Week 5 Predictions

Here we go, another week of predictions. I’ve done pretty good so far this year, especially compared to last year. I’ll admit that most of the games have been pretty easy picks though. Let me know what you think about my predictions and tell me yours.

This Week: 5-4
Last Week: 9-2
Overall: 42-11 (79.2%)

10/3

Alabama at Kentucky – I remember watching this game last year in Nashville before one of the worst nights of my life. I remember Alabama winning by a field goal and scoring one of their two touchdowns after Kentucky’s quarterback literally dropped the ball without any rhyme or reason. I remember Alabama looking bad against an even worse team.

Kentucky has looked like Kentucky all year long. They beat Louisville earlier this season, but that doesn’t mean what it used to. Supposedly Kentucky fans were camping out for tickets to a basketball practice, so I’m not thinking that they are feeling too positive about this football game.

The 11:30 kickoff usually helps the visiting team because the crowd hasn’t woken up yet, but I see a little more of what we saw last year. Alabama will start off slow, and Kentucky will hang around, but “the best team in the nation” will pull it out in the end.

Alabama 30, Kentucky 14

Alabama 38, Kentucky 20 – SUCCESS!

LSU at Georgia – Like I’ve said all year, LSU is not that good, and it was completely proven last week in their “win” at Mississippi State. In fact, LSU ranks dead last (that’s 12 of 12) in total offense in the SEC. Sounds like the #4 team in the country right?

Georgia is a very weird team. They looked awful on offense against an Okie State that turns out to not be very good, and since then they’ve scored an average of 38 points a game. The one constant on this team has been a mediocre-at-best defense.

The Georgia win is almost too obvious. I don’t see LSU coming out and playing Georgia with the same lack of passion that they played with at 11:30 am in Starkville. LSU is lucky to be undefeated. Georgia has squeezed out a few wins and could easily be 0-4. The Blogler is very torn on this one. I want to say LSU’s luck runs out and Georgia being at home helps them to win again. I want to say LSU won’t have the same performance as last week and blows out Georgia. Ok, it’s official, LSU’s luck runs out.

Georgia 34, LSU 21

LSU 20, Georgia 13 – FAILURE

South Carolina State at South Carolina – South Carolina isn’t as good as the Ole Miss victory made them seem. Ole Miss isn’t good, as we all knew, and last week’s win will look like nothing once the season is over. The Bulldogs (South Carolina State’s mascot) will make this interesting because of boredom and the deadly “letdown” after a big victory. The Gamecocks win a drab affair.

South Carolina 27, South Carolina State 13

South Carolina 38, South Carolina State 14 – SUCCESS!

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt – Ole Miss and Houston Nutt have never been able to handle the pressure, ever. The problem is that Ole Miss has more to prove this week than last. Last week it was living up to hype. This week it’s proving to the world that they aren’t terrible. Well guess what? They are, but Vanderbilt’s worse.

Vandy can’t move the ball, but hung with LSU (not saying much). Jevan Snead can’t throw the ball, but his Rebels have beaten lesser teams this year. In this case, Vandy is the lesser team. Houston Nutt gets his signature win at Ole Miss.

Ole Miss 20, Vanderbilt 10

Ole Miss 23, Vanderbilt 7 – SUCCESS!

Georgia Tech at Mississippi State – Mississippi State deserves to lose six games for the travesty that occurred last week. Just float the ball! Just stick your hand out! With as bad as it ended last week, State proved that they can beat teams they haven’t been able to beat in years.

Georgia Tech has been very wishy-washy. They blew out Clemson for a half, and had to win it in the end. They got blown out by Miami who got blown out by Virginia Tech. When the triple option is clicking, it’s unstoppable. When it’s not, it’s over for the Jackets.

As much as Mississippi State deserves to lose, they did stop LSU’s running game last week and will stop Georgia Tech’s this week. Dan Mullen gets the victory he should have gotten a week ago.

Mississippi State 27, Georgia Tech 20

Georgia Tech 42, Mississippi State 31 – FAILURE

Arkansas at Texas A&M – The Aggies have played nobody, and I mean nobody, and padded the stats while doing it. They have scored 135 points in three games and are near the top of almost every offensive category. That’s not good for the Arkansas defense, who is pretty much awful.

Arkansas, like Ole Miss, has tons to prove this week. They want to show that they are a good team that just played a great defense last week. Arkansas will bounce back against a lower Big 12 team that’s been hiding behind a soft schedule all year. Lots of points in this one, lots of points.

Arkansas 45, Texas A&M 38

Arkansas 47, Texas A&M 19 – SUCCESS!

Auburn at Tennessee – If all stats and stories and everything were the same, but Auburn was playing a team named Dingletown State, Auburn would be picked to win, and win big. The only thing that’s really an issue for Auburn is the first road game thing, which I’m positive doesn’t mean as much as fans and analysts think. Most players love to be yelled at. It fuels them to shut the crowd up more.

Tennessee does have a nice defense, but that’s only really been shown in the Florida game. Since that game is like the Iron Bowl for HillBillies and JortKings, you can throw out everything in or around that game. What I see is a team that struggled to stop Ohio, a team that lost to UCLA, a team that can’t throw the ball (to it’s own team) at all.

Has Auburn’s defense struggled? Sure. But they’ve done enough to get the job done, and let the offense handle the blowout portion. Auburn hasn’t won by less than 11 points this season, and I don’t see it happening against a team with a large home crowd and the canceling of Tiger Walk as the only things going for them.

Auburn 34, Tennessee 20

Auburn 26, Tennessee 22 – SUCCESS!

Other Games That Might Tickle Your Fancy

Oklahoma at Miami – Sam Bradford isn’t starting for Oklahoma which probably means he won’t play. Miami was brought back down to Earth last week in a blowout loss to Virginia Tech. Even with Bradford out, and the intimidating crowd of 15,000 Miami fans, Oklahoma will show that it’s still (unfortunately) a contender. Jacory “Shiny Shoes” Harris will look a little more human now that the Cinderella season is over.

Oklahoma 31, Miami 17

Miami 21, Oklahoma 20 – FAILURE

USC at California – USC lost to Washington, who lost to Stanford by 20 and they are already ranked back in the top 10 (surprisingly). Cal got blown out by Oregon, who looked pathetic in the opening game of the season. This game normally means something to some people, not me or most of you, but some people. Even those people can’t say this game has the luster it had three weeks ago.

I see Cal bouncing back from an embarrassing defeat and showing us even more that USC is not the USC we are used to. The question is if USC loses, will pollsters drop them out of the top 10?

California 27, USC 17

USC 30, California 3 – FAILURE

Upset of the Week

Ohio State at Indiana – Indiana lost by three to Michigan at home last week. The Hoosiers are at home again this week with confidence from last week’s loss. Ohio State lost to USC (see above for what that means).

The Hoosiers get a big win and give the Buckeyes their 2nd loss of the season. However this loss solidifies Ohio State’s claim for a spot in the national title game.

Indiana 30, Ohio State 24

Ohio State 33, Indiana 14