Week 7 preview: Can Tennessee upset Alabama?
Ladies and gentlemen, Saturday’s gonna be a war.
Alabama going to visit an off-the-hook Neyland Stadium to face the mountain folk of Tennessee. No, we don’t know if Bryce Young’s playing, but we do know that Josh Heupel’s team is playing very, very well and this is going to be a fun game.
Oh, and then there’s the usual madness of a LSU-Florida game with both sides continually failing to get out of their own way, a ranked match-up between Mississippi State and Kentucky, a fascinating non-conference match-up as Arkansas walk into Mormon Central to play BYU, as well as the continuing soap opera at Auburn with the Tigers go to Ole Miss to play what many feel is an underrated Rebels team. Oh, and Georgia’s hosting Vanderbilt and will probably beat the crap out of them. That’s why the SEC Network has got the game.
- No.3 Alabama (-7) at No.7 Tennessee: Everyone in every podcast tells us “Don’t bet against Nick Saban”. And that’s right. But dear Lord the Crimson have gotten lucky against Texas teams this year. They struggled mightily in Austin to beat Texas, and were one terrible offensive play from losing to Texas A&M in a turnover fest. Alabama’s achilles heel is its quarterback Jalen Milroe, who’s a great runner but is so turnover-prone that Alabama fans will be praying to Bear Bryant Jesus that Bryce Young will return. If not, expect Jahmyr Gibbs to be overworked. On the Tennessee side, Cedric Tillman is STILL out for the Vols, and they might be another man down in starting safety Jalen McCullough, who was arrested for punching someone on Sunday night. The loss of their four-year starter would be a huge loss. What we know for certain is that Neyland is going to be absolutely AMPED. PREDICTION: If Bryce Young returns… Alabama 31, Tennessee 28. If it’s Jalen Milroe: Tennessee 35, Alabama 25.
- Arkansas (-1.5) at BYU: The good news for the Razorbacks is that KJ Jefferson is expected to return. However – and we’ve repeated this ad nausem, is that Arkansas’ can’t stop the pass. It’s absolutely useless. But on the other hand, we all thought BYU would be something special after beating Baylor a few weeks ago, and since then their OWN defense has proven leaky and when they’ve played strong competition (in their case Oregon and Notre Dame), they’ve gone 0-2. Do we know if this is just the case of BYU being away from one of the best student sections on Mother Earth, or is this a real case of “Great against crap, bad against someone good’? Anyway, this is going to be fun. PREDICTION: BYU by 3 in a thriller.
- No.16 Mississippi State at No.22 Kentucky: The return of Will Levis is a massive boost ahead of the Wildcats’ home battle with Mississippi State, who’s been on a roll lately. Hopefully he should help a rather stagnant Wildcat offense, which was helped by Chris Rodriguez’ return, but not by the adventures of Kaiya Sheron, who didn’t stand out. For Mississippi State, Will Rogers continues to be on a roll in Mike Leach’s offense, which more than makes up for a pretty ordinary D. One factor that will be the difference? Special teams. Kentucky averages 40 yards a punt, has missed 30% of its field goals, and has been comedic at best. PREDICTION: Mississippi State 24, Kentucky 20.
- LSU (-2.5) at Florida: Regardless of how both teams are playing during the year, the LSU v Florida game never ceases to amaze. Whether it’s the LSU band playing over the tribute to Tom Petty to Marco Wilson’s throwing of the shoe to countless other weird times, LSU and Florida have one of the best rivalries in the SEC. Oh, and this year they are utterly unpredictable. Florida has been getting away with victories by the skin of their jock straps (see Utah, Missouri and, erm, South Florida for details). LSU didn’t against Florida State, staged a stunning comeback against Mississippi State……and got away by the seat of their pants against Auburn (the next week they were destroyed by Tennessee). This is the game for Anthony Richardson to prove himself. After his incredible game against Utah, he’s fallen off a map (5th NATIONALLY in interceptions). Jaylen Daniels has been steady but unspectacular for the Tigers, and it might be that that pushes LSU on. PREDICTION: LSU comes away with the win in a fun game. LSU 35, Florida 25.
- Auburn at No.9 Ole Miss (-15): For weeks, we’ve got Auburn as the worst team in the SEC. They just aren’t very good. Maybe it’s because Robbie Ashford spends most of the time running for his life, or that Tank Bigsby has proven ineffective behind a bad offensive line. Maybe it’s because the defense spends too much time on the field. Maybe it’s the coaching instability. Whatever anyone thinks, it’s undeniable that the Tigers are a crapshow at the moment. On the other side of the ball, Ole Miss has been winning but it’s not been fun to watch. Vanderbilt were up by 10 on the Rebels before a late touchdown in the first half (the Rebs then hit another gear and won comfortably!), and they’ve struggled on both sides of the ball. True, they won a great game against ranked Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, but we’re still not utterly convinced. PREDICTION: There’s a difference between ‘Utterly Convinced” and “Losing to a terrible Auburn team”. Ole Miss 41, Auburn 21.
- Vanderbilt at No.1 Georgia (-38): There’s not a lot to say about this one. Kirby Smart referred to Vanderbilt as a ‘good football team’ in his presser this week, but he was hardly likely to say: “Honestly, they are really shitty and we should kerb-stomp them” was he? And even if you side with the idea that Vanderbilt has really improved and are far more exciting this year (which they are), let’s not kid ourselves that Georgia’s not going to motorboat the Commodores. PREDICTION: Georgia 52, Vanderbilt 10.