Grill Hill: Taking lessons from a weird week of football

Like Clemson and Washington State playing on Friday the 13th, my picks proved costly over the weekend’s football games.

Grill Hill had its worst weekend of the fall, posting a not-so-nice 6-9 record with flubs in all three levels of football. But like Butch Jones at Tennessee, I have no choice but to shake off a disappointing performance and try and make this week a little more bearable.

Here’s this week’s Grill Hill games. If you’d like to play along, fill out your picks online.

High schools

▪ Columbus vs. Carver (Memorial Stadium), 7:30 p.m. Friday

Carver 27-10.

▪ Jordan at Heard County, 7:30 p.m. Friday

Heard County 42-28.

▪ Lamar County at Spencer, 7:30 p.m. Friday

The Greenwave suffered a setback last Friday with a 17-13 road loss to Temple. Lamar County, meanwhile, grabbed its first win of the season by beating Jordan. Spencer has playoff aspirations, and facing Lamar County might be just what it needs to get back on track. Spencer 24-13.

▪ Veterans at Harris County, 7:30 p.m. Friday

Harris County 21-17.

▪ Central at Lee-Montgomery, 12:30 p.m. Saturday

Alabama’s Region 2-7A is on the line Saturday, as a Central victory would give the team its fourth consecutive region championship. To clinch it, the Red Devils travel to Montgomery Saturday to play in the Cramton Bowl against a Lee-Montgomery team that just lost to Auburn 27-0. By the looks of things, the Generals would be better off just waving the white flag. Central 49-13.

NCAA Football

▪ Tennessee at Alabama, 3:30 p.m. Saturday

This game should be rated R, as in “R you seriously going to spend your Saturday watching this?” Jones is a lame duck at Tennessee, and the Crimson Tide will be able to name the score against the Volunteers. Make it 11 consecutive losses to Alabama for the Vols. Alabama 49- 10.

▪ LSU at Ole Miss, 7:15 p.m. Saturday

LSU 31- 21.

▪ Auburn at Arkansas, 7:30 p.m. Saturday

After Auburn was a no-show on offense in the second half against LSU, the Tigers try to regroup. Luckily for them, they play a hapless Arkansas team, which just got beat down by Alabama and lost to Auburn 56-3 last year. If Auburn drops this one, Gus Malzahn should just stay in Arkansas and go back to coaching high school football. Auburn 34-14.

▪ Michigan at Penn State, 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Penn State 27- 17.

▪ USC at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m. Saturday

USC 24-21.

NFL

▪ Buccaneers at Bills, 1 p.m. Sunday

Buccaneers 24- 23.

▪ Panthers at Bears, 1 p.m. Sunday

Panthers 30- 21.

▪ Saints at Packers, 1 p.m. Sunday

Don’t look now, but the Saints are in the thick of things in an NFC South that’s up in the air thanks to the Atlanta Falcons’ unexpected ineptitude. This trip to Wisconsin isn’t as taxing as usual, as Aaron Rodgers is out with injury and replaced by first-time starter Brett Hundley. Hundley makes some plays against a questionable Saints defense, but Drew Brees and company get the last laugh.

Saints 31-24.

▪ Bengals at Steelers, 4:25 p.m. Sunday

Steelers 20-14.

▪ Falcons at Patriots, 8:30 p.m. Sunday

Eight months ago, these two played in a Super Bowl to remember — and one the Atlanta faithful have tried so hard to forget. New England has had some hiccups but seems to be on the right track to another postseason run, while Atlanta is 0-2 against AFC East teams and still figuring things out under new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Atlanta shows more life on offense in Foxborough, but just like in February, the Patriots walk away with a win. Patriots 27-21.

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Grill Hill: Taking lessons from a weird week of football."