There’s lots of low-hanging fruit for football pickers weekend, especially in the Southeastern Conference. Four SEC teams play Division I-AA teams. And I know that is no longer the proper name, but I like it better so I’m still using it.
Furman is one of those Division I-AA opponents. The Paladins will play Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
And there’s a good chance it won’t be the blowout a lot of people want it to be.
Furman actually has a decent offense. It gained 400 yards on Missouri in a 52-12 loss. Auburn’s defense must cope with the loss of safety Zach Etheridge. Demond Washington, who has never played safety, will move from cornerback.
Plus, though they don’t admit it, there’s no doubt Auburn coaches would like to give as many regulars as much rest as they can. If you look back to the fourth quarter against Ball State, you see what can happen when t he entire second-team defense takes the field.
So it might not be so pretty Saturday. But that really doesn’t matter. The Tigers just need to get their seventh win and start getting ready for the biggest two games of any season.
Auburn 45, Furman 21.
The record last week was 16-4, including picking Oregon to beat USC. For the season, the record is 134-46.
On to the rest of the SEC:
I’m not going to go into detail on East Kentucky at Kentucky, Tennessee Tech at Georgia, Northern Arizona at Ole Miss or even Memphis at Tennessee. All four SEC teams should win easily.
There are three games of significance Saturay involving SEC teams.
NO. 3 NO. 9 LSU (7-1, 4-1) AT ALABAMA (8-0, 5-0): If Alabama’s offense doesn’t play better coming out of a bye week than it did going in, LSU could pull this off. I’d be tempted to pick an upset if it was in Baton Rouge, but it’s not.
Alabama 17, LSU 9.
SOUTH CAROLINA (6-3, 3-3) AT ARKANSAS (4-4, 1-4): South Carolina looked awful in losing 31-13 at Tennessee last week, but four turnovers will make you look awful. It’s hard to know what to expect from the Razorbacks from week to week.
Since they are playing at home …
Arkansas 28, South Carolina 24.
VANDERBLT (2-7, 0-5) AT FLORIDA (8-0, 6-0): How is Florida to get by without middle linebacker Brandon Spikes? And will coach Urban Meyer be distracted because he’s worried how he’s going to pay his bills after being hit with a $30,000 fine by the SEC?
Florida 34, Vanderblt 14.
In other games: Oklahoma State 27, Iowa State 19; Oklahoma 38, Nebraska 14; Baylor 21, Missouri 20; North Carolina 20, Duke 10; Clemson 35, Florida State 31; Georgia Tech 37, Wake Forest 20; Oregon State 35, Stanford 28; USC 31, Arizona State 13; Northwestern 17, Iowa 15; Penn State 24, Ohio State 17; Michigan 35, Purdue 27; Notre Dame 28, Navy 20.
