Who/what is the X-factor this year?

The XI factor

 

I generally drink the kool aid on Thursday for the first time on 1st game week, freak out on Friday and cry myself to sleep, and then Saturday I view the game like it's my own castration until the first Tennessee touchdown. From there, the bipolar disorder of the Fall overtakes me completely.

 

For some reason I have a hard time believing he's really better than Marlon Walls at this point.

 

As do I, but if he can, we'll have some solid ends.

 

You have two more days to dare to dream before reality comes in and ends it. Might as well entertain the notion.

 

Think this is a good call. Dude made a few plays last year and he's a big athletic target. With the youth at WR it will be huge if he can become that reliable 3rd down guy.

 

If I had to guess, I would say that Walls and Martin are going to be all about stopping the run to give the young backers some time to adjust. I think most of the qb pressure we generate early in the season is going to be from SS and OLB. I'm like everybody else with Martin...I wonder how mobile he really is right now. I expect to see Smith in on 3rd and long situations. Just a guess....

 

I feel better with Austin Johnson in the middle of them. Least natural talent of the three, but nice to have a senior anchoring the middle.

I think those three will be the x-factor.

 

how about we're due on some mf'ing defense?

 

but our defense has generally sucked. Crompton killed us for two years, but the defense wasn't going to win anything anyway.

 

Christ all Friday. It's like he used steroids and they all went to his neck.

 

Johnson was a pretty good fullback, too. I don't think he's all that lacking for a MLB.

 

X-factor = new stadium dogs; ones that are actually above ambient temperature

 

Remember the Aramark years when those suckers were baking in the aluminum foil all day and tasted like a small piece of heaven? What I'd give for that...

 

All I know is that they were good once and the last few times they've seemed to be right out of the package. Course I was tanked when they were good.

 

I typically just grab my balls and squeeze really hard... that way I can feel the team's pain.

 

I think back to the 1985 Vols - what was the x-factor then? At first it seemed T-rob was but when he went down at Bama the winning continued. The Sugarbowl smackdown was a huge surprise. So what was the x-factor that year? Some rumors it was cocaine. Let's hope we find another way this time.

 

I really like this quote by Sirmon

 

I like that he's one of the few willing to dispense with the notion that the middle linebacker is the QB on defense.