Tucker’s Pick ‘Em: College football picks and previews for Week 3

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – 41NBC’s Tucker Sargent makes his picks for several college football games. 

Record last week: 13-2

Georgia Southern (1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) @ Georgia Tech (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
Saturday, September 13 at 12 p.m. FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson welcomes his former team to Atlanta Saturday for a noon kickoff at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

The Eagles are coming off an 83-9 win over Savannah State.  Georgia Tech struggled early in last week’s game at Tulane but ended it on a good note, scoring 24 unanswered points to win 38-21.

The Yellow Jackets best not be looking forward to next week’s game in Blacksburg:

Georgia Tech 35, Georgia Southern 23

Actual Score: Georgia Tech 42, Georgia Southern 38 (WIN)

Air Force (1-1, 0-0 Mountain West) @ Georgia State (1-1, 0-1 Sun Belt)
Saturday, September 13 at 2 p.m.
A different set of Falcons plays in the Georgia Dome this week when Air Force meets Georgia State for the first time.

The Falcons fell 17-13 to Wyoming last week in Laramie.  Georgia State, a week after picking up its first win in two years, lost 34-31 to New Mexico State:

Air Force 28, Georgia State 17

Actual Score: Air Force 48, Georgia State 38 (WIN)

No. 6 Georgia (1-0, 0-0 SEC) @ No. 24 South Carolina (1-1, 0-1 SEC)
Saturday, September 13 at 3:30 p.m. CBS
The winner here becomes the favorite in the SEC East… that is, until we see more from Florida.

South Carolina was less than impressive for the second week in a row in a 10-point win over East Carolina. 

Georgia took the week off after dominating Clemson:

Georgia 37, South Carolina 17

Actual Score: South Carolina 38, Georgia 35 (LOSS)

Arkansas (1-1, 0-1 SEC) at Texas Tech (2-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Saturday, September 13 at 3:30 p.m.ABC
Arkansas and Texas Tech meet for the first time since 1991 when they were both Southwest Conference members.

The Razorbacks opened the season with a 45-21 loss at Auburn but snapped a 10-game losing streak last week with a 73-7 win over Nicholls State. 

They’ll have to slow down pass-happy Texas Tech to win again, a part of the game they’ve struggled with in recent years.  Even if they don’t, the Arkansas running game should counter with plenty of yards on the ground.

The Red Raiders have given up 455 total rushing yards in close wins over Central Arkansas and UTEP:

Arkansas 42, Texas Tech 38

Actual Score: Arkansas 49, Texas Tech 28 (WIN)

Louisiana-Lafayette (1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) @ No. 14 Ole Miss (2-0, 1-0 SEC)
Saturday, September 13 at 4 p.m. SEC NETWORK
Ole Miss plays its first home game of the season after victories in Atlanta and Nashville when the 14th-ranked Rebels host the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette.

Those Boise State and Vanderbilt wins were snoozers by the end.  This one will be too:

Ole Miss 38, Louisiana-Lafayette 14

Actual Score: Ole Miss 56, Louisiana-Lafayette 15 (WIN)

Mississippi State (2-0, 0-0 SEC) @ South Alabama (1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Saturday, September 13 at 4 p.m. ESPNEWS
South Alabama has announced the program’s first-ever sellout for this weekend’s game against Mississippi State.

That means 40,000 people will fill Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium to watch the Jaguars lose to the Bulldogs:

Mississippi State 45, South Alabama 17

Actual Score: Mississippi State 35, South Alabama 3 (WIN)

Southern Miss (0-2, 0-0 C-USA) @ No. 3 Alabama (2-0, 0-0 SEC)
Saturday, September 13 at 6 p.m. ESPN2
Alabama gets another cupcake before its conference opener against Florida.

It’s going to get ugly. The Tide rolls in the first meeting between these schools since 2005:

Alabama 56, Southern Miss 0

Actual Score: Alabama 52, Southern Miss 12 (WIN)

Fort Valley State (0-1, 0-0 SIAC) @ Savannah State (0-2, 0-0 MEAC)
Saturday, September 13 at 6 p.m.
Savannah State returns home after taking an 83-9 beating last week in Statesboro.

FVSU had a bad day too, falling 56-13 at home to Delta State.  It’s looking like another rough year for the Wildcats.

The Tigers went 1-11 in 2013. Their only win? FVSU:

Savannah State 20, Fort Valley State 12

Actual Score: Fort Valley State 42, Savannah State 28 (LOSS)

Mercer (1-1, 0-1 SoCon) @ Stetson (1-1, 0-0 Pioneer)
Saturday, September 13 at 6:05 p.m.
Mercer opened its Southern Conference schedule with a nice showing against Furman but came up short in the end, 25-20.  It was the Bears’ first home loss since the school restarted the program last season.

The Bears travel to DeLand, Fla. Saturday to play Stetson.  The Hatters are also in their second year of football. 

They played Mercer close for a half last year in Macon before the Bears pulled away to win, 41-14:

Mercer 31, Stetson 17

Actual Score: Mercer 49, Stetson 0 (WIN)

Louisiana-Monroe (2-0, 1-0 Sun Belt) @ No. 10 LSU (2-0, 0-0 SEC)
Saturday, September 13 at 7 p.m. ESPNU
Louisiana-Monroe makes the three hour trip south to Baton Rouge to face 10th-ranked LSU in Tiger Stadium.

The Warhawks opened the season with a 17-10 win over Wake Forest.  They won another game by a touchdown last week over Idaho.

In games against Top 25 teams last season, the Warhawks were outscored 104-7:

LSU 45, Louisiana-Monroe 13

Actual Score: LSU 31, Louisiana-Monroe 0 (WIN)

Abilene Christian (0-2, 0-0 Southland) @ Troy (0-2, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Saturday, September 13 at 7 p.m. ESPN3
My alma mater did much better than I expected against Duke last week after that embarrassing season opener at UAB, so kudos to the Trojans.

This week, they host Abilene Christian from the FCS.  The Wildcats opened the season with a 38-37 loss to Georgia State before falling to Northern Arizona last week, 27-21.

Troy wins:

Troy 42, Abilene Christian 24

Actual Score: Abilene Christian 38, Troy 35 (LOSS)

Purdue (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 11 Notre Dame (2-0) *Indianapolis
Saturday, September 13 at 7:30 p.m. NBC
Either Notre Dame is really good, or Michigan is really bad.

The Fighting Irish recorded their first-ever shutout of the Wolverines last week in South Bend, spanking them 31-0.  If you watched the game, you know a pick-six as time expired would have made it 37-0 if the play hadn’t been called back for a penalty.

This is the perfect time for the Irish to suddenly look flat and lose to Purdue.  We’ll see:

Notre Dame 36, Purdue 14

Actual Score: Notre Dame 30, Purdue 14 (WIN)

Kentucky (2-0, 0-0 SEC) @ Florida (1-0, 0-0 SEC)
Saturday, September 13 at 7:30 p.m. SEC NETWORK *SEC Nation at 10 a.m.
The Florida Gators look to continue an impressive win streak against Kentucky Saturday that dates back to 1987.

Coach Mark Stoops seems to have Kentucky pointed in the right direction.  The Wildcats are 2-0 and haven’t committed a turnover yet. 

Florida has played just once after lightning canceled the season opener.  The Gators took care of Eastern Michigan last week, 65-0:

Florida 27, Kentucky 15

Actual Score: Florida 36, Kentucky 30 (3OT (WIN)

Tennessee (2-0, 0-0 SEC) @ No. 4 Oklahoma (2-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Saturday, September 13 at 8 p.m. ABC
After easy wins over Utah State and Arkansas State to start the season, Tennessee gets thrown into the fire with a primetime road game against fourth-ranked Oklahoma.

To compete with the Sooners, the Vols need improvement in their rushing game.  In their wins over the Aggies and Red Wolves, UT backs averaged less than four yards per carry.

The Sooners have given up less than 100 rushing yards in both of their wins.  If they can continue that production against Tennessee,  Vols’ QB Justin Worley will have to play mistake-free football.

I don’t like Worley’s chances, especially with such a young offensive line:

Oklahoma 38, Tennessee 21

Actual Score: Oklahoma 34, Tennessee 10 (WIN)

Who are YOU picking to win this week? Let Tucker know on Twitter.