Lesser known players on SEC FBS Opponents this weekend to watch for

UL Lafayette (vs. UK) - Elijah McGuire, RB
McGuire had a great sophomore season last year with over 1400 yards and 14 tds in a backfield he shared with current Packers rookie Alonzo Harris. McGuire was actually more impressive last season IMO, and I would not be surprised at all to see this kid playing on Sundays. He has really good speed, a great ability to break tackles, and is probably one of the best receivers I've seen in college at the running back position outside of maybe Kenyan Drake. McGuire also ran injured for a large portion of last year, and had shoulder surgery in the offseason so he should finally be completely healthy. Based on Kentucky's struggles at run defense last season, I wouldn't be surprised to see this kid have a big game.

UL-Monroe (vs. UGA) - Gerrand Johnson, NT
The Mizzou transfer (never actually played for the Tigers) was named as a first-team All Sun Belt conference player last year and led his team with 93 tackles. He's going to have to have a big game if UL Monroe is going to limit the UGA rushing attack. Johnson also is able to get to the quarterback very well from the nose tackle position and is a leader for the defense. Johnson has been very outspoken about his belief that the WarHawks are going to be able to compete with the UGA offense and it's going to be interesting to see if he can lead a group that finished the season ranked 86th in run defense against one of the nation's premier run offenses.

Western Kentucky (vs. Vandy) - Brandon Doughty, QB
Doughty is rocking the 6th year (which I can appreciate) this year at WKU and is coming off a very successful season where he led the nation in passing yards and touchdowns. Doughty is very accurate, especially with short and mid-range passes, and he's shown a very good ability to throw on the run. He struggled mightily against Louisiana Tech last year, but he ended the season on a pretty dang good note with a combined 977 yards passing and 13 touchdowns in his last two games. Vanderbilt is going to have to put some pressure on Doughty to give themselves a good chance to win this game and I'm excited to see what Derek Mason can do in his second game as the DC to stop the impressive WKU offense.

Bowling Green (vs. UT) - Travis Greene, RB
A one time receiver, Greene made the switch to RB in 2013 and has performed very well at the position over the last two years. Tennessee is going to have to be very disciplined in their attempts to tackle him because all this kid does is break ankles. His ability to make people miss is amazing, especially because he doesn't have the break away speed you would expect from a RB who only weighs 180 pounds, but he makes up for it with a great ability to find the hole in the defense and a ridiculous shiftiness. His previous play at receiver is helpful, as he is used on a lot of screens, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them run a couple at Barnett's side and take advantage of an overaggressive pass rush. Butch and Jancek are going to have to preach discipline to their defenders so they can hold BGSU's talented offense in check.

UTEP (vs. Ark) - Aaron Jones, RB
Aaron Jones had a great season last year at UTEP, almost managing to gain 1400 yards on the ground and another couple hundred through the air. He's not the type of runner that's going to speed by you, but he will run right over you and gain a lot of yards after contact. It's going to be interesting to see how he matches up against the Arkansas run defense that was very impressive all season outside of the Auburn and UGA games. Jones was named to the Maxwell Award watch list, and the Miners have very high expectations for him this season, so I'm excited to see if he can get off to a good start, or if he's going to fall victim to that Robb Smith defense.

New Mexico St. (vs. UF) - Derek Ibekwe, Rodney Butler, Dalton Harrington, LBs
For the Aggies I went with their LB core that includes their top 3 tacklers from last year. Ibekwe and Harrington were just freshmen last year, and have put on a little bit of weight and are expected to be even better this season with a little bit more experience. Butler was a 2nd team all-Sun Belt selection and is probably the leader of the defense. New Mexico St. was horrendous against the run last year giving up over 6 yards per carry. This group is going to have to play huge against UF if they want to keep Kelvin Taylor under 150 rushing yards.