Have you ever been experienced? The LSU Tigers return 18 starters this season. That is nine on offense/nine on defense and tied for the most returning starters in the country with Kent State, Louisville, and Wyoming. The Tigers have motivation, a Heisman hopeful, and a coach they love. This team stood next to the fire last year and avoided getting burnt. They’ve been around and will rely heavily on that experience as LSU attempts to meet crazy expectations. What about the rest of the SEC though? Are they experienced?
Well, look at the returning starters at each school: Florida – 11, Alabama – 11, Georgia – 14, Arkansas – 14, Kentucky – 14, Mississippi St. – 13, Mizzou – 13, South Carolina – 13, Texas A&M – 13, Auburn – 11, Ole Miss – 10. Some of these teams have a few guys who have been around the block; Tennessee and Vanderbilt have 17 and 15 returning starters respectively but none of which are Heisman hopefuls and none of which experienced what LSU went through last season. The most staggering number however is the number of teams with inexperienced quarterbacks in the SEC. Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina potentially, Auburn most likely, and Missouri all have quarterbacks with little to no big time college football experience. Vanderbilt’s Kyle Shurmur played five games last year and is a Sophomore. Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald is replacing the best quarterback in school history. Oregon State transfer Luke Del Rio is trying to clean up the mess left by Will Grier’s exit and Treon Harris’ stinking up the joint in Gainesville. Austin Allen is looking to step out of big brother Brandon’s shadow in Fayetteville. Trevor Knight is a senior and transferred from OU because he couldn’t get playing time there and now he is going to attempt to clean up the messiest QB situation in the SEC at Texas A&M. You could argue that 11 teams in the SEC are with severe inexperience at QB in 2016.
The SEC is not a quarterback conference, but the teams that have the most consistent and steady quarterback play generally thrive. See the robots Nick Saban inserts into his machine year after year: not flashy, but they all play like veterans. That machine, just like the other offenses run by green quarterbacks will break down at times and need other cogs to pick up it’s slack. Experienced and reliable cogs help run a college football machine most effectively. Experience is the key this season in the SEC this season. Are any of these guys outside of Baton Rouge experienced? Have they ever been experienced? Well, Brandon Harris has.