Will Missouri survive the loss of James Franklin? SEC Week 8 Predictions
If we’re honest, we know what the biggest game is this week. And it’s not in the SEC. It’s over in Clemson where Florida State plays the Tigers in a Battle Of Both Teams Who Have A Recent History Of Screwing Up Their National Championship Chances. But in the SEC, we’d like to claim some hefty games. A rejuvenated Auburn goes to Johnny Football Land (Texas A&M). LSU’s defense -which actually looked good against Florida – goes to Ole Miss (which we all hope will be repeat of last year’s barnburner). The Hospital from Athens (Georgia) hope not for the end of the world as they know it when they visit Vandy. We’re hoping that James Franklin and Todd Grantham get in a punch-up again. South Carolina gets a test at Tennessee – which has a field that can cause injuries (ask Richt, Mark). Oh, and Alabama plays Arkansas, where they’ll probably beat the hell out ’em.
FLORIDA AT MISSOURI
Missouri was a trendy underdog for the game at Georgia, since the Tigers’ opponents didn’t have its best running backs or receivers. Missouri ran out to a large lead before getting it cut to two, but after UGA couldn’t get a two-point conversion, Missouri went down the other end of the field and scored almost immediately, and finished off with a 41-26 victory. The big worry for Missouri – which is 6-0 and has it all to lose in its quest to go to its first SEC Championship game in just its second year in the conference – is that starting quarterback James Franklin is out with a shoulder injury. Freshman Maty Mauk will get his first-ever start in college football against one of the nation’s nastiest defenses. The only problem for Florida? The offense really isn’t that great – and just got worse after a season-ending injury to RB Matt Jones. Oh, and Columbia’s going to be rocking. And how will Florida play in the cold?
BOTTOM LINE: We’re going with the upset (Mizzou by 7), and with Missouri. It worked out OK last time.
AUBURN AT TEXAS A&M We know this: Auburn’s going to frighten the heck out of Texas A&M’s weak ‘D’ with their high-speed offense, while the Tigers are going to struggle to slow down Johnny Manziel…as anyone does. Manziel was incredible in the win over Ole Miss, continuing his run for a second straight Heisman, and it’s odds-on that he’ll do it again. But can the ‘D’ hold Gus Malzahn’s rejuvenated Tiger offense? It’s going to be close.
BOTTOM LINE: Texas A&M wins by less than 13-1/2. Unless, of course, the Aggies learned to tackle in a week. Which we don’t think they have.
LSU AT OLE MISS Ole Miss came so close to causing one of the upsets of the season last weekend when it came within a field goal of beating Texas A&M, and it will try to stop losing its fourth straight game when LSU rolls into town after a rough-and-ready victory over Florida. LSU’s offense was predictably more about the run against the Gators’ defense, but will have to click into gear with more from wide receivers Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry, and QB Zach Mettenberger. Against their porous defense, they’ll be facing QB Bo Wallace and WR Laquon Treadwell. They’ll have to watch out.
BOTTOM LINE: LSU wins by 14, as the defense gets a couple of stops at the end.
SOUTH CAROLINA AT TENNESSEE
The Volunteers had a roaring comeback against Georgia which must have warmed a lot of orange hearts (until overtime), but how will they cope against a less-injured (well, until they play at Neyland Stadium) and revitalized-after-Georgia’s-loss-to-Mizzou South Carolina side. Connor Shaw’s just on fire at the moment, and so’s RB Mike Davis. Tennessee’s offensive line is going to have to do a heck of a lot of work to contain the Gamecocks ‘D’ – regardless if Jadeveon Clowney gets off the bus or not.
BOTTOM LINE: South Carolina by (convincingly) more than 7-1/2. The Gamecocks are on fire, folks.
GEORGIA AT VANDERBILT
The problem at Georgia’s suddenly not Aaron Murray and the offense: It’s that defense. They can’t tackle. This means that Austyn Carta-Samuels and future NFLer Jordan Rodgers could cause them many problems indeed. Does that mean that Georgia’s not going to score? No. But we can’t help think that it’s going to be a shoot-out.
BOTTOM LINE: Georgia’s a 7-point favorite. We think they’ll win by a touchdown, too. But Todd Grantham’s offense won’t be fun to watch for Dawgs fans, and the hot seat will continue to warm for him.
THE ‘NO CONTEST’ PREDICTION
ARKANSAS AT ALABAMA
Alabama will eviscerate with Arkansas team low on confidence and low on being any good.
BOTTOM LINE: Alabama will stun the world and BEAT the spread today….they are 28 point favourites.