Week 3 SEC Preview: Auburn at Penn State, Alabama at Florida

After the relative dross of SEC games last week, Week 3 of the season – on paper anyway – is a beautiful mixture of in-house SEC clashes, and some ‘dope’ out-of-conference clashes, which are the filling of some pretty dry bread that you can avoid if you take it away.

For a lot of people looking at the season early, it was all going to be about Alabama vs Florida in The Swamp, with a packed Gainseville crowd looking for blood. There was going to be a new Alabama after the NFL had once again decimated the team, and Dan Mullen was going to pull of miracles? Oh, and then we saw what Alabama could do, and dear Lord it’s frightening.

At the other side of Alabama, their hated rival is moving up North for the weekend to Happy Valley to play at Penn State. From personal experience, we can tell you that atmosphere at a Beaver Stadium is a must-see for any college football fan. The noise is deafening. The fans are rabid. And it’s not a particularly friendly place to tailgate at, either.

As much as Auburn fans will love to tell you that they’ve played at The Swamp, Sanford Stadium, Tuscaloosa and Death Valley, what they won’t tell you is that their record that has been dreadful. Tuscaloosa? 2010. Sanford? 2005. The Swamp? Last win, 2007. Oh, and LSU? 1999.

And while Penn State pimp out the White Out, their record in those games has been 8-8. Auburn will be the first team to play in the White Out that’s not Ohio State or Michigan since 2010. Needless to say, the locals are happy.

Anyway, here’s to the games, in order of how interested we are….

1. No.22 Auburn at No.10 Penn State (-5 O/U 53) Both teams are eerily similar. They’ve got strong run games, they’ve got excellent defenses, capable receivers and, er, completely unpredictable quarterbacks. Both Bo Nix and Sean Clifford haven’t looked bad at all this year, but they both seem a freelance effort away from a mistake. Auburn will look to give the ball to Tank Bigsby as a runner and receiver at anytime possible, while expect Penn State to try and connect with Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington, and feed Noah Cain and a cohort of running backs. People are trying to say that the White Out may give Penn State extra points, but if the crowd get disgruntled with the Nittany Lions, things can change pretty damned quickly. PREDICTION: Auburn with the ‘upset’, 28-21.
2.  No.1 Alabama (-14, O/U 59 1/2) at No.11 Florida Last year this was A Top 5 Game Of The Season (certainly better than the play-off games), and if only all the talent had come back for one more year. This year, this threatens to be a flattening. Although Alabama’s offense was very poor in the first quarter against Mercer, the complete gap in talent took over to make it a blow-out. The same goes for Florida in their trip to South Florida. We would love to see UF QB Anthony Richardson start, because his electric speed could cause some worry for Alabama, but defensively, I’m more worried about the Gators dealing with Alabama’s corps of receivers, led by future NFL first round John Metchie. PREDICTION: Alabama by 17, 41-24.
3. Central Michigan at LSU (-19, O/U 61) It shows how much confidence everyone has in LSU at the moment when LSU’s only a 19 point favourite against a MAC team that’s generally recognised to be second-tier MAC, rather than top of the food chain. Central Michigan caused Missouri fits in Week 1 with their running game, then inexplicably started throwing, and lost their heads. Lew Nicholas and Darius Bracy are the names on the floor that LSU – who saw their team ripped to shreds with the running game in Week 1 against UCLA – should look out for. LSU on the other hand, are still trying to find their rhythm with Max Johnson, and the offensive line is terrible. They are going to have to rely on Kayshon Boutte (5 TDs, 179 yards so far) an awful lot more this year. PREDICTION: Don’t relax on those Chippewas! LSU survives, but not by much. LSU 41, CMU 31.
4.  South Carolina at No.2 Georgia (-32, O/U 47) We told anyone who would listen to take South Carolina -2 against Western Carolina, and we were right. The Gamecocks won by……3. I had droned on about Kevin Harris, but he was bottled up by a East Carolina defense who had nearly 300 against Appalachian State. Now, Harris & Co face the most evil defense in college football in Georgia. However, one of the worries could be at quarterback. Both Stetson Bennett and JT Daniels are probably out for the game (as well as Georgia’s corps of receivers), meaning that former four-star QB Carson Beck will probably start. This will mean that Georgia will be feeding Zamir White an awful lot of the ball. PREDICTION: Georgia wins, but not by 32. Georgia 31, South Carolina 10.
5.  Mississippi State (-3 1/2 O/U 58 1/2) at Memphis. Oh joy! We’re back to the Mike Norvell days where defense doesn’t matter, and that makes for a lot very long, very ‘pointy’ games, featuring a heck of a lot of points (55-50 win over Arkansas State, a 1400 yard marathon featuring 59 first downs (that’ll slow down the clock, was one of the under-the-radar games of the day). Mississippi State – who’s defense showed up with 3 turnovers on Saturday in their slightly-surprising win over NC State – will be wanting their D to do the same – especially against Memphis QB Seth Heingan, who’s already thrown for 680 yards and 6 TDs. Expect Will Rogers to get quite the workout in a very fun game. PREDICTION: Mississippi State by 10. Mississippi State 45, Memphis 35
6.  Tulane at Ole Miss (-14 O/U 76): Tulane surprised the college football world by its near-victory over Oklahoma in Week 1, and we can all agree that this is far different team from the running joke of the AAC that it was for years. While we’re talking up Tulane, should we be talking up Ole Miss’ D, which managed to nearly stop Louisville and, er, Austin Peay in its tracks. Will they be able to stop Tulane’s double weapons of Tyrick James and Jaetavian Toles, who are going to provide defenses with a ‘pick your poison all season long?’ On the other side of the ball, the Rebels have got way too many weapons for Tulane to deal with. PREDICTION: This will be fun and very madcap. Ole Miss 58, Tulane 42
7.  Stanford (-12, O/U 49) vs Vanderbilt  Stanford absolutely destroyed USC last week, leading to the end of the Clay Helton era (finally), after looking disastrous against Kansas State in Week 1 in one of the most atmosphere-lacking neutral site games you’ll ever want to see (Oh! Would you believe it was JerryWorld??). Vanderbilt slugged it out with Colorado State, one of the worst teams in FBS, but at least came home with the victory. A lot will be made of both teams’ renaissances, which makes this a slightly more interesting game than earlier anticipated. But again – we fear – not one for the neutrals. But definitely one for the future MBAs. PREDICTION: Stanford 28, Vanderbilt 10. 
8.  New Mexico at No.7 Texas A&M (-30, O/U 50 1/2) Here’s what Texas A&M fans will want against a poor New Mexico side: A good, consistent performance from Zach Calzada, 100-150 rushing yards from Isaiah Spiller, and a shut-out from the defense. And we think they’ll get it. PREDICTION: Texas A&M 46, New Mexico 0. 
9.  Georgia Southern at Arkansas (-24 O/U 52 1/2): Georgia Southern is a bad football team. Like, a really, really bad one. Arkansas is a good one with a great rushing attack. Expect Arkansas to roll. PREDICTION: Arkansas 35, Georgia South 7.
10.  Chattanooga vs Kentucky (-31 O/U 48): Will Levis excites, and Kentucky walks it by some margin. PREDICTION: Kentucky 46, Chat-Town 10
11.  Tennessee Tech at Tennessee (-41 1/2 O/U 51) After last week’s dreadful performance, Tennessee will be looking to rebound, and rebound fast. The only interesting thing about this game is that Hendon Hooker’s going to start for the Vols, and going to ‘impress’. PREDICTION: Tennessee 56, Tennessee Tech 10. South East Missouri State vs Missouri (-34 O/U 58 1/2) SEMO has been thrashed – and we mean THRASHED – by lower opposition that this, so expect Missouri to walk it. The only thing that the Tigers will be worried about is injuries. PREDICTION: Tyler Badie with another 200 yard game before he hits the sidelines. Missouri 55, SEMO 14.