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1) Will Sidney Rice continue his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown reception?
Like I said last week, this question has officially reached superstition status. I honestly feel that if I don't include it and Sidney Rice fails to catch a touchdown pass, it will be my fault. Therefore I will continue to include this question until further notice.
Rice has accounted for 60 percent of Carolina's receiving touchdowns, and about 41 percent of Carolina's total offensive touchdowns.
And at this point, I think we should all agree to just stop talking about this so he doesn't get the attention of every defensive coach in the SEC. I like the idea of him getting single coverage in the red zone like last week. Move along. Nothing to see here.
2) Is Syvelle Newton the only featured player who will miss the game?
You know that face Will Ferrell made right after Jack Black punted Baxter off the bridge in "Anchorman"? I had that face for, like, two straight hours after I saw Newton go down last Saturday. It was not a good situation.
And, for once, Tennessee fans know that feeling. Last week, the Volunteers lost their starting tailback, Gerald Riggs Jr., for the rest of the season. This was one week after their best defensive back, All-American Jason Allen, was lost for the year with a hip injury against Georgia. I bet Phillip Fulmer knows a little bit about the Ron Burgundy face.
3) Is Tennessee's offense really that bad?
Tennessee is ranked 94 out of 117 teams in total offense. They have as much talent on offense as anybody in the country outside of Southern California, a receiving corps that is second to none and two quarterbacks that could start at almost any college in America. And somehow they still rank ahead of only Ole Miss and Mississippi State in scoring offense in the SEC. I don't know how Randy Sanders, UT's offensive coordinator, picks his plays, but I wouldn't be surprised if a wheel of fortune, a top hat and a chimpanzee were prominently involved.
4) Will Jim Bob Cooter get any playing time?
Last year, I wrote an entire column about Jim Bob Cooter, one of Tennessee's backup quarterbacks. Normally, I'm pulling hard for my boy Jim Bob to get some playing time, but not against the Gamecocks. Why? Because like I said last year, you can't stop Cooter. You can only hope to contain him.
5) Will this game break the record for "Most Players with a Criminal Record Playing in a College Football Game at One Time?"
I have absolutely no idea how many of the players in the stadium Saturday will have criminal records, but I would suspect it would be in the mid- to-high 20s at least. This has got to be some sort of a record.
The difference is that Carolina's legal problems seem to be a recent trend - and exception, not the rule. Tennessee has made a tradition out of it.
Even Tennessee's administration decided to get in on it in order to support the team. Charles L. Norman, vice chancellor and dean for Extension and Outreach at Tennessee, was arrested at the end of September and charged with indecent exposure while he visited a park in Nashville, Tenn. There are so many jokes that I should be using here, but I'll just let you use your imagination. Tennessee fans can continue to make fun of USC's legal troubles, but until Sorensen gets caught committing lewd acts on the Horseshoe, I think Carolina has this argument won.
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