What do you look for? Hmm, great question.
Here's a list, not necessarily in priority order, of things that might be interesting to watch for:
1. Get to know our QB, Jarrett Guarantano. He has a great arm, really good strength and nice touch, and almost never puts the ball at risk (very few INTs over the past two years). But has he gotten better at recognizing and reacting to blitzes, avoiding the sack or knockdown? That's what most of us will be watching for, anyway.
2. Jauan Jennings. Not necessarily our best wide receiver, but the lad just loves to play football and is fun to watch, because of it. Yes, he talks some smack. Yes, he has a bit of a temper; if pushed, he will push back. But he also makes circus catches and just loves to be out there playing.
3. Offensive Line. Our Achilles' Heel over the past three years, we're all hoping it has become at least serviceable. If you want to know what all the Vols fans are holding their breath over the first few minutes we're on offense...this is it.
4. Trey Smith, in specific. Lad's part of our offensive line, but hardly played any last year because of blood clots in the lungs. He's a wonderful young man, so we're just all hoping to see him doing well enough that he can continue to pursue his dreams. Doesn't hurt our affection for him that he has been called the best player wearing Orange more than once over the past two seasons.
5. Jim Chaney. Our new(ish) OC. We stole him from Georgia this past off-season. Jim's an old hand on Rocky Top, was our OC once before (and very briefly, our interim head coach) several years back. Most of us are real happy to have him with us again. We're looking forward to seeing his signature ability to make the most of the cards he's dealt, fitting his offensive schemes and play-calling to the talent in uniform. If he does that as well as he has many other times over the years (and see #3), our offense could take a big step forward in 2019.
6. Defensive Line. Mixed bag; will it be stout enough, and for four full quarters? Last two years, we were good early in games, but worn down by the late 3rd and 4th quarters; just not enough quality depth. Has that been fixed?
7. Alontae Taylor. Our #1 cornerback, Alontae is a native son (Manchester, Tennessee, about an hour south of Nashville). Has the potential to be genius, as good as Cam Sutton was for us a few years back--or even better.
Anyway, that's a start.
Hope you enjoy watching the game; a lot of us here will be watching yours, in turn, on Thursday night. Wish you the best of luck against Utah!
Go Vols!