Good gravy I didn’t realize just how much of our returning production was lost in 2025 heading in to the season.
What’s more amazing is that in the three year arc that was 2023 to 2025, consider:
2023 – Lost in the SECCG by 3 to Alabama, breaking our consecutive win streak and barely missing the opportunity to threepeat for a Natty. Returned a high number of the defensive side but the offense lost most of their returning production. Seem to recall that the offense in 2023 was actually pretty good, despite that.
2024 – Won the SEC, made the CFP. Returned a great deal of offensive talent, seemed like the offense was the worst it had been in a while, defense was a rebuild.
2025 – Won the SEC, made the CFP, lowest overall returning production and only lost one regular season game by 3 points, lost two total games by a total of 8 points. I thought 2024 was Kirby’s best coaching job, maybe 2025 should’ve been. So much youth and having to plug holes all over the place.
2026 – returning a lot of production highest overall since the championship year (amazing the defensive numbers that we put up in 2021 and 2022 with that low of a returning defensive production number).
Maybe 2026 will really be something different. Injury bug, don’t bite us now…or anytime soon, either.
Agree completely. Fingers crossed. At full strength, I like our chances against anyone. The attrition I’ve= the course of an SEC season is real. There aren’t just 3 good teams and a pile of stuffs (and the good teams frequently don’t play each other). Nowhere to run to in the SEC, nowhere to hide.
but but cignetti, according to the pundits, has found the formula in this NLI age of cfb
Kirby’s wrecking ball is primed to make a very large hole in his opponents ass.
Just stay healthy and beat everybody in our way.
How crazy was the lack of returning production in 2021 and 2022 when they won 2 natties?!
We’ve been enduring a plague of injuries, especially positions at which we can’t afford it, the last few years. Unless that changes we’ll probably be looking at our season ending in a similar fashion to the last three years. Hopefully this will be a healthier season.