Tucker’s Pick ‘Em: College football picks and previews for Week 6

Record last week: 10-3
Record this year:  44-10

No. 6 Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0 SEC) @ No. 12 Mississippi State (4-0, 1-0 SEC)
Saturday, October 4 at 12 p.m. ESPN *SEC NETWORK SEC Nation
If you had told me back in July that come October this would be a Top 15 battle, I’d have thought you were crazy.

College football is just like that sometimes.

The Aggies had to come back last week against Arkansas, forcing overtime before a thrilling win in Jerryland.  It gets tougher this week when they travel to Starkville to face a pack of Bulldogs who’ve had a week to rest after knocking off LSU in Death Valley.

The Bulldogs are going to win:

Mississippi State 31, Texas A&M 24

Actual Score: Mississippi State 48, Texas A&M 31 (WIN)

Florida (2-1, 1-1 SEC) @ Tennessee (2-2, 0-1 SEC)
Saturday, October 4 at 12 p.m. SEC NETWORK
Tennessee proved last week in Athens it was a team on the rise.

I’m still not sure we can say that about Florida.

One positive for the Gators is they lead the nation in turnover margin (+8). That could help them out against the Vols, who’ve turned it over five times in their last two games.

Those were road games though, against teams much better than Florida:

Tennessee 27, Florida 17

Actual Score: Florida 10, Tennessee 9 (LOSS)

Fort Valley State (3-1, 1-0 SIAC) @ Tuskegee (2-2, 0-1 SIAC)
Saturday, October 4 at 1 p.m.
A rematch of the 2012 SIAC Championship Game pits the Wildcats against the Golden Tigers in Tuskegee.

‘Skegee won last year’s meeting in the Valley, 21-13.  In 2012, it beat FVSU twice in blowouts (55-24 in SIAC title game and 49-18 in regular season).  The Tigers also beat the ‘Cats in 2011, 18-15.

Fort Valley beats Tuskegee for the first time in four years:

Fort Valley State 24, Tuskegee 20

Actual Score: Tuskegee 35, Fort Valley State 28 (LOSS)

Mercer (4-1, 1-1 SoCon) @ Samford (2-2, 1-1 SoCon)
Saturday, October 4 at 3 p.m.
Mercer scored its first Southern Conference win last week, beating fellow newcomer VMI on the road, 27-24.

The Bears enter the home stretch now, starting with this game in Birmingham against Samford.

The Bulldogs split the title last season with Furman and Chattanooga.  Two weeks ago, they beat VMI, 63-21:

Samford 49, Mercer 24

Actual Score: Samford 21, Mercer 18 (WIN)

No. 3 Alabama (4-0, 1-0 SEC) @ No. 11 Ole Miss (4-0, 1-0 SEC)
Saturday, October 4 at 3:30 p.m. CBS *ESPN College GameDay
The Crimson Tide turned the ball over four times against Florida but still managed 645 yards of offense and a 21-point win.  That performance, along with Florida State’s struggles in Raleigh, propelled the Tide to No. 1 in this week’s Amway Coaches’ Poll.

Their meeting with Ole Miss last year was supposed to be an exciting game, but Bama rolled to an easy 25-0 win.

Tide fans will bite their nails a lot more this time around, especially if the Rebels’ defense (8.5 points allowed per game) can rattle Blake Sims and force the Bama offense out of rhythm:

Alabama 17, Ole Miss 15

Actual Score: Ole Miss 23, Alabama 17 (LOSS)

No. 14 Stanford (3-1, 1-1 Pac-12) @ No. 9 Notre Dame (4-0)
Saturday, October 4 at 3:30 p.m. NBC
For just the fifth time ever (and fourth straight time), the Cardinal and Fighting Irish both enter their meeting ranked inside the Top 25.

This will be an interesting test for potential Heisman candidate Everett Golson.  The senior quarterback will face a Stanford defense that ranks first nationally in scoring defense (6.5 points per game), total defense (198.5 yards per game) and passing defense (74 yards per game).

The Cardinal rallied last year in Cali to win 27-20 thanks in part to two Tommy Rees interceptions:

Notre Dame 21, Stanford 14

Actual Score: Notre Dame 17, Stanford 14 (WIN)

Vanderbilt (1-4, 0-3 SEC) @ No. 13 Georgia (3-1, 1-1 SEC)
Saturday, October 4 at 4 p.m. SEC NETWORK
Georgia looks to move to 2-1 in SEC play with another game Between the Hedges.

Vanderbilt shocked the Bulldogs last year, winning 31-27 in Nashville to hand the Dawgs their second straight conference loss.

Georgia wins this time and Vandy drops to 1-5:

Georgia 45, Vanderbilt 21

Actual Score: Georgia 44, Vanderbilt 17 (WIN)

No. 15 LSU (4-1, 0-1 SEC) @ No. 5 Auburn (4-0, 1-0 SEC)
Saturday, October 4 at 7 p.m. ESPN
After losing to Mississippi State, LSU faces a must-win situation if it wants to have a shot at taking the SEC West.

It had no problem with Auburn last year, beating the visiting Tigers 35-21 on a rainy night in Baton Rouge.  It was Auburn’s first and only loss until falling to Florida State in the BCS National Championship Game.

Everyone has down years.  This is one for LSU:

Auburn 38, LSU 21

Actual Score: Auburn 41, LSU 7 (WIN)

Miami (3-2, 1-1 ACC) @ Georgia Tech (4-0, 1-0 ACC)
Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. ESPN2
The Hurricanes go for their sixth straight win over Georgia Tech when they meet the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.

Miami had a solid performance at home against Duke last week to score its first conference win.  Two weeks ago in Blacksburg, Georgia Tech outscored Virginia Tech 17-8 in the fourth quarter to win 27-24.

This game is really a toss-up and could go either way.  The Hurricanes have yet to win on the road and Tech has had a week to rest:

Miami 28, Georgia Tech 24

Actual Score: Georgia Tech 28, Miami 17 (LOSS)

South Carolina (3-2, 2-2 SEC) @ Kentucky (3-1, 1-1 SEC)
Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. SEC NETWORK
South Carolina tries to bounce back from a home loss to Missouri with a road game at Kentucky.

The Wildcats picked up their first SEC win in three years last week but got a little more than they expected from Vanderbilt.

Who knows what kind of team we’ll see from Steve Spurrier.  If it’s anything like what we’ve seen against everyone but Georgia, Kentucky may win this game:

South Carolina 20, Kentucky 13

Actual Score: Kentucky 45, South Carolina 38 (LOSS)

Georgia State (1-3, 0-1 Sun Belt) @ Louisiana-Lafayette (1-3, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Saturday, October 4 at 7 p.m. ESPN3
For half the game two weeks ago at Washington, Georgia State fans were on top of the world.

The Panthers led the Huskies 14-0 at the break but got smacked in the face with reality in the second half when they were outscored 45-0.

They’re back on the road this week against those Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns:

Louisiana-Lafayette 45, Georgia State 24

Actual Score: Louisiana-Lafayette 34, Georgia State 31 (WIN)

Georgia Southern (3-2, 2-0 Sun Belt) @ New Mexico State (2-3, 1-0 Sun Belt)
Saturday, October 4 at 8 p.m. ESPN3
Georgia Southern could start its first season in the Sun Belt Conference 3-0 with a win at New Mexico State.

The Eagles have a long trip from Statesboro to Las Cruces (1,621.8 miles to be exact).  They’ve played well on the road this year, losing by a combined five points in losses at NC State and Georgia Tech and beating South Alabama two weeks ago, 28-6.

Southern gets after it:

Georgia Southern 38, New Mexico State 21

Actual Score: Georgia Southern 36, New Mexico State 28 (WIN)

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