Author Archives: Joel Hollingsworth

BlountVols edges out spartans100 to win Week 2 of the Gameday on Rocky Top Pick ‘Em Contest

Congratulations to BlountVols, who, along with spartans100, went 17-2 in the Gameday on Rocky Top Pick ‘Em Pool this week. BlountVols wins by virtue of the Fun Office Pools tiebreaker and gets a free Gameday on Rocky Top t-shirt from our custom tee store, Web Community Tees:

Gameday on Rocky Top Logo Tee

BlountVols, watch your GRT inbox for a direct message from us on how to get your tee.

Here are the full results for this week:

Rank Participant W-L Points Tie Breaker
1 BlountVols 17-2 179 13-38**
1 spartans100 17-2 179 7-51
3 Phonies 15-4 174 7-37
4 TennVol95 in 3D! 15-4 173 13-55
5 jfarrar90 15-4 172 17-45**
5 wreckvol 15-4 172 17-52
7 Knottfair 15-4 170 10-42**
7 OriginalVol1814 14-5 170 10-45
9 dgibbs 16-3 169 7-48**
9 jeremy.waldroop 15-4 169 10-51
11 LuckyGuess 15-4 168 10-48**
11 ChuckieTVol 15-4 168 3-56
13 alanmar 14-5 167 13-48
14 Raven17 15-4 166 6-48
15 birdjam 16-3 165 13-48**
15 mariettavol 15-4 165 13-49
15 CajunVol 16-3 165 14-49
15 Displaced_Vol_Fan 15-4 165 10-54
15 Drew 14-5 165 0-0
20 PrideofTheSouthlandFan 14-5 164 10-35**
20 waltsspac 16-3 164 14-41
20 daetilus 14-5 164 17-48
20 ThePowerT 14-5 164 14-52
24 bking 15-4 163 20-31**
24 Sam 15-4 163 7-62
24 C_hawkfan 14-5 163 19-52
24 biologydropout 15-4 163 0-0
28 rsbrooks25 15-4 162 9-45
29 joeb_1 15-4 161 9-38**
29 boro wvvol 14-5 161 10-35
29 tdrb42 14-5 161 3-56
29 rockhopper78 14-5 161 6-55
33 rollervol 15-4 160 10-45
34 rockytopinky 13-6 159 14-50
35 VillaVol 14-5 158 17-27**
35 GeorgeMonkey 13-6 158 14-45
37 Will Shelton 13-6 157 10-41**
37 mmmjtx 13-6 157 7-45
37 Volfan2002 14-5 157 14-49
37 mmb61 13-6 157 13-52
37 BritishVol 13-6 157 0-0
42 Volboy 14-5 156 6-51
43 PAVolFan 13-6 155 10-34**
43 TNann 13-6 155 0-0
45 crafdog 14-5 154 13-47**
45 RichVols 13-6 154 17-55
45 vols95 12-7 154 17-56
45 The Alyas Greys 15-4 154 17-63
45 jstorie1 13-6 154 17-66
50 mobilevol 15-4 153 10-40**
50 rudydog 15-4 153 14-52
50 ltvol99 14-5 153 7-59
50 IBleedVolOrange 13-6 153 17-52
50 patmd 14-5 153 21-49
50 chuckiepoo 13-6 153 13-59
50 MeytonPanning 15-4 153 21-56
50 BZACHARY 14-5 153 0-0
58 Jahiegel 13-6 152 16-49**
58 Anaconda 13-6 152 0-0
60 utkjmitch 15-4 151 10-45**
60 EVOL 13-6 151 3-52
60 UNDirish60 14-5 151 0-0
60 waitwhereami 14-5 151 0-0
64 Joel @ GRT 13-6 150 10-48**
64 PensacolaVolFan 14-5 150 10-50
66 edgarmsmith 14-5 149 20-28**
66 CNMcCreary 15-4 149 10-49
66 tpi 14-5 149 0-0
69 over754ut 12-7 147 17-38
70 ed75 12-7 144 10-56
71 ctull 12-7 143 7-34
72 DinnerJacket 13-6 141 10-48**
72 HUTCH 14-5 141 6-31
72 VandyVol 13-6 141 17-45
75 ddayvolsfan 12-7 140 10-49**
75 KeepsCornInAJar 12-7 140 10-21
75 Techboy 12-7 140 0-0
78 aquasox 13-6 137 14-42
79 Jrstep 12-7 135 17-44
80 1hoss2 12-7 132 7-54
81 Harley 12-7 125 13-52
82 sncdaisy 14-5 119 10-35
83 jobliner 12-7 115 10-24
84 Gman15 9-10 111 17-34
85 Timbuktu126 10-9 105 7-24
86 DCVFL 6-13 99 0-0
87 Dylan pickle 9-10 98 14-24
88 ga26engr 10-9 97 16-32
89 PaVol 5-14 85 0-0
90 901Vol 0-19 84 -
90 T dog 0-19 84 -
90 kmchugh 0-19 84 -
90 wedflatrock 0-19 84 -
90 SouthernDCist 0-19 84 -
90 Rossboro 0-19 84 -
90 memphispete 0-19 84 -

 

And here are the current overall standings after Week 2:

Rank Participant W-L Points
1 BlountVols 35-4 377
2 Knottfair 32-7 372
3 TennVol95 in 3D! 32-7 369
4 wreckvol 32-7 368
5 CajunVol 34-5 367
6.1 spartans100 35-4 366
6.2 dgibbs 33-6 366
8 jfarrar90 32-7 365
9 alanmar 33-6 364
10.1 Displaced_Vol_Fan 33-6 363
10.2 OriginalVol1814 32-7 363
12.1 mariettavol 34-5 362
12.2 LuckyGuess 33-6 362
12.3 biologydropout 34-5 362
15.1 PrideofTheSouthlandFan 32-7 360
15.2 rockhopper78 32-7 360
17 jeremy.waldroop 33-6 359
18 Drew 32-7 357
19.1 ChuckieTVol 33-6 356
19.2 rsbrooks25 32-7 356
19.3 boro wvvol 31-8 356
19.4 tdrb42 31-8 356
23 VillaVol 31-8 355
24.1 birdjam 33-6 354
24.2 joeb_1 32-7 354
24.3 Phonies 32-7 354
24.4 rollervol 32-7 354
28.1 waltsspac 33-6 353
28.2 Raven17 31-8 353
30 ltvol99 31-8 351
31.1 EVOL 29-10 350
31.2 chuckiepoo 31-8 350
33.1 daetilus 31-8 349
33.2 Volfan2002 32-7 349
33.3 GeorgeMonkey 29-10 349
36 waitwhereami 32-7 348
37.1 TNann 31-8 347
37.2 RichVols 31-8 347
39.1 PAVolFan 31-8 346
39.2 vols95 30-9 346
41.1 Volboy 31-8 345
41.2 ThePowerT 30-9 345
43.1 C_hawkfan 31-8 344
43.2 Joel @ GRT 31-8 344
45.1 Sam 31-8 341
45.2 UNDirish60 31-8 341
47.1 mmb61 29-10 340
47.2 over754ut 29-10 340
49.1 utkjmitch 33-6 339
49.2 Will Shelton 28-11 339
51 mmmjtx 29-10 338
52 MeytonPanning 31-8 337
53.1 bking 31-8 336
53.2 KeepsCornInAJar 30-9 336
55 patmd 28-11 335
56 rockytopinky 31-8 334
57 ctull 30-9 331
58.1 rudydog 31-8 330
58.2 aquasox 31-8 330
60 1hoss2 31-8 328
61 BZACHARY 27-12 326
62 tpi 30-9 325
63 crafdog 30-9 324
64.1 edgarmsmith 29-10 323
64.2 Jahiegel 30-9 323
66.1 mobilevol 31-8 322
66.2 Jrstep 29-10 322
68.1 jstorie1 28-11 321
68.2 ddayvolsfan 29-10 321
68.3 Gman15 29-10 321
71 DinnerJacket 28-11 317
72 IBleedVolOrange 27-12 309
73 ed75 27-12 306
74 sncdaisy 30-9 301
75 PensacolaVolFan 27-12 286
76 DCVFL 21-18 285
77.1 CNMcCreary 29-10 283
77.2 BritishVol 27-12 283
79 kmchugh 18-21 277
80.1 ga26engr 27-12 276
80.2 memphispete 18-21 276
82 Anaconda 13-26 275
83.1 Timbuktu126 25-14 273
83.2 901Vol 18-21 273
85 SouthernDCist 16-23 265
86.1 Techboy 22-17 264
86.2 Rossboro 16-23 264
88 jobliner 12-27 238
89.1 wedflatrock 0-39 207
89.2 T dog 0-39 207
91 The Alyas Greys 15-24 154
92.1 HUTCH 14-25 141
92.2 VandyVol 13-26 141
94 Harley 12-27 125
95 Dylan pickle 9-30 98
96 PaVol 5-34 85

Gameday on Rocky Top Guessing Game Results: Indiana State

In this week’s Guessing Game, Will Shelton (and charles matthews) hog all the mushrooms, but lose ground anyway, as Fatso extends his lead. Four other players have solid performances in Week 2 as well, including Dave Strunk and Sam, who both go from right near the bottom to right near the top.

The full results are below. This week’s questions will go up sometime Friday.

Top 10 as of the end of last week

Fatso 8
Will Shelton 6
GoVols365 6
PaVol 5
btpenley 4
LTVol99 4
Jayyyy 3
Drew 3
RockyTopinKY 3
Dave Strunk 2

 

Round 1

Q: At which point does the second true quarterback get his first snap at quarterback? (2-10 points)

A: First quarter (4 points); First half (2 points)

Three players got the safe two points for guessing the first half, and six others got the full four points for guessing the first quarter.

Mushrooms: Will Shelton and charles matthews

Bananas: Rockytop01 and Displaced_Vol_Fan

Blue shells and bolts: None

Top 10 after Round 1:

Will Shelton 9
Fatso 8
Dave Strunk 6
Harley 5
PaVol 5
Evan 5
Marietta Vol 4
Daetilus 4
wreckvol 4
LTVol99 4

 

Round 2

Q: The Vols allowed 535 rushing yards last week. How many do they allow this week?

A: 101-150 (122)

A whopping 15 players get this right and get five points for it.

Mushrooms: Marietta Vol and Rockytop01

Bananas: Evan and LTVol99

Blue shells and bolts: None!

Top 10 after Round 2:

Fatso 13
Harley 10
Marietta Vol 10
Will Shelton 9
Daetilus 9
Jayyyy 8
Joel Hollingsworth 8
RockyTopinKY 8
Dave Strunk 6
charles matthews 6

 

Round 3

Q: Who is the first Vol to catch a pass from a Tennessee QB?

A: Brandon Johnson (5 points)

Only two players got this right: Dave Strunk and Sam.

Mushrooms: Will Shelton and charles matthews (hey, wait a minute . . . how did that happen?)

Bananas: Fatso and vfl_mks

Blue shells and bolts: No blue shells, but Alyas Grey draws a thunderbolt. The next question belongs to him and only him.

Top 10 after Round 3:

Fatso 12
Dave Strunk 11
Harley 10
Marietta Vol 10
Will Shelton 10
Sam 10
Daetilus 9
Jayyyy 8
Joel Hollingsworth 8
RockyTopinKY 8

 

Full table

W1 R1 R1 Sub R1 Specials R1 Total R2 R2 Sub R2 Specials R2 Total R3 R3 Sub R3 Specials R3 Total
Fatso 8 8 8 5 13 13 13 -1 12
Dave Strunk 2 4 6 6 6 6 5 11 11
Harley 1 4 5 5 5 10 10 10 10
Marietta Vol 4 4 4 5 9 1 10 10 10
Will Shelton 6 2 8 1 9 9 9 9 1 10
Sam 0 0 5 5 5 5 10 10
Daetilus 4 4 4 5 9 9 9 9
Jayyyy 3 3 3 5 8 8 8 8
Joel Hollingsworth 1 2 3 3 5 8 8 8 8
RockyTopinKY 3 3 3 5 8 8 8 8
charles matthews 0 0 1 1 5 6 6 6 1 7
Josh Farrar 1 1 1 5 6 6 6 6
PaVol 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Alyas Grey 0 0 5 5 5 5 THUNDERBOLT 5
Gr82baTNVol 0 0 5 5 5 5 5
TennVol95 0 0 5 5 5 5 5
Rockytop01 0 -1 -1 5 4 1 5 5 5
vfl_mks 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 -1 4
Evan 1 4 5 5 5 -1 4 4 4
wreckvol 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
LTVol99 4 4 4 4 -1 3 3 3
Drew 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Displaced_Vol_Fan 1 2 3 -1 2 2 2 2 2
cscott95 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
NJ Vol 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Raven17 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Volfaninsc 0 0 0 0 0 0

Tennessee Vols vs. Indiana State Sycamores: game thread

Last Monday night, it was “Football Time in Tennessee,” but only kinda sorta because “Football Time for Tennessee in Georgia this week because we’re on the road to start the season” sounds like a Daniel Tiger song, cramming square peg words into round hole melodies. You’ll be singing it ALL DAY LONG, but it’s never going to make the Top 40.

But today, it’s actually all caps “FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE” for real, as the Vols host the Indiana State Sycamores in their home opener at Neyland Stadium this afternoon at 4:00 p.m.

The SEC Network has the broadcast, and David Neal, Matt Stinchcomb, and Dawn Davenport are the broadcast personalities.

This is your Gameday on Rocky Top game thread. If you haven’t signed up for the Guessing Game yet, you can do that here all the way through kickoff.

Go Vols!

Use your words and say how you feel below.

The GRT “Other Games” Game Thread – Week 2

We hope you’re heading up/down/over to Neyland Stadium for the Vols’ home opener this afternoon, but there’s a fair amount of other games to watch today as well. Hang out with us here while you’re watching.

Note that the several games have been canceled, postponed, and/or moved due to Hurricane Irma, including the Florida game against Northern Colorado that was supposed to kick at noon, so be wary of any college football TV schedule posts live out there on the internet.

There will be a separate game thread for the Vols, which will go live later.

Will Shelton on WNML’s Sports 180: Wondering what we know about Tennessee after Georgia Tech

 

Yesterday afternoon on WNML’s Sports 180 with Josh & Will (West), Will Shelton discussed the takeaways from the Georgia Tech game, the benefits of a better rhythm of this year’s schedule compared to last year’s, and whether and to what degree he feels better about the Vols’ chances to win the SEC East when after one game every East team seems to have its own flaws. They also talked about Marquez Callaway and the receiving corps, and they’re hoping and expecting to see many more players on the field against Indiana State this afternoon.

Listen to Josh & Will’s Sports 180 show every weekday from noon to 3:00 at AM 990 in Knoxville and at SportsRadioWNML.com online. Will Shelton is on with them every Friday at 1:30. You can also subscribe to their podcasts by clicking the button below.

The Gameday on Rocky Top Guessing Game: Indiana State edition

It’s not too late to participate in this season’s Gameday on Rocky Top Guessing Game. If you are wondering what that is exactly, you can find out everything you need to know here. Last week’s results are here.

 

Let’sa go!

  1. Submit your answers to our three questions below.
  2. Click the “Submit” button.
  3. Copy and paste your answers in the comments below.
No Fields Found.

Good luck!

Indiana State Sycamores preview: Somebody’s in for a long day

The Statsy Preview Calculator is still shuffling about in front of the coffee pot murmuring something about being awake so early in the season, so we’re going to leave it be for another week until it regains its happy disposition.

And what are one game’s worth of FCS stats going to tell us, anyway? So, let’s just take a quick look at what Indiana State did last year just to see what, if anything, they did well at their own level.

The 2016-17 Indiana State Sycamores Offense

 

Offensive observations. What we’re looking at is a pass-heavy middle-of-the-road FCS team. The passing offense was decent, but the rushing game was non-existent, and if they didn’t get it done on first or second down, they didn’t get it done. That’s good news for a tired Vols defense looking to gain some confidence heading into the Florida game next week.

The 2016-17 Indiana State Sycamores Defense

 

Defensive observations. Not to pile on here, but apart from the apparent ability to take turnovers to the house, those numbers suggest that the Sycamores appear to play defense a little bit like trees on golf courses. Maybe they’ll present a problem if you try to run right through a bunch of them huddled together, but if you stay on the fairway, you should be fine.

The 2016-17 Indiana State Sycamores Special Teams

 

Special Teams observations. Indiana State actually looks like they could be a bit salty on special teams, however. They can block kicks and punts, and they do a pretty good job on kickoff returns, both returning them and covering them.

The 2016-17 Indiana State Sycamores – Turnovers and Penalties

 

Turnovers and penalties observations. I’m not sure exactly what to make of these turnover numbers. It appears that Indiana State had some excitement in the form of balls on the ground last season, as they recovered a whole bunch of them, but also lost a bunch of them themselves.

Players to Watch

As mentioned earlier, the Sycamores’ passing game appears to be the strength of the team, and the reason for that is quarterback Isaac Harker, who’s returning this season as a redshirt junior. Harker passed for 2,559 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. Unfortunately for Harker, his top two receivers from last year — Robert Tonyan and Miles Thompson — are gone, and it showed in his first game of the 2017 season. Coaches actually benched Harker after the first half in favor of Cade Sparks, who also struggled. In all, four guys had a total of seven receptions the entire game.

The running game was a different story last week, though. The team lost running back Roland Genesy, their leading rusher from last year, but Lamonte Booker, who was a starter before missing the 2016 season with a knee injury, is back for a redshirt senior season. Booker had 154 yards on 31 carries last week against Eastern Illinois, so he’s no pushover.

On defense, no one really stands out. Defensive end Kenyota Rollins had three sacks and nine tackles for loss last season but didn’t even start last week. Senior defensive lineman Evan Gill did get his name attached to three assists on sacks, and two other guys — sophomore linebacker Inoke Moala and junior defensive back De’Jaun Tyson — each had a sack of their own.

Somebody’s in for a long day

As I wrote in the preseason magazine, Indiana State is staring down a major challenge. As an FCS team that went 4-7 overall and 2-6 in conference last season, they’re heading into Neyland Stadium with a new head coach and not enough returning starters to take on the Tennessee Volunteers. If the Big Orange struggles against the Sycamores, it will be cause for concern.

College Football TV Schedule and Rooting Guide for Vols fans: Week 2

The bad news for Week 2 of the college football season is that somebody decided to schedule all of the best games in the same time slot. The good news for Vols fans is that that time slot is Saturday night, and you probably have time to get home from the Tennessee game to channel hop your evening away.

Thursday, September 7

 

Really, if you have something to do this evening, you might want to just do that instead of watching a game on Facebook Live. Then again, you might want to watch it just so you can tell your kids you remember the days when you watched football games on a television.

Friday, September 8

 

Ditto Friday, I guess. I mean, seriously, how did we go from having a week’s worth of good college football games spread out over five days the first week to cramming it all into four hours Saturday night?

On the other hand, if you want to tune in to see Mike “I’m an old man now, I’m 50” Gundy, feel free.

Gameday, September 9

 

Okay, let’s talk about a few things here. We’ve had that discussion about whether and under what circumstances to root for other SEC teams once this season already. As you can see from that table up there, I’m rooting for SEC West teams this week, but I’m on the fence about SEC East rivals this week. We can probably all agree that rooting for whatever outcome is best for Tennessee is the proper thing to do, but what’s best for Tennessee is difficult to determine.

So, which non-Tennessee SEC teams are you rooting for this weekend?

Oh, and I’m rooting for Oklahoma over Ohio State as long as Urban Meyer’s a Buckeye, and I’m rooting for Missouri over South Carolina because the Tigers have a more difficult SEC West schedule (Auburn and Arkansas) than the Gamecocks (Texas A&M and Arkansas).

 

Reminder: Get your picks in for the Gameday on Rocky Top Pick ‘Em

Here’s your promised reminder to get your picks in for the Gameday on Rocky Top Pick ‘Em. If you haven’t joined yet, it’s not too late even for the season-long contest. Head over to Fun Office Pools, find the Gameday on Rocky Top pool, and pick away.

Each weekly winner gets a  Gameday on Rocky Top T-Shirt shipped to your door. This comes in the form of a $25 coupon code to our sister store, Web Community Tees, where you can choose the options for your tee (color, size, garment, speed). You can also use it toward the purchase of a hoodie or sweatshirt or long sleeve tee or ladies or kids garments instead. The overall winner (the one with the most points when the entire regular season is complete) gets a $100 coupon code. This may be to Web Community Tees or to the store here at Gameday on Rocky Top.

Official Rules.

The Gameday on Rocky Top Podcast: Takeaways from the Georgia Tech game

In this week’s Gameday on Rocky Top Podcast, Will, Brad, and I chat about:

  • What we learned from the Georgia Tech game that might translate into the rest of the season (1:00 mark);
  • Our early objective assessment of Quinten Dormady, Tennessee’s passing game, and the target rates for pass catchers in the absence of Jauan Jennings (14:30);
  • What, if anything, we learned about the defense that translates the rest of the year (27:50);
  • Bob Shoop’s decision not to rotate defensive linemen (31:50);
  • The linebacker situation going forward (33:30);
  • The passivity/timidity of the defensive alignment and the defensive linemen against Georgia Tech (35:30);
  • Getting the two best linebackers on the field (37:40);
  • The impact of the game on our estimated win probabilities the rest of the way (40:00) (Referenced post: How do we feel about the Tennessee Vols the rest of the way?);
  • Next week’s Gameday on Rocky Top Podcast for Florida week and the various flaws of the SEC East teams (48:30);
  • Downfield blocking by Marquez Callaway and the rest of the receivers (51:30); and
  • A better-paced out schedule in 2017, starting with Indiana State this week (52:50).
 Have a listen below or by downloading from iTunes.