Wright’s Renegade SEC Football Picks

Strange week for the SEC. Auburn won (just) which was huge. This, though, was offset by some pretty miserable losses to teams that have no business beating SEC schools. Yes, we are looking at you Tennessee. Here is a recap of the season and some predictions for this week.

By Steve Wright

Last week’s record: 8-4

Overall record: 8-4

Exact score predicted: 0

Misses: Auburn over Oregon (Yay), North Carolina over South Carolina (Mack Brown effect), Wyoming over Missouri (Really?), and Georgia State over Tennessee (No words).

Closest Pick: Texas A&M 45, Texas State 10. Actual score was A&M 41, State 7. Just seven points off in total.

Saturday, September 7

West Virginia @ Missouri – How does Mizzou respond after the Wyoming horror show? The team has to find a pass rush and they can’t allow anything close to the near 300 yards on the ground they did against the Cowboys. The flip side is that WVU rushed for just 34 yards against James Madison. Something breaks here. Missouri 35, WVU 20.

Charleston Southern @ South Carolina – Furman just ran all over Charleston Southern in a 46-3 win. The Gamecocks will dominate this one at home and get last week out of their heads quickly. South Carolina 48, Charleston Southern 3.

Vanderbilt @ Purdue – Vanderbilt was toothless against Georgia last time out, while Purdue collapsed hard against Nevada. Purdue can throw the ball – Elijah Sindelar went for 423 yards through the air – but the Vandy secondary might be the best unit on the team. It’s time for Ke’Shawn Vaughn to break out. Vanderbilt 35, Purdue 27.

(12) Texas A&M @ (1) Clemson – Can the Aggies pick up an even bigger win for the SEC than Auburn did last weekend? Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence wasn’t very good against Georgia Tech, while Kellen Mond threw for 430 yards and three scores against the Tigers last season. Massive upset here. Texas A&M 31, Clemson 28.

Southern Miss @ Mississippi State – Mississippi State is going to get a break on the ground after allowing the Ragin’ Cajuns to run at will last weekend. Southern Miss managed just 96 yards rushing last week and that won’t be enough to keep this close. Mississippi State 30, Southern Miss 14.

New Mexico State @ (2) Alabama – Alabama is more than 50 point favorites against a massively outmatched Aggies’ side. ‘Bama will get the running game going and New Mexico State will barely get out of their own half. Alabama 62, New Mexico State 0.

Murray State @ (3) Georgia – The Racers prepared for this game by taking on NAIA school Pikeville last week. This is quite the step up from there. Georgia 58, Murray State 3.

BYU @ Tennessee – BYU has the size and talent to win in the trenches here against Tennessee. The Vols are in massive need of a bounce back win and a running game has to develop from somewhere after doing nothing against Georgia State. Another bad week for Jeremy Pruitt. BYU 20, Tennessee 27.

(6) LSU @ (9) Texas – This is a game that sounds like it should be played in late November as opposed to early September. This will be a physical, low scoring, throwback to what college football used to be. The battle of the Texas passing game against LSU’s elite cover corners will be fun to watch. LSU 27, Texas 21.

UT Martin @ (11) Florida – Florida are an over 40 point favorite against the Skyhawks (who have one of my favorite nicknames out there). Florida will be airing it out against a team that gave up 385 through the air last week. Florida 45, UT Martin 10.

Tulane @ (10) Auburn – This is a more dangerous game for Auburn than most think. Tulane can run the ball and looked great in beating FIU in Week 1. If there is any hangover from the Oregon game then this becomes a contest well into the second half. Auburn 35, Tulane 28.

EMU @ Kentucky – Kentucky will be looking for another solid defensive performance after that unit excelled in the second half against Toledo. I can only assume that if Kentucky wins here they go to the top of the MAC. Kentucky 31, EMU 13.

Arkansas @ Ole Miss – Two of the most disappointing teams in the league from Week 1 play in the only conference game on the slate. Ole Miss showed no offense in losing to Memphis, while Arkansas showed barely any either in squeaking out a seven-point win over Portland State. Weirdly this all makes it a game both need to win. We will go with the home side. Ole Miss 24, Arkansas 20.

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