I thought I'd weigh in on a few of the big games and story-lines this weekend.
Let's start with the SEC...
- South Carolina at Georgia
This was a tough pick. The temptation is to go with the rest of the nation, and say the Bulldogs will bounce back after their disappointing loss to Boise in week one. I'm afraid this won't be the case. The Gamecocks struggled early against East Carolina, but recovered with a 56-37 victory. I expect Lattimore to carry the Gamecocks to another victory, propped up by the improved play of South Carolina's D, who will be facing a still-inexperienced crew in Georgia's offense. The game is played in Athens, but that's a short trip for the Gamecocks, and they should be fresh and ready to go.
- Mississippi State at Auburn
Our very own Jordan Kuehne picked the Tigers in this one, and I agree with him in one aspect of his outlook: Auburn will be much improved. They are the defending national champions (albeit without Cam Newton or Nick Fairley) and will be looking to redeem themselves after almost losing to Utah State. (I mean, come on! Utah State!) But I'm taking the upstart Bulldogs in this one, but not because of Auburn's close call. I'm simply a believer in this Mississippi State team. I picked them as one of the most underrated teams going into the year, and tomorrow we find out if I was right. The Bulldogs are a team on the cusp of the top-tier. They are a few big wins away from the beginning of an elite run. If they pull off a win at Auburn, they will be one step closer to that goal.
- Notre Dame at Michigan
The big question for this game is: Can Notre Dame bounce back? My answer is simple: No. The quarterback switch will give the Irish hope, but in the end the environment will prove to be too hostile, and an overall superior Michigan team will prevail. Michigan's defense will continue to improve, as it was one of the worst in the nation last year.
- TCU at Airforce
The big question for this game is: Can TCU bounce back? My answer is a resounding yes. They may not be where they want to be just yet, but they can definitely take care of Air Force. The defense will have had a lot of coaching this week, and Airforce's ground-based attack should be much easier to defend than the aerial show of RGIII. Pachall will lead his offense to victory and improve his impressive leadership skills. He is probably already determined never to lose again (he looks like they dug him out of a grave - he's not quite the nice, sweet Andy Dalton we're used to!) Should be a nice win for the Frogs.
- Alabama at Penn State
It will be interesting to see how Penn State will fare this year, and how much they can improve from the past couple of seasons. Unfortunately, I think Nittany Lion fans will have to wait until Big 10 play to find out, because Alabama will throttle their team. This is an intriguing match-up at first glance, but it doesn't really tell us anything important about how either team will fare in conference play. The Tide wins big, and moves on to week 3.
That concludes our preview portion of week 2. Tune in for all the action tomorrow, and don't forget tonight's battle in the desert. (You already know my take on that one, we'll see how it turns out).
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