The Good News
We won the SEC Championship and beat Texas twice with a deeply flawed team. Those flaws include the lack of a true DT, the lack of any functional OTs, and the lack of a top 50 receiving corp. The ability to win the SEC Championship in the face of such flaws is a real testament to the gritty nature of this team. Very proud of the team.
Despite the banging on the OL by the fans, the center and the guards were largely solid when healthy. I expect them to be solid next year even with one of those guys going pro. Nate Frazier is a special player and will be a star. Chris Cole is going to be our next great linebacker. Bolden is going to be a First Team All-American soon.
We have a great home schedule for the fans next year.
The Bad News
Though we have a great high school recruiting class coming in, they are going to get thrown into the deep end of the pool immediately. By the time we are done with draft declarations and spring portal losses we will be a very inexperienced team. We need a safety, an OT, an experienced QB, and depth in the spring portal in a big way.
The Unforgiveable
This is so hard to believe that I cannot believe I am typing it -- but in the last minute of the first half in the Ga. Tech, Texas, and Notre Dame games (three consecutive games) -- we gave up strip sacks on slow developing pass plays. We overcame the first two of those to win the games -- but the first two cost us our starting QB. The last one cost us a winnable playoff game. After what happened to Beck in the Ga. Tech game -- the repetitive failures in the Texas and Notre Dame game fall squarely on the OC. I do not blame Bobo for the outcome of the season or the poor offensive performance this year. As I said, we were a flawed team. The lack of OTs and WRs really limited this offense. But there is no running away from making the same mistake three games in a row without learning a GD thing.
