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Mississippi State (2-4) at
Tennessee (2-4),
7:00 EST, GamePlan
Why to watch: It’s a
battle of the bottom feeders as
Tennessee, who’s 0-3 in SEC play
and at the bottom of the East
standings, tries to turn its
season around against a
Mississippi State team tied with
Arkansas and Ole Miss at the
bottom of the West. However, the
Bulldogs are coming off a nice
win over Vanderbilt, while the
Vols got nothing from the
lifeless offense yet again in a
26-14 loss to Georgia. The 1998
SEC title game this is not. The
loser is out of the bowl hunt,
each still has too much work to
do to win four of their final
five games. Tennessee has to
deal with Alabama next week and
has road games against South
Carolina and Vanderbilt, but it
should be able to win three more
games. MSU has to play Alabama,
too, but the rest of the slate
if very manageable. Basically,
the winner this week should have
a decent second half of the
year, while the loser will have
some major issues to deal with,
especially if it’s Tennessee.
Why Mississippi State might
win: The Tennessee passing
game wasn’t doing anything
before, and now it’s really
going to struggle against the
nation’s third best pass
defense. MSU is allowing just
138 yards per game through the
air, and while the secondary
hasn’t dealt with anyone who
knows how to throw a forward
pass, with the possible
exception of LSU, there really
is talent in the defensive
backfield. Tennessee’s passing
game, one of the least efficient
in America, isn’t going to
suddenly turn into Texas Tech.
Why Tennessee might win:
If you want to look thin, hang
out with fat people. If you want
to look like you’re good on
offense, play a team that can’t
move the ball. Mississippi
State’s offense is one of the
scant few in America playing
worse than Tennessee’s. The
Bulldog passing game won’t be
going anywhere on a fantastic
Vol secondary, while the running
game should have a tough time
cranking out any long drives.
For all of Tennessee’s problems,
the defense is relatively
blameless. Outside of a strange
collapse at UCLA, the D has done
its part despite getting little
to no help from the offense.
Who to watch: No
pressure, Nick Stephens. The
Tennessee season, and the career
of head coach Phil Fulmer
probably rests on what you’re
able to do over the next few
weeks. The sophomore was given
the starting job over an
ineffective Jonathan Crompton,
but he has failed to do much as
he’s completing fewer than half
of his throws with three
touchdown passes, no
interceptions, and no threat of
taking off to run. Even with his
issues, he threw for 208 yards
against Georgia on just 13
completions. He has to be a
calm, cool customer against the
swarming Bulldog D.
What will happen: It’s
not going to be a work of art,
but Tennessee will take it. In
yet another defensive battle,
the Vol defense will be a little
better than the MSU D, while the
MSU O will be just a wee bit
more inept than Tennessee’s.
CFN Prediction: Tennessee
17 … Mississippi State 13 …
Line: Tennessee -8
Must See Rating: (5 The
Real Housewives of Atlanta
– 1 Celebrity Rehab With Dr.
Drew) … 2.5
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Consultants FREE selections
LSU (4-1) at South Carolina
(5-2),
8:00 EST, ESPN
Why to watch: Very,
very quietly, South Carolina
has gone on a nice four-game
winning streak with seven-point
wins over Ole Miss and Kentucky
to get back into the SEC race.
In fact, every Gamecock SEC game
has been decided by a touchdown.
While Steve Spurrier doesn’t
have a really good win on the
2008 résumé, he has a killer
defense that’s stopping
everyone’s passing game cold and
a three-game home-stand that
will define the season. LSU saw
its season crash with a
resounding thud last week as
Florida ripped up the defending
national champion 51-21. The
once invincible defense couldn’t
stop Percy Harvin, Tim Tebow and
the Gator attack, while the
offense all of a sudden became
mediocre. Even so, the national
title is still on the radar as
long as the Tigers win out. With
Georgia and Alabama still to
deal with, there can’t be a slip
to a team like South Carolina.
Five home games follow before
the season ender against
Arkansas, so the potential is
there to make plenty of noise
over the next month.
Why LSU might win: The
LSU defensive line has been a
major disappointment over the
last few weeks as the pass rush
has been mediocre and there
hasn’t been any push into the
backfield. That could all change
this week as South Carolina’s
offensive line has struggled
from the start of the season,
and it isn’t getting night and
day better. LSU’s big problem
has been turnovers, but South
Carolina is one of the few teams
in the country with bigger
turnover-margin issues
Why South Carolina might win:
What happened to the LSU
defense? The struggles on the
line have trickled down into the
back seven as the secondary
holds the distinction of being
one of the few in college
football to actually allow
passing yards to Auburn. It’s
also one of the only defenses to
allow rushing yards to Florida,
giving up 265 last week and
three scores. South Carolina
might not have a juggernaut of
an offense, but it’ll move the
ball from time to time when
needed. At least it’ll do it
through the air.
Who to watch: Now who’ll
be the South Carolina
quarterback? Chris Smelley was
tremendous in the win over Ole
Miss, stunk it up against
Kentucky and was benched for
Stephen Garcia, who was
fantastic in the win over UAB
before getting replaced by
Smelley before the Rebel game.
Got that? Neither do the USC
quarterbacks who keep rotating
in and out. Garcia brings more
mobility to the position and is
the future of the program, but
he has to prove he can be a
steady leader. One bad
quarterback and he’ll get the
hook, too.
What will happen: It’s
not going to be a pretty game.
The South Carolina crowd will be
sky-high and the defenses will
be rocking early, but it’ll come
down to turnovers. Each team
will commit a few of them, but
LSU will screw up a little less
than South Carolina will.
CFN Prediction: LSU 27 …
South Carolina 20 … Line:
LSU -3.5
Must See Rating: (5 The
Real Housewives of Atlanta
– 1 Celebrity Rehab With Dr.
Drew) … 4
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Consultants FREE selections
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SEC Fearless Predictions, Week
8, Oct. 18
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