Mr Finbaulm is too hard to through to i'll ask VN

#26
#26
I'll bite as I haven't really done a detailed prediction yet.

WV - Toss Up - They have good offense but a bad defense. Neutral sight. They don't know what our new scheme will look like but it will be our first game in it. They have a very good QB. We should be improved by better coaching. To hard to call.

ETSU - Win - It's ETSU.

UTEP - Win - It's UTEP

UF - Toss Up - They are in ther most similar situation to us and it's at home. But ther Gators always seem to have our number. Who knows.

UGA - Loss - To much talent.

BARN - Loss - They will likely contend for the West.

BAMA - They will be in the NC hunt once again.

USCe - Toss Up (Probable Loss) - We can win this game, but the deck is stacked against us. Will be coming off murders row, a week removed from playing Bama, and they have a bye before us.

CHARLOTTE - Win - Likely not a blow out as we take this game to try and get some folks healthy for the stretch run.

UK - Toss Up (Probable Win) - At home, coming off a cup cake, it's probably our easiest SEC game. Depth could be an issue though.

MIZZ - Toss Up (probable loss) - Mizz will have an explosive O again. There is a good chance our D is beat up and starting back ups. Hopefully Dooley makes them worse.

Vandy - Toss Up - Away, but that has never meant much in Nashville. The questions for this game is how beat up are we and do we have something to play for? Hard to say.

Assuming lightning doesn't strike and we win/lose the games that seem obvious and my probable win/loss games are accurate, that leaves WV, UF, and Vandy as the swing games. We should have 4 wins between the cupcakes and UK. So to make a bowl (should be the goal this year IMO), we need 2 of 3 from those pure toss up games. It would be really nice to get 2 wins early, because who knows what the active roster will look like come Vandy. 6 wins is certainly possible but not a given. If we win 7 Pruitt needs a raise.
 
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#30
#30
VOLnVANDYland said:
I'll take a stab at this too:

LB much improved
DL ??? Literally can't get worse
CB ??? See line above
Safety Improved will be position of strength

QB I expect modest improvement
OL much much better
RB maybe slightly worse
TE worse
WR much much better, strength of team

KR who knows
Punt worse
Kicker improved

That said 7 wins is the ceiling I think
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I agree with most of this ... but see no reason why RB and TE would be worse. :twocents:

And count me among those who say ceiling, 8
 
#36
#36
I don't think talent is the biggest question. I don't think injuries will be an issue. The biggest question mark to me is the head coach. If he can coach I see no reason to lose more than 3 or 4 games. If he can't win 7 games with this roster, he will just be another hire that is learning on the job. No way Missouri, Kentucky, Vandy, or USCe has more talent on their roster. TENN coaching has been atrocious (def: of very poor quality; extremely bad or unpleasant)
 
#37
#37
10acvols said:
Just for some off season fun, but lets suppose being 4-8 last season was more about coaching and player development (or a lack there of) rather than a lack of talent. Make no mistake a lack of depth is hard to overcome, but my question is....

How far behind all these other teams are we?

I mean, before last season started, I thought we were closing the gap. We had beaten Florida and Georgia both in recent years. S. Carolina was in the same boat we were and we went to tA&M and gave them all they wanted.

I just can't see how we can be that far behind. Since everybody else has made there prognostications I'll take a crack at it. JMO. Don't forget i'm a homer :p

WV...........W......No pressure on us. If they get beat, there goes WG's heisman campaign.
ETSU........W..... No explanation needed.
UTEP........W..... See above
U.F. .........W..... Its Home, Its Florida. I give the home
team the toss up.
UGA..........L......They got too much talent.
Auburn......L......See above.
Bama........L......See above.
USC..........L......Even a home know a stretch like our last 4 takes a toll on a team with depth issues.
Charlotte...W.....Too bad we couldn't flip this game with the USC game.
UK ...........W.....Being at home really helps this one.
Mizzu........W.....See above.
Vandy.......W.....I could never see myself picking Vandy no matter how bad we are.
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Even if you could get through, I don't think you're drunk enough to get past the call-screener.
 
#39
#39
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
Completely disagree. Anything less than 6 wins tells me we made a terrible hire.
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Wrong. We have an entire roster of guys who don’t know how to win. That’s a hard culture and mentality to flip in 9 months. Plus the schedule is brutal as usual. We could absolutely lose 7 games, and even 8 if the injury bug hits us at the wrong time.
 
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#40
#40
You guys forget. The Florida game was a fluke loss. If Kelly doesn't drop that easy pass we win. And then that last second hail Mary. Then...the SC game SHOULD have been a win. That last pass should of been caught. That puts us at 6-6. I know we lost those games...just saying we could just as easily been 6-6. Imo we were more 6-6 than 4-8. I say this cuz of the constant harping on 4-8 and guys suggesting a team doesn't bounce back from 4-8 the next year. Its not saying much...just that I think we were more 6-6..talent wise than 4-8.
 
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#41
#41
fade route said:
Wrong. We have an entire roster of guys who don’t know how to win. That’s a hard culture and mentality to flip in 9 months. Plus the schedule is brutal as usual. We could absolutely lose 7 games, and even 8 if the injury bug hits us at the wrong time.
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Malzhan took a group of players that went 0-8, 3-9 the previous year and won the SEC and played in the NC game. A 2 game swing is not that great of a feat.

The schedule is not as brutal as you make it out to be. Alabama, Georgia, and Auburn are the only sure fire losses. There are 3 built in wins on the schedule. That leaves WVU, Florida, SC, Vandy, Mizzou, and Kentucky. Not that daunting. If he can't win 3 out of those 6 then he's not the answer.
 
#42
#42
fade route said:
Wrong. We have an entire roster of guys who don’t know how to win. That’s a hard culture and mentality to flip in 9 months. Plus the schedule is brutal as usual. We could absolutely lose 7 games, and even 8 if the injury bug hits us at the wrong time.
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Its dumb for you to tell him he's wrong, I mean you think we made the wrong hire and we haven't lost one single game yet. :crazy:
 
#43
#43
Iam4utalways said:
Last year our game plan was an open book test for the teams we played. Those with comparable talent beat us. Those with inferior talent beat us. Those we should mop the floor with talent gave us all we wanted.

It’s a new year fellas. Sure we have new schemes on both sides of the ball to have to master, but CJP has already said and shown(O&W Game) that although his base D will be a 3-4, we won’t be running base until we have the players to run base.

As usual for college football, it comes down to QB play, unless you have a veteran defense that can control the game. Under those circumstances a game manager for QB can win a bunch of games, but even then don’t expect championships.

The sky is the limit for the Vols this year. There is a lot of talent on both sides of the ball that has been mishandled.

Go back and look at the games we were competitive the 1st, 2nd and 3rd qtrs(Some till the final whistle.) last year. Imagine if you will, an offense that wasn’t predictable and a defense that wasn’t so predictable too.

Maybe we won’t set records for injuries, maybe our QB will show some spunk, maybe our defense can stop the run. That’s three big maybes.

I sure like our chances for improvement over last year.
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you also just cannot measure or predict the expected increase in simple player confidence. It can make all the difference in the world when the ball is snapped and a player EXPECTS good things to happen vs expecting something to grow wrong.
 
#44
#44
orangebloodgmc said:
Good point. Maybe I should say 9.

I will say this ... if we are 4-0 heading into the GA game ... anything is possible.
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Well I'm not predicting 8 or 9, I just think if you look at the schedule and find 8, you should be able to find that 9th one easily.

Im sure not expecting a 4-0 start, but that sure would be sumpun.
 
#45
#45
OrangeTsar said:
you also just cannot measure or predict the expected increase in simple player confidence. It can make all the difference in the world when the ball is snapped and a player EXPECTS good things to happen vs expecting something to grow wrong.
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Another X factor for the season.

Just imagine when we play like a team and we have solid game plans throughout the year.
 
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#46
#46
Iam4utalways said:
Another X factor for the season.

Just imagine when we play like a team and we have solid game plans throughout the year.
Click to expand...

Or just imagine if they come out and totally manhandle WV in the opener. Success builds on success and failure builds on failure. I think that by the middle of last season, every person on that team was doubting themselves, their ability, and even their desire to win. The flip side is true as well. I think CJP is just the kind of coach to change the mindset. He has seen it at Bama. I think that besides the obvious recruiting prowess and the good X and O level coaching, Alabama players simply walk up to the line of scrimmage knowing thay the play will succeed. When you have that belief, the way your mind and body mesh is just different. You don't hesitate or second guess yourself. You just perform to the level your talent and training allow. And if you DO make a mistake, you dont see it as a reflection on you value a player. You learn from it and carry on. UT just became the polar opposite of that last year. You could see it on just about every play.
 
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#47
#47
Behr said:
Its dumb for you to tell him he's wrong, I mean you think we made the wrong hire and we haven't lost one single game yet. :crazy:
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I don’t think we made the wrong hire, I think we made the only one we could have after botching the process. Pruitt was never a first choice for UT or any other SEC school, we were forced into it because every other coach after Shciano was playing us for a raise and extension. Is what it is. Hope Pruitt succeeds and leads us back tot he promised land, just like I hoped Dools and Butch could do, but let’s not pretend he’s the coach we wanted all along.

That said, I disagree that 6-6 is our floor. Sorry you struggle with my opinion, but it’s really not that controversial Behr. It’s a preseason prediction, internet fodder....that’s all
 
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#48
#48
fade route said:
I don’t think we made the wrong hire, I think we made the only one we could have after botching the process. Pruitt was never a first choice for UT or any other SEC school, we were forced into it because every other coach after Shciano was playing us for a raise and extension. Is what it is. Hope Pruitt succeeds and leads us back tot he promised land, just like I hoped Dools and Butch could do, but let’s not pretend he’s the coach we wanted all along.

That said, I disagree that 6-6 is our floor. Sorry you struggle with my opinion, but it’s really not that controversial Behr. It’s a preseason prediction, internet fodder....that’s all
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Then you shouldn't have told him he was "wrong", fade.

Lol, that was the only reason I responded. Don't you you go telling somebody their prediction is wrong, wtf is wrong with you ? :)
 
#49
#49
Behr said:
If the ceiling is 8, who is that 9th one there is no way we could win.
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I think 7-5 or 6-6 is probably where we end up if we stay healthy, but injuries could make it worse.

Wins - ETSU, UTEP, Charlotte, Kentucky, Vandy, Missouri

UF or WVU could be a win if we play out of our minds and the ball bounces our way, but don’t think we’re going to win both. We could easily lose both.

No way we win @UGA, @Aub, Bama, and @USCjr
 
#50
#50
fade route said:
I think 7-5 or 6-6 is probably where we end up if we stay healthy, but injuries could make it worse.

Wins - ETSU, UTEP, Charlotte, Kentucky, Vandy, Missouri

UF or WVU could be a win if we play out of our minds and the ball bounces our way, but don’t think we’re going to win both. We could easily lose both.

No way we win @UGA, @Aub, Bama, and @USCjr
Click to expand...

Wrong. At SC may be tough for us, but definitely not a No Way.
 
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