September 6, 2012
Florida has a young QBand an offense looking for an identity. Georgia has suspensions we think, andhas lost its last two trips to the "Big 12 part of the country. On theother side the pressure is off especially in College Station where they have afirst year coach. As for Missouri didn't they knock off a Top Ten (1 Oklahoma)not that long ago at home in a night game? These two conference tilts aren'tthe only ones worth tuning into this weekend. Auburn and Mississippi State havea lot on the line in Stark-Vegas, Mississippi.Florida at Texas A&M- The Aggies did not play last week but they doreturn a nice group of skilled guys and offensive lineman. The key to this gamewill be which quarterback has the best game, the Aggies Johnny Manziel or theGators Jeff Driskel. Florida's defensewith Shariff Floyd and John Bostic are the better unit and it will forceManziel into some turnovers. Florida escapes with a close win.Georgia at Missouri-The Tigers are a bit more confident than theAggies because of their success under Gary Pinkel. They athletic James Franklinwill be a problem for Georgia's defense, however the Dogs front seven shoulddominate. Look for John Jenkins the nose tackle to be very disruptive forcingthe Tiger attack wide. The speed of Georgia's linebackers and defensive endswill make Missouri one dimensional. Aaron Murray needs a big game on the roadand he can run when he has too.Keep an eye on special teams in this game as well. Georgia wins by a touchdown.Auburn at Mississippi State-this is a huge game for both teams. Dan Mullenhas not beaten anyone in the West other than Ole Miss. Auburn does not want tostart 0-2 and lose its league opener. The last two years this game has comedown to the last possession. QB play isthe theme this weekend and both guys will have opportunities to make plays. Theguy who can make the conversions on third down and protect the football willlead his team to victory. I have to believe that Auburn will tackle better thisweek on defense. I also think playing a tough opponent in week one gives them aslight edge. The Tigers continue the troubles for Dan Mullen and MississippiState.Rapid FireSouth Carolina may not have Connor Shaw and would like to avoid a shootout againstEast Carolina. The Gamecocks will get tested on the back end with the Piratespassing attack.Alabama plays a respectable Western Kentucky and looks to avoid a letdown.They have Arkansas next week and still need to fine tune some things.Speaking of Arkansas, they need to work on twothings this week in preparation for Alabama. 1 They need to hang on to theball. They put it on the ground four times last week. 2 they have to shore upthe pass defense.Tennessee primes the pump for their match up with Florida next week byplaying Georgia State. The Vols had a great start but could still focus ontheir run game. Vanderbilt needs to get Zac Stacy more involved this week, but that may behard considering how bad Northwestern was versus the pass last week. Syracuseripped the Wildcat secondary for over 400 yards passing. I think the Commodoredefense will steal the show on Saturday.Kentucky is in a must win" situation already in week two. JokerPhillips lost all the equity he built up with last year's Tennessee win. Thecats can't lose at home to Kent State.Ole Miss gets Mike Price and UTEP this week. The Miners had Oklahoma onthe ropes last week before losing 24-7. History tells me that UTEP won't playas well away from home and I like what I saw from Hugh Freeze's offense in the secondhalf last week.LSU gets a pretty tough test with Washington this week. The Huskiesdid not look like world beaters last week, but I think they are better thanthat. LSU might be better too, better than last year. Mettenberger shook off aninjury to light up North Texas with an array of offensive weapons. I think thiswill be a fun game to watch, but The Tigers pull away in the second half.
