Last Week’s Record: 9-4 (69.2%)
Season Record: 18-8 (69.2%)
Week 2 was identical to Week 1 for the Predictions Dept., and that’s not a good thing. What’s also not a good thing is the quality of games on the Week 3 slate. If Alabama-South Carolina isn’t the headliner, Florida-Kentucky is. Talk about slim pickings.
FLORIDA at KENTUCKY
Kentucky lost starting quarterback Terry Wilson for the season last week, a victim of a serious knee injury. But while most programs would be dead in the water at this point, Kentucky may actually get better. Sawyer Smith, a graduate transfer from Troy, has a better arm than Wilson and was pushing Wilson for the starting job in fall camp. Many observers believe Wilson won the job simply because he was already entrenched in the role and had the support of his teammates. With Wilson’s availability now out of the picture, Kentucky will have to make the switch regardless. Florida hasn’t looked like the Florida of old yet this year, and the game is in Lexington, but can you really get excited about the backup quarterback facing a Florida defense that is legitimately tough? We’d like to take Kentucky at home but the Wildcat program is so unpredictable that we’re never early adopters.
Florida 24
Kentucky 21
ALABAMA at SOUTH CAROLINA
See our extended preview!
ARKANSAS STATE at GEORGIA
Georgia, through the first two games, has looked a bit uninspired, but not by enough to worry about a 1-1 Sun Belt team with a loss to SMU already on its dance card. Notre Dame awaits in Week 4, however, so don’t be surprised if Georgia gets caught looking forward a bit – which might cut this from a five-score game all the way down to a four-score game.
Georgia 42
Arkansas St. 17
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE at MISSOURI
The first list of SEC games TideFans.com received this week erroneously had Missouri with a bye week. Turns out the corrected copy didn’t change much in the final analysis.
Missouri 51
SE Missouri St. 7
TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA at TENNESSEE
Now the question is, how far is Tennessee going to fall? Chattanooga won its opener over Eastern Illinois but got blown out by Jacksonville State last week. If the Volunteers don’t rise up and crush the Mocs and get some momentum back, the whole thing could implode in just Week 3. Chattanooga is surely smelling blood and the chance to steal a game in Neyland Stadium has to be on the minds of every Moc, but even Tennessee isn’t bad enough to fall to its little brother down south. We think.
Tennessee 40
UTC 10
COLORADO STATE at ARKANSAS
Suddenly this is a very competitive game, maybe even the No. 2 game on the SEC slate depending on whether you think South Carolina is for real. Colorado State is 1-1, and the opening-week loss to Colorado doesn’t look too bad now that the Buffaloes have beaten Nebraska. The Rams are still one of the worst teams in the country in turning the ball over, though, which is death to any mid-major against an SEC program no matter how mediocre that SEC opponent is. And Arkansas … well, the Razorbacks are the walking definition of mediocre, or worse. Either Arkansas or Vanderbilt (or Tennessee, if the train continues to derail) is the SEC’s worst team. Dare we pick a Mountain West team to upset Arkansas at home? We probably should, but we won’t.
Arkansas 24
Colorado St. 23
KENT STATE at AUBURN
The Golden Flashes held their own in a Week 1 loss to Arizona State, 30-7, but then needed overtime to dispatch with Kennesaw State last week. To get to the point, Auburn is going to kill them.
Auburn 55
Kent State 7
NORTHWESTERN STATE at LOUISIANA STATE
Speaking of death and dismemberment on a football field…
LSU 70
NW State 0
SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA at MISSISSIPPI
Ole Miss doesn’t have many sure things on the schedule this year – at least not sure things in the win column – but this is one.
Ole Miss 49
SE Louisiana 10
KANSAS STATE at MISSISSIPPI STATE
This game is going to be a lot better than advertised thanks to Mississippi State’s quarterback situation. Prior to the start of the season, the Bulldogs had arguably the best total QB depth chart in the SEC, with grad transfer Tommy Stevens as a starter and Keytaon Thompson as an experienced backup. But when Thompson wasn’t named the starter, he quit. Then Stevens went down with a shoulder injury last week against Southern Miss. Now here comes a 2-0 Kansas State program fresh off a 52-0 pasting of Bowling Green. If Stevens can’t recover in time to face the Wildcats, freshman Garrett Shrader will be forced to start. Wonder what Thompson is thinking right about now?
Mississippi St. 31
Kansas State 28
LAMAR at TEXAS A&M
Ah yes, nothing like taking your post-Clemson frustrations out on Lamar. And believe us, frustrations will be taken out.
Texas A&M 65
Lamar 0
IDLE: Vanderbilt
Follow Jess Nicholas on Twitter at @TideFansJessN