Vols not considered one of WVU’s toughest games this season.

[orangebloodgmc]

If WV were winless in their conference last year and just went through a head coaching search scandal, and came out the other side with a first-time Athletic director and a first-time head coach and have no clue two weeks out who their starting QB will be, I'm guessing we would not consider them one of our tough games this year. Just saying. This is non news.

Tennessee sucks until proven otherwise. Lets just hope to God that they prove otherwise.

I know what you are saying, and you are right that is the lazy outsider's perception, but actually, we are undefeated until proven otherwise.

The thing is, as fans we study our team 12 months of the year and we can see the sense of urgency CJP brought and we know significant measures he took to shore up our weak places, with EEs, JUCOs, Grad transfers, etc.

Conversely, the lazy-ass media "analysts" out there at a minimum, do NOT do their homework (how do they even manage to justify getting paid?!) and they write things like the following that was in today's Baton Rouge paper. Their "analysis and outlook" of the 2018 Vols: "Picked to finish in the upper half of the division a year ago, the Vols were 0-8 in the league. Can Jeremy Pruitt pick up the pieces of that shattered program?" Gee, dunno, perhaps you as a sports-writer should tell us more about how their team might be different?

And if one says, I am offended about what the media writes about us, yeah, I guess I am, but I do feel I can go vent amongst my fellow fans and heap derision on uninformed media talking heads who don't know what we have and didn't even really bother to look.

Yes, let's have em prove otherwise.

 

[Backwards K]

If you think Tennessee has proven SEC playmakers, you don't know much about SEC football. Nigel Warrior has the athletic talent to be one but he needs to figure out where to line up. Jennings is a tough guy and a great receiver but does not have break away speed (unless the DB falls down see UF). All of the other defensive players mentioned have onlye proven to be just good players. None have proven themselves to be play makers.......Maybe that's why none of them are being mentioned for even 3rd team all SEC preseason (except Warrior and possibly Bituli). Chandler had one good game and he may not even be the starter this year.

I am optimistic that some of these guys may prove to be play makers this year but none of them have proven it to this point and that is why no experts other than all of you here on VN expect them to be very good this year. The best player on any field he walks onto this year will be Trey Smith. He can't carry the ball but the Vols better figure out how to keep the ball right behind him.

 

[swchandler1988]

Nigel Warrior is on the Bednarik watch list, so someone agrees with me. Bituli had 90 tackles and was our lone point scorer against Bama last year. Jennings shook one of the best DBs in the league in 16’ for a TD which led to us beating Florida for the first time in 11 years (oh and a Hail Mary catch to beat UGA in Athens). Tuttle has had few opportunities to show off but when he’s played he’s been dominant. Ty Chandler had one good game...when he played because JK was suspended. Ty also scored a touchdown the very first time he touched a football wearing Orange, but yeah he’s not a playmaker . Plenty of playmakers on this team. Who knows who else will emerge this year.

 

[MWAVolfan]

Nigel Warrior is on the Bednarik watch list, so someone agrees with me. Bituli had 90 tackles and was our lone point scorer against Bama last year. Jennings shook one of the best DBs in the league in 16’ for a TD which led to us beating Florida for the first time in 11 years (oh and a Hail Mary catch to beat UGA in Athens). Tuttle has had few opportunities to show off but when he’s played he’s been dominant. Ty Chandler had one good game...when he played because JK was suspended. Ty also scored a touchdown the very first time he touched a football wearing Orange, but yeah he’s not a playmaker . Plenty of playmakers on this team. Who knows who else will emerge this year.

Playmakers dont matter if:
1. The o-line hasnt been fixed
2. we dont have a CLEAR leader at QB who can make the correct throws consistently


Jennings making a circus catch every now and then isnt going to lead to a good season. Those things are just icing on a cake built from consistent play at the QB position and o-line.

 

[robtom]

NC State, Iowa State, and Oklahoma listed in this article as West Virginia’s toughest games this season. I hope we show up to play football on September 1st and make them rethink this article.

Not going to happen..........................

 

[orangebloodgmc]

If you think Tennessee has proven SEC playmakers, you don't know much about SEC football. Nigel Warrior has the athletic talent to be one but he needs to figure out where to line up. Jennings is a tough guy and a great receiver but does not have break away speed (unless the DB falls down see UF). All of the other defensive players mentioned have onlye proven to be just good players. None have proven themselves to be play makers.......Maybe that's why none of them are being mentioned for even 3rd team all SEC preseason (except Warrior and possibly Bituli). Chandler had one good game and he may not even be the starter this year.

I am optimistic that some of these guys may prove to be play makers this year but none of them have proven it to this point and that is why no experts other than all of you here on VN expect them to be very good this year. The best player on any field he walks onto this year will be Trey Smith. He can't carry the ball but the Vols better figure out how to keep the ball right behind him.

Are you responding to my post? I hope you don't think that "not yet proven good", equals "bad." If so, then I sure hope you are not a lawyer, judge or philosophy professor.

I have been following college football since 1966 and the one thing that I have seen is that teams are subject to change every single year. This is even more so than it used to be, with the afore-mentioned EEs, JUCOs and grad transfers that we have these days that can come in and give a shot in the arm right away (no offense Will Grier).

No, we don't yet know with certainty what this team has right now, but we did get back quite a few of last year's many injured guys, we brought in other guys expected to help right away who are blameless for whatever happened last year, we got a few recruits that were offered by Georgia, Bama, LSU, etc, and all of this is being coached up by a crackerjack staff, by what we know thus far.

You can choose to be a fan who dares to hope and dream ... or one who just doesn't.

 

[Backwards K]

Hey gmc, what are your thoughts after watching the first game?


Oh, I'm a fan and have been since the late 60's. But, anyone who has watched more than a couple of football games should have known this Tennessee team will not be a great football team. There are no proven playmakers on either side of the ball as they proved yesterday.

Until the Vols can improve at:
-- Getting any semblance of a pass rush out of their DL (absolutely NO speed rusher)
-- Getting any kind of consistent play from the LBs (Continue to take wrong angles, get caught up in the wash, etc)
-- Getting the young DBs to stay in the vicinity of the WRs they are covering (overmatched badly on Sat)
-- Causing more turnovers and tackle better
-- Getting any BIG plays out of any offensive player (No one explosive enough to score from over 40 yards out)
-- Getting an offensive line that can get any semblance of a push in the running game (struggled to pick up blitzes too)
-- Team speed.

.....they will struggle to beat any team in the SEC. The program is on the right track with this coaching staff but the players in the cupboard will not get it done until they improve individually. Again, yesterday is a great example of why the Vols only have one player even mentioned in the preseason all conference teams.

You cannot win in the SEC without some explosive players on both sides of the ball. Currently, they have none. Oh, they may get some explosive plays in the next two weeks but those plays will be few and far between until there is a lot of improvement.