Fearless Football Forecasters: Week 11

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Fearless Football Forecasters: Week 11

ByPhillip Marshall

9-12 minutes

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In the late Pat Dye’s time, the Tigers played Florida, Georgia and Alabama in November. Dye dubbed it Amen Corner after the three-hole stretch at Augusta National Golf Club that has derailed many a championship run.

Auburn’s version of Amen Corner is no more, but November still presents challenges. Bryan Harsin’s first season as head coach will be largely defined by the next three weeks, when the No. 16 Tigers play Mississippi State at home, at South Carolina and Alabama at home.

A win over Mississippi State and Mike Leach’s air raid offense in Saturday’s 11 a.m. game will keep the Tigers alive in the race for the West Division championship. A loss, and they will be out of the running.

Last weekend was a rough one for your Fearless Forecasters – Phillip Marshall, Keith Niebuhr, Mark Murphy, Jason Caldwell, Ronnie Sanders and Nathan King. The race has tightened down the stretch.

Here are the standings going into Week 11:

Phillip 11-9/144-53

Keith 15-5/141-56

Mark 10-9/137-60

Jason 15-5/134-63

Ronnie 12-8/130-67

Nathan 14-6/131-66

On to another week:

MISSISSIPPI STATE (5-4, 3-3) AUBURN (6-3, 3-2)

How Phillip sees it:

This is a very dangerous game for Auburn. Mississippi State’s passing game is on a roll with quarterback Will Rogers piling up yards at a frightful rate in Mike Leach’s air raid offense. The Bulldogs can even run the ball. Auburn’s secondary, led by projected first-round draft pick Roger McCreary, will carry a heavy load.

Auburn’s offense will need to reawaken against another strong defense. Playing at home, I look for that to happen. But it will be a fourth-quarter game.

Auburn 38, Mississippi State 31

How Keith sees it:

Auburn is a different team at home and that will help. But the entire offense will have to perform at a higher level this week if the Tigers are to win. The good news: While Mike Leach’s defense isn’t bad, it’s not at the level of Texas A&M. This should be a tough game.

Auburn 30, Mississippi State 29

How Mark sees it:

Normally it is safe to pick the Tigers to defeat Mississippi State in games at Jordan-Hare Stadium. However, it is not normal for the Tigers come into a game on a six-quarter drought without a touchdown.

Auburn played very well against The Pirate and his Air Raid attack last year, but the Tigers now have a different scheme, different coaches and the Mississippi State offense has made progress since the last time the teams met.

Since Auburn’s defense has played well in the red zone and because Mississippi State’s field goal kicking is shaky, I will go with the Tigers.

Auburn 23, Mississippi State 17

How Jason sees it:

This is one of the most interesting games of the season for Auburn after the loss to Texas A&M. The Tigers played one of their better defensive games of the year in a win in Starkville last season and it should be a good matchup for Derek Mason’s group this time around as well.

Can Auburn’s offense make enough plays to win? That’s my only question. Even though this isn’t an air raid offense, defenses have figured out if you don’t give up the big play to the Tigers it makes it tough for them to score. Bo Nix has to play better this week, no doubt about it, but he also needs someone to step up and make a play. How many times does an offense throw an eight-yard pass that turns into a 40-yard gain? Happens all the time. When is the last time we have seen that for this offense?

Finding enough plays is the name of the game for the Auburn offense. I think they’ll do it against a pretty darn good Mississippi State defense, but it won’t be easy.

Auburn 27, Mississippi State 23

How Ronnie sees it:

An early kickoff at Jordan-Hare is not the same as a night game - and a good Mississippi State team will come in ready to play. The Auburn offense will have to score more points if the Tigers are to win the game. We’ll see some new wrinkles, but will it be enough?

Auburn 34, Mississippi State 30

How Nathan sees it:

This feels like a trap spot for Auburn as it attempts to bounce back on offense against another stout defensive unit in Mississippi State.

If the Tigers' defense can affect Will Rogers in a similar fashion to their performance last season, they'll be fine — and I think they have a good chance to do so. Colby Wooden and Derick Hall are playing at a high level, as is the rest of the defense for that matter.

I don't see a complete offensive turnaround coming, but I do think Auburn can score enough at home. But Mississippi State is tricky on both sides of the ball and will hang around for four quarters — and cover.

Auburn 23, Mississippi State 20

SEC GAME OF THE WEEK

TEXAS A&M (7-2, 4-2) AT OLE MISS (7-2, 3-2)

How Phillip sees it:

Ole Miss is catching Texas A&M at a good time, coming off a significant victory and going on the road. If the Rebels can slow down the Texas A&M running game, they’ll have a good shot at winning. I don’t see that happening, at least not consistently.

Texas A&M 31, Ole Miss 23

How Keith sees it:

The Aggies have such a solid defense that should give them a slight edge.

Texas A&M 27, Ole Miss 25

How Mark sees it:

The Aggies are on a four-game winning streak since losing to Mississippi State and should have a talent edge that is large enough to overcome homefield advantage as well as the Rebels having a more dynamic offense.

Texas A&M 34, Ole Miss 28

How Jason sees it:

Another very interesting game here with the Aggies coming off a big win against an Ole Miss team that has to be worn down following the stretch of games they’ve faced this season. I just don’t like this matchup for the Rebels. Texas A&M can run the ball and they’ve got a strong defense.

Texas A&M 34, Ole Miss 20

How Ronnie sees it:

The Texas A&M defense is playing lights out, while the Ole Miss offense is ranked No. 4 nationally. Saturday night in Oxford should be a lotta fun.

Ole Miss 34, Texas A&M 31

How Nathan sees it:

Ole Miss' defense is exactly the group Texas A&M needs right now to open up things on offense and make a bigger impact on the scoreboard. The Aggies' defense is playing at an incredibly high level right now, and I think they could do enough to bother Matt Corral and a depleted offense.

Texas A&M 31, Ole Miss 24

OTHER SEC GAMES

How Phillip sees them:

Georgia 45 Tennessee 20

Missouri 35, South Carolina 31

Florida 42, Samford 14

Alabama 56, New Mexico State 7

Kentucky 30, Vanderbilt 20

LSU 28, Arkansas 27

How Keith sees them:

Georgia 30, Tennessee 27

Missouri 31, South Carolina 27

Florida 23, Samford 10

Alabama 44, New Mexico State 10

Kentucky 31, Vanderbilt 10

LSU 35, Arkansas 24

How Mark sees them:

Georgia 48, Tennessee 10

South Carolina 38, Missouri 21

Florida 38, Samford 10

Alabama 63, New Mexico State 7

Kentucky 31, Vanderbilt 13

Arkansas 31, LSU 20

How Jason sees them:

Georgia 30, Tennessee 27

Missouri 31, South Carolina 30

Florida 42, Samford 17

Alabama 56, New Mexico State 10

Kentucky 35, Vanderbilt 13

Arkansas 38, LSU 24

How Ronnie sees them:

Georgia 27, Tennessee 21

South Carolina 27, Missouri 24

Florida 31, Samford 10

Alabama 52, New Mexico State 14

Kentucky 33, Vanderbilt 9

LSU 31, Arkansas 30

How Nathan sees them:

Georgia 38, Tennessee 24

South Carolina 30, Missouri 17

Florida 51, Samford 13

Alabama 62, New Mexico State 7

Kentucky 41, Vanderbilt 17

Arkansas 20, LSU 17

OTHER GAMES

How Phillip sees them:

Oklahoma 38, Baylor 34

Ohio State 41, Purdue 28

Penn State 24, Michigan 23

Iowa 27, Minnesota 21

Michigan State 42, Maryland 31

Pittsburgh 45, North Carolina 42

Boston College 21, Georgia Tech 20

Miami 33, Florida State 31

Wake Forest 38, North Carolina State 35

Notre Dame 27, Virginia 24

Oklahoma State 35, TCU 21

Oregon 28, Washington State 24

Iowa State 41, Texas Tech 28

How Keith sees them:

Baylor 33, Oklahoma 30

Ohio State 31, Purdue 20

Michigan 27, Penn State 23

Iowa 20, Minnesota 17

Michigan State 30, Maryland 20

Pittsburgh 34, North Carolina 30

Boston College 34, Georgia Tech 24

Miami 30, Florida State 26

Wake Forest 37, North Carolina State 34

Notre Dame 38, Virginia 27

Oklahoma State 37, TCU 33

Oregon 37, Washington State 26

Iowa State 35, Texas Tech 27

How Mark sees them:

Oklahoma 38, Baylor 24

Ohio State 38, Purdue 17

Michigan 23, Penn State 20

Iowa 21, Minnesota 17

Michigan State 31, Maryland 13

Pittsburgh 38, North Carolina 34

Boston College 28, Georgia Tech 24

Miami 30, Florida State 20

North Carolina State 41, Wake Forest 31

Notre Dame 38, Virginia 20

Oklahoma State 31, TCU 14

Oregon 37, Washington State 17

Iowa State 34, Texas Tech14

How Jason sees them:

Oklahoma 30, Baylor 26

Ohio State 54, Purdue 24

Penn State 27, Michigan 23

Iowa 20, Minnesota 18

Michigan State 38, Maryland 28

Pittsburgh 49, North Carolina 44

Georgia Tech 27, Boston College 23

Miami 31, Florida State 27

North Carolina State 30, Wake Forest 28

Virginia 34, Notre Dame 30

Oklahoma State 24, TCU 9

Oregon 31, Washington State 20

Iowa State 34, Texas Tech 19

How Ronnie sees them:

Baylor 41, Oklahoma 38

Ohio State 31, Purdue 20

Michigan 33, Penn State 27

Iowa 28, Minnesota 24

Michigan State 38, Maryland 24

Pittsburgh 31, North Carolina 27

Boston College 30, Georgia Tech 20

Miami 33, Florida State 27

Wake Forest 34, North Carolina State 30

Virginia 31, Notre Dame 28

Oklahoma State 37, TCU 20

Oregon 42, Washington State 40

Iowa State 37, Texas Tech 31

How Nathan sees them:

Oklahoma 35, Baylor 31

Ohio State 48, Purdue 31

Michigan 33, Penn State 20

Minnesota 23, Iowa 20

Michigan State 34, Maryland 21

Pitt 48, North Carolina 41

Boston College 28, Georgia Tech 21

Miami 41, Florida State 31

Wake Forest 34, NC State 31

Notre Dame 28, Virginia 21

Oklahoma State 24, TCU 21

1COMMENTS

Oregon 28, Washington State 13

Iowa State 37, Texas Tech 20