TV Lineup and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

What’s happening in the world of SEC football? Well, for one thing, there will be a national quarter-final game played in Tuscaloosa.

The winner of the LSU vs. Alabama contest Saturday on CBS will win the SEC Western Division and with that a spot in the SEC Championship Game against Florida, which is already penciled in as the Eastern Division champion. And everybody knows the winner of the Florida-Alabama (or Florida-LSU) title game will claim a spot in the BCS finale.

Undefeated and rested Alabama (8-0, 5-0), coming off a bye week with all minor bumps and bruises healed, is a slight favorite (Line: Alabama by 8) against an LSU (7-1, 4-1) squad that has struggled on offense at times — like the Crimson Tide — and looked sharp at time — like Alabama — but has found a way to win — like Alabama — in every game but one, a close loss to top-ranked Florida.

Most observers think it will come down to the defenses, which have saved victories for both teams this season. This could be another of those close, low-scoring games — old-time type SEC contests that feature field position and turnovers as keys to victory. Alabama is fourth in the nation in total defense and one of just three teams in the nation giving up fewer than four yards per play. Add to that the fact that LSU is dead last in the SEC in total offense and you can see that the Bengal Tigers don’t want a high-scoring affair.

To win, Bama will have to reverse a trend. LSU has turned Bryant-Denny into a home away from home in recent years, having claimed wins in its last four visits. And while most experts and the stats themselves indicate a low-scoring and close battle, the Crimson Tide has the potential to explode. Bama quarterback Greg McElroy has sputtered in his last three outings and fans are still waiting for star receiver Julio Jones to return to his fabulous freshman form and have a breakout game. This game has the possibility to be that game.

McElroy should have plenty of time to throw. Alabama has given up the fewest sacks in the SEC –- 8 — this season, while LSU is dead last in the league in sacks with only 11 all season. And it could be a good game for Jones to shine, Rumor has it that LSU will try to cover Jones man-on-man with sophomore DB Patrick Peterson. Peterson was covering Jones when he grabbed a 24-yard pass that set up the game-winning touchdown in last year’s overtime win by the Tide in Baton Rouge. Peterson has been quoting as saying he “wanted Jones” this year. Jones has been double-teamed, sometimes triple-teamed, most of the time this year and would love to go one-on-one with Peterson all game. Julio has a decided height and weight advantage.

And watch out for Mark Ingram. The Bama Heisman prospect has gained over half (568) of his 1,004 yards this season in the Tide’s three games against ranked foes. That just goes to show that Ingram is a good man to have on your side, someone who will deliver at crunch time, that elevates his game when it is needed. With the division title and a shot at the league and national titles on the line, this would be the type of game in which Ingram excels. Look for Bama to keep its 20-game regular-season winning streak alive.

There are only three SEC games in Week 10, with four non-conference breezes as well.

The other two SEC contests include Vanderbilt at Florida and South Carolina at Arkansas. The Commodores (2-7, 0-5) are big, big underdogs in the contest (Line: Florida by 34).

The only hope for Vandy is that freshman Warren Norman scores a couple of TDS on kickoff returns. Norman already has three this year, tying an SEC record. The only trouble for Vandy with that strategy is that Norman would probably be returning kickoffs after a Florida score.

The Gators (8-0, 6-0) should put another notch in their belts and stretch its best-in-the nation winning streak to 19 consecutive victories.

Arkansas (4-4, 1-4) has been given the nod at home against Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks. Bobby Patrino’s Wildcats have been back and forth all year. The Hogs have scored 40 points in five games, but sputtered in others. If Arkansas doesn’t have an offensive explosion and it comes down to defense, South Carolina (6-3, 3-3) will prevail ((Line: Arkansas by 6).

Of the four non-conference games, three — Tennessee Tech (5-3) at Georgia (4-4), Eastern Kentucky (5-3) at Kentucky (4-4), (Line: Kentucky by 31⁄2), Northern Arizona (5-3) at Ole Miss (5-3) — are expected to be so lopsided that there is no official betting. The fourth could/would have been a good game in some other year. Oncoming Tennessee (4-4), which has looked better and better as the year has gone along, is hosting Memphis (2-6) from Conference USA. On some years, Memphis would give the still-learning Vols a test. But not this year (Line: Tennessee by 251⁄2).

A final note –- back to the Bama game and the Heisman hopeful Ingram. If he winds up running for 100-150 yards and is the mainstay of the Tide offense for the day, I’ll bet he does it from the so-called “Wildcat” formation that has become so popular from the pros to high school. You know, there’s really not that much new in football. To paraphrase Mr. Shakespeare, a single wing is a single wing is a single wing … or. .. a single wing by any other name …. is the Wildcat, or Wild Rebel or whatever you want to call it. It’s still the single wing formation, where the tailback (or whatever you want to call the guy) takes a direct snap from center and runs, throws a pass or hands the ball off. Tennessee used to have a good one by the name of Majors.

And a note to Bama fans. Don’t worry about the drop in the ratings. It means nothing if the Tide can roll this weekend against LSU. That top spot is awfully hard to hold on to it. The best time to have it is after that final game. Until then — it doesn’t really matter at all.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

For the second week in a row, there is one Sunday game on this week’s TV lineup. If you’re interested Nevada is on the road at San Jose State at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN.

Tags: Alabama, College Football Lines, LSU, SEC Football, SEC Western Division Championship on the Line in T-Town

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 11:36 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.