OTHER PICKS
Arkansas 48, UT-Martin 7 Pittsburgh 24, UNC 23 Louisville 23, Wake Forest 16 FSU 30, Syracuse 13 Va. Tech 20, Boston Coll. 17 Clemson 28, N.C. State 21 Duke 24, Miami 19 TCU 42, West Virginia 21 Oklahoma 56, Kansas 15 UCLA 52, Colorado 21 Okla. State 35, Texas Tech 28 Iowa 31, Maryland 10 Memphis 35, Tulane 16 Utah 42, Oregon State 23 Michigan 28, Minnesota 17 Stanford 31, Wash. State 29 Penn State 17, Illinois 10
An ankle injury to Kentucky starting quarterback Patrick Towles last November enabled former Signal Mountain standout Reese Phillips to lead a couple of first-half series at Tennessee.
For Phillips to get in Saturday night's game between the Volunteers and Wildcats in Lexington, both Towles and backup Drew Barker would have to be sidelined. Phillips, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound redshirt sophomore, ruptured an Achilles' tendon in early March and had to play catch-up under first-year offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson.
"Reese is available and back practicing full-go," Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said Wednesday on the SEC teleconference. "He's recovered from his injury and is feeling good and practicing well."
Phillips entered last year's game in the first quarter and did not complete any passes in four attempts. He had one possession end in a punt and another with an interception that Brian Randolph returned 23 yards for a touchdown to give the Vols a 14-3 lead.
Towles returned to the game, but the avalanche was under way as Tennessee stormed to a 50-16 rout.
Phillips also played in last year's games against UT-Martin and Louisiana-Monroe, but that hasn't been the case for this season's chief backup. Due to six close calls to open the season - the Wildcats scored in the final minute of regulation to defeat Louisiana-Lafayette 40-33 in the opener and rallied from a 27-13 deficit in the fourth quarter on Oct. 3 to top Eastern Kentucky 34-27 in overtime - Barker didn't play until the fourth quarter of last Saturday's 42-16 loss at Mississippi State.
"It's been unique," Stoops said. "I wish we had some better opportunities to get him in the game prior to that, but it was good to get him some reps last week."
Another unique factor to Kentucky's season? Saturday will make it 8-for-8 this season in the Wildcats playing at night, a streak that will end next week when they visit Georgia for a noon kickoff.
Pasquali's Pix:
Ole Miss at Auburn: The Rebels haven't defeated the Tigers inside Jordan-Hare Stadium since Eli Manning's senior season in 2003. Rebels 27, Tigers 24.
South Carolina at Texas A&M: There are annual SEC cross-divisional matchups such as Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee that are filled with tradition. Then there is this. Aggies 34, Gamecocks 13.
Western Carolina at UTC: Winning close games is new for the Mocs. So is being ranked No. 4 in the nation. Mocs 30, Catamounts 21.
Georgia Tech at Virginia: A stat you don't see every day is that the Yellow Jackets are 1-4 in ACC play, with their one win coming against Florida State. Jackets 23, Cavaliers 20.
Florida vs. Georgia: The Gators are having the better year, but the Bulldogs will have the better day. Not sure why, but after last year's game, nothing makes sense. Bulldogs 16, Gators 13.
Vanderbilt at Houston: Given that the undefeated Cougars average 561.1 yards and 47.6 points per game, it was no surprise Wednesday when Commodores coach Derek Mason said, "I'd rather not get into a scoring match." Cougars 38, Commodores 23.
Tennessee at Kentucky: The Volunteers and Wildcats are hooking up in October for the first time since 19-ever. Vols 27, Wildcats 22.
Notre Dame at Temple: The Owls are seeking their first win at home as a ranked team since 1941. Irish 28, Owls 14.
Last week:
Winners.21
Goldens4
Pasquali is 154-46 overall (77.0 percent) this season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.