I’m officially off the Dan Mullen bandwagon.
Mullen, Mississippi State’s head coach, came into this season with aspirations of bringing the Bulldogs back to relevance in the Southeastern Conference.
The Bulldogs steamrolled Memphis, 59-14, to open the season and appeared to be headed in the right direction.
Then State lost back-to-back games to defending national champion Auburn and current No. 1 LSU.
Those losses weren’t enough to deter me from the idea that progress was present in Starkville. But after this past weekend, I’ve lost my faith.
Mississippi State needed overtime to beat Louisiana Tech, 26-20, at home.
Now, this isn’t to say Mullen can’t right the ship eventually. It just isn’t going to happen this season.
There are other teams, though, that could join the Bulldogs this weekend on the list of teams whose hope is lost this year.
 
Fresno State -3.5 over Ole Miss
For the other Mississippi school, the future doesn’t look much brighter. In fact, things are so bleak in Oxford that the university chancellor, Dan Jones, had to request fans to stop sending threats to Athletic Director Pete Boone.
Fresno State coach Pat Hill and his Bulldogs love to play the roll of spoiler against the big boys, but it’s rare that they’re favored. They relish this moment and add to the Rebels’ hellish season.
 
Tennessee -28.5 over Buffalo
Tennessee will use this week to establish a running game that has been nearly invisible through the first month of the season.
The Bulls are 1-3 and have only defeated Stony Brook.
Smokey is getting a whiff of blood this week, and he knows how to go for the throat.
 
Baylor -3.5 over Kansas State
Robert Griffin III is the quarterback for Baylor.
That alone is enough for the Bears to win the game.
 
Virginia Tech -6.5 over Clemson
Clemson fans seem to believe every victory warrants rushing the field. The past two weeks, the Tiger faithful have stormed the turf in Death Valley to celebrate a victory.
But all great parties must come to an end.
Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s defense has given up just 10 points per game this season and will be aptly prepared to shut down Clemson quarterback Tahj Boyd.
 
Arkansas +3 over Texas A&M
This is Texas A&M’s first game against an SEC team since being officially introduced into the conference.
Arkansas will welcome them with open arms and then slam them to the turf.
The Razorbacks are eager to rebound from their embarrassing loss last week at Alabama, and the Aggies will be the unfortunate victim of the Bobby Petrino buzz-saw.
 
Georgia -7 over Mississippi State
I’m off the Mullen bandwagon, and Georgia coach Mark Richt desperately needs this win.
Neither team is particularly good, but never sleep on a desperate team. Georgia is clinging to dear life and will do anything to get out of the ICU.
South Carolina -9.5 over Auburn
South Carolina has been very Jekyll and Hyde in 2011.
The Gamecocks eked out wins against Georgia and Navy, winning by a combined six points. Then last week, they hammered a 3-0 Vanderbilt team, 21-3.
South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery was silenced much of this season, but he’ll have a field day against an Auburn defense that has more holes than a Baton Rouge Police Department accusation.
 
Nebraska -9.5 over Wisconsin
This game could be a preview of the inaugural Big 10 title game.
Both teams have shown flashes of greatness, and both have shown flaws.
Wisconsin has yet to be tested, but playing at home is a big advantage.
The Badgers will win, but covering a 9.5-point spread will be a bit too much for them to handle.
Alabama -4 over Florida
Florida’s weakness coming into the season was supposed to be its rushing defense.
The best rushing attack the Gators have faced this season is Kentucky’s, which ranks No. 90 in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Alabama’s running game is No. 19. Running back Trent Richardson will go buck-wild Saturday.
 
LSU -30 over Kentucky
Florida showed last week the key to beating Kentucky is speed.
That is something of which LSU has plenty.
The Tigers will use their superior athletes to blow the game open in the second half.
 
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Contact Rob Landry at
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Last week: 8-2
Overall record: 27-13
 
Rob Landry is a 23-year old mass communication senior from Mandeville, La. Follow him on Twitter @RobLandry85.