The
final week
By
Jeff Sallas
Great slate
of games to enjoy the holiday with.
These will be more “quick hits” this week as I am trying to get this out
before everyone leaves work today. Look
for the 4th annual batch of “Sallas SEC Awards” coming out
Monday. On to the picks...
LSU at
Arkansas – The game of the week
(Friday at
1:30 CST on CBS)
The battle
for the SEC West comes down to this. It
will really give this game a boost.
Soon I think this rivalry will start to be mentioned up there with it’s
more famous and much older counterparts.
This rivalry only started 10 years ago when Arkansas came into the
league. Both teams have kind of been up
and down over that span but in recent years it has been an extremely hard
fought game.
Last year it
turned into a shootout with LSU winning but Arkansas making it much closer than
just about anybody thought it would be.
The year before Arkansas beat a much better LSU team in an incredible
game of field position football in the rain at Arkansas. Houston Nutt has shown to be very good at
getting his team up for a single game.
He now gets his first chance to play for Atlanta since his 1998
Razorbacks fumbled away a sure win at UT and then stumbled against Miss St the
next week. I think this game is
absolutely huge for Nutt and the Arkansas program. With the NCAA coming in, this might be their only shot for years
to come. Meanwhile LSU is the defending
champs just trying to ward off everyone trying to get a piece of them. Though they have stumbled of late, they did
get off to a great start and they fought off a pesky Ole Miss team last week.
Now it all
comes down to this. Both teams will run
the ball and pass occasionally. An
early big play, turnover or bad field position could be huge especially if the
weather is bad. The primary players
will be the lines of course. Arkansas’
OL might be the best but they will have to prove it one more time. The other key players will be Arkansas QB
Matt Jones and Arkansas’ stable of RBs.
For LSU it will be freshman QB Marcus Randall, RB Domanick Davis and RB
Labrandon Toefield who finally returned last week. I think it will come down to Matt Jones. He is the best QB in the game and his team
is at home. Is Jones just a great
athlete with occasional flashes of brilliance?
Or is he the QB that can lead his team to a championship? My answer is...
ARKANSAS OVER
LSU
Miss St at
Ole Miss
(Thursday at
6:45 CST on ESPN)
The Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night. It really has become a tradition. The last few years the games have been good and exciting. I don’t expect any less this year. Both teams desperately want to go out on a good note. A win in this game would go a long way toward relieving the disappointments of the season. Both teams stumble into the game with long losing streaks. State hasn’t won a conference game this season and the Rebels have lost 5 in a row. Both coaches are under fire and as always precious recruiting prospects could be impacted by the game. Both teams also had tough games last week. Tough call here but Ole Miss QB Eli Manning really hasn’t looked great most of the season. The Rebel running attack was also hurt badly by the loss of RB Robert Williams who was kicked off the team. State seems to have a few more playmakers at this point in the season plus I bet they are very hungry for a win. I think State wants this one more and will get it.
MISS ST OVER OLE MISS
Kentucky at
Tennessee
(Saturday at
11:30 CST on Jefferson Pilot)
An afterthought most years, this one should be a hard
fought battle this year. Kentucky is
down to it’s last chance to get a really big victory this year. Though Tennessee is not ranked any win over
the Vols would be huge for Kentucky. A
win over UT would put Kentucky at 4-4 in the conference, a monumental
achievement after the last few years.
Kentucky has had close losses to Florida, South Carolina, Georgia and
LSU. Senior playmakers Jared Lorenzen
and Artose Pinner will lead the Cats along with a never-say-die defense.
On the other side of the ball Phil Fulmer is once again leading Tennessee out of the storm. As in 2000 when UT stumbled against Florida, Georgia and LSU, Fulmer is once again trying to get back to that 8 win plateau an set the tone for next season. His 2000 comeback got UT ready for a national championship run in 2001. He seems to have finally found his man in Cedric Houston at RB. Backed up by Jabari Davis the UT running attack keeps getting better. When Fulmer has a hoss at RB that he can count on UT is very dangerous. Look out for the Vols once again next year. However as I have repeated over and over again I do think some coaching changes need to be made on offense.
So who gets
the prize on Saturday? Kentucky will
fight hard but I think the Vols will wear them down. Another heartbreaker for Kentucky...
TENNESSEE
OVER KENTUCKY
Florida at
Florida St
(Saturday at
7:00 CST on ABC)
The least anticipated game in this rivalry in years. This maybe the game where Spurrier is missed the most because of his feud with FSU coach Bobby Bowden. The Gators dominated this game last year yet it could have been their greatest loss. In the game last year was the play that Spurrier felt an FSU player intentionally injured Florida RB Ernest Graham. Spurrier felt it was way over the line but didn’t get a whole lot of support it seemed from the Florida administration when he made an official complaint. There have been strong rumors that this was the last straw for Spurrier.
That is water
under the bridge though. Ron Zook goes
into his first Florida/Florida St game after an up-and-down season where
Florida just missed getting back to Atlanta.
Rex Grossman had a miserable start to the season but has gotten back on
track. Also Florida still has a stable
of capable WRs and RB Graham back for his last game. After last year I expect he will be fired up.
As for
Florida St, it has been their worst season in years losing to Louisville,
Miami, Notre Dame and NC State. Yet
somehow they still managed to win the ACC and will get a BCS bid. Unbelievable. QB Adrian McPherson was dismissed from the team for off-the-field
problems so I guess Chris Rix is back in for the Noles. FSU also lost their best player in RB Greg
Jones for the season a few weeks ago.
However the Noles still have some great players and are at home.
I am having a
hard time making this pick as I have picked Florida just about every year and
most year’s FSU has proved me wrong.
This year though I am going to bet on Florida’s senior playmakers in
Grossman and Graham leading the Gators to victory...
FLORIDA OVER
FLORIDA ST
Georgia Tech
at Georgia
(Saturday at
2:30 CST on CBS)
Georgia is 1-1 against it’s biggest rivals so far this season beating Auburn but losing to Florida. Now the Yellow Jackets comes calling. Georgia Tech has been up and down this year but come in with a respectable 7-4 record. Rookie coach Chan Gailey has done a very good job. Meanwhile the Dawgs come in as the SEC’s top team and looking for their first BCS appearance. Georgia would be unwise to take the Yellow Jackets lightly but I think Georgia will be on a roll after the huge comeback win at Auburn. This should be a pretty hard fought game but I don’t see Georgia letting it slip away...
GEORGIA OVER
GEORGIA TECH
Bama at
Hawaii
(Saturday at
6:45 CST on ESPN)
This might be
the most interesting matchup of the weekend.
The run-oriented defensive-minded SEC team vs. the run-and-shoot Rainbow
Warriors. Obviously Bama is the better
team but after a loss to Auburn and a trip that can be distracting I wouldn’t
be at all surprised if this one was very close. Another factor is I think Hawaii runs the offense that matches up
with Bama the best. The teams that have
had the most success this season against Bama have been the ones that spread
them out and threw the ball. Hawaii
will do this the entire game. The Bama
defense should be pretty tired after this one.
The problem
for Hawaii is the Bama offense will look to dominate the time of possession
against the smaller and weaker Hawaii defense.
This is where the game will be won or lost. If the Bama offense can’t get back on track and keeps give the
ball back to Hawaii they could lose.
However I think the Bama offense will show up and rack up big rushing
yards and end the season with a win...
BAMA OVER HAWAII
Auburn, South
Carolina and Vandy have finished the regular season.
Overall picking SEC vs. SEC/BCS opponents I went 4-1 last week missing the Iron Bowl. Overall I am 44-16. Overall including patsies I went 4-1 and am at 73-18.