Saturday’s games
Nevada at Texas A&M, noon, SEC Network
Connecticut at Missouri, noon, ESPN
Auburn at LSU, 3:30 p.m., CBS
Northwestern State at Mississippi State, 4 p.m., SEC Network
Austin Peay at Vanderbilt, 4 p.m., SEC Network Alternate
South Carolina at Georgia, 6 p.m., ESPN
Texas Tech at Arkansas, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Western Carolina at Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Florida at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m. SEC Network
Ole Miss at Alabama, 9:15 p.m., ESPN
‘Defensive Back U’ waiting
for a chance vs. Auburn QB Johnson
LSU, which considers itself “Defensive Back U.,” knows all about Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson’s interceptions.
Johnson has thrown five in two games and the 13th-ranked Tigers would like to add to his woes.
“We know that this guy, if we play our technique right, if we do the fundamentals and have our eyes in the right place, he should be able to throw us one, if not hand it to us,” LSU cornerback Dwayne Thomas told ESPN.com. “… With the tight coverage that we play, we’re looking forward to him giving us a few.”
Johnson’s accuracy has become a critical concern for No. 18 Auburn and coach Gus Malzahn. Mentioned as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate prior to the season, Johnson’s five interceptions are tied for the most in the FBS.
“He wants to go out there and play well and be there for his team,” Malzahn said. “I think he’s in a decent spot. He knows what we have to do to win at LSU. He’s got to play very well. The big thing is we’re going to have to protect that football. (We have to do) a better job for him (and) put him in some more comfortable situations. It’s my job to do that.
“We’ll be focusing on it. If we can run the football a little bit better, it will take some pressure off of him.”
Louisville picked off Johnson three times in the opener and he then threw two more in the Tigers’ 27-20 overtime win over Jacksonville State.
Rebels rolling
at a fast rate
The Eagles sang “Life in the Fast Lane.”
No. 15 Ole Miss might want to adopt it as its new anthem.
The Rebels have scored 21 touchdowns while rolling up 149 points in two games, the most for a FBS team in its first two games since 2000.
The competition hasn’t been strong — Ole Miss scored 76 against Tennessee-Martin and 73 against Fresno State — but the Rebels have been efficient and explosive.
Quarterback Chad Kelly has completed 72.5 percent of his passes for 557 yards and six touchdowns, four of them to receiver Quincy Adeboyejo.
Even defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche has scored his first two career touchdowns.
The Rebels have done it without All-America offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, who is being held out during a NCAA investigation, and likely will miss Saturday’s game at second-ranked Alabama.
Hargreaves, Ivey
provide help for Gators
Even though Florida’s starting quarterback could remain a secret until game time, coach Jim McElwain said All-America cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and top offensive line signee Martrez Ivey both will likely play against Kentucky.
Hargreaves missed last week’s game with a leg injury and Ivey will make his debut after missing the first two games with a knee injury.
Treon Harris and Will Grier have started one game each at quarterback and McElwain said he’d like for one of them to find a rhythm.
The Gators will attempt to keep Kentucky from going to 3-0 for the first time since 2010. They have beaten UK 28 straight games. Kentucky hasn’t defeated Florida since 1986.
More injuries
across the league
When it couldn’t get any worse for Tennessee, the Volunteers will be without All-SEC linebacker Curt Maggitt for at least six weeks after he chipped a bone in his hip in the loss to Oklahoma.
“It could be eight weeks. It could be six weeks. It could be 10 weeks,” coach Butch Jones said.
Maggitt, who led Tennessee with 11 sacks in 2014, is the latest Tennessee player to miss extended time with an injury.
He joins offensive linemen Marcus Jackson and Austin Sanders, receivers Vincent Perry and Jason Croom (Norcross), safety LaDarrell McNeil and cornerback Rashaan Gaulden.
- Ish Witter will start at running back for No. 22 Missouri, which will be without Russell Hansbrough (right ankle) this week. Hansbrough rushed for 1,084 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2014.
- Auburn defensive back Joshua Holsey (Creekside) will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
- Keon Hatcher (foot), Arkansas' top receiver, will miss up to six weeks, and backup Cody Hollister (foot) also will miss time.
Three SEC players
ejected for targeting
Auburn’s Blake Countess, Ole Miss’ Tee Shepard and Georgia’s Lorenzo Carter (Norcross) were three of the nine FBS players ejected for targeting last week.
Countess, a cornerback, and Carter, a linebacker, are eligible to play this week since they were ejected in the first half of their games.
Shepard, a cornerback, will miss the first half of Saturday’s game against Alabama because his ejection came in the second half of the Rebels’ win over Fresno State.
They said it
“It would mean we were 3-0.” — Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze when asked what it would mean if the Rebels defeated Alabama for the second consecutive season.
Etc.
Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson’s 56-yard field goal against Louisville is the longest in the FBS this season. … There were 104,213 fans at Texas A&M’s opener in the expanded Kyle Field, which far surpassed the capacity of 102,733. … Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 16 consecutive games, the second longest streak in the nation behind TCU’s Trevone Boykin, who has a streak of 17 straight games. … Tennessee is 2-34 in its past 36 games against teams ranked in the AP Top 25. … Alabama is 42-4 in August and September games since 2005, the best record in the FBS. LSU (40-4) is next, followed by LSU (39-4) and Ohio State (42-5). … Texas A&M has won 18 consecutive non-conference games, the longest streak in FBS. … Auburn hasn’t allowed a sack this season. … Toledo’s win over Arkansas was the MAC’s first over an SEC West team since 2003. … Former Tennessee quarterback Nathan Peterman is battling incumbent Chad Voytik for the starting job at Pittsburgh.
