Randy Smith
It's hard to believe that 10 weeks have passed in the 2014 college football season. As always there have been a few surprises in the SEC, with Mississippi State on top of both the weekly polls and the college football playoff poll which is released each Tuesday evening. (Who would have thunk it?) My pre-season "final four" of Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Alabama still has three teams alive for those four spots, with Alabama on the outside looking in for this week's poll. (I personally believe that the Crimson Tide will prevail)
Last week: 6-1
Year to Date: 66-15
Idle this week: Tennessee, South Carolina, Arkansas and Missouri.
U.T.
Martin at Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have won a couple of close ball games the last two weeks, (at Kentucky and at home versus Arkansas) and this week, the Skyhawks from U.T. Martin come to Starkville. The Bullies will have no trouble whatsoever with Martin, but the level of competition goes up greatly over the last three weeks of the season for Coach Dan Mullen, starting with Alabama next week in Tuscaloosa. So it looks as if that number one ranking is good for at least one more week.
Mississippi State 49 U.T. Martin 14.
Presbyterian at Ole Miss: The Blue Hose pays a visit to Oxford this week, following a pair of back to back heartbreaking losses for the Johnny Rebs; losses that have all but eliminated them from playoff consideration. They may struggle a bit with the Hose, but will prevail.
Ole Miss 34 Presbyterian 0.
Texas A&M at Auburn: The Aggies almost lost to Louisiana Monroe last week at home as sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill sat out the first game of a two game suspension. Against the Tigers this week, it wouldn't matter if Hill plays or not; they are not going to beat Auburn. Coach Gus Malzahn's Tigers who are ranked third in the college football playoff poll, still must defeat Georgia and Alabama to stay in the championship hunt. They may eventually be eliminated, but not this week.
Auburn 45 Texas A&M 14.
Florida at Vanderbilt: The seat under Gator's Coach Will Muschamp's rear end, cooled off a bit after that impressive win over Georgia last week. A likely win this week over Vandy would lower the temperature even more heading down the stretch. Even though most SEC fans and media alike are predicting an end to Muschamp's coaching tenure in "The Swamp" it may not be so cut and dried. If the Gator's can make it to a bowl game this year, Muschamp may survive and get a fourth year in Gainesville; unlike Ron Zook, who replaced Spurrier and preceded Urban Meyer. Vandy got on the winning side of the scoreboard last week against Old Dominion, but that could be the Commodores' last win of the season.
Florida 27 Vandy 10.
Georgia at Kentucky: This one is hard to figure out. Georgia had it's season goals severely dashed last week as they were not only upset by Florida, but embarrassed 34-20 by the Gators. If the Bulldogs can't get back up for a dangerous Kentucky team, the Wildcats could push the Bulldogs all the way to a third tier bowl appearance. Kentucky has lost three SEC games in a row, including last week's 20-10 loss at Missouri, so if the 'Cats are hungrier than Georgia, the Bulldogs could be sent home with their tails between their legs. Trust me; even though they have two league losses, they could still make the SEC Championship Game, but it's a long shot. In a close one,
Georgia 34 Kentucky 31.
Alabama at LSU: This game features two of the hottest teams in the SEC right now. The Tide's only loss thus far was at Ole Miss, while LSU edged the Rebels at Death Valley two weeks ago. (If comparing scores really meant anything, LSU should win right?) This game promises to be a classic. Much like the first of two meetings back in 2011when LSU won by a field goal, before being blown out in the BCS Title game. I have felt all along that Alabama will come out on top in the SEC West, when all is said and done. They are just too talented and too well-coached. After this game at "Death Valley" Alabama will play the final two games of the season at home in Tuscaloosa, against Mississippi State and Auburn. That's a tough row to hoe, but this week the edge goes to the Crimson Tide.
Alabama 27 LSU 17.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.
To contact Randy: rsmithsports@epbfi.com