Tony Barnhart
By Tony Barnhart
We got off to a good start last Saturday as the SEC went 14-2. The two losses were Texas (14-7 at Ohio State) and Alabama (31-17 at Florida State).
Auburn had an impressive first outing, rushing for 307 yards in a 38-24 victory at Baylor. A HUGE win for Hugh Freeze.
I said during the entire summer that LSU was my dark horse to get to Atlanta and the Tigers played the part, beating Clemson 17-10 on the road.
I was also impressed with Georgia (45-7 over Marshall) and Tennessee (45-26 over Syracuse in Atlanta).
I could go on but it’s time to look ahead.
Remember that this season I am not picking games. But I am picking out my Five Favorite story lines of the week.
So here we go:
1—Oklahoma takes on Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood. This is the best game on the board in Week Two. You’ll see a great quarterback battle. Washington State transfer John Mateer was impressive in his Oklahoma debut, throwing for 392 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-3 win over Illinois State. That broke Baker Mayfield’s record for most yards in an Oklahoma debut.
Underwood was the No.1 recruit in the land and he is drawing rave reviews after completing 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards passing and one touchdown in a 34-17 win over New Mexico. But here is what you need to know.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was at Clemson when quarterback Trevor Lawrence led the Tigers to the 2018 national championship. Venables said this week that Underwood reminds him of Lawrence.
Stay tuned.
2—Ole Miss goes to Kentucky for the first SEC game of the season. Ole Miss surprised me last week when the Rebels just dominated Georgia State, 63-7. I thought Georgia State would keep it a little closer. But I went to see Coach Lane Kiffin a couple of weeks ago and he likes what he sees with this group, which is breaking in a new quarterback, Austin Simmons. This will be a contrast in styes. After going 4-8 (1-7 SEC) last season the Wildcats are going back to the basics: running the ball and playing defense.
The game is at Kroger Field in Lexington and it would be huge for the Wildcats and Coach Mark Stoops if they could find a way to win.
3—Mississippi State has a chance to pull off a huge upset against Arizona State in Starkville. After going 0-8 in the SEC in Jeff Lebby’s first season as head coach, Mississippi State needs something positive. The Bulldogs get the defending Big 12 champions and CFP representative coming to town.
Unless you have played in Starkvegas you can’t appreciate how hot and humid it can get this time of year. The temperature in Phoenix was 100 on Wednesday but the humidity was 26 percent. The temp in Starkville was 81 on the same day but the humidity was 68 percent.
And did I mention the cowbells? ‘Oh yeah. They have cowbells. And more cowbells
4—Kansas at Missouri is a really big deal. Yes, these schools are now in different conferences but if you have lived in that part of the country you know that these two teams really don’t like each other. They have meet 120 times with Missouri holding a 57-54-9 advantage. But they haven’t met in football since Nov. 26, 2011.
It may not mean a lot to the players, but it means a helluva lot to the fans.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz has to fight to get Mizzou the attention he fees it deserves. After all, Missouri has won 22 of its last of its last 25 games. The Tigers went 10-3 last season but didn’t get a sniff at the playoffs while Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina did get consideration.
A victory over the Jayhawks would certainly help.
5—Will Florida vs. South Florida be closer than the experts think? I don’t know about you, but I was shocked when South Florida opened the season with a 34-7 beat down of Boise State, a team many had picked to make the playoffs. So now South Florida will go to The Swamp as an 18.5-point underdog. And remember this: The Gators could be looking ahead to next week’s trip to LSU.
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