Take Two: Arizonas big weekend, SEC QBs
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Storyline: The SEC has a quarterback problem. Basically, that means a lot of top teams don't have a very good one and that can only be problematic in a league that is such a grind and so challenging the whole way through.
Alabama is having issues. Auburn had major problems with Jeremy Johnson and that's why he's been benched in favor of Sean White. South Carolina is starting freshman Lorenzo Nunez on Saturday.
Georgia's Greyson Lambert (above) had a record-breaking day against South Carolina last weekend, but he's still unproven. LSU blasted Auburn last weekend, but that was on the back of Leonard Fournette, arguably the best player in college football. If the Tigers have to consistently throw, that's an unproven commodity.
Florida's quarterback situation seems a tad more settled but no one is especially fired up about that offense. On and on we go and where we find an outstanding quarterback, nobody knows.
It could be a major issue for a lot of SEC teams as the grueling conference schedule continues.
First take: "There's been so much turnover at the quarterback position in the SEC, I'm not surprised some schools are struggling to find answers at that position the first few weeks of the season," AuburnSports.com senior editor Bryan Matthews said. "The biggest surprise for me has been the play of Maty Mauk, who is a returning starter coming off a solid first full year as a starter. He appears to have taken a step back.
"I'm definitely surprised by Auburn's lack of offense over the first three weeks. Gus Malzahn has built his reputation on fast, high-scoring offenses and Auburn has been neither so far. I believe they built this offense around Jeremy Johnson's passing skills and when he struggled, it sent the entire group into a tailspin."
Second take: "When you look at the NFL, how many first-round quarterbacks come out of the SEC?" Farrell asked. "Tim Tebow was a reach and Johnny Manziel was a reach. The SEC is such a defense- and run-driven conference that you end up with game managers. Short of Cam Newton and probably Tebow, who has been another quarterback that has really led his team to a national title? It's built on defense and for some reason they don't seem to develop quarterbacks, either."
3. Fighting words
Storyline: This story sounds more like the WWE than college football, more like "Classy" Freddie Blassie and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan should be involved than big-time college coaches.
Here's what happened: Arkansas coach Bret Bielema made comments at a Texas high school coaches convention basically degrading spread offenses that Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury took offense to, and after Texas Tech beat Arkansas last weekend, Kingsbury said Bielema, "just got his ass kicked" and "that did feel good." Bielema shot back with his own war of words.
Jokingly, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin offered to referee a battle between Kingsbury and Bielema at the Texas coaches convention next year. Maybe he could do his best Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart impression beforehand.
That wasn't the only coach dustup this week. When TCU coach Gary Patterson was asked this week about the arrests of two players that are facing felony robbery charges, Patterson said at the end of a sentence, "it's not even close to what happened south of here."
That was a clear shot at Baylor and the Sam Ukwuachu situation. Ukwuachu, who never played a down at Baylor after transferring from Boise State, was convicted of sexual assault in August.
Patterson, pressed on an issue surrounding his program, decided to deflect to Baylor's problems, clearly a cheap shot in an incident that was completely unrelated.
First take: "I don't know if the kids care," RedRaiderSports.com managing editor Aaron Dickens said of the Kingsbury-Bielema feud. "For them it's more about how many games are you winning, what bowl game are you going to and what kind of facilities do you have? It does register a little bit with coaches. How does that affect recruiting? Great question. We talked to several high school coaches across the state and for the most part they supported what Kingsbury said. I don't know if they were all up in arms about it in the first place, but they agreed with what he said. He's the son of a high school football coach. Most schools in Texas from a high school standpoint run some type of spread and Kingsbury took some of those comments about the spread personally, not just because of what he does at Tech but also because of his father."
Second take: "You can't mouth off and get in the spotlight like that without schools using it against you," Farrell said. "It's a sign of panic. Bielema and Patterson are mouthing off because they're panicking. Bielema is losing games to teams he shouldn't lose to and he has a killer schedule coming up. Patterson's team is supposed to be a top-two team in the country but injuries and off-the-field issues are killing his depth, especially defensively, on a team that isn't real deep to begin with."
Adam Gorney
National Recruiting Analyst
Mike Farrell
National Recruiting Director
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