South Carolina has my attention after back-to-back SEC wins, other picks | Adams

The oddsmakers are offering compelling evidence as to what a one-sided Saturday of college football could be in the SEC.

In fact, there haven’t been so many clear-cut favorites since the league advanced beyond most of its nonconference patsies.

In this week’s five-game SEC schedule, there are four double-digit favorites. Based on the betting line, there should be only one close game. Oklahoma is a 4.5-point favorite over South Carolina.

But if we have learned anything from this unpredictable season, things rarely go according to form.

Texas 38, Mississippi State 17: Any critiques of the Longhorns’ under-performing offense invariably center around quarterback Arch Manning.

Manning didn’t change the narrative in the Longhorns’ 34-27 victory over Ole Miss. He made big plays but also was guilty of multiple turnovers.

But that’s not what was noteworthy about Texas’ offense.

Running back Raleek Brown rushed for 157 yards on 23 carries. Brown, who rushed for 1,141 yards last season at Arizona State, entered the Ole Miss game with only 265 yards rushing.

Never mind Manning’s ups and downs. If Brown can produce like that the rest of the season, the Longhorns can run their way into the playoffs.

Ole Miss 34, Auburn 20: The Tigers defense shouldn’t mind a trip to Oxford. In two of Auburn’s three SEC home games, it gave up 44 points to Florida and 38 to LSU in losses at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The 38-17 loss to LSU had to be especially jarring to first-year Auburn coach Alex Golesh, who is trying to pull the program out of the rut created by his predecessors, Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze.

LSU more than doubled Auburn in yardage, 552-271, and quarterback Sam Leavitt amassed 441 yards in total offense.

That tells me Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is headed for a big game.

Missouri 34, Arkansas 27: First-year Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield hasn’t picked up where former Arkansas coach Sam Pittman left off.

The Pittman era is remembered for the Razorbacks’ maddening failure in close games. Silverfield has put an end to that.

Only one of Arkansas’ four losses have come in a one-score game this season. The Razorbacks lost to Utah by 33 points, by 28 to Georgia and by 27 to Texas A&M.

So, no Arkansas fan should be complaining about the Razorbacks’ inability to win the close ones.

ADAMS: Two Tennessee football stats show where Vols need improvement to make CFP

South Carolina 27, Oklahoma 24: Based on recent games, this could be an entertaining quarterback matchup.

John Mateer, Oklahoma’s turnover-quarterback, had his best game of the season in a victory against Mississippi State. He completed 22 of 29 passes with no interceptions and totaled 320 yards running and passing.

South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers has been outstanding in back-to-back games. He threw four touchdown passes in a 38-19 victory against Florida and accounted for 306 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-24 win over Tennessee.

Georgia 34, Florida 22: A change of venue – from Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlanta – shouldn’t alter the course of a series that the Bulldogs have dominated lately.

Georgia has won eight of the past nine games in the rivalry. It also has won the last five games by an average of 18 points.

Record: 64-16 (.800), 52-28 (.650) against the spread.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: South Carolina has my attention after back-to-back SEC wins, other picks | Adams