Aaron Murray (11) and J.J. Green (15) will need to continue to play well with all of Georgia's injuries on offense. (Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports)
It’s going to be a fun football weekend in the Southeastern Conference. We’ve got some great matchups, including two Top 25 headliners and a couple of up-and-coming young teams against some of the established power teams.
Florida at LSU matches No. 17 vs. No. 10, while Missouri at Georgia is a matchup of No. 25 vs. No. 7.
No. 14 South Carolina has date with a revived Arkansas team under Bret Bielema, No. 9 Texas A&M will be at Ole Miss, a team trying to bounce back from two consecutive losses in the state of Alabama. Speaking of Alabama, the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide will be at Kentucky, where Mark Stoops’ Wildcats are attempting to get up and play with the big boys in the SEC.
As usual, we have two non-conference games with Bowling Green at Mississippi State and Western Carolina visiting Auburn.
Obviously the Florida-LSU game is the top game nationally. It comes down to Florida’s defense against LSU’s offense.
“They do an outstanding job offensively; they’re very balanced right now in what they do,” Florida’s Will Muschamp said of LSU. “Cam Cameron’s come in as offensive coordinator and has done an outstanding job. I think from the run game standpoint, obviously Les (Miles) being an offensive line coach, you see a lot of similarities, but where they’ve taken the next step obviously is in the throwing game. Zach Mettenberger is playing at a very high level, he’s completing 70% of his passes, but he’s so efficient and effective throwing the vertical balls down the field.”
Florida’s defense is on a roll. The Gators’ have not allowed more than 20 points in the past 12 SEC games.
“We’ve recruited well. We do a good job at developing our guys, whether it’s in the strength program, whether it’s coaching or whether it’s practicing the right way,” said Muschamp.”You take good talent and then guys are willing to have that blue-collar mentality and work hard at it and come together for a common purpose. You can do some good things and it’s probably a good mixture of all those things combined.”
Les Miles knows this will be the biggest test yet for his high-powered offense.
“They lead in all major defensive categories. Again, a very sound scheme. They don’t give up big plays. Again, Will Muschamp does a great job with that defense,” Miles said. “A very, very quality team and we’re looking forward to getting to work on him today. It’s a workday. We look forward to welcoming Florida to Tiger Stadium, and we expect that it will be a loud, very, very home team friendly crowd.” The Crystal Ball likes LSU 35, Florida 24
The Missouri-Georgia game finds Missouri (5-0) with the best record but Georgia (4-1) is ranked higher — although the Bulldogs have been decimated by injuries to the tailback and receiver positions. That means the door to playing time is open and ready to have some new players step up.
“At the receiver position, Michael Erdman is already learning and getting more reps,” Mark Richt said. “Michael has been in our program for awhile now, and he has a pretty good working knowledge of what we do. He’s been working mainly on the scout team, as has Blake Tibbs. Tibbs has also been in the program for a little while, and he has a working knowledge of our system. So it’s not like we’re going to teach them from scratch, but both of them have mostly spent time on the scout team.
“Obviously, our two freshman backs will have to be ready to carry the load. (Kyle) Karempelis and Brandon Harton have played well at tailback for us in the past, so we’ll expect them to be ready.”
Missouri is enjoying being ranked again and is looking forward to facing the Bulldogs.
“I think it is a good feeling for our team,” said Missouri’s defensive lineman Kony Ealy. “It is definitely going to get us closer to our ultimate goal. Other than that, we don’t worry about rankings. We just go out there, and worry about getting a win.
“It is going to be an exciting, and competitive game. We know that. There is nothing better than playing against great competition, and that is what you are going to see on Saturday in Georgia.” The Crystal Ball says Georgia 38, Missouri 21.
Here is what the Crystal Ball says about the rest of the SEC:
Texas A&M 45, Ole Miss 14
Alabama 35, Kentucky 0
South Carolina 17, Arkansas 14
Auburn 38, Western Carolina 14
Bowling Green 24, Mississippi State 22
