Vols predicted LAST in SEC for 2018

[DaUndergroundMan]

Thats ridiculous.

His metric sucks.

Looks like, "returning production" is what did us in. Ranked #115.

With kelly gone, and no productive returning qb, and our poor team stats last year, i see where we could look like we were returning nobody and nothing.

But the stats lie... i hope.

 

[HARTUPM]

Here's your sign...

About the author: Bill Connelly grew up a fan of the Miami Dolphins (post-1970s glory), Pittsburgh Pirates (ditto), Portland Trailblazers (ditto again) and Missouri Tigers. That he still enjoys sports at all shows both severe loyalty and a potential personality disorder. He spends his evening playing with excel sheets and watching DVR'd football games from ESPN Classic. See more of his work at Rock M Nation, Football Outsiders and Football Study Hall.:crazy:

He's got Mizzou, the team that didn't do sh!t last year, the team that just finished 12th in the SEC and 41st in the FBS in recruiting according to 247, he has them ranked in the top 30, go figure.:good!:

 

[butchna]

UT has a fluke away from losing to GT, and UMass choked, otherwise you are looking at 2-10 on the year. Do you expect them in the top 25? The team was fractured last year, if he can pull them all the same direction he can pull out a 7-5 mark. Need 2 good recruiting classes to contend again, need to pull an upset or two the first year to get people to buy in.

We also had last second losses against Florida, SC and Kentucky while we’re extrapolating. Properly coached team runs Georgia Tech and Vandy. Even with the injuries goes even odds against Missouri and LSU.

 

[87&91ALUM]

I agree with the fans who assume that a change in coaching staff is going to make a HUGE difference over the first 2-3 years. I believe the players on the roster are good enough to win 5 games next year with a decent coach and 7 games plus a bowl if the coaching staff is as good as advertised.

 

[secking]

Here's your sign...

He's got Mizzou, the team that didn't do sh!t last year, the team that just finished 12th in the SEC and 41st in the FBS in recruiting according to 247, he has them ranked in the top 30, go figure.:good!:

The team that didn’t do what last year? The team with the best QB come back? The team that beat UT 50-17? Fla 45-16, the one who finished 3rd in the east? THAT Missouri?

Before you decide they’ve never done anything, they won the East twice this decade.

I do think they step back but only because they lost their best coach to UCF.

 

[tbh]

It's up to the team and the coaching staff to prove prognostications like this wrong. The Vols have the same record of 0-0 going into the 2018 campaign as any other team and we won't know how things are going to shake down until the season is underway (particularly with the new coaching staff as a factor), so wasting energy making wild guesses (or gnashing one's teeth at others' wild guesses) doesn't make much sense.

 

[Backwards K]

While past performance does not always predict future results, it's not an unreasonable pick to have Tennessee last in the conference.

Afterall, the Vols return:
--One SEC starter level offensive lineman
--No real proven WRs unless Jennings is back for spring ball
--No proven SEC starter level running back
--Huge question mark at QB
--A very weak and thin defensive line (speed is absent and strength questionable)
--Huge question marks at outside LB (which is very important in this defense)
--No proven corner backs
--One proven SEC starter level safety (Warrior)

 

[k-town_king]

While past performance does not always predict future results, it's not an unreasonable pick to have Tennessee last in the conference.

Afterall, the Vols return:
--One SEC starter level offensive lineman
--No real proven WRs unless Jennings is back for spring ball
--No proven SEC starter level running back
--Huge question mark at QB
--A very weak and thin defensive line (speed is absent and strength questionable)
--Huge question marks at outside LB (which is very important in this defense)
--No proven corner backs
--One proven SEC starter level safety (Warrior)

Very unreasonable.

An All American caliber tackle and several highly rated linemen.

Callaway and Johnson are proven. Both had over 400 yards in a bad year.

Return one of the best freshman qbs. Got better each week. Completed over 67% for more than 9 ypa his last four starts. 65% vs SEC teams.

Chandler showed he had the talent but was just under utilized like AK. Over 100 yards and a couple tds the only game he got significant touches.

Defense is a question but a lot of talented guys.

If we lose more than 6 something is wrong.

 

[checkerboards09]

8-4, been saying it since the new hire and sticking with it. CJP will be that damn good of a coach.

 

[Titan05]

While past performance does not always predict future results, it's not an unreasonable pick to have Tennessee last in the conference.

Afterall, the Vols return:
--One SEC starter level offensive lineman
--No real proven WRs unless Jennings is back for spring ball
--No proven SEC starter level running back
--Huge question mark at QB
--A very weak and thin defensive line (speed is absent and strength questionable)
--Huge question marks at outside LB (which is very important in this defense)
--No proven corner backs
--One proven SEC starter level safety (Warrior)

Spot on.

 

[Atlanta917]

While past performance does not always predict future results, it's not an unreasonable pick to have Tennessee last in the conference.

Afterall, the Vols return:
--One SEC starter level offensive lineman
--No real proven WRs unless Jennings is back for spring ball
--No proven SEC starter level running back
--Huge question mark at QB
--A very weak and thin defensive line (speed is absent and strength questionable)
--Huge question marks at outside LB (which is very important in this defense)
--No proven corner backs
--One proven SEC starter level safety (Warrior)

Most receivers are only as good as their QB’s allow them to be, but in the UT games I saw Callaway seemed legit. Was surprised he wasn’t utilized more in the UGA game since UGA’s corners were probably the weakest link of that team.

 

[Iam4utalways]

Butch's game plan was to play it safe and win it in double OT with field goals.

It made for exciting games.

I want game plans where we cruise to victory.

I'm glad we are changing schemes on offense. CJP needs to figure out what we can do personnel wise on defense so we win games.

We need to score a bunch of points until the defense catches on.

 

[OnlyGodForgives]

I have to remind myself that the people who pick pie-in-the-sky win/loss records are really the ones who are trying to get the coaches fired by ginning up delusional expectations. Look for the key phrase "If... then something is wrong" or something similar. 4-8 is a perfectly reasonable expectation and should result in no pitchfork waving when it happens.

 

[Iam4utalways]

I have to remind myself that the people who pick pie-in-the-sky win/loss records are really the ones who are trying to get the coaches fired by ginning up delusional expectations. Look for the key phrase "If... then something is wrong" or something similar. 4-8 is a perfectly reasonable expectation and should result in no pitchfork waving when it happens.

It's bad business business to fire a coach because of 1 year. A coach needs time.

There is no telling how the players will respond to the new coaches. I expect they will be giving all. With their talent and them giving all, 4-8 stinks.

I expect CJP and staff to figure out a way to win with the talent that's at UT. If they choose to run plays with players that aren't built to execute the plays against the competition, that's on the coaches.

CJP and his crew need to be creative with the game plan. Me may need to gamble a little on both sides of the ball. If we are out classes due to talent that is when they need to be at their best. They need to come up with a winning game plan. They can't just throw in the towel like many fans have already done.

I think this years team has enough talent to work hard enough to win a bunch of games.

 

[Titan05]

I have to remind myself that the people who pick pie-in-the-sky win/loss records are really the ones who are trying to get the coaches fired by ginning up delusional expectations. Look for the key phrase "If... then something is wrong" or something similar. 4-8 is a perfectly reasonable expectation and should result in no pitchfork waving when it happens.

And the people with the high expectations will be the first ones calling for CJP's head when the season doesn't go as they expected.

 

[checkerboards09]

I have to remind myself that the people who pick pie-in-the-sky win/loss records are really the ones who are trying to get the coaches fired by ginning up delusional expectations. Look for the key phrase "If... then something is wrong" or something similar. 4-8 is a perfectly reasonable expectation and should result in no pitchfork waving when it happens.

4-8 is never reasonable and never will be no matter if it happened the previous season or not.

 

[secking]

After not winning a single SEC game, no SEC game is a gimme.

Sept 1 West Virginia Tossup
Sept. 8 ETSU Win
Sept. 15 UTEP Win
Sept. 22 Florida * Toss up
Sept. 29 at Georgia * Loss
Oct. 13 at Auburn * Loss
Oct. 20 Alabama * Loss
Oct. 27 at SC. Toss up
Nov. 3 Charlotte Win
Nov. 10 Kentucky * Toss up
Nov. 17 Missouri * Toss up
Nov. 24 at Vanderbilt * Toss up

If UT goes 4-2 in Toss up games, 7-5. 3 guaranteed wins.

 

[gunner]

8-4, been saying it since the new hire and sticking with it. CJP will be that damn good of a coach.

I really hope that your right. I would love to see the Pruitt’s Vols match Butch’s best season. Ha ha.

 

[Iam4utalways]

After not winning a single SEC game, no SEC game is a gimme.

Sept 1 West Virginia Tossup
Sept. 8 ETSU Win
Sept. 15 UTEP Win
Sept. 22 Florida * Toss up
Sept. 29 at Georgia * Loss
Oct. 13 at Auburn * Loss
Oct. 20 Alabama * Loss
Oct. 27 at SC. Toss up
Nov. 3 Charlotte Win
Nov. 10 Kentucky * Toss up
Nov. 17 Missouri * Toss up
Nov. 24 at Vanderbilt * Toss up

If UT goes 4-2 in Toss up games, 7-5. 3 guaranteed wins.

That wouldn't be true if we were running the same schemes with the same game plans with the same coaches(Maybe a little.)

With new coaches, new schemes, and new game plans 9 games are low hanging fruit ripe for our taking. The other 3 are all dog fights.

The way the chumps lost to the gumps in the NC game, well, it broke their hearts. The chumps are rattled. Some of their fans are claiming the championship due to the refs. It won't be long before they start acting like the Florida fans and send their players and coaches death threats. Or go out and poison a tree or something.

 

[Titan05]

After not winning a single SEC game, no SEC game is a gimme.

Sept 1 West Virginia Tossup
Sept. 8 ETSU Win
Sept. 15 UTEP Win
Sept. 22 Florida * Toss up
Sept. 29 at Georgia * Loss
Oct. 13 at Auburn * Loss
Oct. 20 Alabama * Loss
Oct. 27 at SC. Toss up
Nov. 3 Charlotte Win
Nov. 10 Kentucky * Toss up
Nov. 17 Missouri * Toss up
Nov. 24 at Vanderbilt * Toss up

If UT goes 4-2 in Toss up games, 7-5. 3 guaranteed wins.

Pretty fair assessment.

 

[VolGee4]

Because the class counts whether we like it or not regardless of circumstances.

This Year Zero crap should have gone out the door with Dooley but the mentality still exists among the fan base.

On paper, 7 other SEC teams got better players than the Vols this week.

It's on Pruitt to make up ground on the rest of the league and improve those results next year. As of right now, this team and staff hasn't proven a thing. So if a blogger on SB Nation wants to slam the program, so be it.

Hope Pruitt and the team goes out and proves them wrong.

And we had better talent on our roster last year to go 0-8. Doesn't matter what is on paper, it's what you do on Saturday's in the fall. We should have gone at least 6-6 last year, but the development and play-calling were terrible.

 

[Volador]

Would not have wanted to be any higher than last. Kids and coaches need all the motivation and bulletin board material they can get.

 

[Iam4utalways]

Would not have wanted to be any higher than last. Kids and coaches need all the motivation and bulletin board material they can get.

The new coaches are motivated.

I expect the coaches will be able to get the players attention.

 

[NeverWe'llSever]

After not winning a single SEC game, no SEC game is a gimme.

Sept 1 West Virginia Tossup
Sept. 8 ETSU Win
Sept. 15 UTEP Win
Sept. 22 Florida * Toss up
Sept. 29 at Georgia * Loss
Oct. 13 at Auburn * Loss
Oct. 20 Alabama * Loss
Oct. 27 at SC. Toss up
Nov. 3 Charlotte Win
Nov. 10 Kentucky * Toss up
Nov. 17 Missouri * Toss up
Nov. 24 at Vanderbilt * Toss up

If UT goes 4-2 in Toss up games, 7-5. 3 guaranteed wins.

UK is a gimme.

 

[Secfan18]

That wouldn't be true if we were running the same schemes with the same game plans with the same coaches(Maybe a little.)

With new coaches, new schemes, and new game plans 9 games are low hanging fruit ripe for our taking. The other 3 are all dog fights.

The way the chumps lost to the gumps in the NC game, well, it broke their hearts. The chumps are rattled. Some of their fans are claiming the championship due to the refs. It won't be long before they start acting like the Florida fans and send their players and coaches death threats. Or go out and poison a tree or something.

What you need to hope is Kirby likes Pruitt enough to to hand 60 on UT this fall. But no bigger threat than Pruitt and his staff of HS coaching buddies and former roommates he probably wants him at UT a long time.