Tennessee @ Mississippi State

Viewer Rating: (1-5) I’m going to give this game 3*. Tennessee has a chance to prove that they are the team that played Georgia last week, and not the one that showed up in Berkeley and Gainesville. Plus, the Bulldogs have the kind of team that could upset Tennessee because of their ability to run the football.

What to watch: “I got a fever, and the only prescription…Is more cowbell!” Thats right, cowbells, but don’t worry Tennessee fans, the Vols should be ready because they have been practicing with the beautiful sound of the cowbell in their ears all week. For the Bulldogs to have such a small stadium that place, with the help of the cowbell, can get pretty loud. Ainge may not be able to check off as much, and it could affect Tennessee’s ability to run the No-Huddle offense.

The trenches. The Bulldogs have a powerful running game because of their big offensive lineman and 240 pound running back Anthony Dixon. If the Vols can get some push up front like they did last week in Knoxville they should win this game. However, if the Vols play the run like they did in the games before last week they could be in for a long day.

Who To Watch: Tennessee linebackers Rico McCoy and Jerod Mayo. The pair combined for 22 tackles last week against Georgia, and will need to come up big again this week against the Bulldogs powerful running game.

Anthony Dixon. The most productive player on this team is running back Anthony Dixon. He is a big boy that can seriously pound the rock. He went over 150 yards last week against UAB and has 586 rushing yards this year. They are going to give him the ball at least 25 times, and make the Vols stop him before they resort to airing it out with their freshman quarterback.

I would also watch true freshman Wesley Carroll because if Miss. State wants to pull the upset they are going to have to get some kind of passing game going. The Bulldogs rank last in the SEC in passing at just 133 ypg.

Who Will Win: I like Tennessee in this one. They finally showed last week what many Tennessee fans thought they would look like coming into the year. Mississippi State should see success running the football, but they are too one-demisional to hang with this revived Vols team.

Against the Spread: Traditionally Tennessee is not very good at covering the spread in a trap game like this, but I feel strongly that they ought to handle the Bulldogs fairly easy. The score will be somewhere around 31-13, and at the current spread of (-7) take the Vols with confidence.

Vols To The Wall