Week 10 SEC Previews: UGA v Ole Miss, Tennessee v Missouri etc
This week College Gameday is going to ‘The Classic City’ for Ole Miss’ visit to Georgia, which should be a lot of fun. It should provide Georgia with yet another resume game after the victory over ranked Missouri last week, while a win for Ole Miss will leave them still in the hunt for a New Year’s Day Bowl and perhaps the SEC West title. Oh, and everyone can talk about the Lane Kiffin a little more, too.
Elsewhere, it’s No.13 Tennessee at No.14 Missouri, No.8 Alabama at Kentucky, Florida at No.19 LSU, Auburn at South Carolina, Mississippi State at Texas A&M, and the Jefferson Sports Pilot Game in the form of Vanderbilt at South Carolina
1. No.9 Ole Miss at No.2 Georgia (-10.5): After nearly losing to Texas A&M, Lane Kiffin had sued for $40 million by former DT DeSanto Rollins. In the suit, Kiffin was said to have verbally abused Rollins for not showing up to practice and citing mental health as a concern, and then violating certain rights (which is denied by Ole Miss). It’s all rather messy… With that cloud over their head, the Rebs travel to Georgia in a game that – if Ole Miss was to lose – pretty much guarantees Alabama a SEC West title. Georgia will be looking for a better performance than the one they had against Missouri, when they were a few plays from an upset. But they have weapons. Look for Ladd McConkey to continue to run wild. He had 95 yards last Saturday on top of the 135 he put up the week before. The Bulldogs have weapons. If there is a slight weakness on Georgia’s defense, it’s the running game, which is ‘only’ 15th in the country (3rd in the SEC). Quinshon Judkins can terrify anyone. Jaxson Dart and his merry band of receivers – Tre Harris (who made some spectacular catches against Texas A&M), Jordan Watkins and Dayton Wade must take every chance they have against an aggressive defense and against what will be a very, very loud Sanford Stadium. PREDICTION: Georgia 38, Ole Miss 21
2. No.13 Tennessee (-2) at No.14 Missouri: I don’t know what quite to think of Tennessee. In its two biggest games so far the Vols are 0-2. But there are signs that Joe Milton III is turning it around, and the offense is looking more balanced that the ‘fun and gun’ that was the 2022 one. They walk into Columbia against that before the season started you would have thought wouldn’t have had a puncher’s chance against them, wouldn’t have taken Georgia close, and certainly wouldn’t have been ranked. But all three are true. Missouri equipped itself brilliantly against Georgia, but Tennessee’s defense is mighty strong. The Vols are harsh against the run (14th in the nation), which is going to make Cody Schrader run his lights out. It’s going to be up to Brady Cook to make the throws and hit Luther Burden and Theo Wease – although there are worries that the former won’t play. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said that the Tigers will have to stop the Vols moving so quickly, but they aren’t lightning quick – averaging 73 yards/game (34th in the country). Missouri kicker Harrison Mevis might be the key. PREDICTION: This is going to be fun, and very close. Missouri with the victory. Missouri 35, Tennessee 33.
3. Florida at No.19 LSU (-15.5): After a game against Alabama that was closer than the scoreline suggested, LSU now have to deal with the fact that Jayden Daniels might not play on Saturday. That’ll leave Garrett Nussmeier – who has no speed outside the pocket – to throw and throw and throw. Does Florida have the horses to stop it? The Gators have have given over 240 yards against FBS Power-5 opponents, and they don’t get any more difficult that this. And it will be even more difficult if Daniels takes the field. On the Florida side, it’s hard to get excited about this Gators side. I mean, they just lost to Arkansas and they were dreadful doing it. PREDICTION: LSU – without Daniels – runs amok. LSU 42, Florida 28.
4. No.8 Alabama (-11) at Kentucky: A team that’s found its identity and is rolling against an utterly mediocre rival who made a competent quarterback worse, and the bookies are giving you Alabama 11 points? Bama gonna kill ’em. PREDICTION: Alabama 38, Kentucky 14.
5. Auburn at Arkansas (-2): Dan Enos was fired the week before the Florida game, and immediately Arkansas had its best offensive day of the season using a seriously well-balanced offense. Laugh as you may have the poverty of Florida, but this Razorbacks team had won 0 SEC games up to then. They came out with a 39-38 victory in The Swamp, and suddenly they are favorites to beat an Auburn team that rumbled to a feel-good win over Vanderbilt. The headline: “Auburn, Arkansas fight to avoid last place in competitive SEC West” doesn’t feel anyone with great joy (You can go to the game for as low as $13), either. While KJ Jefferson and Raheim Sanders will provide some highlights for the Hogs, Jarquez Hunter’s going to be the man for Auburn. If the Tigers win, it’ll be three wins in a row for the Tigers. PREDICTION: Auburn’s run stops here. Arkansas 28, Auburn 24.
6. Mississippi State at Texas A&M (-17.5): Such is the paucity of MSU that the bookies are predicting yet another shellacking….this time by Texas A&M. MSU’s life won’t be made any easier by Evan Stewart’s return (he didn’t play in the Ole Miss game). On offense during the Aggies’ first night game since Opening Day, we expect Mississippi State to have its hardest test of the season. This is gonna get ugly. PREDICTION: Texas A&M 31, Mississippi State 10.
7. South Carolina (-14) at Vanderbilt: South Carolina’s bad, but Vanderbilt’s worse. That’s about it for this preview, peeps. PREDICTION: South Carolina 38, Vanderbilt 24.