Pre-Season I Said I'd Be Satisfied With Six Wins...

#1
Doyle Hargraves

Doyle Hargraves

Trump's diaper is full again
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#1
...and I'm sticking to it.

I realize and admit that my expectations have been affected by a couple of our games causing me to expect more from this team. This has led to my disappointment dictating my hopes and thoughts on the team and this season. So, I'm hitting the reset button so to speak and going back and sticking to my original thoughts of six wins is good for me this year.

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday or next Saturday, as long as six wins remain attainable, I feel we should all remain calm about this season. I know there will be some that disagree and that is fine. This is my own personal way of keeping hope during the season. I wait too damn long every year for football season just to be miserable once it gets here.
 
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#3
#3
Same here. I expected to make and win a bowl prior to the season. That has not changed. I was, however, expecting Florida to be a W, so they have to make that up somewhere.
 
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#4
#4
Good to read your post, too many of these VN Nancy's like to turn tail and run when it gets tough.
 
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#6
#6
Yeah I would be somewhat satisfied as well .

I am also upset too.. Could have been a break out year for this program. Wins at Georgia and at Home vs Florida. We would be in the running to win the East. I mean think about that for a second.. We all expected a 6-6 and we had a chance to take the East if we executed. The Defense as completely blown me away this year.. So proud of that Defense. O line has lived up to the hype of zero experience and that we should struggle.
 
#7
#7
I agree, six wins would be signs of improvement, but the problem is that there's a decent enough chance that six wins isn't going to happen. My fear is that Worley doesn't survive the next two games unhurt, and we are looking at a very possible 4-8.
 
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#8
#8
Thought they could win six and then some cheap big 10 team in a bowl. Looking for the rest of those W's is getting tough with Kentucky looking better and our inability to win the close games so far. Still crossing my fingers. GBO!
 
#9
#9
Doyle Hargraves said:
...and I'm sticking to it.

I realize and admit that my expectations have been affected by a couple of our games causing me to expect more from this team. This has led to my disappointment dictating my hopes and thoughts on the team and this season. So, I'm hitting the reset button so to speak and going back and sticking to my original thoughts of six wins is good for me this year.

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday or next Saturday, as long as six wins remain attainable, I feel we should all remain calm about this season. I know there will be some that disagree and that is fine. This is my own personal way of keeping hope during the season. I wait to **** long every year for football season just to be miserable once it gets here.
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I agree. We all thought that a bowl game was the bare minimum. We didn't think it was the maximum. We thought there was a potential to jump up and upset some teams, but if we were realistic, we expect bowl game.

We had a good showing against Georgia, and a near win against Florida, and even an okay showing against Oklahoma, and all of a sudden, people are expecting us to be world beaters.

Truth is, we lost three games that people predicted we'd lose. Should we have won them? Well, at least 2 of 3 of them yes. But, even still, that shouldn't change the fact that we all expected 6-6. And there's still a lot of season left. There's still a lot of wins to be had, and there's still a lot of potential losses that can come as well.

I think this year is going how everybody planned, and in actually, better than everyone planned. I don't think anyone anticipated we'd be right there with Georgia again. I don't think anyone anticipated that what happened with Florida happened. I don't think anyone anticipated that we'd look competitive against Oklahoma. Last year, Oregon blew us out. We've yet to be blown out in any game, and anyone who has watched us this year knows it.

Would I love to be 5-1 right now? Absolutely. But we are what we thought we'd be, and we're what we thought we would be because we are young and inexperienced.

Someone mentioned the other day that everyone is all hyped up on Kentucky. But they said that four of Kentucky's 5 wins are: Vandy, ULM, Ohio, and UT-Martin. Whereas Tennessee has only lost to Georgia (Top 15 team at the time), Oklahoma (#4 team at the time), and Florida (by one point, which should have never happened)

You give us Kentucky's schedule thus far, and there's a good chance that we too are 5-1, or at the least 4-2. Then this entire board is a different opinion. We have the roughest schedule in the nation. I did not anticipate that Ole Miss would be #3 when we play them. If Bama wins this week against A&M, then they will be most likely Top 5 again when we play them.

We've had a tough first half of season, probably the toughest in the nation.

Give it time. The second half might be better. But remember, most of us predicted 6-6. Don't be discouraged. If you are, it means we're closer than we thought because we hung around in games we weren't supposed to win anyways.
 
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#10
#10
Hanging with OU for most of the game on the road...Then almost sneaking a road win from UGA on the road made me forget, I was going to be happy with 6-6 and amazed with 7-5.

I truly believe UT can win any game left this season, but what I really want is for our Freshmen to learn, get bigger and meaner on the off season. I see flashes of what they will become.
 
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#11
#11
Agreed 100%. No one in their right minds expected 8/9 wins this year.. Stay the course and watch this team grow into a dynasty. Our young talent gets better each week, enjoy the show for what it is. The wins will come as long as Butch keeps the excitement around.
 
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#12
#12
I also agree 100%. I said before the season started that 6 wins was bare minimum and that's where I'd keep my expectations. I still think we can hit it, and possibly even 7, but it's crazy to think how we've looked better than most thought we would before the season started yet VN thinks we're only going to win 4 or 5 games.
 
#13
#13
Doyle Hargraves said:
...and I'm sticking to it.

I realize and admit that my expectations have been affected by a couple of our games causing me to expect more from this team. This has led to my disappointment dictating my hopes and thoughts on the team and this season. So, I'm hitting the reset button so to speak and going back and sticking to my original thoughts of six wins is good for me this year.

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday or next Saturday, as long as six wins remain attainable, I feel we should all remain calm about this season. I know there will be some that disagree and that is fine. This is my own personal way of keeping hope during the season. I wait too damn long every year for football season just to be miserable once it gets here.
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Great post Doyle - this team deserves our support.
 
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#14
#14
I thought 6-6/ 7-5 was doable.

With that, I saw W's against:

USU
Ark St.
UTC
UK
Vandy
UF/Ole Miss/ Mizzou/ S. Carolina

We screwed the pooch against UF and Ole Miss is ranked #3. So that leaves Mizzou at home or S. Carolina on the road.

6-6 is still very doable but the UF loss will keep us from 7-5, IMO.
 
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#15
#15
Doyle is right, I need to relax also.
My poor Dr. still thinks my elevated stress levels, during the fall,
is due to an aversion to the holidays.
Just can't tell him otherwise.
 
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#16
#16
Doyle Hargraves said:
...and I'm sticking to it.

I realize and admit that my expectations have been affected by a couple of our games causing me to expect more from this team. This has led to my disappointment dictating my hopes and thoughts on the team and this season. So, I'm hitting the reset button so to speak and going back and sticking to my original thoughts of six wins is good for me this year.

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday or next Saturday, as long as six wins remain attainable, I feel we should all remain calm about this season. I know there will be some that disagree and that is fine. This is my own personal way of keeping hope during the season. I wait too damn long every year for football season just to be miserable once it gets here.
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I am rite there with you
 
#17
#17
Boca Vol said:
I thought 6-6/ 7-5 was doable.

With that, I saw W's against:

USU
Ark St.
UTC
UK
Vandy
UF/Ole Miss/ Mizzou/ S. Carolina

We screwed the pooch against UF and Ole Miss is ranked #3. So that leaves Mizzou at home or S. Carolina on the road.

6-6 is still very doable but the UF loss will keep us from 7-5, IMO.
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NEVER count on beating UF, but Im with you. Only I looked at Mizzou/ Ole Miss as our best shot at that last W. Looks like the Mizzou game is getting that responsibility.
 
#20
#20
As bad as Missouri looked against Georgia, surely Missouri can be the win to get to six, as long as the Vols don't come up short against KY.
 
#21
#21
Fact is, the team has actually looked better than we had any right to expect ( read: overachieved). And because of that, we are horribly disappointed by losing games that coulda/shoulda been won.
 
#22
#22
I thought 5-7 or 6-6 would be the record this year. But I also thought our OL would improve over the season. I was wrong.
 
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#24
#24
Catbone said:
I thought 5-7 or 6-6 would be the record this year. But I also thought our OL would improve over the season. I was wrong.
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Agree 100%. If anything they seem to have regressed as opposed to improving. Like many I had a glimmer of hope of 7-8 wins when we looked so good at GA but when the OL gives up 6 sacks to a FCS team from Chattanooga its very very hard to find more than 6

In fact at this point I would be ecstatic with 6 as it will be an uphill battle to get those.
 
#25
#25
Thanks. It's great to see a post based on reality. We have had too many posts way over the top and too many way under the bottom.
 
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