🏈 PJ's Picks- Week 7

[psychojoe]

After last week your old prognosticator needs to get a tune up on his crystal ball. If you had gone opposites on all of my picks you would have done well indeed.

All this talk about the SEC eating its own is beginning to happen now. So far the PAC 12 has suffered even more mayhem. If you had said in August that Arizona would be the last undefeated team in that league would have been ridiculed off the stage.

Oregon at UCLA

Last week this game looked like a game with major playoff implications. After last week's binge of upsets, this one is an elimination game, so to speak. UCLA went down to surprisingly good Utah. Oregon's offensive lines troubles have caught up with them, and their Heisman contending QB has been sacked 11 times in their last two games. UCLA will continue the bad days for Mariota. In a mild upset

PJ's Pick- UCLA 34 Oregon 28

 

[psychojoe]

USC at Arizona
The Trojans would really love to have the rules changed to shorten the length of the game to 58 minutes. they were leading in both of their losses at that point. they are truly a two loss team only two plays away from being unbeaten. Arizona stunned the nation this past weekend. It is still hard to imagine a Rich Rodriguez team winning because of its defense. My thoughts on this game are that the Wildcats won't get through this one, and USC will end its run of tough luck.

PJ's Pick - USC 28 Arizona 24

 

[psychojoe]

TCU at Baylor

In the old Southwest conference, the TCU-Baylor game was usually irrelevant. Typically, Texas and Arkansas battled for the conference championship while TCU and Baylor battled to be at least mediocre. This year reverses that old order, as the Longhorns are having a very unhappy season, and the Hogs are trying to deal with the tiger pit that is the SEC west. The winner of this game is the last man standing as undefeated in the Big 12. If it is Baylor, they still have to play Oklahoma, but if it is TCU they would game up on the league, and owning the tie break against the two principal rivals.

Baylor has been noted for high powered offenses over the last few seasons, but the Briles led Bears are looking better on defense this season. You could count on a Gary Patterson defense to be well coached and tough as nails, but this year they have some talent on the offensive side of the ball. This is a very interesting game, and one of considerable national importance. To me, th ehome field advantage tilts this one towards the Bears.

PJ's Pick - Baylor 33 TCU 28

 

[psychojoe]

Chattanooga at Tennessee

These schools are separated by seventy or so miles of Interstate 75 geographically, though much more in the football worlds they inhabit. Chattanooga competes in the world of Samford and Jacksonville State, while the Vols run with the big dogs. This is a week for the Vols to get their heads back together after coming oh so close to winning against both of their ancient foes, Georgia and Florida. Time to regroup and press on. Not much trouble this week for the Vols.

PJ's Pick: Tennessee 45 Chattanooga 7

 

[psychojoe]

Charleston Southern at Vanderbilt

It is hard to picture one team falling s far in just one season. Vanderbilt's defense is decent, and they continue to play hard, but their offense makes Florida's attack look good by comparison. This game comes at an opportune time, as the 'Dores can get the pleasure of winning, even though it is an FCS foe. Before this past Saturday, Vandy's defense and special teams had more touchdowns than their offense. This week the 'Dores should actually be able to move the ball.

PJ's PICK: Vanderbilt 31 Charleston Southern 7

 

[psychojoe]

ULM at Kentucky

The Wildcats look to make it three in a row. They are in rarefied air for them, 4-1, 2-1 in the SEC, and they had chances to beat Florida. They have a legitimate shot at winning the SEC East now. Before they get too caught up in that, they need to make sure they don't overlook ULM. The Warhawks can have sharp talons, as a few SEC teams have discovered over the years. Kentucky has not gotten used to winning yet, so Mark Stoops should have his guys ready to play.

PJ's Pick: Kentucky 34 ULM 10

 

[psychojoe]

LSU at Florida

Many times in the past this game been a primo affair, with national rankings and prestige on the line. This year it brings together two programs who are close to having their season go south. LSU came into the season with two untested quarterbacks, and while each one has had a few bright moments they have both shown themselves to be not quite ready for prime time. In a lot of seasons LSU would work around this by relying on an outstanding defense. This year is unusual, in that John Chavis's defense has displayed a glaring inability to stop the inside running game, and their secondary has not been up to their usual level of excellence.

Florida came out of their game with Tennessee encouraged by the return of their defense to a high level, and buoyed that their freshman QB had sparked the offense in their fourth quarter comeback. Then, off the field events caught up with them, and Gator fans are glum that once again Jeff Driskill will be at the helm on offense.

Although LSU has a lot of talent at the receiver and running back positions, poor QB play has greatly reduced the effectiveness of these players. The Florida defense should be able to shut down LSU. Florida's offense is certainly nothing that is fun to watch, but they should be able to win this one by pounding away at LSU's interior defense with Jones and Taylor.

PJ's Pick: Florida 17 LSU 10

 

[psychojoe]

Georgia at Missouri

The Dawgs take their powerhouse offense on the road this week. 'Zou is hard to figure this year. Their defense looked to have reloaded from last year, then Indiana shredded it. Maty Mauk has looked like a world beater at times. They are the only team in the East still unbeaten in conference play. Georgia basically found a way to lose on the road at the other Columbia. My thought is that Mauk will shred their porous secondary, and that the Missouri defense will come up with enough stops to get a win.

PJ's Pick: Missouri 37 Georgia 33.

 

[psychojoe]

Ole Myth at Texas A&M

Ole Miss finds itself in the spotlight once more. If you win a big game this year, the next game gets even bigger. The Rebs find themselves in the rarefied air of the top 5 nationally. Meanwhile the Aggies can testify that the other Mississippi school is for real. The Rebels on offense are not as well equipped to exploit the Aggies weak defense against the run as State was. That should allow aTm to concentrate their defense against the pass. As we saw, Ole Miss has a terrific defense. The famous twelfth man will be a factor in this one. If the Rebels win this one, their hopes for the season get even higher, while if aTm wins, they are right back in the thick of the tumultuous race in the SEC west. In an upset-

PJ's Pick: Texas A&M 28 Ole Miss 24

 

[psychojoe]

Auburn at Mississippi State

The big celebration in Stark Vegas should be just about over by now. The western division version of the bulldogs can't be still enjoying the win, as another undefeated team comes to town. It will be interesting to see how the Barn's high powered offense does in the raucous atmosphere of loud fans and clanging cowbells. The two offenses are similar, though State does not use the hurry up as much as Auburn. I give the home team a bit of an edge on defense because of a better secondary. The motto for the Bulldog fans this week is "What we need is more cowbell". That they will have plenty of.

PJ's Pick: Mississippi State 34 Auburn 31

 

[psychojoe]

Alabama at Arkansas

Year two of the Arkansas transformation is showing signs of progress. The Hogs are becoming the potent ground and pound running team that Bielma had at Wisconsin. They let a game that the should have won get away from them in their last game against A&M. The word is that they spent much of their off week preparing for us. They are looking to end two streaks. They have not beaten Alabama since 2006, Mike Shula's last year at the Capstone. They have not won a conference game since 2012. If they can pull this off, another wild celebration will occur at our expense.

Arkansas does not bring a style we are not used to. They will try to run behind their huge offensive line, playing to the skills of their triumvirate of running backs, with a little play action in the passing game thrown in. This is one game where we can play our big guys and get our substitutions in. They actually huddle, the first time we will have seen that this year.

This is one we should win, but I don't think it will be easy. A lot of teams are thinking that this is the year for payback. The 24 hour rule applies to all games, not just wins.

PJ's Pick: Alabama 28 Arkansas 17

 

[bcracker]

Alabama at Arkansas

Year two of the Arkansas transformation is showing signs of progress. The Hogs are becoming the potent ground and pound running team that Bielma had at Wisconsin. They let a game that the should have won get away from them in their last game against A&M. The word is that they spent much of their off week preparing for us. They are looking to end two streaks. They have not beaten Alabama since 2006, Mike Shula's last year at the Capstone. They have not won a conference game since 2012. If they can pull this off, another wild celebration will occur at our expense.

Arkansas does not bring a style we are not used to. They will try to run behind their huge offensive line, playing to the skills of their triumvirate of running backs, with a little play action in the passing game thrown in. This is one game where we can play our big guys and get our substitutions in. They actually huddle, the first time we will have seen that this year.

This is one we should win, but I don't think it will be easy. A lot of teams are thinking that this is the year for payback. The 24 hour rule applies to all games, not just wins.

PJ's Pick: Alabama 28 Arkansas 17

I know it's too much to ask, but I would like to see a blow out in this one. My heart can't take many more Ole Miss-type games.

 

[Bamabww]

Another good job @psychojoe.

 

[rick4bama]

Georgia at Missouri

The Dawgs take their powerhouse offense on the road this week. 'Zou is hard to figure this year. Their defense looked to have reloaded from last year, then Indiana shredded it. Maty Mauk has looked like a world beater at times. They are the only team in the East still unbeaten in conference play. Georgia basically found a way to lose on the road at the other Columbia. My thought is that Mauk will shred their porous secondary, and that the Missouri defense will come up with enough stops to get a win.

PJ's Pick: Missouri 37 Georgia 33.

You think it will be this close?

 

[psychojoe]

Rick, even without Gurley, Georgia does have other good running backs. If I were doing the picks now instead of Monday, I would have changed it, but not by a whole lot.

 

[TerryP]

Rick, even without Gurley, Georgia does have other good running backs. If I were doing the picks now instead of Monday, I would have changed it, but not by a whole lot.

I'd have to look to be sure but I think they're down to two and Chubb has a broken finger/thumb.

 

[TerryP]

...and then I decide to glance at the twitter feed here...