Week 2 - Games to Keep an Eye On

We've got one week in the bag. Michigan was destroyed by Alabama. Southern Cal, Clemson, Tennessee all put on good shows. I was extremely impressed by Le'Veon Bell (Michigan State), Andre Ellington (Clemson), Matt Barkley (Southern Cal), Tyler Bray (Tenn.), Todd Gurley (Georgia), Marcus Mariota (Oregon) and T.J. Yeldon (Alabama). They all had monster week 1 games, and it will be fun to keep an eye on them as the year progresses.

With Week 2 upon us, let's dive into the key matchups.


Miami at Kansas State (Saturday Noon)

• Miami is coming off a pretty good road win to start the season. They beat up Boston College, but the game was a little sloppy and lackluster for my taste.
• Duke Johnson is the real deal for Miami. He blew it up last week (7 carries, 135 yards & 2 TDs).
• This weekend's matchup versus K-State is a much different animal. Remember K-State beat Miami last year, and they play much better ball the Boston College
• K-State has not been shutout in over 190 games (longest streak in BIG-12)
• Look for Kansas State to have their hands full, but to win this one by a field goal with solid D and a great running attack

(Photo courtesy Al Diaz)

Auburn at Mississippi State (Saturday Noon)

• These two programs really hate each other. Last year's matchup or the year before for that matter.
• Bottom line these games are always exciting and close
• Keep both eyes on this one
• Auburn got a little roughed up against a solid and not yet 100% Clemson squad last week in the Dome. Tackling was poor and the offense was pretty vanilla.
• Miss. State is fired up for this one and Dan is looking for Win #2 and with a solid QB in Tyler Russel at the helm, I can understand why
• I see Auburn going 0-2 and loosing this one by 7

(Photo courtesy of Vince Ferrara)

 

East Carolina at South Carolina (Saturday 12:30 PM)

• Scary news out of last week's game. Conner Shaw with a deep bruise on throwing arm. Look for more of the same as he really likes to run
• Lattimore is back and after a 1st touch fumbe he reeled of 2 TDs and 110 yards
• And boy did DJ Swearinger get away with a pass interference late in the game. Vandy would have had the ball late in the game on the other side of the 50 with less than 2 minutes to play down by 4. Deep sigh of relief USC fans the SEC officials had your back.
• South Carolina should be concerned in the big picture - I don't see anyone on the edge that scares me. Maybe a WR will step up in Alshon's absence...either way they've got Lattimore and a stingy defense up front
• South Carolina will pull away around halftime and never look back

(Photo courtesy of Streeter Lecka)

Florida at Texas A&M (Saturday 3:30 PM)

• Welcome to the 2012 season and to the SEC
• A&M did not play last week, so it's a blessing and a curse
• They have plenty of time to prepare for Florida, who really has nothing to game plan against since there is no relevant game footage of them, but they could come out a little rusty due to no live reps
• Florida looked rough against Bowling Green. For a second there, I thought we were going to have an upset. Florida is very bland on offense and lacking in confidence
• Driskel is the QB but I'm not so sure if it will not take him until mid-season to hit stride behind that shaky Offensive Line. Defense is pretty good, but there are holes.
• I'm looking for A&M to make a splash and pull an upset

(Photo courtesy of Sam Greenwood)

Washington at LSU (Saturday 7:00 PM)

• LSU trotted out ex-UGA quarterback Zach Mettenberger and he looked as UGA predicted pretty darn good.
• LSU's ground game and defense picked up right where they were last year and they played and all around solid game
• Washington will have their hands full in this
• Look for LSU to win by 4 TDs

(Photo courtesy of Richard Reddman)

Nebraska at UCLA (Saturday 7:30 PM)

• Taylor Martinez lit it up against Southern Miss. You might say well its Southern Miss. 354 yards passing and 5 TDs is stout whatever you're measuring against.
• Coach Pellini has Nebraska charting towards the top in almost every statistical category and I expect them to keep it up with solid play again on Saturday and lace up UCLA
• Nebraska has a solid ground game that balances everything out with Ameer Abdullah and Rex Burkhead in the backfield
• Look for Nebraska to win by 10

Georgia at Missouri (Saturday 7:45 PM)

• This weekend's marquee game of the day as Missouri is formally introduced with an in-conference matchup against Georgia.
• This is the 5 star take the phone off the hook game of the day
• Expect a lot of UGA fans to be in attendance (with the Falcons in KC on Sunday, many are making a big football weekend out of it)
• Missouri will be pumped and Franklin is an amazing dual threat QB
• Missouri also has a stud freshman in Dorial Green-Beckham, but don't get caught looking because WR Jimmie Hunt can get it done too
• If UGA's defense is up to the task they should handle business and come home with a W
• Aaron Murray is veteran at this point, Todd Gurley made a big Freshman splash last weekend
• UGA will have to play sound defense where they keep their lanes to mitigate Franklin's running out of the pocket
• Latest from the program is Alec Ogletree, Bacarri Rambo, Chase Vasser, & Sanders Commings will not play in Saturday night's game (all starters)
• All that aside, I like GA by 10+ in this one

SEC RACE HOTTER THAN EVER

It is still early and a lot can happen, but the SEC race looks like it has slimmed down to 4 teams.

The SEC’s divisional races are ratings gold. In the latest edition of the South’s edition of "Must See TV", the SEC West race between Alabama and LSU is barreling down the tracks to November 5th in Tuscaloosa. This game will be out of hand, and no doubt be one of the best games of the year. Both have had their downs, but South Carolina and Georgia are both improving and appear to be on the upswing.


Over in the West...
LSU has been sensational. This team is playing with so much confidence, even their punter is talking trash. Les Miles has to be one of the most entertaining coaches in the history of the game. His players love him, and it is easy to see why. Tyrann Mathieu is making a claim for the Heisman and he's a cornerback, so that gives you a good indication of the talent in Baton Rouge. The QB situation has largely been a non-issue, and LSU's ground game has been solid behind Spencer Ware and Michael Floyd. Both LSU and Bama are body slamming opponents with clinical grade nasty-jaw dropping defense. Looking ahead, LSU heads to Rocky Top, then to Auburn, then has a bye week, and then Tuscaloosa.

Bama has been trotting out, quite possibly, Nick Saban’s best defense ever. They have pitched 2 shutouts they have a legit shot a pitching a couple more. Gameballs to Hightower and the entire defensive secondary at this point. The offense is clicking behind AJ McCarron, Trent Richardson, and Marquis Maze. Trent Richardson is another Heisman hopeful. He's been having a solid year. There are still some games left to play, but The Crimson Tide have to head to Oxford, then to Rocky Top, off week, then host LSU. The Crimson Tide could have a legitimate shot at another undefeated season.

Back in the East...
With South Carolina losing to Auburn back in Week 5, the door is still cracked open for Georgia to hang around. The Gamecocks, behind Conner Shaw (for the moment), look to continue the momentum they harnessed in this past weekend’s game against one the SEC’s most futile teams, Kentucky. They have to hit the road, head over to Starkville and face a damaged Mississippi State team, then an off week, then the Gamecocks go to Rocky Top, to Arkansas, and then host Florida. This could be a rocky 34 days for Carolina fans. With the offense appearing to be on the rebound this Carolina team could be tough to stop. The defense has been stellar this year. Melvin Ingram, Jadaveon Clowney and Marcus Lattimore get the Carolina mid-season game balls.

As for Georgia, they have seen the ship righted on the defensive side of the ball. A few Dawgs get some mid-season game balls: Jarvis Jones, Brandon Boykin, Bacarri Rambo on the Defensive side and Isaiah Crowell and Malcolm Mitchell on the offensive side. Showing tremendous upside, Todd Grantham’s defense is getting that foamy-at-the-mouth look that Georgia fans have been praying for in Athens. The offense for Georgia is showing signs of running smoothly, just not for long. As Georgia came of the second half gates and put up 14 points, they quickly popped the clutch in the second half and kept Tennessee in the game. Let’s give Tennessee credit. Injured, they have one of the best passing attacks around that is on the verge of full tilt. Isaiah Crowell and the return to a legitimate running threat at Georgia, have been the other driving forces in Georgia’s leveling off of the program. Malcolm Mitchell has stepped up in the wake of AJ Green.

Georgia heads to Vandy, then have an off week (which comes in at a big time with Crowell and Mitchell both needing to heal up), then head to The Cocktail Party, host New Mexico State, host Auburn, host Kentucky, and finish the season in Atlanata against GA Tech. The regular season finale has nothing to do with the SEC race, but watching GA Tech's ground game, against Georgia's increasingly stingy defense will be a fun one indeed.

Odds are muddy on Coach Richt bringing home the "W" from Jacksonville and running the table AND The Gamecocks dropping another SEC game, maybe Arkansas on the road. Who knows?

Both SEC matchups are equally interesting to keep an eye one. One matchup, The West, is a race between 2 thoroughbreds. The Dysfunctional SEC East is going to really show us what the 2 teams trying to find their way really have in them. Who wants it?

Look for Garcia to get thrown back into the fire before this one is done and on a big stage.

This is surely going to be fun watch pan out.

SOUTH CAROLINA: CAN GARCIA STAY ON TARGET THIS FALL

Congratulations to the South Carolina baseball team as they bring home a second straight College World Series trophy in historic fashion!

South Carolina is fresh off back to back championships, and they are the only team that will ever be able to say they won the last championship at Rosenblatt and the first championship in TD Ameritrade Park.



As fall rapidly approaches, the talk and the expectations will soon center solely on the football team. The hopes for a return trip and a better outing in Atlanta and a possible run at the National Championship rest on one man's shoulders, a 23 year old named Stephen Garcia.



Like a lot of college kids, Stephen Garcia, has had his share of trouble. Earlier this year he ran into another incident involving alcohol, and Coach Spurrier and the Athletic Director laid down the law. Basically one more incident and Garcia is gone.



Conner Shaw is not ready for Atlanta. If Carolina is going to make a run and find themselves playing big boy football on the first Saturday in December, then it is going to be with Garcia at the helm. Garcia could do a big service to his team and school by sitting down with the baseball team and picking up some of the eye of the tiger tips to focus in on the season ahead.

(Photo courtesy http://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/)

With big potential out there for this year's Gamecock football team, it is no wonder some are a bit worried and concerned. Carolina is the unquestionable frontrunner in the SEC East. If Garcia plays his cards right they might be ordering rings later this year, and possibly erecting a statue. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but you get the picture. If he finds himself in another bonehead situation, the wheels could come off very quickly in Columbia.

A lot is riding on this year for USC, and with a stacked offensive team including Alshon Jeffrey (SEC's #1 receiver and the nation's #4 receiver), Marcus Lattimore (SEC's #3 rusher and the nation's 28th ranked rusher), a solid offensive line and strong defense boosted by the addition of Jadaveon Clowney.



Garcia does not hold the top QB stats you would like to see. As far as QB Ratings go, Garcia is #5 in the SEC and #22 Nationally. He finished last season with 3059 passing yards, 20 TDs and 14 interceptions. The interceptions have to come down this year if USC wants to make a run at it. Lattimore will have to hold up for the long haul and have a repeat stellar performance. That is not small order as the number of returning freshman usually do not have incredible numbers on the ground in their sophomore season.



Garcia will need to put down the bottle and determine what is most important: drinking or grabbing the chance of a lifetime. He is currently in the SEC staring down his last year with a loaded team and an SEC East division that is still trying to find itself with Florida still cleaning house and switching gears post-Urban Meyer, UGA trying to determine if Mark Richt is the answer, and Kentucky and Vanderbilt still being years away but showing signs of improvement.



So which Stephen Garcia will we see this fall?



Will Carolina fans get, the Garcai who played the game of his life at home against Alabama back on October 9th where he went 17 for 20 with 201 yards, 3 TDs and 1 pick (which was not really his fault in my opinion)?



Or will we get the Stephen Garcia that lost 20-41 on the road against Arkansas back on November 6th where he went 14 for 29 with 161 yards, 1 TD and 2 picks?



We have about two months to see. Carolina opens up at home against East Carolina (September 3rd). Garcia then leads the Gamecocks back into hostile territory as they travel to Athens to play Georgia (September 10th).
 

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