Why 8-4?

#26
#26
You seem to be forgetting the real reason that 8-4 is expected: Butch Jones.


That's his ceiling.


Tennessee will need luck to even reach 8 wins..
 
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#27
#27
VolunteerHillbilly said:
The 1986 team played in the Liberty Bowl.
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i was there. Minnesota golden gophers...Lee Greenwood sang at the half time, and the "from the lakes of minnesota, to the hills of TN" line, got a raucous reaction from the crowd on that cold Memphis night......:)
 
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#28
#28
jakez4ut said:
i was there. Minnesota golden gophers...Lee Greenwood sang at the half time, and the "from the lakes of minnesota, to the hills of TN" line, got a raucous reaction from the crowd on that cold Memphis night......:)
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Ha. Ironic
 
#31
#31
I tend to think 9-3. But honestly, I've seen a bunch of 7-5 from the national prognosticators as well.
 
#33
#33
sjt18 said:
The way the schedule lays out, I think UT has a really good chance of winning two of the 3 (UGA, UF, LSU) if they coaching is good and the injury issues have been resolved.

UGA has the most talent and experience in the East and on the experience side it isn't all that close. LSU has a good and seasoned team but I don't believe in O but have hope that UT will be playing well by that late in the season and at home.

I despise UF so I have to be really careful not to let my bias creep in but I just don't see whatever it is that others are seeing in their roster. Granted McElwain has found a way to get it done and maybe that's why they're getting so much love. They have some experience among their starters but their depth is very young and pretty inexperienced.
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Regarding Florida, how many times have we had the better roster and had home field advantage and yet still lost?
I know, This year is different, right? I have heard that the past 11 years and only one time has it led to a victory for us.
We play well at times against Florida, but once they verbally abuse us on the field, we lose confidence and start to doudt and they end up winning.
I have seen our players hang their heads in the forth quarter even when we have the lead in the game. It is because the Florida players talk trash and convince our players that they can't win. So, they begin to doudt it.
 
#35
#35
checkerboards09 said:
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I believe Jennings breaks the single season yardage record by a UT receiver and I'm sticking with it.
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I missed that one. I was focused on Aaron Medly getting the 371 points to pass Jeff Hall. He has 314 point now.
If we have another receiver step up, then Jennings will not be double covered and if the q.b. is a "baller", he could very well pass Mecham on the single season yardage list.
 
#36
#36
Rudy123 said:
I see loses to Alabama, LSU & Florida. I see us beating UGA again and going 9 - 3 in the regular season. I see us winning another bowl game also.
I see Aaron Medley getting 58 more points and surpassing Jeff Hall as the all time scoring leader in U.T. football history.
I also see bUTch getting 10 wins this season to pass Coach Barnhill on the victory list of U.T. football. Barnhill had 32 wins at U.T., bUTch now has 30 wins.
I see McKenzie, Tuttle & Kirkland having good seasons and going pro after this season.
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God I hope you are right.
 
#37
#37
VFL-82-JP said:
Hmm, I think they missed a few.

Proven play makers for 2017, whom we can reasonably expect to make game-changing plays (because they've done so, several times, before): John Kelly (almost as proven going into 2017 as Hurd or Kamara were going into 2016, and certainly going into 2015, imo) ... Shaq Wiggins (no one said he had to prove his talent while wearing orange) ... Jauan Jennings (mad man)... Todd Kelly, Jr. (interception machine) ... Evan Berry (kick returns) ... Trevor Daniel (punting).

So I'd say not two proven playmakers, but a handful. All of whom have changed the complexion of games in the past, more than once.

When you count them up, it's not much different than the number than we had in 2016. Just the next generation pushing through. Only thing we're missing, really, is a star QB. And maybe we'll have one by the start of SEC play.
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I would add DKjr to the proven play-maker list.
 
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#38
#38
Rudy123 said:
I missed that one. I was focused on Aaron Medly getting the 371 points to pass Jeff Hall. He has 314 point now.
If we have another receiver step up, then Jennings will not be double covered and if the q.b. is a "baller", he could very well pass Mecham on the single season yardage list.
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Both could definitely happen. Man I miss those Jeff Hall days, he had probably the strongest leg ever at UT. He was a few years older than me and went to school in one of my neighboring counties (Franklin County TN) and if I remember correctly, he kicked a 63 yard fg in high school.
 
#39
#39
wdbeas said:
I tend to think 9-3. But honestly, I've seen a bunch of 7-5 from the national prognosticators as well.
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Local prognosticators as told to John Adams:

I had so much fun at SEC Football Media Days two weeks ago, I decided to have a media day of my own. It was even more fun.

The best part: I didnÂ’t have to drive four hours to Birmingham, Ala. The next best part: I didnÂ’t have to listen to 14 SEC football coaches.

HereÂ’s how my media day went: I called selected members of the media and asked the most relevant question leading in to TennesseeÂ’s 2017 football season: How many games does coach Butch Jones need to win to make sure his job is safe?

ItÂ’s a tricky question, one that I spelled out for my media buddies just to make sure our signals werenÂ’t crossed.

I believe if Jones wins eight regular-season games, as he has done each of the past two seasons, he will return for a sixth season. But there are mitigating factors.

What if one of the four losses were to Vanderbilt? Would first-year athletic director John Currie keep a coach with a 2-3 record against the Commodores after five seasons? I donÂ’t think so.

The rest of the media members I consulted felt the same way: If Jones wants to be absolutely certain of retaining his job beyond this season, he needs to win nine games.

Josh Ward, who co-hosts Sports 180 in Knoxville, said, “I can’t sit here and guarantee he will be back unless he goes 9-3.

“What if he goes 8-4 but loses to Florida by 28 points, Georgia beats Tennessee by a couple of touchdowns at home, Alabama destroys them 49-14 and LSU beats them at home?”

“I think he will survive at 7-5,” said John Pennington, host of the Sports Source, a long-running Sunday morning television talk show. “I don’t think (Currie) would want to fire a football coach in his first season.”

ThatÂ’s a valid point. As Pennington said, firing a football coach is nothing like firing a tennis coach, which Currie did shortly after he took the job. Once an athletic director fires one football coach and hires another one, the pressure escalates on the AD.

But Pennington also agrees that while Jones might be safe at 7-5, the nature of those losses still could put his job in jeopardy.

Jimmy Hyams, WNML sports director, says Jones likely would keep his job at 8-4: “If he went 8-4, he would have to beat some pretty good teams; 7-5, (he) wouldn’t want to go there; 6-6, he’s fired,” Hyams said.

“But yeah, if they’re 8-4 and all four losses are by 30 points, he could get fired.”

Dave Hooker, co-host of Sport Talk in Chattanooga and, like Hyams, a writer for the college football website Gridiron Now, said, “To be sure he’s back, he has to go 9-3. If I were in that position (of athletic director), I would make a change if Tennessee went 8-4.”

Fortunately for Jones, Hooker didnÂ’t apply for the AD job.
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http://www.knoxnews.com/story/sport...utch-jones-job-safe-if-vols-go-9-3/495289001/
 
#41
#41
VolBricks said:
Why 8-4?
Every offseason the “Talking Heads” like to evaluate the talent on all of the top teams/conferences and make predictions about what they believe the state of each program is. They also guess how many wins a team will have based on schedule and returning talent.
This year most “Talking Heads” have us going about 8-4 and most on Volnation seem to somewhat agree. I have been curious as to why the talking heads think FL or KY is better than the Vols this year. Yesterday I was listening to 104.5 (or 102.5) in Nashville and they had a segment discussing the Vols. Their premise was “Who on this year’s team is a proven difference maker”? To make their point they went back to last year at this time and said who in July/August 2016 did we expect to be a difference maker? Their answer was:
Barnette, Sutton, Dobbs, Kamara, Hurd, JRM, Berry, (there were some others I do not remember).
The point was that any or all of these players could make a game changing play at any time. Then they focused again on this year’s team, who on this team do you Expect to make a game changing play? The only one was Evan Berry and maybe Jennings. All of our other returning players, although talented and with playing time, have not proven themselves to be that player that can turn a game on a single play. Add to that a new QB, new somewhat unproven RB’s and you can see why they pick us 8-4. Ky and Fl both have more “Proven” players returning than we do (according to the talking heads).
I will sum this all up by saying that I believe we are as talented or more talented across the board than we were last year. They may not have the “wow” factor attached to them yet, but I believe this year’s team is a “Team” and they have a desire to win that last year’s team did not. I believe last year’s team was divided by some player(s )that will be left unnamed. Do I think 8-4 is unreasonable? No, but I believe this year’s team could just as easily go 10-2 in the regular season.
Sorry for the long post but it is the offseason and we still have 36 more days until college football kicks off.

GBO!
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Because our expectations have been lessoned!
 
#42
#42
Rudy123 said:
Regarding Florida, how many times have we had the better roster and had home field advantage and yet still lost?
I know, This year is different, right? I have heard that the past 11 years and only one time has it led to a victory for us.
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I think this is a key test for whether Jones or anyone else is the right coach for UT. Can they do no worse than split with UGA and UF? I agree with your point... but the "right guy" won't be "that guy".

We play well at times against Florida, but once they verbally abuse us on the field, we lose confidence and start to doudt and they end up winning.
I have seen our players hang their heads in the forth quarter even when we have the lead in the game. It is because the Florida players talk trash and convince our players that they can't win. So, they begin to doudt it.
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Wouldn't know about that... but that would definitely be a reflection of the HC and his staff.
 
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#43
#43
Rudy123 said:
I see loses to Alabama, LSU & Florida. I see us beating UGA again and going 9 - 3 in the regular season. I see us winning another bowl game also.
I see Aaron Medley getting 58 more points and surpassing Jeff Hall as the all time scoring leader in U.T. football history.
I also see bUTch getting 10 wins this season to pass Coach Barnhill on the victory list of U.T. football. Barnhill had 32 wins at U.T., bUTch now has 30 wins.
I see McKenzie, Tuttle & Kirkland having good seasons and going pro after this season.
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I like your take, but I really do not get the hype behind Florida. Georgia I understand, but Florida is depleted and has some serious questions at QB. At least ours look decently good compared to the issues at QB they have.
 
#47
#47
Rudy123 said:
I see loses to Alabama, LSU & Florida. I see us beating UGA again and going 9 - 3 in the regular season. I see us winning another bowl game also.
I see Aaron Medley getting 58 more points and surpassing Jeff Hall as the all time scoring leader in U.T. football history.
I also see bUTch getting 10 wins this season to pass Coach Barnhill on the victory list of U.T. football. Barnhill had 32 wins at U.T., bUTch now has 30 wins.
I see McKenzie, Tuttle & Kirkland having good seasons and going pro after this season.
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I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world
 
#48
#48
VolunteerHillbilly said:
Thanks for the reminder.
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Awesome! And on your prozac prescription pad, too. :)
 
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