reasonable expectations for 2020 season

#1
I

ice

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#1
Pruitt has improved the defense. The defense is showing signs of the defenses of old. Smashmouth football. The saying is that defenses win championships. I believe that and always will. We are quickly improving in that regard. A good thing for our future and our team.
Offense: We now have some depth and muscle on our offensive line. We have not had this in awhile. Our offensive line should be very good. No excuses from our running backs this year. We need our backs to man up and perform this upcoming season. This alone will improve our chances tremendously in 2020.
Quarterbacks: I expect things to be about the same as in the past with a slight improvement in overall performance.
Personally, I think our running backs will be the key to more wins this upcoming season.
If we have a season.
.
 
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#2
#2
I expect to not have too many men on the field (or breaking the huddle) after a timeout or between quarters. That has happened too often.

Also, can the O please have a goal-line package where they don't have to sub players? That is a long way to run, plus, the D automatically gets a chance to sub wasting more time often resulting in burning a TO.
 
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#5
#5
Here are the key things I want to see this year:

1. Our OL has to play to their talent level. The last two years, the play has been less than the sum of the parts.

2. Need some type of resolution on QB. Either JG needs to step up or we need to move onto the next option.

3. We have to be ready to play when the season starts. We have been the worst team in the SEC in the first 4 weeks in back to back years.

4. We have to start halves and end halves better. This has been our Achilles heel in game

5. Have to be better in Red Zone.

6. Need a WR to take a big step up. There's some talent there but largely unproven.
 
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#6
#6
Its extremely rare these days for a team at any level to be great without at least a very good QB.
Obviously it takes other pieces as well like the parts you mention. I agree with your assessment of the defense and offensive line.

I've been critical of JG like many people, but I really dont think I'm a JG hater. The same coaches that have rebuilt this roster have thought he has given us the best chance to win in the past. They've tried other QBs, but they keep coming back to him. They'll keep doing this until Mauer or Bailey proves to them they can be more consistent, which will be hard to do without game reps. If we're honest, if they're getting game reps early next season, it means we are struggling.

The absolute truth is JG has to be better next season.
1) he has to get the ball out ON TIME
2) he has to make better decisions about where to go with the ball, but he HAS TO to get better at locating the receivers running wide open with no one around them.

I'm hoping things become much easier for him with a much improved running game, which I think we all are anticipating.

I think consistent good play at QB is by far the key to us competing for an SEC title next season. I cringe at the thought we should expect the same quality of play at that position.
 
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#8
#8
GAVol said:
Talk about the QBs all you want. It’s all about the running game.
Click to expand...

I'd say OL play in general. Obviously key with the run game but with JG at QB, he will need more time due to his progression reading and footwork. Pass blocking improvements will help out without a proven high end WR on the roster.
 
#10
#10
ice said:
Pruitt has improved the defense. The defense is showing signs of the defenses of old. Smashmouth football. The saying is that defenses win championships. I believe that and always will. We are quickly improving in that regard. A good thing for our future and our team.
Offense: We now have some depth and muscle on our offensive line. We have not had this in awhile. Our offensive line should be very good. No excuses from our running backs this year. We need our backs to man up and perform this upcoming season. This alone will improve our chances tremendously in 2020.
Quarterbacks: I expect things to be about the same as in the past with a slight improvement in overall performance.
Personally, I think our running backs will be the key to more wins this upcoming season.
If we have a season.
.
Click to expand...

I disagree on our RBs being the key to more wins. Any coaching staff who watches film on TN from last year knows our weak link is at QB. Teams will stack the box to stop the run until we consistently show that we make plays in the passing game. I don’t have any confidence in JG suddenly overcoming all of the issues he has shown the last two years but he will have to significantly improve or someone else will need to step up at QB for us to really see improvement.
 
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#11
#11
I'm hoping our OLine can control the game like all good teams do. Obviously the game has changed some since the 90's but that's when our Oline would lean on the defense the entire game and win in the 4th quarter on a 6 minute drive and score to win the game. IF that happens then I think less will be called on from the QB position. There's just so many variables it hard to develop a game plan right now but on the surface it seems that could be our strength. Trusting the defense continues to improve. Leadership is in a good place too.
 
#13
#13
15-0 in an 8 game conference only season!

Win the games we should including tough matchups against Kentucky and SCAR and pull one or more upsets from the big 4 (AL, FL GA, OK).

9-3 plus a bowl win in 2021!

8-4 plus bowl win would be ok too.
 
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#15
#15
There’s no reason that 8 wins shouldn’t be the floor for this season, granted that we play all 12 games. I expect we possibly get to 9, with an upset coming against either Oklahoma, Georgia, or Florida. I don’t think we’re quite there yet to possibly upset Alabama. However, the game is in Neyland and this could be the best chance we’ve had in a long time.

I think we do 9-3, winning all the games we should as well as upsetting Florida in Neyland. We have a good shot against Georgia as well, but it’s in Athens which I believe will be the advantage that’s leads Georgia to beating us.

9-3 sure would feel good.
 
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#16
#16
If we play a full regular season 6-6 or 7-5. QB was out biggest area of concern last year and we lost our top 2 WR targets that bailed out a lot of bad throws. Our defense has shown some signs of improvement but last season we had way too many plays where defenders didn’t know their assignments and left people completely unguarded.

I expect a lot of angry posts after the OU game. OU will have receivers wide open for multiple 30+ yd TDs. Pruitt will be kicking a lot of white boards due to players being out of position.
 
#17
#17
VolforFootball said:
There’s no reason that 8 wins shouldn’t be the floor for this season, granted that we play all 12 games. I expect we possibly get to 9, with an upset coming against either Oklahoma, Georgia, or Florida. I don’t think we’re quite there yet to possibly upset Alabama. However, the game is in Neyland and this could be the best chance we’ve had in a long time.

I think we do 9-3, winning all the games we should as well as upsetting Florida in Neyland. We have a good shot against Georgia as well, but it’s in Athens which I believe will be the advantage that’s leads Georgia to beating us.

9-3 sure would feel good.
Click to expand...

We play Bama better on the road for some reason. Since Saban got there our only competitive games against them have been in 2009, 2015, and 2019, all in Tuscaloosa. Wouldn’t surprise me if some Bama players overlook us and party the night before the games in Tuscaloosa. Harder to sneak out and party Friday night when you are on the road.
 
#18
#18
08Vol said:
We play Bama better on the road for some reason. Since Saban got there our only competitive games against them have been in 2009, 2015, and 2019, all in Tuscaloosa. Wouldn’t surprise me if some Bama players overlook us and party the night before the games in Tuscaloosa. Harder to sneak out and party Friday night when you are on the road.
Click to expand...

I doubt Saban will allow them to overlook us this season. And I'm assuming there will be a pretty tight leash on players going out considering Covid.
 
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#19
#19
It’s all about Covid, literally could lose a dozen or more players, probably from same position group, for 2 weeks or better at any given point..
 
#20
#20
VolforFootball said:
There’s no reason that 8 wins shouldn’t be the floor for this season, granted that we play all 12 games. I expect we possibly get to 9, with an upset coming against either Oklahoma, Georgia, or Florida. I don’t think we’re quite there yet to possibly upset Alabama. However, the game is in Neyland and this could be the best chance we’ve had in a long time.

I think we do 9-3, winning all the games we should as well as upsetting Florida in Neyland. We have a good shot against Georgia as well, but it’s in Athens which I believe will be the advantage that’s leads Georgia to beating us.

9-3 sure would feel good.
Click to expand...

Not sure home field means as much with very few or no fans at games.
 
#21
#21
There are a few holes that need to be filled both on offense and defense. But the biggest question mark is still going to be who is behind center ? That will determine what the Vol win loss record will be in 2020.
 
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#22
#22
Make fewer mistakes than our opponent each week and put that Maxim to the test.

I expect our defense to be good enough to give our offense a chance to win.

I feel good about our offense, but it’s going to come down to QB play.
 
#23
#23
I expect us to go 5-4. We don’t have what it takes to beat the big boys yet.
 
#25
#25
Jack Burton said:
I expect us to go 5-4. We don’t have what it takes to beat the big boys yet.
Click to expand...

We'll be able to beat anybody in the country next season with good QB play. At the few positions we are inexperienced at (WR/LB), there is alot of talent capable of producing immediate success.

With as much success as teams like Clemson, Bama, etc have had, they too, enter each season with 1-2 question marks on positions.

Will we beat all 4 big boys? Probably not. But I bet we at least split the difference...
 
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