Week 11 Predictions

For this week's blog I have invited a guest to come and make a few comments regarding this season. He's an ACC, and more specifically, a Seminoles fan, but respects all aspects of the game. He's my grandson-in-law and I look forward to seeing what he thinks. I'll also give my predictions at the end. I was close with Mississippi St vs. Missouri! Take it away Erick!

It is an honor to be the guest blogger this week! The season so far has been a rollercoaster! There is no true dominant team as all of the top teams have strengths and weaknesses. This could be a year similar to 2007. I will share my thoughts on the first College Football Playoff Rankings specifically Top 7, their body of work up to now and their strengths and weaknesses.

Clemson at number one gets no argument from me as I had them as my number one. The Tigers have played and defeated a strong opponent in Notre Dame and have dominated every other game. They have a very stout defense especially up front with stud Shaq Lawson leading the way. However, the lack of a consistent running game will be a concern against top competition.

LSU at number 2 is a toss up. The Bayou Bengals are very deserving of the spot but I am not convinced they are the number two team. The main reason is the quarterback play. Brandon Harris is serviceable but a top quarterback he is not. He could do a great job the rest of the way which will be vital for the Tigers' playoff hopes but he will need to be more than a game manager for them to win the title. Playing the best front seven in the country this weekend will be the most rigorous test he has faced. He will either help them win or know what it was like to be Grayson Lambert against the Bama D.

Ohio State at three is good. I still believe that the Buckeyes have highest upside of all teams and if they choose to, can be the most complete team in the country. They remind me of my Seminoles of last year. Exceptionally talented but sort of coasting along.

The only argument I have is Bama at 4. I am a purist and I would never put a one loss team ahead of a Power 5 undefeated. I believe Michigan State and Baylor are more deserving and you can make a case for Notre Dame. Bama's best win is against a fledgling Georgia Team that was not as good as advertised. Michigan State is undefeated and have a more impressive win over Michigan. Baylor has played a cupcake schedule but they have annihilated all foes. Notre Dame has a better loss than Bama. Losing a close game on the road to number one Clemson. Bama lost at home to number 18 Ole Miss. Bama can certainly win out with a great defense and a great running game but their championship hopes lie in the right arm of Jacob Coker (former FSU backup. You're welcome Saban!). Those are my two cents. All will work itself out on the football field. That is why we play the games. Happy watching!

Week 11 Predictions

Mississippi St at Missouri ----- 31-10 ----- MISS

Vanderbilt at Florida ----- 21-17----- FL

Arkansas at Ole Miss ----- 31-21----- OMISS

Auburn at Texas A&M ----- 21-17----- AU

LSU at Alabama ----- 17-10 ----- LSU

Kentucky at Georgia ----- 17-10 ----- UK

South Carolina at Tennessee ----- 21-10----- TENN

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...so far

I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to believe we are already half-way through the season! There have been some incredible plays and games making for an exciting year so far. I wanted to take some time to comment on a few things as well as give my predictions for this weekend.

FSU is proving themselves to be much stronger than many thought at the beginning of the season. Everett Golson is looking quite comfortable and has yet to throw an interception under Jimbo's leadership. knock on wood He is developing chemistry with the receivers and it doesn't hurt having a back like Dalvin Cook. Their offensive and defensive line look better than I expected as well; that's why they are undefeated. It speaks a lot to Jimbo's ability to recruit and coach such young players. He takes rookies and makes them look like veterans in a matter of weeks. They look just as good as last year to me and I think they will remain undefeated.

I cannot believe the ending to last week's Michigan/Michigan State game. I think it will go down in history as one of the biggest improbable wins! That last play was just a disaster by Michigan. It's always easier to think what a player should have done after watching replays over and over. I'm sure the punter feels horrible and like the loss is his fault but the fact is you win and lose as a team. No one should receive death threats over a game and my heart goes out to that young man. 

Steve Spurrier's resignation may have come as a shock to some. In my opinion, he had reached the pinnacle in coaching, he's 70 years old and he just got tired. He got the hell beat out of him the week before he resigned. What more could he have done in coaching? Should he have resigned mid-season? Everyone has their own opinion about that. We will definitely miss him but I think he will enjoy being an analyst and playing golf. 

I feel absolutely horrible for Nick Chubb. You never want to see a player get hurt, but this injury stung a little deeper for UGA fans. It's tough to come back from 2 losses in a row and then they had a low scoring game against Missouri last week. They need to take this bye week to focus and get their heads back in the game because Florida has found a groove even with their loss to LSU last weekend. 

How 'bout them Tigers?! Memphis Tigers that is. Their win over Ole Miss last weekend put them at number 18. The Tigers have won 13 straight and have proven their spot in the top 25. Paxton Lynch, their 6-foot-7, 245lb junior quarterback, is climbing the charts after completing 39 of 53 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns against the Rebels. He was doing whatever he wanted! They should win out the rest of their schedule, making them undefeated, so it will be interesting to see where they end up in the rankings. 

There are plenty of other topics to discuss as far as this season goes but I wanted to highlight a few. We still have a long way to go and I feel like we all might be surprised as to who the Champion will be. Let me know your thoughts and I welcome any questions.

Week 9 Predictions

Tennessee at Alabama ----- 17-7 BAMA

Western Kentucky at LSU ----- 28-10 LSU

Texas A&M at Ole Miss ----- 27-10 OLE MISS

Auburn at Arkansas ----- 21-17 AU

Missouri at Vanderbilt ----- 17-10 MIZZOU

Kentucky at Mississippi State ----- 27-17 MISS

Week 6 Predictions

There were quite a few upsets last weekend. Alabama went to Athens and absolutely destroyed the Bulldogs. I never expected a 4-score loss at home for UGA. The Florida vs. Ole Miss game had the exact same score but surprisingly the Gators came out on top and Ole Miss dropped to 14th! Clemson looked good as they upset Notre Dame as well. Gotta love college football!

This week we have a few important games that could make or break the season for certain teams. A big shout-out to LSU for their hospitality and kindness to the South Carolina team and families with the recent floods. Even with all of the competition and rivalries it's great to see teams come together when things get tough. Let's see how today goes! Here are my predictions:

South Carolina at LSU ----- 28-17 LSU
New Mexico State at Ole Miss ----- 31-10 MISS

Georgia at Tennessee ----- 27-20 TENN
Arkansas at Alabama ----- 28-23 BAMA

Florida at Missouri ----- 28-21 MIZ

Troy at Mississippi State ----- 30-12 MISS ST

Back when Miami and Nebraska were in the National Championship game, a time-out was called with about 2 minutes left in the game. George Morris, the head lineman, went to the referee, Jimmy, and told him how nervous he was. Jimmy was confused because George had been fine the entire game and was just now nervous with only 2 minutes left in the game!? Turns out George was nervous because he couldn't remember if he had iced the beer back in the locker room! 

Week 5 Predictions

It is difficult for Joe to write blogs at this time. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. He does have access to comments so feel free to leave encouraging words and hopefully we'll have more stories and get his thoughts so far this season very soon. 

South Carolina at Missouri ----- 31-20 SC 

Alabama at Georgia ----- 31-28 BAMA

S Jose St at Auburn ----- 7-31 AU

Arkansas at Tennessee ----- 38-14 TN

Vanderbilt  at Middle Tenn ----- 21-17 VANDY

Eastern Michigan at LSU ----- 30-10 LSU

Ole Miss at Florida ----- 28-20 OLE MISS

Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky ----- 28-7 UK

Mississippi St at Texas A&M ----- 31-27 MISS

Week 4 Predictions

For this week, we only have Joe's predictions. He has been at St. Joseph's Hospital this week but we are happy to say that he will soon be moving to Northeast Atlanta Rehab Center to get his strength back. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Here are Joe's predictions in the SEC this week:

Southern vs UGA ----- 38-6 UGA

LSU at Syracuse ----- 27-17 LSU

Texas A&M at Arkansas ----- 27-20 ARK

Vanderbilt at Ole Miss ----- 38-21 MISS

UCF at South Carolina ----- 21-19 SC

Tennessee at Florida ----- 20-14 TN

M State at Auburn ----- 28-20 AU

Louisiana Monroe at Alabama ----- 31-6 BAMA

Missouri at Kentucky ----- 20-14 UK

Week 3 Predictions

What a weekend of football we had. There were a few upsets in my book. Who would pick Toledo to beat Arkansas?! Auburn barely scraped by in overtime against Jacksonville State and dropped to number 18. I thought Tennessee had the upset against Oklahoma but the interception in the second overtime finished the game for the Volunteers. Michigan State was able to hang on over the up-tempo pace of the Ducks and won by 3. That was a fun game to watch. This weekend the match ups are heating up and I expect a few heartbreaks.

Here's what I think the SEC will look like this week:

 

South Carolina vs Georgia ----- South Carolina 20  Georgia 28

Tenn vs W. Carolina ----- Tenn 38  W.Carolina 10

Florida vs Kentucky ----- Florida 28  Kentucky 10

Texas A&M vs Nevada ----- Texas A&M 24  Nevada 13

Miss ST vs Northwestern St ----- Miss St 21 Northwestern St 10

Auburn vs LSU ----- Auburn 21  LSU 28

Missouri vs Conn ----- Missouri 20  Conn 17

Vandy vs Austin P ----- Vandy 28  Austin P 7

Ole Miss vs Ala ----- Ole Miss 28  Ala 21

Arkansas vs Texas Tech ----- Arkansas 20  Texas Tech 21

 

I think an upset is in store in Tuscaloosa Saturday night. Ole Miss has scored over 70 points the past 2 weeks and Alabama has struggled with their pass defense. I'm not sure I can make it through the entire game with a 9:15pm kick-off but that will be one of the first scores I check come Sunday.

LSU could stop a tank and I think another loss for Auburn will drop them from the Top 25 easy. It doesn't help that they are playing away either. I predict a close one but LSU pulling through with a win. 

 

UGA vs SC is always a fun game to watch. UGA just looks like a better team and I think they'll be comfortable playing at home. 

I will also be paying close attention to the Yellow Jackets as they travel to Indiana to take on the Fighting Irish at 3:30pm. And FSU better play heads up on the road tomorrow night. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an upset at Alumni Stadium. 

 

Let me hear from you as to what you think!

Week 2 Predictions

It's almost the weekend again! I am most excited about watching Ole Miss play. They scored 76 points last week and I want to see if they can do it again against Fresno State. They have a great offense and can throw the ball as good as anybody.

It'll also be fun to watch the Florida game. They finally are looking better than they have the last couple of years but we'll have to see how the season pans out for the Gators.

What game are you most excited to watch and why?

Here are my SEC predictions going into the weekend:

Kentucky at South Carolina ----- 28-10 SC

LSU at Mississippi St ----- 20-10 LSU

East Carolina at Florida ----- 33-10 FL

Fresno State at Ole Miss ----- 56-7 Ole Miss

Missouri at Arkansas State ----- 28-10 Missouri

Georgia at Vanderbilt ----- 38-10 UGA

Toledo at Arkansas ----- 38-7 Arkansas

Middle Tennessee at Alabama ----- 40-6 Alabama

Ball State at Texas A&M ----- 34-10 A&M
Oklahoma at Tennessee ----- 21-19 Tennessee
Jacksonville St at Auburn ----- 38-10 Auburn

Back in the day, officials wore black socks with the white socks covering up to the middle of the calf. One official arrived at the game but had forgotten his black socks. None of us had any extra so we went to the drug store and bought black shoe polish. We painted the official's legs where the black socks should have gone. When he pulled the white socks on you really couldn't tell the difference! Later in life, that official became a doctor. Nobody knows what this life will bring in the future. 

Future Looks Bright for the SEC

Contrary to the rest of the Nation, where there are shootings, murders and robberies, the SEC had all good news. What an opening day for football in the SEC! I believe it was the most points scored on opening day in the history of the SEC.  A great year is in sight for the fans.  

The four best teams in SEC East looks like Georgia, Tennessee, Florida & South Carolina. From the SEC West it looks like Ole Miss, Arkansas, Alabama & Texas A&M. Of course LSU did not play because of lighting so we'll have to wait and see how they look as I am pretty sure this game will be played in the future. The only game I picked out of the SEC doesn't play until tomorrow night - Ohio State and Virginia Tech. 

Overall, on the predictions this past weekend I was right 100% - 11 wins no losses. Not a bad start! Again, the fans are in for a treat this year in the SEC.  If there are as many good teams from top to bottom in other conferences, I would like to know. Send in your questions and I will try to answer them by Friday. Feel free to ask anything you would  like and I will give my opinion.  Looking forward to hearing from you.  

I had a total of 551 hits the first week I started this Blog. 11 from Peru, 3 from India, 2 from Guatemala, 2 from Jamaica, one each from United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico!

Week 1 Predictions

Well, I did pretty good with Thursday night's predictions. It was an absolute blowout by Tech over Alcorn State, 69-6! Tech was able to let their 3rd and 4th string play the entire second half. On the other hand, UNC did not upset SC. It was a close game, SC won 17-13. North Carolina was on the 10 yard line about to score to take the lead and the quarter back threw an interception in the end zone! That ended the game for the Tarheels. It was a fun game to watch, could have gone either way.

In honor of the first Saturday of the season, I thought it would be fun to throw out my predictions for today. I decided to only pick the SEC, except for my first prediction. I probably won't do this every week, we're just all excited for opening day! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Joe's Predictions 9/5/15 

Ohio ST vs Virginia Tech-----28 to 10 Ohio St

Alabama vs Wisconsin-----28 to 10 Alabama

Ole Miss vs WT Martin-----30 to 10 Ole Miss

Tennessee vs Bowling Green-----42 to 10 Tenn

Georgia vs UL Monroe-----48 to 7  GA

Auburn vs Louisville-----31 to 17 Auburn

LSU vs McNeese ST-----28 to 0 LSU

Missouri vs SE Missouri ST-----30 to 10 Missouri

Kentucky vs Louisana-Lafayette-----28 to 7 Kentucky

Mississippi State vs Mississippi Southern-----17 to 10  Miss St

Texas A & M vs Arizona St-----27 to 10  Texas A&M

Arkansas vs UTEP-----48 to 7 Arkansas

Florida vs New Mexico ST-----28 to 9 Florida
Vanderbilt does not play

Will there be an upset? Check back next week...

Are You Ready for Some Football?!

After all the months that have passed by, College Football is finally back! Games start tonight! Ga Tech plays Alcorn State and South Carolina plays North Carolina. I've picked UNC to upset SC. I don't know why, it just feels like that will happen. Ga Tech should not have any trouble defeating Alcorn State. There is no way Alcorn State can stop the Paul Johnson option play. I expect a blowout.

For this blog, I will try to comment on the top games rather than commenting on all of them. This year should be interesting and very competitive. I think we are in for the most exciting season because of the parity of the players. Like I've said, one school can't recruit all the good players; therefore, they are spread out all over the nation. 

I will also try to tell you a funny story each week. One of those is as follows:

One of my friends, who was a football official, was carrying his bag with his uniform in it. He arrived at the hotel and saw all the other officials eating breakfast. He asked the bellhop to watch his bag while he went to join the other officials for breakfast. The bellhop said that it was fine, he would watch the bag. The official had a nice breakfast with all of his colleagues but when we get ready to leave, he could not find the bellhop or his bag! Neither of them were anywhere in sight. My friend thought one of the other officials was playing a joke on him by hiding his bag and decided not to say anything. All the officials gathered in their shared dressing room. My friend walked in (thinking another official was playing a joke) and asked everyone, "alright, who's got my bag?" He discovered that no one was playing with him. None of us had his bag. The game we were getting ready to officiate was going to be on National TV. Each official was trained at that time to bring extra parts of the uniform with them in case something like this happened. My friend was able to get most pieces of his uniform except for the shoes. He had to borrow those from the LSU locker room. He also had to use a safety pin to keep his pants up. He was one of the smallest officials on the crew so all of the extra pants were too big! Needless to say, this made the crew a little nervous since it was a national broadcast but luckily his pants never fell down. Any time we think about it today, we just laugh!

Introduction

About Joe

Joe Delany was awarded a full football scholarship to Georgia Tech and earned letters in 1956-57-58.  He was elected as Captain of the 1954 Freshman Team.  Joe was on the team that defeated Pittsburgh in the Sugar Bowl in January 1956 and again in the Gator Bowl in December 1956.  He was elected by Bobby Dodd as the Most Valuable Player in 1958 and was selected to play in the North-South Shrine All Star game in 1958. 

*Officiated in the 2nd SEC championship game held 

in Birmingham, Alabama in 1993.

*Officiated in the 1st SEC championship game held in the Georgia Dome in 1994.

*Officiated in 20 bowl games of which six were National Championship games.

*At retirement, was the only official in the USA to work in all five major bowls -
Cotton, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose.
               
*Was selected to become a Technical Advisor in Football Officiating for 1995- 2007.  This position is involved in selection, training, critiques and reporting
       weekly to the SEC Supervisor of Football Officials on games observed and film watched and graded during the SEC football  season.

*Wrote a Supplemental Mechanics Manual of  Football Officiating for the SEC. This manual was used by the SEC Football Officials for 12 straight years until Joe’s retirement. This manual clearly states the correct position for all seven Football Officials to be in so that they will be "in the right place at the right time" on any given type of play.     

*Won the George Gardner Award in 1997 for outstanding service and dedication to College Football Officiating.                     

*Was rated #1 at his position by five different Supervisors of Football Officials for 20 straight years (each having their own method of grading) . 

*Inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 for his dedication of 45 years working with the SEC. (30 years on the field and 15 years of training, film work etc.)

Check weekly for Joe's evaluation of the past week's games and predictions for the upcoming week's games. Every Friday Joe will go to his memory vault and tell all the details of stories from the past. From his playing days at Ga Tech to officiating bowl games from California to Florida. He will also take time to answer ANY QUESTIONS you may have. Just comment below and he will be in touch. You don't want to miss it!

The 1956 Ga Tech football team. Joe is on the third row from the bottom, 

third player from the right.

Joe made the cover of Sports Illustrated by officiating the National Championship game 

between Clemson and Nebraska in 1982.