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College Football Week 14 Picks

Derrick Henry
1 Alabama vs. 15 Auburn
After foiling their championship plan a season ago, Auburn will once more attempt to play spoiler against the top-ranked Crimson Tide, one year after one of the greatest Iron Bowl battles of all time. The Tide's offense will be led by senior quarterback Blake Sims, who seems to get bigger every week, along with their powerful ground attack. Derrick Henry has a chance to dominate in this game with T.J. Yeldon and stud receiver Amari Cooper questionable. Auburn's defense has been extremely inconsistent all year, but generally a problem. They've been exposed over the air multiple times and if Cooper and another questionable receiver, DeAndrew White play, they could absolutely blow past the Tigers' secondary. Auburn's rush defense has been solid all year, led by powerful run stoppers Gabe Wright, Kris Frost and athletic Cassanova McKinzy, who has it all this year defensively. Meanwhile, the Auburn defense will try to rejuvenate their rushing game, which has disappeared as of late. Nick Marshall is still going to give defenses problems with his speed and vision but he needs some help from Cameron Artis-Payne or another one of Auburn's stable of talented backs. The Tide might also be missing do-it-all defensive linemen A'Shawn Robinson, a freak of an athlete despite being 330+ pounds. That should certainly help Auburn move the ball on the ground, after they dominated Alabama with their read-option variations in 2013. Marshall will also hope to step up as a passer after struggling in a number of Auburn's big games this season. He has one of the SEC's top receivers in Duke Williams on his side but slumping Sammie Coates must rediscover his hands in order to give Alabama's defense must problems. Ball hawking Landon Collins is ready to go at safety, along with a long list of dangerous, impact pass rushers for 'Bama. Those pass rushers are sure to pressure Marshall and force him into mistakes, which is obviously starting to become a real problem for the Tigers. While they should be motivated considering it is against their arch nemesis, Auburn's season has clearly fallen apart. They will need a great game from Marshall and hope Cooper and Yeldon either don't play or aren't healthy enough to make a major difference.
Alabama, 35 Auburn, 24

4 Mississippi State vs. 19 Ole Miss
It is pretty amazing how quickly things have changed between these two Egg Bowl rivals. This rivalry appeared like it could possibly decide the SEC West, along with the possible Playoff picture for the conference as a whole. Since then, Ole Miss has slumped mightily, further proven by a 30-0 blowout loss at the hands of Arkansas. While Mississippi State is very much still in the race, they will need to win, and likely play very well to keep themselves in the Playoff hunt. Dak Prescott continues to pose a problem for defenses, though he almost certainly be challenged by the speed and tenacity of the Rebels' defense. Safety Cody Prewitt is an absolute monster and he will be joined by interception machine Senquez Golson, who will hope to capitalize off of Prescott's questionable decision making. The Rebels' defense also has a number of impact players in their front seven, players who will hope to tame Josh Robinson, one of the nation's most underrated rushers. While the defense will put the Rebels in pretty good position to pull off an upset, they will need their offense to show up, a unit that has lost some serious bite since the sickening injury to stud receiver Laquon Treadwell. Quarterback Bo Wallace continues to make costly decisions with the football and he has seemingly lost his serious confidence he was feeling after Ole Miss stunned Alabama. Wallace's struggling can be somewhat credited to Treadwell's injury as nobody has stepped up with his absence. The ground game could also struggle against the speed and athleticism of the Bulldogs' front seven, which includes tackling machine Benardrick McKinney at linebacker. While clearly all the momentum (and the health, and the talent) is in the hands of Mississippi State right now, rivalry games are prime time for upsets. Unfortunately, Ole Miss is in such bad hands that just doesn't seem like a real possibility unless their defense is absolutely dominant.
Mississippi State, 28 Ole Miss, 14

3 Florida State vs. Florida
To the great delight of many Florida fans, this will be the last time they will ever see Will Muschamp on a Florida sideline as head coach. Muschamp, whose Gators are 6-4 this year after a 4-8 mark a year ago, will hope to end his career with Florida with a huge bang on the road, after getting walloped by the Seminoles in 2013. He still has one of the nation's best defenses, led by ferocious linebacker Antonio Morrison (93 tackles) along with underrated pass rusher Alex McCalister. That defense will be tested by FSU's offense, which has clearly been lethal at times this season. While they often struggle in the first half of games, there is little denying how good they are in the second half. Jameis Winston continues to struggle with consistency and cope with a struggling offensive line, but his accuracy and composure in the big moments this year have been impressive. The Seminoles' run offense has been nonexistent at times this year, and Dalvin Cook nor Karlos Williams will not have it easy against the disciplined Florida front seven. Winston will continue to lean on the players he has leaned on all year, sure-handed Rashad Greene, vertical threat Nick O'Leary and rapidly improving Travis Rudolph, who had a coming out party earlier in the season against Notre Dame. The Florida offense has shown signs of life this year, especially under dual threat Treon Harris. He is probable to go this Saturday, and if he does, FSU could have their hands full. While he will turn the ball over pretty frequently and his mechanics are still just average, Harris adds some spark to a pretty dull offense. With his legs, along with powerful Matt Jones and improving Kelvin Taylor, the Gators could have some success moving the ball against the Seminoles. Though, running the ball can only get Florida so far, Harris or Driskel (if Harris can't play) will need to make some plays through the air. Doing that against shutdown P.J. Williams and do-it-all Jalen Ramsey will be a tall order, considering they won't have much help from receivers. FSU has been playing with fire all year, needing dazzling second half performances to somehow stay undefeated. In Muschamp's last game Florida will be very motivated to pull off an upset, especially considering how much they were blow out a year ago. This one will almost certainly be close, and it could come down to a field goal for the Seminoles.
Florida State, 27 Florida, 24

Other Picks
13 Arizona State, 38 11 Arizona, 30
9 Georgia, 34 16 Georgia Tech, 20
6 Ohio State, 42 Michigan, 33
14 Wisconsin, 28 18 Minnesota, 21
2 Oregon, 54 Oregon State, 28
Current Picks Record: 73-30

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