Feeling good about next year

#27
#27
I expect 8-4 next season. The non-conference games are cupcakes. Cinn could cause some problems maybe but with Tenn being 1-0 and Cinn being down I expect a 2 touchdown kinda game. UF, UGA, and SC are winnable. I would say Bama and LSU are 2 losses for sure, just not enough talent yet. I think UK and Vandy will be wins. Once again the UGA game will be huge. 8-4 and a trip to the Chil-Fil-a bowl would make me happy.
 
#28
#28
Optimism is good but I'm going to want to see who Tennessee signs and what happens in the Spring before I get too excited about next year. Also, I am always weary of the "Sophomore Slump".
 
#33
#33
bleedorange0037 said:
Explain to me why thinking 6-6 is being pessimistic. From a historical point of view, 6-6 isn't a good year at UT, however when you break down the opponents it's exactly what this team should be. Can you honestly look at UF, Bama, LSU, Arkansas, Uga, or USCjr and say to yourself "we're more talented than that team"? I can't, so to me expecting the team to win more than 6 is being unrealistic. You should beat teams you're and better than and teams that are better than you should beat you and I see an even split on our schedule of teams that we are better than and those that we aren't.
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Precisely.

Teams with More Talent
Alabama
Florida
Georgia
LSU
South Carolina

Teams with Comparable Talent on the Road
Arkansas

That leaves us 6-6, if we simply a) beat the teams with less talent than us; b) lose to the teams with more talent than us; c) beat the teams with comparable talent when the game is at home; and d) lose to the teams with comparable talent when the game is on the road. We have to over-achieve (win more games than our talent level/schedule would conclude) to do better than 6-6.
 
#35
#35
VegasVol said:
Precisely.

Teams with More Talent
Alabama we will win
Florida we will lose
Georgia will win
LSU will lose
South Carolina will lose

Teams with Comparable Talent on the Road
Arkansas will win

That leaves us 6-6, if we simply a) beat the teams with less talent than us; b) lose to the teams with more talent than us; c) beat the teams with comparable talent when the game is at home; and d) lose to the teams with comparable talent when the game is on the road. We have to over-achieve (win more games than our talent level/schedule would conclude) to do better than 6-6.
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My prediction !!!!!!!:thumbsup:
 
#38
#38
Montana 1-0
Cincinnati 2-0
@Florida 2-1
Buffalo 3-1
Georgia 4-1
LSU 4-2
@Alabama 4-3
South Carolina 4-4
MTSU 5-4
@Arkansas 5-5
Vanderbilt 6-5
Kentucky 7-5


Georgia is a pivotal game, but A.J. Green and Justin Houston are both gone. Big blow to both offense and defense. Very possible to upset someone, but you don't need to count on huge upsets.
 
#39
#39
UT has a weak OOC schedule next year and should get some easy wins there...I expect to beat UK and Vandy.

I think the staff having worked together for a year now and the players having had the chance to learn a little about the system will be worth at least on win.

6-6 would be disappointing.
7-5 would be ok, depending on if we beat at least on of the big boys on the schedule.
8-4 would be good.

Even with the lack of talent and depth on defense, I fully expect next years offense to be very good, as many of you do. Good enough that it will keep us in most games and give us a chance to have a legit chance of winning the game.
 
#40
#40
I'm confident we can be 8-4 next season. Bray will have Hunter, D. Rodgers, Arnette to throw to which should provide a good amount of TD's. Losing Stocker will hurt, I'm not sure how well Riveria will help us over the middle. We all expect the offensive line to play well enough to beat some decent SEC teams. Early last season was ugly as predicted by most experts. I don't expect that we will give up 6 sacks and endless pressure that Simms faced early last season. If we develop a good rushing attack we can be a very good offense next season. The front 7 on defense will be noticeably better and I predict we will finish 5th overall sec defense. Wilcox will show why he had the success at Boise State that he did.
 
#41
#41
RhodeIslandVol said:
I think 6-6 would be disappointing, regardless of our talent level compared to other teams.
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I don't understand this mentality. Why would 6-6 be disappointing if 6 teams on the schedule are clearly better than us? Do you really just mean you're disappointed that circumstances have led us to a point where so many teams on the schedule are more talented than we are? Because I can agree with you on that. You can't expect the coaching staff to work miracles and beat teams where the talent gap is so significant.
 
#42
#42
Droping a horrible OM team at home and picking up a road game to Ark (who just went to a BCS game) is not "much easier." IMO, TN's SEC schedule is harder in 2011 than it was in 2010. I am totally serious.
 
#43
#43
bleedorange0037 said:
I don't understand this mentality. Why would 6-6 be disappointing if 6 teams on the schedule are clearly better than us? Do you really just mean you're disappointed that circumstances have led us to a point where so many teams on the schedule are more talented than we are? Because I can agree with you on that. You can't expect the coaching staff to work miracles and beat teams where the talent gap is so significant.
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This.
 
#44
#44
Neyland Law Vol said:
Droping a horrible OM team at home and picking up a road game to Ark (who just went to a BCS game) is not "much easier." IMO, TN's SEC schedule is harder in 2011 than it was in 2010. I am totally serious.
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The OOC gets easier with Oregon not being there, which means there is less work to do in the SEC in 2011 to get bowl eligible. Good thing because like you said a home game with Ole Miss for a road game with Arkansas is not a good trade. Not to mention UF and Bama will be on the road as well.
 
#45
#45
it's hard to predict next season (as it is every year for a lot of reasons).

1. i don't know how good tennessee's young talent really is. bray and company did their damage against the junior varsity portion of the tennessee schedule. even florida's offense had a field day against vanderbilt and kentucky.

2. a lot of tennessee's competition has serious question marks. i think it's safe to say that lsu, alabama and arkansas will be good football teams (yes, arkansas will be pretty good even without mallett). florida, georgia, sc......i have no idea.
 
#46
#46
I truly hope Dooley will have a run like we had in the 90's and become a top five coach in the nation where we can fire him. It is sad to hope for 7 win seasons. Reminds me of the Major years (early years). Everyone blames Coach Fulmer, but look at his record. He only two bad seasons in 17 years and not back to back. I do belive Coach Fulmer lost his edge in his latter years and it was probably time for him to retire and move on. I as a fan wish Coach Dooley the best and the same success Fulmer had. I know I am going to get bashed but I know that most people on this site are not old enough to remember the 70's and early 80's.
 
#47
#47
99gator said:
it's hard to predict next season (as it is every year for a lot of reasons).

1. i don't know how good tennessee's young talent really is. bray and company did their damage against the junior varsity portion of the tennessee schedule. even florida's offense had a field day against vanderbilt and kentucky.

2. a lot of tennessee's competition has serious question marks. i think it's safe to say that lsu, alabama and arkansas will be good football teams (yes, arkansas will be pretty good even without mallett). florida, georgia, sc......i have no idea.
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Bray's play against UNC leads me to believe Bray's a legit QB. He two fluke INTs and then one terrible pass.

Hunter and Rogers are athletic freaks. Does that translate to being great WRs? We'll see.

The OL played surprisingly well and got better every game. The only OL Tennessee loses is Shaw, who was the worst OL on the field most of the time.

There's still a need for more speed at TB.

And as far as UF, UGA and USCe goes, it's hard to tell. USCe is a Lattimore injury away from being mediocre.
 
#48
#48
bleedorange0037 said:
I don't understand this mentality. Why would 6-6 be disappointing if 6 teams on the schedule are clearly better than us? Do you really just mean you're disappointed that circumstances have led us to a point where so many teams on the schedule are more talented than we are? Because I can agree with you on that. You can't expect the coaching staff to work miracles and beat teams where the talent gap is so significant.
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This disappoints me.

Tennessee should win 6 games next year. Dooley needs to be at least 7-5 or the fans start getting restless.
 
#49
#49
justingroves said:
Bray's play against UNC leads me to believe Bray's a legit QB. He two fluke INTs and then one terrible pass.

Hunter and Rogers are athletic freaks. Does that translate to being great WRs? We'll see.

The OL played surprisingly well and got better every game. The only OL Tennessee loses is Shaw, who was the worst OL on the field most of the time.

There's still a need for more speed at TB.

And as far as UF, UGA and USCe goes, it's hard to tell. USCe is a Lattimore injury away from being mediocre.
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with sc, ga, and uf.....there are pieces in place that i think you can be fairly confident.

sc. defense will be average, because it is always average. offense has jeffrey and lattimore. there is a new qb and if he couldn't beat out garcia, that's a concern. i know for a fact that spurrier was looking for any reason to put garcia on the bench and it never happened.

uf. i think the defense will be very good. offense. i have no idea what the new staff can do in 1 year with a complete change in philosophy.

ga. who the hell knows what's going on at georgia (this is something to be truly confident in). georgia doesn't make any sense from one year to the next. the only consistent thing they do is lose to florida.
 
#50
#50
Next year is an 8+ win season. I think we will win more than 2 SEC games next year... which is what some of you are giving us at this point.
 
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