Week 2 in the SEC

Well, I ended up being 10-2 with my picks last week, but I missed 2 out of the 3 most difficult games to pick. I knew they would be hard games to predict, and I waffled on them for a while and ended up missing them. But hey, if I go 10-2 every week I will be pretty happy.

Week 2 brings a little bit more excitement than Week 1 did. There should be more close games on the docket for the second week of the season. So without further delay, here is what to expect this week...

Georgia vs. South Carolina is the game of the week

Marquee Matchups:

Georgia vs. South Carolina (4:30 PM ET, ESPN): Do not underestimate how big this game is in determining the SEC East. As I said in my Summer SEC East Predictions, this game will most likely decide where both teams end up finishing in the standings. South Carolina unexpectedly struggled for a little bit last week against ECU because Steve Spurrier surprisingly decided to start Connor Shaw over Stephen Garcia. However, once Garcia was inserted into the lineup the Gamecocks' offense immediately started producing. He ran for a 32 yard touchdown on his first drive and after that SC had no problems moving the ball. Georgia, on the other hand, got routed by Boise State in their season opener. Georgia looks to have a lot of problems. The most obvious being their defense. Kellen Moore absolutely carved up their secondary going 28-34 with 261 yard and 3 touchdowns. The second biggest problem for the dogs is their running game. Outside of an 80 yard touchdown run by Brandon Boykin, UGA only had 72 rushing yards on 22 attempts from their top two running backs. Something needs to improve there for them to be successful this season. Look for South Carolina to carve up Georgia's defense with Alshon Jeffrey and Marcus Lattimore.
        Prediction: 28-17 South Carolina

Will Auburn's defense step up
this week?

Auburn vs. Mississippi State (12:21 PM ET, SEC Network): Auburn struggled last week against Utah State, needing an onside kick in the 4th quarter to pull out a victory. It remains to be seen whether that was a one game fluke or a foreshadowing of what's to come for the tigers. Part of their problem this season is their youth. On Saturday Auburn played 22 true and redshirt freshmen against a senior-laden Utah State team, and that proved to be a problem mostly on defense. However, they did show the resiliency of the 2010 National Championship team by coming from behind to win yet again. Mississippi State on the other hand, looked pretty good against Memphis. I don't know how much you can take from that game, being that Memphis was a 1-11 team last year, but nonetheless MSU looked disciplined on defense and solid on offense. This may sound crazy, but I think that Auburn will pull out the victory against the bulldogs this weekend. Last week will serve as a wake up call that work needs to be done for Auburn's young team, and they will make their biggest improvement of the season between last Saturday and this Saturday. That combined with the fact that this game is at Jordan-Hare Stadium means that Auburn will upset MSU for the victory. I think that the homefield advantage will be too much, but if this game was in Starkville there is no doubt the MSU would win the game.
       Prediction: 34-31 Auburn

Second Tier Matchups: 
Penn State vs. Alabama (3:30 PM ET, ABC): In all honesty, this won't be that close. Alabama has a suffocating defense and that is all they will need to beat Penn State at Beaver Stadium. Alabama's quarterbacks did not look great last week against Kent State throwing 4 interceptions, but it was pretty clear that A.J. McCarron deserves to be the starter. He doesn't need to do more than manage the game and Alabama will pull out the victory.
       Prediction: 27-10 Alabama

Tennessee vs. Cincinnati (3:30 PM ET, ESPN2): This game is going to be won by a very slim margin. Tennessee seems to be on the upswing as a program, but Cincinnati has a vaunted offense that will put up points in a hurry. They are returning QB Zach Collaros, who threw for over 3,100 yards last year, RB Isaiah Pead, as well as big time playmaker DJ Woods. Cincinnati looks a lot like a poor man's Oregon, and if you remember the ducks had no problem destroying UT last year 48-13. Cincy's explosive offense put up 72 points against Austin Peay last week and will be too much for the Vols this week.
       Prediction: 31-27 Cincinnati

The Rest:
Arkansas vs. New Mexico (7:00 PM ET, ESPNU): 41-13 Arkansas
LSU vs. Northwestern St. (8:00 PM ET): 35-7 LSU
Ole Miss vs. Southern Ill. (6:00 PM ET): 24-17 Ole Miss
Florida vs. UAB (7:00 PM ET, FSS): 31-6 Florida
Kentucky vs. Central Michigan (12:00 PM ET, ESPNU): 14-10 Kentucky
Vanderbilt vs. UConn (7:30 PM ET, CSS): 21-17 UConn

Lucas' Season Record: 10-2

A Look at Week 1 in the SEC

So it's been a while since I last posted an article mainly because I didn't have much to write about until football season cranked up. Well here it is, Week 1 and you can smell football in the air.

Unfortunately, there are not a whole lot of good games in the SEC this week as most schools are looking to gain some experience and pick up an easy win. Here are my thoughts on the first games of the new 2011 season in the SEC:

LSU faces Oregon in the biggest game of opening week.

Big out of conference games:
#4 LSU vs. #3 Oregon (Sat. 8:00pm EST, ABC): This is possibly the biggest match up in all of college football for week 1. This is one of the tougher games to predict, but look for LSU will challenge with dominating defense. LSU's recent QB change will be a big distraction in preparing for this game, and Oregon has a lot of talent returning from a runner up National Champion finish in 2010. Oregon's offense proves to be too much.
              Prediction: 31-27 Oregon.

#5 Boise State vs. #19 Georgia (Sat. 8:00pm EST, ESPN): This is easily the second biggest game of the weekend. This game will come down to the wire as Georgia tries to cope with the loss of AJ Green and break in a freshman running back while Boise State boasts the experience of their Heisman candidate in Senior QB Kellen Moore. In the end, the SEC will show its power as UGA will come out victorious, but it won't be easy.
              Prediction: 24-21 Georgia

Potential to be close games:
Ole Miss vs. BYU (Sat 4:45pm EST, ESPN): If there was any other SEC team playing BYU I would say there is no chance that it's not a blowout, but then again it's Ole Miss. BYU, the newest independent school in college football, is going to provide a big test for Ole Miss.
              Prediction: 20-17 BYU

#23 Auburn vs Utah State (Sat 12:00pm EST, ESPN2): Your immediate reaction is to write this game off as a blow out, but then you have to look at Auburn's depth chart. They are starting only 3 seniors on offense and 1 on defense, and only 2 of those 4 have started a game previously. Also, over half of their starters are only freshmen or sophomores, with countless other underclassmen littering the two deep. That tells me that this game is going to be up and down as a young Auburn team gets some valuable first game experience. Auburn will probably have some big plays, but give up some big plays as well.
              Prediction: 35-24 Auburn


Not that exciting, but somewhat intriguing: 
#12 South Carolina vs. East Carolina (7:00pm EST, FSN): The two schools could be considered bordering state rivals, and ECU has been a decent non-AQ school in the past. But who are we kidding? Skip Holtz doesn't coach ECU anymore and this isn't going to be very close. However, it could be fun to watch Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffrey torch ECU's defense.
              Prediction: 38-17 South Carolina

Laughers:
#2 Alabama vs. Kent State (Sat 12:21pm EST, SEC Network): Prediction: 63-7 Alabama
#15 Arkansas vs. Missouri State (Sat 7:00pm EST, PPV): Prediction: 49-10 Arkansas
Mississippi State at Memphis (8:00pm EST, FSN): Prediction: 42-10 MSU
Tennessee vs. Montana (Sat 6:00pm EST, PPV): Prediction: 35-10 Tennessee
#22 Florida vs. Florida Atlantic (Sat 7:00pm EST, ESPNU): Prediction: 35-13 Florida
Kentucky vs. Western KY (Thurs 9:15pm EST, ESPNU): Prediction: 31-14 Kentucky
Vanderbilt vs. Elon (Sat. 7:30pm EST, CSS): Prediction: 28-7 Vanderbilt

Are you ready for some football?!? I know I am!

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