Before Auburn and Alabama get Southeastern Conference serious, they have games this weekend that shouldn't be close.
No. 7 Auburn has Alabama State, an FCS team that's barely an hour from campus. For about $500,000, the Tigers can pay ASU and not break a sweat in their 6:30 p.m. home game that should attract 80,000-plus to Jordan-Hare Stadium.
It's a good deal for the Hornets, who won't have a lot of out of pocket expenses. It's a day trip for goodness sakes. Their biggest traveling expense is likely for their band, the Mighty Marching Hornets, who'll perform at halftime. The game might be a snoozer but the band, which has been invited to the New Year's Day Rose Bowl parade, is another story. Magic City Classic fans know what we're talking about.
It's also a good deal for Auburn with No. 11 LSU visiting Jordan-Hare next weekend.
You remember what happened last year, right? LSU 27, Auburn 23. After leading 23-14 at the half, Auburn left the building.
After a beatdown of Louisville last weekend, No. 1 Alabama plays host to Arkansas State Saturday afternoon. The 1-0 Red Wolves of the Sun Belt Conference shouldn't be confused for The Citadel, which visits Tuscaloosa in November.
A couple days ago, you could pick up a couple tickets for that game on StubHub for $11 apiece. While Arkansas State is a six-touchdown underdog it is more of a threat to test the Crimson Tide defense than Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas, Tennessee, and The Citadel.
This week's picks:
Arkansas State vs. Alabama
Yeah, it's Arkansas State. But just know if you visit one of Mississippi's half-dozen sports books, where college football gambling is legal, this might not be the play if you're betting the Tide will cover the 36 1/2-point spread.
The Red Wolves have a dangerous quarterback with senior Justice Hansen, who set a school record with six touchdown passes in a 48-21 rout of Southeast Missouri.
Yeah, it was Southeast Missouri but Hansen has passed for over 7,000 yards in his career and has as many receiving targets as Alabama, which is not to suggest they're anywhere close to Alabama's talent level. He just has a lot of targets and that ought to make Nick Saban's young secondary take notice after giving up 252 yards to Louisville.
Alabama 48, Arkansas State 13
Alabama State vs. Auburn
With LSU next, Auburn is in need of a running game. Maybe it's there with Kam Martin and JaTarvious Whitlow and we just didn't see it against a strong Washington defense. If it's not there, Auburn's season will start to turn against LSU, which was impressive in its opener against Miami. Gus Malzahn doesn't have to worry about his defense or quarterback Jarrett Stidham. Maybe even his special teams. But his offense that relies heavily on the run would seem to be a problem after Game 1. We aren't likely to know how big the problem is until LSU.
Not even a big day against Alabama State is going to tell us much. There should be little drama against the Hornets, who beat Tuskegee 26-20 in overtime last week with the help of 19 penalties and three turnovers by the Golden Tigers.
Auburn 50, Alabama State 0
UAB vs. Coastal Carolina
The Blazers go in as a 10-point favorite after rolling up a 550-178 yard advantage in their season-opening 52-0 win at home against Savannah State, a FCS program. The offense, led by quarterback A.J. Erdley, put up 36 first downs. Coastal Carolina is reeling from a 49-15 loss at 24th-ranked South Carolina. Considering Coastal is in its second season playing Division I football, the rout in Columbia may be more impressive than UAB's victory.
The Chanticleers are coached by 69-year-old Joe Moglia, who guided the program to five FCS playoff trips before the FBS transition. In the coaching fraternity, Moglia may very well be the wealthiest coach of all. A former CEO and chairman of the board of TD Ameritrade, Forbes once estimated his net worth near $1 billion.
UAB 24, Coastal Carolina 17
South Alabama vs. Oklahoma State
In Steve Campbell's first game as Joey Jones' replacement, the Jags fell 30-26 at home to Louisiana Tech, a double digit favorite. Despite four turnovers, 91 yards passing and having the ball just under 23 minutes, South made it a game in the second half. There was also a running game for a change, with the Jags producing 217 yards. A year ago, South ranked 125th out of 129 NCAA teams in rushing offense, averaging 97 a game.
A 32 1/2-point underdog on the road, South is going to need Oklahoma State's help to keep this game close.
Oklahoma State 40, South Alabama 14
SEC
Clemson 28, Texas A&M 20
Georgia 27, South Carolina 21
Florida 27, Kentucky 24
Mississippi State 28, Kansas State 23
Vanderbilt 35, Nevada 28
Ole Miss 40, Southern Illinois 20
Tennessee 31, East Tennessee State 20
LSU 36, Southeastern Louisiana 9
Missouri 38, Wyoming 27
Arkansas 30, Colorado State 20
Upset alert
Pittsburgh 27, 8 1/2-point underdog No, 13 Penn State 24
6 1/2-point underdog Arizona State 24, No. 15 Michigan State 21
Other games
Oklahoma 40, UCLA 17
Florida State 33, Samford 20
Stanford 27, USC 24
Iowa 28, Iowa State 23
Last week: 17-3
Charles Hollis has covered college football since 1983. He can be reached at budcoin@msn.com.
from Auburn Sports Impact http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2018/09/post_924.html
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