And Last Week Was So Good Too…

Last week had everything that makes college football great: big-time matchups, conference rivalry games, upsets, and close games. As we enter the first week in October (already?!?), things slow down a bit before a big weekend next Saturday.

Simply put, when ESPN’s College GameDay is heading to Nashville, you know things aren’t so good elsewhere. Seriously, what is the world coming to??

September has been weird. Florida, USC, and Georgia – the summer media darlings – have lost already. Alabama is up to #-freakin’-2.  Five non-BCS teams – BYU, Utah, Boise State, Ball State, and Tulsa – are undefeated. Also unbeaten: Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Kentucky. Duke is 3-1.

Oh, and our beloved Vols are 1-3 with the Dawgs and Tide coming up in the next month…

This weekend lacks the big name games, but like I’ve said before weeks like this one in the past, it’s still college football. There’s always possibilities for upsets and anything can happen any given weekend.

Plenty enough reason for me to pay attention…

SEC Games

Florida at Arkansas (12:00, RayCom): Oops, Gators. You fail. Stunned at home by previously 0-9 in-their-last-nine-SEC-games Ole Miss last Saturday, the Gates pick up the pieces and head to Fayetteville to face easily the worst team in the league. For all the love Urban Meyer has been getting, he’s 6-4 in his last 10 SEC games. With Tim Tebow. With Percy Harvin. And I’m positive he still hasn’t thanked Ron Zook for that defensive line he was given to win the ’06 Title…

Gators = FAIL

The Gators still are the favorites to win the East by default (seriously, Vandy won’t last, Georgia’s banged-up something fierce with that schedule, and Tennessee, well…), so I seriously doubt Arkansas gets them.

South Carolina at Ole Miss (2:00): Believe it or not, this game is not on TV – at least that I can find. OK, Houston Nutt, you beat Florida in the Swamp. Be careful, Carolina’s capable of beating you in a slugfest. This should be the best front the Rebels have seen, so how effective will their “Wild Rebel” or whatever-it’s-called formation be? Still, with the issues on the Gamecock offensive line and with whoever the QB is (Smelley? Beecher? Garcia?), I think the Ole Miss D-line with Peria Jerry and Greg Hardy wreaks havoc. Two even teams, but I like Ole Miss.

Careful, Houston: a loss to struggling South Carolina would all but negate that win at Florida last Saturday

Kentucky at Alabama (3:30, CBS): Prepare to meet reality, Wildcats. You’re 4-0, but you’ve beaten two Sun Belt teams (including MTSU literally by a yard), a JV League team that lost to UConn, and Norfolk State. Safe to say, Tuscaloosa is a step-up, especially with the lack of an offense UK will bring. Kentucky’s defense could keep them in it because John Parker Wilson is always good for a bad game every now and then, but that still may not be enough.

Tide fans hope they get past UK to their bye week, where they will all be in burnt orange to cheer for Texas to beat Oklahoma so the Tide can move up to #1…VOMIT…

Auburn at Vanderbilt (6:00, ESPN2) Auburn could easily be 1-3 in the SEC, but their defense (and Jonathan Crompton) have bailed them out. Vanderbilt has been winning with defense and not making mistakes (novel concept, eh?). I still can’t believe GameDay is going to this game. Not only is it Vanderbilt, but it should the first to 14 points wins, which could still take til Sunday. Hello, low-scoring, defensive struggle…

I’m not sure who wins this game. I wanna say Vandy because Auburn’s offense straight-up sucks. I wanna say Auburn because Vandy is still Vandy. Both have been good in close games this year. Vandy’s playing at “home,” but I guess I’ll go with Auburn, though Vandy’s gonna get two wins elsewhere…

Northern Illinois at Tennessee (7:00): For a team trying out a new QB (or at least I hope and pray that’s what we’re doing), this game sets up well before the three-week gauntlet that lies ahead. Most fans want to see Nick Stephens start and B.J. Coleman. Most fans don’t care who starts, they just want Jonathan Crompton on the bench with a clipboard. Many fans don’t even care enough to show up. Other than Stephens, what I’m most interested to see? The attendance. Me? I’ll be there in Neyland Stadium Saturday night. Abandoning one’s team is cowardly. I’m a student, I’m supposed to go to football games. This certainly doesn’t hurt…

Front row at Neyland Stadium is still front row at Neyland Stadium...

Those of you forking out the $$ to watch it on PPV, look for me! I’ll be in orange. Seriously though, this NIU team isn’t UAB. The Huskies got beat at Minnesota by a TD with 22 seconds left, lost by three at Western Michigan (ask Iowa about the Broncos), and have scored 85 points their last two games behind a pretty strong rushing attack. Just sayin’…

ELSEWHERE:

Tonight: Screw that JV League clash between Pitt and USF, the game to keep your eye on is Oregon State at Utah. The Utes try to keep their BCS hopes alive by hosting the team that beat USC last week. Methinks Utah wins…

The NEW Weekly Duke Update: Oh, what the hell. Duke is 3-1. Go Devils! Something positive for Vol fans: a former coach who’s done a great deal of things for Tennessee, gets his second head coaching chance at Duke, and has already having success (three wins at Duke = success). Why not pay attention? Coach Cut and Company play at Georgia Tech Saturday.

If you like Big Ten football: I feel sorry for you, er, I mean you can watch Illinois at Michigan (3:30, ABC) and later Ohio State at Wisconsin. Please Badgers, get the Buckeyes completely out of the picture…

You Pac-10 types: Arizona State is at Cal, USC tries their luck at home against Oregon’s other team (Go Ducks!), Stanford plays at Notre Dame, and UCLA might actually win another game – they play Washington State, who’s given up 66 and 63 points in their two league losses…

A pair of Big 12 games to eye: Texas Tech finally starts their season when they travel to play at Kansas State, who sucks because they lost to a JV League team (Louisville). Oklahoma State’s still undefeated, and they host Texas A&M. And Saturday night, Bo Pelini and Nebraska gets chance #2 at winning a big home game, when Missouri visits. My friends hate on me because I’m fully on the Tigers’ bandwagon (hey, I almost went there), but they’re really good. Chase Daniel is really good. Nebraska won’t stop that offense. Mizzou rolls.

ENJOY!

Images Courtesy of: Phil Sandlin / AP (Daylife) • John Raoux / AP (Daylife)

About the Author:  I'm from Memphis but I'm now entering my third year at the University of Tennessee here in Knoxville. I am majoring in Journalism/Electronic Media and hope to go into sports broadcasting/writing/something like that. I'm a huge Vol fan and have been going to games for as long as I can remember. I started my on blog called "The View From The Hill" but moved here to Gate 21 for bigger and better things. In addition to my passion for Tennessee football and basketball, I enjoy watching the NFL and the NBA as well. Basically, sports are a big part of my life. >> Read more from this author

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