No. 17 Auburn (5-2, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) @ No. 9 LSU (6-1, 3-1), 6:45 p.m. ESPN
This should be fun: the nation’s top run and scoring defense versus the conference’s second best running attack.
It took the Auburn War Eagles several weeks to get their offense going, but the Plainsmen have found their rushing attack again in the form of Carnell “Cadillac” Williams. The junior who usually is out due to injury for the yearly tussle between these two squads (well he was his first two years) is finally healthy and better be ready for a physical LSU defensive front that held South Carolina, another potent running attack, to zero yards rushing on 17 carries last week.
Williams has been incredible the last three weeks, garnering the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Week for each of those weeks. His most recent performance saw him torch Mississippi State for 161 yards on 15 carries. Oh yeah, and he had a school-record six touchdowns. He is joined by Ronnie Brown and Brandon Jacobs to form a three-headed monster for Auburn.
As for the Tigers, LSU needs to continue its success on offense. It doesn’t look like Shyrone Carey will be able to go for the third straight week, so that means the freshmen trio of Alley Broussard, Justin Vincent and Barrington Edwards must come up huge again and the offensive line must give them holes. Quarterback Matt Mauck continues his successful season (minus the Florida game) and shows he is once again capable of leading the team following his solid performance against South Carolina.
The game will come down to the final seconds. LSU safety Jack Hunt will make a game-saving tackle at the goal line, the crowd will cheer so loud that a 5.3 earthquake will be registered and the Voice of the Tigers, Jim Hawthorne will get confused and say Devery Henderson made the tackle when everyone knows it was Hunt.
LSU 17, Auburn 13
No. 21 Arkansas (4-2, 1-2) @ Ole Miss (5-2, 3-0), 6:15 p.m. ESPN2
Ole Miss … yes, I know Ole Miss is actually tied for first place in the Western Division right now. They won’t be for long. You and I both know Ole Miss starts out fast in conference, beating up on people like Vandy and Alabama and then fades, losing to teams like LSU, Arkansas and Auburn on a yearly basis.
This year won’t be any different. The Rebels have no defense. The Hogs are royally pissed after back-to-back poor performances at home against the likes of Auburn and Florida. They will run the ball continuously using the option with quarterback Matt Jones and running back Cedric Cobbs, who still leads the conference in rushing yards per game.
Ole Miss has Eli Manning, but it’s not like he put up outstanding numbers against a suspect Bama defense last week. There’s nothing special about 230 yards. He’ll need more than 300 passing yards and a stable running game to beat a tough Hogs defense. Houston Nutt better get his … ummm … stuff together or his team will continue going south. At least they’ll get by this weekend with a victory.
Interesting side note to this game: Usually two schools know who has the series edge. In this case, neither school is smart enough to figure out who has beaten who more. Arkansas says they are leading the series 26-22-1 and Ole Miss says they’ve got the Hogs, leading the series by a record of 25-23-1.
Arkansas 27, Ole Miss 20
No. 22 Tennessee (4-2, 2-2) @ Alabama (3-5, 1-3), 2:30 p.m. CBS
After looking tough early in the year, both of these teams look like they’re going to suck. I mean, come on, Tennessee can’t hand the ball off or run a play action pass on the goal line at the end of the first half and Alabama just can’t do anything.
Tennessee was as high as No. 7 in the polls before it began running the ball like a junior varsity team. They could not run against Auburn and did not do much better against Georgia, who really spanked them in an ugly game.
Asking Casey Claussen to beat a team with his arm is just like asking Bama’s third string quarterback to beat somebody. I know Brodie Croyle is back, but he’s still feeling the effects of a bad shoulder injury. I don’t understand why the Tide wants to get their quarterback continuously pounded.
In any event, just go out and tailgate this weekend and avoid listening to Moron Lundquist and his hot female sideline reporter (whom I shook hands with two weeks ago) on CBS. It will be a waste of time.
Tennessee 35, Bama 13
Mississippi State (2-5, 1-2) @ Kentucky (3-4, 0-3), 11:30 p.m. JP Sports
Jackie Sherrill announced Friday that he will retire at season’s end. Most didn’t find out until Monday. Does anyone care? No. Maybe Jared “Battleship” Lorenzen will give him a retirement present by running out of bounds and knocking him out of his misery and away from his horrible team.
Kentucky 38, State 31
Vanderbilt (1-7, 0-4) @ South Carolina (4-3, 1-3)
Poor Vandy. South Carolina is going to come out pissed after LSU dominated every facet of last week’s game. I wish I had seen Lou Holtz’s Monday press conference quotes: “Vandy will bring its best game. They are much better than their record. Look at their offense, it’s one of the best in the country” Blah … blah … blah … Right Lou.
South Carolina 30, Vandy 13