SEC
East
Florida
| Georgia
| Kentucky
| South Carolina
| Tennessee
| Vanderbilt
West
Alabama
| Arkansas
| Auburn
| LSU |
Ole Miss
| Miss State
SEC Fearless Predictions
Sept. 1 | Sept.
8 |
Sept. 15 | Sept.
22 |
Sept. 29
Oct. 6 | Oct.
13 |
Oct. 20 | Oct.
27 |
Nov.
10 |
Nov. 17 | Nov.
24 | Dec.
1
How are the picks so far? SU: 56-13 ... ATS:
37-22-2
SEC Fearless Predictions, Week
10,
Part 1
|
SEC Saturday,
November 3rd |
Tennessee Tech
(4-5) at Auburn
(6-3)
2:30
PM
Why to watch: Auburn gets to take a
week off and rest everyone up before
dealing with a road trip to Georgia and
Alabama in the final key stretch of the
season. The Tigers are coming off a
go-through-the-motions 17-3 win over Ole
Miss, and aren't planning on getting
cute and opening up the attack this
week. It won't need to against a
Tennessee Tech team that's lost four
straight. If you've been waiting to see
what the Auburn backups can do, this is
the game for you.
Why
Tennessee Tech might win: The Auburn
coaches have all but acknowledged that
they'll be taking it easy this week. The
Golden Eagles don't have nearly enough
on either side of the ball to threaten
an upset, but the offense has gotten it
going a little bit over the last month
with a good mix of offensive balance and
relatively efficient passing game. The
offense leads the OVC in scoring
cranking out 33.56 points per game and
could bomb away on an Auburn defense
that'll show up and hope that'll be
enough to get the win.
Why Auburn might win: The TTU run
defense has been giving up yards in
chunks while allowing three touchdown
runs in each of the last three games and
11 in the last four. The defensive line
has no hope of holding up if and when
Auburn chooses to pound the ball, and by
the fourth quarter, if it's not already
a laugher of a blowout, the Tigers
should be able to get its backs to the
outside in space whenever it wants to.
Defensively, even the Tiger backups
should be able to get into backfield at
will.
Who to watch: Games like
this are vital to do some tuning up and
tweaking, and Auburn will do just that
as the coaching staff continues to play
around with star pass rushing defensive
end Quentin Groves. The All-America
caliber playmaker will see a little more
time at linebacker in order to make
space for Antonio Coleman, who emerged
as a burgeoning star when Groves was out
with a foot problem. Coleman, a
sophomore, has 25 tackles and leads the
team with 12.5 tackles for loss.
What will happen: Get
there late and you might miss the game.
Auburn should be able to turn it on
whenever it wants to and put it away.
The goal will be to get up early, sit
everyone important, and work on Georgia.
CFN Prediction: Auburn 38
... Tennessee Tech 0 ...
Line: No Line
Must See Rating: (5
Heidi Klum on
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show -
1 Heidi Klum on Oprah) ...
1
UL Lafayette
(1-7) at Tennessee
(5-3)
4:00
PM
Why to watch: As bad as UL Lafayette
has been this year, going 1-7 complete
with a home loss to McNeese State, it
has enough firepower to potentially give
a certain-to-be-sleepwalking Tennessee a
little bit of trouble. The Ragin' Cajuns
played relatively well in the
season-opening 28-14 loss to South
Carolina, but if Tennessee is trying,
this won't be pretty. Tennessee won't be
trying. The Vols are coming off an
emotional overtime win over South
Carolina, and needs to gear it up for
Arkansas and Vanderbilt over the next
two weeks. ULL will treat this has a
bowl game, and with its running game,
could keep this close far longer than
the Vol faithful might like.
Why
UL Lafayette might win: ULL might
not be winning, but it sure can run the
ball. Led by QB Michael Desormeaux, who
leads the team with 883 yards, and
two-time 1,000-yard rusher Tyrell Fenroy,
the Rajun' Cajuns have torn off 300
yards in three of their last five games
with 345 against a strong Troy defense
and 317 two weeks ago against Florida
Atlantic. Tennessee faced two teams this
year with running quarterbacks and gave
up 255 yards and four touchdowns to
Florida, and 178 yards and a score to
Arkansas State. The Vols will give up
yards, but ...
Why Tennessee might win: The
offense will do whatever it wants to.
For ULL to be successful, it needs to
control the clock with its ground game,
keep the chains moving, and get decent
play from the defense in at least one
area. It's not happening. The Ragin'
Cajun defense has been one of the Sun
Belt's biggest disappointments giving up
yards any way opposing offenses want to
take them. ULL hasn't allowed fewer than
400 yards all year, gave up 681 to
Arkansas State and 527 to North Texas.
The defensive front isn't getting any
sort of a push into the backfield, while
the linebacking corps has seemingly been
a step slow and out of place from game
one.
Who to watch: Injuries on
the offensive line continue to crush
ULL's season, but on the plus side,
Fenroy appears to be back to his old
form after struggling through an ankle
problem. When right, he's one of the Sun
Belt's premier players with 13 career
100-yard games, but he's only been able
to find the end zone twice so far this
year and hasn't been able to get 20
carries wind mid-September. He needs to
be established early on to take the
pressure off Desormeaux.
What will happen: ULL
will take its $750,000, get its 250
rushing yards, and go home with yet
another big loss.
CFN Prediction: Tennessee
44 ... UL
Lafayette 17 ...
Line: Tennessee -30
Must See Rating: (5
Heidi Klum on
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show -
1 Heidi Klum on Oprah) ...
4.5
South Carolina
(6-3) at Arkansas
(5-3)
8:00
PM
ESPN2
Why to watch: The focus for the
first few moments before the game will
be on the six South Carolina students
killed in a beach house fire with the
Gamecock players wearing special
stickers on their helmets. On the field,
South Carolina will look to right the
ship after going from BCS contender to
possible SEC also-ran after being
stunned by Vanderbilt 17-6 and losing a
brutal overtime heartbreaker to
Tennessee. However, things can get
interesting with a win over the Hogs
this week and a win over Florida to
follow, and if Tennessee loses two of
its final three SEC games. First, the
Gamecocks have to get by an Arkansas
team looking to make a big run to
overcome a rough first half of the year.
The Hogs might be 1-3 in conference
play, but they've been roughly three
plays away from being unbeaten and are
now on a two game winning streak having
beaten Ole Miss and FIU by a combined
score of 102 to 18. This is their final
true home game of the year before
dealing with Tennessee, Mississippi
State and LSU.
Why
South Carolina might win: The
Gamecocks are finding ways to get it
done. This isn't a particularly strong
team in any one are, but there aren't
any brutal weaknesses either. Everyone
is pitching in with the right plays at
the right times, and while the lack of a
true identity has proven costly at
times, it's allowed different players to
step up in different games. The defense
has done a great job of bending, but not
breaking, while the secondary has been
phenomenal. Arkansas doesn't throw the
ball, and it won't be able to this week.
Why Arkansas might win: Lost in
the disappointing year has been the
phenomenal job done by the Arkansas
defense. After struggling over the first
few weeks, the Hogs have allowed 9.8
points per game over the last five, with
only UT Chattanooga and Florida
International getting to double-digits
in blowouts. The secondary has been at
another level, while the run defense has
been good enough to stop most offenses
cold for extended stretches. South
Carolina doesn't have the high-octane
attack that can keep up if Darren
McFadden and Felix Jones are running
wild.
Who to watch: Back at
quarterback for Arkansas is Casey Dick,
who practiced this week despite
suffering a concussion and missing time
against FIU. While his struggles are
well documented, he made his first big
splash in last year's 26-20 win over the
Gamecocks by completing 11 of 19 passes
for 228 yards and a touchdown with an
interception. Meanwhile, it'll be
musical quarterbacks once again for
South Carolina as Blake Mitchell gets
the start for Chris Smelley. Steve
Spurrier is desperately looking for
consistency out of one of his two
passers, and he'll be quick to pull
Mitchell if things aren't going well.
What will happen:
Arkansas will get the ground game going
right from the opening snap and a beaten
up USC won't be able to recover. Down by
two scores right away, the Gamecocks
will try to bomb their way back into the
game, and the Hog secondary will show
why it's playing better than any group
in the SEC at the moment.
CFN Prediction:
Arkansas
28 ... South Carolina 20 ...
Line: Arkansas -5
Must See Rating: (5
Heidi Klum on
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show -
1 Heidi Klum on Oprah) ...
3
SEC Fearless Predictions, Week
10,
Part 1