South Bound & Down
Fansided

SEC Football: Big time non-conference matchups highlight Week 2

By Matt Green

AUBURN, AL - SEPTEMBER 03: Jeff Holland
AUBURN, AL - SEPTEMBER 03: Jeff Holland /
facebooktwitterreddit

The college football season is up and running, and the second week of the season brings us some big-time matchups, including the first SEC football matchup of the season.

Must Read: What we learned from Week 1

Week 1 was kind to most SEC football teams. The conference went 12-2 in the season’s opening weekend, with Florida losing in Jerry World to Michigan and Texas A&M blowing a 34-point lead on the road at UCLA.

There are several teams this week that have cupcakes on their schedule. Florida’s game with Northern Colorado is already cancelled because of Hurricane Irma, while Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt are all facing FCS foes. Meanwhile, Alabama hosts Fresno State and Mississippi State hosts Louisiana Tech.

The Battle of Columbia is our first conference game of the season, but this week’s slate is highlighted by a few SEC teams going on the road in high profile non-conference contests.

(23) TCU @ Arkansas – 3:30 – CBS

These two former Southwest Conference foes played last season for the first time in 26 years, with the Razorbacks winning a double overtime thriller 41-38 in Fort Worth, Tex.. Arkansas leads the all-time series 44-23-2.

Each of these teams made easy work of inferior competition in week 1, with TCU beating Jackson State 70-0 and Arkansas beating Florida A&M 49-7. Kenny Hill leads an explosive offense into Fayetteville, and the Razorbacks had trouble with him last year. He had 377 passing yards and 92 rushing yards and three total touchdowns. But I think Austin Allen and the home crowd gives the Razorbacks the edge.

  • Arkansas 38, TCU 31

South Carolina @ Missouri – 7:00 – ESPN2

COLUMBIA, MO – SEPTEMBER 2:  Drew Lock threw for 521 yards and 7 touchdowns in their 72-43 win over Missouri State.
COLUMBIA, MO – SEPTEMBER 2:  Drew Lock threw for 521 yards and 7 touchdowns in their 72-43 win over Missouri State. /

The first SEC football game of the 2017 season. As I said when I was giving my top 10 games of the SEC football season, I expect The Battle of Columbia to be a sneaky great game. Not many people are talking about either of these teams this season, but the winner could be the sleeper in the SEC East.

Each team returns 10 starters on offense and two talented quarterbacks in Drew Lock and Jake Bentley. There are huge questions about Missouri’s defense after surrendering 43 points to Missouri State, but they did score 72. South Carolina had a nice 35-28 win over NC State, and they made a point to get the ball to Deebo Samuel. This could turn into a track meet, and I think that gives a slight advantage to the Tigers.

  • Missouri 41, South Carolina 37

(13) Auburn @ (3) Clemson – 7:00 – ESPN

Auburn surprisingly gave Clemson a tough game last season on The Plains. They held Deshaun Watson in check, but still came up short in a 19-13 loss. I think this year’s Clemson team is overrated, as in they are not the third best team in college football, but they are still talented.

This is the first challenge of Jarrett’s Stidham‘s Auburn career and it’s into one of the rowdiest atmospheres in college football. The result of this game all depends on if Auburn is able to establish the run. The jury is still out on Kelly Bryant, but I think he’ll make enough plays with his legs to give Auburn fits.

  • Clemson 24, Auburn 20

(15) Georgia @ (24) Notre Dame – 7:30 – NBC

More from Southbound and Down

This is the first time these two teams have played since the 1981 Sugar Bowl, when Georgia won their last national championship. This game is one of the most expensive tickets of the college football season. According to a tweet from ESPN’s Darren Rovell, the average price that fans have paid on StubHub for this game is $638. Average.

Despite Notre Dame coming off a 4-8 season and Georgia coming off an 8-5 season, there is a lot of hype surrounding this game. The Bulldogs will be without Jacob Eason, but true freshman, Jake Fromm, did look pretty good in his first game last week.

On the road at Notre Dame will provide a much tougher test than Appalachian State between the hedges last week. The Fighting Irish had three 100-yard rushers last week against Temple, but I don’t see them doing that to the Bulldogs’ defense.

  • Georgia 27, Notre Dame 17

Home/SEC Football