College Football

SEC Preview: Alabama reloads, but Georgia could stem the Tide

Updated Aug. 27, 2021 8:14 p.m. ET

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By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer

Editor's Note: The story of the 2021 college football season, like several of the seasons before it, is David vs. Goliath. In each of the Power 5 conferences, there is a very familiar prohibitive favorite. As he previews the five conferences this week, RJ Young breaks down the behemoth in each league and identifies the potential Davids who could shake up the College Football Playoff race this fall. RJ has covered the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC. Now, he previews the SEC.

Since 2009, Alabama has won the SEC Championship seven times. Only LSU and Auburn have managed to win the league title more than once in the past decade.

The more things change … the more Alabama dominates. That said, this year features the most change, in personnel and coaching staff, that the Tide have experienced since Nick Saban allowed then-offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin to vault his offense into the 21st century.

Alabama lost five players to the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft: quarterback Mac Jones, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, running back Najee Harris, cornerback Patrick Surtain II and Heisman winner DeVonta Smith.

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Last season, they all helped the Bama offense set school records for yards per game (541.6) — including the second-most yards gained in a single game, with 723 against Ole Miss — and points per game (48.5) en route to a 13-0 record.

Not only are those players gone, but so, too, is most of the 2020 coaching staff. Former Tide offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian became the head coach at Texas, and he took offensive line coach Kyle Flood and special teams and tight ends coach Jeff Banks with him to Austin. With running backs coach Charles Huff leaving to become head coach at Marshall, it becomes an even more daunting task for Saban and the Tide to repeat their historic offense.

Saban hired former Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien for the offensive coordinator role. O'Brien will oversee the development of new starting quarterback Bryce Young, a running back room that features senior Brian Robinson Jr. and an extremely talented, if inexperienced, receiving corps led by John Metchie.

Even with massive turnover, it’s difficult for many to bet against Saban winning the SEC. But those folks haven’t truly considered the contenders.

SEC CONTENDERS:

FLORIDA

The Gators’ schedule looks like a horror show. With games against Alabama, at LSU, Georgia and Florida State, at least one-third of UF opponents will probably be ranked at one time or another this season. If the Gators can navigate that gauntlet to reach the SEC title game with Emory Jones at quarterback, more power to them. 

If you think that's dismissive, consider that the core of this UF team lost 55-20 to Oklahoma in the 2020 Cotton Bowl.

The 55 points were the most Florida has allowed since Nebraska dropped 62 on the Gators in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. That means no current Florida player was alive the last time the Gators gave up more than 55. Older Florida fans wish they weren't either.

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LSU

LSU was unexpectedly inexperienced last year. Two starting wideouts, including Ja’Marr Chase, opted out, and quarterback Myles Brennan was lost to a hip injury early in the season.

That means a lot of inexperienced Tigers were learning on the job. Yet their talent flashed.

Eli Ricks proved himself to be one of the best defensive backs in the country. Kayshon Boutte became the Tigers’ No. 1 receiver, but the offensive line took its learning lumps.

With the retirement of Steve Ensminger, LSU coach Ed Orgeron brought in Jake Peetz as offensive coordinator. Orgeron hired DJ Mangas as passing game coordinator and brought in former Arkansas offensive line coach Brad Davis to take over for James Cregg. Orgeron also fired defensive coordinator Bo Pelini and installed Daronte Jones. 

Following the loss of Brennan to injury for the second time in less than a year — he broke his left arm when he slipped on a fishing dock — Orgeron announced this month that sophomore Max Johnson will be LSU’s starting quarterback.

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Johnson, the son of Super Bowl-winning QB Brad Johnson, got his first start in December, on the road, on a team with a losing record. He led the Tigers to a Swamp-stomping of the seventh-ranked Florida Gators, who had a Heisman front-runner at quarterback and two pass-catchers who'd be picked in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, including a unanimous All-American at tight end.

That’s not a bad option, and neither is picking LSU to contend for the SEC title.

TEXAS A&M

To hear Jimbo Fisher tell it, this is the year his Texas A&M Aggies will whoop Alabama.

At an event for boosters at the Houston Touchdown Club in May, a fan asked Fisher how he can hope to beat Saban short of the 69-year-old Bama coach retiring.

"We’re going to beat his ass when he’s there," Fisher said. "Don’t worry."

He elaborated on his crowd-pleaser: Alabama is the target Ampersand U is shooting at, and someone is going to bring the Tide down.

"And eventually, that’s going to be us. I respect everything they do and how they do it, but we can do it just as good or be just as good or better — and we will."

There's reason to believe the time could be now in College Station, and it’s the 2020 season. A&M finished 9-1 with an Orange Bowl victory over North Carolina.

Last season was the Aggies' first with one loss or fewer since 1994, when R.C. Slocum’s team went 10-0-1 with wins against LSU, No. 15 Oklahoma and Texas. The 21-all tie came against SMU.

Although Fisher lost quarterback Kellen Mond to the NFL, he returns stars Isaiah Spiller and Ainias Smith offensively and first-round hopeful DeMarvin Leal on defense. At quarterback, he has two players with talent enough to lead an experienced offense in Haynes King and Zach Calzada.

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During his junior season in high school, King led the Longview Lobos to a 16-0 record that ended with a 6A-II title. As a senior, he threw for 1,926 yards and 20 passing touchdowns while rushing for 550 yards and 10 scores. He finished his career with the Lobos posting a 37-2 record as a starter.

Calzada was an Under Armour All-American at Lanier High School in Sugar Hill, Georgia. As a senior, he completed 122 of 240 pass attempts with 14 touchdowns. He ended his prep career completing 238 of 467 for 3,429 yards and 29 touchdowns. In keeping with the theme, there isn’t a bad option here.

However, the Aggies are winless against Alabama in Fisher’s first three years on the job, having been outscored 144-75, including a devastating 52-24 loss in 2020.

The Aggies haven’t beaten Alabama since 2012, when Johnny Manziel was quarterback. A victory over the Tide might be all they need to take their first SEC title — ever.

GEORGIA

Georgia tops the list of teams most likely to unseat Alabama from its SEC throne in 2021. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken is going into Year 2 and his first being able to put his quarterbacks through spring practices.

Last season, would-be starting quarterback Jamie Newman opted out. D’Wan Mathis filled in before Georgia pivoted to Stetson Bennett, a player who walked on in Athens to begin his college career.

When former five-star QB JT Daniels was healthy enough to play in 2020, he ran Monken’s offense with confidence, and the results matched. In four games last season, Daniels completed 67.2% of his passes for 1,231 yards. That’s more yards than Bennett managed in eight games.

Against undefeated Cincinnati, Daniels completed 26 of 38 passes for 392 yards with a touchdown and a pick. Many of the players he threw passes to — including running back Zamir White, tight end Darnell Washington and wideouts Kearis Jackson and George Pickens — are back, though Pickens, Washington and WR Arik Gilbert will miss the start of the season due to injury or personal reasons.

Expect UGA coach Kirby Smart and defensive coordinator Dan Lanning to lead another outstanding defense highlighted by linebacker Nolan Smith. 

Overall, the Bulldogs will field their best team since 2017.

Georgia's toughest game is its first, against Clemson in Charlotte on Sept. 4. But there’s no Alabama on the Bulldogs' schedule, which features opponents from the mild-mannered SEC East Division. 

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Pick: Georgia

After having five stars selected in the first round of the draft, the Crimson Tide responded by signing the best class in the history of the recruiting rankings era. Alabama has become nothing short of dynastic, and what is a conference title to a dynastic college football team except a foregone conclusion?

But Saban’s Tide have turned over in players and coaches, and Georgia's continuity would be its advantage if they meet in 2021. 

If UGA is going to win its first SEC title since fielding Kirby Smart’s best team in 2017, this is the year to do it. It's also Georgia's best chance in 40 years to win the national championship.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.

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