Here's where things might get rough...

[norrislakevol]

I think we beat So. Ala and Vandy for 6 wins, but the injuries we keep getting concerns me, may catch up to us in the other games like Ole Miss and KY. I hope we get well, but seems like we have had an inordinate number of injuries, and we don't have that much depth to cover them. They have done very well thus far, all things considered. GBO.

We definitely need to get some people healthy.

 

[BJWeeks]

It really depends on our health. Is Evans and small good for the next 4 games. The health of the o line and the defense is questionable right now

 

[LA vol7]

We have better offense than Ole Miss, they probably have the better offense, maybe, but it’s at home, it’s at night, and we have to want it more than they do!
Since when did we start conceding wins to Ole Miss!!! We need to kick their butt!!!

 

[IndianaVol]

I think we beat Ole Miss if we get Theo, Slaughter, and the rest of the Defense back.

With those guys playing, our defense is more opportunistic than Ole Miss and we'll Winn off a turnover.

 

[TucsonVol]

Coming into the season, most folks here were predicting we'd go 4-8, or 5-7, or at best 6-6. Not many were predicting better.

Well, we now have 6-6 all but locked in. Great job, lads. Great job, coaches. Real proud of all of you. AND if we can pull one win out of the next four games, we exceed most folks' expectations. That's the good news.

The bad news is, this next four weeks (five, counting the bye week) are going to be a real challenge.

-- The Ole Miss game is going to be a shootout. The Rebels got 52 points today. We got 45. It wouldn't surprise me for next week's scoreboard to look something like that. Trouble is, shootout games can go either way. Last one to hold the ball wins, kind of thing. I'm not nearly as confident of a W next week as I have been these past two.

-- Bama, goes without saying, they're just on a different tier from most of college football.

-- Kentucky, I think we got. This is, in my mind, the pretty solid 7th-win card. I wouldn't mind if we got to 7 off Ole MIss, but Kentucky is I think our best shot.

-- UGa, lot like Bama minus the offense. Their defense is just smothering.

And Nega-Vols, control yourselves. A lot of this is going to look ugly. We are not going to be in control much of the time in these four games. We're going to be in dog fights, at best, and some of them will likely be beat-downs. Calm down. Breathe. Let's see how we come out the other end. And keep the big picture in mind.

Go Vols!

The whole team never showed up in th second half!!!!! Try this with ole Miss and we will get runover!!

 

[UT_Tix79]

The problem is we looked good our last 2 games, so it got expectations up. If we crash and burn to end the season and only finish 6-6, people will be upset. If we lose to Ole Miss, Kentucky, Bama, and Georgia some people will be upset because it means we finish 2-4 to finish the season. We need to win one of those, finishing 3-3 over the final 6, and 7-5 would be huge going into next year

 

[SockeyeVol]

6-6 now will mean we went 3-6 in the SEC, beating only the cellar dwellers. I suppose there is some progress found in the Mizzou and SC game scores, but not much.

A win against a good KY or OM team is really what it would take for me to feel bona fide progress.

 

[sjt18]

Coming into the season, most folks here were predicting we'd go 4-8, or 5-7, or at best 6-6. Not many were predicting better.

I've said this was a 6-8 win roster against the schedule since before spring ball... dependent on coaching. I'm please with the coaching but the Pitt game should have been a win.

Well, we now have 6-6 all but locked in. Great job, lads. Great job, coaches. Real proud of all of you. AND if we can pull one win out of the next four games, we exceed most folks' expectations. That's the good news.

Meeting a bar that was set too low... isn't good news to me personally.

The bad news is, this next four weeks (five, counting the bye week) are going to be a real challenge.

-- The Ole Miss game is going to be a shootout. The Rebels got 52 points today. We got 45. It wouldn't surprise me for next week's scoreboard to look something like that. Trouble is, shootout games can go either way. Last one to hold the ball wins, kind of thing. I'm not nearly as confident of a W next week as I have been these past two.

USCe prior to UT was in the top half of the SEC in run D. The Vols 247 yds dropped them several spots. Ole Miss is 12th just ahead of Vandy. They had not played a good running team with a running QB prior to Arkansas. Arkansas had 350 yds against them.

This game comes down to something that has little to do with Ole Miss. UT needs its injured players ready this Saturday. They need Small, Evans, and Mays. They need Simmons and Jackson especially back on D.

UT needs to snuff Ole Miss in the run game and then run at will.

-- Bama, goes without saying, they're just on a different tier from most of college football.

They were human last night. No. I'm not predicting a win or anything of the sort. Just that they may not be the machine they've been in previous years.

-- Kentucky, I think we got. This is, in my mind, the pretty solid 7th-win card. I wouldn't mind if we got to 7 off Ole MIss, but Kentucky is I think our best shot.

Agreed. They played well vs LSU but LSU may be the worst coached team in the SEC. O throwing his players under the bus is probably an indication of a poisoned locker room.

-- UGa, lot like Bama minus the offense. Their defense is just smothering.

Tough for anyone who plays them.

And Nega-Vols, control yourselves. A lot of this is going to look ugly. We are not going to be in control much of the time in these four games. We're going to be in dog fights, at best, and some of them will likely be beat-downs. Calm down. Breathe. Let's see how we come out the other end. And keep the big picture in mind.

Go Vols!

Not you necessarily but there were a lot of posts like this early on... talking about MU. According to 247, Bama and UGA are the two most talented teams in CFB by a fairly wide margin. They're separated 1001.89 to 1001.79.

UT is 19th... Ole Miss is 27th with UK at 31st. South Caroline btw is 22nd.

Those are two winnable games. UT supposedly has depth problems... both of those two teams have thin spots or spots where they aren't particularly talented. That's been one of the problems in our arguments here all along. Some only look at UT and since UT isn't Bama or UGA... they don't consider that Ole Miss, UK, et al aren't either.

 

[chrismc1000]

Only team I see us beating in the next 4 games is Kentucky.

Also NegaVols are just as bad as Vols Pumpers that are on here.

 

[sjt18]

6-6 now will mean we went 3-6 in the SEC, beating only the cellar dwellers. I suppose there is some progress found in the Mizzou and SC game scores, but not much.

A win against a good KY or OM team is really what it would take for me to feel bona fide progress.

3-5... actually... but otherwise I pretty much agree. I like Heupel. I like the direction of the team. I like his leadership. I like the style of play. I love that the players seem to be buying in so well. I like that UT for the first time in years is dominating teams that they have the talent to dominate like MU and USCe. I don't even think UK or Ole Miss represent a "signature" win. But UK especially is at its apex as a program... and very beatable for UT if Heupel outcoaches Stoops. Ole Miss is a winnable game. They're a very bad defensive team. Both score points but Ole Miss is allowing 35 ppt vs FBS only 3 points better than last year. UT allows 26 ppg... 4 points better than last year without accounting for points scored in junk time.

 

[sjt18]

Only team I see us beating in the next 4 games is Kentucky.

Also NegaVols are just as bad as Vols Pumpers that are on here.

I think we had a similar conversation about MU didn't we or was that someone else?

Do you think Ole Miss can stop UT? Both teams are very good offensively. Neither team is a world beater on D but UT is better than Ole Miss. The thing that encourages me most is that UT has a decent run D while Ole Miss was just trampled by Arkansas... largely because the Hogs have a running QB.

 

[volfan2024]

Coming into the season, most folks here were predicting we'd go 4-8, or 5-7, or at best 6-6. Not many were predicting better.

Well, we now have 6-6 all but locked in. Great job, lads. Great job, coaches. Real proud of all of you. AND if we can pull one win out of the next four games, we exceed most folks' expectations. That's the good news.

The bad news is, this next four weeks (five, counting the bye week) are going to be a real challenge.

-- The Ole Miss game is going to be a shootout. The Rebels got 52 points today. We got 45. It wouldn't surprise me for next week's scoreboard to look something like that. Trouble is, shootout games can go either way. Last one to hold the ball wins, kind of thing. I'm not nearly as confident of a W next week as I have been these past two.

-- Bama, goes without saying, they're just on a different tier from most of college football.

-- Kentucky, I think we got. This is, in my mind, the pretty solid 7th-win card. I wouldn't mind if we got to 7 off Ole MIss, but Kentucky is I think our best shot.

-- UGa, lot like Bama minus the offense. Their defense is just smothering.

And Nega-Vols, control yourselves. A lot of this is going to look ugly. We are not going to be in control much of the time in these four games. We're going to be in dog fights, at best, and some of them will likely be beat-downs. Calm down. Breathe. Let's see how we come out the other end. And keep the big picture in mind.

Go Vols!

Kentucky will be hard game to win .

 

[1world1love]

While 6-6 should never be the goal, a blind man on a horse can see that this is a much better coached team than any in recent memory. Not one game this year has the team looked unprepared or uninspired. I cannot remember a game in the last three years where the team has looked both prepared and inspired. That is progress. We may not be able to win every game, but it looks like at least we will be ready to win every game.

 

[Fightmaker]

You can say that again.... Oh wait!

View attachment 401468

You need to clean out your alerts

 

[chrismc1000]

I think we had a similar conversation about MU didn't we or was that someone else?

Do you think Ole Miss can stop UT? Both teams are very good offensively. Neither team is a world beater on D but UT is better than Ole Miss. The thing that encourages me most is that UT has a decent run D while Ole Miss was just trampled by Arkansas... largely because the Hogs have a running QB.

I'd say OM has the better offense but it's not by much at all. However we will find out how many hurt players come back for us and how many go down during the game.

Defense I agree our running defense is better than theirs but Matt Corral can throw it at will and they have great recievers and depth. Most importantly they have depth. It'll be close at best and I'll be surprised if we win this game.

 

[JoAllan]

This is an extremely tough stretch coming up. Because of depth issues Tennessee could struggle in the second half of games……especially vs good teams or teams with good D’s.

I’m hopeful Tennessee comes out with a win or two over the next 4; however I’m also hopeful folks don’t get all stupid if Tennessee loses 3 of them……or heaven forbid all 4 of them.

Seems easy to see this team has improved. This team is better over last year……with less players and arguably less talent. Heck this team has improved since game one this year.

If Tennessee comes out flat and doesn’t even show up……I’ll be as mad as anyone; however if they get beat by lack of depth, or simply by better teams……..hey I expected as much earlier…….this team is just improving faster than many thought…….no reason to worry too much.

heck beating the SC’s, Missouri’s and such like a drum is a really good start.

 

[sjt18]

I'd say OM has the better offense but it's not by much at all. However we will find out how many hurt players come back for us and how many go down during the game.

Defense I agree our running defense is better than theirs but Matt Corral can throw it at will and they have great recievers and depth. Most importantly they have depth. It'll be close at best and I'll be surprised if we win this game.

Define depth. If they have 8 DT's and none of them are very good.... is that depth? Ole Miss has about 1500 yds passing. Three WR's account for about 1000 of those yds. UT has about 1300 yds passing. Three WR's account for almost 1000 of those yds.

Where do you think Ole Miss has a lot more depth than UT?

They have Corral who is a special, game changing kind of guy. But these look like very similar offensive teams but UT at least on paper looks a good bit better on D.

 

[sjt18]

This is an extremely tough stretch coming up. Because of depth issues Tennessee could struggle in the second half of games……especially vs good teams or teams with good D’s.

I’m hopeful Tennessee comes out with a win or two over the next 4; however I’m also hopeful folks don’t get all stupid if Tennessee loses 3 of them……or heaven forbid all 4 of them.

Seems easy to see this team has improved. This team is better over last year……with less players and arguably less talent. Heck this team has improved since game one this year.

If Tennessee comes out flat and doesn’t even show up……I’ll be as mad as anyone; however if they get beat by lack of depth, or simply by better teams……..hey I expected as much earlier…….this team is just improving faster than many thought…….no reason to worry too much.

heck beating the SC’s, Missouri’s and such like a drum is a really good start.

UGA and Bama are deep with talented guys. UK and Ole Miss aren't. They may be deeper in some cases with "experienced" guys... but they aren't uniformly deep and talented like UGA and Bama. Both have strengths and weaknesses... thin places and deep places JUST LIKE UT.

 

[JoAllan]

UGA and Bama are deep with talented guys. UK and Ole Miss aren't. They may be deeper in some cases with "experienced" guys... but they aren't uniformly deep and talented like UGA and Bama. Both have strengths and weaknesses... thin places and deep places JUST LIKE UT.

no doubt

However neither are coming from a place Tennessee has been.

I think Tennessee wins at least 1 of those games…….however I (just my opinion) don’t think we’re at a point we should “expect” to beat both a 4-1 Mississippi team and a 6-0 Kentucky team.

Not saying they can’t do it…….but should folks go all nutz if Tennessee were to lose? No……Tennessee seems way ahead of schedule right now……and improving.

 

[chrismc1000]

Define depth. If they have 8 DT's and none of them are very good.... is that depth? Ole Miss has about 1500 yds passing. Three WR's account for about 1000 of those yds. UT has about 1300 yds passing. Three WR's account for almost 1000 of those yds.

Where do you think Ole Miss has a lot more depth than UT?

They have Corral who is a special, game changing kind of guy. But these look like very similar offensive teams but UT at least on paper looks a good bit better on D.

It really doesn't matter if the players are elite or not it's about rotation. You can have plenty of players rotating in to keep the elite players good to go and not be gassed by the 4th quarter like we were against Florida.

They look similar on offense bc they are. The offense is very similar in scheme too. That said who ever has the better qb should do better and Ole Piss has the better QB. I look at the games we lost and see how well we did against a mobile QB who can throw and run well. Oh wait we lost those games.

 

[sjt18]

It really doesn't matter if the players are elite or not it's about rotation. You can have plenty of players rotating in to keep the elite players good to go and not be gassed by the 4th quarter like we were against Florida.

They look similar on offense bc they are. The offense is very similar in scheme too. That said who ever has the better qb should do better and Ole Piss has the better QB. I look at the games we lost and see how well we did against a mobile QB who can throw and run well. Oh wait we lost those games.

One was Pitt. UT would have won had HH won the QB job in August. That game was lost by plays UT didn't make... not plays that Pitt made.

The other was UF in the Swamp. Ole Miss isn't as talented on either side of the ball as UF except QB.

And you dodged the main point. You haven't really looked at Ole Miss' roster or UK's, have you? You just assume they have depth because some UT sports writer hasn't made a point to talk about it.

And yes, those two teams have the same problem when they sub lower talent guys. UT can throw bodies on the field. It gets alot better for UT if some of the injured players make it back obviously. But it isn't an impossible hill without them.

 

[chrismc1000]

One was Pitt. UT would have won had HH won the QB job in August. That game was lost by plays UT didn't make... not plays that Pitt made.

The other was UF in the Swamp. Ole Miss isn't as talented on either side of the ball as UF except QB.

And you dodged the main point. You haven't really looked at Ole Miss' roster or UK's, have you? You just assume they have depth because some UT sports writer hasn't made a point to talk about it.

And yes, those two teams have the same problem when they sub lower talent guys. UT can throw bodies on the field. It gets alot better for UT if some of the injured players make it back obviously. But it isn't an impossible hill without them.

We lost the Pitt game bc Pitt scored more points than us. Sure could we have won that? Yes most likely but our penalties and defense really didn't help our offense to put up the numbers required to win that game. So at the end of the day Pitt won that bc they out scored us not the other way around.

I never said or heated at Ole Piss and Kentucky being as good as Florida in fact I've said several times that we will beat Kentucky. Ole Piss I think will beat us by a close game.

The main point is we have less scholarship players than Ole piss and Kentucky. We lost a lot and they have more players to sub in than we do. That means their players will be fresh longer than us. Add in all the current people that are hurt and can't play it gets worse for us. Like I've also said if we had more players then we would have won that Florida game and probably be undefeated right now. We aren't back but we are good enough under JH command to have beaten Florida and Pitt if we had more players. Which is the only point I'm making.

Oh BTW I don't read much articles at all I go off what I can see and what others who get paid millions to talk about on sec network and espn say to form my own opinion. And Ole Miss offense is better than Florida's.

 

[ptcarter]

6 & 6 all but there- I remember going to watch the Vols play a win less Rutgers team they left with a 1 win season

Me too. Actually I didn’t watch that game. I was taking the EIT test in the big barn building on th ag campus that day. I think it was homecoming. I remember people saying “what’s a Rutgers?” We found out.

 

[ptcarter]

How about talking positive instead of negative. These young men read your pessimistic crap. WE just need our injured back. Josh is head and shoulders better than any coach we’ve had in years.

With all due respect- OP’s woeding might imply negativity, but I don’t see it that way at all. The level of competition in the next wave of games will be better than the last two. Get a win over either Kentucky or Ole Miss, or both , and by all means Hempel exceeded expectations. They are good enough that we could lose both games. Am I a downer saying that? I say we lose to Georgia and Bama. Is that a downer? Or is it just reality. These two teams should end the season in the top 5. We won 3 games last year. And we are doing just fine. Coach is making the most with what he has to work with, but we aren’t going to make the playoffs.

 

[TNJOKER]

This team starts games on fire which puts teams in bad positions. If they can keep it up they gonna beat teams they shouldnt 6 wins min I think they hit at least 7 without a bowl. Maybe more get Healthy and sky is the limit.

Assuming we don't get sanctions preventing a bowl .. hopefully that's not the case.