Randy Smith
A young Tennessee football team is now 2-2 and 0-1 in the SEC after a couple of heartbreaking losses to a pair of good football teams. The good news in that scenario, is that Tennessee was better than both those teams and should have won. Now, I'm not going to debate Coach Butch Jones inability to close out games; that's counterproductive.This week offers a fresh start for the Volunteers and a few other SEC teams.
Alabama @ Georgia:
This could be the game of the year in the SEC this fall; at least it was before 'Bama lost to Ole Miss.
The Crimson Tide cannot afford another loss to still have a shot at making the post-season playoffs. If Georgia loses, they're still in it, but the Bulldogs really haven't been tested yet. Their toughest game of the year so far has been against a less than mediocre South Carolina squad. With a road game at Tennessee looming next week, Georgia can take a big step toward Coach Mark Richt's first national championship. All eyes will be on Athens this weekend and by the way Alabama is a road underdog against Georgia.
Alabama 31 Georgia 24
San Jose State @ Auburn:
Who would have ever thought the Auburn Tigers would be 0-2 in the SEC after the first third of the season? I knew they wouldn't be as good as everyone thought, but I didn't think Coach Gus Malzahn would have this much trouble scoring points. The Tigers' troubles need to be fixed quickly as next week, Auburn heads to Kentucky to face a pretty good Kentucky team.
Auburn 33 San Jose State 10
Ole Miss @ Florida:
This week we find out if Jim McElwain's Gators are for real. After rallying from a 13 point deficit to beat Tennessee 28-27, the Gators will face an Ole Miss squad that upset Alabama in Tuscaloosa two weeks ago. The Johnny Rebs are ranked third in the country while Florida is now in the polls at number 25. The biggest strength the Gators have in matching up against Ole Miss is in the secondary where they should do a good job covering the Rebels' receiving corp.The "Swamp" is a tough place to play. Just ask Butch Jones and his Volunteers. Ole Miss in a close one.
Ole Miss 24 Florida 20
Eastern Kentucky @ Kentucky::
Eastern Kentucky is a smaller state school, about an hour from Lexington. The Colonels have a long history of success on the FCS level, all in the OVC. They're one of teams that could give an SEC level squad a tough game, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do. But Coach Mark Stoops may have a really special team in the Commonwealth. The Wildcats' upset of two-time defending SEC East champ Missouri was no fluke.
Kentucky 44 Eastern Kentucky 14
Eastern Michigan @ LSU:
Just go ahead and give Leonard Fournette the Heisman Trophy and be done with it. He is heads and tails ahead of any other player right now and if he stays healthy he could be a two-time winner of the award before he leaves early for the NFL draft. LSU is a very good football team and will have a lot to say about who wins the SEC West this fall. They're not going to stumble this week and may not stumble for a while.
LSU 48 Eastern Michigam 7
Mississippi State @ Texas A&M:
This is another one of those marquee SEC match ups in week five. The Bulldogs stunned Auburn last week and will be more than good enough to cause Coach Kevin Sumlin some real headaches. Almost as many as Arkansas caused him before the Aggies claimed an overtime win 28-21 last week. A&M is a good football team and if they can control State quarterback Dak Prescott they'll win. That could be a really tough chore as Prescott is playing at a pretty high level.
Texas A&M 30 Mississippi State 23
South Carolina @ Missouri:
The Missouri Tigers lost their first SEC game of the year last week at Kentucky. It was a game that Tiger head coach Gary Pinkel probably didn't think about losing. I doubt if he is thinking about losing to Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks this week, but the "Ol' ball coach" always has a surprise or two, no matter how bad his team seems to be playing. This has been a tough year for the 70 year old Spurrier and while it's unlikely his team can win the SEC East, they can play the role of spoiler. Not this week however.
Missouri 24 South Carolina 21
Vanderbilt @ Middle Tennessee:
The Commodores played Ole Miss really tough last week before the Rebels pulled away late. When good teams are not on their toes, Vandy is good enough to catch you sleeping. MTSU will be wide awake for this one at home on Saturday, and Coach Rick Stockstill's Blue Raiders will also be on their toes for four quarters. MTSU played Alabama tough a few weeks ago and it remains to be seen if this year's group is good enough to knock off an SEC team. I believe they are.
Middle Tennessee 27 Vanderbilt 24
Arkansas @ Tennessee:
This is a real turning point for Tennessee. A loss this week, would end any chances the Vols have at winning the SEC East, and will send more and more wolves to Coach Butch Jones' door. Arkansas is still a respectable SEC team, with plenty of talent. This one in no way is a gimmee, but it's also a game the Volunteers should win. By all counts, Tennessee should be 4-0 and nationally ranked, but the two meltdowns against Oklahoma and Florida will haunt team 119 for quite a while. It's time to rally. Players around each other and their coaches, coaches around the players and the fans around the entire team. No poison being spewed, just encouragement. The Vols have a real chance for redemption, but they also have a chance to collapse. I choose to believe they get redemption against the Hogs.
Tennessee 34 Arkansas 20
Last week: 7-2
Year to date: 36-8
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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.