Another exciting week in the conference. One team will be lucky enough to exit Irwin Belk Stadium in Wingate with a goose egg in the loss column in SAC play and claim first place alone, Brevard and Lenoir-Rhyne meet up in Brevard Memorial and will attempt to turn in another OT thriller, Eagles will try to get first road win and become first SAC team to score a TD at Shuford, Tusculum takes Pioneer Field trying to become the first SAC team to take down the Braves, and Newberry continues the payback trail for the SAC against North Greenville at Younts Stadium.


Lenoir-Rhyne (2-2, 0-1 SAC) @ Brevard (0-5, 0-3 SAC)
1 p.m. - Brevard, N.C.
SAC Members Picks = LRU (14) over BC (1)
Spread = LRU (-17)
Last meeting (@LRU, 2011) = Lenoir-Rhyne 33, Brevard 27 (3OT)

Both teams were much improved last week on offense. LR beat the Crusaders like a drum at home after the bye week. It appears Ruben Haynes is back and healthy. That is bad news for the rest of the league and puts LR back as a contender. Brevard scored 6 touchdowns at Tusculum after scoring just one in the previous two weeks. Most option teams take time to improve and this game will tell us if Brevard is moving forward or the TC game was due to the struggling Pioneer rush defense.

Lenoir-Rhyne is a definite favorite in this game, despite the triple OT game last year and despite being on the road. They enjoyed the easy win against NGU and regardless of how they get it done, they need this one to keep pace in the SAC. Brevard has lost all five times out this year and will head back home and continue offensive progress. The only problem is that the Lenoir-Rhyne defense is much better than Tusculum and it will be another tough week to outscore their opponent. But don't be surprised if Brevard keeps it close. They clearly figured something out last year even though they had a better defense to rely on in Hickory. The Bears still have a chance to defend their title and seem refocused on looking forward instead of back to early season struggles.

Prediction: Lenoir-Rhyne 35, Brevard 21

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Carson-Newman (2-2, 1-2 SAC) @ Catawba (3-2, 1-1 SAC)
1:30 p.m. - Salisbury, N.C.
SAC Members Picks = C-N (8) over CAT (7)
Spread = CAT (-5)
Last meeting (@C-N, 2011) = Carson-Newman 55, Catawba 21

Both teams are coming off disappointing losses last week. The Eagles were plagued by penalties and inconsistency in the second half. The Indians couldn't protect the football and lost by 7 at UNCP. The respective losses put a huge premium on the upcoming matchup. I don't think their is any way 3 losses can grab a share of the SAC title which would knock out the Eagles if they can't pick up a win this week. Catawba still has Mars Hill, Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne ahead and a loss to the Eagles almost surely knocks them out of title contention. This is a monumental game for both. Catawba has been impressive stopping the run but has been less than impressive on offense. They are yet to really hit their stride with Sherrill. Will this be the week against a struggling Eagle defense? Can C-N play a complete game instead of getting out early and faltering down the stretch?

As you can see, the SAC members had a tough time with this game as well as I do. These are two of the toughest teams to figure out. Check the games that have been "swing" games this year so far, and most of them I have picked wrong: CN at NC, LR at CN, TC at CAT, NC at MH. Four conference games that were all tough to predict. Guess what? The home team won them all. That gives the Indians the advantage right? On paper yes, but Carson-Newman has won four in a row over CATU and have the higher scoring offense. That was my theory for the Tusculum/Catawba matchup and the Indians proved me wrong. Let's see if they can do it again.

Prediciton: Carson-Newman 31, Catawba 24

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Mars Hill (3-2, 2-0 SAC) @ Wingate (3-2, 2-0 SAC)
1:30 p.m. - Wingate, N.C.
SAC Members Picks = MHC (9) over WU (6)
Spread = WIN (-2.5)
Last meeting (@MHC, 2011) = Mars Hill 42, Wingate 35

The battle of unbeatens in the SAC meet in Wingate this weekend. The standings will really start to take shape and this game will be a huge part of that. Wingate seems to need a win more because of their impending trip to Newberry next week. The Bulldogs will still have last year's loss in their mind when they led 35-14 and lost 42-35 at Mars Hill. A shocking defeat that meant everything in the Lions championship run. Both went 1-2 in non-conference but have turned into consecutive impressive conference wins to sit at 2-0. The offensive battle will be fun to watch. Nallenweg had problems turning it over early in the year but executed a great game plan at Brevard and Carson-Newman. Richt has led his team to three straight wins but is completing just 46% of his passes. Will that catch up to the Lions or will their #2 NCAA pass defense solve Nallenweg? The game features the past two SAC players of the week, both running backs in Davis and Lantigua plus two elite wide receivers in Bowden and Holmes.

Both teams have struggled to protect the football but I think it will come down to the battle of the big boys up front and big plays. Both offensive lines have protected the quarterback very well and both defensive lines have been a nightmare for opposing teams. Wingate leads league in tackles for loss while the Lions lead in sacks. What a huge battle that will be Saturday. As for big plays: Mars Hill touchdown passes against Newberry- 92, 75, 52, 36. Three of Wingate scores against C-N- 75, 54, 19. Whoever can limit those and even can force their opponent to put together 7 to 11 play drives will have a huge advantage. Can not give up easy, quick strike moments in huge games. As stated above in the capsule for C-N vs CAT, the home teams have been great in these types of games so far this year. Mars Hill and Wingate has each won a home game and road game in the past four matchups. Should be a good one.

Prediction: None (Calling game)

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UNC Pembroke (4-1, IND) @ Tusculum (2-3, 1-1 SAC)
1:30 p.m. - Greenville, Tenn.
SAC Members Picks = UNCP (13) over TC (2)
Spread = TC (+6)
Last meeting (@UNCP, 2011) = Pembroke 58, Tusculum 38

Tusculum is coming off their first conference win of the year but they had to hang on at home against Brevard. The Tornados scored 36 total points in their first four games but found the endzone six times against the Pioneer defense. Coach DeBusk has admitted what we all knew: their offense is not at all a defensive friendly scheme. It does amazing things at times but can it be enough to make a run at a title? They got a huge boost from special teams with two scores and it made the difference, winning by only 10. The offense surprisingly went scoreless in the fourth for the second straight SAC game, but they were up by 22 heading to the quarter.

Pembroke beat their second SAC team last week, this time at home against Catawba. How about these numbers: in the two UNCP vs SAC games, Wingate and Catawba have turned it over a combined 13 times yet both were in the game late. Not surprisingly, the Braves are number 3 in the nation in turnover margin. That becomes the major key for the Pioneers. Cordell has protected it very well in the past three weeks, two of which were wins. He threw just two picks, couple that with no fumbles from the rest of the Pioneers and that should give them confidence going in to this matchup. I've had a lot of faith in the Pioneers this year and their ability to get the job done on the offensive side of the ball and usually I would go with TC in this game. But they have yet to prove they can beat a good team with a solid defense and maybe this will be the turning point.

Prediction: UNC Pembroke 34, Tusculum 28

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Newberry (4-1, 2-1 SAC) @ North Greenville (0-5, NO CONFERENCE)
7 p.m. - Tigerville, S.C.
SAC Members Picks = NC (15) over NGU (0)
Spread = NC (-24)
Last meeting (@NC, 2011) = North Greenville 46, Newberry 17

What can you say about any game the Crusaders are in right now? Their game notes list the game last year in Newberry with the starting line, " Welcome to the South Atlantic Conference North Greenville." Now, even though Commissioner Britz is the only person allowed to do that and he has not uttered those words, I can't really blame NGU for dreaming. They have to live through last year after how bad this year has been already. And it is only going to get worse this week.

Newberry will be ready to take some frustration out this week after the disappointing effort at Mars Hill and the aforementioned 2011 defeat to the Crusaders. The Wolves are still in major contention and will need some help but still have to focus on themselves. They have two solid non-conference wins already and need to win big to keep positive momentum going forward. Tusculum scored 33, Mars Hill 42, then Lenoir-Rhyne 52 against NGU so far. Can the Wolves post a higher total for fourth straight week? Probably not but they still win big and will hope for an 3-0 SAC record for Wingate when they come to town next week.

Prediction: Newberry 49, North Greenville 10