Quick Hitch (Thurs. night picks)  

Auburn -10 over @ South Carolina

After taking last week off Kenny Irons should be poised for a huge game. Actually, the same could be said for the entire Auburn team (playing Buffalo is akin to having a week off). On the flip side, it appears as though Steve Spurrier has found a quarterback with enough talent to make some plays in the fun and gun. Syvelle Newton, though not a classic Spurrier drop back passer, is one of the best athletes on the Gamecocks, and has already developed a near psychic connection with star WR Sidney Rice (evidenced by Rice's 5 TD catches last week). Still, Newton is extremely inexperienced and he will be going up against the hardest hitting and best defense in the entire SEC. Once again David Irons will have the task of shutting down the opponent's top WR (which he has already done to Washington State's Jason Hill-4 rec. 18 yards-and LSU's Dwayne Bowe-4 rec. 56 yards), and my guess says he is up to the challenge. Call it Auburn 34-14.

@ TCU -7 over BYU

Gary Patterson's horn frogs may be the nation's best kept secret. Heck, Gary Patterson might be the best kept secret. Though the Cougars present the most balanced and talented offense TCU has played this season, Patterson's crew has been way too dominant on defense to scare me away from laying a touchdown at home. The TCU defense totally shut down the pass happy Baylor Bears, and held Mike Leach and Texas Tech to no touchdowns (which is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself). BYU's two headed running attack with test TCU, but the Horned Frogs have been way to effective against the pass this season for BYU to put up many points (especially with star QB John Beck not 100%). Call it TCU 21-10.

Last Week: 2-3-1 (should have been 3-2-1 if not for Anthony Morrelli - argh!)
Season: 18-13-1