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Tennessee football: Vols, SEC and Top 25 predictions for Week 2 of 2018

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images /

Arkansas State Red Wolves at No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide

Saturday, Sept. 8 at 3:30 p.m.; Bryant-Denny Stadium; Tuscaloosa, Ala.

TV: ESPN2; Line: Alabama -36.5; Over: 65.5

Garrett Sanders

Alabama’s rushing defense was dominant last week against the Louisville Cardinals. That’s great when you look there. Except for one thing. It was the exact opposite for the Crimson Tide’s secondary. Arkansas State must take advantage of that if they want any chance of beating Alabama. While the Red Wolves have a high passing attack, their defense is below-average.

Expect Alabama to come out of the woodshed and pound the rock with their big, nasty, mean O-Line. The Arkansas D-Line will have no answer up front. Which means there will be open holes and time for Tua and Jalen to sling the ball wherever they want. The matter of the fact is that Alabama is just too talented on both sides of the ball. Expect pure domination from the Crimson Tide.
Alabama: 59 Arkansas State: 7 (Alabama -36.5; Over)

Billy Williford

The No. 1 ranked team in the nation could have an offense that is better than their defense. That is horrible news for the rest of the nation. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is coming off an impressive outing. He threw for 227 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. So the offense looks great but with Alabama be in a 30 point spread who you got?

Here are some trends that you need to think about if you want to place a bet on the high spread. Alabama is 4-10 against the spread when they are favored by over 30 points. The under has hit the past five games against Sun Belt opponents. However, I think this offense is good enough to throw the trends out of the way.

Alabama: 54 Arkansas State: 7 (Alabama -36.5; Under)

Caleb Calhoun

Well, I thought the Alabama Crimson Tide would struggle for at least a half before putting away Bobby Petrino and the Louisville Cardinals. I was wrong. It looks lake Tennessee football was lucky not to hire the guy at this point, as his status as a coaching genius has been decreasing a bit in recent years. Anyway, the Tide have another offensive juggernaut this week in a rising program the Arkansas State Red Wolves.

The high-powered offense could maybe give Alabama a scare. Never mind. After Nick Saban’s anger at mental mistakes last week, you can bet the defense will be dominating again. Meanwhile, the offense will do what needs to be done. However, I’m not taking them to cover. That’s mainly because you can expect Saban to turn to some young guys late, and there may be a few more mistakes. So Alabama wins a blowout, but they don’t win by over 36 points. And the teams together won’t reach the points total.

Alabama: 45 Arkansas State: 10 (Arkansas State +36.5; Under)

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