Win or lose where do you stand?

[volfan2024]

Since I posted from the beginning I felt similarities between this season and the 98 season which I had season tickets (only time ever) I was wondering will you be okay if we lose close or are you tired of excuses as I am? I mean nearly fifteen years out of the last twenty years we been a laugher up on the hill. Just wondering.

 

[Zues1]

Well we've heard the " feels like 98" thing a few years.... Lol
But it's time to break the Bama win streak and let Saban start contemplating his retirement.

 

[Other_Guy]

I'll be upset if they lose to Milroe. If Bryce looks just fine I won't be upset because I think Heupel is ahead of schedule right now. Honestly they can lose to Georgia as well as long as they go 10-2.

 

[Jeff Clark]

I will be dancing in the Street if Tennessee goes 10-2.

 

[Flipdaddy]

We win? Ecstatic. We lose by less than two touchdowns, I can deal with it. But next year imma need a win again Alabubba.

 

[Arrested Devolopment]

I will be singing Rocky Top at mass if Tennessee goes 10-2.

 

[Zues1]

Imo they need to beat Bama or Georgia.
10-2 sounds great but....

 

[Orange_Vol1321]

Since I posted from the beginning I felt similarities between this season and the 98 season which I had season tickets (only time ever) I was wondering will you be okay if we lose close or are you tired of excuses as I am? I mean nearly fifteen years out of the last twenty years we been a laugher up on the hill. Just wondering.

If I had to choose between two games, I'd rather lose this game and win Georgia.

 

[Jeff Clark]

Imo they need to beat Bama or Georgia.
10-2 sounds great but....

Going 10-2 even with losses to Alabama and Georgia is a huge step up for the program and will probably mean Tennessee plays in the Sugar,Orange or Citrus Bowls.

 

[Madscientistvol]

If I had to choose between two games, I'd rather lose this game and win Georgia.

If we had to choose yes, we do that and we likely get another crack at Bama anyway.

 

[LA vol7]

I'd like to beat Alabama, Beat Georgia, Beat Alabama again in the SECCG, and then beat em again in the Playoffs! That's what I'd like to do!

 

[Zues1]

Going 10-2 even with losses to Alabama and Georgia is a huge step up for the program and will probably mean Tennessee plays in the Sugar,Orange or Citrus Bowls.

Yes, but next year with a new QB..lord knows which one Tennessee travels to Florida , Alabama and Texas A&M.
They are right now in the moment to get over the hump. Young team, young staff whatever..Time to catch lightening in a bottle.

 

[Jeff Clark]

Yes, but next year with a new QB..lord knows which one Tennessee travels to Florida , Alabama and Texas A&M.
They are right now in the moment to get over the hump. Young team, young staff whatever..Time to catch lightening in a bottle.

Right now i would say 10-2 in 2023 is a very good possibility also

 

[sunnyvol79]

Anything less than 10-2 right now would be a disappointment, a loss to Kentucky or goofy Beamer would taint the season some

 

[Zues1]

Right now i would say 10-2 in 2023 is a very good possibility also

Well Jeff, I hope you are right. Saturday will tell us quite a bit.

 

[Jeff Clark]

Well Jeff, I hope you are right. Saturday will tell us quite a bit.

I expected Tennessee to go 10-2 with losses to Alabama and Georgia so a loss to Alabama will be what i expected at the beginning of the season.

 

[sunnyvol79]

If we win Saturday I will shed tears of joy and open a bottle of Jack to celebrate. My late grandad who I went to the 95 game in Birmingham with when we ended the streak will be looking down and smiling from the heavens I’m sure if we pull off the win Saturday. 15 years of emotion and frustration will come out. I hope our fans rush the field and celebrate like we won the Super Bowl Saturday if we win it will be well deserved for a great celebration.

 

[Zues1]

I expected Tennessee to go 10-2 with losses to Alabama and Georgia so a loss to Alabama will be what i expected at the beginning of the season.

Okay.
So is your expected 2023 ..10-2 season also losses to Alabama and Georgia?

 

[17Vols]

The hard truth is this, we don’t have the roster, yet, to beat bama or uga. but I think we can give them a run for their money, and if we do that the recruits will come. We’re already seeing better talent in this 23 class, and that’s what we need to close the gap. it will be an upset if we beat bama or uga right now, but hopefully soon we’ll have a team that’s expected to win these games. I would only be disappointed if we beat ourselves this weekend, bad penalties, costly mistakes, dropped balls, things like that. having said all that, I know we’re an underdog here, but I really think we have a strong chance of winning straight up.

 

[jimed1]

Losing this game or the UGA game will not bother me because those teams are obviously stacked with great players and great depth. Losses to teams that are just better don't bother me. Caveat to that would be that UT doesn't beat itself with turnovers or poor execution. Just play a solid game and let the chips fall where they may. Losses to FL over the years have bothered me much more because they have sucked at times and still won the game. With that said, this is the first time in quite a while that I really think UT can win against both Bama and UGA .

 

[orchidvol]

If the Vols win, I'd consider Heupel a genius by reworking the clusterf#ck that Pruitt left behind to beat Florida, LSU, and Alabama in year 2.
If they lose, this season is still a huge win at 10-2 or 9-3 and realize we may need a little more depth to compete in games of this magnitude.

 

[Jeff Clark]

Okay.
So is your expected 2023 ..10-2 season also losses to Alabama and Georgia?

As of now yes

 

[DC_Vol]

I think we’ve got an outside shot at beating Alabama, but I don’t expect we will win this game. Their talent and depth is well ahead of where we are right now.

I’m worried about the meltdown that will happen if we do lose this game.

I expected an 8-9 win season this year. Initially expected Alabama and Georgia to be certain losses. I expected we’d take 2 of 3 from Florida, Pitt, and LSU. And have an outside chance of one loss between USC, Vandy, Kentucky, and Mizzou.

As far as I’m concerned, we’re playing with nothing to lose now. 9 wins is close to a sure thing. 10 is possible. A win against Bama would exceed all expectations.

 

[Zues1]

As of now yes

So 2024 before a sniff of getting to Atlanta?
Sounds familiar to Bobby Petrinos time at Arkansas.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Imo they need to beat Bama or Georgia.
10-2 sounds great but....

This, see here, this is how our expectations change over the course of a season.

Up front I need to say: not picking on Zues. He reflects most of us. We're all doing this. He simply provided an opportunity to discuss it.

Here was Zues (and many of us) Just four games ago, right before we played Pitt:

Every year someone starts a " feels like 98" thread.

Really bruh? Let's play 6 or so games before getting all giddy.

UTs playing a top 20 team this weekend, on the road. A team UT is 0-3 against. Anyone who thinks this is an easy undertaking is off course. Let's keep in perspective the number of ways Tennessee has come up on the short end of the stick in the last several years.

And this was his summary after the game:

Very fortunate to leave Pittsburgh with the win.

Totally fair comments, all of them. But very different from saying "meh, 10-2 sounds great, but IMO we need to beat Bama or UGa."

Here was Zues just two weeks later, leading into the Florida game:

I'll take a 1 point win. I mean it's Fla.

And here was him two weeks after that, going into LSU:

It's the next big game. It's definitely a game the Vols can win, but it's Baton Rouge and that's always going to be a hard road game to win.

These are not the pronouncements of a fella who thinks 10-2 is just okay, but we really need to beat Bama or UGa.

...

Again, I have to emphasize--NOT picking on Zues. This is all of us (well, many of us). We're moving the goalposts of our expectations.

And that's okay. It's perfectly fine. Folks reassess and refocus their goals all the time, in all walks of life. Football fandom is no different.

But it is also useful to remain grounded, to remember what came before, to not ENTIRELY lose sight of the pre-season expectations and what success would look like.

Because we're already there. We're smack dab in the middle of success. We are striding forward at a heady pace toward championship football.

It may not come this year. That's okay, because we can all tell it is coming.

Thanks, Zues, for representing the rest of us here. No negativity intended, at all.

Go Vols!