Alabama Football: Nine interesting week two games for Tide fans

North Carolina State at Mississippi State

Will the Bulldogs redeem themselves for barely escaping with a 35-34 win over Louisiana Tech? Going back to 2015, the Wolfpack have lost four of five games against SEC teams. The one win was over Vanderbilt. Beating USF 45-0 was hardly a resume builder for NCSU.

The Bulldogs will not survive being turnover-prone for a second week in a row. The Wolfpack should have the better defense and possibly enough offense to win a close game.

Then again, predicting an outcome in a Mike Leach-coached game is always tricky.

Missouri Tigers at Kentucky Wildcats

Though not garnering much attention, this could be one of the SEC’s best 2021 games. The Tigers beat the Wildcats last season in Columbia. The Missouri defense basically shut down last season’s Kentucky offense.

That Cats’ offense is no more. With transfer Will Levis at the controls, the Wildcats have a new aerial attack. With heavy use of play-action, Kentucky is not reluctant to go deep, and even throw on first down. The toughness and physicality Mark Stoops brought to Lexington are still there. The Cats run behind one of the SEC’s best offensive lines.

Missouri has good offensive weapons in quarterback Connor Bazelak and running back, Tyler Badie. Where the Tigers may be weak is on defense. In their opening win, Central Michigan gained 475 yards.

Many SEC experts believe one of these two teams will finish No. 3 in the SEC East. Much rides on the game. In just one conference game, the loser will effectively be out of contention for winning the SEC East. Fueled by its new offense, Kentucky should win, but the game is likely to be close.

CFB in week three will be highlighted by two SEC games. They will be Alabama Football visiting The Swamp and Auburn taking on Penn State in State College.