OFFICIAL 2020 COLLEGE FOOTBALL OFFSEASON THREAD

[casper90403]

casper90403 I went back and looked the practice notes and what people there posted and seems Slovis was the clear #2 in practice but didn’t do well in the 2-3 scrimmages. Sears was inconsistent in both practices and scrimmages so Fink probably should have been the names the #2 but I get wanting to give it to the freshman in that scenario.

Sucks for Matt though. He went 10-10 for 2 TDs in the 2nd of the 3 scrimmages while Kedon struggled. Jack it sounds like has been a 1 read and take off QB a lot of camp which Graham didn’t like.

As a bonus laugh, your guy Scott Wolf tweeted on Tuesday morning that assistant coaches told him that Helton was not going to release a depth chart because he’s a coward, but that he was pressing to name Matt Fink #2 even though they didn’t want to.

The team names Slovis the QB and he flips it to, “I heard Helton forced them to pick Slovis even though they didn’t want to.”



Dudes been banned from practice for 3 years. He has no idea how any of the QBs performed

reading Wolf's tweets, I sometimes feel like I'm reading Chris Swanson tweets.

I think if JT were to get hurt and had to miss the next game, SLovis wouldn't be named the starter and they would go with Fink or Sears. But if the Trojans are blowing someone out and they pulled JT, Slovis would be the first guy to come in.

 

[liltank0206]

@10508 cardo jr ln
@kickz4242

Georgia Practice Notes from today

Nakobe and jamaree both got high ankle sprains but should be back to full strength soon according to kirby and swift was just wearing the black cuz they ain't tryna have him beat up to much a week away from the season opener. I cant wait to see how cager pans out with a better QB now and I'm interested in seeing how our ILB play this season as well so ready for next week man....

 

[atlsfinest]

@10508 cardo jr ln
@kickz4242
liltank0206

Practice notes from the Athletic

Spoiler

ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia beat corps was herded to the football practice fields Wednesday afternoon for its usual viewing period, a nine-minute window this time. Right away D’Andre Swift stood out because he was wearing a black jersey, which usually means non-contact, and it was notable because non-contact jerseys on non-quarterbacks have been rare lately. At least during these media viewing periods.

After practice, Kirby Smart was asked about Swift and that non-contact jersey.

“Yeah that was just so y’all would focus in on that and not see the other stuff out there,” he said. “It obviously worked. So y’all missed, or at least I haven’t seen it written yet, what I didn’t want y’all to see.”

It appeared that Smart was kidding. Some of the beat corps laughed, but Smart didn’t, and also didn’t clarify whether the star tailback was really OK. For what it’s worth he looked just fine during those nine minutes. Georgia could just be taking it extra careful with Swift, who sat out at least one practice last week.

Or perhaps the media, while obsessing on Swift’s jersey color, missed that Georgia was lined up in its new wishbone offense. The James Coley revolution, everybody!

It’s probably time for real games.

Luckily that will be the case soon. Georgia breaks camp this weekend and begins preparation for Vanderbilt. As attention turns, here’s a final look at some things I’ve gleaned from watching the Bulldogs, talking to players and Smart and general buzz around camp.

Buy stock in Zamir White
Smart is trying to temper expectations, and White may be eased into things as the season begins. But all reports I’m hearing are that he’s the real deal. He’s healthy, he’s confident, and he looks great in practices and scrimmages.

That doesn’t mean he’s going to start at Vanderbilt or even see a ton of carries. But it does mean that carries will be hard to disperse this season if everyone stays healthy: Senior Brian Herrien has also had a very good camp and does a lot of things the coaches like. Freshman Kenny McIntosh has been better than expected. Sophomore James Cook, already a dynamic runner, has improved his pass protection and ability to break tackles.

Speaking generally, but with all this talent obviously in mind, Smart said this Wednesday when asked about the possibility of having two 1,000-yard rushers for a third straight season: “In a perfect world, I want success and I want success for each one of those players. If each one of those backs has success, could you end up where nobody gets 1,000 and three or four guys get close to 1,000. It could, but we don’t know how it’s going to play out because we don’t know the health of things or how it’s going to go.”

Wait and see on the offense
There have been a lot of quotes issued by players about what Coley is doing with the offense that have tickled the imagination. Sophomore offensive lineman Cade Mays had his chance to weigh in this week.

“Coach Coley is definitely spreading things out,” Mays said, before adding: “I don’t really know how to answer that, because all offenses are kind of the same in the SEC. You want to line up and you want to hit people in the mouth. It’s not really that much different, but it is different at the same time. Lots of motion, lots of misdirection type of stuff.”

The tempo hasn’t changed, according to Mays, who pointed out they had tempo under Jim Chaney as well.

“We’re not the old Oregon style, running up to the ball and stuff,” Mays said. “But yeah we had pretty good tempo.”

So how different will things really be? My sense remains the same: We won’t know until the games are played. Coley may tweak some stuff in the playbook, but ultimately this is still Kirby Smart’s offense and he wants to be balanced, with an emphasis on dominating the line of scrimmage.

The play-calling is what is more likely to be a noticeable change. That’s what will be worth watching the most when the season starts.

The wide receivers
George Pickens’ emergence is one of the stories of camp, and yes he emerged, despite being a five-star recruit plenty of people were already talking about. It’s not just the one-handed sideline catch he made in the first scrimmage, which went viral when it leaked out. All reports about the 6-foot-5 freshman have been very good, to the point it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get some significant playing time right away.

Pickens and fellow newcomer Lawrence Cager, the graduate transfer from Miami, were working second team during Tuesday’s practice at the two outside receiver spots. Tyler Simmons and Matt Landers were running first team. Demetris Robertson is working first in the slot, followed by Kearis Jackson and Dominick Blaylock.

This isn’t to bury Blaylock, because he’s going to be a very good player and could still have a significant role. But it does appear that of the newcomers at receiver, it’s Pickens who has pushed his way into a big role, at least early in the season.

Simmons is the only receiver who has earned a starting position, according to Smart.


Per Kirby Smart, Tyler Simmons is the only receiver to secure a starting job to this point. (Photo: Tony Walsh / UGA Athletics)
“But outside of him, there’s battles at every one of those positions: the slot, the receiver opposite him, the two-deep at receiver. It’s every day. Guys rotate positions and play all kinds of positions,” Smart said. “Tyler’s probably a little bit ahead of the other guys just in terms of experience, but outside of that, it’s wide open.”

A defensive player to watch
Tyler Clark can be easily forgotten, because he’s a senior coming off a down year, and Georgia appears to be deep now on the defensive line, especially with the addition of five-star end Travon Walker. But don’t be shocked if Clark has a big year.

Two years ago, Clark came on late in the season and was really impressive in the Rose Bowl. He was expected to build on that in 2018, but by his own admission he did not: He saw his tackles dip from 41 to 31, sacks from 2.5 to 1, and tackles-for-loss from 6 to 4.

What happened? Clark paused a few seconds before answering.

“I can say I started feeling myself too much, and it got in my head, and it just took me out,” Clark said. “But I’ll be back this year.”

Knock on wood … Georgia has avoided the injury bug (so far)
That’s two caveats in the subhead, and we’ll add another one now. But with just over a week to go before the season starts the Bulldogs haven’t appeared to suffer any long-term injuries. There are some short-term ailments, however.

Freshman inside linebacker Nakobe Dean has been absent from media viewing periods since last Saturday’s scrimmage. Smart said Dean is “dinged up” but has been able to appear at practice after the media leaves. Dean had been competing for a starting spot.

Sophomore offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer was on crutches Wednesday afternoon and not at practice while the media was there. But Smart also didn’t appear too worried about that. Salyer projects to be one of the two top reserves on the line.

Defensive linemen David Marshall and Julian Rochester, each working their way back from injuries suffered last year, have been limited at times this month but have able to go while the media was out there.

And of course, there’s Swift. We’ll see on that later. Maybe.

Other quick hitters
• The No. 3 quarterback right now is walk-on Nathan Priestley, the freshman from Los Angeles. Priestley (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) tore his ACL his junior year of high school and thus saw his recruitment get toned down. But Coley found him, brought him in, and it’s worked out well for both parties with freshman D’Wan Mathis still working his way back to full health after the brain cyst this summer.

• I would still expect Tyson Campbell and Eric Stokes to be the starting cornerbacks, but Smart indicated there’s less separation than people think between those two and their backups, junior college transfer D.J. Daniel and freshman Tyrique Stevenson.

• Five guys are still in the mix for kick and punt return duties: Simmons, Robertson, Swift, Jackson and Blaylock.

• Mays may have a leg up on the starting right guard job, as he’s appeared to go first team most of the time. But that’s not certain yet, especially with the amount of time Mays has been working at other positions, including center. Ben Cleveland could still get the nod at Vanderbilt.

(Top photo by Tony Walsh / UGA Athletics)

 

[RyGuy45]

The all-time All-ACC college football team
ESPN

Who's the best quarterback in ACC football history? Go ahead, we'll give you a few minutes. It's no easy task narrowing down seven decades of QBs -- from Norm Snead to Trevor Lawrence -- to a single player. But that's what we attempted to do this summer. To say there were strong disagreements would be a vast understatement. This was tough.

As hard as it was to find one QB, it might've been harder to land on just two running backs. How do you choose between Warrick Dunn and Dalvin Cook? Even Florida State fans wouldn't want to make that call. Or how about defensive end, where Mario Williams, Vic Beasley and Bradley Chubb couldn't crack the first-team selections?

The point is, the ACC has a ridiculously rich history of talent since its inception in 1953, and that legacy takes another big step forward today, with the launch of the ACC Network. As we turn the page to a new chapter, it was only fitting that we make some tough choices, run through the numbers, argue for a few weeks and come up with our all-time All-ACC team.

A few caveats: We only considered seasons in which the players were members of the ACC, so no Deion Sanders or Michael Vick or anyone from the 2001 Miami Hurricanes. Secondly, we attempted to consider the era, too. QB stats in 1970 don't make for an apples-to-apples comparison with those from 2018. The goal was a representation of all the great eras of ACC football, so numbers weren't the only metric used. Lastly, some résumés are still being written, so Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Bryce Hall and Andre Szmyt might well end up among the ACC's greats, but until their careers are over, we're not ready to add their names to the history books.

QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson
RB Warrick Dunn, Florida St
RB Ted Brown, NC State
WR Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech
WR Peter Warrick, Florida St
TE Greg Olsen, Miami
OT D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Virginia
OG Joe Bostic, Clemson
C Clay Shiver, Florida St
OG Jim Richter, NC State
OT Walter Jones, Florida St
AP: C.J. Spiller, Clemson

DE Julius Peppers, North Carolina
DT Randy White, Maryland
DT William Fuller, North Carolina
DE Peter Boulware, Florida St
LB Derrick Brooks, Florida St
LB Luke Kuechly, Boston College
LB Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina
CB Donnell Woolford, Clemson
S Terry Kinard, Clemson
S Ken Swilling, Georgia Tech
CB Dre Bly, North Carolina

K Sebastian Janikowski, Florida St
P Ryan Plackemeier, Wake Forest
RS Ryan Switzer, North Carolina

Second-team offense: QB Charlie Ward, Florida State; OT Jim Dombrowski, Virginia; OG Alex Barron, Florida State; C Bob Pellegrini, Maryland; OG Laken Tomlinson, Duke; OT William Thomas, Florida State; WR Torry Holt, NC State; WR Herman Moore, Virginia; TE Heath Miller, Virginia; RB Dalvin Cook, Florida State; RB Brian Piccolo, Wake Forest; AP Leon Johnson, North Carolina
Second-team defense: DE Mario Williams, NC State; DT Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh; DT Christian Wilkins, Clemson; DE Chris Long, Virginia; LB Aaron Curry, Wake Forest; LB E.J. Henderson, Maryland; LB Jeff Davis, Clemson; S Derwin James, Florida State; S Brian Dawkins, Clemson; CB Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest; CB Ronde Barber, Virginia
Second-team special teams: RS Eddie Royal, Virginia Tech; P Shawn Powell, Florida State; K Roberto Aguayo, Florida State

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27421493/the-all-all-acc-college-football-team

 

[atlsfinest]

Nakobe and jamaree both got high ankle sprains but should be back to full strength soon according to kirby and swift was just wearing the black cuz they ain't tryna have him beat up to much a week away from the season opener. I cant wait to see how cager pans out with a better QB now and I'm interested in seeing how our ILB play this season as well so ready for next week man....

I'm excited to see Cager as well. He was productive at Miami with horrendous quarterback play so it'll be interesting to see how he performs with a good quarterback. I think our starting receivers are gonna be Simmons, Cager and Robertson with Jackson, Pickens and Blaylock pushing for playing time.

As for ILB I think we roll with Rice and Dean (if hes healthy). I was high on Tindall out of HS and I'd like to see him push for playing time but I haven't heard much from him.

 

[dacomeup]

I'm excited to see Cager as well. He was productive at Miami with horrendous quarterback play so it'll be interesting to see how he performs with a good quarterback

Cager is talented but he doesn't play to his size and drops tons of passes. Wouldn't pin his issues on Quarterback play, even though it was bad. He left Miami because he was going to be passed up by younger guys.

 

[アミーゴ]

SO CLOSE

 

[nako xl]

The all-time All-ACC college football team
ESPN


A few caveats: We only considered seasons in which the players were members of the ACC, so no Deion Sanders or Michael Vick or anyone from the 2001 Miami Hurricanes. Secondly, we attempted to consider the era, too. QB stats in 1970 don't make for an apples-to-apples comparison with those from 2018. The goal was a representation of all the great eras of ACC football, so numbers weren't the only metric used. Lastly, some résumés are still being written, so Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Bryce Hall and Andre Szmyt might well end up among the ACC's greats, but until their careers are over, we're not ready to add their names to the history books.

QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson
RB Warrick Dunn, Florida St
RB Ted Brown, NC State
WR Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech
WR Peter Warrick, Florida St
TE Greg Olsen, Miami
OT D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Virginia
OG Joe Bostic, Clemson
C Clay Shiver, Florida St
OG Jim Richter, NC State
OT Walter Jones, Florida St
AP: C.J. Spiller, Clemson

DE Julius Peppers, North Carolina
DT Randy White, Maryland
DT William Fuller, North Carolina
DE Peter Boulware, Florida St
LB Derrick Brooks, Florida St
LB Luke Kuechly, Boston College
LB Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina
CB Donnell Woolford, Clemson
S Terry Kinard, Clemson
S Ken Swilling, Georgia Tech
CB Dre Bly, North Carolina

K Sebastian Janikowski, Florida St
P Ryan Plackemeier, Wake Forest
RS Ryan Switzer, North Carolina

Second-team offense: QB Charlie Ward, Florida State; OT Jim Dombrowski, Virginia; OG Alex Barron, Florida State; C Bob Pellegrini, Maryland; OG Laken Tomlinson, Duke; OT William Thomas, Florida State; WR Torry Holt, NC State; WR Herman Moore, Virginia; TE Heath Miller, Virginia; RB Dalvin Cook, Florida State; RB Brian Piccolo, Wake Forest; AP Leon Johnson, North Carolina
Second-team defense: DE Mario Williams, NC State; DT Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh; DT Christian Wilkins, Clemson; DE Chris Long, Virginia; LB Aaron Curry, Wake Forest; LB E.J. Henderson, Maryland; LB Jeff Davis, Clemson; S Derwin James, Florida State; S Brian Dawkins, Clemson; CB Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest; CB Ronde Barber, Virginia
Second-team special teams: RS Eddie Royal, Virginia Tech; P Shawn Powell, Florida State; K Roberto Aguayo, Florida State

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27421493/the-all-all-acc-college-football-team

List is trash

 

[atlsfinest]

 

[liltank0206]

Dont know much about this bralyn kid but we (UGA) just got a 2021 safety commit 6'2 190 wanna see how long he sticks....

 

[Bobby Layne]

But that's all projection right? What's your favorite Justin Herbert performance against a good opponent (not named Utah)? Costello spent the last two years spamming slants and fades but I still don't know that Herbert is better than him. Costello was slinging it while getting killed in the pocket last year. Herbert was untouched and still never "wowed" me. I really do think all the hype on him comes from his two good games in 2016 vs. Cal and Arizona and a bunch of sports people wanting to be early to hop on his train and not wanting to be wrong.

Perhaps.

If anything its projection based on how he'd look if he had a competent receiving core to throw to. They led the country last year in dropped deep targets, which is Herbert's game. Like Cam, Wentz, and Josh Allen he's going to miss a lot of the intermediate and short stuff, but makes up for it with big throws down the field.

 

[atlsfinest]

Dont know much about this bralyn kid but we (UGA) just got a 2021 safety commit 6'2 190 wanna see how long he sticks....

I don't think he will but it's hard to tell this far out. I think we'll probably tell him to look elsewhere unless he shoots up the rankings.

 

[Bobby Layne]

 

[nako xl]

Are they gonna write that operation Sports ncaa football rosters article every year?

 

[atlsfinest]

Are they gonna write that operation Sports ncaa football rosters article every year?

It's right there with the annual Bobby Bonilla article

 

[witnesskb24]

Bobby Layne tell me why you guys offense is gonna be a ton better this year? I see folks excited, I need the details. Besides different coordinator

Not saying they won’t be, just trying to educate myself

 

[アミーゴ]

Are they gonna write that operation Sports ncaa football rosters article every year?

Will be back soon

 

[Bobby Layne]

Bobby Layne tell me why you guys offense is gonna be a ton better this year? I see folks excited, I need the details. Besides different coordinator

Not saying they won’t be, just trying to educate myself

Michigan's offense wasn't bad last year. It ranked 25th in S&P+ and did what it was supposed to against inferior competition. The problem was that it was so match up specific, when Michigan played teams with equal or better talent it sputtered.

Now Gattis bringing in an offense that is going to put the best 11 players on the field, is a much better fit for either QB, and is going to have schematic answers when Michigan plays teams of equal or better talent. Everything was a grind under Drev and Pep, there was almost nothing in Michigan's offense that would get them easy yards.

Personnel wise they bring back 4 OL, the QB, and three NFL WR's. They likely would have improved regardless of whether Gattis was brought in or not, but now I think Michigan has the pieces for at least a top 10 offense.

Honestly I'm a lot more concerned right now about the defense than the O. Losing Ambry is huge, they have not recruited well at all at CB lately. If Vincent Gray is out there getting BBQ'd by the likes of MTSU, Wiscy, and Rutgers, I hope they seriously think about moving Dax Hill to CB.

 

[Bobby Layne]

witnesskb24 how's the defense looking at OSU?

 

[Bobby Layne]

 

[アミーゴ]

Eason babyeeee

 

[dacomeup]

Was it really that much of a competition at Washington as people were making it seem?

 

[elpablo21]

 

[Bobby Layne]

Jon Runyan Jr is going to be out until Wiscy most likely. Expect Ryan Hayes at LT.

 

[nako xl]

Was it really that much of a competition at Washington as people were making it seem?

The offense was sputtering in the spring and Eason didn’t look good. I didn’t follow this fall but saw someone say he wasn’t really separating himself though playing better than one of the other Jakes.