Saturday could be a turning point

#1
UTFranklinVol

UTFranklinVol

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#1
I know there's a lot of football left to be played and some tough opponents but I cannot help but feel like if Tennessee wins Saturday, we own the SEC for the next few years. With the current state of Alabama and Florida football, Georgia is ripe to be bullied off the top podium and a new bellcow put in their place. There are certainly other teams who will want to have a say in this matter (LSU, Texas, Oklahoma) but I feel like CJH has laid a solid bedrock foundation for this program the last 4 years and we certainly have the horses in the recruiting pipeline to keep going further and we are primed to give Georgia the Julius Caesar treatment and take over.

Am I the only one who feels like Saturday is some kind of inflection point between the old and new Tennessee?
 
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#6
#6
UTFranklinVol said:
I know there's a lot of football left to be played and some tough opponents but I cannot help but feel like if Tennessee wins Saturday, we own the SEC for the next few years. With the current state of Alabama and Florida football, Georgia is ripe to be bullied off the top podium and a new bellcow put in their place. There are certainly other teams who will want to have a say in this matter (LSU, Texas, Oklahoma) but I feel like CJH has laid a solid bedrock foundation for this program the last 4 years and we certainly have the horses in the recruiting pipeline to keep going further and we are primed to give Georgia the Julius Caesar treatment and take over.

Am I the only one who feels like Saturday is some kind of inflection point between the old and new Tennessee?
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I'm feeling it, man.

We're that close. Still a gap in talent between us and the very top, last year's playoff appearance showed us that, but we're closer than ever. We have incredible young talent in these last two classes, and more coming next year and beyond. And several of our portal catches have been brilliant.

Plus, with these coaches, we can outplay our tier. Has to be a good day, we have to be driven, but we can beat anyone when we're up. That's just gonna get more sure as the youngsters mature and develop.

Saturday could be the clearest sign yet of all that.

Go Vols!
 
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#7
#7
You seem to forget that recruiting wise we are not at the top of the heap. It would go a long way toward easing the sting of losing to osu though.
I would love to see us win the SEC and go on to the playoff whilst uga and bama stay home.
 
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#8
#8
EZE said:
I don’t know that any team will own the SEC for multiple years going forward. The league continues to get tougher.

However, it would be big for the Vol program to get this final monkey off its back.
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Totally agree with you. For all the crummy things about NIL, it has leveled the playing field.

Example #1: TN resurrected from the dead in 2022 quickly. No way they would dig out of the Dooley/Jones/Pruitt/NCAA hole as fast without NIL.

Example #2: Florida State (I know...still early, but wow, what a little bit of portal shopping can do to a program).
 
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#9
#9
UTFranklinVol said:
I know there's a lot of football left to be played and some tough opponents but I cannot help but feel like if Tennessee wins Saturday, we own the SEC for the next few years. With the current state of Alabama and Florida football, Georgia is ripe to be bullied off the top podium and a new bellcow put in their place. There are certainly other teams who will want to have a say in this matter (LSU, Texas, Oklahoma) but I feel like CJH has laid a solid bedrock foundation for this program the last 4 years and we certainly have the horses in the recruiting pipeline to keep going further and we are primed to give Georgia the Julius Caesar treatment and take over.

Am I the only one who feels like Saturday is some kind of inflection point between the old and new Tennessee?
Click to expand...
Inflection or infection?
 
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#13
#13
UTFranklinVol said:
I know there's a lot of football left to be played and some tough opponents but I cannot help but feel like if Tennessee wins Saturday, we own the SEC for the next few years. With the current state of Alabama and Florida football, Georgia is ripe to be bullied off the top podium and a new bellcow put in their place. There are certainly other teams who will want to have a say in this matter (LSU, Texas, Oklahoma) but I feel like CJH has laid a solid bedrock foundation for this program the last 4 years and we certainly have the horses in the recruiting pipeline to keep going further and we are primed to give Georgia the Julius Caesar treatment and take over.

Am I the only one who feels like Saturday is some kind of inflection point between the old and new Tennessee?
Click to expand...
Ik all Vol, but I don't see us owning the SEC, schedule will be much tougher next year
 
#14
#14
UTFranklinVol said:
I know there's a lot of football left to be played and some tough opponents but I cannot help but feel like if Tennessee wins Saturday, we own the SEC for the next few years. With the current state of Alabama and Florida football, Georgia is ripe to be bullied off the top podium and a new bellcow put in their place. There are certainly other teams who will want to have a say in this matter (LSU, Texas, Oklahoma) but I feel like CJH has laid a solid bedrock foundation for this program the last 4 years and we certainly have the horses in the recruiting pipeline to keep going further and we are primed to give Georgia the Julius Caesar treatment and take over.

Am I the only one who feels like Saturday is some kind of inflection point between the old and new Tennessee?
Click to expand...
I like the way you think, my brother. I could see it definitely being an inflection point for the program. Here's hoping.
 
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#16
#16
If we want SEC title hardware you have to eventually beat the big dog and that’s Georgia. They knocked us out of the playoff in 22 and playing for the SEC title game and also kept us out of it last season the SEC title game that is. We have to take Georgia down at some point it’s the gorilla on Heups back right now.
 
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#17
#17
In terms of the talent gap:

1. Starters versus starters . . . How big is the gap now?
2. Depth wise, one argument is in the NIL era no one can amass too much depth . . . Because guys won’t sit behind players if they are good enough to play right away somewhere else . . .
3. If number 2 is true (could be an argument of degree) . . . The real question in talent gap is about starters.
 
#19
#19
UTFranklinVol said:
I know there's a lot of football left to be played and some tough opponents but I cannot help but feel like if Tennessee wins Saturday, we own the SEC for the next few years. With the current state of Alabama and Florida football, Georgia is ripe to be bullied off the top podium and a new bellcow put in their place. There are certainly other teams who will want to have a say in this matter (LSU, Texas, Oklahoma) but I feel like CJH has laid a solid bedrock foundation for this program the last 4 years and we certainly have the horses in the recruiting pipeline to keep going further and we are primed to give Georgia the Julius Caesar treatment and take over.

Am I the only one who feels like Saturday is some kind of inflection point between the old and new Tennessee?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure we're quite at the level of taking over the conference - I actually believe no one will dominate the conference any more the way Alabama and then Georgia have done for the last decade and a half.

What has changed to me is that there are no more moral victories. We are recruiting at an elite level, we have resources and facilities that match and exceed most schools, and it's time to show the results from all of that on the playing field. This doesn't mean we automatically win Saturday, but it does mean that 'playing them close' is no longer an acceptable outcome.
 
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