Five players could impact the SEC race

July 5, 2006

Neal McCready
The Mobile Register

Today, for all intents and purposes, marks the beginning of the college football season, even though coaches and players across the country might argue that it never really ends.

With the Fourth of July holiday essentially over and with the second summer session under way at just about every Southeastern Conference campus, entire rosters are on their respective campuses preparing for the start of practice next month. With one very notable exception -- Ole Miss signee Brent Schaeffer -- quarterbacks are leading "voluntary" workouts and pass skeleton drills.

Three weeks from today, all 12 head coaches and two players from each institution will be headed to Hoover for SEC Media Days, the more official kickoff to the upcoming football season.

So, with that in mind, here are five players who could have a dramatic impact on which two teams ultimately navigate the road to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game:

Courtney Taylor, Auburn wide receiver Quarterback Brandon Cox is going to be efficient, running back Kenny Irons is going to be explosive and Auburn's defense should be its usual stingy self. However, for the Tigers to live up to their preseason billing, someone is going to have to step up as a go-to target for Cox. Taylor, the lone leftover from the outstanding receiving corps that attracted NFL scouts to the Plains last fall, is the logical candidate.

After leading the Tigers with 43 receptions as a sophomore, Taylor caught just 22 passes last season. The senior from Carrollton should be Cox's primary target in clutch situations, and he has the break-away ability to turn short passes into long touchdowns.

Matthew Stafford, Georgia quarterback Joe Tereshinski III is a great story, a super guy who persevered and waited for his opportunity to finally lead his beloved Georgia Bulldogs. That said, he's not skilled enough to serve as the starting quarterback for a championship team.

Stafford is. But is the freshman from Dallas mature enough? Most insiders suspect we'll find out soon enough. Stafford reported to Athens in January and should get a chance under center early in the season. If he can handle it, the Bulldogs are odds-on favorites to repeat as SEC East champs.

Erik Ainge, Tennessee quarterback Tennessee fans are pinning much of their hope on the return of former Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe to the Vols' offensive coordinator post. They must have ignored the Rebels' disastrous 2004 campaign when Micheal Spurlock was horrible under center despite Cutcliffe's presence.

In other words, players -- not coordinators -- win games and at Tennessee, that means Ainge has to be much improved for the Vols to return to their winning ways and get Phillip Fulmer off the hot seat.

After beating out Schaeffer in 2004, Ainge was awful last season, losing the job to Rick Clausen. Ainge showed signs of returning to his previous form in the spring, but he'll have to be very good to get Tennessee back to Atlanta in December.

DeShawn Wynn, Florida running back While the fans and media focused on the quarterback position and Tim Tebow's challenge to Chris Leak in the spring, Florida coach Urban Meyer fumed about his team's running game -- or lack thereof.

"I'll play without a tailback if I can't find someone who's better than what we showed last year," Meyer said. "I'm not going to sit and watch that trash I watched last year. That's not going to happen."

That won't work in the SEC, where the teams that win run the ball and stop the run. Wynn led the Gators with 621 rushing yards last season. He'll likely need to double that total to get the Gators past Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina and into the Georgia Dome.

Casey Dick, Arkansas quarterback If Arkansas has to turn to freshman phenom Mitch Mustain this season, it's likely a sign that Dick, who started the final four games of the 2005 season, wasn't able to handle Gus Malzahn's offense. However, if Dick is efficient, Arkansas could be more than a bit dangerous in the SEC West.

Dick completed 53 of 99 passes for 584 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions last season after taking over for Robert Johnson. He led a comeback win at Ole Miss and very nearly spoiled LSU's season one day after Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge. Dick has plenty of weapons, including running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones and wide receiver Marcus Monk, and everything else is in place for the Hogs to play spoiler to LSU and Auburn's title hopes.

-- Five other players worth consideration: Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson, Ole Miss running back Ben-Jarvis Green-Ellis, Georgia wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, South Carolina quarterback Blake Mitchell and LSU running back Keiland Williams.