A shout out, first of all, to Josh Heupel and the football team. There was more than one scenario here where we would’ve wanted to start the basketball conversation much sooner. Instead, it’s really a perfect setup: a first glimpse is available while the football team is off tomorrow, if […]
Author: Will Shelton
Third Downs: Quality in Quantity
Whether trying to keep up with an elite rival or finding themselves in a toss-up, the margins are thin for this Tennessee team. We’re accustomed to saying that in a coach’s first year, when it’s often led to blowout losses. But these Vols went deep into the night in Gainesville […]
Expected Win Total Machine – Bye Week
The final third of the season features the Vols against #1, chances to get wins five and six, and a trip to #12 Kentucky that should make the difference between six and seven. The questions this week then: Do you give the Vols a better chance against Georgia than you […]
Tennessee at Alabama Preview: Race For Your Life
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 […]
Expected Win Total Machine: Hendon Hooker Day-to-Day Edition
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 […]
Ole Miss 31 Tennessee 26: What do you want to talk about first?
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 […]
People Will (Still) Come
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 […]
What Is Possible Now
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 […]
Can the team that plays fastest be the team that makes the fewest mistakes?
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 […]
Expected Win Total Machine – Week 7
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 […]