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Warm up the easy chair and settle in with a frosty bev... it's football time. Tennessee opens up the 2022 season with a visit from MAC Conference team Ball State, which hails from Indiana, if you didn't know. They will do it in fashion with a freshly renovated Neyland Stadium and the return of the V-O-L-S letters on top of the stadium... as the Lord intended. This is a nice opener for the Vols who will hope to have the machine well oiled before a match-up with Pittsburgh and Florida. September will say a lot about where this team is at, and it starts right here.
Keys to Victory:
1. Get in, get up, get out: The Vols will look to pour it on early and jump out to a big lead. Last season, things bogged down in the second quarter so you would like to see those 28 point first quarters sustained for a bit longer. I don't foresee any issues with the offense being able to roll consistently on Thursday night. I would like to see the Vols up by 35 at half time and see the back-ups playing most of the second half.
2. Secondary First: Willie Martinez will be throwing a lot of new bodies onto the field this season as he tries to fill the shoes of Alontae Taylor and Theo Jackson. There seems to be a lot of talent, but not a lot of proven players ready to fill the roles. Ball State is starting career back-up John Paddock so it will be an interesting scenario to see who holds the edge. Paddock has some of the team's top receivers returning from last year so he has some weapons. Look for the Vols to keep it simple on defense and to see who can play their assignments with the least amount of mistakes.
3. 3rd Down Defense: Last season, Tennessee was 101st nationally in 3rd down defense. Even a marginal improvement in this area can mean the difference between wins and losses, especially when our offense goes at the speed it does. Tim Banks has made 3rd down defense an emphasis this off-season and the Vols need to show the ability to get off the field early in the year or it may be rough going later on.
4. Spread the Ball: Tennessee lost a ton of production at WR last year, but the most valuable weapon returned, in Cedric Tillman. By all accounts, Jalin Hyatt seems poised to break-out and Bru McCoy is a former 5* who may finally reach his potential. Aside from these three, there are a bunch of guys who have been here for 3 years who have done very little, a Squirrel and some intriguing freshmen. It's time for someone to step up and demand the ball with their play.
Prediction:
Don't get too antsy on this one. Ball State is probably not a bad team, but they are a severely out-manned team. The Vols roll and everyone in Orange goes home happy.
TN 59
Ball 10
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