SEC football predictions: Georgia won't slow Tennessee Vols' fast track to No. 1 | Adams
SEC football coaches are no longer above ripping fellow coaches.
From a columnist’s standpoint, that’s unfortunate. Coaches need to stay in their lane and leave the critiques to us.
Don’t get me wrong. Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher’s preseason rant against Nick Saban was spectacular. And Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s Twitter darts aimed at Fisher have repeatedly hit their target.
But Fisher and Kiffin should adjust their aim. Tennessee second-year coach Josh Heupel should be their target. He’s causing problems for the entire coaching fraternity.
He has taken a 3-7 program into national championship contention in just his second season. That’s not how it’s supposed to be done.
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You’re supposed to change the culture, recruit your own players, and then win. Instead, Heupel took the express lane. His rebuilding process consisted of flipping a switch.
No wonder, Auburn fired coach Bryan Harsin with a month left in his second season. If he couldn’t get them within striking distance of a championship in less than two years, what good was he?
Tennessee 41, Georgia 31: The Bulldogs have a great defense, and Kirby Smart is a great defensive coach. We have been hearing that since last season, and for good reason.
Alabama and Saban also have a terrific reputation for defense. At least, they did until Tennessee scored 52 points on them.
Good defenses have gone bad quickly and repeatedly against Tennessee’s up-tempo offense.
No. 1 Georgia has a better secondary than Alabama. That should help its chances of slowing down UT’s quick-strike passing game. But it doesn’t have quarterback Bryce Young, whose brilliant play kept the Tide in contention against the Vols in a 52-49 game.
UT’s defense, which was at its best against Kentucky, will impede Georgia’s running game and pressure quarterback Stetson Bennett into just enough mistakes. UT’s offense will do the rest as the Vols ascend to No. 1.
Alabama 38, LSU 27: The Tigers looked in disarray in an opening loss to Florida State, and they got steamrolled by Tennessee on their home field. But they’re on the upswing and still in contention for the SEC championship under first-year coach Brian Kelly.
That doesn’t mean they’re ready for Alabama, which – despite the loss to Tennessee – isn’t out of the running for another national championship. And Kelly knows how dangerous the Tide can be when they have championship incentive.
Kelly’s 2012 Notre Dame team lost to Alabama 42-14 in the national championship game. His 2020 team lost to Alabama 31-14 in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Texas A&M 30, Florida 23: Never mind how much money Fisher is making. He can’t seem to buy a win.
Florida is also trending downward under new coach Billy Napier. The Gators have given up 87 points combined in back-to-back losses.
At that rate, they might be bad enough to make Texas A&M's offense almost competent. But don’t bet on it.
In fact, don’t bet on either one of these teams.
Mississippi State 34, Auburn 17: The game won’t be nearly as newsworthy as what preceded it.
By Monday, Auburn had fired Harsin and hired Mississippi State athletics director John Cohen. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they couldn’t work out a deal to acquire Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers.
Arkansas 42, Liberty 24: As of this writing, Hugh Freeze is still coaching Liberty. But maybe he could help Auburn, too, which could be where he’s headed next.
He at least could call in a couple of plays on his cellphone. No, scratch that. He has a bad history with cellphones.
South Carolina 27, Vanderbilt 17: The Commodores are coming off an open date. The Gamecocks are coming off a dreadful showing against Missouri.
There was nothing mysterious about the defeat, according to quarterback Spencer Rattler. Bad plan and bad preparation was his explanation, which surely endeared him to coach Shane Beamer.
But it doesn’t take a team of happy campers to beat Vanderbilt.
Missouri 27, Kentucky 24: Too bad the Wildcats didn’t save their terrible performance against Tennessee for Halloween. Coach Mark Stoops could have dressed up as Joker.
Not the Joker, but former Kentucky coach Joker Phillips, who lost 20 of 24 SEC games in three seasons from 2010 through 2012.
Record: 61-13 (.824), 36-30 (.545) against the spread.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: SEC football predictions: Georgia won't slow Tennessee trip to No. 1
