Mercer at Auburn

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams is ready for this winless streak against Kentucky to end.

Allen-Williams, a senior, has sat through three losses to the Wildcats and hopes to put an end to that run when South Carolina (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference ) squares off against Kentucky (2-0) tonight.

"I don't want to go out being 0-4 against Kentucky," Allen-Williams said. "We're talking about it. We're making sure that we're focused. We're making sure that we're locked in."

Before the recent woes, South Carolina had little trouble with Kentucky since joining the

win streak from 2000-09 that started under coach Lou Holtz and continued with Steve Spurrier in charge.

Kentucky's run began with a fourth-quarter rally when Allen-Williams was a freshman.

It's something that's bothered him and the other South Carolina seniors.

"I told the guys in the locker room after the last ballgame, our seniors haven't beaten these guys," Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said. "That's not something we need to allow to happen."

Kentucky believes it can extend the hold its had on the Gamecocks the past few years. The Wildcats have run for over 200 yards in each of the wins. Tailback Benny Snell bruised his ribs in last week's win over Eastern Kentucky, but is expected to play.

The Wildcats 26-22 win at Williams-Brice Stadium two years ago broke a six-year string of futility on the road.

Colorado State at Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nick Saban has given this Alabama team his early-season stamp of approval.

"I sort of like this team," the Bama coach said this week.

It's not precisely a ringing endorsement but it's a good sign for the Crimson Tide. The topranked Tide has beaten a Top-5 team and dominated one from the Mountain West Conference while overcoming injuries to four linebackers.

The next task is another Mountain West team, with Colorado State visiting Bryant-Denny Stadium tonight as four-touchdown underdogs.

Then comes the Southeastern Conference schedule — but Saban would sort of not like it if his team got caught looking ahead.

"I think we have a lot of players on our team that I truly, truly think have very good attitudes," he said. "They're working hard, trying to get it right, trying to do better."

That's part of his continuous "process" that has little to do with the opponent and everything to do with "trying to get it right."

The Tide (2-0) has already toppled then-No. 3 Florida State and routed Fresno State. The Rams (2-1) are taking their turn at representing the MWC after beating Oregon State by 31

touchdowns were negated by penalties.

AUBURN, Ala. — The Auburn Tigers are hoping to change the view for both offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

The 15th-ranked Tigers (1-1) are moving Lindsey from the sidelines to the press box starting with today's game against Mercer (1-1). As for Stidham, they're aiming to ensure he spends more time upright.

Facing an FCS team on the heels of a night of offensive misery against No. 3 Clemson could provide a good start if not hard evidence of progress.

Stidham was sacked 11 times against Clem-

— the fewest of Gus Malzahn's college coaching career — in a 14-6 loss.

"All those things are correctable and will be corrected," Malzahn said. "It's two games under a coordinator's belt with our players.

"Just defining what we're going to be and who we're going to be going forward and he's got a great understanding of that, and our players do, too."

The Tigers are running out of time to fix the issues before starting a stretch of seven straight Southeastern Conference games at Missouri next week.

Ole Miss at California

BERKELEY, Calif. — California's Patrick

the former walk-on running back was awarded a scholarship in the offseason.

With Tre Watson out for the season with a right leg injury, Laird's season is taking on even more significance.

Laird, a redshirt junior, is expected to shoulder the bulk of the workload in the Golden Bears' backfield after he came off the bench last week and rushed for 191 yards and three touchdowns. He'll make his first college start tonight when Cal hosts Ole Miss at Memorial Stadium.

"He has the respect of everybody in our program, just by the way he works, the way he trains, the way he treats people, just overall who he is," Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. "It's really neat to see a guy like that be rewarded. We expected him to do some really good things. He's done it in practice so it's not surprising."

Before his big game against Weber State, Laird had spent the past three years as a backup running back in an offense that was focused almost entirely around the passing game. He had not carried more than four times in a game before last week.

Louisiana-Lafayette at Texas A&M

HOUSTON — The Texas A&M Aggies know they still have a lot of work to do after rebounding from their stunning loss to UCLA with a win over Nicholls State last week.

A week after squandering a 34-point, thirdquarter lead to the Bruins in their opener, some criticized the Aggies (1-1) for beating Nicholls State — an FCS school which plays in the Southland Conference — by only 10 points. The Aggies brushed off the notion that it was a bad win since the score wasn't more lopsided.

Coach Kevin Sumlin agreed and said he believes some of his young players who contributed for the first time last weekend will get a boost from being a part of their first win.

"People can say what they want but there's never been a great loss (and) winning's winning," he said. "Moving on from that there's some confidence out of that with some guys that are playing that they needed. Moving forward I think it's going to help us down the road."

Up next for the Aggies is a home game today against Louisiana-Lafayette (1-1), their final tuneup before opening Southeastern Conference play on Sept. 23 against Arkansas.

Kansas State at Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Coach Bill Snyder has seen Kansas State throw the ball for 333 yards in one game and run for 315 more in another, so he's hoping for a little more balance from his 18th-ranked Wildcats in their next one.

"Now it gets really serious, and the significant thing is can we put it all together?" Snyder said. "That is what we are striving for, to be able to package all of that game after game after game and then to try to improve upon it. We will find out, I don't know. But the competition steps up."

His Wildcats (2-0) face their biggest challenge yet in a Big 12/Southeastern Conference showdown against Vanderbilt (2-0) tonight. Kansas State beat the last SEC team, Texas A&M, 3328 in the Texas Bowl last December but hasn't beaten an SEC team on the road since Kentucky in 1982.

"We know the bowl game definitely was not a fluke," Kansas State safety Brogan Barry said. "If people want to say it is, then well have to go prove it, but I think there is no need to prove it. I think everyone knows that we played a great team (Texas A&M) but had a better day than them. At the end of the day, I think this team will be a great team as well, and it will be a great challenge for us."

Samford at Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. — D'Andre Swift may be ready to grab a bigger share of the carries No. 13 Georgia has been giving its senior tailback tandem of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.

Swift, a freshman, could be in position for a more prominent role when the Bulldogs face Samford tonight.

Swift earned compliments from coach Kirby Smart for his blocking in Georgia's win over Appalachian State to open the season. The freshman from Philadelphia showed his big-play potential with a 40-yard run in last week's win at Notre Dame, leading to speculation he'll be a bigger part of this week's plan.

Part of the plan could come as a receiver out of the backfield. Despite his limited exposure, Swift leads Georgia running backs with four catches.

When Michel's minor ankle injury suffered against Notre Dame is added to the equation, this could be the week Swift has his most significant playing time of the young season for Georgia (2-0).

Purdue at Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Since Barry Odom took over as coach before the 2016 season, Missouri's defense has shed its swarming reputation of recent history.

The Tigers (1-1) ranked 118th nationally

by allowing 43 points to Missouri State before playing a little better in a 31-13 loss to South Carolina last week. Last Sunday, a day after the loss to the Gamecocks, Odom fired defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross, citing "philosophical differences."

Today, Missouri's defense faces an improved Purdue team led by offensive-minded coach Jeff Brohm.

"I've followed his career for a while, and I know they've always been very explosive and really well-coached," Odom said. "Quarterback play is obviously really, really important to how they execute on offense, and it's no difference this year."