With all that has happened in college football over the last 48 hours it almost seems like the first Thursday night televised home game at Kentucky and only the second Thursday night game in history has been put on the backburner. If you are wondering Kentucky hosted Tennessee on November 30, 1939 and lost 19-0. I will talk about the Florida and South Carolina situations in a bit. After rallying to beat Eastern Kentucky 34-27 in overtime Mark Stoops’ club got a much needed bye week to get ready for the prime time ESPN tilt again Auburn.
Previewing Auburn at Kentucky
This will be the kickoff to one of the biggest weekends in recent UK sports history as you have the football game on Thursday night. Friday evening will be Big Blue Madness with Coach John Calipari debuting his 2015-16 squad in front of 24,000 crazy True Blue Fans.
The weekend trifecta wraps up with an NBA exhibition game at Rupp Arena between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings. The contest will feature four former Cats between the two teams.
Let’s get back to the football game, the Cats used the bye week to try to get healthy. Offensive tackle Jordan Swindle will be back after missing the last two games and defensive tackle Reggie Meant will play as well. Even more good news is the return of Boom Williams, who missed the Eastern Kentucky game due to some personal issues.
On the other side the Tigers were a pre-season Top 10 team but have been a disappointment so far, sitting at 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the SEC.
Gus Malzahn’s team is coming off a 35-21 win over San Jose State in which Peyton Barber rushed for 147 yards and five touchdowns. Malzahn has said he may not name his starting quarterback until game time on Thursday meaning it could be Sean White or Jeremy Johnson. The Tigers rank only 105th in the nation in total offense and 113th in passing yards which is nowhere near what the Auburn faithful have come to expect.
The key to this game will be up front. If the Cats can stop the Auburn rushing attack and force them to throw the ball then they should win. That is a big if considering they gave up over 150 yards to Eastern two weeks ago.
The last time these two teams played in Lexington in 2010, the Tigers won 37-34 behind Cam Newton. This one may not be as high scoring, but I think it will be close. A win here will put the Cats 5-1 for a second straight year. The big difference is the way Kentucky’s schedule sets up very favorably for the rest of the season. I really think in the SEC East a 5-3 record could send you to Atlanta for the title game.
The atmosphere should be electric in the Commonwealth on Thursday night as the football Cats want to showcase themselves in front on a national audience. I think they will do just that.
Kentucky 30-24
Time to take a look at the rest of the games on Saturday in what is as huge a weekend of games as I can remember. You have not one but two games featuring teams ranked in the Top 10. Only in the SEC could that happen. Last week I rebounded nicely going 5-1 putting my season record at 41-12. Tennessee and Arkansas have the week off.
Ole Miss at Memphis- (NOON ABC)- In the preseason this seemed like an easy win for the Rebels. However, the Tigers come into this game at 5-0 and have won 12 in a row, second only to Ohio State. I think this will be a shootout, but the combination of Chad Kelly to Laquon Treadwell will be the difference.
Ole Miss- 41-34
Louisiana Tech at Mississippi State (NOON SEC Network)- Dan Mullen’s squad bounced back from the loss to Texas A&M with a big win over Troy. Tech is 4-2 and led by former Florida quarterback Jeff Driskell. However, they had to get a late field goal to beat a 1-5 Texas San-Antonio team last week. Behind Dak Prescott the Bulldogs win.
Mississippi State 38-20
Alabama at Texas A&M (3:30 CBS)- The first battle of top ten teams will be in College Station. The Aggies are 5-0 and have a lot to prove, especially after getting beat 59-0 by the Crimson Tide last season.
Nick Saban’s club looked less than impressive in beating Arkansas last week but they could have been looking ahead to this game.
I really want to pick A&M in this game, especially at home. However, Alabama almost always seems to rise to the occasion in big games.
Alabama 31-23
Vanderbilt at South Carolina (4:00 SEC Network)- Of course the biggest story in the SEC and in college football has been the sudden retirement of Steve Spurrier. You won’t find many Kentucky fans who will say this, but I always liked him. It was hard when you lost 20 in a row with scores of 65-0 and 73-7 to like the guy, but I really did. There will never be another coach like him, ever. I did find it humorous the last comment he made at his press conference was about Kentucky and it didn’t involve the punter. I also think it is interesting after losing 20 in a row Kentucky went 3-3 in his last six years, and Mark Stoops will actually finish with a winning record against Spurrier 2-1.
Co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Shawn Elliott will take over for the rest of the season. I think the Gamecocks will rally around their new coach and win this one.
South Carolina 24-14
Florida at LSU (7:00 ESPN)- The other match-up of Top 10 teams features the other big story for the week. Gators’ quarterback Will Grier tested positive for a banned substance and is suspended until next season. While Grier’s loss is a big one and Treon Harris will have to step up, Florida has been winning its games on defense.
They will need their biggest game of the year in order to stop Leonard Fournette, who became the fastest LSU running back to 1,000 yards in a season. I think the first one to 20 wins this game.
LSU 20-14
Missouri at Georgia (7:30 SEC Network)– In two weeks the Bulldogs have gone from possible national title contenders to losing two in a row and their best player Nick Chubb to a season ending knee injury.
In the wide open SEC East the Tigers could possibly still make a run at a third straight trip to Atlanta, but I can’t see them scoring enough points to win this one.
Georgia 24-13
That is it for this week, I would love to hear your predictions. Feel free to comment below.
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