SEC Week 10 Preview — Battle in the Trenches

Kenny Hill is running out of love in College Station. A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital announced that the quarterback race between Hill and true freshman Kyle Allen has opened back up. Despite a three-game losing streak and a new quarterback race, the Aggies should pick up their first win of October on Saturday. Struggles or not, UL-Monroe cannot handle A&M's offensive firepower.

To be fair, the Warhawks do boast the best defense in the Sun Belt. However, that's in the Sun Belt. It does not help that their offense is the polar opposite and is currently the worst in the conference. UL-Monroe needs to make their best effort of stopping the Aggies' passing game, while also trying to figure out how to light up the scoreboard.

Texas A&M is on a serious downslope after a great start to the year, but it's hard to believe that things have gotten bad enough to where they will drop their fourth straight loss to a Sun Belt team.

A win on Saturday will move Georgia one step closer to winning the SEC East. The Bulldogs have gotten better each week even with the absence of Todd Gurley, but it should still be a concern that the ground attack is carrying much of the offensive workload. There will come a time where Georgia will have to rely on Hutson Mason to move the ball through the air. However, they can likely get away with relying solely on Nick Chubb for another week because, as it stands right now, Florida's offense poses no threat to this defense.

Will Muschamp thought a new offensive coordinator would save the Gators from drowning. So far, nothing appears to be working in Gainesville and it may cost Muschamp his job. A win over Georgia may prolong his sentence for a few more weeks, so there is a lot on the line in this one. In other words, Jeff Driskel needs to be benched in favor of Treon Harris. Harris gives Florida the best chance to win.

This is historically one of the best rivalries in the south. Some of the craziest finishes in all of college football have come in rivalry games, so you can never definitively choose one team. This is Muschamp's last chance to save his own job.

Quarterback struggles have been a recurring theme throughout the SEC, but many did not expect Maty Mauk to be one of those quarterbacks. He has been able to escape some of his miscues because of how well the defense has played. We have reached a point in the season where you cannot rely on just one unit to guide you to conference victories. Saturday's result will depend on how Mauk plays.

There are no quarterback issues in Lexington right now. Patrick Towles is guiding the Wildcats to one of the biggest turnarounds in the SEC this season. Kentucky was within reach of knocking off #1 Mississippi State but fell just short. Towles will have a tough time against Missouri's defense, but if Mauk continues to struggle, the Tigers will not be able to hold him or Jojo Kemp back for long.

Kentucky is now just one win away from bowl eligibility after only winning two games last season. Missouri has only suffered one conference loss, so their hopes of going back to Atlanta are still alive. There will be a lot at stake on Saturday.

Auburn liked what it saw when the playoff committee released its inaugural rankings. Now the trick will be keeping that spot. The Tigers were nearly tripped up by a gutsy South Carolina's effort a week ago. Auburn's relentless ground game saved them, but they may not get so lucky this weekend. This is arguably the best defense Nick Marshall has seen all year, and he will have to be effective through the air to keep the Rebels second guessing.

Ole Miss saw its win streak come to an end last week in Death Valley. The Rebels played about as well as you can play on defense, but Bo Wallace was not able to successfully move the ball on and it ultimately cost them. It's obvious that Ole Miss will need to minimize Auburn's ground game. However, Bo Wallace's performance will be the deciding factor in this one. The new rankings show the Rebels are still on pace for a dream season, but they cannot afford another loss.

This is easily the college football game of the week because of what hangs in the balance. A top 4 team will fall this weekend. Will Ole Miss be re-motivated by last week's loss or can Auburn take down the Rebels on the road?

Vanderbilt is currently experiencing the biggest downfall of any SEC team. The Commodores are now relying on freshman quarterback Johnny McCrary to lead one of the worst offenses in the country. Before you go off and think that Old Dominion is an easy win, just remember that Vanderbilt has won two game by a combined total of four points.

Old Dominion is still trying to get adjusted to playing in the FBS, but they still have mores wins this season than Vanderbilt. The Monarchs boast one of the best pass offenses in Conference USA despite their losing record. They should use that to their advantage considering this is likely the only shot they will have of defeating an SEC team.

Vanderbilt has reached a point where they cannot afford a loss to a team like Old Dominion if there want to hold out any hope for a future. The official line for the game does not reflect it, but the Monarchs probably deserve to be the favorites in this game.

Mississippi State was awarded the number one ranking in the first official playoff rankings, but keeping that spot for another month will be no easy task. Last week, the Bulldogs got all they could handle from Kentucky, but Dak Prescott's efforts saved MSU's poor defensive performance. The key for this week's game will be slowing down Arkansas' ground attack. If they do this successfully, they will move forward with their dream season behind Prescott.

Arkansas is still looking for its first conference victory and has a great opportunity of ruining Mississippi State's dream season. They have progressively gotten better and have almost pulled a few upsets already. The Razorbacks have one of the best ground attacks in the country, but they will need to pass successfully in order to win. However, if they cannot stop Dak Prescott and company, none of that will matter.

Mississippi State has a few more obstacles to clear before it can head to the SEC Championship, and it starts with Arkansas on Saturday The Razorbacks have to finish off an upset sometime, but will it be against the number one team in the country?

The Gamecocks gave Auburn a run for its money last week, but the Tigers literally ran their way to victory. Dylan Thompson and Mike Davis lead a talented offense, but improvement on defense would mean improvement in their overall record. That starts with a good performance against Tennessee.

The Vols were able to pull a big upset over South Carolina last season, but a win this year would not really be considered an upset. But it would be equally significant for a team looking for its first conference win. Tennessee performed really well under Joshua Dobbs last week, so do not be surprised if he gets more playing time over a healthy Justin Worley. You can also expect the Vols to struggle if they cannot stop Thompson or Davis.

Both teams are fighting for some respect in the SEC, and this game has the potential to come down to the final seconds.