Gurley suspension puts Georgia in spotlight: Week 7 SEC Predictions

On a weekend that the No.2 team in the nation go and play the No. 3 team, and the team which beat Alabama goes down to a cauldron of noise to play in butt-hurt Texas, it’s funny how one incident can steal a spotlight for another team completely.

And that incident and spotlight was stolen by Georgia, which has suspended their Heisman Trophy candidate/frontrunner indefinitely because he was photographed signing autographs (apparently he accepted $400 to do it in the spring).

It’s strange, because there’s also spotlight on Florida, which suspended QB Treon Harris while it investigates an accusation of sexual assault against him.

I mean, it’s weird out West at the moment, but it might be even weirder out in the East. With all that said, here is your Week 7 SEC Predictions.

No.2 Auburn (5-0) at No.3 Mississippi State (5-0)

College Gameday liked the State of Mississippi so much that it’s swapping the friendly confines of The Grove in Oxford for the clanging confines of Starkville, for Auburn’s visit to Mississippi State. And you know what? If last Saturday’s game was Ole Miss’ upset over Alabama was a simple upset (and everyone bar Katy Perry was calling for ‘Bama to win (shows how much I know about football!) this game’s going to be genuinely difficult to call. Both teams have Heisman candidate quarterbacks in Nick Marshall and Dak Prescott. Both QBs are good with their arms and use their speed on their legs to great effect. Both teams have solid running games, with the edge probably going to Mississippi State and Josh Robinson – although Auburn’s Cameron Artis-Payne is hardly a slouch (and Marshall does a lot of running, too). Both offenses post up around 42 points per game.Both teams have pretty good defenses, with Auburn owning better numbers. Auburn’s already got an experience of a tough road environment, having pulled off The Win They Shouldn’t Have Had at Kansas State, and so the bells and smells of Starkville won’t shock them. Oh, and last week, Auburn cruised against LSU, while Mississippi State sent Kenny Hill and Texas A&M back to College Station with needin’ a cuddle from one of a Texas Sweetheart.

PREDICTION: Auburn’s a 3-point favorite. We’re going with Mississippi State with the upset.

No.3 Ole Miss (5-0) at No. 14 Texas A&M (5-1)

It’s going to be really ****ing noisy at Kyle Field on Saturday. The Aggies are pissed after the loss to Mississippi State, especially in a game where they couldn’t stop anyone, and their receivers dropped more balls than a 3-year-old trying to juggle like Coco The Clown. Kenny Hill lost his Heisman vote by playing pretty badly, too. The late TDs masked what was a shelling in Starkville, and now, the Aggies WANT Ole Miss. And they want Ole Miss BAD. Ole Miss comes in after pulling off one of the upsets of the season when it beat Alabama on Saturday. Ole Miss players might tell you how they “expected to win”, and they probably did. Sure as hell we didn’t, and probably all of Oxford didn’t, either. Jeez, the fans are so happy up there they’ve bought replacement goalposts and paid off Ole Miss’ $50,000 SEC fine in a matter of minutes. The Egg Bowl is looming large as The Biggest Game Of 2014, and suddenly everyone’s expecting both sides to remain unbeaten until that Thanksgiving date. Ole Miss’ got the defense to hold up against Kevin Sumlin, but will it have the energy? And will A&M’s receivers be able to catch the ball this time? Not that we endorse gambling in any shape or form, but Texas A&M’s a 2-point favorite with the bookies.

PREDICTION: We’re going with the Aggies to win by 7 in a classic. 

No. 13 Georgia (4-1) at No.23 Missouri (4-1)

With Todd Gurley out, No.2 Georgia RB Nick Chubb’s going to have to shoulder Georgia’s hopes of a SEC East title, an appearance in the SEC Championship Game, and the possible spot in the College Football Play-Off. He’s been averaging a pretty impressive 7.2 yards per carry, including strong performances against Clemson and Vanderbilt. He’ll need to be Superman on Saturday, particularly against a Missouri front that’s heard all week that they can’t stop the run worth-a-crap (some of that might be true, bearing in mind they give up 144.6 yards per game and have given up 9 TDs on the floor). And Georgia will suddenly be dependent on their QB, Hutson Mason, who’s hardly inspired the Bulldogs this season, and is currently in the middle of a little QB controversy himself with Brice Ramsey. Mason’s been pretty ordinary this year, but in Columbia, he’ll need to use weapons like the returning Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley, and Chris Conley to bring home the bacon. And despite all of the Gurley stuff, Georgia’s STILL a 3-point favorite with Vegas. On the other side, Georgia’s secondary has (mostly) been suspended, so Maty Mauk should have a field day with them on Saturday. Should, you know, being the opposite word.

PREDICTION: Happy Mauk-tober, Missouri fans. Missouri win by 10. 

No. 7 Alabama (4-1) at Arkansas (3-2)

If there’s ever a time to play Alabama, it’s right now. The Crimson Tide is hurting, and it’s hurting bad. Their offense wasn’t just stymied, it was CHOKED against Ole Miss. The running game – suffering with the early injury to Kenyan Drake – was pretty much shut down, and Derrick Henry – dare we say it – looked actually ordinary. Arkansas, on the other side, has been waiting two weeks for this game. Fayetteville’s going to be absolutely rocking. The Razorbacks should have had Texas A&M as the ‘W’, but blew it, and want to get the SEC Oh-fer off their backs. Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams are the heroes of an rushing offense that continues to punch, but Alabama’s going to be prepared and ready for that. Will Brandon Allen be able to deliver at the QB position, we wonder? The good thing for Alabama is that reverting to the rushing game against Arkansas is going to suit them down to the ground. The Arkansas ‘D’ gives up 139.4 yards/game and is ranked 51st in the country. It’s poor. Amari Cooper can – and will – hurt Arkansas’ secondary. Why? Because he’s the best wide receiver in the land. Alabama’s a 9-point favorite.

PREDICTION: Arkansas’ a 9-point dog at home, and we either feel that Alabama’s going to struggle all day against the atmosphere and the hangover of the loss of the week before, or the Crimson Tide rebound and this’ll be over by half-time. We think the latter. Alabama by 14. 

LSU (4-2) at Florida (3-1)

“Momma, do I have to?” said the 14-year-old kid upon hearing that yes, he’d be going to The Swamp to watch LSU and Florida play on Saturday. A good student in college football, he saw both sides play last week, and he’d rather doing ANYTHING than spend 3 hours in the company of these two awful programs. Live. And while the kid saw Florida’s offense be dire but pull out the ‘W’ against Tennessee (the last time the Vols won this match-up, he was 4), thanks to QB Treon Harris, he also saw LSU be completely and utterly dire in all facets of the game at Auburn. “If that’s a Tiger I’m ****in’ Captain America”, he said, reminding himself that in his Christian household, it was OK to swear while watching a shitty football teams. Florida then surprised him mid-week by suspending starting QB Treon Harris, while he heard from his buddy at LSU that fans were begging Anthony Jennings to get caught up in an autograph scandal, so he MIGHT be suspended. Good luck on Saturday, kid….And think of this as a father/son bonding experience. You can both come out of this and say: “That was TERRIBLE”, and talk about the reasons why.

PREDICTION: This is going to be awful. Florida’s a 1-point favorite. The atmosphere will be more ‘I don’t care’ than “Go Gators”. The over/under is 47. We’re taking the under on that, folks.

UL Monroe (3-2) vs Kentucky (4-1)

ULM already has a ‘Big 5’ win under its belt after beating the Football Giant Wake Forest 17-10 in Week 1, and they’ll be thirsting for more. The problem is is that they are so damned medicore in all parts of the game, and you can’t see anything but Kentucky starting slow then rolling. And yes, we know that half of Kentucky’s still buried in moonshine and bourbon after their win over South Carolina this week, but they should outwar the Warhawks. Vegas has the ‘Cats to win this by 21.

PREDICTION: Kentucky by 28.

Charleston Southern (5-0) at Vanderbilt (1-5, 0-4)

If Vanderbilt don’t win this, Derek Mason could be going down with an anchor attached to his neck. And Mason will need to win – but he sure as hell won’t win a game in the SEC this year!

PREDICTION: Vandy by 21. 

UT-Chattanooga (3-2) vs Tennessee (2-3)

“Congrats to Butch Jones and Tennessee for scheduling such a tough home opponent. They should be applauded for this” – Nobody.

PREDICTION: Tennessee by 41.