My Predictions for the 2016 Tennessee Vols football team

[kwc]

WHEW Tennessee wins 20-13 in Overtime! I think App State is a better team than Virginia Tech who Tennessee plays next week.

 

Well ... Virginia Tech now has Coach Fuentes, from the U of M, as their new HC. VT isn't going to play Beamer Ball anymore. I think VT will be better then App State.

[BigDave1967]

If Tennessee doesn't get their act together Tennessee could be looking at another 8-4 season.I've been posting on Tennessee Vols Message Boards and the Vols fans aren't happy at all with last night's performance.

Edited September 3, 2016 by BigDave1967

[osunut2]

Part of me wants to say that Tennessee just assumed that they could keep things vanilla and cruise against App State, all while looking ahead to Bristol. That certainly would explain why the team looked so flat. But given the preseason hype, why in the world would you not want to make an opening statement at home (against a "lesser" opponent) to open the season? That to me is very concerning. I expect a LOT of questions will be answered this week.

 

If this really was a gameplan/motivation issue, I expect Tennessee to come out and beat Va Tech by 20+. But if the offensive line and Dobbs really are the problem, this isn't a 10-win team. Personally, I think Tennessee takes care of business this week. However, playing Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M, and Alabama in consecutive weeks will tell the real story.

[MrLegit1772]

Wonder if geogia will grip 8 places after surviving against their nobody team like we did

[DandDD]

Winning ugly.  A lot of talent on this team but they're not always showing it. In 3 games we've played fairly well in 3 halves. That's not gonna get it in the SEC boys.  I blame the coaches and the leaders on this team for not being ready to go and for their lackluster play. Better get ready boys. The Gators are coming to town.

GO VOLS!

[osunut2]

Winning ugly.  A lot of talent on this team but they're not always showing it. In 3 games we've played fairly well in 3 halves. That's not gonna get it in the SEC boys.  I blame the coaches and the leaders on this team for not being ready to go and for their lackluster play. Better get ready boys. The Gators are coming to town.

GO VOLS!

Well said. +1

 

Last year, this was a team that appeared to be motivated to prove that they were capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone, and they did just that. The problem was that they were still learning how to actually finish and win big games, hence the collapses against Oklahoma and Florida. Sadly, even though this year's team returned just about everyone, they look like they've been listening to the offseason hype for WAY too long. They look like they're just going through the motions at times. The offensive gameplan hasn't helped either. About the only thing on offense that has worked with any consistency is the read-option QB keeper.

 

Going in to the game against Ohio, Tennessee was recovering 92%(!) of all loose footballs. That is an insane stat. And now, they've added even more to that, recovering all 5 of their own fumbles against the Bobcats. Imagine what this team's record would be if they were only recovering ball at a 50-60% clip (which would still put them in the top tier of all D1 teams).

 

Fortunately, the Gators don't have very much on offense. Whoever can muster 20 points is probably going to win this game.

[DandDD]

Well said. +1

 

Last year, this was a team that appeared to be motivated to prove that they were capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone, and they did just that. The problem was that they were still learning how to actually finish and win big games, hence the collapses against Oklahoma and Florida. Sadly, even though this year's team returned just about everyone, they look like they've been listening to the offseason hype for WAY too long. They look like they're just going through the motions at times. The offensive gameplan hasn't helped either. About the only thing on offense that has worked with any consistency is the read-option QB keeper.

 

Going in to the game against Ohio, Tennessee was recovering 92%(!) of all loose footballs. That is an insane stat. And now, they've added even more to that, recovering all 5 of their own fumbles against the Bobcats. Imagine what this team's record would be if they were only recovering ball at a 50-60% clip (which would still put them in the top tier of all D1 teams).

 

Fortunately, the Gators don't have very much on offense. Whoever can muster 20 points is probably going to win this game.

I agree. probably going to be a low scoring game. Turnovers will be a factor. In most of the years in this series the team that is successful running the ball wins (I guess that is the case in any football game). Our O line is going to have to step up or it will be a long day.