B&S Week 10 game by game previews
It’s rivalry week. Iron Bowl. Egg Bowl. A&M-LSU. Plenty of great games on tap tomorrow. Grab a plate of leftovers and get ready for tomorrow’s games.
By: The Hammer, Bossman Slim, The Waco Kid
Early Games
Kentucky at #6 Florida - 12:00 PM ET on ESPN (Florida -25)
‘Cats by 90. Just kidding, this isn’t a basketball blog. This one is pretty simple: Kentucky has no offense, Florida does.
After blowing out Tennessee, Kentucky has lost three out of four, with their last outing being a 63-3 smackdown by the #1 Crimson Tide. Yikes. This is a team heading in the wrong direction. The quarterback position continues to be an issue, as neither Terry Wilson nor Joey Gatewood has shown any ability to pass the ball at a high level and move the ball down the field. Kentucky relies heavily on their run game, and it will be no different in this one. Kentucky boasts the 6th best defense in the SEC.
Photo: Sam Greenwood, Getty Images
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that won’t matter. Kyle Trask is torching any defense he faces right now. Against Georgia, the second-best defense in the SEC, Trask threw for 474 yards and 4 TDs. In the Gators contest against Texas A&M, the best defense in the conference, Trask threw for 312 yards and hung 4 TDs on the Aggies.
As I said - a good Kentucky defense won’t matter. Trask has too many weapons on offense and the Gators D won’t have any trouble with a one-dimensional Kentucky offense. Not to mention, Kentucky will be without 18 players and 10 staff. This one is going to be lopsided.
Gators - big.
#6 Florida 48
Kentucky 17
Bossman Slim
Vanderbilt at Missouri - 12:00 PM ET on SEC Network (Mizzou -15)
This one is a no brainer. Vanderbilt continues to be the worst team in the SEC by far. The abysmal Commodore offense has only put up more than 20 points twice this year, and with a defense that allows an average of 36 points per game, there is just no formula for winning. Vandy did keep it close against Kentucky but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Sure you can chalk this up as a moral victory but in the SEC, moral victories last about five minutes until you see who the next opponent on the schedule is.
On the flip side, Missouri is playing like a team that has started to find its way under new head coach Eliah Drinkwitz. They have notched victories over LSU, Kentucky, and South Carolina. The Tigers feature a stout rush attack behind Larry Rountree III, and quarterback Connor Bazelak always seems to do just enough to bring home a win.
Saturday afternoon Mizzou will notch another win and Derek Mason will be left to wonder when his last week as an SEC head coach may be.
Missouri 28
Vanderbilt 10
The Waco Kid
Midday Games
#22 Auburn at #1 Alabama - 3:30 PM ET on CBS (Alabama -24.5)
Future rendering of Coach Saban taking the field against Auburn.
Dave in Tuscaloosa wrote another great in-depth preview for this week’s ever-important Iron Bowl. You can read his preview here.
“As a team, Auburn ranks 6th in the conference offensively, averaging 402 yards and 29 points per game. On the defensive side, the Tigers rank 7th in the conference, surrendering 22 points per game. Auburn has struggled against the run, giving up 165 yards per game, including 222 yards on the ground last week against Tennessee. Not good news, as the Tide’s running game as of late is hitting on all cylinders. Linebackers Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe and defensive end Big Kat Bryant lead the Auburn defense and they are all having nice campaigns. The trio, along with the entire defensive unit, will need to have a monster game on Saturday.
On the other side, top-ranked Alabama is plain and simply rolling and it will be interesting to see if the absence of Saban impacts that fact at all. Offensively, Tide quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Mac “Daddy” Jones is leading a relentless, dominant group that can score almost at will. The unit is the conference’s 2nd best and is ranked 6th nationally, averaging 548 yards and a staggering 49 points per game. Jones has tossed 18 touchdowns with 3 interceptions, is completing 77% of his passes for 2,426 yards, and is surrounded by an embarrassment of talent (the entire offensive line, backs Harris and Robinson, receivers Smith and Metchie, tight end Forristall, and the list goes on and on).”
See preview for score prediction
Mississippi State at Ole Miss - 4:00 PM ET on SEC Network (Ole Miss -9.5)
Photo: Matt Bush, USA TODAY Sports
This one will be fun...two new coaches. The first Egg Bowl between Kiffin and Leach. Ole Miss trying to avenge a heartbreaking loss to the Bulldogs in 2019. Mississippi State hasn’t forgotten Elijah Moore’s dog pee celebration. The bad blood runs deep. The implications in this one aren’t big outside of Mississippi...but inside the state, this game means everything. Strap up.
These are teams who have had two distinct years. Mississippi State burst onto the scene early, announcing Mike Leach’s arrival after a big win over the defending national champion LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. Since then, it’s been a fast slide to the bottom of the SEC West. Leach’s offense slowed down after personnel didn’t fit and they lost one of the top backs in the SEC, Kylin Hill, to injury and then opt-out. With the ongoing losses, Leach began to weed out players in the program who were not bought in. It’s left the Bulldogs with a skeleton roster as Leach has already begun to look toward the future, shown by his decision to start freshman Will “Roy” Rogers over senior grad-transfer KJ Costello.
For Ole Miss, Kiffin has ignited this offense behind the stellar play of Matt Corral, who has played his way into the upper echelon of SEC quarterbacks. Behind the play of Corral and running back Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss is leading the conference in total offense. The problem is - as good as their offense is, their defense is equally as bad, checking in at dead-last in the SEC. Even with that, Ole Miss has been competitive in every game they’ve played, including taking #2 Alabama to the wire.
Leach needs some time to figure things out in Starkville, while Kiffin has figured out how to use the talent that Matt Luke left behind on the offensive side of the ball. The Bulldogs defense has played well and ranks 4th in the SEC, but Ole Miss scores at will. We expect a few more clipboards to be tossed in an Ole Miss win.
Ole Miss 44
Mississippi State 31
Bossman Slim
Late Games
LSU at #5 Texas A&M - 7:00 PM ET on ESPN (A&M -14.5)
The Hammer moonlights at The Junction Blog, and put together a great preview of the Tigers and Aggies. You can read his full preview here, but get a taste with the snippet below:
“LSU had beaten A&M every year since joining the SEC until the incredible 7-overtime thriller in 2018. LSU fans still whine about losing that game and it looked like the rivalry finally may have some legs. A&M had won a game and LSU was pissed. They took out that anger on the Aggies last year to the tune of a 50-7 beatdown in Death Valley. Now it’s our turn to whoop up on them and make this a true rivalry game. If we beat LSU this year, and do it convincingly, the rivalry is on.
Jimbo and the Aggies are not slowing down, and the LSU faithful will be livid if they lose two of the last three games. They will finally see A&M as a legitimate threat to their perceived greatness and place among SEC West royalty. I’m hoping not only for a A&M win, but a big one. Run the score up on these chumps. They did it to us last year and we have to respond. We are playing way better than them this year and it would be oh so sweet to pound these fools into the Kyle Field turf.
The formerly vaunted LSU defense is currently sitting at second to last in the SEC in total defense. Bo Pelini has not been able to figure anything out on that side of the ball this year and the Aggies should have a big day. The LSU pass defense is dead last in the SEC right now giving up 335.8 yards per game, so look for Jimbo to try to attack downfield. Keep in mind, those passing numbers don’t even include Alabama or Florida as those games were canceled/postponed for LSU. If those games are played, their stats would be much worse.
The Aggies don’t have a go-to downfield threat, but since everyone has been able to beat the Tiger’s secondary, I’m sure we can figure it out. Hell, Missouri threw the pigskin all over the place with a freshman quarterback against LSU. I expect Wydermyer to have a good game and think Ainias Smith can be a game-breaker. Although Smith is not a traditional wide receiver or deep ball threat, he is the Aggies best big-play threat. Chase Lane has also shown the speed to run away from defenders in the open field. I know Kellen will be ready to end his career against LSU on a high note and will be sharp. The secondary can be exploited. “
#5 Texas A&M 38
LSU 17
The Hammer
#9 Georgia at South Carolina - 7:30 PM ET on SEC Network (Georgia -21.5)
The College Football Playoffs were released and people were really mad about Georgia being in the top ten with two losses. I agree they may have been ranked a little high like maybe a one-loss Miami team should be ranked ahead but then what? Georgia has two losses to Alabama and Florida, both top ten teams. The committee put Oklahoma at #11 because they are “trending upwards,” but this is a team that lost to Kansas State and Iowa State. Can you really rank the Dawgs lower than the Sooners after those embarrassing losses? And then there is the BYU argument which should not even be a conversation. They lucked out coming into the rankings at #14 in my opinion. Any team that is ranked ahead of them or even behind them in the top 25 would be 9-0 too with a cupcake schedule like that. The Cougs should count their lucky stars that they cracked the top 20. Georgia may have been over ranked but just by about one spot.
The Dawgs will show up with bad intentions and will plan on proving why they deserve to be in the top ten. Unfortunately for South Carolina, they drew Georgia the weekend after the first rankings and will receive the full wrath of Kirby Smart. The Gamecocks have been decent on both sides of the ball but decent doesn’t beat Georgia. With new starting quarterback JT Daniels slinging the rock like he did last weekend and the return of George Pickens, the SC defense does not stand a chance.
Come game time Saturday evening, it will be Thanksgiving leftovers night, but this time the Dawgs will be eating some Gamecock.
#9 Georgia 41
South Carolina 13
The Waco Kid