SEC showcase highlights weekend TV schedule
All eyes will be on the SEC this weekend.
The two marquee games this week feature No. 1 Alabama traveling to Fayetteville to play No. 10 Arkansas. Later in the day, No. 12 South Carolina plays at No. 17 Auburn.
The Crimson Tide roll into Arkansas fresh off a 62-13 thrashing of Duke last week. More importantly, Alabama got reigning Heisman winner Mark Ingram back, just in time to run wild on the Blue Devils and prep for the Razorbacks.
"We know they're a very, very good football team," Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino said during a press conference on Monday. "They're very good on offense. They're very physical. They can run it and throw it. Defensively, they're very good. We have a challenge ahead of us, but we're really looking forward to it."
The key for Arkansas will be trying to slow down the Alabama offense. Ingram (151 yards, two touchdowns on nine carries against Duke) and Trent Richardson (61 yards, one touchdown on seven carries against Duke) present all sorts of problems. But it's the steady play and leadership of savvy senior quarterback Greg McElroy that makes the offense almost unstoppable. McElroy completed 14 of 20 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns last week. McElroy's passer rating is over 200 this season. Then throw in wideout Julio Jones (5 catches for 106 yards and a score last week) and the Razorbacks will have all they can handle.
Arkansas' defense is only giving up 11 points per game this season, but the only quality opponent that unit has faced was last week against Georgia, a 31-24 win.
Another interesting matchup is Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett against an Alabama defense with nine new starters. The Crimson Tide's defense has been solid through three games this season, but Mallett is the type of quarterback Alabama's young secondary hasn't seen. Mallett is completing 70 percent of his passes this season, with 1,081 yards and nine touchdowns.
If Mallett and his offense can score some points and make this a shootout, the Crimson Tide could be in some trouble on the road.
Meanwhile, another battle of the unbeatens will match the Gamecocks against the Tigers.
Auburn has had two nice wins in a row -- beating Mississippi State 17-14 on the road and rallying to beat Clemson in overtime last Saturday night, 27-24.
Quarterback Cameron Newton has been impressive this season. Newton has seven touchdown passes this season, but has only attempted 47 passes. He also leads Auburn in rushing with 309 yards.
South Carolina has used a stingy defense (allowing just 12.7 points per game) and the running of true freshman Marcus Lattimore (333 yards, five touchdowns) to start 3-0.
Stephen Garcia has thrown just two touchdown passes this season, both in the last game against Furman. So expect Steve Spurrier to run Lattimore plenty, control the clock and let his defense do the rest.
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Other games of interest this week:
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Thursday
No. 19 Miami (Fla.) at Pittsburgh (7:30 p.m., ESPN): Can Pittsburgh neutralize Miami's speed? That will be a huge key to this game. Miami has talent all over the field and plenty of speed to go with it. The Hurricanes' problem has been sloppy play, especially in the loss to Ohio State. Jacory Harris threw four interceptions against the Buckeyes. If the Hurricanes can play an error-free game, they probably have too much for the Panthers to handle.
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Saturday
No. 16 Stanford at Notre Dame (3:30 p.m., NBC): Real interesting game. Notre Dame could be 3-0 instead of 1-2. Michigan beat the Irish on a late drive and Michigan State won on a fake field goal in overtime last week. Notre Dame's offense has been very good. The defense needs to get some stops late in games. That will be important against Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
No. 24 Oregon State at No. 3 Boise State (8 p.m., ABC): Boise State hits the big-time on Saturday. ESPN's "College Gameday" (10 a.m., ESPN) will be in town and the Broncos get the national television slot on Saturday night. Oregon State certainly has some nice players on offense with Jacquizz and James Rodgers. But can the Beavers' defense slow down Kellen Moore and the Broncos' high-powered offense? Probably not.
No. 22 West Virginia at No. 15 LSU (9 p.m., ESPN2): LSU almost let a big lead slip away in the opener against a depleted North Carolina team. But the Tigers have been good in their last two games, allowing just 10 points total in wins against Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson has thrown for over 100 yards once this season. West Virginia needed overtime to beat Marshall. But the Mountaineers looked good last week in a 31-17 win over Maryland. Geno Smith has been solid at quarterback, throwing for 800 yards and seven touchdowns in three games. Noel Devine has rushed for 354 yards and Tavon Austin already has 21 catches. That's a lot for LSU to worry about.
