SEC Football: 8 Players Who Need To Have Breakout Games in Week 2

With Week 1 completed, several teams will take a step up in competition this week. There are several high-profile games this week led by the Penn State/Alabama game and the Georgia/South Carolina game.

In this article, I want to list eight players who will need to have a breakout game if their teams are going to reach their full potential.

While football is a team effort, it is also a sport where the stars need to shine. These eight players are vitally important to their teams success. In fact, it will be close to impossible for their respective teams to win if these players do not step up. 

Vanderbilt Commodores- Larry Smith

It doesn’t seem like that long ago when Larry Smith was leading Pratville High School past Hoover High School on the MTV reality show Two-A-Days. However, Smith is now a senior and has yet to reach his potential.

Hopes are high for Smith this season. Fans are hopeful that he will take the next step under the tutelage of new head coach James Franklin. His first game of the season had mixed reviews. He did score three total touchdowns, however, that was against Elon. He did appear to have more accuracy on his passing attempts but his stats didn’t show it. Smith completed 13-of-27 passes for 125 yards.

If Vandy is going to take a step in the right direction this season, Smith will have to become the star he was projected to be. This week, the Commodores face the always dangerous UConn Huskies. He will need at least 250 total yards to give Vanderbilt a shot. 

South Carolina Gamecocks- Stephen Garcia

Stephen Garcia is far and away the most experienced quarterback in the SEC. He helped the Gamecocks reach the SEC championship last season and knocked of Alabama who was ranked number one in the nation at the time.

Garcia has had moments where he looked like an NFL-ready quarterback. At other times, he did not look worthy of a Division I scholarship. His erratic play is one of the reasons that the Gamecocks are 6-13 away from William-Brice Stadium over the last three seasons.

Garcia came off the bench, in the second quarter, to help the Gamecocks rally from a double-digit deficit. Garcia rushed for 56 yards and two touchdowns. However, he was still an unimpressive 7-of-15 for 110 yards.

The Bulldogs did well against the run last week. They held stud running back Doug Martin to 57 yards on 24 carries. As a result, Garcia will need to be able to relieve some of the pressure off  Marcus Lattimore.

Tennessee Volunteers- Tauren Poole

In my opinion, Tauren Poole is the most underrated player in the SEC. Last season, he ran for over 1,000 yards despite having the youngest offensive line in the SEC. Moreover, he did not just do it against cupcake teams. Poole had 162 yards rushing against Oregon, 117 yards rushing against Alabama and 109 yards against LSU.

He opened the season with 98 yards on 24 carries. While those numbers are respectful, they were against Montana. If the Volunteers are going to be successful, they will need to relax on the fun and gun with Tyler Bray and focus on the running game. The more clock they eat the less their defense has to be on the field.

Cincinnati would love to get in a shootout with Tennessee. The Bearcats hung 72 points in their season opener versus Austin Peay. The Vols will need to keep their potent offense off the field as much as possible.

Alabama Crimson Tide- Offensive Line

I have already mentioned Trent Richardson in this article. However, it should be noted that he will not be able to succeed if the offensive line does not play better. The Tide will be on the road this week to face the Penn State Nittany Lions. This will be the first start for AJ McCarron on the road. Moreover, the weather conditions will be atrocious.

The offensive line will need to open holes for Richardson and Eddie Lacy all game long. This is a game that Alabama should win but could easily lose if they cannot move the football on the ground.

I don’t expect to see a great deal of passes attempted from the Crimson Tide, but the offensive line has to protect the quarterback. McCarron and Sims combined for four interceptions last week.  They are young and will make mistakes when pressured. However, I think the line will do much better this week.

Georgia Bulldogs- Aaron Murray

The hype for Aaron Murray coming into this season was understandable. He had a fantastic freshman season when he passed for over 3,000 yards and tallied over 28 total touchdowns. However, his team limped to a 6-7 season. Anyone who watched the Bulldogs play understands that these losses were not his fault. However, this is how many people define the success of a quarterback.

Murray’s first game of the season was not as bad as some would like to insinuate. He completed 16-of-29 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns. However, once again, the Bulldogs failed to win the game.

Murray will be back on the national scene this week against the South Carolina Gamecocks. This game is crucial to the success of this team, and I believe Murray will shine this week.

Auburn Tigers: Barrett Trotter

Barrett Trotter was phenomenal in his first game of the season. He completed 17-of-23 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. However, that game was against Utah State, and the stakes will be much higher this week. The Auburn Tigers will host Mississippi State Bulldogs in their first SEC showdown of the season.

The Tigers will need another great game out of Trotter, if they want to push their winning streak to 16 games. Last week, the Bulldogs held Memphis to 174 yards passing despite the Tigers attempting 40 passes.

Auburn will need a good start to this game. This team showed their heart last week in their comeback victory over Utah State. However, the Bulldogs are too talented to play catch-up against. 

Florida Gators- John Brantley

One of the biggest question marks entering the 2011 season was how Brantley would perform under new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. Weis has a history of taking quarterbacks and revitalizing their career. Look no further than his time with Matt Cassel last season.

Brantley has the talent but has underperformed throughout his career. Last week, he looked sharp at times but still had two interceptions. This Florida team has a lot of talent but very little experience. As a result, they will need to be stingy with the football.

UAB might look like a cupcake on the schedule, but they are a dangerous team. They came within a play of defeating both Tennessee and Mississippi State last season. The play of Brantley will decide if this game goes down to the wire or Florida runs away with it. 

Alabama Crimson Tide- Trent Richardson

For all the hype that has been associated with Richardson, he is still an unproven commodity. He has been consistently listed as a Heisman favorite, but he has never rushed over 800 yards. This, in part, has been because he has served as a backup to former Tide great Mark Ingram.

Richardson has all the physical attributes to be a star. However, it is time for that potential to become a reality. He has put up tremendous numbers as a backup but has not done so as a starter. Last week, he only rushed for 37 yards on 13 carries (2.9 YPC). His longest run was 10 yards.

Last season, against the top three defensive lines he faced (SC, Auburn, and LSU), he only had 75 total rushing yards in those three games and zero touchdowns. In fact, he only rushed for 387 yards and one touchdown last season in SEC play.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Richardson will have a fine season. However, it is time for him to show up and show out.  It is time for him to prove that his success has not been the result of Mark Ingram wearing the defense down for him first. I think that he will, but I still think Eddie Lacy leads them in rushing for this game. 

Final Take

One of the greatest parts of college football is that each season, new stars arise. As some of the top players in the nation depart to the NFL, other players pick up the slack. How these players respond determines if a team is reloading or rebuilding. We will be one step closer to finding out the answers for each team this week.

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