If Arkansas didn’t view this as a trap game back in August, they’ll get a rude awakening this evening in Nashville.
The Razorbacks and Commodores will kick off at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 in the battle for sole possession of the bottom of the SEC standings. After Vandy was 10-3 last year, quarterback Diego Pavia was done with his playing career and the Commodores haven’t been that strong this year.
The fact they are 3-3 this season is a miracle. That’s the only way to describe their last-play miracle against North Carolina State kept them from being 2-4.
The Hogs are 2-4 right now and things aren’t looking particularly bright around Fayetteville these days. The guess is even a win isn’t going to take the heat off anybody. There are bigger problems. Next week’s bye week will at least be a chance to breathe a bit.
How comfortable that will be remains to be seen. Arkansas will look better than they have in some games this year but the Commodores are a touchdown favorite at home. That should tell your something because Vandy has been terrible at times.
A mess would be a polite way to describe the Razorbacks anemic offense this year. It’s almost impossible to find anything they are good at this season as Chris Lee said on The Morning Rush on ESPN Arkansas this morning.
They’ve certainly had flashes of things at times but they haven’t shown that often enough to be any sort of a trend. This may be their best shot at a league win the rest of the year and Hog fans would probably take it anyway.
At this point in time anything would be a positive now for this team. Call it a hunch, gut feeling or whatever you want to say. It probably won’t be very pretty at all, but this could be their surprise win of the year. Arkansas 24, Vanderbilt 21
SEC Games
• Florida at Texas, 11 a.m., ABC: Two weeks ago this would have looked like a huge game. The Gators were coming off a blowout win over Ole Miss and the Longhorns were riding undefeated, ranked No. 1 in the country.
Things changed pretty quickly It took a couple of weeks for Florida. The Longhorns just needed to play Oklahoma and something else crazy in that matchup happened.
That win over the Rebels now looks like the Gators were riding the same emotional train Ole Miss had ridden the week before. They haven’t looked the same since with losses to Missouri and South Carolina.
That first one to the streaking Tigers now looks kinda understandable. Losing to the Gamecocks, though, remains a mystery to everyone that pays attention to college football. The guess is the problems continue this week. Texas 35, Florida 14
• Mississippi State at LSU, 11 a.m., ESPN: We may find out this week if the Bulldogs are for real this year or did they just have a better start than expected.The same can be asked about LSU in the other direction.
The Tigers are battling a lot of the issues Arkansas is seeing these days but it’s all directed at coach Lane Kiffin. All it took was a couple of losses and looking at their bank account.
If the Bulldogs have a chance it may be an 11 a.m. start in Tiger Stadium that considers it one of the seven signs of The Apocalypse when it’s not a night game. They have to get a new opener for the stadium they use on night games.
The home field advantage is that much lower in the morning. A lot of the fans aren’t recovered from the night before and tailgating is much less enthusiastic.
State is flying much lower. After a record the last couple of years probably like the Razorbacks are facing again this year they may come completely back to earth in this one. Kamario Taylor had them playing at a different level this year. When he was injured in a loss to Alabama last week. They may continue. LSU 34, State 31
• The Citadel at Texas A&M, noon, SEC Network+: The Good Grief game of the week. This is not the same team that got Jack Crowe fired back when the Hogs started the 1992 season, their first game headed into the SEC.
Aggies coach Mike Elko has stumbled in bad losses to Kentucky (nobody saw that coming) and LSU (not surprising at the time). They did recover because they got Arkansas at home then turned around and was blown out by Missouri. They’ve turned a Top 10 preseason ranking into a full-blown 3-loss SEC now. Not in this one though. Texas A&M 38, The Citadel 6
• Alabama at Tennessee, 2:30 p.m., ABC: It’s the third Saturday in October so a game that has traditionally been alll over the map in importance has rolled around. This time it’s one that matters for both teams.
They each have an SEC loss and that’s it this year. All of the goals for both are still there for the taking but it’s going to take some wins by both teams to make it happen.
With the quarterback differences for both teams being in the spotlight this week, the Crimson Tide come out on top with Keelon Russell. He’s moved into the spotlight in national conversations this year. Faizon Brandon is coming back from an injury that made the Vols look beatable against the Razorbacks last weekend. Alabama 31, Tennessee 14
• Auburn at Georgia, 2:30 p.m., ESPN: You’ll hear this about 1,000 times today but it’s The Oldest Rivalry in the South when these two teams play. It is often chippy at times and usually a very competitive game.
Probably not so much this year. The Tigers are trying to figure out another first-year coach in Alex Golesh. The Bulldogs are still rolling under Kirby Smart who is rolling over people and they are even doing drills on the field in timeouts like they did against the Hogs. It won’t be that close. Georgia 31, Auburn 7
• Missouri at Ole Miss, 2:30 p.m., SEC Network: This is the Game of the Week in the SEC. Just the transfers between the two schools this off-season puts it in that category.
Add the details it includes the Rebels’ Kewan Lacy originally started with the Rebels before moving into one of the top running backs in college football and Tigers quarterback Austin Simmons along with wide receiver Cayden Lee were in Oxford, Miss., last season make it even more intriguing.
Mizzou did get beaten by Mississippi State in a surprise to everyone and Ole Miss was blown off the field by Florida after beating LSU and you get a snapshot of what the SEC is like this year. It’s been that crazy of a year.
This one is going to be a test for the Rebels’ defense as the Tigers’ run game just pounds away at people. Ole Miss will have to get stops but they have the talent to do it and Vanderbilt wasn’t much of a test last week. Missouri will be but the Rebs won’t be loafing in this one. Ole Miss 37, Missouri 24
• Kentucky at Oklahoma, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network: Which Sooners team shows up for this one is the biggest question in this game because the Wildcats haven’t run into a defense like this all season.
Oklahoma stymied Arch Manning and Texas last week while Kentucky is one of the hottest teams in the league. They are the biggest surprise team going this year.
Here’s guessing Kentucky is going to follow the SEC script this year and have an off game after a big win over LSU last week. Nobody thought to see that coming back in August. The Sooners may be playing loose and free right now. That will be the difference. Oklahoma 34, Kentucky 20
