No.1 Alabama (1-0) @ No.6 A&M (2-0)

Kyle Field, College Station, Texas (83,002-probably will be 90,000 there).

2:30 PM CT

CBS

Announcers: Verne, Gary and Wolf

Line: Alabama by 8

The game has been somewhat overshadowed the latter part of this week by the D.J. Fluker scandal that Yahoo Sports first reported about on Wednesday. Will that be a distraction to this football team? I’m sure it’s a little bit on their minds. How can it not be? No matter how focused and  prepared you are, which this Alabama team certainly is, there is the constant barrage of this scandal being talked about in the media and throughout the fan bases at Alabama and many other places including the A&M’s. However, this should be an epic college football atmosphere. Can the Alabama defense neutralize Johnny Manziel, stay disciplined in their rush lanes, in their pass coverage, and slow down the A&M offensive arsenal. The Tide defense is better than A&M’s, most likely a lot better. I see the Tide putting up some points this week. Can the offensive line get the job done this week. This group is a work in progress. They are big that’s for sure and can probably move the much smaller A&M defensive line around some. A&M will have five starters back on defense, including their two starting cornerbacks, Deshazor Everett (6″0″, 185) and De’Vante Harris (6’0″, 185) so that will help them. Alabama needs a second option at running back this week to give T.J. Yeldon some help. Either Altee Tenpenny, who looked like the best player to relieve Yeldon two weeks ago, he’s good, Derrick Henry, who is highly touted and has all the physical tools to be an excellent running back, Jalston Fowler or Dee Hart need to step in and give Alabama that one-two punch in the running game. A&M will probably load up the box, so A.J. will have to get something done in the passing game with Amari, Kevin Norwood and the electric Christion Jones. Jones could go the distance on a punt or kickoff return. He’s a dynamic player and is a game changer. There’s been a lot said about S having two weeks to prepare for A&M and really the Tide has been working on this game since last year basically. It’s that important to them. Of course on the flip side of that, so has A&M. The fans will be stoked and it will be an incredibly hostile environment. But it’s no different from LSU or Tennessee or any of the other SEC venues where football is the ultimate passion, so that shouldn’t bother players who are used to big games in hostile environments. But it’s going to be hot. It’ll be 93 at kickoff and gets a little hotter as the afternoon progresses. So the defense will have to dig in and persevere through an offensive onslaught of Manziel, running backs Ben Malena, Tra Carson, Brandon Williams and Trey Williams, and a very good wide receiving corps led by 6’5″, 225 sophomore Mike Evans and 6’0″, 200 pound junior Malcolme Kennedy. And they’ll have to contain Manziel. The offensive line for A&M looks pretty solid, averaging 300+ across the front with senior left tackle Jake Matthews (6’5″, 305) as the leader. Sophomore center, and Jake’s little brother, Mike, is  6’2″, 285, so though he’s tough, he’s smaller than Alabama’s interior defensive tackles, so could be a matchup advantage for the Tide. The Aggies look very good to me on offense. Cornerbacks John Fulton and Deion Belue will be tested severely. They’ll have to respond. Winning the turnover battle is always critical.

With that said, I like the Tide to do enough on defense, even though Manziel is going to do some damage, and I like the Alabama offense–the running game and play action passing–to have a good day. Going with the Tide in this one. Should be pretty riveting.

Bama 35, A&M 31

Mississippi State (1-1) @ Auburn (2-0)

Jordan-Hare Stadium, Pat Dye Field (87,451)

6 PM CT

ESPN2

Line: Auburn by 6

I really like what I’ve seen out of the Tigers this year. Nick Marshall has done an excellent job for the most part. Starting to believe in him and the running game has been sensational led by the awesome Corey Grant. The defense has been very good. Did extremely well against Arkansas State, an explosive offensive team, holding them to nine points. Really like what I’m seeing from Ellis Johnson’s defense. Some more playmakers need to emerge on the perimeter. Sammy Coates looks like a guy who will do that along with Jaylon Denson. Quan Bray is showing signs of being a playmaker. The offensive line has been awesome.  There is a ton of talent up front and they’re going to keep getting better. Really like that group. State has all the tools to be a good football team except for their quarterback. Tyler Russell is just too erratic. Sometimes he can be very good though. He had a good game last year against AU, but AU’s defense was really out of sorts last year. This year is different. Russell is coming off a concussion, but will start. LaDarius Perkins is an excellent running back, but he missed last week with an injury. He might be a bit rusty, but he’s outstanding. They have good receivers and a big offensive line. I really like their defense. They’re good on that side of the ball. AU will be challenged.

But in the end, I like the home field advantage and the running game of AU along with a re-energized defense. The Tigers get this done on the Plains.

AU 28, State 20

Vandy (1-1) @ No.13 South Carolina (1-1)

Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC (80,250)

6 PM CT

ESPN

Line: South Carolina by 13 1/2

Ball Coach is mad at his defense and particularly at his defensive coordinator, Lorenzo Ward. So is Jadeveon Clowney. Their defense is going to be much better this week. Vandy is a good team, but this is a tough assignment for the ‘Dores. Connor Shaw, Mike Davis, Bruce Ellington and the rest of the offensive arsenal the Gamecocks employ will be too much for a resilient, but not a great defense to handle. Vandy will compete hard like they always do and it will be a good game, but in the end I like Ball Coach and his offense in this one. Hate picking against my Commodores any game, but this assignment is just too tough for a program that is still gaining momentum, and recruiting very well, but not at an elite level yet.

South Carolina 38, Vandy 28

No.25 Ole Miss (2-0) @ Texas (1-1)

Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin (100,119)

7 PM CT

Longhorn Network (unfortunately)

Line: Texas by 2 1/2

This is going to be a really good game, unfortunately it’s on the Longhorn Network, so unless you live in Texas or parts of North Carolina and Virginia and some other states (not Alabama) you can’t see it. Mack Brown fired defensive coordinator Manny Diaz after Texas gave up 555 yards rushing last week to BYU, 259 of them by BYU quarterback Taysom Hill. That bodes well for Rebels quarterback Bo Wallace and running back Jeff Scott. Greg Robinson is now the defensive coordinator and he’s had some success, but he’s also had some struggles. I like Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss to get this done. I don’t think Texas can do enough to stop the high intensity offense of Ole Miss even though the Longhorns will score a lot of points too.

Rebels 35, Texas 31

UT (2-0) @ No.2 Oregon (2-0)

Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon, (59,000)

2:30 PM CT

ABC

Line: Oregon by 27 1/2

I love the way UT turned Western Kentucky over last week and played very good defense for the most part. I like their offensive line, running game, and quarterback Justin Worley looks pretty good to me. I  like this Tennessee team and what Butch Jones is doing. But this is a really difficult assignment for the Vols. I do expect them to play well though for a while, but it’s extremely hard to stop the Quack Attack with quarterback Marcus Mariota and running back De’ Anthony Thomas and his world class speed. Thomas could put his name prominently in the Heisman race this weekend with a stellar performance, and there’s anybody in college football who can catch him in the open field. I think the Vols will play hard and play well. But this is really tough. Oregon is playing much better defense. They’ve really got some athletes on the defensive side of the ball and a secondary that is just a ball hawking group. They led the nation in interceptions last year with 26 and everybody is back. Worley is susceptible to throwing ints.  They’re really outstanding in the secondary. They have a first year coach with Chip Kelly at the Eagles now, so we’ll see if Mark Helfrich can handle the highly pressured situations in big games when he has to make key decisions. Should be interesting down the road. I like what the Vols are doing and where they’re headed–Jones is recruiting extremely well– but this week will be difficult.

Oregon 51, Tennessee 30

Other games:

Louisville 35 Kentucky 20

Arkansas 41, Southern Miss 24

LSU 42, Kent State 3

Off this week:

Them Dawgs

Gators

Mizzou

Troy lost in an exciting offensive game to Arkansas State, 41-34. Dang if those Trojans don’t compete hard under Larry “Keep it down home Cuz” Blakeney. He does a really good job there.

College record

Last week: 9-6; overall: 21-11

Last night in the NFL:

Patriots 13, Jets 10

Wow, that Patriots offense didn’t look so swift against the Jets defense, which has always caused Tom Brady fits. It didn’t help Brady that rookie Aaron Dobson was terrible, dropping passes and running the wrong route when he had a sure touchdown. The Pats have some injuries that are hurting them on offense. Shane Vereen, their excellent running back, is out for eight weeks, and wr Danny Amendola is out along with star tight end Rob Gronkowsk, whoi has been hurt since last year, but Gronk could be back for week four, which would really help their offense. It also didn’t help Brady that there was a rain storm in the second half at Foxborough. So everything was working against Tom Terrific last night. But the Pats prevailed even though the Jets fought hard. Rex Ryan can really coach defense and knows how to neutralize Brady though the weather conditions certainly helped him and his defense. Will have the rest of my NFL picks on Sunday morning.

This week’s games I will be predicting: Record: 4-3

St. Louis @ Atlanta

Carolina @ Buffalo

Minnesota @ Chicago

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay

Denver (Peyton) @ New York Giants (Eli)

Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati