-1 in futures betting, easily among the top 5 betting favorites in the country.

Swinney, who is only 55, has a loaded football team that returns 17 starters from last season’s ACC champion. The Tigers were the overwhelming choice to win the ACC again, garnering 167 of the 183 available media votes at ACC Media Day in Charlotte last month.

But this year’s Clemson team is focused on a much grander prize: a third national championship in the last 10 years for the program everyone loves to doubt.

Did you buy all the stock you can freaking buy?

Admittedly, I didn’t.

Perhaps I should have, since Clemson is my 2025 national championship pick.

Sure, there were reasons to wonder if Swinney had lost his fastball.

It wasn’t just the record. In truth, it was hardly the record.

At most programs, 40 wins over 4 seasons, with 2 conference championships and a College Football Playoff appearance, would be cause for celebration, not alarm.

It was the notion that Swinney was too old school, too antiquated in his commitment to the “Clemson family” to understand modern program building.

In an era when championship programs consistently use transfers to build title contenders (each of the past 5 national champions featured at least 5 starters from the transfer portal), Swinney declined until recently to even dip his toes into the portal’s roster-healing waters. Swinney and his staff remain one of the best recruiting and evaluating programs in America, but in this age, high school recruiting alone is essential but insufficient.

There are signs, at least, that Swinney understands that, even if he won’t truly change his stripes — stripes that, keep in mind, have made Clemson one of the winningest college football programs this century.

Will Heidt was brought in from Purdue to boost the pass rush and depth on an underachieving defensive line. Tristan Smith arrives with 6-5 length and a big-time FCS receiving profile to add red-zone options for an offense that seemed to find its big play footing in the ACC Championship Game and hard-fought College Football Playoff defeat to Texas. Jeremiah Alexander arrives from Alabama to help ease the loss of Barrett Carter to the NFL at linebacker. When you recruit as well as Clemson, the portal doesn’t need to be plug and play. Instead, it can be a tool for strategic depth building. Swinney’s willingness to understand and adapt, whether long overdue or not, will make this incarnation of Clemson better.

The Tigers also have an immense talent at the most important position in sports in Cade Klubnik who, after taking his lumps and earning his battle scars, is finally blossoming into an elite leader and performer on the football field.

Klubnik is as “Clemson” a story as you get in the sport of college football these days.

A 5-star recruit and the No. 1 quarterback out of high school, Klubnik’s lost quarterback competitions, football games, and frustrated fans throughout his time at Clemson. Many players facing the fishbowl Klubnik’s stared down in 4 seasons on the banks of Lake Hartwell would have left long ago. Klubnik stayed, buying into Swinney’s concept of football as a family, a group that sticks together, grows together, loses together, and wins together.

Klubnik now is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate, playing with a loaded wide receiver corps, improved offensive line depth, and a confidence and swagger that was missing too often from his first 2-plus seasons on campus. Longtime run game stalwart Phil Mafah has gone to the NFL and Jay Haynes is still recovering from an ACL injury, but between Adam Randall, Gideon Davidson, and David Eziomume, it isn’t as if that room lacks talent.

Clemson’s title hopes and the merits of my national title prediction will depend on how much more new defensive coordinator Tom Allen gets from a run defense that was, put plainly, putrid in 2025 (85th in rushing defense, 90th in rushing defense success rate). Allen coached a top 10 run unit at national semifinalist Penn State a season ago, and before that, his Indiana teams were constantly stout against the run.

The Tigers have incredible talent on the interior of that line, with Peter Woods and DeMonte Capehart legitimate freaks. A season ago, teams ran outside as a result, funneling action away from Woods and towards pass-rushing specialist TJ Parker and Clemson’s edge players. Whether Allen and Clemson have fixed that will be the first thing to watch come August 30, when LSU visits Memorial Stadium in a game that will not only decide who plays in the real Death Valley but tell us a ton about the national championship potential of both teams.

Clear that test on their home field, though, and the Tigers should be off to the races, with only an October 4 trip to Chapel Hill and an October 18 home tilt with SMU likely to push Clemson until it visits South Carolina in a Palmetto Cup that could have Playoff implications come November.

Swinney is still a younger man in coaching circles, and it’s hard to imagine he walks away from the game anytime soon, especially if he’s stuck around through the NIL, portal, and Playoff explosion that has defined the first half of this decade.

But it feels like this year, with a loaded team and favorable schedule, could be an inflection point. If Swinney doesn’t win a third national title this season, will he?

Cynics will say no.

But I wouldn’t doubt Little Ol’ Clemson.

The post Dabo Swinney and Clemson told you to buy stock low. Now they are out to prove it was a shrewd investment appeared first on Saturday Down South.

We need Week 0 like a southerner needs black eyed peas on New Year’s Day, and even though 2 midwestern teams playing a college football game on an island in Europe is about as weird as LIV Golf pumping music into their 3-round weekend snoozefests, we will all watch it with grateful hearts come Saturday as long as it means talking season is finally over.  

What did the B1G do now, you ask? Or more likely, why did the B1G believe pitching its latest idea for College Football Expansion to B1G athletic directors and then leaking the hare-brained scheme to the press was a good idea?

If you missed it, the B1G’s latest pitch for Playoff expansion involves a field of as many as 28 teams, a mega-tournament so big that well, who could possibly complain?

Undoubtedly feeling itself after winning the last 2 national championships, the B1G has stuck its neck out in College Football Playoff expansion discussions, which have stalled over format disagreements in the past few months.

The biggest advantage to a field of 28, one B1G athletic director told SDS this week, is that “you couldn’t really argue that the best teams didn’t get invited.”

Expansion seems inevitable at this point. It’s just a question of what it looks like.

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti seems to prefer a field of 16 that features multiple automatic bids for each Power 4 conference. The question is how those bids get divided. Under one B1G proposed model, the SEC and B1G would receive 4 auto bids each. The ACC and Big 12 would receive 2 more auto bids, and 1 auto bid would go to the highest ranked champion from the non-Power 4 conferences. There would then be 3 at-large bids determined by a selection committee.

In the 28-team field, a play-in weekend would potentially replace (or complement, in a way no one has yet to explain) conference championship weekend, allowing teams ranked 3 to 6 in power conferences the opportunity to earn a spot in a final 16-team bracket.

The Big 12, already irritated at the B1G 4-4-2-2 proposal, stalled discussions earlier this summer by suggesting a 16-team bracket that awards 5 auto bids (4 Power 4 conference champs, 1 bid to the top ranked non-Power 4 conference champion) and 11 at large berths. That format intrigued enough SEC athletic directors to foment unrest and opposition to the B1G’s preferred format. The net result has been stalled discussions on expansion, at least until now.

Here’s the thing about 28 teams – or even 24, which admittedly works at the FCS level but feels too big at the FBS level.

It cheapens the regular season.

That’s already occurring in the 12-team format, where serious debate circulated over which 3-loss team was more “worthy” of playing for the national championship in the first year of the expanded format. But 28 teams? A 7-5 entrant is inevitable. A sport that built a brand on every Saturday being meaningful would suddenly have a Playoff that stands as the ultimate monument to mediocrity. I’m not the most superstitious guy, but I might hang a horseshoe above my doorway to keep that evil from entering our beloved sport.

Imagine losing an Iron Bowl and immediately getting the chance to replay it in the Round of 16 two weeks later? That’s a scenario that could happen in a field of 12 or 16 to be sure, but what better way to water down the bragging rights that are part and parcel of the sport’s lifeblood than to almost assure an 8-3 Auburn upsetting a 10-1 Alabama has 0 impact on anyone, outside a handful of toilet paper salesman in the state of Alabama?

Also aren’t we as a culture turning away from participation trophies?

I think it’s fantastic that a team could overcome injuries/youth/insert adversity here and go 9-3 in the toughest league in college football. Don’t we have wonderful events like the Pop Tart Bowl to reward that accomplishment?

We don’t really need to let them play in a tournament for the national championship, do we?

And what’s the matter, exactly, with a 12-team Playoff? Five auto bids and 7 at-large berths seems a proper way to reward regular season excellence and offer December and January hope. Go to 16 if you must, with similar conference champion guarantees, but do we really need to debate whether team 29 deserved a Playoff game over team 28?

In the pantheon of bad sports ideas, from the participation trophy to the 0-12 youth basketball team to the glowing puck designed to help viewers follow a black puck on white ice (no, really, that’s what FOX felt was necessary), I would rate a 28-team Playoff at “Playing with Appalachian State in Dynasty Mode because you loved that game where they won at Michigan” levels of silly.

That’s not a knock against App State, I promise. If they go 12-0, the Mountaineers should have a seat at the Playoff table.

We just don’t need to invite a 9-3 Michigan team that loses to them to a Playoff play-in game.

If you want absurdity, play a video game.

If you want excellence, keep the field at 16 or fewer teams.

It’s supposed to be hard to win. The “hard” is what makes it worth it.

The emptiness of walking out of a stadium in late November, knowing your championship dreams just perished on the field, is part of what makes the sport great.

The pain of a lost season is what makes the special one worth savoring.

A 28-team Playoff spoils that journey. The journey, mercifully, begins again on Saturday.

The post A 28-team Playoff? What’s next? Participation trophies? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The disrespect might not be shared by the coaches who continually lose to or have to claw tooth and nail to beat Missouri, but the contemptuous disregard of Missouri football and its fans as “outsiders” who “aren’t up to the challenge of competing in the SEC” is nothing more than fan fiction. Any reasonable look at the numbers demonstrates that Missouri not only belongs, but belongs in every conversation about the SEC’s most consistent football programs.

Since joining the SEC in 2012, the Tigers have played for 2 SEC championships. The Tigers have been invited to 9 bowl games in 13 seasons, a greater rate of bowl invites than 7 other SEC programs in that span. More recent history is even more favorable. Missouri has won 21 games in the last 2 seasons, equal or better to every SEC program except Georgia and Texas. Yes, little old Missouri has as many wins as mighty Alabama in the past 2 years. The Tigers have 2 more wins than fellow rising program Tennessee (19) and a boatload more than storied SEC programs Florida (13) and Auburn (11).

Still, the narrative that Missouri is a pretender in a league of contenders persists.

How else to explain the fact that a 10-win team returning 15 starters was picked to finish 12th in the SEC? For perspective, South Carolina, returning just 12 starters from a 9-win outfit, was picked 5th. Auburn, returning 14 starters from a 5-win group that spent bowl season hunting and fishing, was picked ahead of Missouri, too.

If that level of disrespect happened at a blueblood program like Georgia or Alabama, a trove of local beat writers and Twitter trolls alike would sound the alarm for an entire summer. When it happens to Missouri, it’s largely a non-story.

One could advance the argument that this is about the quarterback position, not a predisposition of media folks to forget Missouri at best or smugly dismiss the Tigers at worst.

Let’s engage that argument in good faith, because it certainly makes sense to ask serious questions about a team with no proven answer at the most important position in sports.

Let’s note, for example, that Alabama, picked third in the SEC, is starting Ty Simpson, who has 30 career completions, at quarterback.

Gunner Stockton and Arch Manning, the presumed starters for the two programs picked ahead of Alabama in the SEC, have a combined 3 career starts.

But sure, the fact that all 3 of the SEC’s presumed favorites have either inexperience (Arch Manning) or full blown uncertainty (Gunner Stockton, Ty Simpson) at the quarterback position doesn’t negate the questions Missouri has, right? It only amplifies the reality that other programs have questions, too.

The 2 candidates fighting for the starting job at Missouri are Sam Horn, a former 4-star recruit coming off an elbow injury suffered playing baseball, and Beau Pribula, a longtime backup at College Football Playoff semifinalist Penn State who has more career completions and 9 more career touchdown passes than Ty Simpson. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz is confident in either player, praising both as camp has progressed.

With Pribula, Drinkwitz tells a story similar to the one being sold about Simpson in Alabama. Like Simpson, the talent has always been there. It’s just a matter of opportunity.

“I don’t think when you watch the tape, there’s an inability for Beau to throw. He just didn’t have the opportunities,” Drinkwitz told Saturday Down South at SEC Media Days. “I’m as confident as ever that Beau is a very talented passer. I don’t really have any reservations about that.”

Meanwhile, Horn has built on spring ball after his return from Tommy John surgery and Drinkwitz said this weekend that the junior has looked “great” in camp and there is “no separation” between the 2 candidates.

There’s an old football adage that if you have 2 quarterbacks, you have none, but that’s what makes Missouri returning 9 starters from a defense that ranked 17th in total defense, 18th in success rate defense, and 20th in SP+ defensive efficiency so valuable. Corey Batoon’s group should be salty enough to keep the wheels on while the Tigers figure things out.

Missouri’s front, led by SEC transfers and NFL prospects Chris McClellan (Florida, now in his second year at Missouri) and Damon Wilson II (Georgia), should improve on last year’s rather pedestrian pass rush and havoc numbers, which saw Missouri rank just 56th nationally in sacks and 10th in the SEC in defensive havoc rate (pressures, tackles for loss, sacks, hurries per overall plays). Wilson should seamlessly slot into the role left by Johnny Walker Jr. last year, who is off to the NFL after finishing 4th in the Southeastern Conference with 9.5 sacks in 2024. If that happens, a salty back end, led by All-SEC candidate Toriano Pride at corner and former All-SEC standout Jalen Catalon at safety, should continue to give Missouri one of the best pass defenses in college football (31st in 2024, 12th in success rate!)

The schedule also helps.

Missouri won’t leave the friendly confines of Faurot Field until October 18, opening the season with an absurd 6 game homestand that includes a bye week before Alabama comes calling on October 11. There are 3 winnable tune ups before SEC play opens with South Carolina on September 20. In other words, Missouri has time to sort the quarterback situation out before the meat of the season hits in late September and October.

There’s also the matter of Eli Drinkwitz.

A compelling argument could be made that he’s a top 3 coach in the SEC right now. He’s certainly one of the best in close games, with a record of 17-7 in one possession contests since taking over at Missouri. Only Kirby Smart (22-9) is better among SEC head coaches.

Drinkwitz mostly gets acclaim for his one liners and sense of humor, but he’s increasingly being viewed in the industry as one of the sport’s best roster builders in the NIL and portal era. In 2020, Drinkwtiz began his tenure at Missouri with a roster ranked 50th in the 247Sports talent composite. Through shrewd portal evaluations and a focus on in-state and St. Louis area recruiting, Drinkwitz will be fielding a second consecutive roster ranked in the top 20 overall. This is the type of sustained program building that is rare in the NIL and portal era and a testament to the fact that when Drinkwitz openly calls the 2025 Tigers his “most talented team,” he means it.

Missouri was essentially knocked out of Playoff contention last November when it lost at South Carolina late last season.

It’s instructive about where Drinkwtiz has the program, and just how high the standard at Missouri is at present, that it would feel disappointing for the Tigers not to be in the Playoff hunt again come November.

A third straight 10-win season feels possible, especially if the quarterback questions are resolved by either Pribula or Horn cashing in on immense talent. All the most difficult games are at home, save Oklahoma on November 22, and no SEC team gets Missouri off a bye week with the Tigers also playing on shorter rest. In other words, the SEC office did Missouri, a program constantly told it doesn’t belong, a few favors.

Astute SEC observers could do themselves a favor, too, and not sleep on Missouri.

Missouri, though, couldn’t care less either way.

“I think we know what we’ve built at Mizzou,” center Connor Tollison told SDS at SEC Media Days. “We are used to hearing about other programs, for sure. I don’t think much of the talking matters once we play football on the field. We are going to play fast and play physical. It’s been a good formula.”

It’s been one of the best formulas in the SEC.

It seems disrespectful to think it won’t be again in 2025.

Under Drinkwitz, Missouri is almost as used to disrespect as it is to winning.

The post Missouri is used to the disrespect. Eli Drinkwitz will have the Tigers in the Playoff picture anyway appeared first on Saturday Down South.

So persistent are the questions around the 2023 Gatorade National High School Player of the Year that even the most optimistic, good natured, reasonable journalists have expressed concern.

Billy Napier joked with the media this week that Lagway returning to full pad practices with the Gators seemed more of a relief “to y’all in the media” than the Gators, but in fairness, it isn’t the fact Lagway picked up a leg injury just before summer camp, it’s the amount of injuries Lagway’s been dealing with since his senior season at Willis High School just outside of Houston.

Never mind that Lagway missed only 1.5 games due to injury as a freshman in 2024—the same number of games Carson Beck missed due to injury at Georgia in 2024 and Taylen Green missed at Arkansas, mind you.

Set aside, if you will, that DJ Lagway at what he characterized as “75 percent” was good enough to beat a ranked LSU team and snuff out the Playoff dreams of Jaxson Dart and a top-10 Ole Miss squad last November.

Those facts are swallowed up by the noise and chatter that for Florida to truly escape the swampy shadowlands of the college football wilderness in 2025, they’ll need Lagway to do what he hasn’t done since his junior year of high school: stay healthy.

For what it’s worth, I think it’s obviously true that for the Gators to truly reach their College Football Playoff potential, they’ll need No. 2 in blue to be QB1 for a full season. Lagway possesses program-trajectory altering talent and intangibles, the kind of player who changes the fortunes for a head coach and fan base alike. If healthy, Lagway has a genuine chance to join the list of college quarterbacks who delivered on their leadership and talent to become household names: Trevor Lawrence. Tim Tebow. Joe Burrow. Jalen Hurts. You get the idea.

But what if Lagway has to sit a game or 2?

What if, for the third-consecutive season, Florida football sees its Game 1 starting quarterback miss more than 1 game due to injury?

Florida fans will, with some justice, wonder if they remain the object of the football overlords’ scorn after Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and the Swamp Kings ruthlessly (and too often lawlessly) ruled the SEC in the mid and late 2000s. It’s a curse, some Gators will insist, and after nearly 2 decades without a SEC title trophy or Playoff appearance of any kind, it will be difficult to argue. Perhaps the best move would be to put your head on a baseball bat, turn around 3 times, and spit? Alternatively, Florida fans could try hanging water moccasins from a tree. My Grandmama, a third-generation Floridian (that makes me fifth!) told me that will make it rain. I cannot confirm whether that’s true, or whether hanging water moccasins from a live oak tree will break a dreaded football curse, but after the decade-plus Florida’s had, it’s probably worth trying.

The easier path is for Lagway to stay healthy. If that happens, this is a College Football Playoff roster. The SEC is a line of scrimmage league, first and foremost, and Florida has arguably the best offensive line in the SEC, with a returning First-Team All-American at center and an All-American candidate at left tackle. The defensive line, which ranked third in the SEC in sacks and second in havoc rate last November (Florida went 3-2, losing only to Georgia and Texas), is loaded, thanks to the return of Tyreak Sapp, one of the SEC’s best run stoppers and edge setters, and All-SEC defensive tackle Caleb Banks, who trailed only Walter Nolen in havoc created by a SEC defensive tackle last season.

If Lagway is injured, things get more complicated.

The backup quarterbacks are sixth-year collegian Harrison Bailey, who has 5 career starts, 3 of which came as a freshman at Tennessee, and Aidan Warner, a Yale transfer in his second year in the program in Gainesville. Warner played the final 2 and a half quarters against Georgia a season ago after Lagway left with a frightening injury, playing bravely but ineffectively. His lone career start came at Texas a week later and Florida was not competitive, losing 49-17 in a game that somehow felt even more lopsided.

Bailey and Warner have shared QB2 snaps early in summer camp, but at least as of the time of this writing (August 8), Bailey appears to have nudged his way ahead. A former 4-star recruit, Bailey arrives in Gainesville coming off one of the best games of his college career, a 3 TD, 0 interception performance for Louisville in a win over Washington in the Sun Bowl. That’s something, I suppose, but after 5 seasons of college football, Bailey probably is who the film and practices say he is: a backup quarterback.

If it seems like Florida’s quarterback room behind Lagway has uncertainty akin to trying to survive an Everglades swamp filled with snakes and alligators, that’s because things really are that murky.

The silver lining, I suppose, is that the bulk of the SEC is just as uncertain at QB2. Only 5 SEC teams have a quarterback room with 5 or more career Division 1 starts behind the presumed starter: Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Florida, and Auburn. Only 4 of those programs (Texas A&M, LSU, Florida, and Auburn) have 5 or more Power 4 starts behind the presumed starter. At some SEC schools, the backup quarterback room doesn’t even feature 10 career completions—we’re looking at you, Arkansas (4 career completions), Missouri (3), and Tennessee (6). Yikes.

In other words, Florida is actually better equipped than the bulk of their SEC brethren to handle a quarterback injury, at least if you are looking purely at experience.

Of course, not all quarterback injuries feel the same.

Lagway, the anointed savior of Florida football from the moment he stuck with his commitment and Billy Napier and signed with the Gators in December 2023, is the essential piece of the puzzle for the Gators to become who many analysts and scouts that have watched this team practice believe they can be.

With Lagway, Florida feels like a program on the rise. A Playoff contender.

Without him?

Well, Gators fans are used to being stuck in the mud. What’s another lost year?

The post Is it DJ Lagway or bust for the Gators at quarterback, and as a Playoff contender? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

One constant maxim I’ve learned in a decade covering college football is that it’s often the things that aren’t talked about much during talking season that define what happens during the actual football season.

Enter the Florida run game.

While national media, Florida fans, and opposing fans (rightly) focus on the health and gargantuan talent of sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway, it’s hard not to watch Florida practice without wondering if we’re all sleeping on the strength of this football team: controlling the line of scrimmage and running the dadgum ball.

Florida returns 4 of its top 5 rushers from 2025, including All-SEC freshman Jadan Baugh, who Florida strength and conditioning coach Tyler Miles said last week is the “strongest guy we’ve ever had at Florida.” For perspective, Florida has tracked weight room prowess for a long time in its football program, and Baugh, broke not only “pound-for-pound records, but team records,” according to to Miles. “He put up freaky numbers.”

This makes some sense, given Baugh’s blend of power and explosiveness helped him lead the Gators with 673 yards rushing and 7 touchdowns as a true freshman while ranking 5th (tops among SEC freshmen) in the SEC in broken tackle rate, per PFF. In other words, Baugh isn’t just a weight-room warrior. He’s a bruising bully in pads who can also outrun you when he turns the corner. Ask LSU.

Baugh is joined in the running back room by Ja’Kobi Jackson, a compact 5-11, 215-pound senior who has gone from unranked recruit to draft-bound prospect that reminds NFL scouts of Miami legend Frank Gore with a knack for 1-cut hole hitting coupled with physicality and deceptive second-level speed.

Baugh and Jackson will get the lion’s share of carries, but the group is spelled by a host of high level recruits, from sophomore Trayaun Webb (keep an eye on a recent injury suffered by Webb, however) to freshman blue-chips Duke Clark and KD Daniels. It’s as deep a stable as Florida’s had in the Billy Napier era and likely since the early Dan Mullen years when Florida was last in the national playoff picture.

Florida has 2 other significant advantages in the run game before you get to Lagway, who if healthy should, at a minimum, keep defenses from keying on the Florida backs.

First, the Gators return the most production on their offensive line in the SEC.

First-Team All-American center Jake Slaughter, the only Power 4 center to grade out above 80 as a run and pass blocker, is the nation’s most effective returning offensive lineman, per PFF. Austin Barber gives Florida an All-SEC talent and 3-year starter at left tackle. Three other Florida linemen played over 300 snaps a season ago, including both starting guards, Knijeah Harris and Damieon George Jr., who both graded out among the top 6 guards in the SEC a season ago.

All told, the Gators return 5 offensive linemen who played over 300 snaps and graded out among the top 15 in the SEC as run blockers. No other SEC school has more than 3 offensive linemen who fit that bill. Napier agreed that Slaughter and Barber deserve the preseason accolades, but was quick to praise the growth and talent on the interior of Florida’s line which, for the first time in the Napier era, has enough depth to have a truly competitive fall camp.

“I think we have 4 that are good players. I think Kam Waites and Rod Kearney are having good camps, and I think there’s a lot of competition there. Obviously Damieon and Knijeah are returning stars, but we got 4 good players. And I think Jason Zandamela has had a good camp. He’s really impressed me through the fifth day with the progress he’s made at center. So, yeah, I feel good about those guys up front, and it’s extremely competitive out there because I think the defensive line room and the edge room is a battle every day. So, yeah, feel good about that competitive depth at that position for sure,” Napier said Monday. “We know that’s critical because in this league, we know the depth will be tested. And for the first time since we’ve been here, we have the depth we need.”

Second, Florida’s run schemes are among the most effective and difficult to prepare for in the SEC, according to multiple coordinators and defensive coaches who spoke to SDS last winter. All coaches were granted anonymity to speak freely given they all will face Napier in 2025.

“(Napier) does a nice job in the run game,” an SEC defensive coordinator told SDS. “They are multiple, both in their concepts and personnel groupings. They are difficult to prepare for in that respect.”

Another longtime SEC defensive assistant agreed. “They have a host of zone concepts they disguise well, with variations that can make it hard on you. They are also very well-coached on the offensive line. That group was so much better by November last year than what was on film in September. You don’t usually see a team improve as much as they did on the line of scrimmage. That’s good coaching.”

In Florida’s final 3 games (all wins), the Gators averaged 207 yards rushing, with a 61% rushing success rate. That included Florida’s Playoff-busting win over Ole Miss, the nation’s best run defense in 2024.

If Florida can run the ball as well as the data, personnel, and scheme suggest they will, it ought to open things up for DJ Lagway and the passing game to pick opponents apart. When defenses key on Florida’s run, Lagway feasts.

On the key play of Florida’s win over LSU, for example, Lagway gets a safety cheating to slow the Gators run game after Ja’Kobi Jackson ripped off an 8-yard run to give Florida 2nd-and-short in LSU territory. With a single-high look, Lagway has 2 options: Chimere Dike, who is wide open on a finger route, or Elijhah Badger, who is open — albeit less so — on a sail route. Lagway steps up in the pocket after play action and hits Badger for a 36-yard gain. The Gators scored a play later, taking the lead for good before Baugh’s run iced the game a possession later.

This version of Florida is lethal, capable of playing Napier’s preferred brand of multiple, complementary, bully-ball football.

Does having a potential first round quarterback help? Of course it does.

But in a line-of-scrimmage league, Florida’s path to the playoff just might begin with a bruising run game.

The post Bully Ball: Why the Florida run game is poised for a banner 2025 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The NCAA did the right thing.

Regrettably, but also predictably, the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball committees did manage to at least partially get in the way of a rare good NCAA news cycle, announcing that discussions about potential expansion for 2027 will continue.

“Expanding the tournament fields is no longer being contemplated for the 2026 men’s and women’s basketball championships,” Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, said in a statement. “However, the committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships.”

Of course there was a catch. This is the NCAA, after all. We can’t have nice things without reservations.

Let’s be clear. Declining to expand is unequivocally a good thing.

The only folks speaking out in favor of expansion are power league commissioners, and even they don’t like to do it loudly.

That makes sense, considering how loudly public opinion has galvanized against expansion.

A vote on expansion was tabled in July, largely due to widespread backlash from fans and effective platform-wielding by college basketball media royalty. But the quelling of expansion momentum doesn’t just speak to the power of fans and media scribes who loyally cover the sport. It speaks to the near perfection of March Madness, the one thing that in all kinds of weather, through immense changes to the college sporting landscape, college sports still gets mostly right.

There are myriad data-driven reasons to oppose expansion. A sampling of those arguments would rightly note:

• Expansion will largely benefit mediocre teams from power conferences. If you were (rightly) incensed that a 22-13 North Carolina team with 1 Quadrant 1 win was given a bid a season ago, prepare for that to happen repeatedly in an expanded field, without so much as a whimper of a debate about the justice of it all.
• Expansion isn’t about access. There have been 91 Division I teams added since 1984-85, when the field expanded to 64. Those teams have earned 168 bids. Guess how many of those bids have been at-large invites? One. UCF, in 2019. The Knights promptly used that bid as another feather in their decade-long push to join a power conference, and they now play in the basketball-rich Big 12.
• Only 2 programs added to Division I in the last 40 years have advanced to the second weekend: Florida Gulf Coast (Sweet 16, 2013) and Florida Atlantic (2023). Cinderellas still exist, from George Mason in 2006 to Saint Peter’s in 2022, but it’s established programs that overwhelmingly play deep into March and we do not need more “access” to prove that point.
• High-major mediocrity is amply rewarded in the current system. In the past 10 NCAA Tournaments, 304 of the 362 at-large bids went to teams from the 6 (now 5) Power Conferences (ACC, Big East, B1G, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC). That is 83% of at-large bids, and if you throw in Gonzaga and Memphis, 2 “major” programs playing in non-power leagues, the number of at-large bids swells to 308 of 362, moving the percentage to 85% of at-large bids. Expansion means more middling teams from power leagues get in, like Texas, who flew an SEC banner a season ago and was rewarded for winning just a third of its league games with an NCAA Tournament bid. The Horns were promptly defeated handily by Xavier in Dayton.

If anything, the data tells us that the NCAA selection committee should invite fewer power conference teams and reward more mid-major programs. Stop inviting power league programs like North Carolina, who had chance after chance from November until March to prove it belonged in the field of 68, and invite more teams like UC-Irvine, who won 28 games before losing a hard-fought Big West Tournament final to UC-San Diego last March. The Anteaters were dispatched to the NIT, where they promptly reached the championship game, more than proving their mettle in an NIT field that included multiple power conference teams. If you want to improve “access,” do it within the context of the current field of 68 and invite great teams from lesser leagues, not frustrating, underachieving ones from the already powerful ones.

By the way, this isn’t an argument against power conference basketball. On the contrary, it’s hard to find a story in the sport as compelling as the rise of the SEC from parochial college basketball backwater to summit of the sport, with 4 Elite Eight participants, 2 Final Four programs, and the national champion. I’m well-qualified to suggest that, given how I’ve covered the league in the lean years and the recent bountiful ones. And I’ve praised Greg Sankey and his outstanding basketball associate commissioner, Garth Glissman, for the role they’ve played in making the SEC a behemoth. But SEC basketball doesn’t need expansion to have staying power. Its run of greatness is only beginning.

Instead, the argument against expansion is more straightforward, and it’s one that resonates when I talk about this issue with folks who aren’t necessarily hoopheads like me.

March Madness, put plainly, is almost perfect as it is, and what few problems it does have aren’t related to the Field of 68.

How else do you explain the way a sport some (unfortunate and unlucky) fans don’t pay attention to until after the Super Bowl rising from niche status to an event that captivates an entire country for a month? The NFL owns the language “Any Given Sunday,” filling bars and mediocre restaurants nationwide 20-plus Sundays a year. For a month, the phrase “This is March” stirs similar sentiments. College basketball is synonymous with an entire month of the calendar.

The NCAA Tournament sparks national unity and joy at a time when as a general rule, unity is lacking and joy can feel scarce.

The symmetry of a 68 (and in truth, a 64) team bracket contributes to that unity and joy.

It’s easy for the office administrative assistant to win the office basketball pool when all she has to do is print out a single piece of paper and write her picks from a perfectly-assembled 4 quadrant grid. Ask her to print 2 pages and a grid that looks more like a maze, though, and see whether she enters at all. Sure, the diehard gamblers will enjoy expansion to 72 or 76. But at least part of the joy of the field of 68 remains the annual phone calls sons like me get from our Mom, who naturally has decided “to fill out a bracket, just for fun, I know I won’t win” every March. (My Mama has won twice in the last 10 years alone, and while anecdotal, has expressed grim anxiety over expansion.)

For the most part, the NCAA Tournament is already perfect.

The opening weekend captivates us, and folks across America take the day off on Thursday or cut out early on Friday to soak in wall-to-wall action in the first round. Expand to 72 or 76, and those games likely start on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. Hoopheads will tune in and loyal fans will travel, but the national attention commanded by the opening weekend will waver and wane. If you don’t believe that, look at the ratings for the First Four, which range from average to awful, no matter how great a job the city of Dayton does hosting the teams and fans that actually make the trip.

The opening weekend also gives us plenty of Cinderellas and memorable stories, and since the data says small schools won’t benefit from expansion, we know the argument that expansion will only add to the tournament’s myth and magic is farcical at best.

There will always be the occasional Florida Atlantic or rare Saint Peter’s type story to cling to from year-to-year, but given the committee prefers power leagues in the status quo, those stories are unrelated to expansion. In fact, because expansion would require a prospective Cinderella to win even more games, the reality is expansion likely renders Cinderella stories even more of an aberration, like heat lightning. More likely? We see a middling team from the Big 12 win a rock fight over a mediocre squad from the Big East. Some hoops fans, the kind who listen to college basketball podcasts in July and plan Thanksgiving around Feast Week events are wack-a-doodle enough to enjoy that. I know too many of them, being one myself. Using those people as a reason to justify expansion is like believing God favors one team or another on any given Sweet 16 Thursday when both fan bases have folks praying furiously. It’s more likely that God expects you to make free throws and box out.

The truth is the NCAA has a near perfect thing in an era of college sports where near perfect things are dying.

Will this bother some fans and writers who chant “SEC, SEC, SEC” or believe it’s unfair to leave a Big 12 team with a lottery pick and a 3-12 record in Quad 1 games out of the Big Dance? Probably. Of course, the good news is if you want your team in the NCAA Tournament, they can win more games from November until early March. You have 31 opportunities to compete and occasionally, though not often, the selection committee cares about the conference tournament, too. The answer is almost always “win more.” We don’t need inclusion and participation trophies. We need good basketball teams. A field of 68, whittled to a perfect 64 by Thursday at noon.

March Madness as it should be. A cultural institution worth preserving.

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Less than a year removed from earning the 9th overall seed in the College Football Playoff, the Volunteers were picked to finish 9th in their own conference by the gathered SEC media earlier this month, the lowest placement for the program since head coach Josh Heupel’s debut season in 2021. Adding salt to the disrespect wound, Vanderbilt received 2 first-place votes (no word on whether Diego Pavia’s agent or parents were given ballots). Tennessee received just 1.

It isn’t just team recognition that’s lacking for Tennessee this summer. Only 3 Volunteers were tapped for the media’s 2025 preseason All-SEC team, with junior corner Jermod McCoy the lone first-team selection. That’s the fewest preseason All-SEC selections for the Volunteers since 2020, Jeremy Pruitt’s final failed season in Knoxville.

The doubt isn’t necessarily without foundation.

Tennessee lost 9 starters from last year’s Playoff team, including SEC Player of the Year Dylan Sampson and All-SEC edge James Pearce Jr., one of the best pass rushers in the sport. Throw in the loud and ugly departure of former 5-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava and the ensuing questions at quarterback, and it’s easy to understand why the perception is Tennessee will drop off a bit this autumn.

In other words, Josh Heupel has folks right where he wants them.

“If there’s a coach in the country who can get his players to lock in on a perception that they can’t win, it’s Josh Heupel,” Heupel’s former coach and boss, Bob Stoops told SDS this summer. “In 2000, we wanted to convince our players that we could win, and when we went game by game, team by team, and pointed out that (the Sooners) could go unbeaten, Josh stood up at the end and said ‘Why not us?’ I think that just set the tone for everyone. As a leader, he had the mentality necessary to instill belief.”

Heupel has spent 4-plus seasons defying expectations amid a sea of doubt.

A sampling of media takes:

• You can’t win anymore at Tennessee. It’s SEC Nebraska. The Volunteers are a former power from a bygone era that won’t return
• Heupel runs a gimmick offense that may not translate in the mighty SEC
• Even if Heupel is a great hire, the last few coaches have dug such a deep hole it will be a steep climb back

An Orange Bowl win and a College Football Playoff appearance later, Heupel is 37-15 at Tennessee in 4 seasons, with at least 9 wins in each of the last 3 seasons. That record is the best 4-year stretch at Tennessee since the Fulmer era, and it includes 2 wins each over bitter rivals Florida and Alabama which, if you are scoring at home, is 3 more than Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and Jeremy Pruitt managed combined.

Heupel believes he’s just getting started.

“We want to get back to Atlanta, which we haven’t done in a long time, and play for and win an SEC Championship,” the fifth-year head coach told SDS at SEC Media Days. “We want to not only get into the Playoff but to go win the thing.”

To do it, Heupel will ride the staff continuity and defense built by Tim Banks, the fifth-year defensive coordinator who returns 8 starters from one of the nation’s best units a season ago.  McCoy, recovering from a torn ACL suffered in January, should anchor one of the best secondaries in the country, alongside fellow corner Rickey Gibson, one of the most underrated cover guys in America. Arion Carter and Joshua Josephs are menaces who add a scare factor to a front 7 that will field players with Power 4 starting experience at every position. The Vols finished 6th in SP+ defensive efficiency a season ago, their highest finish under Banks’ steady tutelage, and only Texas surrendered fewer yards per play in SEC play in 2024. When you return 8 starters from that type of group, expecting a substantial drop-off seems like a stretch.

The steady defense should give Heupel time to sort the quarterback situation out in the 2 weeks prior to Tennessee’s SEC home opener against Georgia.

There’s also the argument, perhaps underappreciated in national media circles, that Iamaleava’s exit is addition by subtraction.

Iamaleava was one of the nation’s most hyped quarterbacks entering 2024, but he ranged from decidedly average to woeful in Tennessee’s biggest games. Iamaleava completed just 14 of 31 passes for a dismal 104 yards against Ohio State and was only slightly better in a loss to Georgia (5.1 yards per attempt, 0 TD, 7.2 yards per target) and a win over Florida (6.5 yards per attempt, 0 TD, 1 INT, 7.8 yards per target). Set aside all the stories, rumor or fact, of Iamaleava’s brusque and entitled personality, and look solely at Iamaleava’s numbers. At the most important position in sports, is the departure of that type of middling production really worth fretting about?

Perhaps not.

The reality for the Vols is that Heupel’s quarterback room is more talented than most in America, even if each option has questions.

Heupel is high on Joey Aguilar, who has thrown for over 6,000 yards at the Division I level, despite not playing a snap as a Power 5 starter. Jake Merklinger, another option, was a highly touted prep quarterback, but he’s thrown just 9 passes in college. True freshman George MacIntyre may be the most talented quarterback in the room, but even the best true freshmen need time to develop.

But Heupel has won with quarterbacks of multiple styles since arriving at Tennessee, from the spectacular dual-threat ability of Hendon Hooker to the gunslinging Joe Milton to Iamaleava, who managed to help the Vols reach the Playoff despite underperforming relative to individual expectations. If Aguilar, who was good enough at Appalachian State to make a move to UCLA before trading places with Iamaleava, performs a high level, the defense should be good enough to lift the Vols into the Playoff hunt yet again.

There’s also the hunger factor from a team that took 20,000 fans to the Shoe for Playoff football a season ago and remembers what falling short looks like.

“We have a bad taste in our mouth after last December,” Heupel reminded folks at SEC Media Days. “We emphasized the outcome (a 42-17 loss to eventual national champion Ohio State) a lot this offseason. We wanted to make sure everyone understands making the Playoff is not the goal. You can’t win if you aren’t in, but we want to be in the Playoffs and win at Tennessee. Losing challenged us every single day through the winter, through spring ball, and certainly through the course of the summer. We remember.”

A hungry, talented team that remembers.

Why not Josh Heupel and Tennessee?

The post Why not Tennessee? Why a salty defense and winning coach make the Vols a threat in 2025 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Sure, Bryant was speaking eons ago, a generation before Steve Spurrier’s Fun-N-Gun offense dragged the SEC kicking and screaming out of the 3 yards and a cloud of dust doldrums of the 80s and 2 generations before Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and the boys marauded and mangled all comers in the mid and late 2000s.

But there’s truth in what Bryant told the Miami Herald in the 1970s, when he asked whether Florida would ever win and win big in the cutthroat world of big-time southern college football.

“There’s a sleeping giant down there,” Bryant growled. “Don’t poke that alligator. It’s asleep. You won’t like them when they wake up.”

In other words, to borrow from the parlance of the times: Don’t let the Gator Boys get hot.

The Gators woke up, of course, and got hot. Florida won 8 (that they count, and 3 that they don’t) SEC titles and 3 (that they count, 1 they don’t) national titles between 1980-2010. Florida also won more games than any program in the SEC in that 30-year span. Then Tim Tebow graduated, Urban Meyer decided to spend more time with his family or work on his health as the head coach at Ohio State, and the Gators slipped into a swampy hole somewhere in the college football shadowlands.

For the better part of the last decade and a half, the Gators have rarely roused from an extended slumber.

Sure, Kyle Trask and a salty defense won 11 games and an Orange Bowl in 2019, and there were one-dimensional outfits in 2012 (strong defense, bad offense) and 2020 (elite offense, bad defense) that came within an arm’s reach of playing for the national championship (2012) or winning the SEC Championship (2020). And yes, millennial Florida fans — and we’re not just talking about the rural central Florida basement dweller variety — will sing standing from their swampy skiff boats and tell you that if Will Grier didn’t need to shop at GMC to feel good about the program’s strength and conditioning program, Florida would have waltzed to a national title in 2015.

But none of those teams won anything better than a couple of SEC East divisional titles and the 2019 Orange Bowl championship. The count since Meyer and company won the national championship in Miami on a January night in 2009 is glaring: 0 SEC Championships. 0 BCS Title or College Football Playoff appearances, 0 national titles. In fact, since 2010, Florida has had more losing seasons (5) and head coaches (5) than SEC Championship Game appearances (3). This is a staggering descent to mediocrity from a program that went 33 years without a losing season from 1980-2013, winning a quarter of the SEC Championships (and 3 more they don’t claim) in that era.

Florida fans are filled with explanations for the downfall, from facility arms race fiascos to recruiting mishaps to bad coaching hires to banning the “Gator Bait” cheer to the curse of the Swamp Kings to the rise of Nick Saban’s imperious Alabama to Kirby Smart’s Georgia death star. Whatever the reason, Florida football, a SEC program at the flagship university in the most fertile recruiting hot bed in the sport, has not been good enough.

Which brings us to Billy Napier.

I wasn’t exactly Jon Snow fighting off the emerging horde at The Battle of the Bastards a season ago when I wrote that Florida was a long rebuild and that embattled athletic director Scott Stricklin (what a difference March Madness makes) was right to give Napier time — as in more time than the typical high church Episcopalian 10-minute homily customary among SEC programs — when he doubled down on Napier last autumn despite a dire September and a record of 4-4 entering November. Florida won its final 4, though, including thrilling home wins over rival LSU and a top 10 Ole Miss,  all signs that suggested Florida might finally be stirring from hibernation.

It helps to have a difference maker and program changer at the most important position in sports.

DJ Lagway was 7-0 in games he started and finished in 2024 and was leading the Cocktail Party against Georgia when he exited due to a leg injury. Playing on essentially one leg and with a dinged up shoulder through the month of November and the Florida’s Gasparilla Bowl win, Lagway outdueled Garrett Nussmeier in the LSU win and was better than Ole Miss star Jaxson Dart in multiple advanced metrics (yards per completion, average depth of target, big time throws, fewer turnover worthy plays) and on the scoreboard in Florida’s playoff-spoiling win over the Rebels. Lagway’s ability to make throws few humans on the planet can make, coupled with the prospect of another year in Billy Napier’s offense and strength and conditioning program has scouts and fans alike salivating.

“It is not just hype,” one SEC defensive coordinator told me of Lagway this winter. “He simply elevates the level of their football team. He makes them more multiple because of the windows he can throw into and the way he essentially forces you to play two high by being remarkably accurate on the deep ball. He’s as good a young quarterback as I’ve seen in our conference.”

In fact, the consensus among SEC coaches and scouts SDS talked to this winter was that for almost every question about Billy Napier’s offense and scheme, Lagway offers an answer.

Lagway’s health, of course, is a huge caveat. Florida will face arguably the nation’s toughest schedule for the second consecutive season and Lagway, plagued by nagging injuries throughout last season and the spring, will need to avoid injury for Florida to reach its lofty potential.

But there is potential, which is a testament to what made Napier worth keeping.

Napier has recruited well, building a team from the line of scrimmage outward.

The Gators boast perhaps the SEC’s best offensive line, anchored by returning First Team All-American center Jake Slaughter and All-SEC left tackle Austin Barber. Four starters with a collective 98 starts return and the Gators are deeper up front than any unit they’ve had since the early Muschamp era. That group, which surrendered the fourth-fewest pressures and third-fewest sacks in the SEC in 2024, should help keep Lagway upright. They should also pave holes for a ground game that features returning All-SEC freshman Jadan Baugh, bowling ball Ja’Kobi Jackson, and a host of blue-chip talent behind them.

On defense, Florida returns 7 starters, including bona fide NFL prospects in Tyreak Sapp and Caleb Banks from a defensive line that ranked second in the SEC in havoc and pressures last November (Ole Miss). The secondary, long a skeleton of the “DBU” years of Florida’s heyday, is loaded, especially at corner, where Florida returns 4 players who graded out in the top 100 of PFF in coverage.

Napier’s mindful evaluations, player retention program, and recruiting mean the cast supporting Lagway, the former 5-star Gatorade National Player of the Year in high school, is as good as it has been in Gainesville in a long time.

In other words, it’s time for the mean alligator to shake off the cobwebs and slink out of the Swamp to hunt.

Championship windows in college football are small. Blink and the window shuts. Don’t believe me? Ask Urban Meyer, who admitted the Florida program was a bit “broken” when he left in 2010. Ask Dabo Swinney, who would dispute that his window has shut and may be right, but will have a harder story to tell if the Tigers can’t summit the mountain this season, with Cade Klubnik in year 4 under center. Ask Les Miles, whose grass chewing went from an indelible and affable trait of a winner to frustrated and listless musings of a man who the game left behind in just a few short seasons.

For Billy Napier, it will never get any better than now.

Lagway knows it. He seems to be embracing the pressure, which he called a “privilege” on Wednesday in Atlanta.

Napier? He’s seen the schedule. His reaction (below) will either be remembered as iconic or travel the same sad trajectory as Butch Jones’s “Champions of Life.” Time will tell.

But he knows the talent is there. He’s not making any excuses or talking about process. The process has reached the moment it built for, which begins on August 30.

“At the end of last year (4 consecutive wins), you could argue we were playing as good as anyone in the country,” Napier said Wednesday. “Our development process is working. The organization as a whole is working as well as it has as long as I’ve been a head coach. This is the most talented team we’ve had in Gainesville.”

It certainly is.

Now it’s time for Napier to do what teams this talented are supposed to do.

Win.

The post The Alligator Awakens: After patient rebuild, it’s time for Billy Napier to win appeared first on Saturday Down South.

From impromptu Paul Finebaum appearances to catfish commentary to Hugh Freeze jabs to heartfelt commentary about what Ole Miss means to him, there’s no one coaching today with Kiffin’s depth, humor, and range. Kiffin’s open-book nature, coupled with a dash of offensive genius, are what make him a compelling character, the type of life is stranger than fiction southerner William Faulkner might have dreamed up, were he privy to the goings on in modern day Oxford.

From Addie and Darl Bundren to Thomas Sutpen and Quentin Compson, Faulkner’s best characters always carried a bit of tragedy with them, and Kiffin’s no different.

How do you miss the College Football Playoff on a team loaded with 5 players taken in Rounds 1-3 of the NFL Draft, including first-rounder Jaxson Dart, a three-year starter and all-SEC quarterback? How do you explain being the first team to dominate Georgia thoroughly on the line of scrimmage this decade but blowing 3 second-half leads, including one at home to a miserable Kentucky team that ultimately won just 4 football games?

Kiffin’s spin on Monday was, as you’d expect, to focus on the positives.

“Where I think of our program, where we are, and the last 4 seasons since COVID, 3 of those 4 seasons we’ve had top-12 finishes,” Kiffin told the media Monday afternoon. “I believe in the last 55 years of Ole Miss there have been 4 top-12 finishes. So, 3 of those in the last 4 years, with 1 in the previous 51 years, says a lot about what we’ve been able to do through the staff, through the players, through everybody involved, especially the leadership above me. Over that time, the third most SEC wins of all 16 teams. That helps us tremendously. When we got to Ole Miss, we had to sell recruits, ‘We’re going to win. We’re going to have first-round draft picks. We’re going to have the most players drafted in school history. We’re going to win 11 games in a season, win 21 in the last two seasons. Now we’ve done that.”

 Kiffin isn’t wrong.

Ole Miss, buoyed by Kiffin’s modern offensive mastermind, unprecedented administrative commitment from the university, and an NIL operation that remains one of the best in the country is winning at rates not seen since the pre-SEC integration Johnny Vaught era. In Oxford, where special seasons were few and far between for the last half century, winning 44 games and receiving invitations to 3 premier bowl games in 5 seasons is cause for celebration.

Until it isn’t.

Because for all the fun of the last 2 years, which included wins over rival LSU (in 2023) and Georgia (2024), there are days like what happened in The Swamp last November that beg the question: What’s the ceiling for Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss?

You might be hard-pressed to find an Ole Miss fan willing to admit it, but not since Vaught and the Rebels managed to fumble away a national championship against Bear Bryant’s Joe Namath-less Alabama in the snowy 1964 Sugar Bowl has a lost hit as hard as last November’s face-plant at Florida.

The Gators, fighting for bowl eligibility and led by true freshman DJ Lagway, who played at “75 percent” with a leg and shoulder injury, bested Dart and the Rebels 24-17, all but ending Ole Miss’s chances at advancing to the College Football Playoff and earning an opportunity to play for the national championship for the first time since Vaught’s star-crossed 1963 squad.

Kiffin wins, and, in contrast to the rumor, he wins close games, boasting a record of 12-7 in one possession football games since 2020, the third best mark of SEC football coaches at their current school (Kirby Smart, Eli Drinkwitz).

But Kiffin’s success at Ole Miss isn’t unprecedented, at least not in the 10 years of Rebels football. After all, Hugh Freeze won at Ole Miss too, claiming 19 wins and a Sugar Bowl championship in 2014 and 2015 before losing his job in scandal in the summer of 2017.  

And all this brings us back to the question: When will Kiffin’s run of very good, but not great, grow stale in Oxford? Or perhaps more pointedly, when should it, if ever?

Less is expected of the Rebels this season, but Kiffin is now in the awkward position of having raised expectations in Oxford to the point where any substantive drop-off may be viewed as a disappointment rather than a rebuilding aberration. If Ole Miss finishes in the middle of the 16-team SEC, rank-and-file Rebels fans will still love their coach, but will the national perception of Ole Miss as a program on the rise falter and fade?

Kiffin’s well-earned reputation as a roster constructor may offset any precipitous drop-off.

Ole Miss landed multiple big names in the portal, including De’Zhaun Stribling, one of the Big 12’s best receivers a season ago and Kewan Lacy, the talented running back from Mizzou. Princewill Umanmielen (Princely’s brother), arrives from Nebraska, giving the Rebels another outstanding pass rusher to join Suntarine Perkins and Kam Franklin, the highly coveted end who Kiffin and defensive coordinator Pete Golding expect to take a big leap as a sophomore after showing flashes as a true freshman. Luke Hasz, the coveted tight end from Arkansas, also joins the fold, giving new quarterback Austin Simmons a safety blanket.

It might be difficult to match last season’s defensive production, which ranked second in America in scoring defense and a program-best 3rd nationally in SP+ defense, but Golding returns 2 of his top 4 tacklers and has rightly raved about the massive talent in the front 7, which may be more talented than last year’s group holistically despite losing Umanmielen and first-round draft pick Walter Nolen.

In other words, should we expect a drop-off at Ole Miss? Is not expecting one a testament to the way Kiffin has raised the bar in Oxford? Can the answer to all of these questions be “Yes”?

It’s been 6 decades since Ole Miss competed for the national championship or the SEC title and the world has changed, sometimes quickly and sometimes too slowly, in that span.

Lane Kiffin has changed, too, from the brash young son of football royalty to the still brash but jovial, comfortable-in-his-own-skin leader of a storied program he’s modernized and made proud again.

In the soft light of The Grove on an autumn afternoon, where daughters and sons walk with fathers and mothers and slow life down long enough to enjoy it, even for a moment, 9 or 10 or even the occasional 11-win season is probably more than enough.

But the cruelest question in sports is “What if?”

And as Ole Miss moves on from the disappointment of missing the Playoff in 2024, it’s fair to ask “what if” that keeps happening. What then?

The post Lane Kiffin wins at Ole Miss, but without a Playoff, is that enough? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Napier was nearly dismissed, his fate all but certain after a tumultuous first month of the 2024 season that saw the Gators routed twice on their home field by Miami and Texas A&M. A season-ending injury to senior quarterback Graham Mertz in an overtime loss at Tennessee only escalated tensions, with the Gators dropping to 1-7 in rivalry contests under Napier following the defeat and facing the prospect of playing their final 6 games without their starting quarterback. With the Gators sitting at 3-3 and games against several ranked opponents remaining, Florida’s bowl hopes — and Napier’s future in Gainesville — seemed bleak.

That’s when DJ Lagway entered the chat.

The 2024 Florida plan with Lagway, the big armed Texan who was a 5-star recruit and the Gatorade National Player of the Year out of high school, had always been for him to play consistently, but in a defined backup role, behind Mertz.

Mertz’s season-ending injury against Tennessee changed everything.

Yes, Lagway shined in a spot start against Samford in Week 2, setting Florida freshman passing records for yards and touchdowns in a game after Mertz suffered a concussion late in the loss to Miami. But it was one thing to play brilliantly against an overmatched foe from the FCS, and quite another to be QB1 against one of the toughest October and November schedules in college football.

You already know the rest of the story.

Lagway went 6-0 in games he started and finished, earning Consensus Freshman All-American honors and powering the Gators to wins over a top-10 Ole Miss team, rivals LSU and FSU, and a 33-8 Gasparilla Bowl rout of Tulane in the process. The only game Lagway started and lost came against archrival Georgia, and the Gators appeared in control of that game before Lagway exited with an injury in the second quarter. On the way, Lagway threw for 1,915 yards passing and 12 touchdowns, ranking 2nd in the SEC yards per attempt (10) and second in average depth of target (11.8) behind only Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss (10 yards per attempt, average depth of target 11.9), who was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft last week.

Among SEC starters returning in 2025, Lagway’s big-time throw percentage of 8.8% is nearly 3% higher than any other returning starter (Diego Pavia is 2nd, at 5.9%).

Put plainly, Lagway provides Napier the type of transcendental talent necessary to elevate the entire program. Can the embattled head coach cash in?

The noise around the program is mixed.

Lagway didn’t throw in the spring, recovering from a complicated shoulder injury that doctors typically try to treat with rest, rather than surgery. Florida fans spent the spring glued to basketball but woke up from the Gators Boys championship fever dream wondering if Lagway would be okay come the autumn. You could almost hear the gasps of relief from Gator Nation audibly when clips of Lagway throwing missiles popped up on Instagram last week.

Lagway’s potential, a stable of playmakers offensively, coupled with key returnees on both lines of scrimmage, including All-American center Jake Slaughter and likely preseason All-American defensive tackle Caleb Banks, have elevated the Gators to the top 10 in some preseason rankings. Other analysts are less convinced, largely due to concerns over Napier, who is an uninspiring 19-19 in 3 seasons at Florida entering a pivotal fourth year.

The odds aren’t as stacked against Napier as it may seem.

Since the Alliance Bowl started the trend to unite the sport around one national champion in 1995, 9 different head coaches have won their first national championship in Year 4 or beyond, including Nick Saban at LSU (Year 4), Kirby Smart at Georgia (Year 6), and Florida’s favorite son, Steve Spurrier (Year 7). In each of those instances, though, there were signs that championships were simply a matter of time. Saban won the SEC at LSU in Year 2, winning 26 games in his first 3 seasons on campus. Smart won the SEC in Year 2 as well and played for the SEC Championship on 2 other occasions, losing to Saban’s Alabama juggernaut and a future national champion in LSU in those contests. And Spurrier? All he did before capturing Florida’s first claimed national championship was revolutionize the SEC, winning 5 conference titles in his first 6 seasons in Gainesville before breaking through in 1996.

In fact, of the 9 coaches who won in Year 4 or later, only 2 “Napier-like” pathways stand out.

The first is Dabo Swinney’s march to national championship No. 1, which he managed in his 8th full season at the helm in Tigertown. Swinney built Clemson slowly and methodically, with a flurry of strong recruiting classes and talent evaluations and modest year-to-year improvements until an elite quarterback talent, Deshaun Watson, helped the Tigers break through in 2016. The problem with this comparison is two-fold. First, Swinney built Clemson from the ground up in the pre-portal era ACC, a far weaker conference than the SEC, with only one premier program (Florida State) in the way at the time Swinney’s Tigers were ascending. Second, Swinney still showed flashes of being competitive early, winning 2 conference titles prior to the national championship season and playing for 2 others. The Tigers built momentum first and then found the quarterback to get them over the hump. They did not need the transcendental quarterback simply to gain momentum.

A better comparison might be Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan. Flummoxed by an archrival in Ohio State that was a national power, Harbaugh won plenty of games before capturing a national championship in his 9th year in Ann Arbor, but it took the Wolverines 7 years just to win the B1G title, despite consistent 8-, 9-, and 10-win seasons along the way. At a blueblood program used to winning, Harbaugh, like Napier, had to convince his administration to invest and commit to competing at the highest level, rather than rest on the program’s logo, brand, and laurels. The journey was long. The juice was worth the squeeze.

But the Harbaugh comparison also feels imperfect, if only because with Lagway, Napier’s time is likely now.

If Napier can’t win big in 2025 and 2026 with DJ, then when, if ever, will he win?

The departure of starting quarterbacks at 2 critical Florida rivals, Georgia and Tennessee, also appears to open the door, if ever so slightly.

Yes, Georgia has the best coach in the sport and plenty of elite talent around him, but if Georgia had DJ Lagway, and not Gunner Stockton, is there any doubt who the prohibitive national championship favorite would be? Georgia is more talented than the Gators. But the questions around Stockton makes Georgia vulnerable, just as teams facing Joe Burrow and LSU were vulnerable in 2019, despite having plenty of talent of their own.

And the departure of Nico Iamaleava at Tennessee, while an admirable and righteous stand by Josh Heupel, begs important questions about a Volunteers program that now loses the SEC Player of the Year in Dylan Sampson and their starting quarterback, two absences that will absolutely be felt in September and October, no matter how well journeyman Joey Aguilar fits on Rocky Top.

Outside of perhaps Austin, Texas, there are questions everywhere you look in the SEC.

In The Swamp, there’s DJ Lagway, a player who answers plenty of Florida’s questions.

Lagway’s likely to spend 2 more seasons in The Swamp before he hears his name called on Thursday night at the 2027 NFL Draft.

How much longer Napier is in Gainesville almost certainly depends on what Napier does with the “DJ Years.”

Anything less than a championship might feel like a miss.

The post DJ Lagway, QB questions elsewhere in the SEC mean Billy Napier’s rebuild must arrive in 2025 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

By the time the transfer portal closed last week, a staggering 45% of Division I players had entered the portal. Some entries were expected (here’s looking at you, Ja’Kobi Gillespie!). Others were surprising (Denzel Aberdeen, come on down!). No matter the reaction, there’s no escaping that the portal is a vital part of roster building in the NIL era of college basketball. Coming off a historic season where the SEC produced 14 NCAA Tournament teams, 7 Sweet 16 squads, 4 Elite Eight outfits, 2 Final Four programs, and the national champions, the race to at least try to equal that feat is on for 2025-26.

What SEC teams have fared the best in the portal to date? What teams still have work to do? We break it down below, assigning grades to every portal class in the SEC.

Alabama: C-

Nate Oats has feasted in the portal in recent years, adding Mark Sears, who became the best player in Alabama basketball history, along with building blocks like Grant Nelson and Aaron Estrada, who were players that helped the Crimson Tide reach the program’s first Final Four. Oats is a fantastic roster builder who has reached at least the Sweet 16 in the past 3 seasons. Doubt him at your own risk, even as the Tide begin life without Mark Sears.

Alabama’s been extremely active in the transfer portal since its Elite Eight exit against Duke, and there are some nice pieces, including Noah Williamson, a 7-footer from Bucknell who was the Patriot League Player of the Year. Williamson could improve his scoring around the basket, but he can block shots, rebound and pass. He averaged 17.6 points per game and 7.5 rebounds at Bucknell and should be impactful immediately in the SEC.

The other 2 centerpiece additions made less sense. Jalil Bethea was a McDonald’s All-American, but he had a borderline disastrous first season at Miami, where he shot poorly (38% from the field, 32% from deep) and proved to be a sieve defensively on a terrible Miami team. Portal reclamation projects are nothing new, but Oats has succeeded by mining the portal for productive mid-major players ready to take the next step. Underachieving Power 5 players are less likely to make the leap.

Taylor Bol Bowen is a slightly better take, especially if he proves to be capable in the pick-and-pop in Oats’ high tempo offense. Bol Bowen shot 41% from 3 last year on decent volume at Florida State. But he’s not a particularly impactful rebounder and while he can block shots at a high level, he was much quieter against top-100 competition, largely feasting on lesser foes and looking overmatched defensively in FSU’s games against Duke, Florida, Clemson, and Louisville, among others.

All told, an adequate haul for Alabama, but there’s not an All-SEC type add after the last few years where Oats consistently added those types of players. If Washington State transfer Cedric Coward had come in instead of committing to Duke, that would’ve changed this grade. But for now, it’s a “Satisfactory” and nothing more. Couple that with what Alabama lost in Derrion Reid, Mo Diabate, and Jarin Stevenson, and there’s at least some reasonable concern that this might just be a first weekend team in 2025-26, not the second weekend beasts we’ve grown accustomed to on the Capstone under Oats.

Arkansas: B+

Arkansas hasn’t made a huge portal splash, but when you return DJ Wagner, Trevon Brazile, and Billy Richmond and add Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas from the high school ranks, you don’t have to do too much portal-wise. If Karter Knox and Adou Thiero return, this is a top 10 team in the preseason. If one returns, it’s probably a top 15 team.

Arkansas did add Malique Ewin, a physical and versatile big from FSU who will be a steady player capable of a massive night offensively, where he’s an efficient finisher in the paint. Nick Pringle adds rebounding and multiple years of experience in the SEC, having previously played for Nate Oats at Alabama and Lamont Paris at South Carolina.

Auburn: A-

Auburn has been active and productive, landing Kyshawn Hall of UCF, Kevin Overton of Texas Tech, KeShawn Murphy of Mississippi State, and Division II star Elyjah Freeman. Yes, the Tigers lose Chad Baker-Mazara, whose microwave offense and length defensively will be missed, but there’s a whole column to be written about why that loss is something Auburn can overcome, and it isn’t just because of CBM’s well-documented emotional volatility on the court. Losing CBM allows Auburn to upgrade defensively– and the Tigers did that by bringing in Hall, a much better on-ball defender than Baker-Mazara, who opponents attacked relentlessly late in the season.

Freeman is the guy who is most intriguing. He has outstanding size, shot 40% from deep, and has NBA scouts intrigued by his ability to get to the basket and finish. Chaney Johnson, another DII transfer, worked beautifully for Pearl, who coached at that level and knows what a DI player from those ranks looks like on film. If he plays well and Overton contributes buckets and helps space the floor, the Tigers will be elite again, especially if Tahaad Pettiford returns.

Florida: Incomplete

The reigning national champs got a late start to the portal thanks to a system that punishes teams for winning. Rightly focused on winning, the Gators did not start “portaling” until a day or two after cutting down the nets in San Antonio. Florida has addressed obvious needs since, adding Princeton star Xaivian Lee, one of the top point guards in the portal, along with Ohio transfer AJ Brown, a sharpshooting guard (38% three point shooter in 2024-25). Lee is a walking bucket, and his creativity off the bounce will help replace NCAA Most Outstanding Player Walter Clayton Jr., though admittedly, Clayton is irreplaceable.

Most importantly, the Gators retained NCAA Tournament star Thomas Haugh, who declined NBA Draft overtures to return to Florida for his junior season. One of the 5 most efficient players in the sport in 2024-25, per EvanMiya, Haugh may be the preseason SEC Player of the Year if Kentucky’s Otega Oweh is not.

Florida did suffer a blow, however, when Denzel Aberdeen, a key reserve on the championship team Todd Golden expected to start in 2025-26, turned down a strong offer from Florida to enter the portal, later committing to rival Kentucky. The loss of Aberdeen will sting, as he was a winner with championship experience and an outstanding defender.

The Gators are involved in multiple battles as the portal barrels towards the May 28 NBA entry deadline, but until Florida adds another backcourt starter, as expected, it’s hard to judge this portal class.

Georgia: B

Mike White lost Silas Demary Jr., a huge blow that takes Georgia out of preseason top 20 conversations, at least for now.

The good news is White retained tough-nosed guard Blue Cain and frontcourt talent Dylan James, who looks poised to break out as a junior in 2025-26.

To offset the loss of Demary, the Dawgs have added 3 players, Kannon Catchings, Justin Bailey and Jeremiah Wilkinson. The best talent of these is Catchings, a rangy, 6-9 forward who flashed NBA upside at BYU as a freshman. The most intriguing and proven to be productive piece is Wilkinson, the ACC Sixth Man of the Year who averaged 15.1 points per game and will give White something he lacked even with Demary Jr. in the fold — a safe, reliable primary ball handler.

Kentucky: A+

Big Blue Nation is brimming with anticipation after a monster portal haul that should give Mark Pope the deepest bench in America. Sure, sources tell SDS Kentucky spent around $17.5 million dollars to land this class, a staggering figure even by current NIL standards. But this wasn’t a thoughtless spending spree. Mark Pope had a plan and this roster makes sense as a collective unit.

Mouhamed Dioubate adds interior toughness and the ability to guard all 5 spots on the floor, a much-needed commodity on a team that lacked enough of those types of players a season ago. Denzel Aberdeen brings toughness, Lamont Butler-type perimeter defense, and championship experience to the locker room. He’s not an especially efficient offensive player, as he struggles in the pick and roll and allows the ball to stick at times with over-dribbling, but he did shoot 56% on corner 3s in 2024-25 so at a minimum, he is a floor spacer if, as expected, Mark Pope plays him off the ball at the 2 position. Jaland Lowe will start at point guard, and Jasper Johnson will complement both him and Aberdeen off the bench, likely logging starter-style minutes by March.

Kentucky has options outside of Otega Oweh on the wing as well, with Croatian Andrija Jelavic a dynamic scorer and the ability to play smaller with Tulane’s Kam Williams, who can play the 3 or 4 spot. .

The lone question mark is rebounding, especially if Jayden Quaintance is slow to recover from his ACL injury. However, a healthy Quaintance raises the ceiling here to national championship good, especially if Malachi Moreno, a consensus top-30 player in the 2025 class, is as advertised and able to contribute.

Put plainly, a monster haul for the Cats in year 2 under Mark Pope.

LSU: C

The Tigers lost 2 pieces with All-SEC upside in Curtis Givens III and Vyctorious Miller, 2 top-100 freshmen who lasted just a season under Matt McMahon. Corey Chest’s transfer to Ole Miss also hurts, given how productive the New Orleans native was for the Tigers as high energy freshman last season. Dedan Thomas, a productive but undersized point guard, is a nice get, as is Omaha star Marquel Sutton, a walking double-double for an NCAA Tournament team who will immediately upgrade the LSU frontcourt. But the talent heading out is at least equal to the talent coming in, and when you finish 15th in the league, that’s not the position you want to be in as Matt McMahon enters a vital fourth season.

Missouri: B

Sometimes the biggest gets are players you retain.

At Missouri, keeping Mark Mitchell, Anthony Robinson II, Trent Pierce, and T.O. Barrett in the fold is big-time. None of Missouri’s portal exits register as significant losses. That makes the modest portal additions of UCLA guard Sebastian Mack and a trio of bigs led by Shawn Phillips feel like Missouri is engaged in addition by subtraction. The Tigers kept the centerpieces of a team that had second weekend ceiling — and went to work improving the depth around them. Dennis Gates should dance again with this group next March.

Mississippi State: D+

The Bulldogs lost a substantial amount of production off Chris Jans’ third NCAA Tournament team, and that could get worse if star Josh Hubbard stays in the NBA Draft. The loss of enigmatic wing Riley Kugel feels like one the Bulldogs can weather, but KeShawn Murphy’s transfer within the SEC to Auburn is deeply painful. Murphy averaged 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds at State while providing outstanding interior defense. He’ll be missed terribly. Kanye Clary, who missed most of 2024-25 with an injury, will also sting — he averaged 17 points per game at Penn State and would have played a nice role on this team in 2025-26.

To replace this production, Chris Jans has brought in a host of players, but few without question marks. Achor Achor spent most of last season hurt at Kansas State and shot just 33% from deep when he did play, a return to his mean after a 45% season the year prior. Georgetown guard Jayden Epps was inefficient offensively and undersized defensively in the Big East — betting on him being productive in the SEC seems ambitious at best and foolhardy at worst. Ja’Borri McGhee is a good shooter and had a nice NIT, but he’s undersized and a strange fit for Jans’ defense which requires length on the perimeter and in the passing lanes. Quincy Ballard is experienced and sound, but lacks the upside of Nwoko or Murphy.

In sum, there’s just not enough coming in to replace what’s going out, at least not yet.

Ole Miss: B+

The Rebels are the team I did not give an A to that I can’t wait to revisit next April. AJ Storr, a jewel of last year’s portal rankings who flopped at Kansas, is the largest reason. He’s a 3-level scorer with NBA upside. He just needs to be put in the right spots. Chris Beard, a master at reclamation projects, is the perfect coach for Storr. If anyone can squeeze the towel dry with Storr, it is Beard and Ole Miss. We also love Corey Chest, a high energy, team-first defender who can really attack the glass and play 5 spots. It’s a perfect basketball fit. Koren Johnson, last with Louisville, is undersized and not a plus defensively, but that’s not a bad buy low gamble. Would we love to see a star here — looking at you, PJ Haggerty? Yes. Is this a haul that makes Ole Miss Sweet 16 good again? Yes. A good grade that may deserve a great grade next spring.

Oklahoma: B

Nijel Pack, a key cog in Miami’s run to the Final Four in 2023, joins the Sooners along with Xzayvier Brown, who averaged 17.6 points per game at St. Joe’s and follows his stepdad to Soonerland. The duo provides the type of electric offense the team will lose when Jeremiah Fears heads to the NBA. They also help offset the loss of Duke Miles to Texas A&M. Still, the Sooners need to do more after losing 9 players to either graduation or the NBA. Derrion Reid, a big-time frontcourt talent who missed much of his freshman season at Alabama with an injury, adds skill and desperately needed size. The wild card for Moser is likely Notre Dame transfer Tae Davis, who averaged 15 points and 5 rebounds a game in South Bend last season but has big shoes to fill in replacing Jalon Moore, a team leader who busted out for Moser and the Sooners in last year’s run to the NCAA Tournament. If Davis can replicate Moore’s production, the Sooners should return to the Big Dance. But that’s a big “if” making the leap to the SEC.

South Carolina: C-

The Gamecocks lost Treyson Eaglestaff before he even arrived on campus, but getting Meechie Johnson back into the fold after his brief return to Ohio State is a massive win for a Gamecocks team that lacked any reliable guard production in 2024-25. Mike Sharavjamts was a weird take for a team that lacks shooting and wasn’t efficient offensively. The Utah transfer improves the Gamecocks in neither area. We do like Kobe Knox, though, a good defender who will help space things out for Johnson on the perimeter. Nordin Kapic, who inked with the Gamecocks from UC San Diego, is a skilled big man who should help in that regard too, especially with his ability to pass from the post. All told, it hasn’t been a bad portal for the Gamecocks, but there’s nothing to suggest this team will be better, either, especially with Collin Murray-Boyles off the NBA.

Tennessee: A

Ja’Kobi Gillespie will receive First-Team All-SEC votes which is all you can ask if you are replacing a program legend like Zakai Zeigler, as Rick Barnes must do this offseason. The conduit of Maryland’s Crab 5, Gillespie averaged 15 points and 4.8 assists per contest a season ago while shooting a dynamic 40% from 3. Because he’s undersized, he can be turnover prone against high-level physicality, a flaw which will be tested in the SEC. But Gillespie is one of the most proven commodities in the portal and he’ll fit seamlessly into Rick Barnes’ offense and culture.

The other notable add is Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey. Undersized at 6-7, Carey can be outmanned at times against taller bigs, but he never gets outworked and plays with excellent technique.. A fiery competitor whose offensive game continues to evolve, Carey instantly upgrades Tennessee’s frontcourt offensively and should fit in beautifully on defense with his toughness and willingness to guard.

A superb portal for Rick Barnes, one of the best to ever do it.

Texas: B-

Dailyn Swain, who follows Sean Miller from Xavier to Texas, is special. He can guard 5 spots and made gargantuan improvements offensively as a sophomore at Xavier, improving his shooting percentages inside and outside by 10%. If that growth continues, there’s a little Thomas Haugh to his game, especially with his ability to pass and be a fulcrum in the pick and roll game and Miller’s patented horns sets.

Two different types of big men also signed up for year one under Miller in Austin, the most intriguing add being Matas Vokietaitis, who should beat out Lassina Traore for the starting job and build on his AAC Freshman of the Year campaign at Florida Atlantic.

The more concerning pieces for Texas so far are in the backcourt, but that’s okay, because even without Tre Johnson, the Longhorns return immense talent including Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope. That said, Simeon Welcher was a strange take. Yes, he torched Sean Miller’s Xavier teams at St. John’s. But he’s generally a poor shooter (29.7% from 3) who can’t finish at the rim (48% on 2s). That’s not exactly a SEC starter profile but is fine as a depth piece, I suppose.

It’s a good haul, but one that requires two good players (Swain and Vokietaitis) to take a leap to become great.

Texas A&M: Incomplete

Bucky McMillan was one of the last hires in the coaching cycle after Buzz Williams’ abrupt departure for Maryland.

As such, it’s not entirely fair to judge what’s happening with McMillan’s first roster, though Mackenzie Mgbako, the former B1G Freshman of the Year at Indiana, was a heck of a start to the Bucky Ball era. Marcus Hill, who was First Team All-MAC at Bowling Green before being serially misued by Kevin Keatts last year at NC State, is another add who seems like an excellent fit for McMillan’s uptempo brand of basketball. Sharpshooting guard Duke Miles (43% from 3 last year at Oklahoma) is another space and pace piece who makes sense.

With virtually the entire roster to replace, McMillan is off to a solid start, but the Aggies have plenty of work left to do.

Vanderbilt: C+

Let’s not beat around the bush. Losing Jaylen Carey and Jason Edwards to high profile Power 5 programs has to sting Mark Byington a bit.

But maybe trust the process? After all, Byington built one of the nation’s best portal classes a season ago on his way to a surprising NCAA Tournament appearance in his first season in Nashville. That earned trust, and it’s why I still have Vanderbilt as a “C+” despite the costly loss of 2 surefire 2025-26 starters.

Frankie Collins is an experienced point guard who can defend and distribute. Tyler Harris adds length and athleticism to a team that lacked it too often last season. Mike Harris is a physical guard who can shoot the 3 and rebounds well. UNC transfer Jalen Washington is coming off his best season at North Carolina, where he set career bests for points, rebounds, and blocks per game. He’ll reunite with Tyler Nickel, another former Tar Heel playing for Byington in Nashville.

These are all thoughtful takes, I think, that will complement returning big Devin McGlockton and key reserve Tyler Tanner and build a strong nucleus for Byington in year 2 with the Commodores.

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With plentiful sunshine and a celebration of the 2025 National Champion Florida Gators basketball team held at halftime, with 56,203 fans on hand for the occasion, it was the largest attendance for a spring game in the Billy Napier era and largest for a spring game at Florida since 2009.

The Blue raced out to a 28-10 halftime lead and held on to defeat the Orange 38-32 in the second-highest scoring Florida spring game of all time.

Here are 3 takeaways from a celebratory spring afternoon in The Swamp.

Florida’s receivers look lethal, but questions about DJ Lagway loom large

Florida produced 550 yards passing between the Blue and Orange teams on Saturday afternoon, showcasing the many perimeter weapons Napier and the Gators have accumulated over the past 3 recruiting and portal classes.

No player stood out more than high 4-star freshman Dallas Wilson. The Tampa native set an Orange and Blue game record with 10 receptions and 2 touchdowns and tied the school spring game record with 195 yards receiving. Wilson’s 31-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Harrison Bailey in the second quarter was especially impressive, as Wilson used his 6-3, 210-pound frame to manhandle press coverage, gain separation from the corner at the line of scrimmage, and dart past a chasing safety for a score. As long as Wilson remains healthy, he appears to have the blend of physicality and speed needed to be an instant impact type of receiver in the SEC next autumn.

Five-star freshman Vernell Brown III also looked the part, showing an explosive burst on 4 receptions and the type of open-field speed that will make him a problem for defenses in the years to come. Another highly touted freshman, Naeshaun Montgomery out of Miami, scored on a 51-yard touchdown reception and tallied 70 yards on 3 catches.

It wasn’t just Florida’s freshmen. Aidan Mizell appears primed for a big redshirt sophomore campaign, flashing great hands and speed on a pitch perfect route for a 24-yard touchdown just before halftime. Sophomore Tank Hawkins was also effective, running polished routes and finishing with 4 receptions for 48 yards.

The Gators clearly have an assortment of weapons on the boundary for Napier and quarterback DJ Lagway to play with this autumn. But questions will linger through the summer about the health of Lagway, one of the SEC’s best returning quarterbacks and the unquestioned key to Florida’s College Football Playoff aspirations.

Lagway played just a handful of plays on Saturday afternoon, handing off on all of them as he continues to rest his shoulder and also battles what Napier characterized on Saturday as a “lower body” injury. Napier insists his quarterback will be fine, that the lower body injury is nothing to worry about and rehab on the throwing arm injury is proceeding as planned.

“DJ is doing great. He’ll start throwing in a couple of weeks,” Napier said, adding that everything in terms of recovery and return for Lagway is on schedule. “When we start OTAs in June, he’ll be 100%.”

Nonetheless, Florida fans have to worry about Lagway’s health and any potential setbacks on the road to recovery. If Lagway has any setbacks upon his return and misses additional time or worse, requires surgery, Florida’s prospects for a big fourth year under Napier obviously diminish greatly. It’s difficult and unfair to Napier and Lagway to speculate too much on the precise nature or severity of Lagway’s injury. Florida has revealed all it needs to under the current NCAA rule structure. Napier is also famously forthright and transparent, and there’s no genuine benefit, to either Napier or Lagway, to being coy about the severity of the injury. Still, questions will linger into the offseason. Is Lagway OK? Has he fully healed? Only Lagway playing football games and making big time throws will squelch those lingering doubts.

Florida’s line of scrimmage depth is as advertised

All spring, Napier praised Florida’s growth on the line of scrimmage, calling the units as deep and battle-tested as he’s coached at Florida.

The offensive line backed up the big talk on Saturday, paving the way for over 250 yards rushing on the afternoon, including a monstrous 198-yard, 3-touchdown performance by Ja’Kobi Jackson and over 100 total yards from returning All-SEC freshman Jadan Baugh.

Florida’s improvement along both lines of scrimmage was a massive reason for the way Florida turned around its season after a 1-2 start and closed 2024 on a 4-game winning streak. When Florida’s best 2 offensive linemen, Jake Slaughter and All-SEC tackle Austin Barber, elected to return for their senior seasons, there was hope that the Gators would filed one of the most dominant offensive lines in the SEC. On Saturday, the first and second units looked sharp, getting a consistent push in the run game and holding up well in pass protection. They looked the part on Saturday afternoon, anchoring an offensive explosion despite the lack of DJ Lagway in the passing game.

After 2 years of low-scoring spring games under Napier, including a 10-7 clunker 2 seasons ago, the scoring was a welcome sight for fans and coaches alike.

Napier rightly attributed talent accumulation at Florida, with a word of caution that there was still plenty to prove.

“We watched the Playoff the last couple of years. To go the distance, you need explosive playmakers on offense, right? Especially in our system. Our backs were productive today. I thought the skill players were impressive. So yeah, I’m hopeful that’s an indication of where we’re at. But I’m also evaluating the defense, and in general, I’m hopeful the indicator is that we’ve got more speed on our team, more play-making ability, more matchup players. We’ve recruited that way. I think we’re playing to our strengths. We’re making progress there.”

The Gators are making progress. The question now is whether they can parlay that progress into a fast start after going just 7-6 in the months of August and September in the prior 3 seasons under Napier.

National champions take center stage

I don’t think I’m breaking any news or dishing out any oven-mitts-required hot takes here, but Florida didn’t draw nearly 60,000 to their spring football game to watch backup quarterbacks Aidan Warner and Harrison Bailey duel it out in the April sun.

No, the people were here to celebrate the 2025 college basketball national champions, who were honored in an extended halftime.

The Swamp rocked with approval as videos of Florida’s 36-4 run to the SEC Tournament crown and national championship played on the video screens. Florida’s third national basketball championship banner was revealed to the crowd, drawing more cheers, and individual players were interviewed, often concluding the interview sessions with the moniker and mantra this team embraced as they ran through March: Gator Boys Stay Hot.

The Swamp’s loudest roars of the day came for Walter Clayton Jr., both when he was introduced as the program’s first Consensus First-Team All-American and the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament, and when he addressed the crowd individually, admitting that the title meant more to him because of his roots as a Florida boy and childhood Gators fan.

For his part, Florida head coach Todd Golden said the day was a fitting but bittersweet way to have one more day with one of the greatest SEC basketball teams of all time.

“Amazing. I thought our guys deserved something like this, to be celebrated one last time before our guys before guys start going their separate ways. It’s bittersweet in that regard, but awesome to be able to celebrated together,” Golden said Saturday afternoon. “We kind of made a commitment to our program, to our staff, that we were going to enjoy this one way or the other. And obviously being fortunate enough to win on Monday night, we understand how lucky we are, we understand how amazing of an accomplishment this is, and we didn’t want to take it for granted.”

Judging by Florida’s attendance for the spring game Saturday, Florida fans didn’t want to take the moment for granted either.

It likely was not lost on many in attendance that Florida’s basketball success has historically beget football success. After all, during Urban Meyer’s torrid run through the SEC from 2005-2010, 2 of Florida’s 3 claimed football national championships were bookended by hoop titles under Billy Donovan.

Whether Napier can follow suit and deliver Florida a championship remains to be seen.

On Saturday, Gators showed up loudly to celebrate the champions they had, the unforgettable underdog Gator Boys, a team without a single top 100 recruit, picked 6th in the SEC, that came together and bucked every expectation to win the program’s third national championship. On Saturday, celebrating that took a back seat to no one.

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