OTHER PICKS
Miss. State 27, UMass 16So. Carolina 20, Kentucky 17Mizzou 52, Delaware St. 21Florida St. 27, So. Florida 20Michigan St. 31, Wisconsin 24Virginia Tech 23, E. Carolina 20Notre Dame 42, Duke 15UNC 31, Pittsburgh 28Michigan 38, Penn State 23Oregon 35, Colorado 32Houston 40, Texas State 21MTSU 29, Louisiana Tech 28Louisville 44, Marshall 7UCLA 26, Stanford 23Memphis 31, Bowling Green 22Nebraska 24, Northwestern 19Washington 27, Arizona 24
If Florida wins at Tennessee on Saturday afternoon and LSU wins at Auburn on Saturday night, a pair of former Purdue quarterbacks will be at least partly responsible.
Austin Appleby and Danny Etling were teammates with the Boilermakers during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, but Appleby will make his starting debut for the Gators this week because of last Saturday's knee injury to Luke Del Rio. Etling replaced a struggling Brandon Harris during LSU's victory over Jacksonville State on Sept. 10 and started last week in the win over Mississippi State.
This is definitely a first for the Southeastern Conference, with Florida coach Jim McElwain expressing surprise Wednesday when learning he had company.
"Is somebody starting (veteran CBS announcer) Gary Danielson?" McElwain joked during the league teleconference. "That's kind of cool. So they're doing the same thing? That's really good trivia."
Appleby played in 16 games the past three seasons for the Boilermakers, completing 268 of 485 passes for 2,777 yards with 19 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He graduated in December and announced in early January he would transfer to Florida for his final season of eligibility.
The Gators were running low on quarterbacks following the 12-month suspension of starter Will Grier last October and the suspension this past winter of Treon Harris, who was moved to receiver immediately after their humbling Citrus Bowl loss to Michigan. Grier and Harris are no longer in the program.
Appleby has appeared in two of Florida's first three games this season, completing 2 of 5 passes for 30 yards.
"It's one of those deals that through the grapevine in coaching, we were really hoping to be able to go out and get an older guy," McElwain said. "We even looked at some junior-college pieces just knowing where we were at the quarterback position."
Etling, meanwhile, completed 238 of 429 passes with the Boilermakers for 2,490 yards with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He transferred to LSU in June 2015 before sitting out last season and had his value enhanced two months ago when Anthony Jennings left for Louisiana-Lafayette as a graduate transfer.
So far with the Tigers, Etling is 25 of 44 for 315 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
"Danny just wanted to have another experience and felt like he was a guy who was ready to compete at the very highest level," LSU head coach Les Miles said. "He contacted (LSU offensive coordinator) Cam (Cameron) and at some point in time decided he was transferring, and it absolutely fit us. We're very pleased and more so now."
Florida will host LSU in the Boilermaker Bowl on Oct. 18.
Pasquali's Pix:
Clemson at Georgia Tech: Facing Louisville can wait. The Tigers have not won at Bobby Dodd Stadium since 2003. Tigers 27, Yellow Jackets 22.
Georgia at Ole Miss: If Kirby Smart can be somewhat testy after victories, what must he be like following a loss? Rebels 34, Bulldogs 29.
Samford at UTC: When do the "We want North Dakota State!" chants start at Finley Stadium? Mocs 24, Bulldogs 10.
Florida at Tennessee: This would seem to be the moment for which all those bricks were needed. Volunteers 16, Gators 13.
Kent State at Alabama: This is a coin flip until the coin flip. Crimson Tide 45, Golden Flashes 7.
Vanderbilt at Western Kentucky: It's a revenge game for the Commodores, and those normally don't go too well. Hilltoppers 31, Commodores 28.
LSU at Auburn: Les Miles and Gus Malzahn would not be the SEC's two most revered coaches by their fan bases right now. LSU 16, Auburn 15.
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M: Bret Bielema and Kevin Sumlin might be the last two SEC coaches for which to tussle. Aggies 24, Razorbacks 21.
Last week:
Winners..23
Upon further reviews.2
Pasquali is now 64-11 overall (85.3 percent) this season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.