After a week that saw the Crystal Ball record a dismal 4-4 record, it’s time to get back on track.
Let’s get the cupcake out of the way first. South Carolina, a preseason SEC East contender, has been a disappointment this season with a 3-3 record. This week should see the Gamecocks go over .500 by beating the 2-4 Purple Paladins.
Missouri goes into The Swamp to meet the Gators. The Tigers come in limping after taking a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of Georgia, while the Gators come in after a three-point home loss to LSU on a field goal with three seconds remaining.
“I think that anytime you come down to a game that ends in that fashion, which we’ve had two others we’ve came out on top of, where we’ve made those plays,” Will Muschamp said. And, that’s, you know, that’s the example you use for your team moving forward. We’ve been in these situations before and we’ve made the plays, and in this situation we didn’t, and that’s, you know, to me it was never a question of effort, you know, emptying the bucket and putting all you’ve got out there, we did that.”
The Gators appear to be playing better with Jeff Driskel and Treon Harris sharing time at quarterback. Look for Florida to win this one.
Tennessee faces the tall task of meeting Ole Miss in Oxford and this year that is not an enviable assignment.
“To play back at home against Tennessee is exciting for us,” said Hugh Freeze. “We love playing in front of our home crowd. That team is eerily similar to our journey. They are a very, very talented team. They are hungry. It’s one of those scary games that you know they have good enough athletes to beat you. The job that Coach (Butch) Jones and his staff have done is really admirable. They are quite talented. Again, they’re hungry. They’ve played some really quality teams very, very close. I know it’s going to be a tough challenge on Saturday. I’m glad we’re at home and get to play in front of our fans.”
Look for Ole Miss to keep rolling by beating Tennessee.
Kentucky will be at LSU and this one could be a big one for Mark Stoops’ Wildcats if they could pull off the win in Baton Rouge. But that’s easier said than done. LSU’s win over Florida last week was the Tigers’ 100th win under Les Miles, joining Charlie McClendon as only the second LSU coach to win 100 games. Kentucky actually comes into the game with a better record overall and in SEC play, but while the Wildcats are improved, playing LSU at night in Tiger Stadium, where the Tigers are 44-4 under Miles, is tough.
“Now, first of all, I want this stadium to be just like it’s always been, a very live place for our opponents to witness a very, very noisy and very loud partisan crowd,” said Miles. “I want to encourage everybody to come out to the stadium and enjoy us, because we will enjoy you.”
Chances are LSU will beat Kentucky.
Georgia is on a roll and the Bulldogs will get a chance to keep their momentum alive with a visit to Arkansas.
“Another big challenge for us. Another away game in our little streak of about four away from home. We’re looking forward to the challenge,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt. “I think we had a good practice yesterday. I was very pleased with the energy of the day and we’ll see what we can do today. I think our guys really understand that football’s a team game. And the best chance we have is for everybody to take care of their responsibilities, and for everybody to improve on a daily basis and everybody to play and practice with the kind of energy it takes to get the job done. I know I sound like a broken record, but football is a game of repetition. So if we keep doing that and keep pushing each other then I think we’ll be okay.”
The Bulldogs should be okay and beat Arkansas.
The Texas A&M/Alabama has become a good rivalry, with each team winning on the other’s home field since A&M joined the SEC.
“We’ve had a couple great games with Texas A&M since they’ve joined the SEC,” said Nick Saban. “This is one of the most prolific offensive teams in the country, in terms of their scoring output, yards per gain, passing. Their quarterback is one of the national leaders in passing offense. Defensively, I think they’re very, very athletic and create a lot of negative plays. They’ve sacked the quarterback, and lots of negative plays have been created by their athleticism. They have a lot of starters back and a lot of experience. They’re a very good, very sound on special teams. This team is a real challenge.
“We’re going to certainly have to be at our best to do a good job of trying to get them stopped, and also to control the ball on offense so they don’t have it all the time. Those things are really critical in a game like this.”
Texas A&M comes in on a two-game losing streak and Alabama comes in after a loss to Ole Miss and a sloppy win over Arkansas. This one is tough, but the Crystal Ball is going with Alabama one more time.
