SEC Daily: Predicting the Biggest SEC Games of Week 2
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The college football season is officially back in full swing. Week 1 of the SEC gave fans some exciting and rather surprising games. Not many people thought that Texas and quarterback Arch Manning would only score one time or that Alabama would get stunned in its season-opener at Florida State.
In the six games in which SEC teams played other power conference teams, the SEC won four of them. The interesting thing is that the two-highest ranked SEC teams that played power conference games were the two that lost.
This week, four SEC teams play against other power conference opponents and Ole Miss and Kentucky open their conference schedules against each other in Lexington. With that being said, it is time to predict the four biggest games of the SEC this weekend.
No. 15 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma, Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m. CT
Both Michigan and Oklahoma are coming off season-openers that were pretty easy. Freshman Bryce Underwood and Washington State transfer John Mateer both made their debuts for their new teams.
Underwood threw for 251 yards and a touchdown in a 34-17 win over New Mexico while Mateer racked up 392 passing yards and three touchdowns and an interception in a 35-3 win over Illinois State.
With the College Gameday crew coming into town for this game, Norman is sure to be rocking Saturday night, which provides Oklahoma a huge advantage against a quarterback who is making his first collegiate road start.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables is no stranger to playing well in night games at home. Last season, the Sooners dominated Alabama 24-3 on senior night and spoiled the Crimson Tide’s chances of going to the playoffs.
I think Mateer’s collegiate experience combined with the environment gets Oklahoma the win.
PREDICTION: Oklahoma 28, Michigan 23
No. 20 Ole Miss at Kentucky, Sept. 6 at 2:30 p.m. CT
Last season, Kentucky pulled one of the bigger surprises of the season when the Wildcats went to Oxford and took down Ole Miss in a low-scoring game that ultimately left a bad stain on the Rebels’ resume.
I’m sure Lane Kiffin has not forgotten about what happened last season. Even though Ole Miss has a new quarterback, the offense still seems to be rock solid as it put up nearly 700 yards of offense last week against Georgia State.
Kentucky escaped Toledo in its season-opener and did not look impressive in doing so. Ole Miss should leave Lexington with a win.
PREDICTION: Ole Miss 31, Kentucky 17
Vanderbilt at Virginia Tech, Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m. CT
Another game, another rematch. Last season Vanderbilt’s season-opening upset over Virginia Tech set forth a path that led to the Commodores' best season in a little over a decade.
Vanderbilt got a comfortable 45-3 win over Charleston Southern while Virginia Tech lost 24-11 in a neutral site game against South Carolina. There are still a lot of unknowns about Virginia Tech. It only returns five starters from last season and it likely did not show all of its plays last week.
Vanderbilt, on the other hand, returns the vast majority of last season’s production and looked the part in Week 1. Though Vanderbilt did have a couple of penalties that resulted in touchdowns getting called back, the offense looked in sync from the jump.
Going into Lane Stadium will not be an easy task, especially when it is the first game there of the season. Saturday should be a close game, but I think Virginia Tech makes one more play late in the game.
PREDICTION: Virginia Tech 27, Vanderbilt 24
No. 12 Arizona State at Mississippi State, Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m. CT
The Sun Devils beat Mississippi State by a touchdown last season in Tempe. This season, the Bulldogs play host against a top 15 Arizona State squad. Both teams are coming off wins where Arizona State beat Northern Arizona 38-19 and Mississippi State beat Southern Miss 34-17.
Despite Arizona State getting off to a slow start against a FCS school, I still think head coach Kenny Dillingham and quarterback Sam Leavitt will use their experience from playing in big games last season to help them this weekend. Look for Arizona State’s offense to start to find a groove in the second half.
PREDICTION: Arizona State 27, Mississippi State 20
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.