Randy Smith
I always laughed when former Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer talked about his Vols getting all "puckered up" when Florida week rolled around. For some strange reason the Gators have had Tennessee's number for a long time; even before the Gators started their eleven game winning streak. Before Steve Spurrier became Florida's head coach, the Vols had a definitive edge in the series between the two schools. Now, that definitive edge belongs to the Gators.
Kent State at Alabama
The top-ranked Crimson Tide managed to snap the Ole Miss Rebels modest two game winning streak last weekend as they survived in Oxford.
Alabama is just getting better and better, and I'm not sure how many teams there are on their remaining schedule to beat them. Kent State is certainly not one of them. The Tide will definitely roll this week, though there may be a bit of a letdown after a big win at Ole Miss.
Alabama 44 Kent State 7
Arkansas vs Texas A&M in Arlington, TX
This game could be the SEC headliner if it weren't for the Tennessee-Florida game. Both teams are unbeaten and both teams have at least one win over a major opponent. The fact that the game is on a neutral field gives Arkansas a tiny advantage, but the Aggies are a solid football team. They may not win the SEC West but they will have a lot to say about who does. After a scare in their opener with Louisiana Tech, the Hogs have looked impressive in their last two wins over TCU and Texas State. As former great broadcaster Keith Jackson used to say, this one will be a "Dandy".
Texas A&M 34 Arkansas 31
LSU at Auburn
The Bengal Tigers survived a scare from Mississippi State last weekend, but now they're on the road at Auburn, facing a Tiger squad that was soundly beaten last week at home by Texas A&M. Both coaches in this game, Les Miles and Gus Malzahn are on pretty hot seats, and the winner's seat will cool a bit until next week. LSU seems to have settled its quarterback controversy with Purdue transfer Danny Etling, but the Bengals still have not lived up to their pre-season hype. Sean White is a capable SEC signal caller for Auburn, but Malzahn needs to trust him more with his offense. In a close one........
Auburn 27 LSU 23
Georgia at Ole Miss
The Bulldogs survived last week's game at Missouri to remain unbeaten on the year, but this week's contest will be a tough one. The Ole Miss Rebels are still smarting from their loss at home to Alabama and their season is at a crossroads. A loss this week at home could turn the rest of 2016 south in a hurry. Even though Georgia is 3-0 on the year, the 'Dawgs have a long way to go as a team to actually contend for an SEC title. Quarterback Jacob Eason will need to play a great game just to keep Georgia close.
Ole Miss 37 Georgia 24
South Carolina at Kentucky
The Wildcats scored a lot of points as they won big over New Mexico State last week. That's the good news. The bad news is they allowed a lot of points and a lot of yards to a mediocre at best football team. South Carolina has started the season 2-1 with an SEC win over Vandy, and a win over East Carolina last week. Sandwiched in between those two victories was a loss at Mississippi State. The Gamecocks have a chance to start the SEC season 2-1 with a win over the Wildcats, but Kentucky at 1-2 needs a win badly.
South Carolina 23 Kentucky 20
Mississippi State at UMass
The Bulldogs of Coach Dan Mullen lost a heartbreaker last week at LSU and this week they step out of SEC play to face UMass on the road. The Minutemen have already played an SEC squad this season, losing at Florida in week one. Mississippi State is not quite on a level with the Gators, but they're not a bad team at all.
Mississippi State 30 UMass 21
Delaware State at Missouri
The Tigers played their hearts out last week, yet still lost a close one to Georgia. Missouri is a better football team than we thought in the pre-season. Coach Barry Odom will have a team looking for a bowl game within a few weeks. Delaware State is an FCS team that should go down quietly this week in Columbia.
Missouri 37 Delaware State 14
Vanderbilt at Western Kentucky
The Commodores are on the road again this week, after being drilled at Georgia Tech last weekend. Vandy is 1-2 with the only win being over mid-state rival MTSU from Conference USA. This week the Commodores face another C-USA squad in Western Kentucky, but the Hilltoppers are a bit better than MTSU and they're facing Vandy on their home turf. Western gave Alabama a much tougher game than Southern Cal did this year and the Hilltoppers need a signature win to hang their hats on. This one could be it.
Western Kentucky 38 Vanderbilt 28
Florida at Tennessee
The Volunteers have had a better team than Florida the past two seasons yet Florida still has an eleven game winning streak. A couple of years ago I said I wasn't going to pick the Vols to knock off the Gators again until they actually did it. The last time Tennessee won over Florida was 2004. George W. Bush had not started his second term in the White House and Phillip Fulmer coached the Vols. A lot of things have happened since 2004, but a Tennessee win over the Gators isn't one of them. The recent struggles of the Volunteers especially on offense causes a lot of apprehension among Big Orange faithful and rightly so. The Vols offensive line is not very good at all, and quarterback Josh Dobbs still can't consistently throw the ball downfield. I look for the Gators to load the box to shut down the Vols running game, and force Dobbs to beat them with his arm. One advantage for Tennessee is that Gator quarterback Luke Del Rio is out with a knee injury and back-up Austin Appleby will get the call from Coach Jim McElwain. That advantage is likely evened out as the Vols are without all-SEC defensive back Cam Sutton as well as several other defenders who are banged up. Both sides have had their share of trash talking, with Florida cornerback Quincy Wilson predicting a 12th straight win over the Vols. Since the Gators come from behind win at "The Swamp" last season, Tennessee fans have circled this date on the calendar. This one will be a close one with both teams having a chance up to the very end.
Tennessee 24 Florida 23
Last week: 9-1
Year to Date : 27-8
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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.
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 five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.