Alabama Football: SEC football midseason surprises
By Dakota Cox
What surprises us about Alabama football and the rest of the SEC?
We are halfway through Alabama football‘s regular season, and we have learned a lot about the Crimson Tide. Their offense has not skipped a beat despite losing four first-round players from last year’s team. The defense has struggled, but the gained confidence in their win against Georgia will hopefully carry them through the rest of the season.
The rest of Alabama’s regular-season schedule looks like a breeze, and we likely won’t learn much more about this team. That being said, there have been surprises all around the SEC. Some have been in Tuscaloosa, but other schools have been shocked by moments and players. Let’s take a look at the most surprising things about this shortened SEC football season.
Arkansas and Missouri
We all thought that Arkansas and MIssouri would be two of the worst teams in the SEC, but they have been competitive. Arkansas went from a non-competitive team to one of the best in the SEC West. We predicted that the Razorbacks would go winless, but they have already proven us wrong. They now have what it takes to perform every Saturday, and it has been years since the Razorbacks could say that.
Missouri is in the same boat. They have a few upset wins under their belt, and they are fighting for their coach in every game.
Mac Jones
We all knew that Alabama football was going to have a strong offense, but no one expected Mac Jones to be this good. He is a genuine Heisman candidate. If he keeps playing like this, he will be in New York at the end of the season. He might be playing himself up NFL draft boards.
LSU’s struggles
It was safe to assume that LSU would take a step back. They lost almost every starter from their championship team. However, this team might be worse than the 2011 Auburn team. They are already out of the SEC West race, and things are not trending up for the Tigers.
Failures of Mike Leach’s offense
Mississippi State needs to recruit new players to play in Mike Leach’s offense, but we thought that they would be able to at least show potential in Leach’s first season. The Bulldogs were great in their opening game against LSU, but things have been downhill since. The Egg Bowl might be more of a dumpster fire than it was last season. We’ll see if they can bring the heat against Alabama football.
There have been plenty of surprises already, and college football fans cannot wait to see what’s in store for the second half of the season.