Shane Shackleford

Last week, the SEC held serve (except Alabama and Texas, hmmm), winning their opening week matchups. The league went a solid 14-2. Most matchups were laughers, a few were semi tight, and a couple of games were on the right side of the decision columns. 

Let us discuss the week that was in the SEC. 

1. Alabama- Lost to Florida State 31-17. Let us get it out of the way. Bama laid an egg in Tallahassee. They have a ways to go if they intend to be a player at the top of the conference. Could coach Kalen DeBoer’s seat be beginning to heat up already? 

1. Arkansas- Beat Alabama A&M 52-7. Yawner in Fayetteville. We will see more in week two. 

1. Auburn- Beat Baylor 38-24. Good win for War Eagle. Hugh Freeze needs a bunch of them to keep the faithful on the Plains content. 

1. Florida- Beat Long Island 55-0. C’mon Gator Nation. Long Island? The Black Birds (I think) are just beginning football proceedings. 

1. Georgia- Beat Marshall 45-7. The Dawgs might be on the road back to dominance. Keep an eye on them. 

1. Kentucky- Beat Toledo 24-16. The Cats run game, defense, and special teams were particularly good. The passing game, well, could not pass a kidney stone. It must improve in a hurry with Ole Miss coming to LEX. 

1. LSU- Beat Clemson 17-10. Huge win on the road for the Bayou Bengals. They are my pick to get to Atlanta for an SEC Championship game date. 

1. Ole Miss- Beat Georgia State 63-7. Note to the Panthers: do not reach out and grab a player’s chain and toss it into the stands. The Rebels dismantled State across the board. The Cats have their hands full Saturday. 

1. Mississippi State- Beat Southern Miss 34-17. Kudos to Hail State for going to Hattiesburg and playing Brett Favre U. Always known as a tough place to play, the Dawgs held serve. 

1. Missouri- Beat Central Arkansas 61-6. Another yawner in Columbia. Hopefully, we will see more in Week 2. 

1. Oklahoma- Beat Illinois State 35-3. The Sooners were solid against the FCS Redbirds. Let us see how they look next week. 

1. South Carolina- Beat Virginia Tech 24-11. USC looked the part against the Hokies. QB Lanorris Sellers is the real deal. And they will wind up 8-4 after losing to some folks they should not. 

1. Tennessee- Beat Syracuse 45-26. Good win for Rocky Top in Atlanta over the Orange. Joey Aguliar is the right fit for the Vols Veer and Shoot offensive system. They will be fun to watch this season. 

1. Texas- Lost to Ohio State 14-7. Not the massive debut for Arch Manning as desired, but given the Horns credit, they went and played someone in week one. I think they will look better this week. 

1. Texas A&M- Beat UTSA 42-24. A good win for the Aggies. The Road Runners are no jokes- they are solid. But the jury is still out on A&M. Are they for real? 

1. Vanderbilt- Beat Charleston Southern 45-3. The Dores looked good against FCS Southern. Let us see about week two. 

Week 2 SEC Matchups- 

Last week, your friendly SEC guy went 13-3 in his predictions. 

1. Ole Miss at Kentucky. The Line is Miss by 9.5.  I think it could be tighter than that if the Cats can control the ball and limit the high-powered Ole Miss offense. If the Cats Zach Calzada can complete passes more than a 10/23 clip, this is a winnable game for the Cats. I am thinking they can. Prediction- UK 

1. San Jose State at Texas. Poor Spartans. They are going to figure out how it feels to hold off the Persians from back in the day. Prediction- Texas. 

1. Utah State at Texas A&M. Another sneaky matchup for the Aggies. The other Aggies are usually a competent team. They will give A&M a challenge for a bit. Prediction- Texas A&M. 

1. Austin Peay at Georgia. “Let’s Go Peay!” … will be chanted by UGA fans at halftime of this whipping. Prediction- Georgia. 

1. ETSU at Tennessee- At least Johnson City is not a long bus ride to and from Knoxville. Prediction- Tennessee. 

1. Kansas at Missouri. This game will be fun. It comes down to the wire. Prediction- Missouri. 

1. South Florida at Florida. The Bulls will be more of a challenge for the gators, but not enough to pull off the upset in the Swamp. Prediction- Florida. 

1. Arkansas State at Arkansas- Is it possible to like neither team based on their coaching, with Butch Jones at Arky State and Bobby Petrino at Arky? Prediction- Arkansas. 

1. South Carolina State at South Carolina- I do not think State has the answer to Lanorris Sellers. The Gamecocks by a lot. Prediction- South Carolina. 

1. Louisiana Tech at LSU. The Bulldogs will fight, but do not have the weapons to beat the Tigers. Prediction- LSU. 

1. Arizona State at Mississippi State. My upset special. The Sun Devils are good, but the environment at Davis Wade Stadium will be rocking. Plus, the Dawgs are vastly different. Prediction- Mississippi State. 

1. Michigan at Oklahoma. The Sooners open as a 2.5-point favorite. Both teams are even. The difference in the game will be the Sooner signal caller John Mateer. Prediction- Oklahoma. 

1. Ball State at Auburn- The Cardinals will fight, but come up short to War Eagle- Prediction-Auburn  

1. Vanderbilt at Virginia Tech. Vandy can absolutely go to Blacksburg and beat Tech. They have the system and the QB to do it. I think this game will be a fun one to watch with the decision coming late in the fourth quarter. Prediction- Va Tech. 

1. UL Monroe at Alabama- The Tide needs to rinse the taste of the loss to Florida State in a hurry. They do that at the expense of the Warhawks. Prediction- Alabama.