LCB SEC Picks: Games of the Week

(6) LSU v (5) Auburn @ 3:30 on CBS
Langston: A friend of mine was recently on a cruise when he decided to do the stanky leg. Now dancing on a boat after drinking for hours on end is never a good idea, let alone doing the always tricky stanky leg. He slipped and ended up tearing his ACL. This story has nothing to do with the game, I just thought it was funny, and yes I am going to burn for this very fact.

If anyone told you, with any conviction, that they knew who would win this game, they're probably fantastic liars or trained by the CIA to be a professional man/woman of mystery. No one has any idea how this game will play out. You got Chizik leaning on Malzahn's gimmicky offense. I say gimmicky because it was expected to crash and burn when used yet has turned into the best in the SEC. Then there is Les Miles, whose offense couldn't score 42 if given the ball in the redzone each possession. This is not uncommon for a team who can't pick a QB, let alone one that decides to switch QBs with seconds on the clock. And yes, that loss still burns.

Given the match-ups (the good and bad of LSU's defense and offense, the good and bad of Auburn's offense and defense), I see this game turning into a slugfest and coming down to a late three to seven point lead. And as Teach will add later, this is where Les is at his worst. However, Les is also extremely lucky. If he were doing the stanky leg on a cruise ship he would tear his acl, get surgery, and six month's later find out that the Doctor's messed up the surgery. But the mistake doesn't put any added risk to his life, instead it gives him super powers. Les' luck is probably his greatest strength as a coach and would be a fantastic reason to pick the Tigers, if not for Cam Newton. Even though Auburn's defense employs the Willie Martinez 15-yard cushion defense, a typical killer of any SEC squad, Cam Newton can score from any part of the field. And once you've seen him play, you'll understand when I say "Thank Lord Tebow that he transferred or us Tennessee fans could find no joy in the 2010 season. Addazio, Mississippi State, three straight losses; none of this would happen." Auburn 17, LSU 13.

Teach: I'm sure it's happened before.  In fact it probably happens all the time, but how weird is it that not only does one team's strength line up against the other team's strength in this match-up but their weaknesses as well.  LSU has a great defense. Auburn has a great offense.  Auburn can't stop anyone from throwing touchdowns against them.  LSU can't throw touchdowns.  The LSU defense and the Auburn offense will probably both make some great game-changing plays.  LSU's defense may be the best in the country, and Cam Newton is playing like the best quarterback in the country.  But I'm willing to bet that Auburn's defense finds a few more ways to make big plays than LSU's two quarterback system Les Miles' genius decision making.  I'm not a huge critic of two quarterback systems--I'm also not a proponent--but when I think about how LSU uses these quarterbacks, my mind goes back to the game with Tennessee, when Les Miles swapped Jordan Jefferson in for Jarrett Lee in the closing seconds on the Vols' goal line.  The result was a botched snap and a toilet bowl of chaos that Les Miles and company would have drowned in except for the fact that Tennessee had thirteen men on the field.  In other words, I'm not sure it's the two quarterbacks that are going to cost LSU as much as the coaching staff deciding when and how to use them.  Auburn wins 21-16.