Great game last night between NC State and Florida State. NC State had been stopped on three tries from the one as they tried to run it in late in the game down 24-21. On fourth and one, Tom O’Brien sent the field goal team out to kick a tying field goal. But he called time out and then sent the offense back out on the field. I didn’t know what play he would call. The FSU defense wasn’t going to give up a rushing td so they faked a run and rolled out  and completed a one yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to George Bryan with 2:40 left on the clock to put them up 28-24. Florida State drove it to the NC State four. With under a minute left FSU had a chance to score the game winning td. But quarterback Christian Ponder fumbled the ball after trying to fake a handoff to his rb and NC State pounced on it to seal the victory. NC State moved to 6-2 and 3-1 in ACC Atlantic. FSU dropped to 6-2, 4-1 in the Atlantic.
This week’s games:

(Last week’s record: 10-1; Overall: 85-24)

No.1 Auburn @ Ole Miss 5 p.m., ESPN2:  I’m sure Gene Chizik has spent this week trying to get his players to keep their heads out of the clouds and focus on the task at hand, beating Ole Miss. Ole Miss is a pretty decent team despite their 3-4 record. Jeremiah Masoli has completed only 56% of his passes with 10 tds and six ints. But he’s dangerous. Brandon Bolden is a very good rb, He’s run for 559 yards on the season, 5.8 yards per carry and five tds. Cam Newton has put up the Heisman numbers and looks to be clearly in the lead in the Heisman race as he has accounted for 27 touchdowns, run for 1,077 yards and dominated in SEC games this year. Auburn may be not as crisp tomorrow as they have been, but I think they’ll do enough. Ole Miss can score, but their defense has been shaky this year. The Rebels’ defense has talent, but I think Auburn will do enough here to move to 9-0 and get ready for the final leg of this so far special season..

Auburn 28, Ole Miss 24

Tennessee @ No.20 South Carolina 11:21 a.m., SEC Network: Marcus Lattimore should be back and that will be enough for SC. Stephen Garcia is playing a lot better this year for the Gamecocks. What can you say about UT? It’s been a long season already and they may be just trying to get this over with and get on to finishing off their recruiting class. I know they still want to win, but it’s just hard when you’re so outmanned every week in the SEC except for maybe Kentucky and Vandy. But the Vols will compete. SC controls their own destiny in their journey to reach Atlanta. If they can beat Tennessee, get by Arkansas at home (tough) and then beat Florida on the road, they get it done.

South Carolina 28, Tennessee 17

Florida @ Georgia 2:30 p.m., CBS: Florida gets Chris Rainey back from his death threat on his girlfriend. Not so sure he should be back in the lineup this season, but Urban Meyer is obviously desperate. Georgia playing pretty good football right now. Had two wins over not so good Tenn and Vandy teams, but won pretty impressively over Kentucky last week, 44-31. Florida has little to no offense. John Brantley not there yet at quarterback and their entire offense not doing the job. I like Georgia to win this one in Jacksonville. They should put up the offensive numbers with Aaron Murray, A.J. Green and Washaun Ealey. I don’t know if Georgia can win the East, but they’re getting back in the conversation.

Georgia 31, Florida 24

Vandy @ Arkansas 6 p.m., Fox Sports South: Vandy changed offensive coordinators this week going with running backs coach Des Kitchings. Robbie Caldwell had to do something to try and improve his offense. I still don’t know if they have a quarterback. Larry Smith shows signs that he’s a good player, but then he makes too many mistakes. He’s been inconsistent for two years. Maybe Kitchings can get him playing on a consistent level. The running backs, Warren Norman and Zac Stacy, have been great, so he obviously is a good coach. A major problem for Vandy will be stopping Ryan Mallett and his recievers. Vandy has a young, talented defensive backfield, but they haven’t been able to get  much pressure on the quarterback allowing time for quarterback to pick the secondary apart. They did a much better job rushing the passer last week against South Carolina coming up with some sacks on Stephen Garcia. Walker May, a redshirt freshman from Briarwood, is going to be great. He’s already making big plays at defensive end. I just don’t think Vandy can score with Arkansas. The defense has played heroically this year, but the Arkansas offense is too good to stop.

Arkansas 41, Vandy 21

Kentucky at No. 21 Mississippi State 6 p.m., ESPNU: Very interesting game here. State playing good football this year. Dan Mullen making an impact. But Kentucky is a high scoring team and don’t know if State can stop them. State runs the ball well and Kentucky has trouble stopping anybody. State will pull out a close one here.

State 38, Kentucky 35

Big games Nationally:

There are three other huge games nationally  tomorrow. Here is a look at those three:

No.5 Michigan State @ No.18 Iowa, 2:30 p.m. ESPN or ABC: Michigan State having a special season so far. They came from behind last week and won against a pretty decent Northwestern team that has given them trouble in the past. Kirk Cousins leads a loaded offense. Iowa is at home and it’s hard to see them losing to Wisconsin and Michigan State on successive weeks. The Wisconsin game was a heartbreaker and one Kirk Ferentz wishes he had back for some better clock management at the end of the game in a 31-30 loss to the Badgers. I think Iowa is a good football team, but I like Michigan State on a late field goal to pull this out.

Michigan State 31, Iowa 28

No.6 Missouri @ No. 14 Nebraska 2:30 p.m. ABC or ESPN: Another huge game with national championship implications for Mizzou. Mizzou was awesome last week against Oklahoma. Blaine Gabbert is sixth in the country in passing completing 67% of his passes with 11 tds and 3 ints. He’s thrown for 1,899 yards. He was 30-42 last week for 3o8 yards and a touchdown against OU. And Mizzou can run the ball well, too. Ran for 178 yards against the Sooners. De’Vion Moore ran for 80 and Henry Josey 71. They have great balance on offense and an excellent offensive line. But the key to Missouri’s success this season is their defense. They are number five in the country in scoring defense. Nebraska is No.17 but gave up 41 to a highly potent Oklahoma State offense last week. Taylor Martinez threw the ball well last week for Cornhuskers. Like a pretty high scoring, entertaining game.

Mizzou 35, Nebraska 31

No. 2 Oregon @ USC 7 p.m., ABC:  A lot of people are picking SC to upset Oregon. I’m not one of them. SC has a good offense, but I don’t think they can stop the Ducks. It’ll be too much LaMichael James, Darron Thomas and his receivers for the Trojans. I bet Monte Kiffin has gotten about an hour of sleep per night this week trying to figure out how to stop the “Quack Attack.” USC will score some points, but it won’t be enough.

Oregon 45, USC 38

(Gene Chizik tries to keep his team focused this week against Ole Miss.)

Alabama had an easy time in Knoxville which was pretty much expected. Still not convinced this is a great team. They’ve gotten it done the last two weeks after the melt down at South Carolina, but it was over Ole Miss, which was a good effort by the defense, but not much on the offensive side. Tennessee is a very weak team this year. Alabama looked pretty average in the first half, but then came back and did some good things in the second half.
Trent Richardson and Julio Jones had big games with Richardson running for 119 yards including a beautiful 65-yard td run. Jones made some outstanding catches and finished with 12-for 221 with no touchdowns. Richardson also caught a five yard touchdown pass from Greg McElroy. Probably the best throw-catch of the game was from backup quarterback A. J. McCarron to Jones, a 47-yarder that Jones made a beautiful play on.

Two players who I don’t know what has happened to are Mark Ingram and Dont’a Hightower. They just aren’t the same players that they were before their injuries. Hightower just doesn’t look like the dominating linebacker everybody expected him to be. He had six tackles Saturday, but I was expecting a player who was equal to or better than Rolando McClain this year. Those are pretty high expectations, but Hightower was so good before his knee injury his frosh year and the first four games of his sophomore year. He just hasn’t been the same this year. Maybe it’s just taking him some time to get it back together. Knee injuries can be debilitating. He doesn’t look like he’s playing with the fire he played with before his injury.

Ingram is the same way. He started off great against Duke, Arkansas and had a couple of tds against Florida, but he just doesn’t look like he’s hitting the holes as hard and doesn’t have that breakaway ability he has had in the past. He ran for 88 yards and two tds on Sat, but that was against UT. Both Ingram and Hightower need to play the way they used to for this team to have a shot at the West and even think about winning it all. I just don’t see it right now.

The off week couldn’t come at a better time for the Tide. They’ve got a lot to work on before LSU. LSU is obviously not as great as people thought on defense, as Auburn showed, but they’re a good team and it’s in Baton Rouge. The offensive line needs to improve. Greg McElroy’s been sacked too much this year. He’s been sacked 22 times in eight games; that’s close to three a game. I don’t know what’s wrong with the line this year. They’ve got the talent. I’m wondering if they’re missing Mike Johnson and Drew Davis from last year’s team, two stellar guys on the line. Johnson was an excellent tackle and Davis a guard. D.J. Fluker is a pretty good tackle, not great right now. He’s also hurt which hasn’t helped. But it’s the overall play of the line which is lacking.

The defense does lead the country in interceptions with 15. Robert Lester is fourth in the country with five. He’s tied for the lead in number of interceptions, but his interceptions per game is a little behind the three guys tied for first. Alabama is eighth in pass defense, 21st in rush defense and 12th in total defense nationally. They’re third in scoring defense, a big stat.

Still something is missing from this team. They just haven’t found their chemistry. The running game isn’t as good as it was last year and McElroy is decent, but not great. He holds on to the ball too long in the pocket. He’s not going to beat you on his own, so if a good defense takes the run away, I’m not sure McElroy can beat you through  the air. He couldn’t against South Carolina.  The defense is good and that may carry this team. But they don’t make the big plays on defense like they did last year with Ro and Javy Arenas. They miss Javy in the punt and kickoff return games, too. He could just break open a game with his explosive plays. This team just doesn’t have that explosiveness.

I think this team is tough though. Julio, Ingram and maybe Hightower are playing hurt. But there just isn’t the chemistry that you saw on last year’s team. They’re kind of a boring team to watch actually. They need to crank it up in the last four games if they want to make it to the SEC title game. They can beat LSU, Miss. State and Georgia State, but Auburn will be tough. LSU and State could be tough games also, Georgia State a cake walk and Auburn will be huge. But this team could somehow pull it out and play to what I think is their potential, they could make a run. This team has just not been the team I thought they’d be offensively. There have been some mistakes on defense, but I think it’s been the offense that has been surprisingly not as good as expected. They need to get it together if they want to have any shot at the SEC title and a chance to play in the BCS title game. At this point, I just don’t see it. Maybe the best is yet to come.

Auburn had a terrific game Saturday. What else can you say about Cam Newton? He’s just the most unstoppable runner I’ve seen since Bo Jackson. He’s now run for 1,077 yards and 14 touchdowns after adding 217 more yards and two more tds on Saturday including a beautiful 49-yarder in which he almost fumbled at the end. He needs to be careful about how he carries the ball. If he’s not concentrating, he’s going to get it knocked out. He’s looking like a top five draft pick. I personally think he could use another year to improve his pocket passing. You aren’t going to be able to run all over the pros, so he’ll need to pass. He’s got the ability to throw the ball downfield. Maybe we’ll see more of that the rest of the season. If he’s a top five or top 10 he’ll most likely go. He is the leader in the Heisman race without a doubt this year. Onterio McCalebb had a nice game with a beautiful 70-yard run that clinched it. He has great ability to cut which he did beautifully on that run. He has exceptional speed, too, which he showed also. Michael Dyer is looking like the five-star player everyone expected. He ran for 100 yards on 15 carries and had a couple of beauties running through and around people. He is a guy who looks to have unlimited potential. I wouldn’t say he’s better than Marcus Lattimore, but he can be a great one at Auburn. Mario Fannin is a disaster most of the time. He has talent, but that fumbling makes him too much of a liability to play that much. He just seems to fumble every game. Auburn can’t afford that against Georgia or Alabama.

Nick Fairley is playing like Ndamukong Suh did last year. He’s just dominating. Suh finished last year with 12 sacks, 24 tackles for loss and 26 qb hurries. Fairley has 7.5 sacks, 17 tackles for loss and 15 qb hurries. He might be able to reach Suh numbers if he keeps it going. Someone in The Birmingham News suggested that Fairly be asked up to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation as one of the five selections and maybe even get it. He’s probably not going to get it, but him getting asked up to New York is not out of the question. He’s just so dominant and physical. He had 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss against LSU.

Zac Etheridge just continues to make plays. He’s become a game changer in the last two weeks. First his 47 yard fumble return for a td against Arkansas opened that game up for AU and really gave Auburn the momentum they needed to break the game open. Against LSU he had that huge interception in the first quarter that prevented LSU from scoring and put Auburn in business. It’s good to see Etheridge–a guy who many thought may not play another down after the Ole Miss near disaster last year–making big plays for this defense. He’s the leader in the secondary.

Josh Bynes is the leader of this defense. Bynes added another 11 tackles on Saturday and has 53 on the season. He has three key interceptions to go along with his tackles. Bynes is just always around the football. He’s stellar.

It’s getting very exciting at Auburn with the prospects for some great things. Number one in the BCS right now, and though that has been a curse for Ohio State and Oklahoma, we’ll see how Auburn handles it. Game this weekend at Ole Miss. Auburn should take care of business. Then Chattanooga, Georgia and at Alabama. Georgia is a dangerous game for AU. That will be a test. Georgia to me looks like the best team in the East right now. I think they’ll beat Florida this weekend. They may not win the East because they have three losses and South Carolina has two and SC has beaten Ga. But SC has to play Arkansas at home (Nov. 6) and go to Florida the following Saturday. SC has been known to blow it, so Georgia’s not out of it. They will be a challenge for the Tigers. Alabama will be tough because it’s always tough. I think Auburn is the better team at this point, but things can change.

Pretty exciting time on the Plains right now.

Nationally some big games this weekend. Of course, Florida at Georgia (Ga is home team) at Jacksonville will be big for SEC East ramifications, but not a big game as far as national implications go.

No. 2 Oregon (BCS) travels to Southern Cal this weekend. I haven’t seen Southern Cal much this season, but from what I’ve heard and read, their offense is playing very well. Their quarterback, Matt Barkley, is a great player. There’s talent. Is there enough to beat the explosive Ducks? I don’t think so, but it could be interesting.

No.6 Missouri travels to Nebraska in a huge game for the Tigers. If they win, they are in pretty good shape in the national race. They’ll need some help, but I watched them against Oklahoma and they have an outstanding football team. Very nice offense and a defense that is fifth in the country in scoring defense. Their win over Oklahoma was impressive. Nebraska will be gunning for them, but I think Missouri is a better team. Nebraska has the home field advantage which will help them. I kind of liken this game to the Wisconsin-Iowa game last week. Wisconsin was coming off a huge win over Ohio State and most people liked Iowa to beat them at Iowa City, but Wisconsin showed what kind of team they had by scoring in the last minute and a half to beat Iowa. I see Missouri doing the same kind of thing at Nebraska.

Another big game is No.5 Michigan State at Iowa. Iowa would like nothing better than to ruin Michigan State’s season, but I kind of like the road team again. I was very impressed with how Michigan State came back from a 17-0 deficit against a decent Northwestern team and won. Michigan State is very good offensively led by quarterback Kirk Cousins and is pretty solid on defense. I like their chances against the Hawkeyes. Should be another excellent weekend of college football.

SEC Schedule:

Tennessee @ South Carolina, 11:21 a.m., SEC Network

Florida @ Georgia, Jacksonville, 2:30 p.m., CBS

Auburn @ Ole Miss, 5 p.m., ESPN2

Kentucky @ Mississippi State, 6 p.m., ESPNU

Vandy @ Arkansas, 6 p.m., Fox Sports South

(Michael Dyer is coming into his own while Mark Ingram is struggling some.)

The games just get bigger every week. Huge tilt between Auburn and LSU. Alabama has a game they should win comfortably, but this team needs to get itself back on track if it wants to get back into the national championship picture. Auburn and LSU very much alive in the national race. Here’s a look at the weekend ahead.
LSU @ Auburn 2:30 p.m., CBS: Classic matchup between strength versus strength. It’s the Auburn high powered offense led by the inimitable Cam Newton vs the LSU defense that leads the conference in run defense, pass defense and total defense.

Cam might have to throw the ball in this one. Kelvin Sheppard will be keying on him and linemen like Drake Nevis (five sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss) will be going hard after Newton. LSU’s pass defense is good with Patrick Peterson and Morris Claiborne (4 ints).

Auburn’s Nick Fairley is no slouch either. Five sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. The guy is dominant.

I see Cam, Darvin Adams, T-Zac, Lutzenkirchen and Emory Blake stepping up in the passing game in this one. Jarrett Lee has been pretty good throwing the ball lately and he has some good receivers led by Terrence Toliver. Stevan Ridley is a good running back. The Auburn secondary is banged up, so they’ll be tested. AU needs to get some pressure on Lee if he plays a lot. He’s a lot better than Jordan Jefferson throwing the ball.

But I like Cam, the receivers, and the defense to do enough along with a huge home field advantage to push the Tigers over the top. It should be a very physical game. Auburn is going to have to run the ball some. Fannin and Dyer need to do something.

Auburn 21, LSU 20

Alabama @ Tennessee 6 p.m., ESPN: Alabama shouldn’t have a big problem with the rebuilding Vols and they are really rebuilding; pretty much from scratch. There is talk that Tenn may use another quarterback though I’ve watched Matt Simms and think he’s pretty good. Alabama needs to run the football well and get Ingram and Richardson going.

The offensive line has to play better. They’ve been down the past couple of weeks. They were overpowered by South Carolina and just looked flat like the rest of the team against Ole Miss.

I’m not sure how great Alabama is. Maybe they can turn it around this week. If they can get through this game, they’ll have a much needed week off to heal up and regroup. That could be just what this team needs.

Alabama 35, Tennessee 14

Ole Miss @ Arkansas 11:21 a.m., SEC Network (WTTO-21 Bham):

I went to the Al-Ole Miss game last week and was not impressed with Jeremiah Masoli at all. They have scored some points, but they looked totally flat against Alabama. Looks like Ryan Mallett could play but that backup, Tyler Wilson, could be better in the long run than Mallett. He could do the job with those excellent wrs.

Arkansas 31, Ole Miss 24

South Carolina @ Vanderbilt 6 p.m., Fox Sports South: Always hate picking Vandy games because I usually have to go against them. Don’t see a lot of hope after last week’s terrible outing against Georgia. Just were pathetic in every aspect of the game. SC coming off a tough loss to Kentucky and needs this game badly to keep the lead in the SEC East. Marcus Lattimore is doubtful, but Maddox is a pretty decent back. Garcia will have to throw the ball, and while Vandy’s secondary is young and could be good in the future, they can’t get any pass rush and the qb can just sit back in the pocket and find an open receiver.

South Carolina 28, Vandy 14

UAB @ Miss. State 6 p.m., ESPNU: Like the way State is playing. Will be bowl eligible if they win this one and they should. With UAB, you just don’t know which team is going to show up. State playing solid offense with Chris Relf and Vic Ballard carrying the load in the running game and Relf doing some pretty decent passing. The Bulldogs defense has been very good.

Miss State 28, UAB 14

Georgia @ Kentucky 6:30 p.m, CSS: This could be the most exciting game of the day in the conference. Georgia playing a lot better on offense and the defense has started to pick it up. But Kentucky is an electric team offensively. Randall Cobb wrote an ill-advised tweet to the fans at UK so I don’t know how much they want to support him. I’m not sure how good Georgia is, they beat pretty bad Tn and Vandy teams, but they’re better no doubt and their defense is playing a lot better. A.J. Green and Aaron Murray should have a big day against the Ky defense, but this should be close.

Georgia 35, Kentucky 31

Other games:

Upset of the week:

Missouri 38, Oklahoma 35: Pretty even matchup. Could go either way. Just like Mizzou at home. They’re a pretty good football team and I’m not convinced Oklahoma is that great.

Other games:

Iowa 24, Wisconsin 17

Nebraska 31, Oklahoma State 24

Miami 28, North Carolina 24

Michigan State 31, Northwestern 28

(Gus Malzahn and AU offense tries to solve the LSU defense.)

I just don’t know if that old maxim still holds true anymore. Oklahoma, Oregon and Boise State are offensive teams. None of them may win it all, but they’re in good shape as of today. Look at Auburn.  Fourth in the BCS. They’re all about offense. Cam Newton is the reason Auburn is 7-0. I’m not convinced this is true, but this year has been about offense for the most part. Alabama had a pretty outstanding defense last year along with a great running back and a stellar offensive line among other things. But can defenses stop the offensive explosiveness and trickeration that the Gus Malzahns of the coaching world throw at them today? I just don’t know any more.
The Saints were the Super Bowl champions last year and they won it because of offense for the most part though they made some key plays on defense to beat Minnesota in the NFC Championship game and the Colts in the Super Bowl. The Saints wouldn’t have made the playoffs had it not been for Drew Brees. Maybe it’s a great quarterback and a solid defense that wins it. That’s always been the case. A lot of people clamor for the running game and it’s important, but it’s not a blueprint for success. You win any way you can whether it’s ball control, play action or just throwing the ball down the field. A great coach figures out the best way for his team to win the football game. There’s no blanket way to do it.

Auburn’s defense has not shown itself to be very good so far. They have athletes and they have gotten key turnovers that have won games i.e. South Carolina and Arkansas, but I’m struggling with this. I still want to believe defense still wins championships, but I don’t know now.

The AU- LSU game will test the defense wins championships theory. LSU has the third best defense in the country in total defense. They have an outstanding dt in Drake Nevis who has five sacks and  11.5 tackles for loss. Ryan Baker has four sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss. Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard has 66 tackles, second in the conference and 33rd in the country. He’s all over the field. Morris Claiborne has four ints and Patrick Peterson, the more heralded of the two, has two. It looks on paper like LSU should win. But can anybody stop Cam? It doesn’t look that way right now. I think in reality defensive and offensive dominance runs in cycles with defense trumping offense when it matters. We’re in an offensive cycle right now, but defenses still make big plays that win games for their teams, Auburn has done it against Clemson, South Carolina and Arkansas creating turnovers late in those games to win them. Defense will have the upper hand in the next few years maybe even next year. Everything seems to be cyclical. Business, politics and sports. Pitching is dominant in the playoffs this year. Cliff Lee may establish himself as the greatest postseason pitcher of all time though I still think he’s got a little ways to go before he reaches Bob Gibson status.

I think Auburn-LSU will tell us if defense still wins championships. I think it does when all is said and done, but this year seems to be an aberration to that theory so far. If LSU beats Auburn it’ll be because of their defense. If Auburn beats LSU it’ll probably be because of Newton and the offense. But with the way things are going this season, the Auburn defense may just step up and shut down LSU offensively and do enough on offense to win the game. This season is just so wide open in the national race and in the SEC that you just don’t know what to expect. My first instinct last week was to maybe go with Miss State but I went with the tried and true thinking that Florida wasn’t going to lose in the Swamp again. They did. It’s tough figuring this stuff out sometimes. The home field is usually a tried and true measurement of which team will win if they’re about equal in talent.  I’m leaning towards AU right now due mainly to the home field. Will have my picks on Friday.

(Kelvin Sheppard and the LSU defense will try to contain Cam and AU offense.)

Reilly:

I think it’s time colleges and the NCAA look at that. Do you really think Julio Jones, Cam Newton and others are at college for the education? They’re not. They’re in college to play football. They spend countless hours working on football and while Nick Saban and it seems like Gene Chizik have done a good job getting their players to be productive people in the classroom, about 95 % of the players on both teams want to play in the NFL. That’s not going to happen, but quite a few of them will. During the school year, these players don’t have time to get a job and many of their parents can’t afford to give  them cash for living expenses that are not covered by their scholarships. They need financial help just to live like other college students who have parents with the financial wherewithal to provide their children with additional spending money to have a little fun.
With the agent issue now becoming a major distraction to the play on the field, let’s just give the guys $1,000 a month for the year to spend on dates, dinner, movies, ect. In a perfect world these guys would be serious about their school work, but they’re just trying to get by in school so they can make it at the next level. Let’s make it fair for them because they are putting out maximum effort for their universities. There are some exceptions like Greg McElroy and Barrett Jones at Alabama and probably some guys at Auburn, too, who are taking advantage of a college education, but they’re a small minority.

Maybe this would clean up the mess with boosters paying players and the agent issues. It may not, but it’s worth a shot. There needs to be some sort of compensation so the players, coaches and fans can focus on the fun part of the game; the actual games themselves. The players can be compensated for all they do. With coaches making these big salaries–and a lot of them earn every penny of it–it’s time for the players to have a reasonable compensation, too.

These guys want to play football and if they have to go to class, they should be compensated in some way. That’s just my opinion. There are, of course, the Stanfords (though they’re getting pretty big time now but still may keep up their standards),  the Northwesterns, the Vandys and the Dukes which still value a college education, and I’m not saying the rest of the SEC besides Vandy doesn’t. I think Nick Saban particularly does a good job with it. But the reality is 95% of the players at big time schools are there to play football, and spend countless hours doing it. Maybe to avoid the problems that come with agents and overzealous boosters, just be up front and pay these guys.

By the way, Alabama is really struggling with injuries. Fluker, Julio, Richardson all banged up. That seems to always happen to a defending champion, too: the onslaught of injuries the next year. Alabama needs to take care of business against UT and then heal up for the home stretch.

(Nick Saban does a great job of getting his players to go to class and study, but is it realistic to think that these kids care about school?)

Alabama and Auburn have had different challenges this season.
For Alabama it’s been  all about winning another national championship. Nick Saban said before the season that the Tide wasn’t defending anything, that this was a new team and a new year. You could see in the summer programs on ESPN he looked just as focused as ever on this team, this season.

But is there some complacency at Alabama this year? Saban did a lot of media appearances (commercials), had a couple of programs on ESPN dedicated to his program and him in particular and even had a documentary made about him titled, Gamechanger. He’d done what he had set out to do and that was win a national championship. It’s human nature that once you satisfy your ultimate goal you kind of relax. It’s hard to have the same enthusiasm as you had the year before when you’ve achieved the goal for yourself and your program.

And the players may be looking at their respective professional careers. Mark Ingram, Julio Jones, Dont’a Hightower, Mark Barron and Marcell Dareus may be looking ahead to their futures. That’s pretty understandable. Not acceptable to the fans of the team, but these guys would like to be paid well for busting their tails seven days a week on football.

We’ll get a more clear picture of the Tide this weekend when they play Tennessee. We’ll see if they still have the passion to win the SEC West and win it all again. I’m not sure they’re good enough this year, but if they have a strong effort against Tn, they could get their momentum back and carry it into the rest of the season. Just wondering if they’re hungry enough this year. They didn’t look like it last Saturday against Ole Miss. They looked like a tired, average team to me. I’m sure they were worn out from Arkansas, Florida and particularly South Carolina, but now not sure they have enough left in the tank this year to get it done. We’ll get a good idea of what this team wants to do with their season this Saturday. If they play well against Tennessee, they might be back in business. If not, I don’t think they’re going to win it all and might lose another in the SEC.

For Auburn, it’s all about keeping the momentum. Can Cam Newton keep putting up these amazing numbers? That’s the question in my mind. He’s got a top three defense nationally coming to Auburn and he’s going to have to do it again. LSU is going to try their best to make Cam beat them with his arm. Cam can throw pretty well, but if he has to 25 times a game that could be interesting. But Cam seems to find a way with his wheels. I don’t know if LSU can contain him as good as their defense is. You think every week the opposing team is going to stop him and nobody can. I’m a big Cam Newton fan. I think he’s the best player in the country right now. He’s got to do it once again this weekend. Another question is: Can the Auburn defense play well enough to win? The LSU offense is not Arkansas with Ryan Mallett that’s for sure, but Jarrett Lee has gotten better passing the ball and Stevan Ridley is a quality tailback and Terrence Toliver is an outstanding receiver. They’ve also got a couple of other wrs who are good.

So this will be a classic. Strength against strength. Cam vs the LSU defense. AU defense against a pretty decent LSU offense with some weapons. Will be fun.

(Do Mark Barron and Tide have enough left in the tank to make a run  the rest of the way?)

The shakeout in the BCS will continue this weekend. Auburn vs. LSU is not a total elimination game, but it puts the loser at a disadvantage. Still, both LSU and Auburn will have Alabama left among others after they play each other, so it’s far from over.
Cam Newton is my leader in the Heisman Trophy race. His numbers are unreal. He’s run for 850 yards (11th in the country) and scored 11 times rushing. He’s passed for 13 more and has completed 65. 57% of his passes. He’s second in the country in passing efficiency to Kellen Moore of Boise State, another guy who is neck and neck with Cam but just behind him in my opinion LaMichael James is third as he has run for 848 yards and nine tds. The key is each players’ team winning along with a good performance individually. If Auburn gets it done against LSU and Cam has another stellar performance he will solidify  his place as the Heisman leader.

But now Cam faces an LSU defense that is third in the country in total defense allowing 242 yards per game. They’re sixth in rushing defense and 8th in passing defense. Auburn is 63rd in total defense, 15th against the run and 108th against the pass, so LSU has the advantage there. Nobody has been able to stop Cam, but dtackle Drake Nevis (11.5 tackles for loss, five sacks) and lb Kelvin Sheppard (66 tackles, 33rd in NCAA) along with db Morris Claiborne (four ints) and all everything db Patrick Patterson (two ints) are going to do everything they can to neutralize Cam.

Auburn is banged up in the secondary with Aairon Savage out for a while (broken ankle), six weeks, maybe the rest of the season. That’s tough for him and Auburn. Savage came back for a sixth season and was a total team player. Also, T’Sharvan Bell is banged up. Zac Etheridge and the veterans and maybe some young ones are going to have to step up. The Auburn pass rush could be critical Saturday. LSU will employ its two quarterbacks, Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee. Lee has come on passing the ball and Jefferson is a great athlete. Terrence Toliver has 22 catches for 286 and two tds, Russell Shepard has 20-142 1 td and Rueben Randle has 19-271, 1 td. If Lee and Jefferson can get these guys the ball, they will produce. They are excellent receivers. LSU also runs the ball well. Stevan Ridley has rushed for 686 yards and six tds.

Auburn’s running game will be important. Michael Dyer (443 yard), Onterio McCalebb (374)  and Mario Fannin (224) will have to make an impact to take the pressure off Newton. You know Darvin Adams will come to play. LSU will probably be all over him, so T-Zach, Emory Blake and Phillip Lutzenkirchen will have to step it up.

It’s going to be awesome down on the Plains. Auburn is fourth in the BCS and LSU is sixth. This is as big as it gets. Of course both teams have to play Alabama, so nothing is decided after this game, but a victory would help each teams’ cause.

I went to the Alabama-Ole Miss game last Saturday Night and really enjoyed the atmosphere. The stadium, which holds almost 102,000, was electric. The starters on offense, defense and kickers introduce themselves on the scoreboard which is fun. The music is great. Bryant-Denny is just a great atmosphere for college football.

Alabama won 23-10, but didn’t look that great doing it. There was a hangover from South Carolina and the two games prior to that (Arkansas and Florida), and they didn’t look that sharp. The defense played well but I don’t know if that had more to do with them or how bad Masoli was. He can’t get it done against the better defenses in the SEC, at least Alabama and LSU.

I just don’t know what has happened to the running game. Ingram and Richardson just aren’t playing at a high level right now. The line lost D.J. Fluker to injury, but still, they’ve got four of those guys and their backups are pretty solid. They just don’t look crisp on offense. The chemistry is not there right now. Alabama can win ugly the rest of the way and go back to Atlanta and possibly play for the national championship. They should be fine against Tennessee this weekend, but they’ve got to play better. With Auburn and LSU coming up, they’ve got to get better on offense. I’m not sure the defense is that great either right now. South Carolina really exposed them, so they’ve got to get it together fast or they won’t be in Atlanta. The Tide also has Miss. State coming to Tuscaloosa and that’s no bargain either. State is playing good ball, they can play defense and have gotten it together on offense. Vic Ballard is running very well and Chris Relf has found his niche as a quarterback. Alabama just has to focus on getting better this weekend, getting out of Knoxville with a victory, and preparing well for LSU Nov. 6. They have a bye week after Tenn to recharge the batteries and that may be just what they need. Got to take care of business first this weekend and play better or they’re not going to beat LSU and Auburn.

The SEC East is really wide open. Georgia got back into the mix–even though they have three losses–with pretty impressive wins over UT and Vandy. The competition wasn’t that great in those games, but Aaron Murray is showing he’s going to be a great qb in the conference and already is. With A.J. Green back and Washaun Ealey running well and not fumbling, Georgia can be right in the thick of things at the end. If their players stay eligible. Never know what the Georgia players will do next. The Dawgs have to go to Kentucky this Saturday and they could very well lose that. South Carolina has two losses and they have to play Arkansas at home and Florida in the Swamp, so there are no guarantees there. South Carolina could be the best team in the East and not win it. They need to get Marcus Lattimore back. Not sure about his status this weekend but they need him. They play Vandy Sat and though Vandy looked terrible against Georgia last weekend, they have beaten SC twice in the last four years and only lost 14-10 last year in Columbia. If Lattimore plays, SC wins. If he doesn’t it could be more interesting.

Florida is not totally out of it. They play Georgia in Jacksonville Oct. 30 and play at home against SC Nov. 13. Also have to go to Vandy Nov. 6. If the Gators can somehow find an offense, which is highly doubtful at this point, they could possibly win those games. But the Gators look terrible on offense. Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey will be back soon so that’ll help a lot. John Brantley hasn’t lived up to expectations. Kentucky is not totally out of it either. With a win over Georgia Saturday they’re right back in the thick of it. They beat South Carolina. They have to first beat Georgia then win at Miss. State, at home against Vandy and at Tenn. So they’ve got a tough road ahead. If they beat Georgia this Sat though, they’re in the race.

Nationally, Oklahoma plays at Missouri this weekend and that will be tough for OU. Missouri is second in the country in total defense. I see an upset coming. Oregon is no guarantee either. They have to play at home against UCLA this Thursday (no slouch; beat Texas soundly at UT), then they have to go to USC which will be tough. Everybody says how down the Trojans are, but I see them giving Oregon a tough game. They have to play Washington at home, go to Cal, go to Oregon State and host Arizona. They’ve got a lot of work left. They’ve got the offense, but not sure they have enough defense to get it done.

Boise State leads the nation in total defense. You put that together with Moore, who has 55 touchdown passes and four ints over the last two years, and you have a very good football team. Their two wide receivers, Titus Young (33-581 4 tds) and Austin Pettis (25-387, 4 tds) are NFL-caliber players. This team is for real in my opinion. They beat a Virginia Tech team whom everybody dogged after they lost to James Madison. The James Madison loss was terrible, but the Hokies haven’t lost again. They won at NC State and defeated a Boston College team that took Florida State to the wire in Tallahassee last Sat. They are a solid team at 5-2 and 3-0 in the ACC.They could win the ACC again and possibly get to the Orange Bowl. Oregon State is a quality squad. Boise doesn’t play even close to  the sked that Alabama, Auburn and LSU play, but they are a legitimate national power. If things work out they could be in the national championship game and I think they would deserve it. They, TCU and Utah are quality non-BCS teams that deserve consideration for the national championship. I’ve doubted Boise before they beat TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. Some people were saying TCU was the best team in the country and should be playing Alabama for the national championship and Boise beat them. Then they beat Va Tech this year and I picked Va Tech. I am no longer doubting Boise. They also beat Oregon a couple of years ago. They could be there at the end and could win it.

Iowa may be too far back in the BCS at 15 at this point but they play 13th Wisconsin and seventh Michigan State at home, so they could get back in the discussion with some losses by teams ahead of them. And Michigan State could get there, but have to play at Iowa which some people consider one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten.

There is a lot left to decide. It’ll be fun for people who write about sports and nerve wrecking for fans of these teams. That is what makes college football so great.

Will have predictions Friday afternoon. Wanted to watch all the coach’s shows before making a decision. Will have picks up about 3:30 or four Friday.

(Drake Nevis and the LSU defense will try to slow down Cam.)

Great matchup at Auburn as the Tigers face Arkansas on CBS. Can Cam Newton outduel Ryan Mallett? Which defense can make the most stops? Can either team get a running game going? And of course, who wins the turnover battle. Alabama plays Ole Miss at 8 p.m. Taking my daughter and a couple of friends. Wish the game was a little earlier, but looking forward to it anyway.
Here are analyses of this week’s SEC games and my predictions:

Record last week: 6-3. Overall: 68-19

Arkansas @ Auburn 2:30 p.m., CBS:

Can Cam Newton dominate with his arm and his legs? Can Ryan Mallett take over with his arm? Both qbs have standout receivers. Darvin Adams is one of SEC’s best catching 21 passes for 385 and two tds. Averages 18 yards per catch. T Zach 17-252 1td and Emory Blake has become a playmaker with 7 catches for 173 yards (24.7 average) and 3 tds. Phillip Lutzenkirchen is a weapon with 8 catches for 75 yards and two tds.

Arkansas counters with Greg Childs who has 28-368 and 3 tds, D.J. Williams 22-259, Joe Adams 22-408 3 tds and Ronnie Wingo Jr. 15-166 3 tds.

Mallett has thrown for 1,748 yards and 13 tds but has six ints. Newton has run for 672 and nine tds and has thrown 12 tds with five picks.

The quarterback and receivers who make the most plays will win this game. And the qb who takes care of the ball the best. Mallett and Newton can throw interceptions, but their playmaking ability far overshadows their mistakes. Still they both have to take care of the football.

Auburn’s and Arkansas’ defense will be tested. Jerry Franklin leads Arkansas with 37 tackles. AU is led by Zac Etheridge with 38 and Josh Bynes with 34. Nick Fairley has been dominant with 5 sacks on the season.

Arkansas played pretty good defense against Texas A&M last week holding the high scoring Aggies to 17 points.  They’ve improved a lot on defense and are pretty opportunistic on turnovers. AU needs to play better defense against the Hogs than they did last week against Kentucky. Kentucky scored 34 points against the Auburn defense. The defense needs to get pressure on Mallett and force him to throw on the run out of his comfort zone.

The running game could be a factor for both teams. Arkansas’ Knile Davis is a pretty good back averaging 6.8 yards per carry with 208 on the season. Broderick Green has 192 on the ground. Auburn will counter with Michael Dyer and Mario Fannin to see if they can establish balance in the offense. Of course, Newton is a huge weapon running the ball.

This game looks like an offensive shootout, but I thought some other AU games were going to be shootouts and they weren’t. Arkansas has improved on defense and Auburn is better than they looked last week. Still like the offenses will put points on the board. Going with the home team and Cam to make a couple of more plays than Mallett and Hogs.

Auburn 35, Arkansas 31

Ole Miss @ Alabama 8 p.m., ESPN2

This game would have started earlier if Alabama could have beaten South Carolina last week. ‘Bama just finished a brutal stretch of games and it’s not too easy this week either. Ole Miss can move the ball and score. Jeremiah Masoli has thrown for 823 yards and six tds. Brandon Bolden is a stellar running back with 518 yards on the season and five tds. He’s also caught 11 passes and two tds. Masoli has run for 262 and three tds and Enrique Davis is a very good back with 144 yards and three tds.

‘Bama will counter with Ingram and Richardson who need to pick it up this week after being held for under 100 yards combined last week. Ingram has six tds and 396 yards on the season and Richardson has 442 yards and 4 tds. Greg McElroy has thrown for nine tds and completed 72% of his passes. Julio Jones, who looks like he might play with a broken hand which is pretty tough, has 32 catches on the season for 440 and 3 tds. Darius Hanks is becoming a real go-to guy for McElroy with 16 for 285 and two tds. Marquis Maze has caught 14 balls and Preston Dial has 13 catches; both of them are weapons.

Markeith Summers leads Ole Miss with 11 catches for 242 and 2 tds.

Jonathan Cornell leads Ole Miss (what the Black Bears now?) with 40 tackles. D.J. Shackelford has 2 1/2 sacks. Mark Barron leads the Tide with 40 tackles followed by Dont’a Hightower, who has 31. Hightower has kind of had a quiet season. He should be ready to step up. It’s time for him to start dominating. Robert Lester leads the Tide with 4 ints, followed by Dre Kirkpatrick with three.

A couple of Ole Miss players, linebacker Jerrell Powe being one of them, called Alabama predictable and “one dimensional.” I think that’s going to fire Alabama up. He may have made a mistake there as Alabama probably has that on their bulletin board.

Ole Miss has gotten better, but Alabama is angry and ready to take it out on the Rebels.

Alabama 42, Ole Miss 21

Vandy @ Georgia 11:21 a.m. SEC Network:

The key for Vandy is getting out of the blocks and scoring first. If they can do that, they can make this game interesting and maybe pull off the upset. Larry Smith has to take care of the football and the Vandy line needs to keep up their good work of the last three weeks. The line is getting better and better. Another key for Vandy is, if Smith makes a mistake can he come back from it? He loses confidence when he throws an interception, so for him and Vandy to succeed, he needs to maintain his poise and confidence. Georgia took a little hit this week when they suspended running back Caleb King for avoiding a court date on a traffic ticket. But they have Washaun Ealey who’s good but can fumble. Still with Aaron Murray, A.J. Green and Georgia at home, it’s hard to pick against the Dawgs as much as I’d like to.

Georgia 31, Vandy 24

South Carolina @ Kentucky 5 p.m., ESPN2:

Gamecocks coming off a huge victory need to guard against a letdown because if they don’t play well, they could lose. They have the talent edge on the Wildcats, but the Wildcats can score points. But Ky defense can’t stop anybody in the SEC. Lattimore, Jeffrey, Garcia and the SC defense get it done though it could be kind of tough.

SC 35, Ky 28

Mississippi State @ Florida 6 p.m., ESPNU

This should be a really good football game. Florida coming off a very tough loss to LSU. State on a high after a big win over Houston. Dan Mullen has State going in the right direction and they could knock off the Gators. Vick Ballard emerging as a top flight running back in the SEC for Bulldogs. Just think the Gators are in the Swamp and they do just enough to get by a pretty good Bulldogs team.

Florida 31, State 28

McNeese @ LSU 6 p.m., Fox Sports South:

LSU just needs to show up for this game and they will win. They’ll probably be a letdown from this talented but inconsistent team. But they don’t need to do a lot. Probably will be looking ahead to Auburn next week. Still, they should have a good  night if they put in the effort.

LSU 42, McNeese 3

Other games:

Ohio State 31, Wisconsin 24

Nebraska 21, Texas 10

UAB 35, UTEP 34

Oklahoma State 38, Texas A&M 31

Iowa 31, Michigan 21

(Josh Bynes and AU defense will try to slow down Mallett and Hogs enough to get the victory.)

Done a tremendous job at Texas Christian. Honorable Mention for sure. Close to the top 10. Could easily be in there. Has in team right in the mix for the national championship. Things have to shake out well for his team to play for the title. Not sure if they’re national title game material, but they’re having another stellar season. This guy doing an outstanding job in Fort Worth.