Media predictions

#26
#26
OrangeTsar said:
Pitt and USCJr are the two expected wins that scare me the most
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I honestly think UT should monkey stomp both of those teams too. Everyone has question marks. But Pitt lost their best two players on O. UT returns their best two.

Receiving is interesting for them. They lost the guy most talked about this time last year to Akron- Jacques-Louis. In return, they got Akron's leading WR- Mumpfield. Akron was a bad team. He was 12th in receiving YPG in the MAC and 24th in YPC. Additionally, Addison (WR), Mack (WR), Krull (TE), and Stovall (WR) are gone. They basically start over. They will likely be all but one dimensional when they play the Vols.... and Slovis is not a running threat.

Much is made of their D and they do return some guys but they were 12th in pass D in the ACC. UT got behind their secondary all day. They lost all but one out of their top 5 LB's. They lost their best DB.

Their strength returning on O is their RB's. IIRC, they lost 1 or 2 on the OL.

On D, they get back most of their contributing DL's. Based on what we know right now, I think UT puts a bunch of points on them... and I don't think they'll be able to keep up and especially in week 2.

Both teams are playing on 9/1. Pitt gets WVU. I've seen a few talking heads predicting an upset in that game. Honestly I don't know much about WVU this year.

I'm simply not a believer in USCe. I could be wrong but even if Rattler is good... I don't think they have a lot around him.
 
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#27
#27
OffTackleVol said:
Wow, are you a reincarnation of Leonard's Loser's? Git me out of here, Percy..........
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Oh Lord what good memories. Many of you younger folk didn't have the privilege to hear Ol Leonard do his thing. He was Leonard Postero, a restauranteur from Athens Ga if I remember correctly, who loved his dawgs but was pretty dang fair on his Leonard's Losers spot. He started LL in 1958 and I believe he retired in 1999 then passed in July 2001. At its height, his show was broadcast on 1400 stations and even included the Armed Forces network. He was 78 at his passing and served as a naval aviator during the last half of WWII. He is sorely missed - what a great voice. It has been re-packaged as The Leonard's Losers since about 2012 but there will never be another LL. We had no inkling how lucky we were to listen to John Ward doing the games and Leonard Postero as a tailgate highlight before kickoff. Good times. sigh
 
#30
#30
sjt18 said:
This seems to be a common narrative based on the perception of Levis' physical talent. But JG proved that physical talent can fool people over and over. He can improve. He may be as great as some think. But he was a middling QB last year. Against only the SEC to try to "normalize" his stats (though that's not completely true since his West opponents were unranked MSU and LSU while Hooker played Bama and ranked OM). Honestly, I just don't see these QB's being comparable:
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Well, I got to admit I like how you break down the stats to back up your contention. Just the same, I still say that The Kentucky game is going to be another thriller, as both QBs are pretty good, and have capable WRs. We don't have the suffocating Vols defense we used to have in days gone by. Levis is good enough to make the game with us a contest, and he has enough decent WRs to help him out, plus a stout OL. So stats notwithstanding, this game will be another thriller, and WRs will run the
Felinae felines so ragged that by QTR 4, they just can't keep up. By which time, we may even be using 3rd or 4th string WRs and scoring on them.
 
#32
#32
WoodsmanVol said:
Well, I got to admit I like how you break down the stats to back up your contention. Just the same, I still say that The Kentucky game is going to be another thriller, as both QBs are pretty good, and have capable WRs. We don't have the suffocating Vols defense we used to have in days gone by. Levis is good enough to make the game with us a contest, and he has enough decent WRs to help him out, plus a stout OL. So stats notwithstanding, this game will be another thriller, and WRs will run the
Felinae felines so ragged that by QTR 4, they just can't keep up. By which time, we may even be using 3rd or 4th string WRs and scoring on them.
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I'm truly not intentionally nitpicking you... though I'm ending up nitpicking you. I knew that Robinson was gone so I took a look at their returning receivers. They lose 2504 yards of production from last year's 2919 total. Not sure what happened to Cummings but Ali and he are gone in addition to Robinson and their top two TE's. Best I can tell, they return less than 190 yds of production and 18 total receptions from last year. They seem to be pinning their hopes on a transfer from VT picking up all that slack. Makes me wonder what in the world Tebow was thinking when he picked Levis is the #2 QB in the SEC. Even if he were... they have serious questions at WR.

My worry is that they will be able to run and grind it out vs UT. They have a big OL and very good runners. UT should be able to load up against the run and have success but they're going to want to turn it into a a ball control game like last year but much more run focused.

There will be a lot of football played between now and then. We will have a much better idea of who these teams are by then.
 
#33
#33
All this talk about South Carolina.....
Like Beamer is suddenly going to turn the Gamecocks into a team to be feared. I'll believe it when I see it.
Remember Sparky Woods, Brad Scott, Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier, Will Muschamp?
All of those coaches were going to turn the Gamecocks into national contenders as well. 😉
 
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#35
#35
I think the OH St QB wins it. He has the best wr in the country and they play in the Big 10.
 
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