Ranking the Best SEC Matchups of Week 7
The SEC is really beginning to swing into marquee-game mode for the rest of the season, and the division races will be at least a little clearer after this weekend.
Everybody will get to see if Texas A&M is for real, as the undefeated Aggies host an Alabama team that has endured its share of ups and downs but still looks like a beast when it plays its best.
Then there's the undefeated LSU Tigers, who will battle SEC East-leading Florida, which must find a way to move on after starting quarterback Will Grier was suspended by the NCAA for testing positive for a banned substance.
It's been a wild, wacky and worrisome week in the league as one of its brightest stars, Georgia running back Nick Chubb, was lost for the season on the first offensive play from scrimmage against Tennessee in a freak play.
Then the Grier news hit, followed closely by legendary South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier resigning from his position with the Gamecocks.
Can this weekend's slate of games live up to the drama that came through the week? It starts early with Auburn traveling to Kentucky on Thursday night, and most of the games are intriguing.
Let's rank the matchups of Week 7.
7. Louisiana Tech at Mississippi State
1 of 7
It probably didn't look like too much of a battle when Mississippi State first scheduled Louisiana Tech to come to Davis Wade Stadium, but this weekend's game isn't going to be a stroll through the daffodils.
La Tech currently sits at 4-2 on the season with a three-point loss to a really good Western Kentucky team and a six-point loss to Kansas State. They could pose a serious threat to an MSU team that has really been having a difficult time running the ball this year.
Even with running quarterback Dak Prescott, the Bulldogs are just 91st nationally in rush offense. Meanwhile, La Tech is stingy against the run, giving up just 111.7 yards per game, 23rd in the country.
Without Prescott, they'd sure be in a bind, as Ashton Shumpert is the second-leading runner on the team with just 159 rushing yards. Needless to say, the loss of Josh Robinson was bigger than originally anticipated.
MSU's defense has gotten better each week, and the Bulldogs are confident heading into the game under first-year defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who is in his second stint as the coordinator at the school. Tech is going to have a hard time getting points.
If they get off to a good start, however, the Bulldogs could make it a game. This series has experienced some close ones. La Tech head coach Skip Holtz told the News Star's Sean Isabella that they're piping in simulated cowbell clangs in practice this week to prepare for the environment.
For the noon Eastern (11 Central) start, it may not be quite as crazy, though.
"They won't have as much time to drink Diet Coke before the game so maybe they won't be as caffeinated for the game," Holtz joked. "It will be a great environment, I know that. They've got a great fanbase. They've got very loyal fans. They're loud and they show up."
6. Vanderbilt at South Carolina
2 of 7
While the search to replace an institution begins, the reeling South Carolina Gamecocks must take the field and play the remainder of the year without Steve Spurrier after the Head Ball Coach's abrupt resignation this week.
"My answer has always been the same: If it starts going south, starts going bad, then I need to get out," Spurrier said, according to ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach. "… It's time for me to get out of the way and give somebody else a go at it."
For now, that will be co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Shawn Elliott, who will hold the "interim" tag for the rest of the year while a nationwide search takes place. You'll probably hear every name conceivable between now and the end of the season when Ray Tanner makes a hire.
This week, the Gamecocks will try to get back to their winning ways when they host Vanderbilt at a true home game. They were supposed to play in Williams-Brice Stadium against LSU a week ago, but flooding forced them to move the game to Baton Rouge. The Tigers romped at home.
That loss dropped Carolina to 2-4 and 0-4 in the SEC. Now, they'll return home without their head coach to go up against VU coach Derek Mason's Commodores. They're coming off a bye week following a win over Middle Tennessee.
Vanderbilt is far from the laughingstock it was a season ago, and though the Commodores aren't a threat to win anything of consequence, they've used a strong defense and an offense that has proven it can move the ball to play some pretty tight games against some pretty stiff competition.
After a two-point loss to Western Kentucky to start the year, they lost 31-14 to Georgia in a game that was closer than the final score indicated. They also gave Ole Miss fits in a 27-16 road loss.
Now, they travel to Columbia to play an opponent in turmoil. This one's anybody's game.
5. Auburn at Kentucky
3 of 7
It's hard to believe that a season that started with Auburn as a pick by some to go to the College Football Playoff now hinges on a midweek trip to, of all places, Lexington, Kentucky.
But that's exactly what is facing a Tigers team for which it's hard to find wins looking ahead to the rest of the year.
On the other hand, Kentucky is one of the surprises of the SEC, a firm second behind Florida in the East with a 4-1 record and wins already over Missouri and South Carolina. The Wildcats lost a narrow decision to the Gators, but that's a loss that is aging extremely well.
If Auburn loses, the Tigers will fall to 3-3 and winless in three conference tests. If that's the case, it's difficult to see AU winning an SEC game or making a bowl. That would be a stunning turn of events from a season that started with so much promise.
They want to prove to everybody they're still that team many expected them to be.
"We’re not as bad as people think we are," wide receiver Melvin Ray told ESPN.com's Greg Ostendorf. "We’re actually a pretty good team, and we know how good we are across the board. We know what we got talent-wise and ability-wise. So far we just haven't proved it."
It's now-or-never time for coach Gus Malzahn's team. That's why you could see talented but embattled signal-caller Jeremy Johnson back in the saddle instead of Sean White on Thursday. Nothing has been determined publicly yet, but Johnson has been praised recently with his practice work.
UK's defense has been strong, and running back Boom Williams is a rising star.
The Tigers haven’t lost in Lexington in 49 years and are 8-0 during that span, but the way Kentucky is playing under third-year coach Mark Stoops, they believe it's time to turn around their fortunes.
It'll be interesting to see if they can take a major step toward doing it.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
4. Missouri at Georgia
4 of 7
Boy, has this game lost a bit of its luster over the course of the early season.
What could have been a symbolic passing of the torch from two-time SEC East winner Missouri to the favorite this year to represent the division in Atlanta in the Georgia Bulldogs has now turned into just another game.
Florida is firmly in the driver's seat in the East, but with the Gators facing life without Will Grier now, these two teams should feel a bit of urgency to win in Athens.
The Tigers are 4-2 but fell to 1-2 with an offensively inept 21-3 loss to Florida this past weekend. Freshman quarterback Drew Lock is going to have a great career in Columbia, but he looked like a freshman against the stout Gators defense, and Mizzou is short on offensive playmakers.
An earlier loss to Kentucky has kind of dampened the talk of a three-peat in the East.
Then there's Georgia, who had such high expectations two weeks ago before getting throttled by Alabama. Then, last weekend, the Bulldogs lost star running back Nick Chubb to a season-ending knee injury on the first play from scrimmage against Tennessee. Then, they lost a 21-point lead and the game.
Defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt had no answer for UT quarterback Joshua Dobbs, and the Bulldogs looked suspect on that side of the ball, even with a veteran group.
Now, they'll try to reclaim some of that early-season exuberance by trying to replicate last year's 34-0 steamrolling of the Tigers in Columbia.
The Dawgs desperately need this win to stay in the SEC East picture, and with Florida yet to play, they can erase those two early losses and still represent the East. But they'll have to ride the shoulders of running back Sony Michel to do it.
3. Ole Miss at Memphis
5 of 7
Memphis fans need to get ready for head coach Justin Fuente's name to wind up on many head-coaching-vacancy short lists before long. As a matter of fact, it's already started, as he made the quick list of names to consider for South Carolina, according to the State's Josh Kendall.
That's what happens when you totally resurrect a dead program and turn it into a mid-major juggernaut in two years.
This weekend, the Tigers will attempt to wade over into Big Boy waters and trip up a Big Brother to the South in neighbor Ole Miss. Memphis is actually hosting the Rebels in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, and while there will be plenty of Rebels in the stands, it's without question a home game.
"I know the excitement level and enthusiasm they have around their program right now," Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze told the Commercial-Appeal's Tom Schad and Phil Stukenborg of the Tigers. "It is a quality football team. They are playing with great confidence. They have what a lot of us desire in a sound, good quarterback. He's one of the better ones I've seen on film."
Indeed, Paxton Lynch looks like a definite future NFL star quarterback, and he actually may headline a nice battle with Ole Miss signal-caller Chad Kelly.
Kelly has come down to Earth a bit following an early-season upset of Alabama. He looked mortal (along with the rest of his teammates) in a humbling loss at Florida that injected a little disappointment into a fever-pitched early season.
Now, they've got to play a really tough out-of-conference opponent in the Tigers.
Both teams have some big-time offensive playmakers, but the Rebels have too much defense not to come away victorious. Even so, they need to be on upset alert this week because Fuente has proven he can coach in big games.
There would be none bigger than upsetting Ole Miss on home soil.
2. Alabama at Texas A&M
6 of 7
Which Alabama is the real Alabama?
Is it the one that finished with five turnovers in a loss to Ole Miss? How about the one that destroyed Georgia in Sanford Stadium? What about the Crimson Tide that sputtered in the first half against Arkansas, or the one that put away the Hogs in the second?
Everybody, including head coach Nick Saban, would probably like to know.
There's no doubt they're talented, as any peek at the last half-decade of recruiting classes will show you. But there are quarterback issues, offensive line issues and secondary issues.
There are also star offensive playmakers, the emergence of freshman receiver Calvin Ridley and perhaps the best defensive front seven in the country.
This weekend, they have another huge test when they travel to College Station, Texas, to take on the undefeated Aggies.
One old foe is eager and ready. Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis—who has battled the Tide as the defensive leader at Tennessee, LSU and now for the Aggies—told reporters, according to AL.com's John Talty, that he was jacked up.
"I think, yeah, I hate to admit it, but probably so. You look at their stature. This is a big game for Texas A&M. My focus is on Texas A&M and this game being about us, but certainly, you've got a chance to go and compete against one of the best teams in the league and if that doesn't get you excited as a coach or player, you've got something missing. Players get (excited) for a game like this and coaches do too.
"
Everybody knows about A&M offensive weapons, but the Aggies are undefeated because they paid what it took to lure Chavis from LSU, and he has turned around that defense.
They stockpiled some star recruits, and Chavis is developing them. The Aggies currently have two of the SEC's top three pass-rushers in Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall. There's plenty of other talent, too.
It'll all be on display in a huge game this weekend. If A&M wins, it'll remain alongside LSU atop the West.
1. Florida at LSU
7 of 7
Narrowly edging out the A&M-Alabama matchup because of sheer intrigue alone is a battle between top-10 opponents Florida and LSU.
By now, everybody knows that the Gators must forge on the rest of the season without redshirt freshman Will Grier, who has been suspended for a calendar year by the NCAA after a positive performance-enhancing drugs test.
A teary press conference isn't going to help UF win games, and now coach Jim McElwain must turn to Treon Harris, who has started before and appears to be the guy in Gainesville for the rest of the way.
It's a monumental blow for UF's SEC title hopes, but here's the thing about the Gators: That defense is good enough to carry the team through, and there is enough talent on offense to win games ugly when it has to.
We'll all know a whole lot more about Florida v. 2.0 this weekend after they head to Death Valley to take on undefeated LSU.
The Tigers are a one-dimensional force on offense this year, but oh, what a force it is. They boast the nation's top talent in sophomore running back Leonard Fournette, who is proving to be an absolute monster with the ball in his hands every week. When he needs a breather, freshman Derrius Guice can shoulder the load.
Guice ran the ball 16 times for 161 yards last week against South Carolina in his coming-out party, and players such as him and Fournette make life easy for quarterback Brandon Harris.
But when will the Tigers be forced to open it up more in order to win? That may come this week, and with a back-loaded SEC West schedule ahead of them, the Tigers need to prove they can.
This has all the makings of a good, old-fashioned SEC slugfest that comes down to the last series. Both teams are really good, but both have things to prove in order to become championship-level teams that can get to the next level.
This should be a showcase game for both.
All stats gathered from www.CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.
Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
