SEC Games of Interest Sept. 15, 2007

Tennessee Volunteers at Florida Gators

Vols senior QB Erik Ainge was 23-for-36 against Southern Miss for 276 yards and two TDs. Ainge has thrown 83 passes this season without an interception. The 276 yards is the fifth-highest passing total of his career. Ainge completed his first seven passes against Southern Miss.

Florida scored 49 points in the first half to post a 59-31 win over Troy. The 49 points ties the most Gator points in a half under head coach Urban Meyer. The 59 points scored by the Gator offense are the second most by a Gator team under head coach Urban Meyer. The most is 62, set last season against Western Carolina. With the win, Florida extends its home win streak to 17 games, tied for fourth longest in school history. The win also gives Meyer a 15-0 record at the Swamp.

My Prediction: To close to call, however I think Florida manages to pull out a win thanks to the home field advantage, however Tim Tebow has an awful game and unless Urban Meyer protects him, he may end up injured.

Arkansas Razorbacks at Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama improved to 2-0 on the season and notched its first SEC victory under head coach Nick Saban, as the Crimson Tide defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 24-10 in Nashville. Redshirt freshman running back Terry Grant rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries to record his second 100-plus yard game of the season. Defensively, the Crimson Tide held the Commodores to just 57 rushing yards and held receiver Earl Bennett to just four catches for 52 yards.

Arkansas had a bye week and used it to prepare for their first SEC game of the season. The Razorbacks will travel to Tuscaloosa Saturday to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at 5:45 (CT). In their last outing, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones combined for 280-yards and four touchdowns as the Razorbacks handled Troy 46-26 in the season opener.

My prediction: Alabama will not hold Arkansas to the same rushing totals as they did Vanderbilt. With the extra week to prepare I see Arkansas winning this one easily.

SEC OOC Game of interest

Louisville Cardinals at Kentucky Wildcats

The competition hasn’t been stout, but the Cardinal offense has been downright silly through two weeks. Louisville is averaging almost 700 yards and 65 points a game, moving the ball as if it’s on a constant power play. The Louisville defense got exposed in a huge way by the Blue Raiders. This was the same Middle Tennessee that was impotent a week earlier in a loss to Florida Atlantic. The Cardinals allowed 42 points and 555 yards, most of which came when the game was still competitive. If the poor tackling and breakdowns in coverage aren’t addressed immediately by Mike Cassity, Kentucky will score early and often.

With a 56-20 win over Kent State, Kentucky opens the season 2-0 for the first time since 2002. Dating back to last season, Kentucky has won seven of its last eight games. The win also gives the Wildcats a five-game win streak at Commonwealth Stadium, the first time that has happened since a seven-game win streak from 1986-87. For the second week in a row, the Kentucky offense had more than 200 yards passing and 200 yards receiving.( Sounds Familiar)

Prediction: Kentucky’s defense should perform well enough to at least slow down the Louisville offense. Their offense should also be at least as good as MTSU. It’s going to be a long day for Louisville in Lexington this Saturday. Kentucky pulls this one off in a high scoring affair.