Randy Smith
It's Tennessee-Florida week and even though the location for the game was undecided until Tuesday of this week, it's now settled. The Vols and Gators face off at the Swamp at 3:30. More on that game later as there are some big league games on the card this week.
Arkansas is idle this week.
Colorado State at Alabama
The top-ranked Crimson Tide opens SEC play next week at Vanderbilt, but the Tide faces its third straight non-conference foe to open the 2017 season against Colorado State Saturday in Tuscaloosa. 'Bama is 2-0 and playing like the top-ranked team they are. Colorado State may test Alabama but not as much as Vandy may test them next week. Once again the Tide should roll.
Alabama 44 Colorado State 13
Mercer at Auburn
The Tigers lost a game last week I really thought they had a chance to win. It was against third ranked and defending national champ Clemson. I may have underestimated Clemson a bit and maybe overestimated Auburn. Even though Auburn is 1-1 on the year, the Tigers loss was a quality loss and they could still make the College Football Playoffs if they take care of business. It should be much easier this weekend for Auburn against Mercer from the Southern Conference. The Tigers were held to two field goals in losing to Clemson but Coach Gus Malzahn's offense will roll this week.
Auburn 55 Mercer 14
Samford at Georgia
The Bulldogs, like Auburn will face a Southern Conference foe this week, but instead of coming off a loss, the 'Dawgs scored a come from behind win at Notre Dame. Georgia did what they had to do to win with a freshman quarterback at South Bend, but this week there shouldn't be much pressure on Jake Fromm and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney should open up the playbook a bit more. Starting quarterback Jacob Eason is still nursing a sore knee and will likely not play again this week. The Bulldogs won't need him at all.
Georgia 40 Samford 7
Kentucky at South Carolina
This should develop into a great game as the unbeaten Gamecocks host the unbeaten Wildcats. Both teams are 2-0 but South Carolina has played much tougher competition. The 'Cocks have beaten North Carolina State on a neutral field and dispatched Missouri on the road. Kentucky has struggled in beating Southern Miss and Eastern Kentucky and while South Carolina is technically in first place right now in the SEC East, they should improve to 3-0 and 2-0 in the SEC Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.
South Carolina 34 Kentucky 14
LSU at Mississippi State
This could be the game of the day in the SEC this weekend. LSU may have the second best defense in the league right now, second only to Alabama and the Bengal Tigers will need it. MSU is pretty darn good and when they play in Starkeville, they have a good home field advantage. The Bullies have one of the SEC's premier quarterbacks in Nick Fitzgerald and he will test the Tigers defense to the max. LSU has won 16 of the last 17 in the series with Mississippi State and they're listed as a 6.5 point favorite. LSU could be primed for the upset.
LSU 26 Mississippi State 19
Purdue at Missouri
The Tigers will play their third straight game in Columbia to start the season. The high scoring Missouri squad was completely throttled last week by South Carolina so they're 1-1 headed into this week's game with Purdue from the Big Ten. Fans are saying they'll still be okay if they can beat the Boilermakers this weekend. Mizzou is at least a touchdown favorite in the game and they should win by at least that much.
Missouri 45 Purdue 24
Ole Miss at California
The Rebels face their toughest opponent of the still young season so far as they head to the west coast to tackle the Golden Bears. Ole Miss is 2-0 but they really haven't been tested. While California is not the national power they were a few years ago, they are still formidable. Ole Miss is a 2.5-3 point favorite to win the game but I think the time change will affect the Johnny Rebs more than they expect. In an upset,
California 31 Ole Miss 28
Louisiana at Texas A&M
The Aggies are the most maligned SEC team right now. They blew a 34 point lead and lost their season opener, then beat Nicholls State last week to go to 1-1 on the year. A&M has done nothing at all to take some of the heat off head coach Kevin Sumlin but if the Aggies just get it done this week, they'll be 2-1 when they open up SEC play next weekend against Arkansas. They should be able to handle Louisiana this week. Next week, who knows?
Texas A&M 48 Louisiana 20
Kansas State at Vanderbilt
Some of the so called college football experts are saying that Vanderbilt is the best team in Tennessee right now. The Commodores are 2-0 as they host a very good Kansas State team this weekend. This a great opportunity for Vandy to beat a nationally ranked non conference opponent just before they jump in the weekly SEC firestorm against top-ranked Alabama in two weeks. Vanderbilt is a very good football team and they have a real shot to win over K-State, even though they're listed as a 4.5 point underdog at home. When I pick Vandy to win they always seem to find a way to lose. And when I pick them to lose, they always win. They're tough to call because you never know what you're going to get.
Kansas State 24 Vanderbilt 21
Tennessee at Florida
The Gators are a five point favorite in the game which kicks off at 3:30 on CBS. In the series history, the Vols won the first ten games against the Gators, but since then Florida is 26-10, including a ten year win streak which the Vols snapped last year 38-28. Josh Dobbs brought the Vols back from a 21 point deficit to get the win a year ago, but if Tennessee falls behind by 21 again, I don't believe they will be able to rally again, especially in the Swamp. Unless Coach Jim McElwain has something up his sleeve we don't know about offensively, the Gators won't be able to score a lot of points against the Tennessee defense as badly as it has played so far. There is a lot of pressure on Vols defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, in fact rumblings from Knoxville are saying that Coach Butch Jones may be close to replacing Shoop with defensive line coach Brady Hoke if things continue to go south. The real key to this game is the Tennessee offense and the Vols ability to move the ball and score points. If they can, they have a real shot for a win.
Florida 28 Tennessee 24
Last week: 9-3
Year to date: 21-5
* * *
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 30 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.