Four interrelated caveats:
It's the first game, we'll be running plays ultra-fast, in front of +90,000 loud fans, and probably playing plenty of freshmen. Any one of those factors would normally produce unforced penalties. Combined...?
Now maybe in this offense which goes for yardage in big chunks, those first-and-fifteen drive stoppers in past offenses won't be as crippling. But they will surely happen, and more so in this first game.
I understand that right now, to rebuild the program and the culture, the staff are encouraging the players to have fun. Is the staff simultaneously able to install mental discipline, or does that become Phase 2 or 3 of the rebuild?
My hopes are high, but I'm keeping my expectations low. And SURELY by now Vol fans have learned that psychological lesson in season survival!