It
is crunch time
By
Jeff Sallas
Georgia at
Auburn – The game of the week
(Saturday at
2:30 CDT on CBS)
The Dawgs hit
the Plains to renew the oldest rivalry in the South. At stake is the SEC East title and possibly an SEC West title. It doesn’t get too much bigger than
this. There aren’t too many big
storylines other than just the expectation of a great football game. If the weather is decent I expect this to be
a well-played ball game that will go right down to the wire.
Auburn comes
into the game at the top of the SEC in total offense. It is a real tribute to new offensive coordinator Bobby
Petrino. Auburn has languished in the
bottom divison of just about all SEC offensive stats since Tuberville
came. There is no doubt Auburn made a
great move bringing Petrino in. The
Auburn offense comes in confident and ready led by QB Jason Campbell. This will be the biggest game Campbell has
ever played in. He didn’t start agianst
Georgia or Bama last year. He will be
called on to make some big plays and the question is: is he ready for
prime-time? Auburn will have to throw
the ball with some success to win this game.
On the other
side Georgia brings in a tough opportunistic defense led by DE David
Pollack. I expect them to give up some
ground but will give Auburn all they can handle. I don’t see Auburn getting a big lead unless there are
turnovers. Georgia QB David Greene will
have to be careful. Auburn’s defense
has given up a lot of long drives this year but have also created a lot of
turnovers. I look for Georgia to come
in with their standard game plan of short passes and running the ball with a
few deep balls thrown in. The problem
will be the absence of all SEC senior WR Terrence Edwards. That is a huge loss for the Bulldogs. Somebody will have to step up.
Will the
pressure of the SEC East title for Georgia completely relying on this game help
or hurt the Bulldogs? They definitely
looked tight against Florida. I think
it will be a tough task. I think
Georgia might be the better team but they are playing a good team on a roll at
home. I gotta take...
AUBURN OVER
GEORGIA
Bama at LSU
(Saturday at
8:00 CDT on ESPN2)
LSU fans at
8:00 at night? Oh boy, this could get
ugly. I hope the LSU administration is
beefing up security. Things can get
pretty crazy in Baton Rouge after dark.
The game will help as it should be 2 heavyweights going toe-to-toe. Both teams have won a lot of their games by
just being the bigger stronger team.
They both should be challenged in this game. This game features just about the best sets of lines, offensive
and defensive, in the entire league. It
should be awesome to watch them go head-to-head.
What will be
the difference in this game? It might
just be the Bama skill players. They
bring in a senior QB who has been through the wars along with 2 of the better
RBs in the conference. LSU brings in a
redshirt freshman QB and is still missing RB LaBrandon Toefield. LSU might have Bama beat at the WR position
though with super sophomore Michael Clayton and last week’s hero Devery Henderson. Both defenses top the conference in most of the defensive stats
so I think the offenses will have their hands full.
This is a
very tough call. Bama brings in a more
experienced veteran team but LSU has a pretty good home field advantage. Both coaches have been pushing all the right
buttons lately. Any kind of lead will
be huge although I think Bama has played better coming from behind than LSU
has. Bama looks to be a bit better
team. However since a tough loss to
Georgia the Tide has had easy games with Ole Miss, Vandy and Miss St. The Tide got a huge emotional win over UT
but UT’s record is not even as good as Ole Miss. They are in the top 10 and there is a lot of talk about going
11-2 already with 2 of their toughest conference games still to be played. Meanwhile LSU is probably just now back on
track after getting their wake-up call against Auburn. It looks like another solid Bama win but I
have a sneaking feeling that it will be...
LSU OVER BAMA
South
Carolina at Florida
(Saturday at
5:00 CDT on ESPN2)
As darkness
settles in in Auburn and the 4th quarter nears, this game will get
underway to possibly settle who will win the SEC East. If Georgia loses, it will be Florida’s crown
to win, again. I have definitely have
had my doubts about Ron Zook and still do but if he gets to the SEC
Championship game, even fireronzook.com will have to wait awhile. Call him lucky or whatever but the guy had a
hand in Florida winning all it’s divisional games if it can get this one. I think the Gators will play well in this
game especially if Georgia loses. I
think they have some of their confidence back.
Meanwhile I
don’t know what is going on in Columbia.
I read that they are benching starting senior QB Corey Jenkins and
moving him to defense (???). The South
Carolina offense has been abysmal but I don’t think it has all been his
fault. Not to mention the season is
almost over. Regardless it sounds like
Dondrial Pinkins will start at QB for South Carolina. I don’t see the Gamecock offense improving much. South Carolina’s defense is a bit better
against the pass than the run but I am not sure how much that will help.
I am seeing a
Gator blowout any way you slice it...
FLORIDA OVER
SOUTH CAROLINA
Tennessee at
Miss St
(Saturday at
11:30 CDT on Jefferson Pilot)
This is
pretty much a desperation game for both of these teams. State is trying to at least get one decent
win out of the season and Tennessee is trying to stay bowl eligible. Both coaches are taking a lot of heat
although obviously Fulmer is still better off than Sherill. Both teams are looking for some
offense.
Both offenses
had tough times against very good defenses last week and have pretty much had
tough times most of the year. I think
Casey Clausen is out again for the Vols so I look for them to come out running
even more as they have before without Clausen.
Cedric Houston has been very effective since coming back. I look for him to be the workhorse again
this week. Meanwhile State is trying to
get Jerious Norwood in the game more.
The guy has shown flashes of brilliance. State has been a bit more balanced this year but just hasn’t been
able to put it together.
I think the
defenses are the best units on the field so this will probably be a low-scoring
game. However I think UT’s defense is
the best and I think they will force State into some turnovers. One of Jackie Sherill’s biggest early wins at
State was a win over UT in Starkville, I don’t see an encore performance this
week...
TENNESSEE
OVER MISS ST
Elsewhere...
Kentucky over
Vandy
Arkansas over
La-Laf
Ole Miss is open
this week.
Overall picking SEC vs. SEC/BCS opponents I went 5-1 last week missing Arkansas taking South Carolina. Overall I am 37-13. Overall including patsies I went 6-1 and am at 64-15.