The first thing that comes to mind is the end of that War Games movie. "The only way to win is not to play." Now that I have menstruated out that negativity, onward. We are going to have to create more turnovers than we give up. Like +2 or +3. We are going to have to be defensively solid. We won't score more than 31 points on them, so we have to hold them under that. Hold their point total in the teens or twenties, and we have a solid shot. We are going to have to not have so many wasted plays. Ya, I am talking about the read no-option. And the slow/delayed handoffs right up the middle. And generally the whole "wait two seconds, then run between the tackles no matter what" offensive paradigm our ground game seems to be based off of. I know I'm insane to say so, but there is a small chance of the Vols pulling the upset. Small. Crazier things have happened. I can't think of any but they have. Conduct this thought experiment with me: IF the Vols win on Saturday, what would it look like?
Force two turnovers. Do not let Oklahoma move the ball via the big play. They have keep everything in front and force Oklahoma to have 12 play drives to score. Do not turn the ball over. No special teams mistakes. Hurd and Lane have to get 3 to 4 yards every carry. Malone, North, Smith and Pig must make big plays in the passing game.
It would look like Oklahoma misfiring multiple times on offense early. There would be special teams turnovers yielding cheap, easy scores. All of this would need to be early to help get the crowd out of the game. Later on, there will need to be a turnover down the stretch to prevent the inevitable comeback. Either that, or a blocked kick or such will be needed. What did you say was in those brownies, IP?
If Tennessee wins, it will be a game where Trevor Knight throws a pick or two, Tennessee scores on special teams, the run game doesn't go backwards and Worley plays a perfect game.
Oklahoma has to be struggling at WR or else they don't bother with Dorial Green-Beckham. Their defensive front 7 are fast but undersized. The OL can't take advantage of it, but having to tackle a 230 lb rb 25 times might wear them down.
The defense needs to be stout. We need to be +2 on the big play differential. Justin Worley is not likely to complete a deep pass, so if we do gash them it's going to be with a short pass that gets busted open. I actually can see this happening as we really haven't had a play bust open yet and we have the athletes to do it. So, if two dink and dunks gets busted open, we hold serve on defense, and we get some kind of turnover -- preferably a pick six -- then we'll win. It isn't outlandish. Much stranger things have happened.
Bullshit. I've seen a [ddiapos] coached team win a game in Death Valley with Matt Simms at QB and Tauren Poole for 59 minutes and 59 seconds. I can believe Tennessee will win any game after that.
We have sucked balls on first down. If we don't do better there Saturday and face multiple third and longs, our rookie OL is going to be annihilated and Worley will be pressed into turnovers.
A factor worth considering is that we may be underestimated. OU has a recent win over freaking Bama. They're coming in not only expecting to blow us out, but GUNNING to blow us out. Sometimes going into a game with that mindset can be self-sabotaging.
On the other side I really question whether even a motivator like Butch can get some of these guys to really believe they have a good chance to compete. Seems everyone in Knoxville has already conceded the loss.
Bend but don't break needs to be philosophy on D. No big plays. Along those lines a Cam Sutton pick 6 or a fumble recovery for a defensive TD, especially early, could be a deciding factor.
I think it is your standard MO for a big underdog winning: 1) Win the turn over battle. If you don't do this, winning will be a big no-go. 2) Move the chains. Keep your defense on the bench. 3) Kicking game. We cannot miss any (read that as NOT-A-SINGLE-DAMN) field goals. 4) Control their running game.
