B&S Week 13 game by game previews
By: Bossman Slim
How awesome is it that we’ve got four SEC games on a Saturday this late in December? I for one absolutely love it. It’s been a fun year with the all conference schedule, and not so fun in many other ways. But dang is it cool to have so many SEC games in the run up to Christmas. Santa may as well be coming on Saturday.
Enough about Santa, let’s take a look at the final SEC games of the 2020 season.
Early Game
#5 Texas A&M at Tennessee - 12:00 PM ET on ESPN (A&M -14)
Our friends over at the Aggie-focused “The Junction Blog” put together another great preview for the A&M Tennessee game. You can head over to their site and read the full post here, with a teaser below:
“...Let’s dig into the matchup this weekend. Spoiler: it’s going to be a long day for Smokey because Reveille is coming to crack skulls in this dog mascot battle. The Aggies have everything to play for: an 8-1 season, a chance at the College Football Playoff, and at worst a New Year’s Six bowl bid. Something we have not seen since Johnny Manziel walked the campus. Tennessee, on the other hand, has nothing to play for except pride and gaining experience for next year. I don’t think the Vols will fire Pruitt but then again, I didn't think Auburn will show Gus Malzahn the door either. And Hugh Freeze has still not taken a big-time job so all bets are off.
The Vols are just not a good football team this year, and their biggest issue is at quarterback. Eric Gray is a talented running back and their receivers are decent but the quarterback situation is a dumpster fire. Jarrett Guarantano is the same as he’s always been: average and very, very turnover prone. Harrison Bailey and JT Shrout have also seen time under center but neither has been great. Last week, Guarantano saw no playing time, while Bailey started and Shrout got a similar amount of snaps. With the coaching staff constantly juggling between those three players, no one has had a shot to get in rhythm. They may not be good enough to get in any sort of rhythm but I don't think anyone, other than Gaurantano, has gotten enough playing time to settle in.
With the uncertainty at quarterback, the Tennessee offense has suffered. They are just 10th in the SEC coming into this game with an average of 361 yards and 22.4 points per game. I expect the stout Aggie defense to feast in this game. The Tennessee offensive line is not bad, but their best player Cade Mays will be out with injury. And so far no one has really been able to block the Aggie front seven. Load up the box to stop Eric Gray and make whoever is playing QB beat us because they can’t. Our secondary is playing very well and could easily pick off a few passes this weekend. I’ll be surprised if the Vols get to 21 points on Saturday. Shut them down from wire to wire.”
#5 Texas A&M 38
Tennessee 14
Midday Games
Ole Miss at LSU 3:30 ET on SEC Network (Ole Miss -2.5)
This one is all for bragging rights. Ole Miss finally has their COVID issues under control, so it looks like we’ll get this one in.
Both of these teams are depleted. Somehow, someway, this rag-tag bunch of left-overs for LSU swaggered into The Swamp and took down the #6 Gators last Saturday. Their task is much more manageable this week, especially as Ole Miss will now be without two of their top pass catchers in Elijah Moore and Kenny Yeboah, who both opted-out of the remainder of the season to focus on the NFL Draft.
LSU comes into this one riding high and with confidence. Max Johnson looked like he could be the answer at quarterback for the Tigers, playing exceptionally well in their win over Florida. They moved the ball against Florida and should be able to generate offense against an Ole Miss unit who has been porous all year. On the other side of the ball, LSU will likely be without shutdown corner Derek Stingley Jr. again, which is music to Matt Corral’s ears.
Ole Miss has been able to move the ball at will this year, and tomorrow should be no different, especially against a banged-up LSU defense. But the loss of Biletnikoff contender Elijah Moore and TE Kenny Yeboah will be too much to overcome for Ole Miss, and the porous defense will be their Achilles heel once again. The Tigers will move the ball and score just enough to finish off the Rebels.
LSU 38
Ole Miss 35
Late Games
Missouri at Mississippi State 3:30 ET on SEC Network-Alt (Missouri -1.5)
Photo: Athlon Sports
The Pirate meets the Drink(witz). Mizzou has had an up and down year and is searching for a sixth win to make 2020 a winning season. They’re coming off getting gouged by Georgia, but against teams of Mississippi State’s caliber, they have taken care of business this year. Mississippi State has had injuries, defections, opt-outs, and the list goes on, take out their hopes in the 2020 season. Mike Leach has some recruiting to do, and he needs this one to end quickly so he can make some phone calls and land a few more fish (especially looking down the road to Oxford, where Lane Kiffin is cleaning up).
Freshman QB Will “Wild Bill” Rogers has played well since taking over for KJ Costello, but it hasn’t been enough to will this Bulldogs team to victories. For Mississippi State, it’s time to turn the page on this season. Not much has gone the Bulldogs way except for those smooth Maroon and White space uni’s and the LSU win to begin the year before everyone knew how bad LSU was.
I expect Mizzou to control this game from start to finish. Mississippi State has found a bit of life on offense, so expect them to put up a few scores, but Missouri takes control in the 4th quarter and prevails.
Missouri 33
Mississippi State 21
#1 Alabama vs. #7 Florida 8:00 ET on CBS (Alabama -17.5)
Photo: Mickey Welsh, Montgomery Advertiser
Dave in Tuscaloosa has an in-depth preview of the big daddy. We’ve got a snippet below, and you can read the full blog here.
“The matchup to watch is the experienced Gator offense against the Tide defense. The Gators sit 3rd in the conference, averaging 514 yards per game and 41 points per contest. Senior Quarterback Kyle Trask’s monster season is well documented, as he ranks first in the nation in total yards (3,717) and touchdowns thrown (40, against only 5 interceptions), and is completing 70.2% of his passes. Even though Trask threw for over 400 yards in last week’s loss to LSU, his Heisman campaign took a hit as he threw two interceptions (one a pick-six) and fumbled once. The SEC title game is a perfect stage to regain Heisman momentum, especially with one of the top receiving corps in the country to throw to. Match-up nightmare tight end Kyle Pitts leads the pack, and despite missing two games due to injury, the junior pass catcher has accumulated 641 total yards and 11 touchdowns. Not to be outdone, senior wide receivers Kadarius Toney (831 yards, 9 touchdowns), Trevon Grimes (511, 8), and sophomore Jacob Copeland (429, 3) have had tremendous seasons as well, giving Trask a bevy of capable options. The running game, however, has been inconsistent and has produced an average of 127 yards per game. The offensive line has been inconsistent as well, although they do a nice job of pass-blocking for Trask, giving him enough time to get the ball downfield. Junior back Dameon Pierce leads the way on the ground with 441 yards and 3 touchdowns. Junior kicker Evan McPherson has connected on 14 of 18 field goals, with a long of 55. Senior Jacob Finn has had a nice season, averaging 46 yards per punt.
The Alabama defense that will be tasked with stopping the potent Gators has continued to improve throughout the season and has climbed to #3 in the conference. The Tide is giving up 340 yards per game and 16.8 points per game. The front seven, led by sophomore Christian Baramore, sophomore DJ Dale, junior Phidarian Mathis, and freshman linebacker Will Anderson are getting a steady push and as of late, are finding themselves far in opponents' backfields. Linebackers Christian Harris (sophomore) and senior Dylan Moses lead the team in tackles (65 and 62 total, respectively) and have played consistently and steadily throughout the 2020 campaign. Harris suffered a shoulder injury at the start of last week’s victory over Arkansas and is day today. With or without Harris, the front seven will be a key in getting pressure on Trask to disrupt the powerful Gator passing attack. The Bama secondary has emerged as difference makers, as they have started to make more consistent plays on the ball and all are solid tacklers. Juniors Patrick Surtain, Josh Jobe, Daniel Wright, sophomores Jordan Battle and Demarcco Hellams, and freshman emerging star Brian Branch lead the way and will need to have great nights on Saturday against the Gators talented receiving corps.”
See preview for score prediction.
Bossman Slim