'21-'22 Vol Schedule analysis by Athlon

[Carp]

6-6 or better and CJH deserves a statue.

 

[bpalmer28]

If a QB emerges we're looking at 7-8 wins and Heupel has some momentum going into recruiting season. If not, we're looking at 4-5 wins and Heupel looks like another bad hire.

MUST. HAVE. QB.

 

[OffTackleVol]

If a QB emerges we're looking at 7-8 wins and Heupel has some momentum going into recruiting season. If not, we're looking at 4-5 wins and Heupel looks like another bad hire.

MUST. HAVE. QB.

100% agree, hard to argue with this. Funny how that QB position is so important. Decent, not great, not even good, just decent QB play last year and we win 2-3 more games..........at least.

 

[OffTackleVol]

4-8 with a chance of 3-9.

LOL...........

 

[Border Vol]

If a QB emerges we're looking at 7-8 wins and Heupel has some momentum going into recruiting season. If not, we're looking at 4-5 wins and Heupel looks like another bad hire.

MUST. HAVE. QB.

4-5 wins this season doesn't mean Josh Heupel is a bad hire

 

[Probably_in_Class]

We should’ve won 5 SEC game last year. We are not light years behind everyone. I completely expect us to beat Vandy, South Carolina and Kentucky this season, including toss ups with Ole Miss and Mizzou.

Edit: I’ll make UK a toss up

I don't think you're wrong, but just reading the words "UK a toss up," makes me want to vomit.

 

[bpalmer28]

4-5 wins this season doesn't mean Josh Heupel is a bad hire

I don't think that and won't think that. I love the hire. Just talking about public perception and recruiting momentum.

 

[Volfan1000]

7-5 with a bowl bid.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I don't think you're wrong, but just reading the words "UK a toss up," makes me want to vomit.

I couldn’t agree more. The only reason I put toss up was because of that shitshow last year. Very rarely do I think my team can lose by that large of a margin and I still think that we were the better team. Also very rare that I largely hold 1 player responsible for losing a game where there are 24 starters available to share that blame. I blame 1 player for about 99% of that loss. I think we win that game this year.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Does anyone know what the expected "learning curve" is on CJH's offense? Is it quick to learn and perform up to expectations or will it require a couple years?

I personally enjoyed this article

Galina: Josh Heupel's offense is exactly what Tennessee needs to get back on track | College Football | PFF

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

I just want 6-6

Any bowl eligible record is huge and would immediately set Heup apart from his three recent predicessors.

 

[McDad]

I personally enjoyed this article

Galina: Josh Heupel's offense is exactly what Tennessee needs to get back on track | College Football | PFF

Thanks for posting. Had not seen the article.
Reason for optimism:
Heupel’s UCF offenses ranked fifth, 10th and eighth over the past three seasons. Plus, he took over the Missouri offense in 2016 that ranked 120th in 2015, improved them to 55th a year later and then 16th the next year while making now-Broncos quarterback Drew Lock a millionaire.
Reason for pessimism:
All this means is that it’s probably not a one-year or even a two-year fix for Heupel and White. They might not get their hands on a program that has all the available resources for a few years depending on the NCAA’s decision regarding sanctions.

All things being equal CJH has a track record of improvement early on.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

Thanks for posting. Had not seen the article.
Reason for optimism:
Heupel’s UCF offenses ranked fifth, 10th and eighth over the past three seasons. Plus, he took over the Missouri offense in 2016 that ranked 120th in 2015, improved them to 55th a year later and then 16th the next year while making now-Broncos quarterback Drew Lock a millionaire.
Reason for pessimism:
All this means is that it’s probably not a one-year or even a two-year fix for Heupel and White. They might not get their hands on a program that has all the available resources for a few years depending on the NCAA’s decision regarding sanctions.

All things being equal CJH has a track record of improvement early on.

I think that also means we are guaranteed to improve offensively immediately.
Which really isn't saying much since our offense quite literally couldn't get any worse.

 

[Skullbone]

Anywhere from 4-8 to 6-6. If Heupel can get 7 wins he's a miracle man.

 

[MWAVolfan]

Tennessee *should* have 8 wins on this schedule without even having to be that good.

The four non-con games and terrible Vandy and USCjr with 1st year head coaches plus terrible Mizzou with 2nd year head coach plus a tough fight against UK.

I suspect however they will win 3 of the four non-con games plus Vandy and the 5th win will be against either UK, Mizzou or USC jr.

 

[ChrisVFL]

Just bought tickets the the TN and SC game Oct 8th. Hopefully this is one of the better home games we will play and get to enjoy this year. Also, hoping it’s a night game .

 

[Border Vol]

Anywhere from 4-8 to 6-6. If Heupel can get 7 wins he's a miracle man.

It would be awesome if Tennessee got most of the bounces and won 7-8 games It would be our luck if Tennessee won 8 games and the NCAA said they can't go to a bowl game

 

[Devo182]

Seems most prognosticators have us between 5-7 wins. I have no idea how talented our team is, just because QB has been that bad. 5-7 till it ain't. BG, Tenn Tech, USA, Vandy, Pitt or USCe.

Way I see it is we have 4 guaranteed wins (3 non P5 teams + Vandy).

To make things simple, let's just say UK, USCe, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Pitt are 50/50 games. That's 2.50 wins...on top of 4 "guaranteed" to end with 6.5 wins.

Jmo but 5-7 should be near the floor.

 

[Devo182]

Anywhere from 4-8 to 6-6. If Heupel can get 7 wins he's a miracle man.

So 5-7 is your median projection? Just how big of dogs do you expect us to be vs the likes of USCe, Pitt, Mizzou, etc?

 

[Border Vol]

So 5-7 is your median projection? Just how big of dogs do you expect us to be vs the likes of USCe, Pitt, Mizzou, etc?

I think UT can beat South Carolina,Vanderbilt and possibly Kentucky. It would then be a nice 2021 season if UT could manage to be 4-0 in out of conference games.

 

[UTP69]

4-5 wins this season doesn't mean Josh Heupel is a bad hire

Agreed. One thing of interest to me is the point spread in the losses. No blowouts will be impressive.....at least to me. Still, I hate losing.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Thanks for posting. Had not seen the article.
Reason for optimism:
Heupel’s UCF offenses ranked fifth, 10th and eighth over the past three seasons. Plus, he took over the Missouri offense in 2016 that ranked 120th in 2015, improved them to 55th a year later and then 16th the next year while making now-Broncos quarterback Drew Lock a millionaire.
Reason for pessimism:
All this means is that it’s probably not a one-year or even a two-year fix for Heupel and White. They might not get their hands on a program that has all the available resources for a few years depending on the NCAA’s decision regarding sanctions.

All things being equal CJH has a track record of improvement early on.

No problem.

Agree with your assessment.

Not a quick fix but I think there is nowhere to go but up from last year.

Itll be a more entertaining product on the field at least.

 

[Cartervol]

5 wins may be the ceiling for this team. If Heupel wins 6 then he may be a keeper.

 

[Cartervol]

It's years 22-27 I worry about after the ncaa hammers us

There are teams doing much worse, they're just smart enough to not tell on themselves.. NCAA is a joke these days. Turn a blind eye here and there and play favorites..

 

[ftsandersvol]

I'm sticking with 4-8. Defense is going to be a problem.