One of the plays I remember most from the 2016 win over Florida happened early, not late. That game still stands as the “best win in Neyland since ________”, with plenty to celebrate. But anxiety was the keyword on the front end after the Vols struggled with Appalachian State, then […]

Whatever you want to talk about from Saturday night, the most important piece of information from Monday afternoon is: And thus, Week 8 of the Expected Win Total Machine rides on (slightly) steadier legs: The Vols opened at +29 against Alabama, which is down to +27.5 on Monday afternoon. Before […]

What’s the most meaningful story for Tennessee coming out of that game? The way Tennessee played Tennessee’s health going forward Poor officiating Injuries, real or otherwise Some fans throwing trash onto the field Spoiler alert: the answer should always be the first one. Controlling the controllables, as multiple coaching staffs […]

In 2010, updates and renovations to Neyland Stadium capped attendance at 102,455. Gone were the days of, “Let’s see just how many human beings we can get in here,” with a new attendance record always, in theory, just one or two more ushers away. That mark will probably forever stand […]

On the Monday of Bowling Green week, we wrote our season preview: What Is Possible Today. It was post-idiot optimist, but still preseason, still time for plenty of regular old optimism to creep in. Our community expected win total was 6.74. We talked about what might take place: struggles, early […]

When you look at Tennessee’s stat rankings, start at the bottom. In the last few years, there’s always been so much to choose from in how the Vols could improve: 125th in completion percentage allowed. 119th in third down conversions. 105th in throwing touchdowns in the red zone. We could […]

Here comes a fun week: It’s the midway point of the regular season, and chances are you’re projecting Tennessee to finish with more wins than you did in Week 1. It’s especially impressive considering the way optimism tends to sneak its way in during fall camp, no matter how far […]

It’s just hard to know what to expect, at least for me. What’s an appropriate level of cynicism after all these years? What are healthy boundaries around our hearts: still beating orange blood, but hey, our doctor said to take it easy? Even after last week. And even after last […]

It’s been easy, in hindsight, to frame a lot of last week as, “LOL Mizzou’s defense.” I’ve done it too. And now, that’s leading us head first into, “LOL Carolina’s offense,” on the front end this week. And sure: take away pick sixes, and the Gamecock offense scored 13 points […]

The good vibes live on into Wednesday, the non-stop highlight reel of last Saturday turning the corner to reframe a visit from the Gamecocks this week. The Vols are -10.5 as I type. In the last four meetings, the Vols have been -2.5, +9, +4, and -4.5 last year. What […]