NWADG College Football

2019

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Every game is now on TV, and everyone has high-definition TVs at home where the seats are comfy and free, and there are no concession lines. But there are still games, especially in the SEC, that are worth the time, trouble and expense to experience in person. Here are 14 we selected after going through this season's schedule. Can't-miss games in the SEC By Bob Holt 1. FLORIDA VS. MIAMI, AUG. 24, ORLANDO, FLA. The Gators and Hurricanes get an early jump on the season with a neutral site game that has interest nationally as well as in Florida. It's the 46th time the teams have played, but first time since 2013 when Miami won 21-16 to give the Hurricanes a 29-26 series lead. Florida Coach Dan Mullen is hoping to reverse recent results, with Miami boasting a 7-1 record in its past eight games against the Gators. The game will be the debut for Manny Diaz as Miami's coach. Diaz hired Dan Enos, who was Ala- bama's quarterbacks coach last season and Arkansas' offensive coordinator from 2015-17, as his offensive coordinator. 2. AUBURN VS. OREGON, AUG. 31, ARLINGTON, TEXAS Auburn is looking to open with a victory over the Pac-12 preseason favorite at a neutral site for the sec- ond consecutive season after the Tigers beat Wash- ington 21-16 in Atlanta a year ago. This game won't determine who wins the national championship — as was the case the last time Auburn and Oregon met, and the Tigers beat the Ducks 22-19 in the 2010 BCS title game in Glendale, Ariz. — but the winner could be thrust into the top 10. Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn called the plays as the Tigers' offensive coordinator in the 2010 title game. Af- ter giving up the duties for the past couple of seasons, Malzahn has resumed calling plays with speculation mounting that the Tigers need a big season for him to keep his job. 3. LSU AT TEXAS, SEPT. 7, AUSTIN, TEXAS Texas Coach Tom Herman could have had the LSU job after the 2016 season thanks to his 22-4 record at Houston. Instead of replacing Ed Orgeron — who went 6-2 as the Tigers' interim coach after Les Miles was fired — Herman spurned LSU and took the Texas job when Batesville native Charlie Strong was fired. LSU held on to Orgeron, who led the Tigers to a 10-3 record and Fiesta Bowl victory over Central Florida last season. Orgeron no doubt would love to beat the coach LSU fans had hoped would be their guy, but Herman has shown a penchant for winning against SEC teams. He's 2-0 in bowl games, with the Longhorns beating Missouri and Georgia. 4. TEXAS A&M AT CLEMSON, SEPT. 7, CLEMSON, S.C. The Aggies gave Clemson a much tougher game last season than Alabama did. Clemson held on to a 28-26 victory at Texas A&M when the Tigers stopped the Aggies' two-point con- version attempt. The Tigers then capped their 15-0 season by pounding the Crimson Tide 44-16 in the national title game. Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher is looking to even his record against Clemson after he started 4-1 against the Tigers as Florida State's coach. Fisher is now 4-5 against Clemson after the Tigers beat his last three FSU teams and the Aggies. If Texas A&M can upset Clemson, the Aggies will enter the national title picture. 5. NOTRE DAME AT GEORGIA, SEPT. 21, ATHENS, GA. Georgia will look to stay perfect against Notre Dame when the teams meet for the third time — and first time between the hedges in Sanford Stadium. The two previous meetings have had national title implications, and this game figures to carry that type of weight as well as both teams might be ranked in the top 10. The Bulldogs beat the Fighting Irish 17-10 in New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl to win the 1980 national championship. In 2017 when Georgia won 20-19 at Notre Dame in the second game of the season, the road victory was cited as a big reason the Bulldogs made the College Football Playoff with a 13-1 record after avenging a 40-17 loss at Auburn by beating the Tigers 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game. 6. AUBURN AT FLORIDA, OCT. 5, GAINESVILLE, FLA. Camden native Tommy Tuberville was Auburn's coach the last time the Tigers played at Florida. Yeah, it's been a while. Tuberville's Tigers won 20-17 at the Swamp on Sept. 28, 2007. Gus Malzahn is going into his seventh season as Auburn's coach, but he'll face Florida for the first time. The teams last met Oct. 15, 2011, at Jordan-Hare Stadium when Malzahn was Auburn's offensive coor- dinator and the Tigers beat Florida 17-6. At SEC media days, Malzahn made it a point to say that Florida chose Auburn as its homecoming game opponent, a fact he'll no doubt use to motivate his players. Auburn is 43-38-2 against Florida and has a three- game winning streak in the series. 7. ALABAMA AT TEXAS A&M, OCT. 12, COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS Texas A&M gave Coach Jimbo Fisher a 10-year, $75 million contract to win SEC and national champi- onships. To do that, Fisher likely needs to beat Alabama and Coach Nick Saban, his former boss at LSU. Fisher was LSU's offensive coordinator from 2000 through 2006, with Saban as the Tigers' coach the first five of those seasons. See SEC, Page 34

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