Getting to six wins on the regular season would be a coup for Pruitt

[KeyVol14]

Well, the other teams should be improving as well so it can cancel out.

I’m gonna take a break from all this, depressing as hell haha

 

[screenthis]

Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but I see 6-6 as very realistic. Far too much is made of the first game in a season. With a new coach and a team still figuring things out, I'm expecting pretty fast improvement going forward. We're going to find out how good of a 'game time' coach Pruitt really is. We know Butch lacked greatly in this area.

Wins against ETSU, UTEP, Charlotte, Kentucky (at home), Vanderbilt.
One win against either Florida, Missouri, SC. Much depends on the teams attitude after that murderous middle of the season.

 

[photovol]

Y’all have convinced me we won’t improve whatsoever

The problem is that all the other teams will improve, not just UT

 

[a vol n tears]

Too much can happen and will happen to predict how many wins the VOLS get. There are upsets every week and for lots of reasons. Without Grier WVU is just average, Missouri probably the same, USCe in the same boat. Injuries happen, teams get over confident looking ahead, and bye weeks can help against tired teams. I know with all the numbers of wins being predicted here (myself included), some will be correct but no way to say 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 right now. Just be fun to be way ahead or close in the 4th qtr.

 

[Twiggy]

Another 4-8 season

 

[illinoisvolfan1]

No it wouldn't. That should be expected.

I said 6-6 or 7-5 before the year. Nothing has changed.

I agree. 7-5 absolute best; 6-6 probable. Worse than 6-6 would not surprise me, especially after what I saw last week. So I have 5-7 to 7-5 as the range.

 

[jakez4ut]

No it wouldn't. That should be expected.

I said 6-6 or 7-5 before the year. Nothing has changed.

that's what i said as well. just seeing it play out last week....i was one that allowed myself to get in to the optimistic territory, and while i didn't think we'd win, i definitely didn't think we'd get blown out, and it would be competitive. and it was for about 20 minutes.

the problem for me from last weeks' game is that it confirmed most of the issues this team was believed to have before the season. while there were some positives (JG, TJ, MC amonth others), the issues on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball were definitely there. the poor tackling was defnitely there, the lack of pass rush and pass defense in general was there. the o line wasn't abel to really assert itself. but the LOS issues are the biggies and until those get better, it's gonna be hard to compete in the SEC.

 

[aaronvol]

Getting to 4 wins with this team may be much more difficult than anyone ever expected, unfortunately.

nah.

 

[BeardedVol]

Well, the other teams should be improving as well so it can cancel out.

Given where we seem to be at with fundamentals, improving at this point would be hitting the bare minimum of proper tackling, coverage, and blocking.

I haven't seen any SEC teams play yet, that seem to be as far behind on those fundaments as we looked to be against WVU.

 

[jakez4ut]

Given where we seem to be at with fundamentals, improving at this point would be hitting the bare minimum of proper tackling, coverage, and blocking.

I haven't seen any SEC teams play yet, that seem to be as far behind on those fundaments as we looked to be against WVU.

hate to do it, but this is what gave me the most pause as well. granted WVU was a much better opponent than what most other SEC teams played, so there is that to account for. like, i'm not gonna say i'm impressed with FL for beating up Charleston Southern or whatever vocational school they beat up on or Georgia for handling the Governers etc....

but Ole miss vs. TTU...if Ole Miss was in really bad shape coming off the issues they've had, i would expect a mid tier big 12 team to either beat or be really competitive with Ole Miss.

i look at a game like that, and i look at Ole Miss and i gotta wonder....they'd probably beat us this year....based on what i've seen thru 1 game....lol.

long story short, i still go back to the O line and D line/front 7....if those two things don't get a lot better, real fast, it's gonna be a tall order to win, much less compete, with most of our SEC schedule.

so i go back to my original, pre optimism stance of "find a way to just go to a bowl, recruit well, and move on to 2019".

 

[VOL_Lyfe]

"find a way to just go to a bowl,

Fulmer better have pictures of the NCAA selection committee in compromising positions.

 

[tobybeast]

I am really hoping for the team to come together more cohesively the more they play. I see UT getting 5 wins with Florida and Missouri being 6 and 7 if things go extremely in the favor of UT. I hope I am proven wrong and they win everything from here on out.

 

[piratelifeforme]

We NEED to get to 6 wins this year. One for the bowl game practice but also for next year. The schedule lets up as we get MSU for our other SEC west game and the 3 OCC games should be fairly easy. If Pruitt can get 6 wins this year and the recruits who have committed stay on board then we should be on our way back to respectable. 2020 is gonna be tougher as we play Oklahoma but the 2nd SEC west game is Arkansas. This year will set us up to have much more success in 2019 and then have the athletes to compete with Oklahoma in 2020.

This seasons comes down to beating one of UF, Missouri, USCe. I am going to assume that we can handle Vandy and Kentucky as those games are usually easier when our coaching staff doesnt suck.

 

[HollowaytoSeivers]

6 or more is still possible...

You have 3 remaining NC games that should be wins. UT should be slightly favored against UK and Vandy. If you get those 5, then all you need is to beat UF or Mizzou at home or beat USC on the road to get to 6. As awful as we were last year, we were a dropped pass away from beating USC and goal-line choke job/last play choke job away from beating UF......

Along with getting only 3 points off 4 UK turnovers in that loss.

 

[BeardedVol]

hate to do it, but this is what gave me the most pause as well. granted WVU was a much better opponent than what most other SEC teams played, so there is that to account for. like, i'm not gonna say i'm impressed with FL for beating up Charleston Southern or whatever vocational school they beat up on or Georgia for handling the Governers etc....

but Ole miss vs. TTU...if Ole Miss was in really bad shape coming off the issues they've had, i would expect a mid tier big 12 team to either beat or be really competitive with Ole Miss.

i look at a game like that, and i look at Ole Miss and i gotta wonder....they'd probably beat us this year....based on what i've seen thru 1 game....lol.

long story short, i still go back to the O line and D line/front 7....if those two things don't get a lot better, real fast, it's gonna be a tall order to win, much less compete, with most of our SEC schedule.

so i go back to my original, pre optimism stance of "find a way to just go to a bowl, recruit well, and move on to 2019".

Ole Miss didn't look bad at all, not nearly as bad as I thought they'd look given the last two seasons. I'm holding judgment on Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina until after they play each other this weekend, but I'm not optimistic that they'll display struggles similar to ours.

 

[jakez4ut]

Ole Miss didn't look bad at all, not nearly as bad as I thought they'd look given the last two seasons. I'm holding judgment on Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina until after they play each other this weekend, but I'm not optimistic that they'll display struggles similar to ours.

KY could. i'm not on the KY train at all. i don't think they're going to be very good. and the USCe/GA game is just really early. both of those teams will be different by the time we play them. and we will be too.

 

[JMSqb11]

Looking at our schedule, it is tough to see us getting to six wins this season. I really thought we needed to beat WVU to have a shot at getting seven and that clearly did not happen. I am hoping that we can take major strides throughout the season, but Vandy looks like it may be a tough game with how it handled MTSU. Missouri has a QB who many scouts grade ahead of Will Grier. Kentucky figures to be a pretty good team as well. Given three wins from UTEP, ETSU, and Charlotte are wins, but beyond that, nothing is a given. I really like Pruitt, but I have seen a ton of this: "if we don't get to six wins, then we might need to look for a new coach come year three." We can not have that mentality in year 1. Pruitt was dealt a tough hand. Let it play out. At least give him two years before we even start talking about him being on the hot seat. That is, unless he goes 3-9 haha. End of the day, I just want UT fans behind this program, we have a long season ahead and I think Pruitt is the one to turn it around. Keep the faith, even though we all have battered wife syndrome.

Really think the UF game will determine whether we get to 6 or 7 wins.... Call me crazy, but I don't see someone like Pruitt (Yes first year coach) getting crazy and losing to a Vandy or UK. I think we will be competitive against Mizzou and USC as well. Competitive enough to win that is.

 

[jakez4ut]

Really think the UF game will determine whether we get to 6 or 7 wins.... Call me crazy, but I don't see someone like Pruitt (Yes first year coach) getting crazy and losing to a Vandy or UK. I think we will be competitive against Mizzou and USC as well. Competitive enough to win that is.

well, it's extremely early in the season. so we do have that going for us. this team should look different going forward.

i do think the FL game is more or less must win. there's a lot associated with that game this year, and i think it's really important for a lot of reasons, of the non traditional sense at least for this year's version. there's no division title on the line, no national relevance etc...

but i think a win over Fl would give a shot of confidnece in to this team, and the fan base. it's gonna be a HUGE recruiting weekend, and a real opportunity to put something in front of prospects on our home field worth considering.

3-1, 0-4, 3-1 is how this season probably needs to go for us to go to a bowl. if we lose to FL, 5-7 is probably the most likely outcome. i'd take 6-6 with a w over FL and not look back.

plus it's year 1 for both of these coaches. and i'd really like to get this renewed rivalry started on the right foot for once.

 

[jakez4ut]

I am really hoping for the team to come together more cohesively the more they play. I see UT getting 5 wins with Florida and Missouri being 6 and 7 if things go extremely in the favor of UT. I hope I am proven wrong and they win everything from here on out.

listening to the podcast on VQ today and they talked about the confidence level of this team, and how do they find it....interesting discussion. they all basically said there were some individuals that could probably take some away from the WV game, but as a team, there's just not much there to come away with and say "see we're good at this or that".

believe the next two weeks are as important for developing confidence as it is developing players skills. but in reality, real confidence won't come until they see a result. and while they should win the next two, those results aren't going to do it.

beat FL in 3 weeks, and then you can maybe hang your hat on something as you get ready for those next 4 games. lose to FL, and they wonder if they can find any confidnece this season at all.

i think this FL game is really important as already stated. and while we really don't have anything to lose per se, this team is trying to find itself. and going 0-5 against UF, UGA, Bama, Auburn and USCe will not help them find it going in to the last 4 games.

 

[GRN1926]

2 years until we talk about him being on the hot seat? Ummmm....no. Pruitt inherited this s&@t show and our talent level is so low right now it’s ridiculous. We need stability and credibility brought back to UT. We have officially become the laughing stock of the SEC, and pretty much the entire college football world (especially after that cluster f of a coaching search). Pruitt can get the job done, but I can guarantee you it ain’t gonna happen in 2 years. Thanks to our last 2 wannabe coaches and crappy ADs, we are in a deep dark hole. We will climb out....but not by canning Pruitt after 2-3 years or talking about anybody being on the “hot seat”. Let the man do his job and leave him alone. Sit back....relax.....and support the team and the staff. They need it.

Yup. With Pruitt and Fulmer on the hill we know we have guys that truly understand what it takes to be successful at the highest level. Even if Pruitt turns out to not be a great HC, he understands the model required to be successful and how to recruit the guys to put in it. We thought it couldn't get worse after Doolander but we hired a guy that, as Fred White said, "doesnt know anything about football". Pruitt and Phil, whether you like them or not, will leave TN football better than when they found it. So people need to put their personal bias to the side and embrace the reality that this is truly our best shot at restoring order. We exercised patience with Dools and Butch and they didnt deserve to even be here, bite the bullet one more time people, give them time. If Pruitt fails then we can all freak out because we're toast.

 

[VolFan..But]

What Fulmer doesnt know though is what it takes to resurrect a program as he inherited a pretty successful one.

Of course CJP hasnt worked with less than stellar talent either.....sooo we may be screwed. .again.

Like the 0-6 team that he inherited? That was what Tennessee was and the next year he was named offensive coordinator and won back to back SEC Titles. They realized Majors was horrible and moved the Hall of Famer into the team he built as OC and recruiting coordinator.

 

[GRN1926]

The problem is that all the other teams will improve, not just UT

When you're at the bottom there is more room for improvement. It's like fat people, if a fat guy works put 2x a day for 3 months to get in shape, he is going to have larger results than someone already in decent shape.

 

[jakez4ut]

Like the 0-6 team that he inherited? That was what Tennessee was and the next year he was named offensive coordinator and won back to back SEC Titles. They realized Majors was horrible and moved the Hall of Famer into the team he built as OC and recruiting coordinator.

that's not entirely accurate............

 

[rocytop2624]

UWV-L
ETSU-w
UTEP -w
Fl-w
Auburn-L
GA-L
Bama-L
South Carolina -w
Charlotte-w
Mizzou-w
UK-w
Vandy-w

8-4

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

When you're at the bottom there is more room for improvement. It's like fat people, if a fat guy works put 2x a day for 3 months to get in shape, he is going to have larger results than someone already in decent shape.

The law of diminishing returns.