With all that has been happening in Columbia this week, Missouri was at the center of a lot of the GameDay discussions in Week 11.
ESPN analyst Rece Davis asked the crew what effect the Missouri strike could have on a larger scale.
“In this particular case, they stood strong, and you saw what happened, the president resigned on Monday,’ Kirk Herbstreit said. “You wonder if players might look at this and think, you know, we do have the power to be able to go out there and make a stance on something we all believe in.”
Fellow ESPN analyst Desmond Bryant doesn’t think the players will abuse the power they’ve just realized, but Herbstreit reminded him, “You don’t know what this potentially could lead to”
When it came to the big games this week, the GameDay crew focused a lot on No. 2 Alabama versus No. 17 Mississippi State, as well as No. 9 LSU against Arkansas.
“Alabama’s been great, their defense has answered the call every single week with the exception of the Ole Miss game, and here’s a team again that’s going to spread them out, a quarterback with tempo, can run, can throw,” Herbstreit said.
According to Herbstreit, it’s going to be important for Bulldogs QB Dak Prescott to be able to read the defense and make the right plays in order to really test the Alabama cornerbacks.
“This is going to be a bigger test for Alabama because of the tempo, because of the quarterback that runs the spread—he can run on you, he can throw,” Herbstreit said.
He also said the changes for the Tide on defense will play a big part in how it responds to a quarterback like Prescott.
“Defensive line [made] adjustments, they’re faster, linebackers are better in space, they moved corners to safety,” Herbstreit said. “Let’s see how they do today in Starkville with all the adjustments in the off-season.”
Herbstreit also thinks Arkansas will give LSU trouble tonight, but the Tigers will still be able to pull out the win.
“[Arkansas QB] Brandon Allen playing better gives them some balance, but I think this is another Bad-Timing Award for Arkansas,” Herbstreit said. “[LSU RB] Leonard Fournette. with all the negative talk after the way he played against Alabama — I expect him to explode and play big tonight.”
The crew also touched on the Gators and Gamecocks.
“You’ve got to respect South Carolina,” Herbstreit said. “They’ve not given up, and [Gators QB] Treon Harris and this offense from Florida has struggled enough that if I’m a Gamecock defender, I’m thinking, we’re at home against Treon Harris, we can compete.”
South Carolina has to get WR Pharoh Cooper the football today in order to beat Florida, according to Herbstreit. “They’ll fight Florida today.”
Going outside the SEC, Herbstreit said he was impressed with the way former Auburn coach Gene Chizik has not only turned North Carolina football around, but also how he’s bounced back after the Auburn disaster.
Herbstreit’s Week 11 SEC picks
- Auburn over Georgia
- No. 2 Alabama over No. 17 Mississippi State
- No. 9 LSU over Arkansas
No. 11 Florida at South Carolina (FLA -7), North Texas at Tennessee (TENN -41.5), Kentucky at Vanderbilt (VAN -3), Western Carolina at Texas A&M (TAMU -36) and BYU vs. Missouri (BYU -4.5) were not picked by the GameDay crew today.
