Tusk to Tail: Are you smarter than a 15-year tailgater? WEEK 3

The members of Tusk to Tail have been following the Hogs nearly all their lives, missing only one game in the past 15 years. Each week, they will be asked to pick the winners of 5 games, and answer one question. Results from last week’s game picks and question are at the end of this report.

Think you can do better? Give it a shot! (Link here to the webform to make your picks.)

The Games
Southern Mississippi at Arkansas
#1 Alabama at # 6 Texas A&M
Tennessee at # 2 Oregon
#25 Mississippi at Texas
Vanderbilt at #13 South Carolina

The Question
Which Razorback will step up to be a top performer on defense this week?

• Sean Casey
Arkansas. Huge.
Bama rolls.
Tenner is left for dead. Oregon big.
Texas squeaks out a win. Boooo!
USC Light destroys Vandy.

Hocker is moved to OLB in addition to his special team responsibilities and gets 13 tackles. Turns out he's the perfect complement to the D-line.

• Jack Clark
Arkansas will win, but questions will remain: Is this team ready for a road game? Is Tusk to Tail ready for a road game? When will Jen tweet another selfy?
I think Sumlin is a good enough coach to beat Bama two years in a row and I'm not a Johnny Football hater, so I'll go with the Aggies.
Oregon will spank Tennessee and the PAC-12 fans will think they are ready for an 8-year run on national championships.
Ole Miss will play well enough to win but some questionable calls by the home refs will cost them the victory.
South Carolina will run the score up on Vanderbilt in a rout.

I think the defense will try to gamble more this week, especially with Flowers and Gaines returning. I think our defensive ends (Smith and Flowers) will get four quarterback sacks.

• Dale Cullins
Hogs will come out focused and win 34 -10.
I would hate to be the team or player that Saban goes to bed dreaming about. 32-21 Bama.
Oregon runs over Tenner, 41-24.
Ole Miss celebrates on 6th street after the win, Ole Miss 24 – 17 over Texas.
Vandy puts up a good fight, loses a close one 21 – 20.

I hope Flowers steps up and continues to be dominant on his side of the line. We need teams worrying about both of our ends.

• Greg Houser
Arkansas. Let’s not look ahead, but the Rutgers trip next week is long overdue!
Alabama by 2 TDs. Manziel won't know what to do this Saturday. Saban will scheme this game.
Oregon will make Tenner miss Rocky Top by the second quarter.
Ole Miss will give Texas fits all day. It's a toss up …  my coin says Ole Miss.
Franklin will be throwing his headset like Spurrier used to do his visor. The Ole Ball Coach won't be denied. Clowney finally has a better game.

I'll go with Chris Smith. Other than the front line, the defense still seems a bit unknown. They'll get closer to an identity this Saturday.

• Craig May
Arkansas
Alabama
Oregon
Texas
USC-E

Trey Flowers is expected to be at full speed on Saturday. He started the season off against Louisiana with 2 sacks, 1 tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Look for him to have a big game on Saturday.

• David Rice
Arkansas. No more games like last week, please.
Alabama. Saban is on a mission.
Oregon. Nobody has looked better this season.
Texas. Ole Miss may be too young to win a tough one on the road. But give them time.
South Carolina. Despite the Georgia loss, this can still be a BCS team.

Chris Smith is the only team captain that has not had a breakout game this season. Why not now?

• Mark Wagner
Arkansas. Hopefully this game will be what last week’s game should have been: a big win for the Hogs and a lot of the second and third team getting playing time.
Bama. Enough said!
Oregon is for real and Tennessee is basically still recovering from Lane Kiffin.
Texas. I want Ole Miss to win, but I think the shorthorns have too much at stake and they are playing in Austin.
USC. This one will be close for a half & the Vandy will be Vandy.

Jarrett Lake. He'll want to make up for being stupid and missing last week’s game. Plus with the spread offense, I see the Linebackers having to be more active.  My other choice would be Trey Flowers. I just don't know if he'll be 100% with his knee.

• The Guy Who Stole Dale’s Phone
Arkansas
Alabama. The Tide will have to prove that last year was no fluke. Manziel might be a punk, be he is clearly and impressively a step above most SEC athletes and a fantastic match for Sumlin's system. I am not confident in this pick (for obvious reasons), but a victory by A and M would not surprise me either.
Oregon
Texas
South Carolina

I will say Robert Thomas. He might not end up with the most tackles, but he can be very disruptive and will allow the LB's to make the plays. I watched him jump over a player last week. He seems too big to move like that. Flowers and Mitchell might be in the mix as well.

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

The Tusk to Tail crew is more optimistic than the small sampling of Razorback fans who responded to the “Are you smarter than a 15-year tailgater” survey.

Of the seven core members Tusk to Tail, four believe Alabama will again with the BCS National Championship – or 57.1% of the group. Of the survey respondents, 54.5% said Bama would prevail.

Here are how the game predictions compared.
Samford vs. Arkansas (Arkansas 31, Samford 21)
T2T: 100% picked an Arkansas win
Survey: 97% picked an Arkansas win
Advantage: T2T

South Carolina vs. Georgia (Georgia 41, South Carolina 30)
T2T: 71.4% picked a South Carolina win
Survey: 51.5% picked a Georgia win
Advantage: Survey respondents

Florida vs. Miami (Miami 21, Florida 16)
T2T: 100% picked a Florida win
Survey: 66.6% picked a Florida win
Advantage: Survey respondents

Tennessee vs. Western Kentucky (Tennessee 52, W. Kentucky 20)
T2T: 71% picked a Tennessee win
Survey: 54.5% picked a Tennessee win
Advantage: T2T

Notre Dame vs. Michigan (Michigan 41, Notre Dame 30)
T2T: 71% picked a Michigan win
Survey: 60.6% picked a Michigan win
Advantage: T2T

Just like in Week 1, the Tusk to Tail crew has a better handle on college football than the average fans.