This is a 9-3 Schedule

[LittleVol]

We also don’t have a QB and one of them beat us without a QB last season

Why are we still talking about team led by Jarrett Gaurantano and Jeremy Pruitt??
Had we not threw a pass we either win or lose by one score. JG gave them 14 straight up and then helped put them in position for 10 more.


We haven't settled on a QB but our talent level is well ahead of all 3 of those teams tip to bottom at the position.

 

[Creekcat]

Be realistic people. New coach, that took over a horrible situation. He doesn't have a QB yet. The defense was like a sieve last season, even against bad teams. Rome wasn't built in a day, Tennessee will not be rebuilt in one season.

 

[Vol8188]

Maybe 2-1 at the least with a possible 3-0. Missouri isn’t that good, and USC also has a first year coach also that has less talent than we do. We have more talent than USC and Missouri. Kentucky is a 50-50 game in my opinion.

I think the majority of our talent transferred out

 

[BoroVol93]

It may be a 9-3 schedule but it is definitely not a 9-3 team. The realistic range is 3-5 wins with 4 being most likely and 6 as the absolute ceiling. This team has very few players who would even be on the field at any upper tier P5 conference team. Add in a new scheme on both sides of the ball that causes growing pains for even. talented team and you have a real recipe for disaster.

On defense:
--An inexperience DL with little SEC talent and less depth. NO proven speed rusher
--An OVC level LB corps
--No shutdown corner and a lack of overall speed in the DB

On offense:
--Still having 4 QBs in the mix for starter means there is no real SEC level QB on the roster
--No homerun RB. None of them could break a long run against the defense on the field in the spring game
--No proven playmakers at WR
--OL is best unit on team and only 1 or 2 of them would be in the 2 deep of any of the top 5 or 6 SEC teams
--Bright spot on the offense is Guarantano is gone.

Recruiting 3 stars is not gonna get this turned around any time soon either. There are a lot of delusional fans who need to come to grips that the Tennessee Football program cannot get much lower than it is now......but, they seem determined to get it lower.

Terrible post hope u like crow…

 

[VolMarine1371]

I think the majority of our talent transferred out

We upgraded at QB and the caching staff. Even though we lost a lot of talent, we also have a enough to win 7-8 games.

 

[VolMarine1371]

This isn't a lighting bolt observation, but if UT can find a QB...................I see 7/8 wins. 4/5 without solid play at the position.

We have 4 QB’s that are all better than what we had the last 3 years.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

Or a 3-9 schedule. This team will struggle a lot and has even less depth than before. The roster is nowhere close to SEC caliber and has no depth. I'd prepare for the top teams in SEC to be 3-5 touchdowns better than the Vols and for the Vols to stuggle to compete for the bottom spots of the SEC for at least another season. Sorry, I hate it, but just reality.....

Or conversely, the team buys in and is better coached. We are absolutely short some players on defense but our offense will be much better.

 

[volsack]

There’s no way this is only a 3-win schedule. We have 3 ooc mini cupcakes, and Vandy and SC will play each other to see who gets 1 win in the SEC. No way we are losing to either of those teams. That’s 5 wins automatic. Throw in Pitt, Mizzou, Ole Miss, and Kentucky as the next tier and we definitely win 1, and maybe could win 2. That’s 6 or 7 wins. No way we beat Bama, but Florida had a lot leave from last year, and Georgia comes to Neyland. If we win less than 6, Heupel and staff are not what we think they are.

I said this in another thread but it applies here as well: Since 2012, teams entering a season with a new QB, OC and having lost more than 10 starters have only covered the spread in 40% of their games that season. Applying that logic to the schedule they only win 3-4 games

 

[GrizzlyVol]

I think 8-4 is the ceiling, not sure what the fear is over Pitt but it'll be a W, not saying 8-4 will happen just saying I think that's the top

 

[tennesseeduke]

I see (5) wins at most this year......And that's (2) better than last year! Hopefully......I eat these words.

2 more games this year

 

[peaygolf]

We have 4 QB’s that are all better than what we had the last 3 years.

Ok
One needs to step up.....

 

[HiltonHeadVol]

I’m a little more optimistic. I see us starting 3-0 (though Pitt might be a challenge), beat So Alabama, and get 2 from MO SC KY and VU. So 6-6 I hope.

Pitt WILL be a challenge in my opinion. Pre-season ranked in the low to mid 30's, and with a solid coach (P. Narduzzi), I think this game could be a challenge for sure, but an opportunity perhaps as well.

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

I will save this and get back to you later in the year.....IF I am crazy, then I will gladly eat my words.....But in my 64 years of life, I've seen hype and only disappointments year after year. I see nothing to talk hype about just yet until the season starts. 12-0 is possible but not likely.

Hype and disappointment for 64 years?


Were you comatose during the Dickey era? Majors' and Fulmer's era?

Or is undefeated the only standard that doesnt cause disappointment?


Speaking of undefeated...i hate you missed 1998. That was a magical year...

 

[BlinghamptonVol]

I said this in another thread but it applies here as well: Since 2012, teams entering a season with a new QB, OC and having lost more than 10 starters have only covered the spread in 40% of their games that season. Applying that logic to the schedule they only win 3-4 games

That is definitely a telling stat.

But, this team didn’t lose Joe Burrow and Joe Brady. We lost JG and Chaney/Pruitt. I’m hoping addition by subtraction there. The ‘more than 10 starters’ part is scary though. Can’t use orange-tinted wishful thinking to finagle my way around that one.

 

[rocketskates]

Why can’t we play Kentucky when they’re running at Keeneland? who tf wants to go to Lexington in November? Let one of the teams from the west play them then

Been there in November and it was pretty miserable. The last time I went to Lexington was also the 07 game so I guess the game was good at least.

 

[njvols]

[If we didn't have numbskulls running the football program for 15 years.]

2021 Tennessee Football Schedule

OK, so this will never happen, and 4-5 win season is more probable, but imagine IF the JH offense system is on track out of the gate, AND our D plays just better than expected, because it's not as complex, it's not a HUGE reach to go into the Bama game at 6-1. Because of my BVS, I'm more in the camp of just expecting to suck again...but, JH seems to be a man of high integrity, intelligence, and building a good culture. SEC E is down, and think #3 in SEC E is up for the taking....question is, are we up for it.

 

[njvols]

This isn't a lighting bolt observation, but if UT can find a QB...................I see 7/8 wins. 4/5 without solid play at the position.

This is THE KEY...and has been since Dobbs left. Outside of having a roster on both sides of the ball to "out talent" other teams, the QB can be the equalizer...over past 10 years, many examples where this has been true: MSt, OM, MZ. etc...

 

[volinthenorth]

This is 5 wins minimum if we don't pull a Pruitt and lose to teams we should stomp on.

BGF.................... W
Pitt..................... L
Tenn Tech........ W
UF....................... L
Mizz................... W
SC....................... W
OM..................... L
Bama................. L
UK...................... W
UGA.................. .L
S Bama............. W
Vandy................ W


5 wins should be our floor. 7 wins is highly possible.

Pitt, Mizz, SC, OM, UK are all close games. We only need a couple to fall our way for a good season.

I think this is a very good prediction and it will be close to accurate. The only change I would make is we win the home game against Pitt and maybe drop the away game at Missouri. But both are winnable and that would give us eight. My prediction is a 7-8 win season because I think our athletes are plenty good enough to compete now that the coaches aren't creating mental and emotional havoc on the team. And that crazy JG chaos will be gone finally. I think Vol fans are going to be happy come November!

 

[volinthenorth]

The question is not if this is a 9-3 SCHEDULE, it is whether this is a 9-3 TEAM - and to that question, I do not yet have an answer. Anything I would say right now is merely based on hope not prescience.

Come on, Gandalf, don't be scared of that Palantir! Take a little peek… what could it hurt?

 

[volinthenorth]

We upgraded at QB and the caching staff. Even though we lost a lot of talent, we also have a enough to win 7-8 games.

Totally agree. Just because some talent left doesn't mean new talent doesn't show itself from the younger guys to replace it, not to mention the talent we got from the portal. And also, what transferred out in some cases was some attitude that was detrimental to team cohesion. I agree that the new coaching staff will create a well functioning team this year and we get 7 to 8 wins, that's my prediction. Too many people on this board have BVS and aren't factoring in the culture change that has happened in January. Everything will be different this year in terms of the mental and emotional state of our team. That makes a huge difference in football.

 

[JOEY'S ALL VOL !!!]

7-5 if we catch a few breaks and win a couple of close ones. 9-3 ain’t happening barring some major miracle.

 

[Rooster1]

^^^

 

[greazy1722]

Man no way. Huepel need a winner at qb to fuel his offense. Dont forget he a had a top 5 QB in football for his last 2 seasons at UCF.

 

[LittleVol]

H

Man no way. Huepel need a winner at qb to fuel his offense. Dont forget he a had a top 5 QB in football for his last 2 seasons at UCF.

He made that "Top 5" QB...
He didn't get good on his own.

 

[Gandalf]

Come on, Gandalf, don't be scared of that Palantir! Take a little peek… what could it hurt?

Right now we would only see what the dark lord (Saban) wants us to see. He has a way of twisting the minds of all who look therein. Look at our last poor Steward Fulmer, who dowsed himself in flames to immolate himself and his chosen son Pruitt.