(I was going to wait until after signing day... but why wait? I may get a laugh out of this come Dec 2022)
Clearly UGA, and A&M (with Bama) are the SEC Leagues crown jewels in recruiting. We need to jump pass Missouri; close the gap UT, UF and UK though. Currently 7 teams are ahead of us in TALENT rankings (Yikes!) Recruiting is such a blood line of a program, but you have to develop talent as well as coaching (game prep as well as in game decision making). I would love to see USC have TOP 5 Zenth level of kids year in and year out. But unfortunately, I do not see that being consistently done here. USC does have a strategy that works though. It can be to get top SC kids to come here, to continue to climb try to recruit TOP 15 HS talent nationally to get your core group of guys; then get =~ 5 elite/impact players in the portal year in and year out. That strategy can and will work.
2021 RECAP (Finished the season @ 7-6 with big wins over UF, AU and UNC. Close games with UK and the Zoo. Surpirsed to say this; we were 2 plays away from being 9-3 with a first year staff. We were also a few plays a away from not making it to a bowl, but that's football and not to be negative here. You still gotta admit, in Beamers first year as HC, with Bobo/Rocker leaving then, new coaching staff, new culture, having 5 QBs start throughout the year, constant recycling of OL, and new DBs... He did very well! Heck of a coach we got!
Defense finished:
#11 in the SEC in rushing defense (#94 nationally)
# 2 in the SEC in passing defense (#8 nationally)
# 6 in the SEC in overall defense (#41 nationally)
Only lost one coach, birdie replacement; have many players returning.
Hopefully, we can drastically improve on stopping the run (as you will see listed below of the teams we face run the ball very good)
Offense finished:
#11 in the SEC in rushing offense (#93 nationally)
#13 in the SEC in passing offense (#95 nationally)
#13 in the SEC in overall offense (#111 nationally)
Surprised we did not see a coaching change here, but it is what it is. We did have a MASH QB unit throughout the season with steady rotation of OL play. A good thing did happen, as we upgraded in QB/TE; WR (Vann staying also helps us); while RB stays on par. How the OL fares and offense coaching will tell the tale of 2022 season highlight reels. Many of the defense guys are staying and coming back for next year! If the Dukes Mayo bowl game gave us any possibility to show our improvement, well then, I would take it! That was a great game and not to defuse the win; however, the SEC slate teams have a stronger defense than UNC team of 2021.
Since Vegas had us @3.5 wins last year, the guestimate meter dail may move to @ 5.5-6.5 this year (by Vegas).
Early take of ESPN preseason Top25 (USC @#25)->
www.espn.com
Early take of 247sports preseason TOP25 does NOT have USC in it ->
With that said, here we go...
2022 season is more tough than the 2021 season; but such is life in the SEC. No excuses and wouldn't have any other way.
DATE | TEAM | PREDICTION
9/3: Georgia State WIN
9/10: @ Arkansas* LOSS (running team, on the road; could we game prep for a month for this one? Arky Defense is in rebuild mode this year, so I see a door opening here.)
9/17: Georgia LOSS (running team, Zenth Talent Level, even with the loss of players and coaches and even being @ WB home, UGA wins by 10-13 pts)
9/24: UNC Charlotte WIN
10/1: SC State WIN
10/8: @ Kentucky TOSS (running team, had them last year but this year on the road- unknown of who is returning and leaving at this point)
10/15: Bye week -- (rest, reassessment, and regroup)
10/22: Texas A&M LOSS (extra week to prep and home game; running team | Zenth Talent Level - *see UGA, they win by 10-13pts)
10/29: Missouri WIN
11/5: @ Vanderbilt WIN
11/12: @ Florida TOSS (new staff - ?)
11/19: Tennessee TOSS (we get them at home |fast pace running/multiple,strong Offense)
11//26: @ Clemson TOSS (new staff - ?)
The two biggest question marks come from Clemson and Florida, as they have had tons of talent with a lot of turnover as well. In the summer of 2021, I predicted that Tennesse would crash and burn, given all the deflections and transfers with many unknowns coming into 2021 season. Heupal proved me (and others) wrong on this. How will Florida and Clemson do in 2022? Who knows in preseason 2022.
Nutshell Breakdown
5 WINS (Georgia State, UNC Charlotte, SC State, Missouri, Vandy)
3 LOSS (UGA, A&M, *Arky)
4 TOSS (*UK,UF?,UT,CU?) (split the tosses) = 7-5 regular season with a surprise win over Clemson; win the bowl game to 8-5! One game improvement
~
Thanks for reading.
| RIVAL RANKINGS | |||||
| TEAM | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 4-year Average |
| Georgia | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2.5 |
| TexasA&M | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Clemson | 29 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 11.75 |
| Tennessee | 11 | 27 | 7 | 12 | 14.25 |
| Florida | 47 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 18.5 |
| Kentucky | 10 | 37 | 22 | 30 | 24.75 |
| Missouri | 18 | 20 | 57 | 34 | 32.25 |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | 21 | 79 | 17 | 17 | 33.5 |
| Vanderbilt | 33 | 38 | 47 | 50 | 42 |
Clearly UGA, and A&M (with Bama) are the SEC Leagues crown jewels in recruiting. We need to jump pass Missouri; close the gap UT, UF and UK though. Currently 7 teams are ahead of us in TALENT rankings (Yikes!) Recruiting is such a blood line of a program, but you have to develop talent as well as coaching (game prep as well as in game decision making). I would love to see USC have TOP 5 Zenth level of kids year in and year out. But unfortunately, I do not see that being consistently done here. USC does have a strategy that works though. It can be to get top SC kids to come here, to continue to climb try to recruit TOP 15 HS talent nationally to get your core group of guys; then get =~ 5 elite/impact players in the portal year in and year out. That strategy can and will work.
2021 RECAP (Finished the season @ 7-6 with big wins over UF, AU and UNC. Close games with UK and the Zoo. Surpirsed to say this; we were 2 plays away from being 9-3 with a first year staff. We were also a few plays a away from not making it to a bowl, but that's football and not to be negative here. You still gotta admit, in Beamers first year as HC, with Bobo/Rocker leaving then, new coaching staff, new culture, having 5 QBs start throughout the year, constant recycling of OL, and new DBs... He did very well! Heck of a coach we got!
Defense finished:
#11 in the SEC in rushing defense (#94 nationally)
# 2 in the SEC in passing defense (#8 nationally)
# 6 in the SEC in overall defense (#41 nationally)
Only lost one coach, birdie replacement; have many players returning.
Hopefully, we can drastically improve on stopping the run (as you will see listed below of the teams we face run the ball very good)
Offense finished:
#11 in the SEC in rushing offense (#93 nationally)
#13 in the SEC in passing offense (#95 nationally)
#13 in the SEC in overall offense (#111 nationally)
Surprised we did not see a coaching change here, but it is what it is. We did have a MASH QB unit throughout the season with steady rotation of OL play. A good thing did happen, as we upgraded in QB/TE; WR (Vann staying also helps us); while RB stays on par. How the OL fares and offense coaching will tell the tale of 2022 season highlight reels. Many of the defense guys are staying and coming back for next year! If the Dukes Mayo bowl game gave us any possibility to show our improvement, well then, I would take it! That was a great game and not to defuse the win; however, the SEC slate teams have a stronger defense than UNC team of 2021.
Since Vegas had us @3.5 wins last year, the guestimate meter dail may move to @ 5.5-6.5 this year (by Vegas).
Early take of ESPN preseason Top25 (USC @#25)->
The 2022 Way-Too-Early college football top 25
With the 2021 season behind us already, it's time to start breaking down what 2022 has in store.
Early take of 247sports preseason TOP25 does NOT have USC in it ->
With that said, here we go...
2022 season is more tough than the 2021 season; but such is life in the SEC. No excuses and wouldn't have any other way.
DATE | TEAM | PREDICTION
9/3: Georgia State WIN
9/10: @ Arkansas* LOSS (running team, on the road; could we game prep for a month for this one? Arky Defense is in rebuild mode this year, so I see a door opening here.)
9/17: Georgia LOSS (running team, Zenth Talent Level, even with the loss of players and coaches and even being @ WB home, UGA wins by 10-13 pts)
9/24: UNC Charlotte WIN
10/1: SC State WIN
10/8: @ Kentucky TOSS (running team, had them last year but this year on the road- unknown of who is returning and leaving at this point)
10/15: Bye week -- (rest, reassessment, and regroup)
10/22: Texas A&M LOSS (extra week to prep and home game; running team | Zenth Talent Level - *see UGA, they win by 10-13pts)
10/29: Missouri WIN
11/5: @ Vanderbilt WIN
11/12: @ Florida TOSS (new staff - ?)
11/19: Tennessee TOSS (we get them at home |fast pace running/multiple,strong Offense)
11//26: @ Clemson TOSS (new staff - ?)
The two biggest question marks come from Clemson and Florida, as they have had tons of talent with a lot of turnover as well. In the summer of 2021, I predicted that Tennesse would crash and burn, given all the deflections and transfers with many unknowns coming into 2021 season. Heupal proved me (and others) wrong on this. How will Florida and Clemson do in 2022? Who knows in preseason 2022.
Nutshell Breakdown
5 WINS (Georgia State, UNC Charlotte, SC State, Missouri, Vandy)
3 LOSS (UGA, A&M, *Arky)
4 TOSS (*UK,UF?,UT,CU?) (split the tosses) = 7-5 regular season with a surprise win over Clemson; win the bowl game to 8-5! One game improvement
~Thanks for reading.
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