WEEK 5: A Monster week for the SEC
Listen, it’s such a week for college football we don’t know where to start.
Before we start the SEC, we think that Oregon will beat Penn State by 7 in the ‘White Out’, which one of my Southern friends referred to as a ‘Klan Rally’ (he has seen excommunicated me because I was too ‘liberal’, but that’s another story).
Any, a lot of these ‘monster match-ups’ are in the SEC, so here we go….once in the order of our interest.
- No.4 LSU at No.9 Ole Miss (-1.5): Do not try and rush the ball on LSU (10th in the country at rushing yards given up), but it’s OK to throw at them (43 internationally, 9th in the SEC in passing defense). Thankfully, Lane Kiffin’s got an offense which is now going to be led by Trinidad Chambliss, which lets the ball FLY. On the other hand, Ole Miss’ D is pretty weak (72nd in total defense) – especially against the run. If the game is anything as good as the last two, we’re in for a classic. PREDICTION: LSU by 3.
- No.17 Alabama at No.5 Georgia (-2.5): What’s so interesting is that we don’t know what ‘real’ is with both sides. Has Alabama really recovered from being Florida State’s punching bag and the national joke (until Clemson took the prize)? Is Georgia the team that came back against Tennessee, or the team that looked as though it was going to be blown away at Tennessee? We know this: Both sides are going to go to the College Football Play-Off, but it’s just going to be a question of what seeds they’ll go to. One thing’s for certain: The atmosphere’s going to be great. PREDICTION: Georgia by 7 in a low-scoring classic.
- No.22 Notre Dame (-4.5) at Arkansas: Here’s why we love this match-up: Both sides have no clue how to play defense, which means it promises to be a high-scoring game. Taylen Green should have his way with Arkansas’ secondary, which is one of the worst in the country (289.3 yards given up). Arkansas’ passing and rushing D looked fine against piss-poor opposition, but was pumped through the air by an Ole Miss back-up (21-29, 353 yards, 1 TD). Oh, and there’s the other worry: Sam Pittman’s job. If they lose this one, it’s another nail in the coffin. If they win, he might have just saved his job (again). PREDICTION: This will be a blast. Notre Dame by 10.
- No.15 Tennessee (-7.5) at Mississippi State: In years back this would have a monster spread, but Mississippi State has a Top 15 scalp after beating Arizona State, while Tennessee couldn’t hold onto a lead against Georgia and vomited the ending. That doesn’t mean Tennessee’s bad, though. But they’d better improve the tackling against Mississippi State, or they could be on the end of a nasty upset. On the other side of the ball, Jeff Lebby has the Bulldogs showing some teeth for the first time – it feels – since the Dak Prescott years, and that’s a fun time to be around. PREDICTION: Mississippi State in the shock of the day, winning by 3.
- Auburn at No.9 Texas A&M (-6.5): Had it not been for a couple of joke reffing calls, Auburn might well have come out of Oklahoma with the ‘W’. But they didn’t and the Sooners had the win. So that are the grapes, and one of the most beautiful campuses in the Southeastern Conference are tasting sour ones rather than sweet. This week, they don’t get any sweeter, with the Tigers walking into a loud Lions’ den of crazy Aggies, who came away from Notre Dame with a happy victory. Although we’ve got to frown at the 429 yards given up, 13 penalties, the escape of pressure by Marcel Reed and the past to Nate Boerkircher were sumptuous. On Auburn’s side Jackson Arnold HAS to make better decisions. He gave up too many sacks against the OU front, which was the result of a rather porous offensive line AND holding onto the ball too much. He’s got one of the best wide receivers – when he’s not being rugby-tackled while coming up for a ball in Cam Coleman. Use him, for crying out loud! PREDICTION: A&M by 14.
- Kentucky at South Carolina (-5.5): South Carolina doesn’t have an offense, but Kentucky is pretty poor itself. It’s not going to be a fun watch by any stretch of the imagination– and it’ll only be for fans of both teams and those who are into SEC BDSM. PREDICTION: Then again, it could be quite fun and close. But still a shite watch. South Carolina by 10 that’s going to hit the under with a clunk.
- Utah State at Vanderbilt (-22.5): Yawn. PREDICTION: Vanderbilt by 28.
- UMass at Missouri (-44.5): Yawn. PREDICTION: Missouri by 45.