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With four teams on bye weeks, and a rare Friday night game, it’s a light schedule this week, especially Saturday. Several intra-division matchups fill up the undercard below the headliner in Knoxville, and a pair of tight ends fill up the highlight reel.
Here are our headline predictions for Week 7:
Mississippi State at BYU: Cougars clang ‘Dogs
The high-flying BYU offense makes another long day for the Bulldogs and defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon with a third consecutive game of yielding 30-plus points. The Tim Tebow comparisons continue for BYU QB Taysom Hill in the eyes of Dan Mullen.
Vanderbilt at Georgia: Dawgs shut the ‘Dores
Memories of Erk Russell are all around Sanford Stadium as Georgia puts on a defensive effort for the ages as Ralph Webb is held under 100 yards. In a field goal contest, Jacob Eason does just enough for Georgia to prevail entering its bye.
Alabama at Tennessee: Tide streak past Vols
The month-long gauntlet catches up to the Vols as Alabama extends its series winning streak to 10 games. O.J. Howard turns in a three-touchdown afternoon to quiet the short-lived raucous crowd.
Missouri at Florida: Gators Lock up top passer
The toe-to-toe matchup of the league’s top defense against its top passer goes to the Gators as Drew Lock and the up-tempo attack struggles to find a rhythm. After an unexpected week off last week, Florida holds a fifth opponent under 10 points.
Ole Miss at Arkansas: Rebels ruin homecoming
Evan Engram catches a touchdown for the fourth consecutive game and turns in his third outing with more than 100 receiving yards. The SEC’s yards-per-game leader helps the Rebels avoid overtime this year as their bye week combined with the Razorbacks’ Alabama hangover proves to be the difference.
Southern Mississippi at LSU: Tigers avoid brief scare
The high-scoring Southern Miss offense puts an early scare in Tiger Stadium, but LSU eventually wears the visitors down thanks to a week of rest. Derrius Guice turns in his third 100-yard rushing game of the season filling in for the injured Leonard Fournette.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
