From ESPN:
South Carolina at Florida
Marcus Spears: Florida’s defense gives them the edge in this ball game, because these guys are playmakers. But, now Florida offensively has added the element of Treon Harris. It think this is too much for South Carolina to handle today.
Tim Tebow: I love the matchup of South Carolina’s offense against Florida’s defense. They’re the second best passing offense in the SEC, and Florida has given up the most 20-yard passes in the SEC. I think the key to watch is the front four for Florida. Do they put pressure on Dylan Thompson? Is Dante Fowler going to be as disruptive in this game as he was against Georgia? If he is, it’s going to be a long day for Dylan Thompson.
Paul Finebaum: (On if this could be Spurrier’s last game in The Swamp) Sadly I believe that it is. I can’t see Steve Spurrier in this position two years from today.
Mississippi State at Alabama
Tim Tebow: (his advice for Dak Prescott) Focus on the process, not the result, because the result is too much for one person to handle, and for one person to carry. He has to focus on the process. The process is one play at a time, one thought at a time, one focus at a time. If he does that he has the skills, and the team has the skills, to get a victory today.
Marcus Spears: These are the defining games as a college athlete that you want to play in. You want to be a part of the ones that have playoff implications, where the national championship is on the line, where the conference title is on the line.
Tim Tebow: I’ll be looking at the two inside linebackers for Alabama. Can those two guys make one-on-one tackles? That’s a huge key to this game.
Marcus Spears: I’m looking at this Alabama offense. I need to see them generate some run game if they want to have success. Mississippi State has one of the best front seven in college football. If you can run the ball against them, that will take a lot of wind out of the defensive sails.
Marcus Spears: (On Dak Prescott) The scene is not too big for him. I think he has everything in perspective. Every once and a while you get a player that makes everybody believe they can win every game they play in.
Joe Tessitore: (On Dak Prescott) Playing a football game at Alabama is nothing compared to what this guy conquered a year ago.
Joe Tessitore: Blake Sims may have grown up as much as any college football player in the last three months.
Tim Tebow: (On Sims) He understands the situation. He understands the moment, and he steps up and makes plays. That’s what I like to see out of a quarterback.
Kentucky at Tennessee
Tim Tebow: It definitely is a must-win for both programs. But one program is doing a little bit better, has a little bit more hype, and a little bit more swag…that’s Tennessee. Why? Because Joshua Dobbs is playing better at quarterback than Patrick Towles is for Kentucky.
Marcus Spears: (On Joshua Dobbs) Don’t get ahead of yourself young fella. Take it all in stride. Keep learning the game. We have the “Kenny Hill affect.” I think what these coaches do with these young quarterbacks is give them a message. This is a marathon not a sprint. We think you’re a good player, but we need to pull back the reigns a little bit.
Marcus Spears: I feel good about Tennessee’s defense because I think they have some guys that are going to play on Sunday. I think that gives them the edge in this game.
Paul Finebaum: Five or six weeks ago we were saying how great of a job Coach Stoops is doing, and he has done a great job. But if he loses this afternoon, that’s five straight losses. He got a contract extension just in time!
Auburn at Georgia
Tim Tebow: It’s no question that Georgia was more balanced without Todd Gurley. You look at Hutson Mason’s statistics: with Todd Gurley he averaged 137 yards per game; without Todd Gurley, 207 yards per game. Mike Bobo knew he had to open the offense up. When they did that, it also opened up the run game. I think that’s when Georgia is at its best.
Marcus: I think they still need to keep that same mantra that they’ve been using the last few weeks and that’s keeping a balanced offense. But with that being said, when you get the best player in the country back, you have to give him the ball.
Joe Tessitore: Todd Gurley is 86 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns away from being second place in school history in both of those categories. That’s something to watch for today against Auburn.
Paul Finebaum: This game has changed dramatically. What A&M did last week at Auburn shattered Auburn’s chances of returning to the National Championship game. They also moved this game off-Broadway. Now it’s all about Tuscaloosa.
Marcus Spears: I’m expecting a shootout. You saw what A&M was able to do against Auburn last week; Georgia gave 418 yards rushing to the University of Florida; Gurley is back; Georgia’s offense will be prolific; Auburn’s offense has been prolific all season. It will be a whoever-has-the-ball-last type of game.
Paul Finebaum: Don’t forget about Nick Marshall. He knows his way around Athens as well
Missouri at Texas A&M
Coach Kevin Sumlin: After the Alabama situation, we had to take a step back and start working on us. We actually scrimmaged that Wednesday and tried to get back to who we are and what this program is built on.
Coach Kevin Sumlin (on his success with quarterbacks): I don’t know that it’s me. We’re looking for the right guys, too. Coaches coach, but players play. We try to put them in situations, and put people around them that can make them successful. It’s incumbent on the other ten guys on the field to make our quarterback’s job easier.
Coach Kevin Sumlin: When we got here, everything was about attitude and effort. When you start talking about playing in this league: you’ve got great coaches, great talent and great depth. How do you counter that? You better have attitude and you better have effort. It takes absolutely no talent to play with effort, and that was our message.
Tim Tebow: With Missouri, you have a really good defense. They find ways to win games. They don’t lose when they’re not supposed to lose. You have to give Gary Pinkel a lot of credit for that.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
