The Transitive Property Report – Week 3

To get our minds #Turntoff the D.J. Swearinger situation, I have extracted a portion of the ECU Snap Judgments post and turned it into a weekly feature – the Transitive Property Report. In the TPR I take a look at our 2012 opponents and see if the results of their games can give us a glimpse into how we should be be feeling about our chances against them. As I’ve stated before, there is no real rhyme of reason to the TPR, it’s just how I feel and I make it up as I go. (Plus, I realize we’re not really dealing in transitives for the most part here, just roll with it.) Let’s get it started.

• Vanderbilt – Beat Presbyterian College 58-0. The ‘Dores pick up their first win of the year, but now they have to turn around and face #5 Georgia on the road this weekend. I’m writing off our narrow victory as first game rust, SEC game on the road, etc. Vandy sucks. TPR for Vandy: Did we play them already?
• East Carolina – Beat Southern Miss 24-14. It’s possible the Pirates aren’t completely horrible, but it’s also possible the Golden Ellis Johnsons are. A C-USA win on the road is nothing to sneeze at, so I’m going to give ECU the benefit of the doubt. TPR for ECU: Feel slightly better about us since we completely mauled them.
• Missouri – Beat a pretty decent Arizona State squad 24-20. Somehow I think we’re taking Mizzou a little lightly because of their margin of loss at the hands of UGA. Looks like they get James Franklin North back for our game. TPR for Mizzou: This game scares me a little lot.
• Kentucky – Lost to Western Kentucky 32-31, on a trick play 2-point conversion. “Mr. Barnhart, there’s a Robert Petrino on line two.” TPR for Kentucky: We get serious revengeance for our loss there two years ago, and D.J. Swearinger exacts his revenge on form tackling.
• Georgia – Beat Florida Atlantic 56-20. Beating Mizzou on the road is their big claim to fame so far in 2012, which is more impressive than anything we’ve done. I think they’re better than us at the moment, but if both teams are undefeated on Oct. 6, say hello to the biggest game ever at Williams-Brice Stadium. TPR for Georgia: Not feeling too good about this one.
• LSU – Beat Idaho 63-14. LSU has played three scrimmages so far, so who knows if they’re really legit. A game with a putrid Auburn team probably won’t tell us much more this weekend. I think these guys have an unexpected loss in them somewhere down the line, and if they beat Florida on Oct. 6 they might just be ripe for the picking. TPR for LSU: I feel strangely optimistic about this one all of a sudden.
• Florida – Beat Tennessee 37-20. Another big road win for Muschamp and the Gators. I had this one chalked up as a win as I watched these guys struggle against Bowling Green. But two confidence-building wins later I think Florida is starting to dream big again. TPR for Florida: Feel ok, but this one is gonna be a dog fight.
• Tennessee – Lost to Florida 37-20. Not there yet my orange friends, and if the triumvirate of Bray, Hunter and Patterson all go pro, UT may be stuck in neutral for a couple more years. If we were playing in Knoxville I’d call this a toss-up, but at home I think we take them handily. TPR for Tennessee: Money in the bank.
• Arkansas – Lost to Alabama 52-0 (!!!). This is what a train wreck looks like if the train was carrying dumpsters on fire. TPR for Arkansas: Gonna go BEAST MODE on these jokers.
• Wofford – Beat Western Carolina 49-20. Oh goody, the best Wofford team in recent memory, this should be fun. TPR for Wofford: STOP SCHEDULING OPTION TEAMS.
• Clemson – Beat Furman 41-7. Yawn. Three weeks, two patsies and one win over a bottom-third SEC team. The Auburn victory looks a little less impressive every week. (Bonus TPR: Mississippi State manhandled Auburn and then gave up 527 yards and barely eked out a win over Troy 30-27.) We’ll see what CTU can do in Tallahassee this weekend. They could turn my impression of them upside-down with a win.  TPR for Clemson: Four in a row seems likely.