To get to 6-6, which tossup(s) do Vols Win?

#51
#51
I mean, we were 18 points away total from being 7-5 last year. Of course, I should also say that we were 7 points away from being 2-10 last year, and 22 points away from being 1-11. Last year could have gone so much better or so much worse based on a matter of a touchdown or two at the right or wrong time.
 
#52
#52
JohnWardForever said:
WV, UF, and Mizzou are Three games considered Tossups. To become bowl eligible, which of these does Tennessee win? I think 2! UT goes 7-5!
Click to expand...
And since when did South Carolina become a juggernaut? We have just as much chance as beating them as Florida. Not scared of either one
 
#53
#53
hUTch2002 said:
Unfortunately you can’t just go by the recruiting rankings though. How many of those players are still here and healthy? It seems we’ve had more attrition than most but I’m just going with a gut feeling as I’m not going to do all the research to find out. On top of that we know the players have not been developed as well as we had hoped. I do agree we have some talent though. We just don’t have good depth or a sure fire QB.
Click to expand...


One, mind you, just one of the things I paid close attention to, the hiring of this staff, is the low attrition rate they had during the off-season.
 
#54
#54
Johnnyreb#VFL said:
And since when did South Carolina become a juggernaut? We have just as much chance as beating them as Florida. Not scared of either one
Click to expand...

They aren't a juggernaut. That game sits in a terrible spot on the schedule for us and they are coming off a bye. Muschamp will field a good defense and we are going to be in strung out shape after seeing UGA, Barn, and Bama in the 4 weeks before that. If it were anywhere else on the schedule people wouldn't assume it's a loss. But, as it's stands that is going to be a tough game to win on the road. If it were Mizz in that slot we would need talking about them.
 
#55
#55
jakez4ut said:
Agreed. And I'll take it a step further and say we need to win 1 or 2 from the group of usce, FL, WVU and Mizzou to get to 6 or 7.

You figure 3-0 against the cupcake ooc opponents. 0-3 against the big 3.

The other 3-4 W's have to come from the rest. I feel ok about vandy and KY.

So 1 or 2 from the rest.
Click to expand...

I would like to think we could compete against UGA, AU, or UA but I just don’t see it and we are a key injury or two from being humiliated again. With three almost no chance losses, it makes 9-3 or 8-4 nearly impossible. That is why I don’t understand scheduling challenging teams to start the season or OOC. You put yourself automatically behind the 8 ball. I understand becoming bowl eligible isn’t the ultimate goal but becoming bowl eligible at this point goes a long into digging out of this rut. Then maybe next year 7-5 or 8-4 becomes the goal. By year three maybe 10 wins, but when you schedule a tough OOC to go along with Alabama, Georgia, and a tough West opponent winning 10 games becomes nearly impossible.
 
#57
#57
secking said:
Auburn

Tennessee WILL beat Auburn
Click to expand...

I hope your right but we haven't beaten a West team in our last 12 games, haven't beaten AU since '99 and they don't lose at home. Plus a veteran, Heisman Hopeful QB. I would love to end that West streak this year but they are a different team at home as Ala and Ga found out last year. Hopefully we catch them at the right time and not coming off a loss.
 
#58
#58
jasonvol18 said:
I hope your right but we haven't beaten a West team in our last 12 games, haven't beaten AU since '99 and they don't lose at home. Plus a veteran, Heisman Hopeful QB. I would love to end that West streak this year but they are a different team at home as Ala and Ga found out last year. Hopefully we catch them at the right time and not coming off a loss.
Click to expand...

Auburn, Georgia, and Alabama are in a different class than we are right now. It is what it is but hopefully we will get there
 
#59
#59
landscapingvol said:
Tennessee has the best chance to beat three OOC teams then there are several toss up games imho:
Florida
West Virginia
South Carolina
Missouri
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
Unfortunately, we have three nearly certain losses in Georgia, Alabama, Auburn but I do believe UT can go 3-3 vs. the toss up teams. If we can get decent qb and o-line play, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to go 4-2. On the flip side, if we get inconsistent or poor qb and o-line play then 2-4 or 1-5 with the toss up teams isn’t unrealistic either
Click to expand...
Must get either the WV or Fla game for a bowl. I think it’s too much for us to sweep November. Especially after That meat grinder in the middle. The element of surprise - both in tactics and in low expectations - will help us early.
 
#60
#60
landscapingvol said:
I would like to think we could compete against UGA, AU, or UA but I just don’t see it and we are a key injury or two from being humiliated again. With three almost no chance losses, it makes 9-3 or 8-4 nearly impossible. That is why I don’t understand scheduling challenging teams to start the season or OOC. You put yourself automatically behind the 8 ball. I understand becoming bowl eligible isn’t the ultimate goal but becoming bowl eligible at this point goes a long into digging out of this rut. Then maybe next year 7-5 or 8-4 becomes the goal. By year three maybe 10 wins, but when you schedule a tough OOC to go along with Alabama, Georgia, and a tough West opponent winning 10 games becomes nearly impossible.
Click to expand...

I personally don't see what a 7-6 WV team has done to get the hype and respect they are getting from the media or Vol fans. They are a one dimensional offense with a horrible Defense. And love to turn the ball over. T. They are a 7 win team this year and won't finish close to the top 25. W.Va is a decent OOC opponent and a middle tier Big 12 team, but nothing like the great OOC teams like Okla and Oreg that we've recently played. They are an average rushing team, but they live and die by the pass. We should have no problem pushing their DLine around and scoring on most drives. They are this year's most overrated preseason team. There's always atleast 1 every year. W.Va and Miss St will be this season's version of that. How Miss St is getting so hyped up is beyond me. A whole new coaching staff with a first time HC. Which some fans say will hurt us, but not a 9-4 Miss St that was 1-3 vs ranked teams and 8-1 vs non ranked, plus 4 bad OOC games for 4 of their wins. And has a QB with a lower completion % than Chryst, which seems to be so important for a few on here in judging a QB and a 15/11 TD/Int ratio. And less than 150 passing yards a game. Or a 4-7 Fla team with no proven QB production and numerous off the field issues lately. Then a 7-6 Mizzou team with a first time OC that had all 7 wins come against teams with losing records and weren't bowl eligible. They were 0-6 vs Bowl eligible teams. 2 of those are in Neyland and the other at a Neutral site. So the 3 teams, who the majority think we lose 2 of or all 3 were a combined 18-19 last year. 2 of the 3 went to a bowl and got the brakes beat off them. Just don't see why so many Vol fans assume those as automatic losses. Ala, Ga and Aub I can definitely see but not 7-6, 7-6 and 4-7 teams. Definitely not saying we are in position to count them as automatic wins but all 3 are very winnable and really should win atleast 2 if not all 3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jwilliams
#61
#61
sjt18 said:
Good post. IMO though the deciding factors between 2 wins vs those teams and 6 or somewhere in between is injuries and defensive improvement. Fortunately... that is Pruitt's forte. In particular CB's which could be huge if the Vols can get improved play there.

I'm the odd ball I guess in not worrying too much about the OL. Chance Hall is a very good OL if he stays healthy. Smith fills whatever gap they can't close. Richmond has enough talent to be really good with the right coaching and techniques. Kennedy seems to have solidified the C position. I just feel between these guys and others there is more than enough talent to put together a solid OL.
Click to expand...

Pruitt and staff seem to be high on Jamir Johnson, as well, according to his presser...
 
  • Like
Reactions: sjt18
#62
#62
Orangeredblooded said:
One, mind you, just one of the things I paid close attention to, the hiring of this staff, is the low attrition rate they had during the off-season.
Click to expand...
I’ve never seen a team have back to back years of massive injuries like we had. I wonder what exactly caused that? Obviously there was some bad luck but 2 years in a row tells me it wasn’t just bad luck. Anyway, I’m just glad we aren’t dealing with the nonsense anymore. Unlike last year, I feel confident in saying that we will always be ready to play and we will always play hard.
 
#63
#63
landscapingvol said:
Auburn, Georgia, and Alabama are in a different class than we are right now. It is what it is but hopefully we will get there
Click to expand...

They definitely are, although we are not far removed from back to back wins vs GA. We can't beat West teams to save our life, not even a crappy Arkansas or a LSU team with Orgeron as their HC. With the parity that the new recruiting rules are creating it doesn't take near as long to get back as it used to. We should get there pretty soon.
 
#64
#64
KeyVol14 said:
I feel sorry for you. Lol seriously this team is not as bad as the media is portraying them to be
Click to expand...

Ya never know how good any team can or will be. I remember in 1997, we had a horrible roster but we backed in to the SEWCCG. In my opinion, we overachieved that year.
I remember in 2016, we had a good roster but we lost to A & M, USC & Vandy. We should have gone to the SECCG or at the very least with that talented team and schedule.
I doubt that anyone was able to predict the out come of either of those seasons......
I say 5 - 7 is our ceiling UNLESS a team just screws up so much that they GIVE us a win. Maybe 5 turn overs or really, really bad coaching.....
We won't get to 6 wins on our own. We will need the 6th team to help us beat them.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top