Can Auburn’s season get worse? Week 8 SEC predictions
The mathematics of a monster contract like Gus Malzahn’s might not show it, but the Auburn head coach’s job status is fragile. The offense is sputtering (76th in the country), and because of that, the defense – although it’s one of the best in the country – can’t get a break.
This week the offense wil hope to rebound against an Ole Miss team that hasn’t really heard of defense. But the Tigers are on the road in Oxford, and everybody’s scenting blood.
Elsewhere, the Ed Orgeron train will keep on truckin’ against Mississippi State in the only ranked match-up in the SEC this week, while embattled Missouri coach Barry Odom will try and pick up his team against high-scoring but D-lite Memphis. Vanderbilt and Kentucky also get together, and Arkansas plays Tulsa. Oh, and go and do some gardening at 3.30pm so you’ll avoid Tennessee’s home shellacking by Alabama. It will be ugly.
Anyway, onto Week 8. As usual, we’re ranking these games by how interested we are in them….
- Auburn (-3.5) at Ole Miss: Auburn is a train-wreck at the moment. Nothing is going right for Gus Malzahn’s team, and the blue and orange rumour mill – already fearing what might happen when the Tigers have to Georgia and Alabama – are sharpening knives. After all $32m is nothing in SEC terms, is it? The Tigers ‘roll’ into Ole Miss to face one of the worst defenses in the SEC, but can anyone trust the Tigers to get the ship righted? I don’t. PREDICTION: The way War Eagle is getting defeathered at the moment, this is hardly an upset. Ole Miss by 7.
2. No.22 Mississippi State at No.5 LSU (-6.5): LSU had one of those monster weeks where they upset No.2 Georgia, saw a mass field invasion, and suddenly everybody is saying: “LSU is BACK”. If Mississippi State manages to run the ball effectively through Nick Fitzgerald, this one could be tight. PREDICTION: LSU by 10.
3. Memphis at Missouri (-9.5): Hire Derek Dooley, get him to train up some wide receivers that can’t catch, and Drew Lock’s Heisman season has gone south in a hurry. Lock has thrown for ONE touchdown in three games. He’s also thrown 5 INTs. Although the lack of TDs can hardly all be attributed to Lock (his receivers have dropped open TDs), it’s still a wonder if it’s a matter of quarterback or system that he’s been so poor. Also not helped Lock’s cause is a defense that’s horrible, and it’s facing the 9th best offense in the country, averaging a feisty 43 points per game. The problem for Memphis is the team is the 66th-best in defense, giving up 25-a-game, and that’s why Mike Norvell’s team’s 4-3 and 1-3 in conference. This one should be fun. PREDICTION: Missouri squeaks by, winning by 3.
4. Vanderbilt at Kentucky (-11): Kentucky is back after a week off, and they’ll face a Vanderbilt that was feisty with Georgia and Florida, but is 0-2. Kentucky has the defense to deal with Kyle Shurmur and Vandy’s ‘offense’, and you can expect Benny Snell to ram the ball right down the Commodores’ throat. PREDICTION: Kentucky by 17.
5. No.1 Alabama (-29) at Tennessee: Alabama will come into a noisy Neyland Stadium at 3.30pm on CBS. The stadium will be rocking – thanks to Tennessee’s upset of Auburn the previous week. And then Alabama will score. And score. And score. And score. And after they finish with their 60 by the fourth quarter, they will run the ball and Tennessee fans will be relieved that Nick Saban didn’t put the foot on the gas anymore. PREDICTION: Tennessee gets a few stops and maybe a couple of touchdowns on the board, but Alabama rolls by 38.
6. Tulsa at Arkansas (-5.5): Arkansas has been getting better and better, and they – as they welcome QB Ty Storey back – shouldn’t have a problem getting Chad Morris his second win of his Razorbacks career. PREDICTION: We don’t understand why the Razorbacks are only 5.5- point favorites against a 1-6 Tulsa team. Anyway, we’ll take it. Arkansas by 14.