The Week That Was
I continue to dominate in my picking of winners and losers as I went 8-2 last week.
Kentucky let me down in losing to
Lousville.
Auburn made my freaking MONTH by making me the happiest I've been to be wrong in a long time. My superstitions are well documented when it comes to making guarantees and I once again proved how things work by spending all week telling everyone that Clemson had no chance. Hell yes
Quickly becoming one of my favorite coaches,
Vandy's James Franklin got the 'Dores off to a 3-0 start by absolutely dominating the terrible Rebels of
Ole Miss. He is the first Vanderbilt head coach to start his career off 3-0 in almost 70 years. They are probably STILL going to end up losing 6 or 7 games, but it was fun while it lasted
My prediction for the
Tennessee-Florida game was that the Gators would win 34-20. That was incredibly close to the actual 33-23 score that really wasn't as close at the score would indicate. Either the Vols are still a long way off, or Florida is alot better than people want to admit. I think it's in the middle somewhere
The
Alabama game against
North Texas went pretty much as planned. But for the first time in Alabama Football history, two running backs ran for over 150 yards each in the same game. Eddie and Trent both went over 160. Though, the numbers are a bit deceiving when you consider that they each had a couple of runs that went for over 50 apiece, Trent having one that went 71 yards. Safe to say, our interior line still isn't blowing people off the ball and I'm going to just blame that on all the experimentation and moving players around alot. We will see this week against Arkansas if there is really anything to worry about
Troy actually managed to do what I was hoping they would and scare
Arkansas a bit. The Trojans scored 28 points against the piggies, so there's that.
Ohio State is nothing short of a disaster. Their QB only completed 2 passes in the entire game. Or was it 4? Hell, who cares? He completed more passes to players on the sidelines and fans in the stands than to his own teammates. Getting blown out by
Miami with many big teams like Wisconsin still on the schedule does not bode well for the Suckeyes. Is it possible they could lose to Michigan this year? That hasn't happened since Woody Hayes was the coach has it? It doesn't seem like it anyways. They do get a couple of important players back from suspension this week, so maybe it won't be so bad
I expected
Oklahoma to beat
FSU, which they did, but man it pissed me off. Florida State HAD it right there at the end and couldn't hang on. Now the Sooners probably only have Oklahoma St standing in the way of a inevitable undefeated season. Maybe Texas will put up a fight. But again, to Hell with Texas. Why am I even talking about Texas?
Notre Dame got their first win under their belt, and as much as I hate to say it, in about 6 or 7 weeks we will probably be looking at the Irish alot differently than we are now. I think they are a good team and they will continue to improve
The Week That Will Be
This isn't really all that interesting a week for me, other than the Alabama-Arkansas game of course. I might have a hard time coming up with 10 games to pick. I think I'm gonna stick with 10 as my number for that
1.
Michigan starts the day off at 11 am, hosting
San Diego State. Michigan Coach Brady Hoke was previously at SDSU before he went to Ann Arbor. Alot of people are calling this game as an upset win for SDSU. The Aztecs have started off 3-0 for the first time in 30 years, and their QB Ryan Lindley is legit. And running back Ronnie Hillman is leading the nation, along with Trent Richardson, with 8 rushing touchdowns.
Other than that, though, I don't see SDSU beating Michigan. Michigan has won 11 straight non conference games and they should make it 12. It will be a fight though.
32-23 Michigan
2.
Notre Dame and
Pittsburgh also kickoff at 11 and as per usual, I will be rooting against the Irish. I have a slightly person reason to favor Pitt. Their QB, Tino Sunseri, is the son of Alabama Linebackers Coach Sal Sunseri, and the brother of Alabama freshman head hunter Vinnie. Roll Tino. I like the Panthers here,
41-31
3.
Georgia is going to make a statement against
Ole Miss. But really, just about anyone could right now. The Rebels appear to be the worst team in the SEC this year. Isaiah Crowell should run all over them and it really shouldn't be close. Only Georgia could screw this up. But they won't. They will win big,
42-16
4.
Arkansas and
Alabama. Alabama and Arkansas. God, I love this game. Every year it is something else. in 2008, a dirty play tore an ACL for Dont'a Hightower. I'm sure he will be ready for this game now that he is back to full strength as one of the best LBs in America. 2009 was Ryan Mallet's first game against us. He was quite awesome only completing 7 or 8 passes in a 35-7 whipping. Last year, he and everyone else associated with that place spent as much of their time as possible leading up to the game talking about how this was the day that they showed that they were legit. This was when they were going to BEAT Alabama. And then they lost. At home. To an Alabama team with a brand new secondary, in it's first true test on the road. After having a 20-7 lead. Again, AT HOME. Other than the big lead they jumped out to when they surprised our young secondary with a few big plays, what at ALL have they done against Alabama since 2007? They have scored, 14, 7, and 20 points in the last 3 games. And this year, they have two true freshman on the offensive line, a new quarterback, and they are playing with their 3rd string running back, Ronnie Wingo, after Knile Davis and Broderick Green have both gone down. Oh, and their best defensive player, Jake Bequette, was hurt today and won't play in the game either. If Alabama can gain any amount of momentum, or just remain as mistake free as possible, this game shouldn't be that tough. If Alabama jumps out to an early 10 or 14 point lead, you can bet on them more than covering the 13 point spread. Just being completely objective and honest, Arkansas really shouldn't stay in this game for very long. But as an Alabama fan who is always nervous and terrified as hell going into big games like this, I am expecting a close scary game. I'll pick somewhere in the middle of the two possibilities I have talked about. I think Alabama wins either way, but I'll pick the score to be
27-17. Including at least one heart attack for yours truly
And if you want to read some more of my thoughts about Arkansas in general, including a story of how I reacted after watching Alabama LOSE to them in 2006
CLICK HERE
5.
Florida State and
Clemson. I am still so happy with what Dabo Swinney was able to pull off last week, and it would be great if some of that momentum could carry over to this week. But I don't think it will. The Seminoles feel like they should've beaten the number one team in the country last week. I think they gave OU their best shot. This week, their best shot won't be necessary, but I think they will look to rebound. Clemson will still be hungover from that big win last week. FSU win
30-20
6.
Auburn and
Florida Atlantic. OK, Auburn. Here is your chance. FAU is the WORST TEAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. They have scored 3 points this year. Total. They are 120th in the country out of 120 teams in total offense, averaging less than 100 yards a game. It's pretty ridiculous.
But Auburn ranks 117th in the country in total defense after allowing over 1,600 yards and 110 points in their first 3 games. So something has to give and which will it be? Will FAU's offense be able to move the ball down the field and score some points now that they will be playing against one of the worst defenses they will face? Or will Auburn's defense be able to play well and shut down a crappy weak offense? We will see. Auburn has nothing to worry about in this game as far as winning and losing, but I will say that if Auburn allows FAU to score 14 points or more, then they are probably worse than even I think. I'm gonna say they score at least one touchdown against AU and a field goal. AU's offense will have a field day, and Mike Dyer will again show why they coaches should just hand him the ball 40 times a game. Auburn wins, 51-10
7.
Florida and
Kentucky. Kentucky has been putrid thus far, and Florida has looked pretty good. Shouldn't be too difficult for Boom Muschamp to win this game. Maybe they will be looking forward to next week's game against Alabama. It wouldn't matter either way. 35-6 Florida
8.
LSU plays
West Virginia in a game that is being overhyped as hell. The game is in Morgantown, but that is really the only advantage that the Mountaineers have. LSU has the best defensive line in the country, and they will be all over quarterback Geno Smith. Smith is good, but he won't be on this day. I think LSU wipes the floor with them.
40-13
9.
Oklahoma State and
Texas A&M. The Aggies have been all over the news with the whole expansion talk, but I think Okie State is for real. Their QB, Brandon Weeden, is 28 years old and they have the best WR in the country in Justin Blackmon. This should be a very entertaining game, but I am picking the Cowboys
45-35
10.
USC and
Arizona St. As much as I have disliked USC over the years, it seems almost historically incorrect that the first year there will be a championship game in the Pac-whatever Conference, USC wouldn't be allowed to play in it. I think Matt Barkley is one of the top 5 QBs in the game and they have several really good young players that could lead them to alot of irrelevant wins this year, including this one,
31-20
Random SEC News And Notes
South Carolina Gets Notice Of Allegations from the NCAA on Monday. It looks pretty serious, but with the joke that is the NCAA, you can never be sure of what's going to happen.
Vanderbilt has intercepted 10 passes so far this year. That's crazy for only 3 games. They would be on pace for 40 if they kept that up over a 12 game schedule. To put that in perspective, Alabama led the SEC last year with 22, in 13 games.
Auburn is looking to turn Mike Dyer loose. Which is only logical. The dude is a beast
Arkansas's best defensive player, Jake Bequette, has a hamstring injury that will keep him out of the Alabama game
Jay Jacobs continues to blame Tommy Tuberville for anything he can.
SEE HERE
Witnesses testify before a grand jury in the case of the bar fight involving Jordan Jefferson and other LSU players
Derek Dooley not a fan of expansion
Cool story about Florida DT Dominique Easley "dancing" his way to a good start
If you want some links to random news and notes click the link below:
ALABAMA FOOTBALL NEWS AND NOTES
When Florida hit for a long touchdown pass on the first play of the game, I was down and out. It looked to me like we were in for the fight of our lives. But that was about all that Florida would do for the entire game. Alabama beat the hell out of Florida, 38-10 and left alot of people wondering who, if anyone, is going to beat Alabama this year. LSU? Possibly. But it truly appears as though that is the only remaining team on the schedule that can stop the Tide from going all the way to the National Championship.
