DM Sports DeskNo. 13 Ole Miss at Tennessee: Aidan Gallardo
Final Score Prediction: Ole Miss 48, Tennessee 42
Lane Kiffin is finally returning to Knoxville, Tennessee after his departure back in 2009, and I don’t necessarily believe that fans will welcome him back with open arms. I expect there to be a lot of booing, chants and popcorn.
If you like to watch offense, this is certainly the game for you. Ole Miss and Tennessee rank in the top three in the SEC in terms of yards per game, with Ole Miss being ranked one and Tennessee ranked three. This game will be an old-fashioned high-scoring shootout.
Ole Miss has just come off a crucial victory over then No.13 ranked Arkansas and is feeling good. Matt Corral played great. Snoop Conner ran for three touchdowns, and the Rebels rose in the AP rankings, switching places with Arkansas from No. 17 to No. 13.
But, this could be a trap game for the Rebels. Tennessee is sneaky good, especially on offense. Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns last week with a victory against South Carolina. The game before that was a victory over Missouri. In that game, Tennessee running back Tiyon Evans ran for 156 yards and three touchdowns. So, there’s some life on the offensive side of the ball.
What’s better than an SEC football game under the lights with some animosity towards Kiffin? Can Ole Miss shut out the distractions leading up to this game? Will Corral be able to stay focused in a sold-out hostile stadium? How will the Ole Miss defense improve after last week’s sub-par performance?
We’ll find out on Saturday night.
No. 5 Alabama at Mississippi State: Ruby Draayer
Final Score Prediction: Alabama 77, Mississippi State 0
I’ve seen a lot of hilarious tweets this week from Mississippi State fans discussing how they want this game to go. A lot of them have been saying that of course, they want to beat Alabama, but if they do, Ole Miss will have a legitimate chance to win out in the SEC West. Yes, State fans are actually wanting their team to lose to own the Rebs! The reason that this is so great is because there is no way in he** that Alabama loses this game on Saturday.
Alabama will travel to Starkville on Saturday after coming off a thrilling loss to the Texas A&M Aggies last week. Not only will the Crimson Tide have a vicious response, but they also haven’t lost a game since the 2019 season. Losing is not typically a term that Alabama or head coach Nick Saban is familiar with, and when they do happen to lose, things don’t typically go well for the next team they play. The following game after the last Alabama loss, the Crimson Tide put up 48 points on Arkansas, and the defense allowed only seven points. Those points came in the fourth quarter only after Saban pulled the starters from the game.
On the other hand, Mississippi State is also terrible. Their awful offense has been disguised with padded check-down stats from quarterback Will Rogers. Rogers has a whopping 248 attempts with an average of 6 yards per attempt. Not ideal for an air raid offense!!! His longest on the season is 41 yards, laugh out loud. Head Coach Mike Leach has not shied away from his distaste for a running game. In the first six games, the Mississippi State Bulldogs had 281 rushing yards, total. Yes, total. In comparison, Ole Miss has played one less game and has 1,298 rushing yards. Yikes. I’m no expert, but heading into an Alabama game with a one-dimensional offense, is never a great idea.
No. 11 Kentucky at No. 1 Georgia: Catherine Jeffers
Final Score Prediction: Georgia 35, Kentucky 14
If you would’ve told me last year that Kentucky at Georgia was going to be a College Game Day game, I would’ve laughed in your face. You’re telling me that a mediocre Kentucky team that went 5-6 last year has turned it around and is 6-0, beating the likes of LSU and Florida!? Now that’s my kind of comeback kid story.
Despite this, there’s no chance Kentucky has Georgia’s number in Athens. We’ve seen the dominance from the Bulldogs this season — they’re scary and are making good-looking offenses look silly. Against Auburn, Georgia held the Tigers to 46 rushing yards, but still let Auburn throw for 272 yards, something they’re going to have to shut down against Kentucky.
Kentucky’s quarterback Will Levis threw for 145 yards against LSU and had three touchdown passes. Kavosiey Smoke and Christopher Rodriguez Jr. led the way on the ground for the Wildcats, accounting for 251 of the 330 total rushing yards against LSU.
However, Georgia’s defense is a brick wall. At 6 feet, 6 inches and 340 pounds, Jordan Davis is a big man on the Bulldog defensive line and can keep up with the best of them. There’s no shot Kentucky puts up over 150 rushing yards, a feat that will be hard to overcome to earn a win in Athens.
Kentucky will put up the most points on Georgia thus far, but the Dawgs can get it done.
