Alright....The Vols had another bad week. They've had two dismal performances in a row and as far as I'm concerned, my week was a little better than theirs. I was 8-3 in my picks last week and for the year, I'm 32 of 39 for a percentage of 82.0. There are nine games this week with most schools playing conference games.
#15 Ole Miss at #13 Alabama
This is the best game on the card for this weekend. Rebels' head coach Lane Kiffin has a pretty good football team while everyone is wondering about the Crimson Tide.
Alabama played poorly in winning at South Florida last week and the biggest problem is at quarterback where Jalen Milroe will get the start this week. "Bama has continued to drop in the polls after losing at home to Texas and turning in a terrible performance versus South Florida. If the Crimson Tide isn't careful, they could be upset by Ole Miss. Thankfully for them, the game is in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama 27 Ole Miss 21
Arkansas at #12 LSU
While Arkansas was being upset by BYU, LSU was blasting Mississippi State. The Bengal Tigers are still smarting from their opening loss to Florida State. Quarterback Jayden Daniels absolutely went off against the Bulldogs last week. He was 30 of 34 for 361 yards and a pair of TD passes. That came after he tossed five touchdown passes in LSU's rout of Grambling in week two. The Razorbacks are very likely in trouble this weekend.
LSU 44 Arkansas 20
Auburn at Texas A&M
Hugh Freeze versus Jimbo Fisher....while this in intriguing match-up it's an almost must have win for the Aggies. The grumbling continues in College Station after A&M's lackluster start, which includes the loss at Miami a couple of weeks ago. Even though the Tigers are 3-0, they haven't really played a tough opponent yet. The closest they've come so far is a 14-10 win at California two weks ago. Texas A&M should get the " W " this week unless the Aggies stump their toes.
Texas A&M 27 Auburn 17
Charlotte at #25 Florida
Was it a matter of the Gators playing very well last week or did Tennessee play that poorly? It was very likely a little of both. For Coach Billy Napier , the win over Tennessee was his biggest win yet at Florida. But his Gators are still not a great football team but they should have no trouble with Charlotte on Saturday. The going will be much tougher next week when they go to Kentucky.
Florida 48 Charlotte 13
UAB at #1 Georgia
The list of cupcake opponents continues this week for the top-ranked Bulldogs. Last week's win at home versus South Carolina may have exposed a weakness or two but it was a pretty solid win. I have issues with Georgia being ranked number one week after week when the schedule is so weak. As I've written before, the Bulldogs don't play a ranked opponent until their game with Florida on October 28th.
Georgia 52 UAB 14
Kentucky at Vanderbilt
The Wildcats are now 3-0 following a 35-3 win over Akron last week while Vandy has lost two in a row after starting the season 2-0. Neither team has really played anybody yet, although Vandy's loss at Wake Forest two weeks ago was the Commodores' toughest game so far. Kentucky is still a bit better than Vanderbilt so it looks like the 'Dores losing streak will soon be three in a row.
Kentucky 31 Vanderbilt 20
Mississippi State at South Carolina
The Gamecocks played valiantly last week in their loss at Georgia and Coach Shane Beamer is hoping his team won't suffer a letdown. This is a game South Carolina should win but quarterback Spencer Rattler must have a good game. He wasn't bad against Georgia but his pass protection broke down too many times for him to be effective. The Bulldogs will be trying to bounce back from a big loss at LSU but I feel the Gamecocks are just better.
South Carolina 30 Mississippi State 24
Memphis at Missouri
After almost being upset by MTSU two weeks ago, the Tigers pulled an upset of their own by edging 15th ranked Kansas State last week. Five of Missouri's first six games are at home in Columbia including this week's game with Memphis. Memphis is a perfect 3-0 but the schedule has not been very tough. The Tigers are a formidable opponent and could even pull off the upset especially if Mizzou isn't prepared.
Missouri 28 Memphis 27
U.T. San Antonio at Tennessee
Fans in Big Orange Country are biting their nails in anticipation of this week's game with UTSA. Tennessee hasn't played well at all since the Vols' opening win over Virginia and they've dropped from ninth in the country to 23rd. That's a huge drop but let's face it the Volunteers were terrible against the Gators in at 29-16 loss. Coach Josh Heupel said this week his team suffered too many self inflicted wounds in the Swamp. And if you think the Roadrunners will be an easy win this weekend think again. UTSA is 1-2 but one of their losses was a 17-14 decision to Houston. Tennessee simply must bring its best effort or they could drop to 2-2 on the year. While the defense played admirably in the second half against Florida, there were way too may penalties and dropped passes to mount a comeback. Joe Milton threw his first pass interception as a Volunteer but in spite of that and a bunch of dropped passes and a few throwing miscues his stats were oky. 20 of 34 completions for 287 yards and a pair of TD passes. However the Tennessee offense is still struggling.
Tennessee 40 UTSA 20
* * *