By: Amber Pennycuff
Tennessee (2-1) vs. Florida (1-1)
“I think you can learn more from losing than you can winning…I think sometimes when you win you sweep things underneath a rug, but when you lose, everything is exposed and it’s all about getting better.” Vols head coach Butch Jones unquestionably hit the nail on the head this week.
The Ducks certainly showed no mercy as they flocked over the Volunteers last week 14-59. After coming off a 52-20 win to Western Kentucky the previous week, Tennessee was hyped up and ready to show off its new-found talent with head coach Butch Jones. “It’s a great opportunity but it’s going to take everything we have…we have to be the team that over achieves Saturday.”
Tennessee (2-1) will head down to the swamp into Florida (1-1) Gator territory this Saturday.
Florida is coming back from a bye-week and also recovering from a loss to Miami 16-21 the previous week. Since both teams are coming off of a loss this week, they will be hungry for a “W” to add to the record books this Saturday.
Florida had three turnovers in the first half of the game against Miami and allowed 84-yards within just six plays for the Hurricanes at one point. Florida’s Defensive Coordinator DJ Durkin says they need to get better on consistency. “I think our guys understand that the bye-week gives them time,” stated Durkin, “we’ve played well…but we can play a lot better.”
The Vols and Gators will kick-off 2:30 p.m. on CBS.
Auburn (3-0) vs. LSU (3-0)
It’s a Tiger match up as the Auburn Tigers travel down to Baton Rouge and take on LSU. Both 3-0 thus far in the season, it is arguably the biggest match-up this week in the SEC.
Auburn has been all about the “State’s” these past few weeks. Washington State, Arkansas State and Mississippi State have all made their way down south to Tiger-territory and have come out unsuccessful. The Tigers defeated SEC rival Mississippi State last week 24-20.
Head Coach Gus Malzahn said he was very proud of his team. “Overall it was just a great win,” said Malzahn, “We gotta get more consistent…we’re playing with a quarterback that has been on campus for six weeks…seven weeks. We weren’t able to run the football as well as I’d like…there’s no doubt about that…but give them credit I mean they are a good team.”
LSU took a 45-13 win over Kent State, and quarterback Zack Mettenberger set a brand new school record with nine touchdowns within the first three games to kick-off the 2013 season. Also, Ego Ferguson led the Tigers in defense making eight tackles to set his career high record and a sack.
Head coach Les Miles said they did what they were supposed to do. “We rushed for 300 yards…we threw for 270 on offense with 55 snaps…,”stated Miles, “we gave up 248 yards on defense and played pretty well at times. The things we have to correct certainly are the missed tackles we had in that contest. We had 11 penalties for 86 yards, and we can’t fumble a punt.”
The game will be played on ESPN at 6:45 p.m. Saturday evening over on the purple and gold roaring turf.
Mississippi State vs. Troy
After suffering a tough loss to Auburn last week (20-24), the Bulldogs are now 1-2 and heading back over to Starkville to tackle the Troy Trojans.
Troy is currently 2-1 overall, taking wins over UAB and Savannah State this season and falling just short to Arkansas State (34-41) this past week. The Trojans are certainly hungry for that “W” against Mississippi State this Saturday.
Head coach Larry Blakeney thinks the Trojans are getting back to full strength. “I’m looking forward to getting through the week. I think our coaches have got a good plan for Mississippi State. Anytime you play against an SEC team…we’ve played against State a few times…you’re going to find good football players that are big and fast…and they are going to be well coached.”
The game will be on Fox Sports South at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday evening.
SEC in a glance:
Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0): Bye- week
Vanderbilt (1-2, 0-2) will travel to Foxborough, Mass to take on UMass (0-3) at 11 a.m. Saturday, and the game will be telecast on ESPNews.
Georgia (1-1, 1-0) vs. North Texas (2-1) at home this Saturday at 11:21 a.m. and telecast on SEC TV.
Arkansas (3-0) will face the Rutgers (2-1) in Scarlet Knight territory on ESPN Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
After a hard fought loss to rival SEC Bama’ last week, Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1) will return home again this week to face SMU (1-1) at 6:00 p.m., and the game will be featured on ESPNU.
Alabama (2-0, 1-0) will travel back to the Crimson Tide this week to face the Colorado State Rams (1-2) at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be telecast on ESPN 2.
Missouri (2-0) will travel over to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers (2-1) on Saturday. The game will take place at 7:00 p.m. and featured on the Big Ten Network.
Kentucky (1-2) has a bye-week this week to reflect on its loss to Louisville (3-0) last Saturday.
South Carolina (2-1, 1-1) will also take a bye-week this Saturday, after its win at home against Vanderbilt last week.
