With Week 2 officially in the books, the opening lines for next weekend’s games have begun to trickle out. The schedule features a few great conference games: Alabama (-9.5) at Ole Miss, Georgia (-7.5) at Missouri, Texas A&M at Auburn (-4) and Mississippi State at LSU (which has no line at opening; likely due to the unknown status of running back Leonard Fournette).
Upon first viewing of the lines, two games immediately stand out as opportunities to land advantages before the lines likely shift:
Texas A&M (+4) at Auburn
The game to grab at opening this week is clear as Texas A&M is currently being given four points as the Aggies travel to Auburn for this Saturday night SEC West showdown. Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin has a great 9-6 SEC road record and finally has both his offense and defense humming at the same time entering conference play.
With a veteran quarterback running the offense and legitimate running back options, this A&M team appears to be very different than the ones that preceded it. The one common component between this year’s squad and those before it is the level of playmakers on offense, and now the defense has difference-makers at every level, too.
Sean White looked much-improved against a poor Arkansas State team, but his lack of mobility will make it hard for him to take advantage of John Chavis’ A&M defense.
Even if Auburn wins this game by a field goal, if this game does come down to a field goal, the Tigers do have arguably the best kicker in the conference in Daniel Carlson, you would still win your wager. The advantage at opening heavily favors Texas A&M.
Georgia at Missouri (+7.5)
The Bulldogs appeared to many to be the East’s best team following the huge opening weekend game against North Carolina, but that game was a bit misleading. North Carolina was gashing Georgia in the run game, and for some inexplicable reason, abandoned the run game and called for 40 pass attempts from first-year starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
Despite the crazy number of pass attempts, Georgia failed to register a sack, which is a red flag. Nick Chubb’s heroics in the opener overshadowed UGA’s offensive and defensive line issues, but Nicholls State exposed them yet again.
Missouri has the front four to challenge Georgia up front and with both Jacob Eason and Kirby Smart having never won a single SEC game, not to mention a road SEC game, they are expected to win by over a touchdown in Columbia?
Mizzou’s new uptempo offense is averaging 89 plays of offense over the first two weeks of the season. If that happens again, Georgia’s thin defensive line will wear down by the end of this game. The advantage at opening favors Missouri.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
