Thursday, October 15, 2009

SEC Weekend Games of Interest: 10/17/2009

Glad that you guys have made it back for another week of picks and good times. Vandy really screwed us last week as our only loss, giving us a 38-5 mark for the season. Seriously, you can never pick Army over Vanderbilt, it’s just one of those unwritten rules of College Football. Without any further wait, here is what is happening in your neck of the woods:

Mississippi State at Middle Tennessee State: I had the honor of going to Murfreesboro, Tennessee once in my life to play the MTSU Blue Raiders in a rugby match. I don’t care if the town is ranked one of the top 100 cities in the country to live by Money magazine, there isn’t much to see and you want to get out fast. Going back to the game, Miss State has played some hard nosed football over the last three weeks and hasn’t gotten a W to show for it. Expect them to play tough again this week and to easily defeat Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders do have a pretty good player in Dwight Dasher at QB who was a great Georgia High School player for Charlton County and he leads MTSU in both rushing and passing, but won’t beat the western Bulldogs. MSU fans celebrate a 35-21 win in Nashville, hopefully with some UGA fans.

UAB at the University of Mississippi: One name tells me everything I need to know about this game: Neil Callaway. Ole Miss wins 38-17.

Arkansas at Florida: Arkansas played a tough game against the Gators last season in Fayetteville that was pretty close until Casey Dick started throwing the ball to the other team and Corch Meyers ran up the score. While Arkansas is an improved team, it looks like we are at the point of the season where Florida and Alabama are going to try and outdo each other and Bama beat these guys 41-7. I am interested in seeing how Ryan Mallet plays against a Gator defense that has only surrendered two touchdowns all season, especially after playing so poorly against the Crimson Tide. One big positive for Arkansas was seeing RB Michael Smith get on track against Auburn. He is one of the most dynamic backs in the SEC and if he gets into a rhythm in Gainesville, this game could stay closer than most people expect. Ultimately, Florida has too much firepower on both sides of the ball for the Razorbacks to pull this game out and the Gators win 38-14.

Kentucky at Auburn: The Tigers hit a tough road block last week in Fayetteville and look to recover against a Kentucky team that is hampered by injuries. The Wildcats lost starting QB Mike Hartline for the season and after watching their back up, Will Fidler, against South Carolina, I now know why Hartline had such a long leash to suck so much. Kentucky will try some new things to get the offense going with an inexperienced signal caller and will try to establish Derrick Locke on the ground after Arkansas and EB Michael Smith had a lot of success against the API defense. Auburn will definitely be looking for blood after last week’s loss and RB Ben Tate should have another big day. Ultimately, both teams have given up a decent share of points on the season and I expect Auburn to come out on top with a 35-24 victory.

South Carolina at Alabama: Homecoming in Tuscaloosa will be a daunting task for the Ole Ball Coach and his Gamecocks. South Carolina has had a great start to the season and a huge road win would really give them a leg up in the Eastern Division and in the polls. QB Stephen Garcia really looks like he is getting comfortable under center and the aforementioned Spurrier will no doubt have some tricks up his sleeve for the Crimson Tide. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, their opponent doesn’t need any tricks. They are as sound defensively and offensively as anyone in the nation and will have Garcia on the run, making mistakes and turning the ball over. Last week, I said that Bama was due to play some bad football, but this night game at Bryant-Denny won’t be it. Look for a good night from Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson as the Tide roll 31-13.

That does it for this week, good luck again to everyone on the road. Go Dawgs!

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