Preview of SEC Football: October 25 Matchups

Missouri Tigers vs. Vanderbilt Commodores The Missouri Tigers will enter the weekend coming off a 42-13 win over the Florida Gators last week. The Tigers only managed to gain 119 total yards on offense, but their defense forced six turnovers and they had two defensive touchdowns. Missouri is currently 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the SEC. Vanderbilt will use its fourth starting quarterback on the season in this game but Missouri coach Gary Pinkel says the talent around that position is good. “They have good receivers, great tight end… offensive line is very experienced so I think whoever is playing there will have a really good supporting cast, and we’ve got to be prepared, you know, for anybody to play at the position (quarterback),” Pinkel said. Vanderbilt is coming off a close 21-20 win over Charleston Southern. The Commodores did not score at all during the second half of the game and the offense put up just 229 total yards. Vandy is 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the SEC. Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason discusses the play of Missouri’s quarterback Maty Mauk. “Maty Mauk has had streaks of greatness and days where he’s had to work himself out of some struggles, so I see this Missouri team as still a top 25 team. We’re going to have to bring our “A” game to be able to stand up to it, and we are looking forward to the task,” said Mason. The game will be played at Memorial Stadium at Faurot Field in Columbia Missouri. Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Tennessee Volunteers Alabama heads to Knoxville after rolling right over Texas A&M with a blowout 59-0 win. Alabama is 6-1 on the season and 3-1 in the SEC, only losing to Ole Miss. Alabama coach Nick Saban says when his team does the little things, it tends to be successful. ” I think the most important thing for our team is, you know, choose your energy… be positive. You know, the effort, the toughness, the discipline, the execution, the attention to detail… those types of things,” said Saban. “You know, when we’ve done those things well we’ve been pretty effective, and when we haven’t we haven’t done very well.” The Vols are coming into this game on the opposite side of the spectrum off a 34-3 loss against Ole Miss. Tennessee is coming into the game unranked against their number four ranked opponent with a 3-4 overall record while going 0-3 in the SEC. ” This will be another great challenge. Another top five football team and very deservingly so. Very, very complete football

team. You know, we talk about in our football program with our young players, teaching them to play complimentary football. When you look at Alabama they play complementary football in terms of offense, defense, and special teams all working together,” said Tennessee head coach Butch Jones. Auburn Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks The number five Auburn Tigers are coming off their bye week to host the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Tigers are 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC so far this season. The game will be big for both teams as Auburn is looking to bounce back from a 38-23 loss against number one Mississippi State two weeks ago to keep fighting for the SEC West as well as one of the top four spots to go to the college football playoff while South Carolina wants to stay alive in the open SEC East. “We’re coming off an off week, which was really good for our players and coaches and playing a very talented South Carolina team and we know we are going to have to play well to win,” said Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. South Carolina is currently 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the SEC. They are coming off a 41-10 win against Furman last weekend. ” We got to slow them down, we got to make some tackles, we got to hopefully force some punts, maybe get a turnover and try to get in a good close ball game with Auburn this Saturday night,” said Steve Spurrier, head coach for the Gamecocks. Ole Miss Rebels vs. LSU Tigers The number 24 LSU Tigers host the number 3 Ole Miss Rebels in Tiger Stadium Saturday night. LSU is heading into the game 6-2 coming off a 41-3 win against Kentucky last weekend. The last time LSU met with Ole Miss the Tigers fell short losing by three. According to head coach Les Miles his team is constantly improving and Ole Miss will be a great test for his team. ” They’re very good in all three phases and that’s really the key. They have done a good job offensively, very good defensively and special teams,” said Miles. The Rebels are coming off a 34-3 win over Tennessee last weekend and the Rebel defense has played very well, giving up only 10.6 points a game. Ole miss is currently 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. “They’re (LSU) playing quite a few talented young kids and the more they got on the field in these environments , the better off they’re going to be,” said Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze. “Also I do think they’ve somewhat, like we all do as coaches, we figure out what our strengths are and start leaning on them quite a bit more.” Kentucky Wildcats vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs The number one Mississippi State Bulldogs are in Kentucky to take on the Wildcats. The undefeated Bulldogs are coming off their bye week, after beating Auburn the previous week, 38-23. MSU leads the SEC in yards per game, averaging 529.7, while Kentucky averages 415.4. “We’re coming off a bye last week, so we had the opportunity to get some guys rested. Both physically and mentally rested. And I think our guys have really responded this week very, very well with a good week of practice. Got right back to work on Monday. Came out with a lot of energy and fired up,” said MSU head coach Dan Mullen. The Wildcats are coming of a 41-3 loss to LSU which brought their record to 5-2. ” [They are] Very balanced and like I said i think they (Bulldogs) present a lot of problems because they can certainly be as physical as they want to be, but also have the ability to spread you out and throw it around a little bit too,” said Mark Stoops, head coach for the Wildcats. According to Stoops his team will have to improve, especially when it comes to Mississippi State’s front seven who create a lot of negative yardage plays. Other SEC teams Arkansas will host Alabama Birmingham, while Florida, Georgia, and Texas A&M all have their bye weeks. Click here for audio from SEC head coaches: Pinkel on Vanderbilt’s offense. Mason on Maty Mauk. Saban on team’s attitude going into the game. Jone’s preview of Alabama. Malzahn on facing South Carolina after a bye week. Spurrier on facing Auburn. Miles on Ole Miss being well rounded. Freeze on why LSU has been so successful recently. Mullen talks about preparation for this week. Stoops on why MSU presents problems for its opponents.