Mike and I were having dinner at the Tilted Kilt recently. Our waitress, while not only being a pretty young thing was also a huge football fan. She even stumped us with a trivia question. Two quarterbacks, from the same school, will face ach other this year in the NFL. The kicker is that the school is a Div 1AA school - so it's not MSU. Name the school and the players. Answer below.
With the NFL now in preseason - Chuck send along this tape of When Football was Football.
Love it or hate it - the SEC is always looking to one up everyone. This year the focus is on defense. Seven SEC teams changed defensive coordinators in the offseason, plus Vanderbilt HC Derrick Mason decided he'll run his own defense.
Here's how I see the SEC playing out this season.
With the NFL now in preseason - Chuck send along this tape of When Football was Football.
Love it or hate it - the SEC is always looking to one up everyone. This year the focus is on defense. Seven SEC teams changed defensive coordinators in the offseason, plus Vanderbilt HC Derrick Mason decided he'll run his own defense.
Here's how I see the SEC playing out this season.
One of my least favorite coaches has a huge chore in front of him. No - not St Nick. It's Lane Kiffin. He has to totally rebuilt the Crimson Tide offense. Gone are Bama's single-season passing record holder (Blake Sims),it's three top receivers (Amari Cooper, DeAndrew White and Christion Jones) and the school’s No. 4 all-time leading rusher (T.J. Yeldon). In fact, only three players return on offense and two of them are linemen. That's a lot of holes to fill. The biggest question mark, of course, is who will be the starting quarterback? Remember when there was talk of Braxton Miller transferring. Well, that didn't pan out so Kiffin had to sort through five QBs on the roster vying to be the guy. Former FSU transfer Jake Coker as the leading candidate. Kiffin will have plenty of players to choose from. Bama stockpiles 4 and 5 star talent like there's a zombie apocalypse coming. With inexperience on offense, the burden will be on Kirby Smart’s defense. The strength will be the front seven. Alabama’s line is deep and as talented with starters A’Shawn Robinson, Jarran Reed and Jonathan Allen back. Behind them, it looks solid too as LB Reggie Ragland turned down the NFL to return for his senior year. The secondary struggled last season allowing over 220 yards of passing in each of its last five games giving up 10 TDs against five picks. Gone are both starting safeties but four corners return with starting experience. With all the turnover on the offense, Vegas set the bar lower for 2015. Are there three losses on the schedule? Alabama hasn’t lost a season-opener since 2001, but a date with Wisconsin in Arlington, Texas, will be a stout test with an unproven offense. There are two tough true road games with @ Georgia and @ Auburn. A home date with LSU is always a good game too. Going against Bama in win totals has been fool hardy for several years. They have only lost 3 games in the regular season once since 2008. Why not? I'll make the Big Guy happy and take the UNDER |
That was painful for Razorback fans. Bret Bielema’s went winless in the SEC for 13 straight games. But then the system finally kicked in as Arkansas finished the 2014 season winning four out of its last six games. The Razorbacks hope to build on that momentum with the return of quarterback Brandon Allen, one of the nation’s top backfields and offensive lines. Allen is in line to become Arkansas’ first three-year starting quarterback since Matt Jones (2002-04) and his 5 picks is the fewest by a Razorback since 1992. But he’s working with his fourth offensive coordinator in five years with the arrival of former Spartan Dan Enos (HC Central Michigan). Arkansas has the Div 1A's only tandem 1,000-yard rushers from last season in Jonathan Williams (1,190 yards) and Alex Collins (1,100), who each rushed for 12 touchdowns. The could even do better as they will be running behind a line that returns four starters. Arkansas finally found a defense as it finished 10th nationally in yards allowed per game, But the front seven on defense must be retooled with DE Trey Flowers (Rd 4 New England), DT Darius Philon (Rd 6 Chargers) and LB Martrell Spaight (Rd 5 Redskins) off to the NFL The next step in the turnaround is to find a way to win on the road in league play - something they haven’t done since October 2012 - and learn how to win close games - they haven’t won an SEC game decided by a touchdown or less since October 2011. It will help if they learn to score when they have the ball near the cup. Overall, Arkansas scored just 78.5% of the time in the red zone and came up with touchdowns on 64% of its chances. Considering there were five losses by a touchdown or less, not scoring six times in those games when getting inside the 20 was a killer Can they get the gimmies and win nine games? The schedule features @ Alabama, @ Mississippi and @ LSU. Auburn at home is going to be a struggle too. There's probably three losses in there which leaves only one more to get the under. @ Tennessee could be the one. I'll take the UNDER |
There are a lot smiles and high expectations in Auburn these days. Last winter they landed the nation's top defensive recruit. And no, he wasn't getting ready for the prom. It was former Florida HC Will Muschamp. Muschamp takes over as the DC with the goal of turning an OK to good defense into something special - something national title special. His first line of business will be to fix the pass rush that produced a meager 10 sacks last year. The secondary needs an overhaul too as Auburn lost no less than five DBs to transfers since last year. Things are so desperate that they are looking forward to Blake Countess coming in from Michigan. The good news is that the three leading tacklers from last year, LB Cassanova McKinzy, LB Kris Frost and DB Jonathon Ford are all back. On offense, the biggest story is how good is new starting QB Jeremy Johnson. Johnson takes over for QB Nick Marshall (UDFA Jacksonville).The 6'5", 240-pound Johnson is not elusive like Marshall was but he’s a big, skilled runner with a great passing upside. That passing game got a big boost when WR D'haquille Williams decided to forego the NFL. The SEC's leading rusher RB Cameron Artis-Payne has taken his talents to the NFL (Rd 5 Carolina) as well as backfield mate Corey Grant (UDFA Jacksonville). Next up in Malzahn's system are the #1 JUCO running back Jovon Robinson and former 5 star recruit Roc Thomas. The offensive line must replace Rimington Trophy award winning center Reese Dismukes but welcomes back freshman All American Alex Kozan who missed the 2014 season due to back surgery. Look, its Auburn. Malzahn's system works. The offensive will be explosive. If Muschamp can work his magic on the defense the team could be in the hunt for the playoffs. Can it get to 8.5 win? The scheduler hasn't done the Tigers a lot of favors lately. Over the last two years they have had the nation's toughest schedule with opponents sporting a .651 win percentage. This year they kick off the season with a game against a dangerous Louisville squad just up I-85 in Atlanta. They also have @LSU and @Arkansas. The home slate features Georgia, Mississippi State and what should be another classic Iron Bowl with Bama. They would have to lose four of those six games to go under. They won't. I'll go with the OVER |
Florida has been the anti-Cal for the last couple of years - all defense, no offense. To cure the offensive woes, Florida hired Jim McElwain from Colorado State. Jim McElwain didn’t win the Mountain West title at Colorado State. He didn’t even win the Mountain division. But he does bring an offensive indset, McElwain was the OC for Alabama prior to heading to Ft Collins. First order of business - who will be the starting QB -Will Grier and Treon Harris? Harris is a dual threat QB who, as a freshman, went 4-2 as a starter. Grier, is more of a pocket passer which makes him better suited to McElwain’s play action, vertical passing scheme. Harris' scrambling ability may give him a leg up though. The Gator's offensive line lost four players to the NFL causing a huge hole up front. The Gators have only one returning player on the line who started a game last year. In fact only, only six healthy scholarship OL suited up during the spring. With that much inexperience, Florida will struggle to establish a physical running game, The passing game can't get any worse as it finished 104th last year. While Florida may have struggled on offense under Muschamp, the defenses were fantastic. The Gators finished the past four regular seasons ranked among the nation’s top-10 defenses. To maintain that level of excellence, McElwain brought over defensive coordinator Geoff Collins from Mississippi State. Collins loves to bring the pressure and he has many of the pieces are already in place to be nasty again this year - beginning with a talented secondary. Two-time All-SEC CB Vernon Hargreaves III anchors an excellent defensive backfield that returns three other starters as well. Florida’s front seven has some holes though. DE Dante Fowler (Rd 1 Jacksonville) and LB Neiron Ball (Rd 5 Oakland) are collecting Sunday paychecks. The Gators’ top two returning linebackers, Antonio Morrison and Jarrad Davis, are recovering from knee injuries sustained late last season. DL Jon Bullard’s decision to return for his senior season was a welcome surprise for the front four. He and Bryan Cox Jr. are the only Florida linemen who have started a college game. With a young team (the Gators players have only 129 returning starts back from last season, tied for the lowest in the SEC) can McElwain improve to 7.5 wins? The three layups are New Mexico State, Vanderbilt and Florida Atlantic. After that it's East Carolina and @ Kentucky. They will need a win over Tennessee too and an upset over Georgia in the Cocktail party. That is still only seven. Maybe a win @ South Carolina gets them over the top. I don't see it. I'll take the UNDER |
Georgia fans are frustrated if not delusional. Head coach Mark Richt has more victories in his 14 seasons than any coach not named Bob Stoops, Tom Osborne or Barry Switzer. Richt is 80-37 in SEC games, 46-15 in an opponent’s stadium and 13-9 versus ranked foes. And 30 of his 48 losses have been by a TD or less. Yet he always seems one step away from the hot seat because of his near misses in getting titles. This season, Richt brings new OC Brian Schottenheimer from the St Louis Rams to replace Mike Bobo who left to become HC at Colorado State. Schottenheimer's first task will be to find a replacements for QB Hutson Mason (UDFA Washington), who finished second in SEC passing efficiency last year, and RB Todd Gurley (Rd 1 St Louis), who finished his career with 3,285 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns – despite missing most of 2014 with a knee injury. All-SEC RB Nick Chubb made Dawg fans quickly get over Gurley's injury with his 1,547 yards rushing. The quarterback situation is far less settled. Three players are vying for the starting position with Sophomore Brice Ramsey in the pole position. Ramsey was merely adequate when he had to come in for Hutson for the second half of last years Belk Bowl. Ramsey should get excellent protection as he learns his craft as four linemen return for Georgia. Georgia has relied on being able to run the ball and stop the run. The running game should be there this year and so should the run defense. The return of Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins gives Georgia one of the better linebacking corp in the country. The loss of CB Damian Swann (Rd 5 saints) will be felt in the secondary but it should be effective. Can Georgia get to 10 wins and exceed last years total. They are considered the favorite (again) for the SEC East title. The two most difficult road games will be @Georgia Tech and @ Auburn. Bama is at home as is the key East matchup with Missouri. Playing Florida is never a gimmie. Three losses sounds about right I'll PASS . |
It was a tale of two seasons in Lexington last year. After starting out 5-1 and on the cusp of a bowl game, the Wildcats collapsed as the competition got tougher - finishing out 0-6 and staying home for the holidays. On offense, OC Neal Brown left to become HC at Troy. HC Mark Stoops when back to the Hal Mumme coaching tree and plucked OC Shannon Dawson from West Virginia. Dawson has some nice pieces coming back but he needs to make improvements. Jr QB Patrick Towles (grandson of HOF pitcher Jim Bunning) returns after throwing for over 2,700 yards last fall. RB Staney "Boom" Williams and his 1,159 of all purpose yards also returns. But if Kentucky wants to make a bowl they need to drastically improve in this area. The OL returns pretty much intact although OT Darrian Miller will be playing for Cleveland (UDFA) this year. The defense, never a strong suit at Kentucky, now must deal with the loss of two start players in in LB Bud Dupree (Rd 1 Pittsburgh) and DE Za’Darius Smith (Rd 4 Baltimore). Stoops has been disguising a dearth of talent with multiple defensive sets but it catches up to him sooner or later. The Wildcats will continue to rely on the offense to win games. Can they get that magical sixth win and go to a bowl? Not with the 5th most difficult schedule in 2015. UL Lafayette, Eastern Kentucky and UNC Charlotte should be wins. They may get another one in @ Vanderbilt. But after that it will take a couple of upsets over @ South Carolina, Florida or Louisville. I'll take the UNDER |
Is Les Miles finally on the down side of his career? It happens. And when the slide starts - it's tough to pull out of the dive. Just ask Mack Brown and Bobby Bowden. Even Frank Beamer may want to weigh in. Miles has been in a downward trajectory for the last several years. After capturing the SEC title in 2011, the Tigers have fallen each and every year in the SEC West standings, dropping from 1st to 2nd (2012) to 3rd (2013) to 5th (2014). Is this the year LSU gets back on track? Having their annual QB controversy doesn't help. The fans want highly touted Brandon Harris. The coaching staff was leaning towards Anthony Jennings. When Harris got his one start last year against Auburn, it wasn't pretty. Harris went 3 of 14 for 58 yards as Auburn won 41-7. Jennings didn't exactly light the world on fire either as the Tigers finished 116th in passing yards. But then Jennings got suspended for "unlawful entry" into a dorm room. He says it was to retrieve his stuff. Not a great summer in Baton Rouge. While Harris figures out how to pass the ball he will rely on the running game. It's in good hands with superstar recruit, sophomore RB Leonard Fournette. Fournette ran for over 1,000 yards while splitting the carries with Terrence Magee (UDFA Baltimore). He will be the feature back this year and should do even better. On defense, former DC John Chavis left because he was tired of bailing out the lethargic offense. Going to Texas A&M should make him feel better. In comes Kevin Steele from Bama where he coached the LBs. Prior to that he was DC at Clemson. Fans were a little upset until Miles announced that Ed Orgeron would coach the DL. Don't expect many changes in the defense. It'll be fine Last year it was 5th best in giving up points. And DB "U" should continue to roll with the return of former Freshman All America DB Jalen Mills and safety Jamal Adams. Can LSU get back to being LSU again and win 9 or more games? I'll go with losses to Auburn and @ Bama and one more for a 9-3. That's too close to 8.5 with an unproven QB I'll PASS |
While LSU has regressed, Ole Miss has increased its win total in each of coach Hugh Freeze’s three years. For better or worse. the QB Bo Wallace era is over. Bo could be great one game and then have a total melt down the next. The leading candidate to replace Bo is headcase Chad "$wag" Kelly. Kelly was dismissed from Clemson for disciplinary reasons, then went on to become the overall #1 JUCO QB, signs with the Rebs only to get caught in a bar brawl in Buffalo where he is serving community service. If he keeps his act straight, the offense should be explosive. The Rebs return all five offensive linemen and potential first round draft pick WR LaQuon Treadwell. But for all the hype about Freeze being an offensive genius, it was the defense that carried the day. Ole Miss was #1, that's right - the nations best, in fewest points allowed. Nine starters return including former overall #1 recruit DT Robert Nkemdiche. The front seven will be among the best in the country. The secondary may struggle as it attempts to replace two All-Americans in the secondary Senquez Golson (Rd 2 Steelers) and Cody Prewitt (UDFA Tennessee). Can Mississippi continue their upward trajector. Vegas has them leveling off at 8.5 wins.. After playing the second most difficult schedule over the last two years, this years schedule is littered with cupcakes including UT Martin, New Mexico State and Vandy. The toughest games are @Bama, @Auburn and @Mississippi State. LSU is a home game as is Arkansas. This one comes down to whether $wag goes the straight and narrow path. I think he does. I'll take the OVER |
From the penthouse to the outhouse. Last year for the first time in its history, Mississippi State claimed its first-ever No. 1 national ranking – a spot they held for five straight weeks. Then they plummeted, dropping three of their final four games. Worse, they failed to land a spot in the first-ever College Football Playoffs after riding in the pole position most of the season. And things don't look to get better as the Bulldogs return only 7 starters overall from last year's team. The 129 returning starts is tied for fewest in the SEC. One player coming back, though, is star QB Dak Prescott. Prescott had a phenomenal year amassing 4,470 total yards. This year though he'll be playing a makeshift offensive line. The Bulldogs must replace their starting guard, tackle and center. In fact all three top centers from last year gone. And to add more misery, the other MSU will need to fill holes in the backfield and in the receiving corps. The defense has major holes to fill too starting with the defensive line. Preston Smith (Rd 2 Redskins) is off the the NFL. One of three starting DL not coming back. The linebacking corps lost Benardrick McKinney (Rd 2 Houston) and Mathew Wells (Rd 2 New England) to the NFL too. The secondary, which allowed the most passing yards in the SEC, must replce three starters too. New DC Manny Diaz (DC La Tech) has a pretty full plate. Vegas took notice of the massive player turnover and dropped the expected win total to seven. Southern Miss, Northwestern State and Troy are three easy wins. La Tech has improved but it should be a fourth win and Kentucky might get you to five. But after that it's @ Auburn, @ Arkansas, Bama @ Texas A&M. I don't see seven wins. I'll take the UNDER |
When the SEC expanded to 14 teams, the big catch was Texas A&M. Missouri was considered an after thought. That is until the Tigers won back to back SEC East championships. To go to Atlanta for a third straight year, Mizzou will need QB Maty Mauk to be less erratic. The same player who led the Tigers to a 7-1 SEC record also threw four picks in a loss to Georgia and lost to Indiana at home. He'll won't get a lot of help from his WRs. For the second year in a row, Missouri loses their top three WRs to graduation. The returning WRs have a total of 10 career catches. The offensive line returns intact including all SEC center Evan Boehm. With RB Russell Hansbrough and his 1,000 yards rushing returning too it looks like Mizzou will rely heavily on the ground game. New DC Barry Odom did an excellent job resurrecting the Memphis defense. He starts his career in Columbia having to replace two all SEC DEs in Markus Golden (Rd 2 Arizona) and Shane Ray (Rd 1 Denver). The linebacking corps is battle tested with Kentrell brothers and Michael Scherer returning. The defensive backfield pretty much returns intact an should be a strength again. Vegas has consistently underestimated Missouri and this year may be no different as the win total is set at 7.5. With the easiest schedule in the SEC it looks like the Tigers may go over yet once again. Mizzou opens Missouri St, @ Arkansas St, UConn, @ Kentucky, South Carolina and @ Kentucky - a potential 6-0 start to the season. Things get much harder after that with @ Georiga but @ Vandy could notch a 7th win and Mississippi State as 8. I'll take the OVER |
After three straight years of going 11-2, the Gamecocks collapsed to 7-6 last year and 3-5 in conference play.. The Ol Ball Coach has his work cut out for him as he has to replace seven starters on offense including QB Dylan Thompson. (UDFA San Francisco). Thompson set the school’s single-season passing record last year with 3,564 yards. The likely replacement is sophomore Connor Mitch. Mitch completed only two passes last year for 19 yards. RB Mike Davis’ will also need to be replaced after leaving early for the NFL (Rd 4 San Francisco). South Carolina will rely heavily on returning Jr wide receiver and All SEC WR Pharoh Cooper. The offensive line will need to be rebuilt too after OT Corey Robinson (Rd 7 Detroit) and OG AJ Cann (Rd 3 Jacksonville) got drafted this spring. While the offense was nothing special last year, it was the defense that let the team down starting with a 52-28 wedgie by Texas A&M. Teams scored at will on the Cock defense that ended up 91st in points allowed. Spurrier reached out to Brady Hoke's older brother and old buddy from their Florida days to turn things around. Hoke started by putting in a traditional 4-3 replacing a gimmicky 4-2-5. Nine starters return but the most will be needed on the defensive line which finished 114th in sacks. Hoke is hoping that JUCO superstar DE Marquavius Lewis will generate some production. Was 2014 the an aberration or the start of a long decline? Spurrier is always good for some magic on offense so it will be up to Hoke to get the wins. The schedule is no cakewalk yet Vegas has upped the win total to 7. The out of conference schedule includes North Carolina, Central Florida and Clemson. There could easily be two losses in there. The SEC Slate includes @ Georgia, @ Missouri, LSU and @ Tennessee. That could be another three losses. Spurrier will be throwing his visor around while he breaks in a new QB. I'll take the UNDER |
With South Carolina tanking last year - it was Tennessee that took over as hot new chick in the bar. The Vols snapped a three year run of 5 wins by going 7-6 including a beat down of Iowa in the coveted TaxSlayer Bowl. Now everyone is looking Tennessee's way this year as they return 18 starters with 240 starts - the most in the SEC. QB Joshua Dobbs’ rise from third on the depth chart to being the star of Tennessee’s 2014 bowl push was quite a huge surprise. Tennessee’s backfield duo of Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara is as good as anyone's in the East as are the WRs. The return of WR Marquez North from a shoulder injury that ended his 2014 season will be a huge boost, The offensive line returns four starters but needs to improve. The group allowed 43 sacks and gave up more yards due to sacks (305) than all but two FBS teams. The best returning unit is the defensive line. Back are Derek Barnett and Curt Maggitt, who combined for 21 sacks last season. Also returning is LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin who is coming off a breakout season as a sophomore and is expected to lead the team in tackles once again this year. The Vols’ defensive backfield, led by cornerback Cameron Sutton, should also be one of the conference’s best. But as talented as the defense is - they need to improve in the red zone. Tennessee allowed opposing offenses to score 32-of-34 times in the red zone giving up a whopping 23 touchdowns The Vols ended up 110th in the nation in allowing touchdowns inside the red zone. Is this the year Tennessee gets over the hump and becomes Tennessee again? Vegas sees them as a team on the rise increasing the win total to 7.5. The SEC East is there for the taking. The out of conference slate has Bowling Green, Oklahoma, Western Carolina and North Texas. That should be three wins. Four if this is really going to be the Vols of old. @ Florida, @ Kentucky, and Vanderbilt gets you to 6-7 wins. Which means that you need only 1-2 wins in key SEC dates with Georgia, South Carolina and Missouri. HC Butch Jones has this team on the right track. I'll take the OVER |
Remember when they were getting ready to hand Ken "Trill" Hill the Heisman after blasting South Carolina in week 1. That didn't end so well. Hill got suspended after eight games and has now transferred to TCU. His replacement,wunderkind FR QB Kyle Allen, went 3-2 and will be the A&M starter this year. The problems on offense didn't end with Trill, the Aggies regressed by 9 points and 83 YPG. So HC Kevin Sumlin brought in former Wyoming HC Dave Christensen as OC and OL coach to re-energize the offense. For all the press the Aggies get for putting offensive tackles in the NFL, including Cedric Ogbuehi (Rd 1 Cincinnati) last year and Jake Matthews (Rd 1 Atlanta) in 2014, the unit actually struggled. The Aggies may have ran for 20 touchdowns on the season, but when the competition stiffened, the production dropped. Against Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn, Missouri and LSU, A&M ran for a total of two scores. And they allowed 27 sacks on the year. Christensen has his hands full. The bigger hire was actually on the defensive side of the ball. DC John Chavis was hired away from LSU for a very good reason. He knows how to stop A&M. In Sumlin's seven years as a head coach, three of his six lowest-scoring games came against Chavis and LSU. Chavis will need to fix a defense that allowed 36.6 points per game. His style of one on one coverage with the CBs and getting after the QB should force more turnovers than the 13 that A&M did last year. DE Myles Garrett set a freshman SEC record with 11.5 sacks last year and should benefit under Chavis' system. The back seven has been inconsistent. Expect to see a lot of early season learning problems under Chavis. The SEC West will be in flux this year. Auburn is on the rise, Arkansas looks to step up too while Mississippi State will be regrouping. Where does that leave A&M. Vegas has them pegged at 7.5 wins. Is there five losses? The Aggies start with a huge test when they face Arizona State in Houston. They also have @Arkansas, Alabama, @ Mississippi and Auburn. Which means it could come down to @LSU to determine whether they win 7 or 8. Until I see what Chavis can do to fix the defense- I'll lean to the UNDER |
That was awful - even by Vanderbilt standards. The 'Dores started out the season with high hopes after back to back nine win seasons. They prormptly came out of the gate getting destroyed by 37-7 (as an 8.5 favorite no less). Things went down hill from there as Vandy went 3-9 with no wins over anyone with a pulse. Part of the reason was the lack of experience. 26 players made their first ever start last year - the most in the nation. Safe to say nothing went right for Vanderbilt - Passing? 107th Rushing? Rushing - 116th? Points for? 17.2 or 119th; Points allowed? 33.3 106th. Everything needs improvement. HC Derek Mason started out by firing his coordinators. He lured Andy Ludwig (OC Wisconsin) to run the Commodores’ attack. Ludwig’s first order of business is to identify a quarterback between holdovers Johnny McCrary and Wade Freebeck. Both started multiple games last year; neither played well enough to stake a claim as the "this job is mine" starter. RB Ralph Webb, rushed for 912 yards as a redshirt freshman, comes back to lead the rushing attack. The OL returns four starters and needs to improve on the SEC worst 3.4 yards per run play. The WR corp is young and is not expected to be anything special. Mason looked far and wide for a DC and settled on - himself! He will be calling the plays on defense. He hopes that another year of experience will pay dividends. The two leading tacklers return, freshmen Nigel Bowden and Zach Cunningham. Sophomore LB Stephen Weatherly also returns. He led the team in both tackles for a loss (12.5) and sacks (4.5). The unit will be much better if they can generate turnovers. Vandy went -16 in the turnover margin. With a below average secondary. Don't expect much improvement. Vegas expect Vanderbilt to remain in its historical bottom dweller position and kept the win total equal with last year - 3. Is there four wins on the schedule. Austin Peay is the only slam dunk. Hosting Western Kentucky should be a win but not a given. Nor is @ Middle Tenn State. But lets say they win those three. The best remaining win is @ Houston or Kentucky. Vandy is going to struggle but three wins is too low a bar to get under. I'll PASS |
TRIVIA ANSWER - While Tom Brady takes a well deserved four game "break" Jimmy Garoppolo will fill in as QB. Jimmy G hails from Eastern Illinois as does Tony Romo who he will play in week 4