Aaron Murray is gonna play QB, RB and WR I hear. Plus he is interviewing for the UT AD if my source is correct.
AJ Johnson, Curt Maggitt and Christian Harris stepped on campus with a more SEC ready physique than any LB on last year's team. Besides maybe Greg King.
7-5. Montana - W Cincinnati - W at Florida - 50/50 Buffalo - W Georgia - 70/30 LSU - L at Alabama - L South Carolina - 40/60 Middle Tennessee State - W Arkansas - L Vanderbilt - W Kentucky - W I think we get UGA, but USC and UF get us.
I don't buy the greatness of Arky and SC. Hell, I don't with AL either, given the new QB situation. Arky has now lost Knile Davis, is starting a QB newcomer and regardless of the talk about their defense, it sucks. SC has an unpredictable moron at the QB position. AL has a newcomer at QB. I actually think Kragthorpe helps the LSU situation quite a bit because he's not going to allow Jefferson to think - ever.
I like our chances at Arkansas. Like BPV said, Davis down and new QB spell disaster for Arky. The best wideouts in the world do you no good without a QB that can get them the ball. If I was Wilcox, I am blitzing the shit out of them trying to force him into a mistake Miles is Phillip Fulmer personified and as long as we keep the game close, we have a chance to win in the 4th when Chavis goes into the prevent Florida will be tough because we have no clue how Muschamp will handle the pressures of the HC position. If we get him flustered, then he has a tendency to lose his cool and maybe he makes some mental errors. Their games up to Tennessee wont test them too much, so maybe they come in just a little over confident We always have a chance to beat Georgia. It wont be the blowout we saw last year. Georgia will make some mistakes and they wont be able to pound the ball and wear down our D. I'm hopeful for a win at home Alabama will be tough. The only way we win this game is to play mistake free and control the clock. If we do that, we still probably dont win. Our D will see a heavy dose of Trent Richardson, arguably the best RB in CFB South Carolina will be another game that hinges on QB play. If Garcia comes out with his head up his ass, then we can win. All we have to do is stack the line and stop Lattimore and make Garcia beat us. Lattimore will have seen a lot of carries up to this game and his ability to stay healthy for a full season is already in question. By this game, our LB corp will have some well needed game experience and Maggit and AJ will probably be starting by this game. We have a great chance to win at home
Nice post, Count. Do you think we may all be making Alabama out to be more than they really are this year, though?
We'll see if Richardson can carry the load. Their QB will be more talented, but have no experience. Their D will be nasty though.
Thanks IP!! The Bama game will be an old fashioned 3 yards and a cloud of dust matchup. New QB for them, so they will try to pound the rock and control the clock. Bamas D is more talented than ours right now and if they can get us in a series of 3 and outs, then we could be toast. We will try and control the clock and limit turnovers by pounding it behind our OL and using the short passing game. It will come down to the kicking game and Bama has the edge there
I don't see Tennessee trying to make it a grind it out game. I can see Tennessee trying to score quickly, stack the box and beg the Bama QB (whoever that might be) to beat them. I don't know if Tennessee can score quickly on that D though.
I hope so!! Maybe Dooley and Chaney will come out with guns blazing and test that Bama secondary. If that D has a weakness, thats where it will be. Front 7 is real strong Its hard to tell right now and it could go either way. We will get a better feel when we see what we have to offer on both sides of the ball. Maybe we can see a repeat of 1995
A repeat of 95 would be nice. The reason I think they'll test the secondary is 1) Bama's front 7 will probably all end up NFL starters and 2) Tennessee's OL is still a year away from being a dominant force.
Now, because I predict an air raid approach, Tauren Poole will have around 130 yards rushing on 10 carries in the 1st quarter.
I just don't see any scenario where UT can hang with Alabama this year, barring a bunch of turnovers by the Tide, which I guess is possible. The line of scrimmage will be ugly just like last year, new/unknown QB or not for them. Other than that one, I think the Vols can at the very least hang with everyone else on the schedule. Still not enough talent to get over the hump against an Arkansas and Florida, but I'll be disappointed if those games are blowouts.
Nothing to lose against Alabama. I hope we do indeed come out guns blazing and see if the chips fall our way.
I will probably eat my words on everything I said. I will just claim I was intoxicated at the time and XX made the predictions
Unlike at some places, there aren't a bunch of douche bags here that will mock a thoughtful post in August on events in October.
Couldn't agree more. Until Petrino proves he can field a defense there is absolutely no reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. Garcia is Eric Ainge with a better running back and half a beard. He is going to win a few for you but he is going to drop a few as well.