I do think our defense and special teams are much improved, and the program plays well usually in big evening games, bigger stage. IU might score in the first half but as I said it wouldn't surprise me if they were goose egged in the first half.
Lot of unbridled and near-certain confidence around here, considering our beating IU would be Tennessee’s biggest and best win of the entire season, and by a long shot. Y’all think IU is at least as good as Georgia State? What about BYU?
With weeks to prepare, you’re clearly well-rested and up to the task of making a monster out of Indiana. I’m enjoying.
It’s a good bit. I’m not confident in either team talking care of business against the other. Though, given that the only teams Tennessee shut out are Chattanooga and UAB, in the first half of any game, and the fact that Indiana hasn't been shut out of any first half all season, I am confident in staying both teams will score in the first half.
yeah, ought to be competitive, and I’d assume relatively low scoring. We just don’t have the QB to pile it on. I do think we have more NFL dudes running around, and that’s generally an edge if coaching is a push. I’d go Vols 23, Hoosiers 20...something like that.
I think there’s going to be more scoring than that. Indiana has the second best offense and near bottom defense. They can put up points on you can put up points on them.
Well, let’s start with just half of this. You think that Tennessee is going to score 47 points against IU, and despite: JG as the starting QB, and Missing Jauan, your #1 WR, for the entire 1st half, and Our #1 rusher in Ty Chandler being banged up, and An offense which averages 24 ppg, and Who has only scored 40+ pts in 2 games (USC & Chatty), and Haven’t scored 40+ since the week before Halloween, and Who only averages 10 ppg vs ranked teams, and A team currently ranked 101st out of 130 teams in offense (5 spots behind Mizzou, 3 behind USC...both dumpster fires), and Ranks 87th in rushing offense (2 spots behind Arkansas....Arkansas), and Ranked 77th in passing offense (1 spot above Kent State), and Against the 46th best rushing defense, and who finished 13 spots better than UK, who just held us to 88 yards rushing, Against the 45th best passing defense, and who finished 20 spots above Vandy, who just held us to 122 yards passing. This is the Tennessee team, and who is next playing IU, that you’re predicting will score 47 points? 47 points. Do you know what 47 points requires? Which path does Tennessee take to get to it? 5 TD’s and 4 FG’s -or- 7 TD’s and two missed XP’s -or- 6 TD’s, a FG & a safety -or- 15 FG’s and a safety -or- 14 FG’s and a TD -or- 22 safeties and a FG Do I correctly understand your position and prediction? ‘Cause this is just with my focusing on the first part of your prediction, that TN will score 47 points. Let me synthesize my rebuttal: I wouldn’t pick Tennessee to score 47 points against Gibbs High School, while playing two-hand touch in a 7-on-7 passing league, and where a minimum of two (2) Gibbs players had gimpy ankles.
Total Offensive Rankings Tennessee: 101st (4,378 ypg) Indiana: 31st (5,323 ypg) * Separated by 945 yards over the season, for a difference of 79 ypg. Total Defensive Rankings Tennessee: 29th Indiana: 38th * Separated by a mere 160 yards allowed all season, for a paltry difference of 13 ypg. Offensive Scoring Rankings Tennessee: 98th (24.3 ppg) Indiana: 38th (32.6 ppg) * Separated by almost 10 ppg Defensive Scoring Rankings Tennessee: 29th (24.3 ppg) Indiana: 47th (24.5 ppg) * Separated by less than one (1) ppg. * IU’s scoring defense is ranked one spot higher / better than Oklahoma....and who nobody here would be predicting for us to light up for 24 points, much less 47. But it’s TN who all of these cats are saying will not only beat IU, but handily, even predicting that we’ll blank them for an entire half. Ostensibly, because they’re blinded by fandom, don’t understand numbers, are stupid, or some combination thereof.
Any of you wunderkinds got other predictive theories that you’d like me to evaluate, while I’ve got a few minutes? How about the odds of Santa Claus being real? The Easter Bunny? Fairies? A democratic socialist who is a legitimately viable national candidate? How “great” each of you truly were at any high school sport / activity? If your wives saying it’s “a good size” is either the truth or best taken as a compliment? Whether your Momma / Granny’s cooking is worth a shit? Is anything at Chik-Fil-A appreciably better tasting than a diarrhea-filled diaper that washed up on a beach?
We haven’t given up more than 21 since Bama. I see no reason we cannot fare as well as Mich St which scored 40 on them. Nebraska cracked 30 on them and I watched a lot of Nebraska. Gray can fill in for Chandler with arguably better big play ability. You can gripe about our talent but our players are better. And it’s the Big 10 in a bowl game. It’s like us against FL every year. Throw out stats. They have an 80% chance of beating us. I also believe that stat rankings are more indicators than absolutes. Not everyone plays the same quality of opponents. Not everyone plays opponents that play the same style. Not saying IU is terrible. But mid tier Big 10 teams seem overrated to me.
Gray isn’t big enough to carry the load, and by a mile. He’s also had one (1) decent game. Chandler is bulkier, but slower, and not appreciably better. If you can’t run the ball, you’re not only putting the game in JG’s hands, but in a one-dimensional offense, and with Jauan on the sidelines for a half. I don’t think any P5 team is scared of that offense. I just know that when everyone for Tennessee was healthy, present and had an entire off-season to prepare, it damned sure didn’t seem to give a middling Sun Belt team too much trouble.
Not entirely correct, Bituli was out. Not saying that would have made a difference in that game but he is a difference maker. Either way, Tennessee should never lose to a Sun Belt team...ever.