Week 2 Predictions: South Caro-Kentucky, Cal-Auburn, Kansas-Illinois | GSMC College Football Podcast

all righty welcome back everyone we just talked about Tennessee heading over to Charlotte to play NC State I do have Tennessee winning that one pretty comfortably I think Nico puts on a little bit of a show and definitely starts some very interesting conversations around the country but let's get into a couple other games I want to do a little bit of more rapid fire here cuz these games are a little bit more under the radar but these are really fun games nonetheless and we'll start with a South Carolina Kentucky game cuz this is a very very fun one and I realize I forgot to change the line I apologize Kentucky is favored by 10 in this game a very talented team one of those games where it's kind of that week two game that we've talked about I feel like a number of times during this uh week as we started to break down these games is one team coming off a downright terrible performance in South Carolina the other coming off a really dominant performance in Kentucky they got to meet in the middle somehow I have a feeling that they're going to meet in the middle and Kentucky is missing a number of players for this game including their starting running back chip train them so maybe this gets a little bit more interesting than me think but a couple of players that I'm watching also Kentucky has ug after this so maybe a little bit of a look ahead spot for the wild cats but players to watch I think deayon Campbell is a very interesting player for South Carolina only had one catch six yards a week ago but came over from Nevada where he had almost 600 yards last year and is one of those guys that can be a Difference Maker they need to find one on the outside cuz Nick Harbor is not in the rotation much I don't really know what's going on with them Mari and brown so overall they need someone to show up and I think deayon Campbell is a very talented kid that absolutely could fill that void if they really needed him to so he's going to be huge on Saturday if he can make a couple of Big Time plays then maybe South Carolina's pass game can open up some things for the Run game that was not where it wanted to be on Saturday either Dylan Stewart is the other guy I want to talk about this is a special player watching his film from week one was just outright ridiculous he has so many moves on the outside that a freshman should just not have it's absolutely insane he had four tackles a sack and a half two Force fumbles in week one so he was a big time reason he might have been the reason they won that game frankly he was an absolute beast and and a total game breaker so him against Marquez Cox on that uh outside is going to be incredible to watch but also you got to worry about Kyle Canard on the other side a very talented transfer from Georgia Tech who had two and a half sacks in week one so it's not like Dylan Stewart is alone out there he definitely has some more people that can rush the passer and you got to make sure you take care of this kid and then take care of the other guy on the other side as well um and then Barry and brown is a GameChanger this kid is one of the fastest players in the country one of those guys that I don't understand why we don't talk about him more he is so much fun he is one of those guys that can take Kentucky to places that they haven't been in quite some time this upcoming year four catches 28 yards two touchdowns in week one he is such a dynamic player and can be used in so many different ways that if you're South Carolina you can try your best to prepare for him you're you're probably not going to be able to get it done he's so remarkable on the outside that it's one of those things that all you can really do is try to negate him getting the ball as much as you can and then when he does just do your best to get him on the ground um and then finally Alex afari is a player on that Kentucky defense I really like he only had two tackles um in the first week had 49 in 2023 though a very talented guy a guy that you know plays that kind of Nickelback type position where he can drop down in the Box play that linebacker type role but he can also play safety and play over top a very very versatile player and one of those guys that Lenor cers is going to try to run the ball a ton in this game Alex Safari is going to get a lot of those assignments so him being able to be a sure tackler in this game could be absolutely huge for Kentucky getting into the keys of the game South Carolina you got to make sure sers gets out of the pocket a couple of times there's no way they're going to be able to win this game just by doing drop back passing and expecting Lenor Sellers and these wide receivers to make all of those plays that's just not a way that that they're going to be able to get this one done so make sure that he can get out of the pocket make sure that he can extend plays and use that incredible athletic ability that he does have on the Kentucky side keep your quarterback clean he's still a very young guy still making his first couple of starts in college football make sure that he's playing really uh just clean and making sure that he is upright because as we talked about just a second ago Dylan Stewart and Kyle Canard are very very talented players combined for four sacks in week in week one and they could do it again this upcoming weekend if in if kuy's not careful so Vandergriff is an absolute Beast he can throw the ball all over the field but he can't do it if he's on his back so make sure that he is upright make sure that he is kept clean and then you might just have a shot and just dominating this game frankly but for both of them chunk plays is the way that they're going to be able to win this game you know Kentucky loves to push the ball downfield I think you'll see even more of that as the season goes on and then South Carolina's Run game has number of people that can break Big Time plays and then in the past game if they incorporate some of these other guys maybe they can get a little bit more there but I think the a couple of plays could totally change this game particularly on the South Carolina side if you can get one or two big time 40 50 yard plays then everything changes in just a second but overall I do think Kentucky wins this one I think South Carolina is a team that is going to bounce back in some different ways this upcoming week but Kentucky just has too many guys they have too many guys that are going to play really good football and I think uh Brock Brock Vander Griff does just enough in this game to make sure that Kentucky gets the win and they move on but maybe it's a little bit closer than some people are expecting as they move into that ug game Cal against uh Auburn is a very interesting game to me Auburn is favored by 13 points right now over under at 53 and a half and I think this one of those games where you look at it and everyone's going to go Auburn they're the SEC team they're so strong they have everything going in their direction from a talent perspective Kal is a really good team Kal isn't you know this gamebreaking team that everyone talks about but they're one of those teams that any given Saturday can play really good football any given Saturday can play with an Auburn or can play with an NC State or a Louisville in that ACC race so it's going to be really interesting to watch this team I don't think they're going to be an ACC Contender at the end of the year but I do think they are someone that On Any Given Saturday could cause problems and a big reason is because Jay not is on that team he is going to be the best player on the field on Saturday and Auburn has a lot of really really good players but he does have to be healthy got a little bit dinged up in the uh first game for them had two touchdowns in that game so didn't hurt him too much but at the end of the day he has to be fully healthy and if he is he's one of those guys that can totally take over a game go for 200 yards On The Ground Three scores and just totally bury Auburn in his track so that's the big time thing that California has their hats to hang on right they they have the ability to say we have the best player on the field as long as he is going and really playing his best football we have a shot to win this game and then players to watch Malcolm Simmons is special he we talk about cam Coleman and Perry Thompson all the time those really talented freshman receivers Malcolm Simmons was a leading receiver for the Freshman a week ago he was so talented had three catches 91 yards and a touchdown did everything that you would want him to do especially in his first game so this is a very very interesting player and I think when you're worrying about Keandre Lambert Smith and cam Coleman and Perry Thompson this might just be the guy that buries you on on Saturday jayen mloy is another guy I absolutely love I think when you look at Jaden not on that other side you need someone in the interior to stop him whether it's a linebacker a nose tackle a defensive tackle someone needs to be in that mix and Jaylen mcloyd will absolutely be one of those guys had five tackles two tackles for a loss one sack in week one and he's one of those guys that can just totally tear apart the Cal offense if they can't run the ball then it's going to be a long day for cal um but one way around this really good defensive line is possibly using a quarterback run game in some ways and I think Chandler Rogers who was a transfer over from North Texas might be able to give them that ability I think this is one of those games where you can't just line them up and expect to beat AUB you can't just line them 11 on 11 and say we're just going to run our game you got to get a little bit different you got to get a little bit multiple and I think having that second quarterback to bring into the freay with Mendoza might just make this a little bit more confusing for Auburn to deal with and then Teddy Buchanan is another very talented player a guy that transferred in uh to Cal and had nine tackles one uh half a tackle for loss in week one this is one of those guys that jarques Hunter is likely going to be the way that Auburn tries to win this game they passed the ball all over the yard in week one and obviously that's a a way that they're going to go about business but Auburn's walking into this game feeling like they can impose their will a little bit they need a linebacker on that other side that can possibly stop jarquez Hunter and make this a little bit harder for that Auburn defense and I frankly think Buchanan might be the only guy that can really do that keys to the game Auburn get explosive plays you know who you are you know what you have on the outside pushing the ball downfield is going to be the way you want to go about business for Cal keep Auburn off balance uh I talked about the quarterback run game I think that's going to play a part use Jen not when you need him possibly push the ball downfield if you can at times just utilize everything in your playbook in this game to make sure that Auburn just is very confused throughout it and then both both of them win the line of scrimmage whoever does this is likely going to win this game because both teams I think are going to likely try to run the ball as much as they possibly can both very very talented running backs on both sides with Jade KN and jarquez Hunter so I expect that to be a big time part of the game and whoever wins that battle is likely taking home this one and I think it's going to be Auburn I think Auburn is really rolling right now I think they have too many weapons on the outside I think Cal's offense is one of those that is very much feast or famine if you stop that run game and they have to pass the ball all over the yard it's going to be a long day for them so I'm going to take Auburn to win go to uh 2 and 0 and continue rolling into that SEC schedule canet Illinois is the last one I wanted to talk about K is a 5 and a half Point favorite 55 and a half over under and this is a really fun one Jay jayen Daniels is obviously the most electric guy on the field but Luke almers is coming off maybe his best game of his career in week one played really really well had I believe as many touchdowns as incompletion so did exactly what you want him to do but I think both the back ends for this these teams are not necessarily great I I don't necessarily think they're bad I think Kansas has some really really good players and Melo doson and Kobe Bryant on that back end but I do think Illinois struggles back there so maybe that's the Difference Maker here maybe Kansas can make some plays on the back end that Illinois can't or maybe vice versa maybe Illinois can make some plays and Kansas back end struggles a little bit in this one but players to watch in this one Pat Bryant just has to attack this back end this is the best wide receiver for illino had five catches 63 yards two touchdowns in week one and he's going to be the biggest downfield threat he's going to be the guy that you have to be able to stretch out this defense cuz if you can't and you can't get the Run game going you're in a lot of trouble if you're Illinois you do not want to trade punches with Jaylen Daniels in this offense for uh Kansas so making sure that you have a couple of players downfield that can make that big play and then run the ball uh that's the way you're going to want to win this game but as long as you have a couple of Big Time plays downfield you'll be in really good shape and then Gabe Jack is a very talented linebacker for Illinois had three tackles in week one 31 tackles four sacks a year ago so can do plenty and I think when you talk about this Kansas team Devin Neil D Daniel highshaw can cause so many issues in the Run game along with Jaylen Daniels you have to make sure you keep them at Bay and that can be Edge rushing that can be linebackers that can be defensive line it's usually a mixture of all three no doubt about it but I think this could be a guy that really has that big time effect and maybe takes away that read option where the quarterback pulls the ball and maybe makes this offense just a little bit easier to kind of Corral for Illinois Luke Grim is an absolute beast at wide receiver for Kansas he's been there for what feels like about 10 years but he's got six catches 111 yards a touchdown in week one he's such a tough cover very long athletic receiver one of those guys that can make every single play that you want him to make on a football field and it's likely going to be the transfer from Texas Terence Brooks getting a lot of that assignment I believe they have faced off before a couple of years ago when they played uh in Texas against Kansas but it's going to be really interesting to see this matchup because if Luke Grim wins that matchup then Illinois is in a lot of trouble I can just put it that way very talented player that can totally take over this game and then Melo doson on the other side for Kansas a very talented uh cornerback five tackles a pick six a week ago so this is one of those guys that Illinois wants to play balanced football there's no two ways about that they want to make sure that they can run the ball and then possibly get those big plays over top if Melo doson can make that one big play when they try to make that you know shot Play Over the Top of the defense Illinois is going to be in a lot of trouble and going to be in a position where they have essentially nothing going on offense the Run game isn't quite where you want it to be and then you throw over top and Melo dodson's just waiting there to pick you off so would not be ideal for them but definitely a player that can change this game in an instant the keys to the game for Kansas spread the ball around this Illinois defense is so talented in the middle of the defense but the back endend is not necessarily all that great if you can spread the ball to Luke grim and all of these talented players and then maybe get Daniel highish Shaw or Devon Neil out on the outside receiving the ball it's going to be really hard for Illinois to get any beat on what you're doing offensively and then you're going to score a lot of points for Illinois run the ball just run the ball the entire day Kaden Fagan is a very talented player but you have to make sure that he gets the ball as much as you can make sure that you dominate the uh inside and are able to run the ball slow this game down keep that offense on the sideline for Kansas cuz this would likely be the way that you could attack Kansas that interior defensive line is not necessarily quite as strong as they would want it to be so maybe Illinois can just lean on them and then for both of them just make that one defensive play these are two very much of offensively inclined teams and if you can make that one big time play if you're Kansas or if you're Illinois you might just be able to get a win on Saturday and then I'm going to pick Kansas I think this is going to be a really fun game I think it could come down to the wire maybe a late kick to win this one but I think it's going to be two very different styles I think Kansas might just fly down the field I think Illinois might just methodically plot down the field but we're going to see some points and we're going to see a very very fun game but I do have the Jayhawks taking that one home and continuing on into Big 12 play with a lot of confidence but a ton of really fun games in fact we'll have a couple more for you tomorrow just do a quick Roundup of all the games that I missed throughout but it's going to be a lot of fun this weekend is absolutely crazy there are a couple of games that it doesn't doesn't seem like it's quite as crazy as week one but there's plenty of games that are going to be so much fun to watch so cannot wait for that but let's take our third break here and when we come back we're going to talk about the top 10 teams and what do we need to see from them this upcoming week they a couple of them had some very bad performances in week one and we have to figure out what went wrong and how they can kind of fix it this upcoming week so stick with us and we'll be right back with that