How Many Wins This Fall?

How many regular season WINS do you predict for UT this Fall? (excluding a potential bowl game)

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    545
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#51
#51
4.5. Team goes no further than its QB; it's always been the case in the past, and to improve on last year someone is going to have to claim the position early and hold onto it with exceptional play. SEC's too tough for mere adequacy.
 
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#54
#54
I voted 6 wins for this year but it can be more hopefully. That oblong ball they play with can bounce funny ways sometimes. It's been said on here a few times that there are 3 losses and 3 wins pretty much guaranteed on the schedule. What they can do with the other 6 games will determine the season. I think they can at least spit them and get to 6 wins.
 
#55
#55
Since there's no...you know..."actual money" involved I voted 9 wins or more...as I believe it is my duty as a life long fan :)
 
#56
#56
Rudy123 said:
I think we lose 1 or 2 that we shouldn't lose and finish 5 - 7.

Look at our history! We have more upset losses than we have upset wins in the schools history.
Lost to an inferior Florida team at least 12 times. Lost to Wyoming. Lost to an inferior O'Bama team about 10 times. Lost to Ky. twice, since I have been an avid fan. Lost to Vandy about 5 times in the past 10 years. Lost to a couple of inferior Missouri teams. Lost to an inferior Penn State team 3 or 4 times.

Beat U of Miami in Sugar Bowl. Come from behind win against LSU with Rick Clausen as Q.B. Beat UGA a couple of times when we were the underdog. Beat Ohio State with Eddie George, Terry Glenn etc. etc.
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No offense, but you’re coming up way short on your Vol history of upsets here. Alabama, Auburn, Notre Dame, UCLA.....and there are many more.
 
#57
#57
VolunteerHillbilly said:
We beat GaTech last year but someone took the spring out of the board. Vols have done pretty well in these neutral site openers. I think this game and Missouri are key to whether Vols can get to a bowl game.
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The dye was cast well before that season started regardless of whether they walk out of Atl with a W or an L.
 
#60
#60
TNHopeful505 said:
I don't understand it guys. I'm as realistic as the next person, but facts:

1 game we will play this year is against Derek Dooley.
1 game we will play this year is against Will Muschamp, who is in no way, shape or form better than Pruitt.
1 game we will play this year is against a basketball school.
1 game we will play this year is against Vanderbilt.

Plus, we get Charlotte and UTEP and ETSU.

If you guys are seriously saying that you think our talent is so bad that we can't beat those 7 schools after subtracting the most inept head coach we've ever had, and adding one of the nation's brightest football minds as HC, then I really question your sanity.

We have talent. We have a 4* QB, Ty Chandler at RB who showed a lot of promise, Jennings and Callaway are proven WRs, the top JUCO TE is now with us, we have two 5* Offensive linemen lining up together. We have Shy Tuttle on the defensive line that has shown he can be great when healthy, as well as Kyle Phillips who was a 4* out of high school. Bituli is going to be ridiculous in this system...and I can keep going.

Just because Butch couldn't develop talent doesn't mean the talent isn't there. And yes, I believe we have had more talent than Missouri, Vandy, Kentucky, South Carolina, and even Florida for the past few years. We just needed to develop it and a coach who knew to run the ball on the 1 yard line. I believe we have that now.

Put me down for believing in 9-3, because not only do I think that we win the 7 above, but I believe we steal one from Florida and beat West Virginia, but we take Auburn to the wire, and we lose by less than two scores to UGA and Bama, who very likely will play for the CFP title again.

I do not expect this team to be a Butch team. This team is gonna be prepared, and they're gonna give people some fights. Get over the Battered Vol Syndrome and see what we DO have. The cupboard isn't bare. The talent is there. We hopefully have a coach now who knows how to use it.
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Wow! How should I respond to this?
First of all, I am a realist. I do not think that my team will go undefeated each season. I access the coaching, the talent on the team and our schedule to come up with a good prediction.

I bet that Missouri will beat us again this year. Their q.b. is good and they will be a good team by the time we face them.
Secondly, Will Muschamp. As bad as he is, I can't recall us ever beating a team that he has coached, can you? When he was at Florida, and they were horrible, we managed to find a way to lose to them. Now that he is at USC, we lost to them again last season. I think he has our number. Don't see us beating him, especially not this season.
The basketball school beat us last season and comes damn close to beating Florida each year and if my memory is correct, they beat USC last season, which was a feat that we could not accomplish. I do believe that we will beat Ky. this season though. So, I am in agreement with you on that one.
I also think we will beat Vandy this season but it will be a fight to the death.
I don't see us beating WVU unless they are much worse than I think. Haven't seen them play in quite a while but I think they are better than us at this point.
NO, we will not steal one from Florida. Have you not watched the Florida series the past 25 years?
In order for us to beat Florida, they will have to absolutely give us the game. Even when we are the better team, they beat us. Do you recall the Jabar Gaffney non catch? Do you remember last years game? Do you remember the year they came to Knoxville with a running back at the q.b. position?
They threw very few passes and still beat us with his running the ball?
Think about this, in 1998, when we beat Florida, we gave them all we had and had a team that had about 20 players end up in the NFL. We had the advantage of playing in our stadium at night. However; we had to go in to overtime to beat them and we actually did not beat them, they missed a kick. We did not prevent them from winning, but they failed to take advantage of a opportunity to make a field goal. We did not cause a fumble to beat them. We did not have a sack to beat them. We did not have a score to beat them, but we won because they lost missed a field goal.
Also, remember the time we played them in Florida and we had the momentum and we were going to beat them and then Hunter go hurt? That changed the entire momentum and we lost the game.
Remember the Peterman game in Florida?
Look at last years season. Florida won 4 games last year. do you want to take a guess as to who one of the SEC teams they beat was?????????????????? Yes, it was us. Even as bad as they were last year, we still lost to them.
The only way that we ever beat Florida is if they give us the game and let us win OR they have Ron Zook as their coach.
Lastly, the players that you list on this years team were also on last years team with the exception to Woody-Anderson. Chandler, Phillips, Tuttle, Smith etc. were all on last years team and we only won 3 games.
 
#62
#62
OnlyGodForgives said:
4.5. Team goes no further than its QB; it's always been the case in the past, and to improve on last year someone is going to have to claim the position early and hold onto it with exceptional play. SEC's too tough for mere adequacy.
Click to expand...

How do you win half of a game?
 
#63
#63
illinoisvolfan1 said:
I’m with you. 6-6 in the season then curb stomp a hapless Big 10 team in a bowl.
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If there is one thing we are good at, it is curb-stomping trash B1G teams.

FrayedFinishedAsiansmallclawedotter-max-1mb.gif
 
#65
#65
TNHopeful505 said:
I don't understand it guys. I'm as realistic as the next person, but facts:

1 game we will play this year is against Derek Dooley.
1 game we will play this year is against Will Muschamp, who is in no way, shape or form better than Pruitt.
1 game we will play this year is against a basketball school.
1 game we will play this year is against Vanderbilt.

Plus, we get Charlotte and UTEP and ETSU.

If you guys are seriously saying that you think our talent is so bad that we can't beat those 7 schools after subtracting the most inept head coach we've ever had, and adding one of the nation's brightest football minds as HC, then I really question your sanity.

We have talent. We have a 4* QB, Ty Chandler at RB who showed a lot of promise, Jennings and Callaway are proven WRs, the top JUCO TE is now with us, we have two 5* Offensive linemen lining up together. We have Shy Tuttle on the defensive line that has shown he can be great when healthy, as well as Kyle Phillips who was a 4* out of high school. Bituli is going to be ridiculous in this system...and I can keep going.

Just because Butch couldn't develop talent doesn't mean the talent isn't there. And yes, I believe we have had more talent than Missouri, Vandy, Kentucky, South Carolina, and even Florida for the past few years. We just needed to develop it and a coach who knew to run the ball on the 1 yard line. I believe we have that now.

Put me down for believing in 9-3, because not only do I think that we win the 7 above, but I believe we steal one from Florida and beat West Virginia, but we take Auburn to the wire, and we lose by less than two scores to UGA and Bama, who very likely will play for the CFP title again.

I do not expect this team to be a Butch team. This team is gonna be prepared, and they're gonna give people some fights. Get over the Battered Vol Syndrome and see what we DO have. The cupboard isn't bare. The talent is there. We hopefully have a coach now who knows how to use it.
Click to expand...

To add a little to this. We should have beaten Florida last year. We missed 3 field goals.... We were clearly the better football team.
 
#66
#66
I think Bama, Georgia, and Auburn are losses (really going out on a limb there).

West VA, Florida, and South Carolina will be tough to win. Hopefully we get 2 out of those 3, but 1 is more realistic

ETSU, UTEP, Charlotte should all be wins.

Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Missouri should all be wins, but chances are we blow 1 of those.

So that puts me at 6-6, which is just kind of where we are right now. I'll be happy with anything over 6 wins.
 
#67
#67
Rudy123 said:
Wow! How should I respond to this?
First of all, I am a realist. I do not think that my team will go undefeated each season. I access the coaching, the talent on the team and our schedule to come up with a good prediction.

I bet that Missouri will beat us again this year. Their q.b. is good and they will be a good team by the time we face them.
Secondly, Will Muschamp. As bad as he is, I can't recall us ever beating a team that he has coached, can you? When he was at Florida, and they were horrible, we managed to find a way to lose to them. Now that he is at USC, we lost to them again last season. I think he has our number. Don't see us beating him, especially not this season.
The basketball school beat us last season and comes damn close to beating Florida each year and if my memory is correct, they beat USC last season, which was a feat that we could not accomplish. I do believe that we will beat Ky. this season though. So, I am in agreement with you on that one.
I also think we will beat Vandy this season but it will be a fight to the death.
I don't see us beating WVU unless they are much worse than I think. Haven't seen them play in quite a while but I think they are better than us at this point.
NO, we will not steal one from Florida. Have you not watched the Florida series the past 25 years?
In order for us to beat Florida, they will have to absolutely give us the game. Even when we are the better team, they beat us. Do you recall the Jabar Gaffney non catch? Do you remember last years game? Do you remember the year they came to Knoxville with a running back at the q.b. position?
They threw very few passes and still beat us with his running the ball?
Think about this, in 1998, when we beat Florida, we gave them all we had and had a team that had about 20 players end up in the NFL. We had the advantage of playing in our stadium at night. However; we had to go in to overtime to beat them and we actually did not beat them, they missed a kick. We did not prevent them from winning, but they failed to take advantage of a opportunity to make a field goal. We did not cause a fumble to beat them. We did not have a sack to beat them. We did not have a score to beat them, but we won because they lost missed a field goal.
Also, remember the time we played them in Florida and we had the momentum and we were going to beat them and then Hunter go hurt? That changed the entire momentum and we lost the game.
Remember the Peterman game in Florida?
Look at last years season. Florida won 4 games last year. do you want to take a guess as to who one of the SEC teams they beat was?????????????????? Yes, it was us. Even as bad as they were last year, we still lost to them.
The only way that we ever beat Florida is if they give us the game and let us win OR they have Ron Zook as their coach.
Lastly, the players that you list on this years team were also on last years team with the exception to Woody-Anderson. Chandler, Phillips, Tuttle, Smith etc. were all on last years team and we only won 3 games.
Click to expand...

Okay, so let's start with this:

1) You're right, Missouri put a whooping on us last year, and didn't lose much. However, we had Will McBride as our QB the entire game, we only ran the ball 35 times, and 14 of them was the QB. We gave up 217 yards through the air, and 435 yards on the ground. 650 approximate yards! You really think that's gonna happen with Pruitt, one of the best DC's of the past few years? I'm not saying we won't give up yards and points, but last year was not a indication of lack of talent, but lack of coaching. Dooley as a OC is an unknown to everyone. Am I saying I believe Missouri is a easy win or a sure thing? No way. But I do think if we have a defensive that doesn't give up 650 yards, and we have a QB that isn't a true freshman, we definitely have a much better shot.

2) I really believe that our failure against Muschamp isn't that he has our number, as much as Dooley and Butch were inept at coaching. We have always had more talent than they have since Muschamp took over in SC, and yeah, he's won. But if you're saying that a team that beat us by 6, SIX POINTS with the worst head coach we've ever had, "has our number," then no, you're wrong. If Butch has an ounce of competency, he beats Florida last year, beats South Carolina last year, beats Kentucky and Vanderbilt as well. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT tell me that Florida, UK, Vandy, or SCAR have more talent than us.

Our average recruiting class from 2014-2017 was ranked #10 by Rivals.
If you factor in 2013, Butch's first class, it was an average of #12.2

In that same length of time, Florida averaged a #14 class, South Carolina averaging #20, and Kentucky never getting higher than #17.

I know we have attrition, but so does everyone else. I know we have injuries, but so does everyone else. If it is believed and accepted that we have more talented players on our roster, then losing consistently can only be attributed to poor coaching and lack of development. IF we get a coach who can make good game day decisions, and strategize, and develop those players, by the numbers, there is no reason we cannot be much improved.

3) Your argument of "We never beat Florida so we never will unless they let us," is crap. Hope our players don't have that same mindset. Heck, why even show up for the game. Because according to you, unless they just give it to us, we will never beat them. Get that crap out of here. The ONLY reason we did not beat Florida the past few years consistently is because we had absolutely crap coaching, that coached not to lose, not to win. The playcalling was timid, predictable, and never at any time was there blood in the water.
 
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#69
#69
stevenrich2003 said:
To add a little to this. We should have beaten Florida last year. We missed 3 field goals.... We were clearly the better football team.
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Absolutely. Scared, timid, lifeless, unconfident coaching and playcalls led to scared, timid, lifeless unconfident players. The problem with UT hasn't been the players, it's been the culture of "Okay, we're up by 6, so let's not screw this up and lets run the ball 3 times where everyone knows its coming." I just wanted to see us beat the crap out of someone and play like we were capable of. But we never saw that, because our coaches had no gonads.
 
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#73
#73
TNHopeful505 said:
Okay, so let's start with this:

1) You're right, Missouri put a whooping on us last year, and didn't lose much. However, we had Will McBride as our QB the entire game, we only ran the ball 35 times, and 14 of them was the QB. We gave up 217 yards through the air, and 435 yards on the ground. 650 approximate yards! You really think that's gonna happen with Pruitt, one of the best DC's of the past few years? I'm not saying we won't give up yards and points, but last year was not a indication of lack of talent, but lack of coaching. Dooley as a OC is an unknown to everyone. Am I saying I believe Missouri is a easy win or a sure thing? No way. But I do think if we have a defensive that doesn't give up 650 yards, and we have a QB that isn't a true freshman, we definitely have a much better shot.

2) I really believe that our failure against Muschamp isn't that he has our number, as much as Dooley and Butch were inept at coaching. We have always had more talent than they have since Muschamp took over in SC, and yeah, he's won. But if you're saying that a team that beat us by 6, SIX POINTS with the worst head coach we've ever had, "has our number," then no, you're wrong. If Butch has an ounce of competency, he beats Florida last year, beats South Carolina last year, beats Kentucky and Vanderbilt as well. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT tell me that Florida, UK, Vandy, or SCAR have more talent than us.

Our average recruiting class from 2014-2017 was ranked #10 by Rivals.
If you factor in 2013, Butch's first class, it was an average of #12.2

In that same length of time, Florida averaged a #14 class, South Carolina averaging #20, and Kentucky never getting higher than #17.

I know we have attrition, but so does everyone else. I know we have injuries, but so does everyone else. If it is believed and accepted that we have more talented players on our roster, then losing consistently can only be attributed to poor coaching and lack of development. IF we get a coach who can make good game day decisions, and strategize, and develop those players, by the numbers, there is no reason we cannot be much improved.

3) Your argument of "We never beat Florida so we never will unless they let us," is crap. Hope our players don't have that same mindset. Heck, why even show up for the game. Because according to you, unless they just give it to us, we will never beat them. Get that crap out of here. The ONLY reason we did not beat Florida the past few years consistently is because we had absolutely crap coaching, that coached not to lose, not to win. The playcalling was timid, predictable, and never at any time was there blood in the water.
Click to expand...

Until we actually beat Florida, I won't believe it! Seen us as the better team too many times and still lost. Until Pittsburgh gets past New England in the play offs to reach the Super Bowl, then I don't believe they can do it. Until Michael Jordan and the Bulls beat Detroit and Isiah Thomas to get to a championship, I won't believe that they can do it. Until the Red Sox beat the Yankees to advance to the World Series, I won't believe that the Red Sox's can do it.
You might be right about Muschamp. We will have to wait and see.
As far as the Missouri game, you made mention about Pruitt and his reputation as a D.C. Well, in the past, we thought Shoop was going to give us a good defense last year. We also thought that Kiffin Sr. was going to give us a great defense, yet Ole Piss torched us for a million yards with Dexter McCluster that year and Va. Tech killed us in the air that year. Hell, Dexter McCluster owes U.T. money. If not for that game against us, he was probably a 7th round pick in the NFL. That game PROBABLY moved his NFL stock up several rounds.
 
#74
#74
We have talent. Last year was not a bad team. It was a badly coached team. No player development, no safety back, shotgun on the 1-yard line, etc. players could not overcome the coaching.

Now, we are not a top-tier talent team when you get deep in the roster, but we had a huge addition-by-subtraction with the coaching change, IMO. If we developed that talent in the sling and continue to improve in the fall, AND have good in-game coaching, we should be fine. 7-8 wins. But just to get to a bowl game should be a realistic goal.
 
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