SEC Power rankings, what SEC teams impressed...

#1
PulaskiVolFan

PulaskiVolFan

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#1
and who disappointed you in week 1 of conference play. In no real particular order for me
Alabama: 1st string looked great, they once again have several playmakers, 2nd and 3rd team struggled I thought vs Mizz.

Florida: If they had a running QB they would be lights out as their TE clears out the middle of the field as it takes a teams entire up the middle pass defenders to guard him. If a play breaks down there is just nobody in the middle of the field to stop a scrambling QB. Their scatback type RB in Toney is going to be a problem in space. Defense looks down a little and their OL was just soso. Trask was great.

Auburn: They weren't spectacular but they did beat a ranked team, we will learn a bunch more about them next Sat. Their new supposedly stud RBs were nothing to fear I thought. Their DC is the best in the league I feel.

Miss St: I don't think this success will last but they are going to cause some problems for some DCs. Their defense was suspect I thought.

Tennessee: After reflection, there were not many better wins than our Vols road victory over USCjrs. We're definitely top3 in the East, the GA game should determine if we can compete for the #1 spot.

Texas A&M: Didn't watch, sounds like Vandy was more impressive. If JG put it on the ground 4 times I'd be the 1st crowing to get him out, I wonder who their #2 is behind Mond

GA: Good to great defensively, terrible on offense other than the 1 great WR. Lucky for us Taylor or Thompson will be covering him all night, I predict we get 1-2 ints because of it. I'm predicting a win vs them IF we rush for more yards than they do.

Ole Miss/Arkansas: I thought both new coaches had DECENT games and did several things well. They will both struggle vs the All-SEC schedule.

Vanderbilt: I think Mason is a decent coach with very little SEC playmakers. Their defense looks good, their schedule looks brutal.

Kentucky: I was dissappointed, thought they had a good chance to beat Auburn and they laid an egg the 2nd half of their loss.They look like a team void of SEC playmakers.

Mizz: Never gave up, won the 2nd half vs Bama's reserves.

Vandy: Good defensively.

USCjrs: They got beat at home by a team that didn't play anywhere close to their best, they'll be hunting a coach at the end of the year.

LSU: They've got some troubles.

Any TEAMS you've been impressed with?
 
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#3
#3
BACKDOC said:
I saw a newspaper article a few days ago that had us going 7 and 3, and LSU 6 and 4. This was before the season opener.
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That was a strong prediction. It's all about these 1st 4 games, now 3 for our Vols. A 4-0 start would most likely end up being 7-3 or better. We can still lose 1 of them, just not to GA if we want to win the East. If Ga loses to Aub then 3-1 or better will keep us in contention to win the East.
 
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#9
#9
PulaskiVolFan said:
There were only 7 games, most of them predicted to be blowouts. Our win on the road was better than GAs and Texas A&Ms wins.
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You can justify however you like. I don't care how all the games were predicted to go and went on paper. I don't care about other teams (I'll worry about them when we play them). I'm talking only about my Vols and how they looked to my untrained eye Saturday night. They did not impress me and will have to step things up quite a bit to even think about a winning season.
 
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#10
#10
m1al said:
You can justify however you like. I don't care how all the games were predicted to go and went on paper. I don't care about other teams (I'll worry about them when we play them). I'm talking only about my Vols and how they looked to my untrained eye Saturday night. They did not impress me and will have to step things up quite a bit to even think about a winning season.
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Brother, I get what you're saying.

But in the under-currents, behind the numbers on the scoreboard, beyond the stats on the sheets, it seems to me we're watching a squad that is learning how to win, and discovering the power of team. There's some real mojo developing with our fellas, I think.

Will it be enough to push us over a half-organized Georgia? I don't know. Let's see how they do against Mizzou, first.

But I think something pretty good is building.
 
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#11
#11
PulaskiVolFan said:
GA: Good to great defensively, terrible on offense other than the 1 great WR. Lucky for us Taylor or Thompson will be covering him all night, I predict we get 1-2 ints because of it. I'm predicting a win vs them IF we rush for more yards than they do.
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If we don't get more rushing yds. than UGA, I'll be shocked. Our OL against their DL will be a great matchup. Their OL is not very good run blocking. They also gave up 3 sacks. UGA averaged less than 3 yds. per carry. We should be better than Arky against the run and we should be able to get 100 yds. against any team if we run the ball 35 times. I think we pound the rock against UGA and have a chance to win in the 4Q. Interesting stats from the game: UGA averaged 4.3 yds./play. Arky averaged 4.2 yds./play.
 
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#13
#13
VFL-82-JP said:
Brother, I get what you're saying.

But in the under-currents, behind the numbers on the scoreboard, beyond the stats on the sheets, it seems to me we're watching a squad that is learning how to win, and discovering the power of team. There's some real mojo developing with our fellas, I think.

Will it be enough to push us over a half-organized Georgia? I don't know. Let's see how they do against Mizzou, first.

But I think something pretty good is building.
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Agreed. We also need to keep in mind that USC had 4 more practices, including 3 scrimmages to 0 for the Vols. And, they did not have near as many key guys miss practice time due to Covid quarantines. That leads me to believe the Vols will be much improved by the time they go to Athens. I think UGA will be only marginally better due to their main weakness, the OL. Should be a close game.
 
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#14
#14
VFL-82-JP said:
Brother, I get what you're saying.

But in the under-currents, behind the numbers on the scoreboard, beyond the stats on the sheets, it seems to me we're watching a squad that is learning how to win, and discovering the power of team. There's some real mojo developing with our fellas, I think.

Will it be enough to push us over a half-organized Georgia? I don't know. Let's see how they do against Mizzou, first.

But I think something pretty good is building.
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Let me be clear, I'm speaking only of the team as a whole Saturday night. Did I see flashes? Definitely. Do I see a lot of potential? Yes. Do I think they will improve as the season progresses? Definitely..

I realize this is a beyond weird year and there are many things affecting all teams that normally they wouldn't be dealing with. My opinion of Saturday night was an attempt to remove my orange tinted glasses and give my honest opinion of the play on the field.
 
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#17
#17
m1al said:
Let me be clear, I'm speaking only of the team as a whole Saturday night. Did I see flashes? Definitely. Do I see a lot of potential? Yes. Do I think they will improve as the season progresses? Definitely..

I realize this is a beyond weird year and there are many things affecting all teams that normally they wouldn't be dealing with. My opinion of Saturday night was an attempt to remove my orange tinted glasses and give my honest opinion of the play on the field.
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Don't often agree with you, but this time you nailed it.
 
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#19
#19
Vol win looks a lot better than today than it did late saturday, particularly after learning more about the pieces that were missing and the struggle to get to Columbia. Have a feeling we'll see a more consistent group come Saturday. Feel much, much better about the WRs and was glad to Johnson and Kivon step up. Had never seen Baron play before and was not disappointed. Ditto for Velus.

Really impressed by what HC and DC are doing at Arkansas.

Aggies might as well stay out of a T-town that thinks it's impervious to a little ol' virus.
 
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#20
#20
GAVol said:
After some of the performances I've seen in the first few weeks, I'd say anytime you pick up a W you should run get on the bus and leave town as fast as you can.
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Yup. This has to be the theme this year...and not just for UT.

Fielding a team and playing the game is a minor victory. See University of Houston.

The players work their arses off and deserve the chance to play. If they play and lose, then so be it. I want them to win as much as anyone, but let’s celebrate their ability to compete, Number 1. And then, Number 2, let’s hope they win. This is a weird season for all involved. And, Number 3, run to the da%n bus and leave town as fast as you can!
 
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#22
#22
PulaskiVolFan said:
There were only 7 games, most of them predicted to be blowouts. Our win on the road was better than GAs and Texas A&Ms wins.
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MSU's road win was more impressive than ours but an SEC road win is still an SEC road win.

As one would expect, the first game was uneven. We showed flashes of being a very good team, we also showed flashes of being a bad team. One concern is still the continued struggle at the beginning of halves. We were able to get away with it Saturday night but we can't be -7 or -14 in that time period against a team like UGA and expect to win.
 
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#23
#23
Imagine there's a train rolling down the track, leaving a station. And all these fellas are beside the train. They all want to hop into an open boxcar, but do they have the skill to do it?

Well, the train is headed toward Atlanta. And to have any chance of getting there, you gotta be on board.

Two teams have already leapt on: Bama. Of course. And Florida, after a pretty amazingly acrobatic first move.

Lagging well behind the train and looking seriously like they have no chance of catching it are Vandy, Mizzou, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Arkansas. Kentucky and LSU are a bit in front of that pack, but not a lot closer to catching the train.

There are a number of teams running beside the train, with a chance of pulling themselves aboard. Miss St is, surprisingly, in the middle of that pack. No one really thought they'd be there. They're being quirky, though, bouncing along on a pogo stick. They literally don't have to run at all, doing it almost entirely through the air. No one has any idea if that's going to keep working for them, but so far so weirdly good.

Tennessee and A&M are there, kind of neck and neck. Auburn's with them, too. And there's Georgia, who face-planted into the rocks but recovered and has caught back up to the others.

This week, we're probably gonna see one or more jump aboard. Either Auburn or UGa is likely to, they seem to be setting up to push off each other to propel aboard. That will only work for one of them, and could even mess them both up. We'll see.

Bama is throwing rocks at A&M. Good chance they'll knock those lads out soon and ruin their shot of ever climbing up.

Meanwhile, Tennessee is looking like their best opportunity may be to take advantage of a reeling Georgia if Auburn can throw them off balance. But before then, the Volunteers gotta make sure we don't trip ourselves up.

The real fun of all this is, getting on the train isn't enough to get to Atlanta. No, the in-fighting will continue for those who jump aboard until only a couple are left.

But first, you gotta get on the train.

That's the current "power rankings" as I see it. It's gonna be a fun next couple of weeks. Go Vols!
 
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#24
#24
Vols- We've got the pieces to be impressive, but have to improve on 3rd down, QB consistency, stay healthy on defense particularly in the secondary.
Bama- all around impressive. Once again the team to beat in the SEC
Fla- Impressive offense, but weaker o-line, run-game and unimpressive defense
UGA- Impressive defense, offense is a cluster-f
KY- one-dimensional and overrated per usual
USCjr- decent defense, entire offense is ONE playmaker. Muschamp should be fired.
Mizzou- lackluster but prob not the worst team in the east
Vandy- LOL
LSU- lost a lot and it shows
Miss State- Scary good offense but their defense will cost them some games
Ole Miss- Impressive offense, terrible defense
Arky- better than I thought they'd be. Don't have a lot of talent but they fight hard.
Texas A&M- overrated more so than I originally thought.
Auburn- Decent all around, but beatable
I could say a lot more about all these teams just didn't want to turn my post into a book.
 
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