No Storey this week should put Noland up first

Ty Storey participated in practice a couple of days this week and appeared to be running for the first time, but that may have been more for the media in attendance for the first few periods.

We honestly don’t have a clue based on what we saw at practice, but I did find it interesting that freshman Connor Noland was taking Storey’s place in the individual work at times.

That may or may not indicate anything because Chad Morris changes things up at times, trying not to tip his hand in any way. I guess Tulsa is close enough they may have been slipping around trying to find out who will be the quarterback.

But really, though, is there a better time to put Noland out there from the beginning? His only game experience has been in a lost-cause situation against North Texas.

We’re hearing he is the likely starter, but that’s not on a strong enough basis to go ahead and say he will be behind center at the start against the Golden Hurricane on Saturday.

It has become clear Cole Kelley isn’t the answer. For whatever reason, his performances in games doesn’t match what coaches saw in practices because they made him the starter at the beginning of the year and replaced him after a quarter.

If Rakeem Boyd is indeed back — and he did look full speed in drills and there’s no concussion protocol to deal with there — that may take some of the pressure off Noland.

But, let’s face it, there’s not a better chance to see what Noland can do in a game situation to rest of the season. We got the idea the last couple of weeks Morris was trying to avoid throwing Noland into a no-win situation in one of those SEC games. That’s why I think he didn’t put him out there in the rain in the fourth quarter against Ole Miss.

My guess is Noland will start and the Hogs will do enough to get past a Tulsa team that has had about the same luck as Arkansas this year.

Arkansas 31, Tulsa 21

Last week was a rough one after a great three week run. My picks were just 3-3 as I hit on the Georgia over LSU upset, but I seriously under-estimated how far Auburn has fallen and South Carolina couldn’t win in overtime against the Aggies. I’m down to 56-9 on the year, or 86 percent.

This week, Kentucky over Vanderbilt is the only easy (and obvious) pick I can make

-4 Auburn at Ole Miss

The Rebels have to get the win over Arkansas out of their system, but celebrating takes awhile in Oxford for a fan base that is prouder of their never losing a party than any football win.

The Tigers have had the wagon go careening into the ditch and busted a wheel on the way. Gus Malzahn is under fire, along with everybody that signed off on what they are now calling a ridiculous contract with a $32 million buyout this season if they want to fire him.

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Beating Ole Miss might not help him an awful lot, but playing this game away from Auburn will help the team avoid the chaos.

The Rebels’ defense will help with the rest.

Auburn 38, Ole Miss 24

-28.5 Alabama at Tennessee

Tua Tagovailoa is still nursing an injured knee from the Arkansas game, but do you really think that will make much difference?

The Vols seemed to get some momentum going down on The Plains last week and surprising everyone with a win over Auburn that wasn’t really as close as the final score sounded.

But Jeremy Pruitt is a former Nick Saban assistant and none of them have ever figured out a way to beat him. Saban may have taught them most of what they know, but he didn’t team them everything he knows.

Besides all that, even if Tagovailoa can’t go, Tennessee hasn’t figured out a way to beat the Crimson Tide with Jalen Hurts at quarterback.

That’s another trend that will continue.

Alabama 45, Tennessee 14

Memphis at -9.5 Missouri

The Tigers got a little attention playing Central Florida, the disputed self-proclaimed champions, to a close game, but keeping that momentum going is difficult when the talent level will be different this week.

Drew Lock is rolling along right now and this one may get a little high with the scoring, but Missouri should be able to hang on.

Missouri 41, Memphis 31

Mississippi State at -6.5 LSU

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Let’s see now, a night game in Baton Rouge, where the Bulldogs tend to not exactly set the world on fire.

The Tigers have clearly proven me wrong because I predicted a meltdown by this point of the season and they are ranked No. 5 in the country right now.

The Bulldogs have stumbled a couple of times, but seem to have found themselves in an upset win over Auburn.

Welcome to Death Valley at Night.

It may not be a good night for Mississippi State as I think they will shut down Nick Fitzgerald and that offense while LSU will continue to roll in some special game uniforms with purple helmets.

LSU 31, Mississippi State 10