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Auburn (4-1) at Vanderbilt (4-0),
6 EST, ESPN
Why to watch: You don’t
believe in Vanderbilt. SEC
elitists don’t believe in
Vanderbilt. The oddsmakers and
“investing” public doesn’t
believe in Vanderbilt. And why
should they? This is Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt. The yearly
assumed win on everyone’s SEC
schedule. Vanderbilt. The
football program that hasn’t
been 5-0 since 1941 and hasn’t
been 6-0 since 1928, when it was
part of the Southern conference.
Vanderbilt. The leader on top of
the SEC East standings and the
division’s lone unbeaten team.
Beating South Carolina and Ole
Miss in tough, tight games
perked up a little bit of
interest, but beating Auburn
would take things to a whole
other level.
Auburn has been every bit as
good as advertised on defense.
The line has been tremendous,
the secondary has been stellar,
and the special teams have been
a major plus. The offense, well,
the defense has been fantastic.
The Tiger attack has sputtered
and coughed its way to a 4-1
record with little from the
passing game and an inconsistent
running game thanks to a banged
up group of running backs. It
might seem crazy to call a road
game at Vanderbilt a chance to
make a statement, but after
slogging its way through a 14-12
win over Tennessee and
less-than-stellar offensive
showings against LSU and in the
3-2 win over Mississippi State,
the Tigers have to prove they
belong in the SEC title
discussion with a win over a
jacked up SEC team in its park.
Why Auburn might win:
1955. That’s the last time
Vanderbilt beat Auburn, winning
25-13 in the Gator Bowl. The
Tigers have won 13 straight in
the series. Fine, so the past
doesn’t mean anything. What does
matter is the Tiger defensive
front against the Vanderbilt
running game. The Commodores
don’t/aren’t able to throw the
ball consistently and have to
rely on the running of QB Chris
Nickson (who’s best from a
shoulder injury) and RB Jared
Hawkins to carry the mediocre
offense. The Commodores aren’t
going to go on long, drawn out
marches on this Auburn defense.
They’re going to need several
breaks and a few key turnovers,
which should come because …
Why Vanderbilt might win:
… the Commodores lead the nation
in turnover margin forcing 10
turnovers and only losing five
fumbles. The Vandy quarterbacks
have yet to throw an
interception, while Auburn has
had a bit of a problem holding
on to the ball with 11 turnovers
on the year. Auburn’s offense
isn’t going to suddenly explode
for 50 points, and if it gets
behind and has to start
throwing, there will be
problems.
Who to watch: The
Commodores give up a ton of
passing yards, but they make up
for it by coming up with the big
plays when needed and forcing
plenty of mistakes. Junior D.J.
Moore not only is a leader in
the secondary, he’s the nation’s
leading punt returner averaging
29 yards per try. Meanwhile,
senior Reshard Langford is
considered one of the nation’s
top NFL safety prospects and is
living up to his hype making 25
tackles with two interceptions.
Meanwhile, junior Ryan Hamilton
is coming off an epic day
against Ole Miss making
six tackles, picking off three
passes, taking one 79 yards for
a touchdown, made a goal line
tackle, and recovered a fumble.
What will happen: It’s not
going to be pretty. Auburn’s
offense isn’t going to find
itself this week, but the
defensive front will do just
enough to keep the Vandy offense
from cranking out more than 200
yards. The Tigers will get in
two good scoring drives and
that’ll be enough to put the
game away.
CFN Prediction: Auburn 20 …
Vanderbilt 7 ... Line: Auburn
-4.5
Must See Rating: (5 Palin
vs. Biden - 1 Beverly
Hills Chihuahua) … 4
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Consultants FREE selections
Northern Illinois (2-2) at
Tennessee (1-3),
7 EST, GamePlan
Why to watch: The bad:
Tennessee has stunk it up
offensively over the past few
weeks and is on an ugly 1-3
start. The good: two of the
losses came to Florida and
Auburn, there’s no shame there.
The really bad: Next week’s game
is at Georgia. The Vols have to
come up with a few answered for
their offensive woes in a real
hurry with teams like Georgia,
Alabama, still to deal with, and
while a big win over Northern
Illinois won’t get the SEC title
talk going, it would allow
everyone around the program to
exhale. NIU is coming off one of
its most complete performances
in years beating Eastern
Michigan 37-0 on the road. The
Eagles never got deep into
Huskie territory and were
dominated on both sides of the
ball. New head coach Jerry Kill
has changed things around in a
hurry, and even though the
Huskies are 2-2, they’re better
than that. They had Minnesota,
who has turned out to be pretty
good, dead-to-rights before the
Gopher’s came up with a key
fourth down conversion on
offense and two big plays in the
end zone on defense to stop a
late Huskie drive. NIU came up
just short in a 29-26 loss at
Western Michigan.
Why Northern Illinois might
win: The defense has started
to come together at just the
right time. Yeah, beating up
Indiana State and Eastern
Michigan isn’t deserving of much
more than a yawn, but the
Huskies allowed just three
points in those two games. The
line is terrific at getting into
the backfield. The last thing
the struggling Tennessee passing
game needs right now is to be
under any sort of pressure.
Tennessee, meet Brandon Bice and
Larry English. They have a
reservation for two in your
backfield.
Why Tennessee might win:
Oh yeah, the defense. So much
has been made about the
Tennessee offense that the great
start from the defense has been
glossed over. The line play
hasn’t been dominant, but the
secondary has been special at
times and the defense, as a
whole has only allowed 258 yards
per game. NIU’s offense hasn’t
played anyone who can remotely
play defense, but the O line has
struggled in pass protection.
This will be the game for the
Tennessee pass rush to break
out.
Who to watch: And the
starting Tennessee quarterback
will be … ? Jonathan Crompton
hasn’t gotten the offense
moving, and while he hasn’t lost
his job entirely, he’s on double
secret probation as Nick
Stephens will see playing time
if he doesn’t take over the
starting job. Stephens is a
tall, thin passer who has a live
arm and excellent upside, but he
needs work. He’ll get it this
week, while Crompton, who has
rightly or wrongly been blamed
by many for the offense’s
problems, hasn’t thrown a
touchdown pass in the three
losses, and completed just
8-of-23 passes for 67 yards
against Auburn.
What will happen:
Tennessee’s offense won’t
explode, but it’ll do enough to
get by. Meanwhile, the Volunteer
defensive line will control the
game from the start.
CFN Prediction: Tennessee 38
… Northern Illinois 13 ... Line:
Tennessee -16
Must See Rating: (5 Palin
vs. Biden - 1 Beverly
Hills Chihuahua) … 2
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Consultants FREE selections
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SEC Fearless Predictions, Week
Six |