Week 7 was terrific for football fans, but bmaybe not so much for Alabama fans. But if you didn’t have a stake in the Crimson Tide, that was one phenomenal football game in Knoxvegas. Hendon Hooker (21/30, 385 yards, 5 TDs/1 int), Bryce Young (35/52, 455 yards, 2 TDs/0 ints), Vols WR Jalin Hyatt (6 recepts/ 207 yards, 5 TDs!) and Bama running back Jahmyr Gibbs (24-103, 3 TDs) put on electric performances on the third Saturday in October before a berserk Neyland Stadium crowd.

I posed this question in a column 8 or so years ago, when I wrote, “In college football, does defense still win championships?” I wasn’t sure then, but I’m convinced now. Defense can create game changing turnovers, pick 6’s, scoops and scores, 4th and 1 stops, all good. But offense won that game last Saturday. In another electric, stellar game, TCU came back from a 14 point 4th quarter deficit and defeated then No.7 OK State in 2 OTs. Utah defeated No.6 USC Saturday Night with a TD and a 2 point conversion that was all about quarterback Cam Rising making the key play when it counted when he ran it in for the game winning two point conversion. Defense had nothing to do with those victories. I still respect the value of defense. But when even Nick Saban decides in 2018 he needs to spread out his offense and has record setting quarterbacks in Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones and now Bryce Young, offense is the key to winning these days, most of the time. Defenses throughout the country still have elite, game changing players, but offense is now more important in winning football games.

Auburn showed some competitiveness last Saturday coming back from a big deficit to lose 48-34 to No.7 Ole Miss on the road. They showed some life and maybe there’s a little more hope for their football team. Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter are certainly talented running backs and Robbie Ashford did some really good things against Ole Miss. The Tigers are off this Saturday before hosting Arkansas a week from Saturday, 10/29, at 11 AM CT on the SEC Network. I haven’t been a huge fan of Bryan Harsin on this blog recently, but he was dealt a bad hand when the Auburn brass spread malicious and false gossip about him. He’s had to totally rebuild this program. At least Auburn hasn’t fired him yet. He needs to pull off a miraculous finish to save his job. It’ll be tough, but last Saturday the Tigers showed a lot of improvement with potential for better things ahead. Would like to see what transpires these remaining 5 games before passing complete judgment on Harsin and the program. There is hope.

There is a stellar slate of games once again this week. College football keeps delivering and gets better and better as it progresses in October and heads into November. Once we leave the politics aside, the games are spectacular. Here’s a look at this week’s slate.

Record

Last Week

Straight Up, 10-8, Overall, 95-27, 78%

ATS, 8-10, 66-55, 55%

No.24 Miss State (5-2, 2-2) @ No. 6 Alabama (6-1, 3-1)

Bryant-Denny Stadium

6 PM CT

ESPN

Chris, Kirk, Holly

Bama by 21

Nick Saban and his Crimson Tide are far from dead in the water. They still control their own destiny. They have obstacles ahead though. At LSU, 11/5, and @Ole Miss, 11/12 being two of those obstacles. Auburn is never an easy game. This Mississippi State team had me believing for a while, but last Saturday at Kentucky, they looked pretty pedestrian. Will Rogers can be good sometimes, but when he goes against elite competition, he can fall apart. I like Alabama to win comfortably at home. Jaymyr Gibbs has rushed for 635 yards on 88 carries, 7.2 yards per pop, with 5 TDs. He’s caught 27 passes for 268 yards and 3 more TDs.

Alabama 45, Mississippi State 21

UT Martin (4-2) @ No. 3 Tennessee (6-0)

Neyland Stadium

11 AM CT

SEC Network

Taylor, Matt, Alyssa

UT by 38

The Vols are riding high. They need to keep their emotions under control because there are a lot of big games left, and they’ve got a long way to go if they want to reach the SEC Championship Game. They can do it. But next Saturday, 10/29, is Kentucky at home and then the following Saturday, 11/5, they’re @ Georgia. It’s doable if they stay humble and hungry.

Tennessee 49, UT Martin 3

No.7 Ole Miss (7-0, 3-0) @ LSU (5-2, 3-1)

Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge

2:30 PM CT

CBS

Brad, Gary, Jenny

LSU by 2 1/2

LSU was really impressive last Saturday in defeating Florida on the road, 45-35. But I still like Lane and his Rebels to come out of Baton Rouge victorious.

Ole Miss 41, LSU 38

Texas A&M (3-3, 1-2) @South Carolina (4-2, 1-2)

Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia

6:30 PM CT

SEC Network

Tom, JRodg, Cole

A&M by 3

I don’t know what people are seeing in A&M. Give me the upset for the Gamecocks at home.

Gamecocks 21, Aggies 17

Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3) @ Missouri (2-4, 0-3)

Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field, Columbia, MO.

3 PM CT

SEC Network

Dave, Deuce, Andraya

Mizzou by 14

I like the Dores to keep it competitive, but Clark Lea needs to keep it down low cuz with his arrogant comments and just put his head down and keep working. He’s got a long way to go. He just needs to try and get to a bowl game for right now. I don’t know if he’ll be able to do that this year, looks unlikely unless he can pull off some upsets in the SEC. But he needs to by next year for sure, or his seat gets hot.

Missouri 35, Vanderbilt 28

Off this week: No. 1 Georgia, Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, No.19 Kentucky

National games/predictions

No.11 Oklahoma State 38, No.20 Texas 35

Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater

2:30 PM CT

ABC

Dave, Dusty, Lugues

Hook’em Horns by 6 1/2

People are writing off Oklahoma State after last Saturday’s loss to TCU, but I’m not. They’re tough at home, and they’re still high quality to me. Quarterback Spencer Sanders is banged up and questionable, but I still like the Pokes. I’m still not on the Texas bandwagon. Not on the Sarkisian bandwagon either. Give me the Cowboys. Mike Gundy is a little quirky, but I think he’s a really good football coach.

No.10 Oregon 37, No.9 UCLA 30

Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR.

2:30 PM CT

FOX

Jason, Brock, Allison

Ducks by 6

Love the Autzen Stadium home field advantage for the Ducks. Not totally on board with Chip Kelly. If he pulls this off I will be. But like Bo Nix and his Ducks here.

No.5 Clemson 31, No.14 Syracuse 24

Memorial Stadium, Clemson, S.C.

11 AM CT

ABC

Sean, Todd, Molly

Clemson by 13 1/2

I expect a highly competitive contest in the other Death Valley. Cuse is playing well, and I’m still trying to figure out how good Clemson really is.

No.2 Ohio State 42, Iowa 10 (yawn)

Ohio Stadium, Columbus

11 AM CT

FOX

Gus, Joel, Jenny

Ohio State by 30

When is Ohio State going to play somebody? This schedule has been a joke so far. Everybody is saying how great they are, but how do you know? Versus Notre Dame, joke, versus Arkansas State, joke, vs Toledo, are you kiddin me?, versus Wisconsin, laughable, versus Rutgers, again, laughable, @ Michigan State? Mel Tucker looks like the biggest waste of money since the New Deal, and that at least gave people some value. Nine and a half million a year for that guy? Now Ohio State plays mighty Iowa. Iowa is 3-3 against a soft schedule and listening to Coach Kirk Ferentz talk and watching his offense play is as much fun as watching paint dry. I think I’d rather see the paint roller at work.He is the most boring coach in America and his offense reflects his Sominex personality. They average 14.7 points per game, 127th out of 131 in the country. They average 117 passing yards per game, 117th. They average 82 yards rushing per game, 126th! Come on, Ryan Day, C.J. Stroud and the “awesome” Buckeyes. Play somebody and we’ll try to figure out what kind of team you have.

No. 8 TCU 31, No.17 Kansas State 24

Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth

7 PM CT

Fox Sports 1

Timmy B, Spencer

Frogs by 3 1/2

ESPN writer Dave Wilson wrote a superb story last Friday on first year TCU Coach Sonny Dykes, who’s doing a beyond stellar job in Fort Worth. In it, Wilson wrote that Dykes was introduced as coach to the TCU faithful at Dutch’s, a burger joint across the street from campus. Dutch’s is a meat museum for TCU football named after Coach Dutch Meyer, a prolific coach for the Horned Frogs way back in the day. He coached the Horned Frogs from 1934-1952 and won three national championships. Meyer had one of the best college football quotes of all time. He said to his team one time, “Fight’em until hell freezes over. Then fight’em on the ice!” Gig’em Frogs.

Friday

Western Kentucky 31, UAB 28

Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium, Say what? Bowling Green, Kentucky

7 PM CT

CBS Sports Network

Alex Del Barrio (Cartel guy?), Donte Whitner

Western Ky by 1 1/2

Just don’t trust UAB on the road. Lost to Liberty and Rice both on the road, their only two road games this season.

Tonight

Troy 27, South Alabama 24

Hancock Whitney Stadium, goin Mobile

6:30 CT

Duh U

Wes Duraham, Roddy Jones, Taylor Davis

South AL by 3

My wife’s brother in law played football at Troy. That’s impressive. He’s not a big guy at all, just has a lot of heart and talent. Going with his Trojans. Forty year old, first year coach Jon Sumrall, a Huntsville native who coached inside linebackers at Kentucky in 2019-20 and was co- defensive coordinator for the Wildcats in 2021 among other stops, moves his team to 6-2 and 4-1 in the Sun Belt.

Saturday

Minnesota 28, No. 16 Penn State 24

Beaver Stadium, Penn State

6:30 PM CT

ABC

Tess, Gregory, Katie

Nittany Lions by 4

James Franklin totally threw his team under the bus after he and his team got shellacked last Saturday afternoon by Michigan. He said his players aren’t big enough, they aren’t strong enough. Who recruited these guys, Jimmy Frank? Come on man! His offenses are always average and he was a long time offensive coordinator before becoming a head coach at Vanderbilt. He wins games in gimmicky ways. His team could be taking a nosedive the rest of this season and people are going to start wondering about Franklin and his ability to lead a big time program.

Liberty 42, BYU 38

Wiliams Stadium, Lynchburg, VA.

2:30 PM CT

ESPNU

Kevin Brown, Hutson Mason

BYU by 7

Hugh Freeze may be a creep, but he’s a good football coach. Give me the Flames.

No. 25 Tulane 31, Memphis 27

Yulman Stadium, New Orleans

2:30 PM CT

ESPN2

Beth Mowins, Kirk Morrison, Stormy Buonantony, that’s a spell check special

Green Wave by 7

Tulane is 6-1 and have gone to Kansas State and won, 17-10. They also posted an electrically exciting victory at Houston with their third string quarterback leading them to victory. My wife’s nephew goes to Tulane, so she and I are big fans of the Green Wave. Give me the Green Wave in a close, hard fought contest. Love what Willie Fritz and his Green Wave are doing in the Crescent City.

No. 21 Cincinnati 34, SMU 30

Gerald R. Ford Stadium (A great American), Dallas

11 AM CT

ESPN

Mark, RGIII, Quint

Cincy by 3 1/2

Tough game for the Bearcats, but they move to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the American as they try to reach a New Year’s Six Bowl.