Scoring in college football is a lot like hitting the Taco Bell drive-through at 2am… even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.
They say that defense wins championships (in fact, it may be true). But no team can win without putting points on the board, and when it’s done in spectacular fashion, via playcalling wizardry, a high-flying air raid, or a brutal ground-and-pound running attack, good offense also tends to put fans in seats and in front of the couch.
In the SEC, a conference once known primarily for its defensive prowess, offense has been taking priority for the last several years. So much so that in 2023 the SEC finished with three teams among the top-10 highest scoring offenses in all of college football: quarterback Carson Beck and the Georgia Bulldogs, the incoming Oklahoma Sooners behind new Oregon Duck Dillon Gabriel, and the No. 1 highest scoring offense in the land, the LSU Tigers, led by Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
So which SEC teams possess the most offensive fire-power in 2024?
No 5. Oklahoma Sooners
The biggest question for the Sooners heading into 2024 is can top-10, five star quarterback recruit, freshman Jackson Arnold, replicate Dillon Gabriel’s success. If Gabriel hadn’t bolted for the Oregon Ducks, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the Sooners having the most talked-about offense in the country heading into the season after finishing No. 4 in 2023. With a ridiculously stacked wide receiver room, featuring veterans Jalil Farooq and Andrel Anthony, and young, explosive threats Nic Anderson and Jayden Gibson, who both averaged more than 20 yards per reception in 2023, the Sooners have the weapons to make any defense sweat… if their young QB can settle and find his rhythm early in the season.
No. 4 Texas Longhorns
Of course having Heisman Trophy hopeful Quinn Ewers at the reins for the Texas Longhorns is a luxury, but the real strength of this unit is a top-5 offensive line that returns four starters, led by standout tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. With this powerhouse unit driving running back CJ Baxter to success in the run game and keeping Ewers upright and throwing to a bevy of new receivers brought in from the transfer portal, including Alabama’s former top pass catcher, Isaiah Bond, the Longhorns are primed to bring their No. 15 scoring offense from 2023 into the top 10.
No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs
Is it sacrilege to put the consensus Sporting News’ composite poll No. 1 and championship favorite this low on our list? Maybe. Georgia’s preseason top 10 defense will have as much to say about winning it all in 2024 as their offense. That said, Heisman favorite and potential No. 1 overall draft pick, quarterback Carson Beck, has the arm and vision to make the Bulldogs’ offense one of the scariest in the conference. But that means adapting to the loss of all-world tight end Brock Bowers and fellow NFL draft pick Ladd McConkey. It will help that Georgia went out and got former SEC All-Freshman Team running back Trevor Etienne from the Florida Gators, a do-it-all back who catches well out of the backfield and could give Carson Beck a big play check-down option to further boost an already great passing game.
No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers
While the Volunteers’ offense may have taken a step back in 2023, they were the No. 1 scoring offense in the country in 2022, and look to reach those heights again in 2024 behind former five-star recruit and much hyped returning quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava finished 2023 on a high note, dismantling the Iowa Hawkeyes 35 – 0 in the Cheez-it Citrus Bowl, scoring four total touchdowns and taking home MVP honors in the process. There is belief that Iamaleava is headed for a breakout season, which could mean offensive guru and head coach Josh Heupel and the Volunteers could be climbing back to the top of the scoring mountain in 2024.
No. 1 Ole Miss Rebels
If Ole Miss makes a surprise run to the College Football National Championship, it may well be because of the all new defense they installed over the offseason. But we all know head coach Lane Kiffin makes his living as a play calling savant, and with an offense returning the second most veterans of any team in the SEC, led by exciting dual-threat Jaxson Dart, and a dizzying array of experienced weapons, including top-5 returning wide receiver Tre Harris and incoming transfer and top-20 pass catcher Juice Wells, the Rebels have all the tools necessary to not only be one of the most exciting and explosive offenses in the SEC, but in all of college football in 2024.
