Predictions from CFN and Phil Steele...

#1
Snakebrown13

Snakebrown13

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#1
Thought both of these were interesting -

First - CFN has the Vols ranked 43rd, higher than both Miss State and Kentucky:

43. Tennessee

Predicted Record:: 6-6
Key to the Season:: More of a running game. The passing game can be pedestrian and the Vols will get by, but forget about beating the better teams without pounding away. The ground game ran for 19 scores with four coming in the six losses. Six of the top seven rushing performances came in wins while running for 74 against Alabama, 99 against Ole Miss, and five against Virginia Tech (all losses). If the ground game isn’t running for at least 150 yards, the Vols probably won’t have a chance.
Relative Strength: Running Back, Secondary
Relative Weakness: Quarterback, Offensive Line
What to watch for on offense: The maturation of the line. If we can all assume that this isn’t going to be an SEC championship season, and the goal is to improve to the point to where Tennessee is a real, live factor in the race on a yearly basis, then the most important aspect of this year will be the improvement on the offensive line. The starting five might be brand new, but it’s a talented group that should be special by the time it’s done jelling. With two freshmen, a sophomore, and a junior playing key roles, and talented depth working in the wings, the potential is there to be great up front … in time.
What to watch for on defense: The health of the linebackers. If the defensive tackles can be anything more than serviceable, the line will be strong. The secondary, despite the loss of star safety Eric Berry, will be good with several rising stars and some solid lock-down corners. The linebacking corps gets back a ton of experience and some nice prospects, but Nick Reveiz is coming off a torn ACL, as is outside speedster Savion Frazier. LaMarcus Thompson has an ankle problem, and everyone else of note is either young or still trying to figure out how to become consistent and dangerous. If everyone can stay 100%, though, this will be one of the team’s surprise strengths...
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This is interesting to me given the vibe from ESPN (yeah, yeah, I know...) that both of those teams are better than the Vols this year.

Second - while most everyone in Big Orange Country has some faith, many previews say that Oregon will pound UT. Phil Steele has included that game in his Early Marquee Non-Conference Games and sees it as close -

Oregon at Tennessee Sept 11th. Tennessee has the large edge of the heat and humidity of the South vs a team from the Northwest. Oregon has the edge of having a much deeper and experienced team with 17 returning starters from last year’s Rose bowl squad. Tennessee has their 3rd HC in 3 years and suffered a lot of attrition and has just 9 returning starters. UT takes it to the wire but…OREGON 27-20.
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If both of these turn out to be correct, how can our talent be as low as many are saying? Further, if they think we'll be at least respectable, isn't there a decent chance of the Big Orange shocking someone (LSU, UGA or USCjr) and finishing better?

I would think so.
 
#4
#4
I don't think it is unreasonable to think if we stay healthy and the coaching is there that we can't win 7 or 8 games, which would be fantastic in my opinion. I agree with the 6-6 prediction however, realistically speaking our wins are going to come against UT-Martin, UAB, Mem, Vandy, UK and take your pick of either UGA, USoCar, or Ole Miss. If we can steal a win against Oregon the sky is the limit for this team. I don't expect us to be anything more than respectable against LSU, Fla and Ala. If we are going to make a splash this is the year to do it, just have to stay healthy.
 
#6
#6
PowerT83 said:
By sky being the limit do you mean 8 wins?
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More or less, hell if they win 9 games I'll eat my hat.

8 wins would be tremendous for this team and would make me and just about everyone else on these forums pretty damn happy.
 
#7
#7
NickZ4UT said:
More or less, hell if they win 9 games I'll eat my hat.

8 wins would be tremendous for this team and would make me and just about everyone else on these forums pretty damn happy.
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I'll do naked cartwheels down Cumberland if we win 8 games.
 
#16
#16
DuckinTN said:
CFN having Georgia at #3 is an utter joke.
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TRUE - Funny thing is, even the other guys at CFN think so- from the CFN 'SEC East Deep Dive':

3 SEC EAST QUESTIONS THAT NAG MORE THAN YOUR EX for 2010

(i) Who is the most overrated/underrated team in the SEC East?

Russ Mitchell:

Overrated 2009: Georgia
Take Three: Georgia. Couldn’t agree more with Brian here, and I’ve been all over radio in the south trying to clean up the mess our colleague Pete Fiutak is making. Pete? This will be three years running, brother. Sure, the East is weak (relatively), but all UGA has to do is play with an overrated and disjointed rushing “attack” that last year barely cracked the top 50 in the nation, and was so Sybil it had about seven different backs lead the team on different Saturdays. Oh, and it was ranked ~70th in the nation at the end of conference play. That's behind an oft injured offensive line that has been grossly overrated for three years now. And a freshman QB who’s, well, a freshman. Plus one great WR. With little real depth/experience outside of RB – which is mostly due to incompetence and injury. And that's the GOOD news!

On defense, the Dawgs are replacing loads of starters and breaking in a new DC; and he’s bringing with him an entirely new scheme for everyone to learn. Plus a LBing corps that’s so razor thin they might have to open tryouts to the student body. Seriously. Or move over even more of their unproductive RBs than they already have. Tell me when to stop. Have you forgotten their secondary last year? It was bombed more than Tora Bora and proved just as effective. Not to mention a head coach who’s feeling more pressure than usual. Yup, pressure makes everything easier. Ask your ex.

That some experts have this as-of-lately-underperforming squad anywhere near the preseason Top Ten is an embarrassment. The Top 20 is even a reach – particularly given Georgia opens virtually at South Carolina, Arkansas, at Miss State, fly about as far as they ever have to Colorado, then back home without a break for Tennessee, are outside the hedges for Auburn and Florida (obviously), and don’t have a bye week until the last game of the season. Tea, anyone?

Yes, talking people off a ledge is not my strong suit. Nevertheless, UGA fans please set your expectations accordingly. We recommend that you lean on your neighbors to the north and stock up. Of course, we note one should only buy whiskey if one is over the age of 21.

Until then, steal it.
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:lolabove:
 
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#22
#22
We will go 7-5. Anything more would be unbelievable. I'm looking forward to seeing what Dooley can do. He's got three years to prove all his doubters wrong. Anyone not willing to give him three full recruitment cycles has been sniffing too much glue.

I'll be at the Oregon game and the Georgia game in Athens this year. Our boys have a habit of winning when I make the trek to a game. I think we may match up better against Oregon at home than Georgia between the hedges, so I'm taking Oregon as our "upset" of the year. I hope I'm right.

On a totally unrelated note, I've been a long-time daily reader/lurker but post infrequently. Whatever happened to that Griff guy and his many posts that fed to his blog?
 
#24
#24
Lack of depth and inexperience describes this bunch of VOLS....so don't get hurt or do anything stupid (off field) cause we need you and learn fast.
 
#25
#25
If we come out of this year very competitive and win 6-7 with a new QB, new RB, new OL and thin DL I'll be thrilled and amazed. It will speak to our coaching staff's ability and to the talent of our players.

The problem with this year is we just don't know enough about key parts of this team and there's precious little to lean on as an area of proven strength.
 
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