College football powerless rankings: SEC trio mired in season of despair

Tennessee still doesn’t have a quarterback, Oregon’s struggles continue and the college football powerless rankings see a new No. 1.

In the movie Bull Durham, in an effort to scare his young players into playing better Skip throws a load of baseball bats into the shower and says, “Baseball is a simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball.” There had to be a couple of occasions when Duke head coach David Cutcliffe and LSU head coach Ed Orgeron wanted to throw something at their players so they would play better.

Duke was in the Christmas spirit giving the ball to Miami five times (four fumbles and one interception) in their 48-0 loss at Wallace Wade. When Coach O threw his headset down in disgust during their 55-17 blowout loss to Alabama, maybe coach Orgeron was upset at himself.

The irony of the Mario Cristobal to Texas whispers is the Longhorns is trying to get rid of a coach that loses games that he should win. Cristobal should not lose to Oregon State or California. Once again, the Ducks are dropping games they should win dropping a head-scratcher to California 21-17. CJ Verdell was banged up after the Oregon State loss, but that should not have made that much of a difference.

Jeremy Pruitt and the Volunteers have no faith in the passing game at all. It might have been garbage time, but when the Vols threw the football, they actually scored. Maybe Pruitt and the offensive staff need to study some Knute Rockne film to unlock the mystery of the forward pass.

Trio of SEC football teams mired in miserable seasons

5. Oregon (3-2)

Since Mario Cristobal became head coach, everything the Oregon Ducks do is an attempt to mirror the nation’s elite football programs. Cristobal did spend time with Nick Saban at Alabama as an analyst. Cristobal was also a player when Miami was “The U.” The former offensive lineman knows a thing or two about culture.

What is hard to wrap one’s head around are these losses. First, there was the loss against interstate rival Oregon State. The Ducks had won 11 of 12 coming into the game this season.  Oregon was up two scores going into the fourth quarter and proceed to give up three touchdowns against the Beavers en route to a 41-38 loss. This week it was California shutting out the Ducks in the second half to win 21-17 for their first win of the season. Elite teams do not lose these types of games.

4. Tennessee (2-6)

Someone needs to remind Jeremy Pruitt that it is not 2005 anymore. There might be a way to win playing power, smashmouth football, but Eric Gray is not the type of running back that you play that way with. You need someone like Derrick Henry and Gray is not Henry. It’s difficult to know if it is a trust issue or a philosophy issue.

It was obvious after last season that Jarrett Guarantano was not the answer at quarterback. It took this long to finally give Harrison Bailey and J.T. Shrout an opportunity to play. When the young quarterback’s played against Florida, the offensive staff put them in awful positions. Bailey and Shrout were given little opportunity to throw on first or second down. Not throwing until 3rd and obvious puts a lot of pressure on a young quarterback.

When Shrout was allowed to throw on first down in the fourth quarter, the Volunteers marched down the field and scored. There could be a correlation there.

3. LSU (3-5)

This is undoubtedly the worst season for a defending National Champion ever. It is not entirely LSU’s fault. Dave Arranda, last season’s defensive coordinator, is the head coach at Baylor. Arranda’s replacement, Bo Pelini, has not worked at all. Passing game coordinator Joe Brady is now the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. The Tigers lost 18 players to graduation and the NFL after last season.

After already experiencing a flurry of players opting out, freshman phenom Arik Gilbert joined the exodus on Wednesday, putting his future with the Tigers in question. No wonder head coach Ed Orgeron threw his headset against Alabama. This has to be a frustrating season.

2. South Carolina (2-8)

The season was not supposed to turn out this way for the Gamecocks. Will Muschamp hired a legit offensive coordinator bringing in former Colorado State head coach and Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to run the offense. Bobo knew what it took to score points in the SEC and groomed the likes of Matthew Stafford and Aaron Murray. Bobo even came with his very own quarterback, Colin Hill.

Unfortunately for Muschamp, the offense did not really click and the defense regressed for the second season in a row and he got fired. In their last two games, the Gamecocks have been outscored 86-34. That is not going to get it done. Maybe Spurrier set the bar too high in Colombia? New head coach Shane Beamer is now tasked with rebuilding the Gamecocks.

1. Duke (2-8)

The Blue Devils are awful. It is hard to win games when you give the ball to the other team at the rate the Blue Devils turn it over. Duke has thrown almost twice as many interceptions (16) as touchdown passes (9). In 10 games this season, the Blue Devils have three or more turnovers in six games, including their 48-0 loss to Miami.

The five turnovers against the Hurricanes is the second game in a row the Blue Devils had five turnovers and the fourth game with at least that amount. The offense looked overmatched against the Hurricanes’ defense, which looked to make a statement after the team’s COVID layoff. Could it be time for some changes in Durham?

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