Boom or bust: 3 players set to shine, and 3 who may flop

Week 2 in the SEC has its share of soft matchups that should provide for plenty of padded stat sheets and lopsided scoreboards. But there are a few intriguing contests with some early-season ramifications on the line, including LSU at Mississippi State, Oklahoma at Tennessee and Kentucky at South Carolina, to name a few.

The SEC enjoyed a banner opening week that saw 10 of its 14 teams, including the entire West Division, land inside the Associated Press Poll’s top 25. That success should continue in Week 2. And while many players will enjoy monster games this weekend, a few might want to start looking forward to Week 3.

Here’s a look at a few players we feel have the right matchups to put up big days, and some we feel will struggle against evenly-matched or superior opposition:

BOOMS

1. Kenyan Drake: Alabama running back Derrick Henry bulldozed his way to 147 yards and 3 touchdowns in Week 1 over No. 20 Wisconsin. With Middle Tennessee State in Tuscaloosa this weekend, it’s time for Henry’s backfield partner Kenyan Drake to have a big game — that is to say, a bigger game. The senior Drake compiled 71 rushing yards and a score against the Badgers for an average of 7.7 yards per carry. Expect Henry to have another big game, but look for him to exit early in what should be a lopsided contest in the Crimson Tide’s favor. That’s where Drake fills-in and goes for more than 100 yards. Extra Point: Middle Tennessee State is technically one of the stingiest defenses in the nation … by default. The Blue Raiders held Jackson State to 5 rushing yards on 20 carries in Week 1. You read that correct: 5 yards, including LaMontiez Ivy, who rushed for -5 yards on nine carries and Jarius Moore, who had -9 yards on five carries.
2. Jeremy Johnson: Sometimes you just need a punching bag to help you work out a few kinks — if you consider three interceptions and a paltry 137 yards passing as “kinks.” Jeremy Johnson’s debut under center for Auburn was less-than-stellar, to say the least. But the Tigers won a hard-fought game against a tough Louisville team and that’s the bottom line when it comes to importance in Auburn. Johnson and the Tigers play host to Jacksonville State in Week 2. Johnson was accurate at times against Louisville (despite a 52.8 completion percentage), Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said, but suffered mental mistakes trying to do too much. And that’s when the turnovers began piling up. He’ll face a Gamecocks defense that yielded just 86 yards passing in its season-opener against Tennessee-Chattanooga. But that was against the Mocs. Johnson makes some adjustments this week, allows the game come to him and rebounds with a solid performance in Week 2.
3. Brandon Wilds: The Kentucky defense is prone to surrendering plenty of yards. Brandon Wilds is looking for a breakout game in his first season as South Carolina’s starting running back. The conditions are just right in Columbia during Week 2 for the senior to bust out with a dominant performance. The Gamecocks passing game limped out of the box in Week 1 under first-time starter Connor Mitch. As the redshirt sophomore adjusts to the college game, and the Gamecocks deal with injuries and inexperience at wide receiver, Steve Spurrier will need to rely heavily on his rushing attack. Wilds rushed for a team-high 51 yards in Week 1, pairing with teammate David Johnson for 93 total rushing yards. Look for both players to get the Gamecocks rushing game back to its dominating self.

BUSTS

1. Ashton Shumpert: LSU knows what Ashton Shumpert will bring to the field for Mississippi State, courtesy of Week 1 game footage. The Bulldogs junior, however, doesn’t know what kind of defense the Tigers will throw at the first-year starting running back. What he should expect is a steady dose of defensive linemen Davon Godchaux and Christian LaCouture, who combined for 82 tackles in 2014. The Tigers saw their Week 1 matchup against McNeese State cancelled, leaving no game footage for the Bulldogs to study. Shumpert, the starter against Southern Mississippi, finished third on the team in rushing behind QB Dak Prescott (72 rushing yards) and RB Brandon Holloway (51) in Week 1 with 38 yards on the ground. Look for the LSU front seven to handle the Bulldogs running back corps, while the Tigers’ vaunted secondary attempts to solve Prescott this year.
2. Kelvin Taylor: A week ago, Taylor made this list as a boom going up against New Mexico State. The Florida running back finished with a team-high 54 rushing yards and a score — not the greatest numbers going up against the nation’s worst run defense, but certainly respectable given that it only came on eight carries. Along with teammate Jordan Scarlett, whose own eight carries netted him 34 yards and a touchdown, the Gators were effective on the run against the Aggies. This week, Florida plays host to East Carolina, a team that returns just about everyone from a unit that finished No. 11 in the nation last year in run defense (111.8 ypg). Look for Taylor and company to gain more carries this week and put up decent numbers; just don’t expect the video-game-type stats we’re itching to see from the son of NFL great Fred Taylor.
3. Tennessee secondary: The Tennessee secondary was supposed to be a strength in 2015, and, for all we know, it might be. But the Volunteers were porous at best in Week 1, coughing up 433 yards passing to Bowling Green quarterbacks Matt Johnson and James Knapke. Their reward is a matchup against Oklahoma and quarterback Baker Mayfield, who impressed in his Sooners’ debut. The Texas Tech transfer blistered Akron in the season-opener for 388 yards, 3 touchdown passes and a rushing score. The Tennessee secondary is suffering from injuries, such as to Rashaan Gaulden, who is out for the year with a fractured foot. The Volunteers still have Cameron Sutton, a 2015 Sporting News preseason first-team All-SEC cornerback, but the junior might have been more effective on punt returns in the season-opener against Bowling Green, breaking off runs of 47, 34 and 21 yards, than he was on defense with 3 tackles and a tackle-for-loss.

Chris Wuensch

Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.