No they don't. Period.
If Dooley can coach then UT should beat UF.
Before Hunter went down, UF was playing soft already to avoid giving up chunks... so the prevent argument doesn't quite hold.
Neither team has a proven RB coming back but athletically UT's first two are easily on par with UF's first two. UT was a terrible rushing team last year... but UF wasn't good by any stretch then lost their top two rushers.
"Athletically" and size wise UT's OL is very comparable. UT's pass pro was better than UF's. UF's run game was largely Demps and Rainey outrunning everyone to the corner. Not sure how that proves UF's OL to be better.
UF has a better front 7 on D athletically but not by a wide margin.... and fortunately they won't play each other. UF has to face a UT O that should be explosive and able to stretch the field both vertially and laterally.
UT's secondary is an enigma. But it is worthy to note that UT was 5th in the SEC in passing D vs the SEC. UF was 8th- and didn't even play Arkansas.
Don't forget that the whole team including the coaches went into shock when JH went down. Their whole gameplan went down the tubes in less than a second.
But it needs to repeated.
"Fans always are overly optimistic. They underestimate the opponents and overestimate their team. Case in point, take UF this year, many Vol fans feel secure in a victory vs UF this year and talk about UF like they are "broke". Here are their past 3 classes as far as the talent pool they have to work with:
4: 5 Star DT's
3: 4 Star DT's
4: 5 Star DE's
3: 4 Star DE's
3: 5 Star DB's
9: 4 Star DB's
3: 5 Star LB's
4: 4 Star LB's
2: 5 Star OL
8: 4 Star OL
1: 5 Star WR"s
8: 4 Star WR'S
4: 4 Star TE's
6: 4 Star RB's
3: 4 Star QB's
That is about 65 4 and 5 star kids in just the past 3 classes. Add in the ones still on the roster from 4 classes ago and the number goes to 79. In short, UF has very very few on their 85 man roster that are not a 4 or 5 star caliber player. Sure those are just rankings. But they are also indicators of overall team talent as you know. UT has approximately 40% of it's roster that was a 4 or 5 star player, around 33. 79 is a bigger number than 33 obviously. Just pointing this out for those that dismiss UF. Yeah they have big questions at QB. They do have very talented OL and WR's as well as TE's on the roster and 6 4star RB's. They are just plain sick on D, talent wise. Look at those DL numbers. UF will be one of the best D's in the SEC this year."
Yes they do. Period. Oh and btw, UF secondary gave up 166 passing yards per game last year. UT gave up 177 yards per game. As for total D, UF gave up 299 ypg while UT gave up 341 ypg. Go to
Official Site of the Southeastern Conference if you need to freshen up on your stats.
Full stats for entire year, including bowl games and OOC games.
PASS DEFENSE G Comp Att Int Pct. Yards Avg. TD Avg/G
1. Alabama 13 164 334 13 49.1 1449 4.3 6 111.5
2. S. Carolina 13 174 346 19 50.3 1712 4.9 14 131.7
3. Florida 13 186 341 8 54.5 2169 6.4 15 166.8
4. LSU 14 229 437 18 52.4 2400 5.5 7 171.4
5. Georgia 14 218 430 20 50.7 2464 5.7 12 176.0
6. Tennessee 12 178 307 9 58.0 2134 7.0 14 177.8
7. Vanderbilt 13 216 398 19 54.3 2499 6.3 16 192.2
8. Kentucky 12 175 342 15 51.2 2326 6.8 19 193.8
9. Ole Miss 12 187 306 10 61.1 2333 7.6 17 194.4
10. Arkansas 13 232 407 12 57.0 2538 6.2 12 195.2
11. Miss. State 13 280 434 12 64.5 2563 5.9 12 197.2
12. Auburn 13 250 395 11 63.3 2844 7.2 23 218.8
