2008 SEC Forecast – Week 2

As I gazed into the crystal ball last week, I was certain of a few things: 1.) Clemson would not steamroll Alabama like most (including this author) had hoped; 2.) Vanderbilt would struggle mightily this season and would drop its opener at Miami of Ohio; 3.) Mississippi State could very well lose at Louisiana Tech, which serves them right for going to Ruston; and 4.) UCLA did not stand a chance against Tennessee, my pick for the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division championship.

If you took my picks to the bank, and I do not in any way, form or fashion encourage said activities, you’d be hurting about as bad as I was last night when the last kick sailed wide left (if I were to have had money riding on these 18-22-year-olds). State welcomed itself back to reality with a 22-14 loss to those other Bulldogs, while Alabama is “back” again…at least until October. While they ruined my predictions, I’m proud for Vanderbilt and Kentucky – two teams I have no problems pulling for in the conference. Both came away with convincing victories on the road to give some serious momentum heading into the rest of September.

So what will our conference provide for an encore in week two? It’s hard to find a “game of the week” with only three that are genuinely intriguing: South Carolina taking on Vanderbilt on Thursday night, Miami (Fla.)’s first attempt at Urban Meyer and Florida as well as Ole Miss’ trip to Wake Forest. Since I’ve heard enough about how much this game means to both team’s schedules, your week two most intriguing matchup will be the contest held in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Rev. Houston Nutt’s debut couldn’t have gone much better Saturday night against Memphis, giving Ole Miss fans the hope and satisfaction they’ve been yearning for since Eli Manning was calling the shots behind center. The running game was a tremendous success, and Jevan Snead showed his athleticism by even catching a pass out of the “Wild Rebel” formation. As I had expected would be the case all weekend, expectations are starting to escalate, and spirits are sky high here in northern Mississippi.

Wake Forest fans have an equal amount to be excited about after the Deacons swatted around Baylor Thursday night in their 41-13 opening victory. Riley Skinner will give the young Ole Miss secondary trouble with his deadly accurate arm, while Jim Grobe will also lean heavily on a blue collar running game to control the clock and keep Tyrone Nix’s defense on the field for chunks of time.

In all seriousness, Grobe and Nutt have a lot in common in coaching styles and techniques. Grobe has the hardware Nutt is missing, but I’m pretty sure Nutt could have won the ACC a time or two at another school besides Wake Forest. If the Deacons prevail, this will be a win that will look much better nationally in November than it will on Saturday. Should the Rebels pull off the “upset,” there won’t be much to stop Ole Miss from being 4-0 heading into Gainesville at the end of the month – much to the chagrin of the Mississippi State fans. In the two-deeps, not much separates the two schools, so I’ll go with the home-field advantage in what promises to be one of the weekend’s best overall games: Wake Forest 21, Ole Miss 17.

South Carolina (1-0) at Vanderbilt (1-0) (Sept. 4): Both schools will be playing their second-straight Thursday night contest, and Steve Spurrier has announced the Gamecocks will go with the hot hand of Chris Smelley in Nashville. Both defenses had great openers, and I don’t think Vandy is going to be nearly as bad as I had previously written. Chris Nickson looked like he did as a freshman, while Mike Davis was able to take the game over in the second half for Carolina in the 34-0 blanking of North Carolina State. Spurrier and the Cocks should be able to pull this one off with the same formula from the week before, setting the stage for the showdown with UGA. South Carolina 24, Vanderbilt 10.

Southern Miss (1-0) at Auburn (1-0): All summer, Tommy Tuberville and Tony Franklin assured Auburn fans that the Running Back U. identity would not be lost with the spread offense. Saturday night on the Plains, their words came to fruition as the Tigers piled up 316 yards on the ground – with all the snaps coming from a shotgun formation. The passing game needs some work, but the defense is better than expected. In what should prove to be the longest game of the day with kickoff at 11:37 a.m. (CT), Auburn will use that defense to hold in a Golden Eagle offense that put up 51 on Louisana-Lafayette last week. Auburn 24, Southern Miss 13.

Central Michigan (1-0) at Georgia (1-0): Barrett Sallee at CollegeFootallNews.com, who happens to be one of my mentors from Auburn, says to watch out for Central Michigan giving Georgia a lot of problems Saturday. It is with this advice that I make my score prediction a lot lower than what I had previously considered. The Chippewas will put up some yards and keep the Dawgs defense on the field a little more than what Hawai’i accomplished in January. That being said, the Mid-American Conference should never be in a game with a top-five SEC team. Georgia 34, Central Michigan 17.

Norfolk State (1-0) at Kentucky (1-0): I’m ecstatic for the Bluegrass faithful as they’re staring a 2-0 start right dead in the eyes after the 27-2 win over hated Louisville. Could they be better than I had originally thought? I sure hope so. I can’t really see a letdown brewing here, but it would be different would this be 2003 instead of 2008. These guys, behind Dicky Lyons and Rich Brooks, know how to win now. Kentucky 38, Norfolk State 3.

Tulane (0-0) at Alabama (1-0): Tulane has been practicing in Birmingham to get ready for Saturday night’s game in Tuscaloosa. As much as I hate to admit this, the Tide’s defense could be much better in the front seven than I had thought. Then again, from the looks of the stat lines, Clemson studied the Alabama-Tennessee film from 2007 and found ways to look worse than the Vols against Nick Saban’s bunch. If that was the plan, Clemson executed it flawlessly. Don't get me wrong, though. Bama pummelted Clemson and deserved to win that game. Could ole Three Names really have turned the corner like so many fifth-year senior quarterbacks before him? Saturday’s not the night to answer that question. Besides, there’s only one SEC team capable of losing to Tulane, and it resides in Starkville, not Tuscaloosa. Alabama 31, Tulane 7.

Southeastern Louisiana (1-0) at Miss. State (0-1): Who could have seen Saturday’s loss in Ruston coming? The Dawgs had a lot of fight on defense, but their offense was – gasp – atrocious again. Hasn’t this been the blueprint for all of State’s teams in the past eight years? Southeastern Louisiana is bad and having to deal with the distractions from Gustav as they prepare at Oxford High School for the Saturday night affair. This should not be a question of if State can win but of by what margin? Bully and Co. will need to move on fast with Auburn, LSU and Georgia Tech looming in the coming weeks. Miss. State 28, Southeastern Louisiana 11.

Arkansas (1-0) at Louisiana-Monroe (0-1) (Little Rock): This is not a mistype. Louisiana-Monroe will serve as the home team Saturday night at the Rock as Arkansas will help boost the Warhawks’ home attendance figures with a likely sell-out at War Memorial. Honestly, this is one of the nicest places to watch a game in the conference, and it’s a shame that they don’t play more than two games a season here. The Hogs struggled to find an offensive identity in Bobby Petrino’s debut and had to come-from-behind to win in 28-24 fashion. As stated before, this is not going to be a good season for the woo pig sooies, but at least they have that cool YouTube video circulating around. Arkansas 24, Louisiana-Monroe 10.

Troy (1-0) at LSU (1-0): This game could get moved to a later date or to another venue thanks to Gustav, but the Trojans and Tigers both had convincing opening victories over pesky foes. Last time these two teams met resulted in a 24-21 LSU win back in 2004. Blakeney’s program is better now than it was then, but LSU still has the superior athletes – a fact that will always ring true. The score may be closer than Tigah fans hope, but the distractions coupled with Blakeney’s coaching abilities will still be not enough to give Troy the W. LSU 24, Troy 14.

Miami (Fla.) (1-0) at Florida (1-0): In one of the 1,000-plus speaking points produced by the Florida sports information department, I’m sure it reads that Urban Meyer has failed to lose to another team that hails from the Sunshine State. I bet it does not read anywhere in the diatribe that no UF player was born the last time the Gators were triumphant over the Hurricanes. Don’t let that stop you, Louis Murphy, from running your mouth, though. Don’t get me wrong, I think Florida will win handily. I don’t think it’ll be a clean game, and I think Miami will put a scare in early. Florida 38, Miami (Fla.) 21.

Last week: 8-4
Season: 8-4