by Roy Exum
posted October 30, 2009
 Roy Exum |
It is a funny thing about the world today, but one brash comment and one studied act of revenge will spill over onto the actual playing field in the South tomorrow. Two prominent games in the SEC’s Eastern Division will be fueled by emotion, the kind that has been festering for almost a whole year.
First, let’s go to Knoxville where Brown and the other Gamecocks were incensed last winter when Kiffin reportedly told South Carolina freshman receiver Alshon Jeffery that he would end up “pumping gas like the rest of the South Carolina players” who had stayed in-state to play college ball if he didn’t come to UT.
Kiffin quickly denied saying it – and Jeffery would make no further comment – but Moe was shaking this week when he said, "I'm a 3.2 finance marketing major. I feel that I'm very intelligent." Brown, who played his high school football in Anderson, S.C., added, “The last thing I'm going to be doing is pumping some gas after I get though with the university."
Clifton Geathers, another South Carolina native who plays defensive end, added, “I think we have to prove (Kiffin) wrong for what he said, make him regret what he said.”
Meanwhile, Georgia is still in a twist over the way Florida coach Urban Meyer called two timeouts during the last minute in Jacksonville, this despite the fact Florida had bullied the Bulldogs all afternoon and was up by 39 points.
Most believed it was payback for the way Georgia had danced in the Florida end zone like they owned it the year before, but the “one-upsmanship” caused huge posters to be put in the Georgia locker room for the past week, showing the Florida coach signaling for a time out.
Georgia quarterback Joe Cox played it down, shrugging as he said, "They won. They had the right to do whatever they wanted to do. It did really let you sit there and think about how bad you were getting beat. We did our celebration the year before when we won. They did their timeouts when they won. They got us back."
No matter – Georgia hearts are still fiery red over the incident and to say it hasn’t been a topic of conversation this week is an understatement. So there are plenty of story-lines going into Week No. 9 and chances are it will be a Trick-or-Treat kind of day before they set the clocks back early Sunday morning.
That said, here we go:
No. 5 CINCINNATI (7-0) at SYRACUSE (3-4), Noon – Cincinnati was moaning the absence of starting QB Tony Pike until Zach Collaros calmly went 15-of-17 for 253 yards and three touchdowns last week in the 41-10 win over Louisville. Pike, nursing an injury to his non-throwing arm, will probably not play this week, either, because the Bearcats are a 15-point choice in the Carrier Dome. So the fun in this one is seeing where UC head coach Brian Kelly is now rumored to be headed at the season’s end. Notre Dame? Florida if Urban Meyer goes to South Bend? You can hear anything as November approaches, but what you really will see is Cincinnati grabbing win No. 8 tomorrow. MY PICK: Cincinnati, 36-21.
No. 24 OLE MISS (5-2) at AUBURN (5-3), 12:20 p.m. (SEC Network) – The Rebs carry only a 4-point edge into tomorrow’s early game because Dexter McCluster lit it up in last week’s 30-17 win over Arkansas while AU dropped a 31-10 contest at LSU. But you’d better beware of Auburn, despite the 3-game skid, because QB Chris Todd and RB Ben Tate are deadly. Remember, big games are tough for UM. The key will be how good the secondaries play; UM QB Jevan Sneed doesn’t have Todd’s numbers, but he’s still a sport. This game is crucial to bowl watchers, especially with LSU playing at Alabama in another key SEC West battle next week. MY PICK: Auburn, 21-16.
No. 1 FLORIDA (7-0) vs. GEORGIA (4-3) in Jacksonville, 3:30 p.m. (CBS) – I discount the rhetoric that came last week after UF QB Tim Tebow skipped post-game interviews because he had an interception in the 29-19 win at Miss. State. Tebow is Tebow, and he’s a master at whipping Georgia, which is a down team right now. Sure, UGa was idle last week, but this rivalry, with so many players knowing each other, is legendary. UGa’s losses to LSU and UT are still huge and, while it’s true a Gator hide would be a big Band-aid, the fact UF is a 16-point favorite is sobering. Oddly, every team in the SEC East now has at least 2 losses besides UF and the Nov. games against Vandy and South Carolina won’t keep Urban and Co. out of Atlanta on Dec. 5. MY PICK: Florida, 37-14.
EASTERN MICHIGAN (0-7) at ARKANSAS (3-4), 7:00 p.m. – Oh my goodness. SEC schedules are made years in advance so the only question here is whether or not it will rain, how long Bobby Petrino will keep his best Razorbacks in the game and was Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones once really a good player in Fayetteville. For the record, EMU has the No. 1 pass defense in the country (124.43 ypg), but UA QB Ryan Mallett will pick the Gamecocks apart. The ‘Hogs are a 36-point favorite, which is more than they’ll be when UA hosts South Carolina in next week’s early game. MY PICK: Arkansas, 44-7.
MISS. STATE (3-5) at KENTUCKY (4-3), 7:00 p.m. (FSN) – The oddsmakers are calling UK a 3-point pick, but MSU, led by sensational RB Anthony Dixon, has scored 211 points in eight games and last week the freshman phenom Johnthan Banks had two “pick-six” against the Gators. UK has won two after losing three and the starting QB so there is still enough ability in the Commonwealth to believe the Cats’ could easily be 6-3 going into the final stretch at Vandy, at Georgia and home against UT. MY PICK: Kentucky, 26-21.
No. 11 GEORGIA TECH (7-1) at VANDERBILT (2-6), 7:30 p.m. (CSS, ESPN) – Tech is mauling people with the run-based spread offense and, while some may cry the GT blocking schemes are a little crafty, don’t fall for excuses. GT is a 14-point favorite, despite VU’s fine showing in last week’s 14-10 loss to South Carolina. And, while SEC patrons long for an upset before the fabled GT-UGa rivalry, it ain’t gonna’ happen with Tech QB Josh Nesbitt rushing for 344 yards and eight TDs in the last three games. Vandy frosh Warren Norman is off to a great start, now No. 5 on the all-time freshman RB list with 533 yards, but Tech is simply too strong and too disciplined for Vandy to do much good tomorrow. MY PICK: Ga. Tech, 36-18.
No. 21 SOUTH CAROLINA (6-2) at TENNESSEE (3-4), 7:45 p.m. (ESPN) – How does this work; UT has one conference win and is still favored by six over the “Evil Genius” and a nationally-ranked USC team that is 6-2? That shows the impact the Vols have made this season, especially in last week’s 12-10 harrowing loss to then-top-ranked Alabama. UT is “for real” on defense, but 77 net yards rushing against the Tide is real cause for concern, especially if a wet ball hampers UT’s passing. USC has just won one time in Knoxville, but QB Steven Garcia is completing 59 percent of his passes and RB Kenny Miles is averaging 5.3 yards per carry in the last four games. Hold your breath, but Carolina and the points sounds just as swell as “UGa and the points” did when the Vols tagged the Dawgs, 45-19. Finally, there is this: "It's obvious we're not a great team. Look at SEC stats and we're in the middle of the pack on most all of them," Spurrier said. "But that's OK. We've found a way to win the close games, and that's why we have such a good record." MY PICK: South Carolina, 24-22.
TULANE (2-5) at LSU (6-1), 8:00 p.m. – This has been such a horrible mismatch the two teams have now mutually agreed to cancel remaining games after this one. LSU has not only won 17 straight, but Tulane is still recoiling after being decimated by Hurricane Katrina. LSU is favored by 35 points in Tiger Stadium. Incidentally, LSU DE Deangelo Peterson, who was 16 at Desire Street Academy in New Orleans when the hurricane hit, saved his mom’s life by carrying her through six feet of swirling stormwater back then in a horrifying tale of heroism. MY PICK: LSU, 44-7.
No. 3 TEXAS (7-0) at No. 13 OKLAHOMA STATE (6-1), 8:00 p.m. – Texas QB Colt McCoy was named as a NFF Scholar-Athlete Friday (along with Florida’s Tebow) and maybe the fact he’s so smart and savvy is why the bookies like UT by nine in this Big 12 showdown. OSU has just beaten Texas twice – the last time in 1997 – but Colt is fretting. "You can't really see how good they really are on film because they are going to play like a different team when we are there," McCoy talked about the OSU defense. "Their intensity is going to rise. We are playing at their place at night, and it's a conference game, so you can't really see that side of it when you watch film." Zac Robinson, the Cowboys’ QB, is 218 yards away from breaking head coach Mike Gundy’s career passing record, so, while the record may fall, the Longhorns will not. MY PICK: Texas, 31-17.
No. 4 SOUTHERN CAL (6-1) at No. 10 OREGON (6-1), 8:00 p.m. (CBS) – Since LeGarrette Blount’s infamous sucker punch, the Ducks have won six straight games behind the hard running of redshirt freshman LaMichael James (657 yards, 6 TDs), but Southern Cal has won seven straight Pac 10 titles since the Ducks last saw the trophy in 2001. This is going to be one heckuva show with USC coming in a 4-point favorite. Southern Cal’s defense will have to play far better than it showed against Notre Dame, particularly late when the Irish almost gobbled up the Trojans, and while UO boss Chip Kelly is in the running for Coach of the Year praise, the feeling here is that the real horses are still to be found in LA – talent and depth will be the difference. MY PICK: Southern Cal, 29-18.
ONE MORE: WESTERN CAROLINA (1-6) at CHATTANOOGA (4-3), 2:00 p.m. – The Moc basketball teams will play exhibition games next door before the Finley Stadium game and the trick’r’treating will come afterward, but, in between, WCU will try to break a miserable streak of losing 14 straight on the road that dates back to 2005 – the last time the Catamounts beat the Mocs. UTC should win handily, especially if the B.J. Coleman-Blue Cooper tandem can outperform WCU’s shaky little speedster Dion Wilson (5 TDs in the last 3 games). Moc fans are urged to bring canned goods for the food drive (more than three items gets you a ticket), but, more importantly, this sets the stage for next weekend’s bigger game at Appalachian State. MY PICK: Chattanooga, 37-10.
royexum@aol.com
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