Category Archives: Football
Updated projected win totals for the Vols after Week 2
The Vols did what they had to do this weekend against an outmanned ETSU Buccaneers team, and you have to give them credit for taking care of business. To be sure, there are still several obvious issues and many unanswered questions, but much of the new data this week was positive and increased hope for the future to a degree.
Meanwhile, former Vols opponent West Virginia blew out Youngstown State, which is also a positive. It’s not much more so than what they were expected to do, though, so while it’s a net positive, it’s not much of one.
As far as future opponents go, UTEP confirmed its tune-up status, and Florida’s loss to Kentucky made it look vulnerable to decent competition. The Gamecocks proved that they’re not yet an elite SEC team, yet we still don’t know how much of a gap there is between them and the rest of the SEC East. The Kentucky Wildcats must be taken seriously, and everybody else pretty much did what you expected of them.
On balance, it wouldn’t be accurate to call it a rosy picture for the Vols moving forward into the 2018 season, but it is indeed better than it seemed to be after Week 1.
And with that, my new expected win total after Week 2 is 5.45. Use the form below to calculate yours and post it in the comments below the post.
Explanations are below, but here’s the updated table of my expectations for the season:
Tennessee Volunteers currently
- Lost to #17 WVU*, 40-14
- Beat ETSU, 59-3
- UTEP, 12:00 PM ET
- Florida, TBD
- #3 Georgia, TBD
- #7 Auburn, TBD
- #1 Alabama, TBD
- S Carolina, TBD
- Charlotte, TBD
- Kentucky, TBD
- Missouri, TBD
- Vanderbilt, TBD
The Vols’ past opponents
West Virginia Mountaineers
Current record: 2-0 (0-0), 1st in Big 12
- Beat Tennessee*, 40-14
- Beat YSU, 52-17
- NC State, 3:30 PM ET
- Kansas St, TBD
- Texas Tech, TBD
- Kansas, TBD
- Iowa State, TBD
- Baylor, 7:00 PM ET FOX Sports 1
- Texas, TBD
- #15 TCU, TBD
- #24 Oklahoma St, TBD
- #5 Oklahoma, 8:00 PM ET
East Tennessee State Buccaneers
Current record: 1-1 (0-0), 3rd in Southern
- Beat Mars Hill, 28-7
- Lost to Tennessee, 59-3
- VMI, 1:30 PM ET ESPN+
- Furman, 7:30 PM ET
- Chattanooga, 7:30 PM ET ESPN+
- Gardner-Webb, 3:30 PM ET ESPN+
- The Citadel, 2:00 PM ET
- Wofford, 1:30 PM ET ESPN+
- W Carolina, 3:30 PM ET ESPN+
- Mercer, 3:00 PM ET ESPN+
- Samford, 1:00 PM ET
UTEP Miners
Current record: 0-2 (0-0), 1st in C-USA – West
- Lost to N Arizona, 30-10
- Lost to UNLV, 52-24
- Tennessee, 12:00 PM ET
- New Mexico St, 7:30 PM ET
- UTSA, 7:00 PM ET ESPN+
- North Texas, 7:30 PM ET
- LA Tech, 3:30 PM ET ESPN+
- UAB, 7:30 PM ET ESPN+
- Rice, 3:30 PM ET
- Mid Tennessee, 3:00 PM ET ESPN+
- W Kentucky, 7:30 PM ET
- Southern Miss, 3:00 PM ET ESPN+
Florida Gators
Current record: 1-1 (0-1), 3rd in SEC – East
- Beat Charleston So, 53-6
- Lost to Kentucky, 27-16
- Colorado St, 4:00 PM ET
- Tennessee, TBD
- #16 Miss St, TBD
- #12 LSU, TBD
- Vanderbilt, TBD
- #3 Georgia*, 3:30 PM ET CBS
- Missouri, TBD
- S Carolina, TBD
- Idaho, TBD
- Florida State, TBD
Georgia Bulldogs
Current record: 2-0 (1-0), 1st in SEC – East
- Beat Austin Peay, 45-0
- Beat #24 S Carolina, 41-17
- Mid Tennessee, 7:15 PM ET
- Missouri, TBD
- Tennessee, TBD
- Vanderbilt, TBD
- #12 LSU, TBD
- Florida*, 3:30 PM ET CBS
- Kentucky, TBD
- #7 Auburn, TBD
- UMass, TBD
- Georgia Tech, TBD
Auburn Tigers
Current record: 2-0 (0-0), 1st in SEC – West
- Beat #6 Washington*, 21-16
- Beat Alabama St, 63-9
- #12 LSU, 3:30 PM ET CBS
- Arkansas, TBD
- Southern Miss, TBD
- #16 Miss St, TBD
- Tennessee, TBD
- Ole Miss, TBD
- Texas A&M, TBD
- #3 Georgia, TBD
- Liberty, TBD
- #1 Alabama, TBD
Big game coming up for Auburn this week as they take on #12 LSU. We’ll know a lot more about them after that.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Current record: 2-0 (0-0), 1st in SEC – West
- Beat Louisville*, 51-14
- Beat Arkansas St, 57-7
- Ole Miss, 7:00 PM ET
- Texas A&M, TBD
- Louisiana, TBD
- Arkansas, TBD
- Missouri, TBD
- Tennessee, TBD
- #12 LSU, TBD
- #16 Miss St, TBD
- The Citadel, TBD
- #7 Auburn, TBD
South Carolina Gamecocks
Current record: 1-1 (0-1), 3rd in SEC – East
- Beat C. Carolina, 49-15
- Lost to #3 Georgia, 41-17
- Marshall, 7:30 PM ET
- Vanderbilt, TBD
- Kentucky, TBD
- Missouri, TBD
- Texas A&M, TBD
- Tennessee, TBD
- Ole Miss, TBD
- Florida, TBD
- Chattanooga, TBD
- #2 Clemson, TBD
Charlotte 49ers
Current record: 1-1 (0-0), 2nd in C-USA – East
- Beat Fordham, 34-10
- Lost to App St, 45-9
- Old Dominion, 6:00 PM ET
- UMass, 3:30 PM ET
- UAB, TBD
- W Kentucky, 3:30 PM ET ESPN+
- Mid Tennessee, 3:00 PM ET
- Southern Miss, 2:00 PM ET
- Tennessee, TBD
- Marshall, 2:30 PM ET ESPN+
- FIU, 2:00 PM ET
- FAU, 6:00 PM ET
Kentucky Wildcats
Current record: 2-0 (1-0), 1st in SEC – East
- Beat Cent Michigan, 35-20
- Beat #25 Florida, 27-16
- Murray State, 12:00 PM ET
- #16 Miss St, TBD
- S Carolina, TBD
- Texas A&M, TBD
- Vanderbilt, TBD
- Missouri, TBD
- #3 Georgia, TBD
- Tennessee, TBD
- Mid Tennessee, TBD
- Louisville, TBD
Missouri Tigers
Current record: 2-0 (0-0), 3rd in SEC – East
- Beat UT Martin, 51-14
- Beat Wyoming, 40-13
- Purdue, 7:30 PM ET BTN
- #3 Georgia, TBD
- S Carolina, TBD
- #1 Alabama, TBD
- Memphis, TBD
- Kentucky, TBD
- Florida, TBD
- Vanderbilt, TBD
- Tennessee, TBD
- Arkansas, 2:30 PM ET CBS
Vanderbilt Commodores
Current record: 2-0 (0-0), 3rd in SEC – East
Sunday Best: Humble — But Obvious — Beginnings for the Vols vs. ETSU
Editor’s note: With my esteemed colleagues taking care of the heavy postgame lifting as I’m handling my national college football obligations on Saturday, I wanted to do something a little different. Each Sunday from now through the end of the year, we’ll take a last look at the game before, pointing out some positives as we move through the various phases of the Jeremy Pruitt rebuild.
We’ll call it Sunday Best. Hope you guys enjoy…
***
A lot of times throughout life, we’re not put in ideal situations. But you try to get through them, put your trust in the right place and endure. The fervent hope is that you’ll get stronger because of the trials and, some day, you’ll be rewarded for the work you did in the face of them.
If you’re a believer, this should sound familiar.
If you’re a Tennessee fan, you should try to look at the 2018 season in the same frame of mind.
Those playing and coaching and cheering on the Vols through what looks like yet another rebuilding campaign don’t want to be here. Don’t you think all those kids in orange and white wish they were dominant and winning games week-in and week-out? Don’t you know somebody used to championships like Pruitt has a hard time accepting that this year’s roster is nothing like the ones he coached at Alabama, Georgia and Florida State? And, of course, we all want to recapture the glory days.
Those ain’t coming in ’18.
But, you know what? That’s OK. We all need to hope that we’re building something that will last, finding playmakers, improving from week to week and that somewhere, along the way, we’ll be stronger for it. For the Vols, hopefully that will materialize not only in the growth of the players and the growing number of dependable guys on the roster, but also in the win column.
We talked about finding out where we were starting from last week after the 40-14 loss to West Virginia, even if that starting point wasn’t where we wanted. Will talked about gaining another data point yesterday after the 59-3 shellacking of ETSU.
I want to talk about the steady improvement we want to see and what we saw. Yes, we could harp all day on the struggles of the offensive line and how a pass-rush [or lack of one] against SEC opponents will get you crushed. Both of those things are true, but if we choose to talk about those, we forget the positives, and this year should be about enjoying wins when they come and accentuating the positives when they do, too.
There won’t be as many of both as we’d like, but we need to open our eyes and actually acknowledge them when they come.
I know the level of opponent downgraded significantly from West Virginia to ETSU, but I tried to view Saturday through the lens of “just us.” Just look at Tennessee and look for improvement, look for growth, look for development. I saw plenty. If the Vols progressively improve each week throughout the year as much as they did from Week 1 to Week 2, we’ll be happy with the end-of-the-season final product, even if we’re not happy with the final record.
The defense played faster, more aggressive and corralled several game-changing plays such as Darrin Kirkland’s pick-six and Bryce Thompson’s athletic defensive presence. Offensively, the O-line was a disaster, yes, but if you weren’t encouraged by several individual performances, you’re too hard to please.
We saw exactly what we needed to see from a game against the FCS Buccaneers. There was no way we could cure all ills yesterday, and we didn’t, but we saw that it perhaps won’t be as bad as we thought. Let’s take a look at some of Sunday’s Best:
- Thompson followed fellow freshman Alontae Taylor’s Week 1 performance by having his own show-up-and-show-out spot against ETSU. The freshman cornerback finished with four tackles, including two for a loss, an interception and a pass breakup. He was all over the field and displayed speed and athleticism that UT lacks on the back end. The only bad thing was he started in Taylor’s place; not Baylen Buchanan’s. Once Thompson and Taylor can be trusted to be on the field at the same time, the Vols will realize their most athletic defensive backfield.
- Junior college defensive lineman Emmit Gooden led the team with eight tackles and a sack. The late addition to Pruitt’s class has two years to play in Knoxville and is already better than any other defensive lineman. He’s an encouraging building block for the remainder of this season and for the future.
- If you aren’t excited about the wide receiving corps and the emerging weapons, you’re too hard to please. Marquez Callaway is off to a red-hot start, and he looks like one of the league’s top receivers. Toss in the emergence of Jordan Murphy and Josh Palmer, and the Vols have some weapons on the perimeter. Murphy’s camp is paying off with some big plays in the season, and Palmer looks more confident and a step faster than he did at any point last season. Most importantly, he’s catching the football.
- Tim Jordan is a good, solid back, and we haven’t even seen Ty Chandler truly unleashed yet. But Jeremy Banks is a load to bring down, and he’s exactly the kind of running back the Vols have been missing since Montario Hardesty. He is a violent runner who hits the hole with authority and finishes runs. It’s not a stretch to say UT’s most assertive running back is its youngest, and Pruitt already praises his leadership ability. He could be a special piece to this puzzle. Banks already may be my favorite player on this team.
- Theo Jackson and Shawn Shamburger weren’t always in the right places Saturday, but they too [like Thompson and Taylor] upgrade the athleticism in the secondary, so this was a step toward them proving their value to the coaches. The simple fact is the Vols need better athletes in the secondary than Buchanan and Micah Abernathy. It’s up to those guys to step up.
- Finally, there are reasons to remain encouraged about Jarrett Guarantano and to feel good about Keller Chryst, too. With the O-line issues, both likely will be relied on throughout the year. Neither is dynamic and both have limitations, but they don’t look like the kind of signal-callers who’ll get you beat. We’ll see in two weeks against Florida.
Next week, Tennessee gets another patsy in UTEP. Boy, the Miners are awful, so we won’t know a whole lot about the development of the team then, either. But what we can see is blossoming confidence, important reps and opportunities to improve.
Somebody said to me yesterday in the midst of that ugly start: “Man, this offensive line and pass rush won’t cut it. If this was an SEC team, we’d be getting killed.”
To which I replied, “Good thing it isn’t. One of those doesn’t come for another couple of weeks. We’ve got more time to marinate.”
By the time the hated [and also flawed] Florida Gators come to town, who knows what kind of team we’ll be?
If things go the way they have so far, we’ll be better than we were this week.
Tennessee 59 ETSU 3 – Building Confidence One Play at a Time
When Derek Dooley was taking his first steps as Tennessee’s coach, the Vols faced an elite Oregon team in week two. Tennessee led 13-3 early and was still alive midway through the third quarter, down 20-13 but driving into Duck territory. Then Matt Simms was pick-sixed, and the floodgates opened: 21 additional fourth quarter points from Oregon turned a competitive game at halftime into a 35-point blowout.
Dooley noted Tennessee’s inability to handle adversity in the postgame: “I was real disappointed from then on (the pick six) with how we competed. You would have thought we were down 40 (instead of 14).” This became a recurring theme with Dooley’s teams: the head coach would (correctly) point out that they didn’t handle adversity well, while never making successful adjustments to help them do just that. The Vols folded against Florida two years later in much the same fashion, and Dooley was on the way out.
In his second full week on the job, Jeremy Pruitt noted Tennessee’s struggles when faced with adversity against West Virginia, specifically when getting denied thrice at the goal line in the second quarter as the offense was coming off the field on 4th-and-1 almost as a reflex. Even without being overly critical of the previous administration, it’s fair to say the Vols need to build confidence after a 4-8 season and a steep fall from the Top 10 in mid-October the year before. We all wanted to believe the new staff could make some of that happen right away; I’d imagine the players hoped for the same thing. Pruitt has the rings as a coordinator to sell that argument.
When it didn’t happen, and the Vols lost by 26 to West Virginia instead, players and fans alike had to reset their baseline. It was just one data point – and hey, maybe West Virginia will turn out to have as much in common with 2010 Oregon as possible – but it was the first impression, and it didn’t inspire as much confidence as we were wishing for.
Today was the second data point. And while you won’t be talking about what the Vols did against ETSU when the season is over, today was important in beginning to rebuild that confidence. How did the Vols do?
Defensively, very well. ETSU gained only 194 yards on 58 snaps (3.34 yards per play) and were just 2-of-15 on third down. The Vols grabbed a pair of interceptions, a particularly welcome sight for freshman Bryce Thompson after facing West Virginia the week before. Tennessee still struggled to get pressure on the quarterback, but gave hope that what we saw last week had plenty to do with the opponent. As I write, Will Grier is 20-of-25 for 292 yards and three touchdowns against Youngstown State.
Jarrett Guarantano was sharp again: 8-of-13 for 154 yards, hitting a couple of deep balls to Josh Palmer and Marquez Callaway. The latter followed up his 6-for-63 performance from last week with 5-for-78. Last year only two Vol receivers (Callaway and Brandon Johnson) finished the year with more than 200 yards; Callaway is off to another strong start and is fast establishing himself as Tennessee’s top target.
The running backs all had individual moments that popped. But the Vols weren’t as effective as you’d like against FCS competition: Tim Jordan (15-for-65) and Jeremy Banks (13-for-62) were okay, but the run blocking didn’t inspire the confidence we’re looking for.
The good news: UTEP is next, 0-12 last year and a 30-10 victim to FCS Northern Arizona last week. There’s more confidence to be built and more fine-tuning the Vols will need to face the Gators.
One early difference between Pruitt and Dooley (and Butch): the new guy admitted his own mistakes from last week, noting poor clock management at the end of the second quarter gave West Virginia a shot at three more points. Confidence is only, always earned. The new coach is doing it one play at a time too.
Tennessee 59, ETSU 3: Lightning strikes twice, but a different team this time
The Tennessee Volunteers finally found their stride after a second consecutive game delayed by lightning and rolled to a 59-3 rout of the ETSU Buccaneers Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.
The game got off to an ominous start for the offense, not unlike the way the team started against West Virginia last week. Against an outmanned Bucs team, the offense was held to a field goal on its first possession and then had to punt on its next two.
On the other side of the ball, though, the defense looked stout right out of the gate, giving up only 28 yards on four possessions before Vols defensive back Marquill Osborne blocked a punt, picked it up, and returned it for a touchdown.
When the game was paused for lightning with Tennessee up 10-0 early in the second quarter, it looked like the Vols would probably beat ETSU but come away not feeling much better about its offense.
But a different team returned to the field 45 minutes later and scored 28 points from the 9:27 mark of the second quarter to the 3:00 mark. More than the points, it looked like the team actually earned them.
The first drive after the unanticipated break was sparked by a 51-yard pass to Marquez Callaway and capped by hard-charging freshman running back Jeremy Banks. When the Vols’ Bryce Thompson intercepted ETSU on its first play of the next drive and returned it to the 3-yard line, Jeremy Pruitt called on Banks again, and he delivered in one try for a 24-0 Vols lead.
The Bucs offense managed two plays on its next possession before the quarterback threw another interception, this one to Vols linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. Kirkland returned it for a touchdown and a 31-0 lead.
Keller Chryst came in at quarterback for Tennessee at that point, and the points kept coming. Before it was all said and done, Osborne, Banks, Kirkland, Josh Palmer, Jordan Murphy, and Madre London all had Tennessee touchdowns.
Jarrett Guarantano was 8-13 for 154 yards, and Keller Chryst was 3-3 for 70 yards and a touchdown.
The three main running backs all had solid days. Tim Jordan led the way with 65 yards on 15 carries, but Banks had 13 carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns, and London had 8 carries for 47 yards and two touchdowns.
Three Vols receivers had over 50 yards. Marquez Callaway had 78, Murphy 75, and Josh Palmer 51.
The beginning of the game made you feel like it was going to be an extremely long season. If the offense couldn’t move the ball against ETSU, what in the world was it going to do against the SEC slate? But after the break, the team found its groove, and although it was an expected result against an over-matched opponent, Tennessee didn’t look much different than Florida did against Charleston Southern last weekend.
Tennessee gets another tuneup against UTEP next week before the all-important showdown with Florida on September 22.
Go Vols.
Your Gameday Gameplan: Tennessee-ETSU
It’s Gameday on Rocky Top, with the Tennessee Vols hosting the ETSU Bucs at Neyland Stadium this afternoon at 4:00.
Here’s the Gameday Gameplan for Vols fans. Where and when to find the Vols game on TV, what other games to watch, and what to listen to and read as you wait for kickoff.
When is the Vols game, and what TV channel is it on?
Here are the particulars for today’s Tennessee game:
- Kickoff: 4:00
- TV: SEC Network
- Official video streaming: ESPN
- Official audio streaming: Vol Network
- Live stats
The best other games for Vols fans to watch today
Here’s our list of games to watch today, curated just for Vols fans:
Saturday, September 8, 2018 | |||||
Away | Home | Time | TV | How | Why |
NOON SLATE | |||||
Nevada | Vanderbilt | 12:00 PM | SECN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | Future Opponent |
No. 18 Mississippi State | Kansas State | 12:00 PM | ESPN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | New coach |
UCLA | No. 6 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM | FOX | Channel Hop | New coach |
AFTERNOON SLATE | |||||
No. 3 Georgia | No. 24 South Carolina | 3:30 PM | CBS | Live (until 4:00) | Top 25 Matchup |
Arkansas State | No. 1 Alabama | 3:30 PM | ESPN2, WatchESPN | DVR | Future Opponent |
East Tennessee State | Tennessee | 4:00 PM | SECN, WatchESPN | Live | Go Vols! |
Youngstown State | No. 14 West Virginia | 6:00 PM | Check the score | Past Opponent | |
EVENING SLATE | |||||
Wyoming | Missouri | 7:00 PM | ESPNU, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | Future Opponent |
No. 2 Clemson | Texas A&M | 7:00 PM | ESPN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | New coach |
Alabama State | No. 7 Auburn | 7:30 PM | SECN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | Future Opponent |
Kentucky | No. 25 Florida | 7:30 PM | SECN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop - Priority | Future Opponents |
No. 17 USC | No. 10 Stanford | 8:30 PM | FOX | Channel Hop | Top 25 Matchup |
See also, this week’s full college football TV schedule.
GRT games and contests
While you’re waiting for the games to begin, make sure that you submit your answers to the GRT Guessing Game questions and update your picks for the GRT Pick ‘Em.
GRT game-week podcasts
And if you’re driving around this morning to get stuff done before kickoff, have a listen to this week’s podcastby subscribing via iTunes or Google:
Pre-game prep
And to catch up on on your pre-game reading, have a look at our game preview posts from earlier this week:
- Locks & Keys Week 2: The Bucs Stop Here
- Tennessee loses starting center Brandon Kennedy to season-ending knee injury
- Worth watching 9.4.18: Pruitt’s weekly press conference
- Updated projected win totals for the Vols after Week 10
- A Last Look at West Virginia Before Looking Ahead
- Competence vs Excellence
This will also serve as our game thread for the day. Hope to see you there.
Go Vols!
Locks & Keys Week 2: The Bucs Stop Here
Mediocrity reigned in Week 1 as my picks went 4-3. **Long, loud fart noise**.
The same can be said about the Vols. I didn’t pick them to win, but I think we all hoped it would be a little more competitive than what it was. It was about as awful of a start to the game as Jeremy Pruitt could have hoped.
In the picks, I got off to a scorching start, going 3-0 in my first three with Auburn covering 2.5, Ole Miss dominating Texas Tech despite being 2.5-point dogs, and South Carolina covering 29.5 against Coastal Carolina. Things sputtered after that with Kentucky-Central Michigan going over 49 (I bet the under), Notre Dame walloping Michigan (I picked the Fightin’ Harbaughs) and BYU beating Arizona despite being 11.5-point underdogs. Alabama covered against Louisville for the final 4-3 tally.
For the Vols, center Brandon Kennedy whiffed on his man on the season’s first snap, and Kenny Bigelow hit Jarrett Guarantano who lateraled Tennessee into a deep hole. It went downhill from there as Will Grier and West Virginia rolled out of the second half to a 40-14 win.
Now, FCS program ETSU and head coach Randy Sanders — yes, the former Vols offensive coordinator — come to town to [hopefully] cure all ills.
There’s nothing UT can do this week to make us feel better about life, but that doesn’t change the Vols needing some style points. So the keys this week will focus on things that NEED to happen for the Vols to give us warm-and-fuzzies, since it would be the program’s worst upset ever to actually lose.
Let’s get on with it.
KEYS
Play the young guys
As we all sat and watched Baylen Buchanan and Micah Abernathy, Jonathan Kongbo and Drew Richmond do what they’ve done in their entire careers, I found myself wanting Pruitt to just put in the new kids and let them take their lumps.
The Vols need to be better than they were against the Mountaineers to beat Florida, and the only way to do that is to upgrade speed and talent. That only can be done through recruiting, but they can do some things with players already on the roster that will help.
There’s no doubt defensive backs Alontae Taylor, Trevon Flowers and Bryce Thompson need to be on the field. JUCO transfer Kenneth George Jr. and possibly even freshman Brandon Davis could provide a spark, too. While it may be asking far too much for J.J. Peterson to see the field this week, he should if he physically can. Will Ignont and Quart’e Sapp getting more reps would be good for the linebacking corps, and DeAndre Johnson/Jordan Allen should get Kongbo’s reps.
It’s time to unlesash Cedric Tillman on offense, and Jeremy Banks needs a few carries, too. Finally, the Richmond experiment needs to fade into the distance. Younger offensive linemen need a crack at those snaps. It’s time.
With redshirts getting to play four games, why not even J.T. Shrout if the Vols are up big late? Let the kid throw some passes.
DWA NOW
The only time we saw Dominick Wood-Anderson catching balls against the Mountaineers, it was a fourth-down touchdown grab. Why not give him, say, six or seven opportunities to catch passes against ETSU?
Jarrett Guarantano played a good game in the losing effort to West Virginia, but he was far from perfect. He missed several reads, and the coaches need to let him know that he’s got a strong junior pass-catcher at tight end who looks like he could be in the NFL next year. He needs to utilize him.
DWA doesn’t do everything perfectly. He’s not the best blocker on the team, and he isn’t a polished route-runner yet. But he’s a weapon, and he’s one UT needs to be a massive part of this offense this week and especially moving forward against better competition.
I was hoping Wood-Anderson would be in the top three Tennessee pass-catchers this year. He’s good enough to be. Play him, and pass to him.
Disrupt the game
Let’s face it: If Tennessee can’t force fumbles, get interceptions and sack ETSU quarterbacks this week, the Vols aren’t going to be able to do it against teams like Florida, Missouri and South Carolina.
They certainly aren’t going to be able to do it against Alabama, Auburn and Georgia.
Yes, UT won the turnover battle against West Virginia, but it was by getting just one fumble. The Vols need to force at least three turnovers against ETSU and sack the quarterback at least three times. The Vols need to mix up some blitz packages and still stay vanilla. Tennessee should be able to stay very basic and wallop ETSU on talent alone.
If that doesn’t happen, it’s going to be a long season. It may be one anyway.
Run for 220 yards
The Kennedy-out-for-the-season news was a big blow this week for the Vols. Even though it was far from an ideal start for UT’s offensive line, there were some bright points against WVU. Now, the center is done, and Pruitt/Will Friend must mix and match yet again.
It looks like Ryan Johnson is going to start in the middle, and guys like Jerome Carvin, K’Rojhn Calbert and Riley Locklear will rep at guard along with starter Jahmir Johnson. It’s important the Vols stay healthy up front and find the right mix that works.
Everything SHOULD work this week. Tennessee’s offensive front must overpower ETSU, and no matter who the Vols run among Tim Jordan, Ty Chandler, Madre London and Jeremy Banks, they should get chunk yardage. There need to be breakaway runs and a dominant performance.
If the Vols can’t rely on the running game some throughout the year, it’s bad news.
Style points
The bottom line is Tennessee needs to win and win big. This needs to be some gaudy number that is a dominant performance on both sides of the ball. The Vols need some big gains, long touchdowns, fun individual performances and a eye-opening score.
Beat this team like you should. Send them home feeling like we felt last week.
Prediction
It’ll be lopsided, but not as lopsided as we want.
Vols 47, Buccaneers 16
LOCKS
Last week, I tried to go with what others told me; chose some numbers over my gut feeling and wound up in mediocrity. This week, we’re going with our first feeling, be darned. By the way, you should play Alabama -36.5 over Arkansas State, too. They’ll cover until they don’t, right?
- Mississippi State -9.5 over Kansas State: Nick Fitzgerald is back this week from his one-game suspension, and while Manhattan is historically a tough place to play, the Bulldogs are really good on both sides of the ball. This is a sleeper team to battle ‘Bama in the West. This one will get out of hand late.
- Memphis -4.5 over Navy: No Riley Ferguson? It wasn’t an issue in the first week for Mike Norvell’s team. The Midshipmen proved last week in Hawaii their defense has major issues, now they’ve come back across country to play another high-scoring attack? Roll with the Tigers.
- Cincinnati +2.5 over Miami Ohio: OK, it’s never this easy. But the Bearcats just went West and beat UCLA. Are you telling me Miami Ohio would beat Chip Kelly? Would you bet on that? Me either. Bearcats win outright.
- Missouri -17.5 over Wyoming: The Cowboys allowed 41 points to Mike Leach’s Washington State team last week, and the Cougars are very young on offense. The Tigers are seasoned, and Drew Lock is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Mizzou will cover easily.
- Maryland -16.5 over Bowling Green: The Falcons looked good early before allowing 58 points to Oregon a week ago. It’s possible the Terps will have a letdown game after an epic upset of Texas, but they’ll still score enough to cover, even on a sleepwalker.
- Fresno State +2.5 over Minnesota: This is the toughest pick of the week due to the clash of styles. A lot of folks thing the Bulldogs traveling across country to play a hard-nosed, P.J. Fleck-coached team bodes well for the Gophers. Give me Tedford and the high-flying Fresno O.
- TCU -22.5 over SMU: Sonny Dykes will have the Mustangs scoring a lot of points before long, but a 46-23 loss to North Texas a week ago proves they aren’t ready yet. Look for about the same score here from a better team than the Mean Green.
2018 college football TV schedule for Vols fans: Week 2
Friday
Friday, September 7, 2018 | |||||
Away | Home | Time | TV | How | Why |
No. 16 TCU | SMU | 8:00 PM | ESPN2, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | Top 25 Team |
Friday, it’s just about being able to watch some football. On a side note, there’s a new Corns Up t-shirt for the SB Nation Iowa State fan community Wide Right Natty Lite. They’re getting an early start for the Cyclones’ showdown with TCU in a few weeks.
Gameday
Saturday, September 8, 2018 | |||||
Away | Home | Time | TV | How | Why |
NOON SLATE | |||||
Nevada | Vanderbilt | 12:00 PM | SECN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | Future Opponent |
No. 18 Mississippi State | Kansas State | 12:00 PM | ESPN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | New coach |
UCLA | No. 6 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM | FOX | Channel Hop | New coach |
AFTERNOON SLATE | |||||
No. 3 Georgia | No. 24 South Carolina | 3:30 PM | CBS | Live (until 4:00) | Top 25 Matchup |
Arkansas State | No. 1 Alabama | 3:30 PM | ESPN2, WatchESPN | DVR | Future Opponent |
East Tennessee State | Tennessee | 4:00 PM | SECN, WatchESPN | Live | Go Vols! |
Youngstown State | No. 14 West Virginia | 6:00 PM | Check the score | Past Opponent | |
EVENING SLATE | |||||
Wyoming | Missouri | 7:00 PM | ESPNU, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | Future Opponent |
No. 2 Clemson | Texas A&M | 7:00 PM | ESPN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | New coach |
Alabama State | No. 7 Auburn | 7:30 PM | SECN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop | Future Opponent |
Kentucky | No. 25 Florida | 7:30 PM | SECN, WatchESPN | Channel Hop - Priority | Future Opponents |
No. 17 USC | No. 10 Stanford | 8:30 PM | FOX | Channel Hop | Top 25 Matchup |
The noon slot this upcoming Gameday is made for channel-hopping. Switch back and forth between an early look at future Vols opponent Vanderbilt and two games featuring a couple of other new coaches this season in UCLA’s Chip Kelly and Mississippi State’s Joe Moorhead.
The best game of the afternoon slot is a Top 25 matchup between two future Vols opponents in Georgia and South Carolina on CBS. With Tennessee playing FCS foe ETSU this weekend on the SEC Network at 4:00, no one will blame you for checking in on the Bulldogs-Gamecocks. You could also DVR the Alabama game that’s on at the same time, and be sure to check the score of the West Virginia game to see what they do against Youngstown State.
Full sortable and searchable college football TV schedule
Date | Away | Home | Time | TV |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fri Sep 7 | No. 16 TCU | SMU | 8:00 PM | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Nevada | Vanderbilt | 12:00 PM | SECN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | New Mexico | No. 5 Wisconsin | 12:00 PM | BTN |
Sat Sep 8 | No. 18 Mississippi State | Kansas State | 12:00 PM | ESPN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Western Michigan | No. 21 Michigan | 12:00 PM | FS1 |
Sat Sep 8 | Arizona | Houston | 12:00 PM | ABC, ESPN2 |
Sat Sep 8 | Duke | Northwestern | 12:00 PM | ESPNU, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Eastern Michigan | Purdue | 12:00 PM | BTN |
Sat Sep 8 | Georgia Tech | South Florida | 12:00 PM | ABC, ESPN2 |
Sat Sep 8 | Liberty | Army | 12:00 PM | CBSSN |
Sat Sep 8 | Towson | Wake Forest | 12:00 PM | ACCNE, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Georgia State | NC State | 12:30 PM | ACCNE, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | UCLA | No. 6 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM | FOX |
Sat Sep 8 | Holy Cross | Boston College | 1:00 PM | ACCNE, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Portland State | No. 23 Oregon | 2:00 PM | PAC12 |
Sat Sep 8 | William & Mary | No. 12 Virginia Tech | 2:00 PM | ACCNE, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Air Force | Florida Atlantic | 2:00 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | Kansas | Central Michigan | 3:00 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | No. 3 Georgia | No. 24 South Carolina | 3:30 PM | CBS |
Sat Sep 8 | Arkansas State | No. 1 Alabama | 3:30 PM | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Ball State | No. 8 Notre Dame | 3:30 PM | NBC |
Sat Sep 8 | Rutgers | No. 4 Ohio State | 3:30 PM | BTN |
Sat Sep 8 | Buffalo | Temple | 3:30 PM | ESPN3 |
Sat Sep 8 | Colorado | Nebraska | 3:30 PM | ABC, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Howard | Kent State | 3:30 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Memphis | Navy | 3:30 PM | CBSSN |
Sat Sep 8 | Morgan State | Akron | 3:30 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | North Carolina | East Carolina | 3:30 PM | ESPNU, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Wagner | Syracuse | 3:30 PM | ACCNE, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | East Tennessee State | Tennessee | 4:00 PM | SECN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Lamar | Texas Tech | 4:00 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | Southern Illinois | Ole Miss | 4:00 PM | SECN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | North Dakota | No. 9 Washington | 5:00 PM | PAC12 |
Sat Sep 8 | Iowa State | Iowa | 5:00 PM | FOX |
Sat Sep 8 | Appalachian State | Charlotte | 6:00 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Savannah State | No. 22 Miami | 6:00 PM | ACCNE, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | South Carolina State | No. 19 UCF | 6:00 PM | ESPN3 |
Sat Sep 8 | Youngstown State | No. 14 West Virginia | 6:00 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | Maryland | Bowling Green | 6:00 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | UMass | Georgia Southern | 6:00 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Eastern Kentucky | Marshall | 6:30 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Wyoming | Missouri | 7:00 PM | ESPNU, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | No. 2 Clemson | Texas A&M | 7:00 PM | ESPN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Southeastern Louisiana | No. 11 LSU | 7:00 PM | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Baylor | UTSA | 7:00 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | Florida A&M | Troy | 7:00 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Indiana State | Louisville | 7:00 PM | ACCNE, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Southern | Louisiana Tech | 7:00 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Texas Southern | Texas State | 7:00 PM | ESPN3 |
Sat Sep 8 | UAB | Coastal Carolina | 7:00 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | UL Monroe | Southern Mississippi | 7:00 PM | ESPN3 |
Sat Sep 8 | UT Martin | Middle Tennessee | 7:00 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Samford | Florida State | 7:20 PM | ACCNE, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Alabama State | No. 7 Auburn | 7:30 PM | SECN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Kentucky | No. 25 Florida | 7:30 PM | SECN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Arkansas | Colorado State | 7:30 PM | CBSSN |
Sat Sep 8 | Florida Intl | Old Dominion | 7:30 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | Fresno State | Minnesota | 7:30 PM | FS1 |
Sat Sep 8 | Incarnate Word | North Texas | 7:30 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Maine | Western Kentucky | 7:30 PM | ESPN+ |
Sat Sep 8 | Utah | Northern Illinois | 7:30 PM | ESPNN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | Virginia | Indiana | 7:30 PM | BTN |
Sat Sep 8 | Western Illinois | Illinois | 7:30 PM | BTN |
Sat Sep 8 | No. 13 Penn State | Pittsburgh | 8:00 PM | ABC, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | South Alabama | No. 48 Oklahoma State | 8:00 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | Cincinnati | Miami (OH) | 8:00 PM | ESPN3 |
Sat Sep 8 | New Mexico State | Utah State | 8:00 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | Nicholls | Tulane | 8:00 PM | ESPN3 |
Sat Sep 8 | Southern Utah | Oregon State | 8:00 PM | PAC12 |
Sat Sep 8 | Tulsa | Texas | 8:00 PM | LHN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | No. 17 USC | No. 10 Stanford | 8:30 PM | FOX |
Sat Sep 8 | UTEP | UNLV | 9:00 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | Sacramento State | San Diego State | 9:00 PM | |
Sat Sep 8 | UConn | No. 20 Boise State | 10:15 PM | ESPNU, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | California | BYU | 10:15 PM | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | No. 15 Michigan State | Arizona State | 10:45 PM | ESPN, WatchESPN |
Sat Sep 8 | San Jose State | Washington State | 11:00 PM | PAC12 |
Sat Sep 8 | Rice | Hawai'i | 11:59 PM |
Tennessee loses starting center Brandon Kennedy to season-ending knee injury
The Tennessee Volunteers got their first bit of really bad injury news this afternoon when they learned that starting center Brandon Kennedy suffered what is expected to be a season-ending knee injury in yesterday’s practice, as reported by VolQuest.
First of all, best wishes for a speedy recovery to Kennedy. This is his second season-ending injury, the first a broken leg in 2017 while playing for Alabama before transferring to Tennessee.
But this is a blow to the team as well. When we looked at the offensive players for whom it was most important to stay injury-free back in early August, we identified Kennedy and the other offensive linemen not named Trey Smith as third-most important, behind Jajuan Jennings and Smith.
Just as Pruitt was stressing the importance of continuity along the offensive line, Kennedy’s injury will likely result in Ryan Johnson moving to center. That will leave open a spot at guard that could be filled by Chance Hall, Jerome Carvin, or K’Rojhn Calbert.
Gameday on Rocky Top Podcast, Episode 148: The West Virginia criticism sandwich
Robo-Transcript below. Pardon the errors, as the bot understands neither southern accents nor football.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:00:13] This is the Gameday on Rocky Top Podcast Episode One forty eight. Joel Hollingsworth and I’m with Brad Shepherd tonight. Brad say hi.
Brad Shepard: [00:00:25] How are
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:00:25] No
Brad Shepard: [00:00:25] You.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:00:28] I was going to say you know all you’re saying is hey you know you’ve heard all your words spent over the game I guess probably we’ll get to that in a second. First I got an off topic question for you like last week and I’m asking this because I actually know the answer and I want you to to admit it. Like a Man on the air. So what is the last concert you attended.
Brad Shepard: [00:00:53] Oh no you’re a genuinely bad person. That would be Taylor Swift and Camilla Cabella. You know Nissan Stadium
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:01:07] All right.
Brad Shepard: [00:01:07] What have I done to serve this. Joel.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:01:09] This is this is because you’re a huge Taylor Swift fan or you have like a teenage daughter that you’re taking to the thing or what.
Brad Shepard: [00:01:16] Neither my. So my little boy has grown up loving Taylor Swift and my wife loves Taylor Swift and secretly I know a lot of Taylor Swift’s songs because I kind of have become a bit of a closet fan by osmosis is a sweetie if you will is what my wife
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:01:38] Swiftie
Brad Shepard: [00:01:38] Is yelling in the background. So
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:01:40] Nice.
Brad Shepard: [00:01:41] It was it was a good show. It’s one that if my wife has anything to say about it and she normally does in every aspect and facet of my life we will probably be acting again at some time. So it was
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:01:55] All right.
Brad Shepard: [00:01:56] It really was a good show though we had a good time and you know I have to have my genre of music that I listen to which is our Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson and Son Volt and that kind of stuff. But
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:02:10] You
Brad Shepard: [00:02:10] Hey
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:02:10] Know
Brad Shepard: [00:02:11] You
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:02:11] Those people
Brad Shepard: [00:02:11] Know
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:02:11] Are
Brad Shepard: [00:02:12] Me it is what it is it’s it’s I had fun with it. It was it was a good time and it made for some pretty funny social media. So
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:02:21] All right very nice. I’ll have to say my last concert I had to think about it was actually Switchfoot it was many years ago seeing my youngest or my oldest daughter. She was maybe 15 16 I took her to Asheville and I think is it the orange peel or something like that.
Brad Shepard: [00:02:39] I think so. This sounds more
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:02:40] Yeah. So I saw them there and those guys are just awesome. Love those guys.
Brad Shepard: [00:02:44] They really are good. I don’t love Christian rock but I mean me I’m a Christian and I don’t love Christian rock. I mean that they are. They’re very talented.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:02:54] Yeah. And you know it’s almost like they there’s I don’t know. You know they have such a deep philosophical insight without any pushiness or preachiness or anything so. And they’re just they’re just cool to you know. So anyway.
Brad Shepard: [00:03:09] Yeah. Much cooler than Taylor Swift.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:12] Very much cooler than Taylor Swift. Yeah I’d take them in a fight any time. Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:03:17] Yes yes
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:18] All right. So anyway back to the vault. The vault is opened the Jeremy
Brad Shepard: [00:03:22] We
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:22] Pruitt
Brad Shepard: [00:03:22] Have.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:23] Yeah we can keep talking about Taylor Swift if you would
Brad Shepard: [00:03:26] Let’s
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:26] Yes. Sounds
Brad Shepard: [00:03:27] Make
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:27] Like
Brad Shepard: [00:03:27] This the
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:27] You
Brad Shepard: [00:03:27] Taylor
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:27] Got more
Brad Shepard: [00:03:28] Swift
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:28] In
Brad Shepard: [00:03:28] Our guests.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:28] Here.
Brad Shepard: [00:03:30] I’ll feel a little bit more happy talking about Taylor Swift. She’s not she’s not bad to look at either. So but I guess we probably should talk about the ball since that’s it. That’s what they pay for. So
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:03:42] All right so the Jeremy Pruitt area era kicked off with sort of a tough outing against the West Virginia Mountaineers they lost 40 to 14. Will Greer his and his excellent wide receiving corps they they just played havoc with Tennessee’s largely inexperienced secondary and I think I wrote something like this earlier it’s kind of like not knowing the Pythagorean theorem on the AC T. And so you miss the Pythagorean theorem question 12 times. You know they did one thing really badly but they did it over and over and over again. And there were some other issues too. But let’s let’s do this. First let me get just your general impression and then after that I’m going to ask you to do sort of a praise critique sandwich so we’re going to have one thing that was good about the game. One thing that was really disappointing about the game and then followed it up with another thing that might be good if you can find two things. So
Brad Shepard: [00:04:51] Yeah I can find actually three things really stood out to me. That was good. But we’ll talk we’ll get to that later.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:04:56] You can make it a triple decker sandwich if you want so. But first just general impressions. How do you feel after that after the game.
Brad Shepard: [00:05:05] You know I’m disappointed. And as I wrote you know I blame myself for being disappointed and I think I’ve had a lot of time to kind of think about it and digest it for whatever reason this game kind of hit me harder than a lot of them in recent history. And you know we were Tennessee fans were tough we’re used to losing by now. But I think you know this is this is what I think I think you know I believe that we’ve been we’ve been reading practice reports and listened to practice reports. But the bottom line is the media gets to see one or two sessions of practice so they can’t tell us anything about the team with any real knowledge of really you know kind of having a roadmap or a daily road map to say these guys. And and that’s a major problem because what then happens is they have to rely on what they hear and more than that. What Jeremy Perrot tells them now that that doesn’t. I’m not trying to be contrary into everything that we’ve talked about how you know we’re we’re used to Butch line to us. And now I’m saying that Pruett’s line to us. I don’t think that’s the case at all. But if you’re if if you’re Jeremy Pruitt and you’ve just come from Alabama and Georgia and Florida stay where they have a lot of talent and they have a lot of athletes and they know how to have years upon years a foundation of recruiting and you come here and you kind of know what you have you know.
Brad Shepard: [00:06:45] I don’t think that and I said last week that and so this is me contradicting myself last week I said last week that I didn’t think it was the top that would blow a bunch smoke. Now I believe that you know after seeing them that he didn’t want to just come out and rip these kids and butches blind. You know as we all know Butch never blamed himself and never blamed his staff. And he he he would call people out. And I think that at this juncture Pru knows that he can’t do that and expect anything this year from this team he can’t do it. And feel good about you know recruiting and those guys you know want to jump on the ship so I feel like maybe he kind of thought that he could cover up some of the talent deficiencies scheme which is why you’ve heard him talk so much about him and fundamentals being you know a state chromos loss in. But I just I’m more than that and that’s I think that’s the reason why he’s accentuated the positives coming out of that game is because I think he knows what we have which is the reason he’s told plenty of recruits and recruits have them you know repeated in stories.
Brad Shepard: [00:08:02] They created it to say that this is going to be the worst year of the Paroo. But just because we’re building a program and we don’t want to hear that as fans but you know what we saw him Saturday is not as bad as it is not as bad as it. It’s not that I think it’s it’s it’s not the way it’s going to be every single week. I think it could get better. But I also am not sure that’s the worst what’s going to be this year. So you know I mean Alabama and Georgia those teams not only can they put up points but there are a lot more physical than West Virginia. So you know it’s going to be. It’s going to be a long season and you just hope that somewhere in the midst of all of that you know getting blown out which we hate to get blown out but all the in kind of in the midst of it you can find six wins. I think that there are possibly six wins on the schedule. I am less enthused about getting to 6 than I was a week ago. So
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:09:00] Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:09:01] You know.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:09:02] You
Brad Shepard: [00:09:03] Yeah.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:09:03] Said last week that you were thinking that they were going to beat Florida. Has that changed.
Brad Shepard: [00:09:09] You know I’ve got to I got an opportunity to watch Florida for a play about the same level of competition Tennessee’s going to play in the next couple of weeks. Ford did not do anything to impress me whatsoever. But Tennessee
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:09:21] You didn’t like
Brad Shepard: [00:09:21] Father
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:09:21] Daniel as
Brad Shepard: [00:09:22] So
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:09:22] Dance moves.
Brad Shepard: [00:09:23] I did not know that such a corn ball man. How I mean while he may kill it there. But man if he does it’s going to be in spite of himself. Oh no. But anyway.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:09:39] Yes all right
Brad Shepard: [00:09:41] I mean but you know I’m I’m curious I’m curious to see how Tennessee looks the next couple of weeks. Not because I think it’s going to tell us anything about what this means. But man they need some coffee right now. I mean I didn’t lie I didn’t like body language on a Saturday. I didn’t like you know just somebody. They played hard. It’s just like I mean to me it was a thought. And and you know at this point it is kind of that and so you know you want to get that out of the program and that’s that’s not there yet. But it’s also you know it’s also not an overnight fix. I feel bad for us as fans and for the kids that are on that team because there was some optimism going into the game and the kids were optimistic going into the game and they kind of got back down to earth and I think it was David Rubin or whomever. I can’t remember who it was but somebody who said you know what Saturday good did was give us a starting point and then I kind of expounded upon that and Mark Coleman said you know we know where we are and we know where we want to go but the hard part is going to be get in there and do something that we’re all just going to have to go through together and that goes from you know from fans to coaches to especially players and they’ve got to learn how to win and you know they’re not playing football right now
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:11:08] Yeah I think that was actually your buddy Wes not been. But
Brad Shepard: [00:11:11] What was or what yeah
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:11:12] I think it
Brad Shepard: [00:11:12] Not
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:11:12] Was
Brad Shepard: [00:11:12] Being
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:11:13] Yeah it was a good one. And I have to say I was a little surprised to hear you say that you saw a bad poor body language because I didn’t really feel like I saw any of that.
Brad Shepard: [00:11:27] I did. There was a couple of shots at the end of the game I think it was Osborne and maybe and I’m not calling out those kids man I mean you know you’re getting you’re getting crushed that point you’re disappointed. I don’t think it was bad body language like a solid Ireton open season opener
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:11:41] Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:11:41] Last year I don’t like that at
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:11:43] Ok.
Brad Shepard: [00:11:43] All. I just think that I probably use a bad a bad term it was more like just ject Aylin which is why I kind of went into that I feel bad for it because I think that they thought that they were a little more prepared to face that they were.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:11:58] Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:11:58] And you know that Tennessee legitimately are not trying to point fingers or not noses but they legitimately was slow as powerful team. I watched all weekend and I probably watched about 30 hours of football. So I mean that’s that’s discouraging
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:12:14] You know I have to say though we don’t really know how good West Virginia is. So you know a little bit more data will probably help in my Monday. I guess it was Tuesday. I’ve lost track of the week. Whenever labor day comes you know I you know I just I lose track of everything. But anyway I’m looking forward to seeing how Tennessee does against competition like the rest of the S.E.C. played because after last weekend it felt like oh man Tennessee is the worst team in the U.S. because everybody else is score 50 points. You know. But you know most of those teams did not play ranked teams they didn’t play good teams. Now Auburn did but they won. But you know it wasn’t like a runaway. It wasn’t a blowout either so I’m really looking forward to a little more data when everybody starts playing sort of comparable teams. So we’ll see how that goes. But about the praise sandwich let’s let’s let’s come up with one positive take away a negative take away and then finish with a positive takeaway.
Brad Shepard: [00:13:28] Yeah I mean my biggest takeaway was aired Tato I thought that you know I didn’t really know what to expect. And I don’t think any of us really I mean you know we had heard that even though Prewett had kind of a little more praise than we were used to on the team. He’d been a little bit you know he’d been kind of quiet about his quarterbacks and and Gerin Tano. I thought played within himself. He did not play. He didn’t throw any passes that should have been picked the other day. He really executed the offense really well thought he missed on a couple reads. I thought that he really could hit Callaway another couple of times. And you know what I was I was disappointed at some we’re talking about positive now but I was disappointed at Don’s a little bit with Hilton’s play calling in the first half especially but I really thought Gueron delivered the ball on Tom. I was really watching you know that that clock we talk about and I’ve talked about many times and I thought is it 10:00 was a lot better he rewrote the away from pressure a couple times delivered some extra IGCSE. You know the only time that he where we got he had a couple times when Kennedy with Doenitz center but you know including the first game which really put us in a bond. But Garen Tonneau really played a mistake free game and I think that’s something to really be encouraged about. And when you kind of expound upon that and really talk about you know the entire passing game I don’t think Timoci I think we just kind of saw because of what Tennessee and passing game can be because Palmer looked a ton better than he did last year. Jennings and Callaway. Calloway who looked exceptional. Jennings
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:15:11] Yep
Brad Shepard: [00:15:12] Played pretty well when he was in there
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:15:13] Yep
Brad Shepard: [00:15:14] And then dominant what Anderson looks like at the red. So I’m encouraged I’m really encouraged by Bob Gueron Tarnow number one and Bob the entire passing game that was much better than I really thought it would be. I thought the running game would kind of curious and and really you know those guys I felt like we should have passed. Football.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:15:34] Yep. Negative
Brad Shepard: [00:15:38] You know the negative thing more than the secondary because and that we talked about it last week and we wrote about it last week but when you have a young secondary with are when you’ve got a secondary that’s a mixture of older slow players and young athletes that have no idea what they’re doing. You absolutely have to help them by getting pressure on the quarterback and the defensive line. Slash pass rushers or just non-existence. Greer had all day throw football. They never harassed him. They were rarely hit him. And Greer was able to just kind of sit back there and dissect the defense. And that does not bode well. Everybody wants to say secondary Secondary secondary. I mean that’s that’s not fair to those kids. I mean because that’s what disappointed as anybody in Buchanan and Abernathy did. And I thought major warrior played a very poor game. I think we’re going to get better play out of him. But man those kids at times they were Letten slow moving plays developed and people were going Bonda because Greer had all the time in the world to put it to the football and the pass rush has got to get better. And even though I thought that Prewett made some bad calls by trying to call some corner blitzes and get those in would you ended up with safeties back there. Man coverage that killed Tennessee and they had end West Virginia exploited man coverage all night or all day. I really thought that it was trying to find a way to manufacture some sort of pass rush. And when you do that you’re going to leave players on arms that’s just you can’t you can’t season seven and have six back. You know there’s not that many out there. And I thought Timoci you know even when they blitzed they struggled to get the quarterback. And you can’t do that when you’re inexperienced and and or not talented. And so the
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:17:40] Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:17:40] Pass rush was it has to improve.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:17:44] Yeah
Brad Shepard: [00:17:44] And at this point
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:17:44] I’m sorry. Are
Brad Shepard: [00:17:48] I
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:17:48] You
Brad Shepard: [00:17:48] Was
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:17:48] Down
Brad Shepard: [00:17:48] Just going
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:17:48] With
Brad Shepard: [00:17:48] Say
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:17:49] The negative
Brad Shepard: [00:17:49] At this point you well know I’m at this point you have to try other people you have to really hope that that Jordan Allen and really hope that you know Andre Johnson those guys you have to play those kids because they’re not going to be any worse than what a guy like cango was on Saturday. They’re just not so polite and you hope Lott comes home in the game these next two games are for fonde and some of those guys maybe Peterson that has absolutely no idea what he’s doing right now but is super talented I mean maybe you get these feet the feet wet against some of these teams that they can’t beat you and try to find some players that can get to the quarterback. Because if Tennessee can’t manufacture pass rush Jake Bentley drew law to tag Ebola and I can’t ever pronounce his name. But Kyle Shurmur and guys like that are going to kill us or
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:18:41] Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:18:42] It is going to kill us.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:18:44] Mine is the center. He had it he had a rough start for one year but that sounds just like that just a you know a brain problem. You know just real quick. Right. So everybody makes mistakes. But there were a couple of those. And then the thing I was really disappointed in just watching one of the replays after he missed a couple of blocks on a play the I think it was Jordan still got outside but he was just jogged into the play you know so it was effort on top of making those mistakes for me on that one. So I hope that was just a just a one game thing that he’s going to learn from it and get better because he seems like he’s got the talent for it. Hope he will Opie gets it together. Last last last positive unless
Brad Shepard: [00:19:38] Well
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:19:38] You want to
Brad Shepard: [00:19:38] As
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:19:38] Do
Brad Shepard: [00:19:38] Much
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:19:38] Too.
Brad Shepard: [00:19:38] As I
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:19:39] You
Brad Shepard: [00:19:39] Want
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:19:39] Can
Brad Shepard: [00:19:39] To say
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:19:39] Do two.
Brad Shepard: [00:19:40] Well now I’ll touch on the one that nobody wants to talk about because it’s not sexy enough. But I was worried about I was worried about special teams I thought that Joe Doyle did a good job on the football. I mean that’s something that didn’t really matter in this game but it’s going to matter it’s some game down the road. And and that was encouraging because I mean these are Edger Reisz Rennies or Verga you know and they beat out the the you know the number two corner in the nation and authority plenty pretty well the other day. And I think that Tennessee you know they need some consistency after losing a guy like Trevor Daniel who just beat out veteran Shane Lechler for the Texans and you know you don’t you don’t just replace golfers like that and Doyle did a really good job the other day. So I was encouraged by that because that’s going to be that’s going to be big later in the season when you know after the gauntlet Tennessee runs and again some of those teams that maybe you know it’s a little more on only an even keel an even playing field was dinsey. But you know the other thing that really was encouraging was Jim Jordan. I mean you know that guy know we we saw kind of you know glimpses of what he could do in the spring game. And I thought that you know this is this is this is the guy they recruited Ptomaine say we want to about Booch I’ve said plenty but that was a root recruiting evaluation Jim. I thought it was a really good pickup when they got him there only a couple teams that liked and he was a basketball player remains an accolade.
Brad Shepard: [00:21:10] And you know Tennessee North Carolina there was another team I can’t remember who won Ole Miss or somebody who only had there for you know legit offers and it came down to Tennessee North Carolina and they were able to get Jordan to come come to Tennessee and that kid you know he’s athletic and not only as yet licky runs heart and he runs with that protest trust me and said the other day on Monday I believe it was watching watching him run makes me want to play harder. And that’s your bell Cal talk and you know the best player thing. And so I’m not I still believe it’s going to be a running back by committee Chandler and do some things that other kids on that offense can. I thought London had a couple good hard nose runs and but you know Tennessee was really struggling to move the football on the ground early and it helped her go into that little that little catch of the old talls pitch to the agent in Jordan you know Jordan might surprise us and I don’t know how those plays are going to work against Alabama Georgia. You’re going to have to have a tough runner at those times because those names are going to hit you. And you know Jordan I’m not saying he’s going to be a thousand yard rusher this year because or motos that the offensive lines got improves inefficiently but the halo is like a very good player. I’m really excited to see how he develops over the next three years. He’s one of those guys I feel like no kid can be a major part of this moving forward.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:22:34] My second positive just just because you mentioned that you were sort of disappointed and Hilton’s play calling. I actually was kind of pleased with it. The fact that things were were so bad early on and it wasn’t just because player’s mistakes it was that he was trying to run into a box that was stacked against the run. You know and he didn’t just say you know I know this will work eventually if we just keep going to it. You know he actually changed
Brad Shepard: [00:23:03] Where are
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:23:03] What he was doing and started having success. So I was I was happy to see that adjustments on the fly. Not waiting for halftime. Not waiting for the next game. Or never. You know. So we’re beginning to run out of time a little bit. So give me 60 seconds on what you want to see against you this week.
Brad Shepard: [00:23:26] Well I mean you know I’d like to see Tennessee expand the passing game a little bit. I want to see them run a more vertical. Things often simply that that’s really what I’d like to see. I want to see them you know run some deep patterns use the center of the field a little bit more. We said run some slants and crosses. It seems to me that they are not utilizing that part of the field and Tennessee never did it in the Bush era. So I don’t know if it’s just might be the beef gave them in the first Goodhand but I really really like as as I mentioned I really like what I see from the receiving corps so I’m curious to kind of see that develop and want to see you know what Anderson more are involved in the passing game. So that would be that be what I would like to see on offense and you know defensively are really they as I said they’ve got to manufacture a pass rush so she’s not going to beat you if you run. JJ Peterson out there for 24 blades even even though that could get literally just got on campus. I don’t know that he’ll play this week because I know that there’s like an acclimation
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:24:32] Yeah
Brad Shepard: [00:24:32] Period after the NCAA clears you.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:24:34] You’d
Brad Shepard: [00:24:34] So I’m not saying
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:24:35] Have to
Brad Shepard: [00:24:35] That
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:24:35] Play
Brad Shepard: [00:24:35] You
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:24:35] Just
Brad Shepard: [00:24:35] Run
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:24:35] In shorts.
Brad Shepard: [00:24:38] In the game
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:24:39] Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:24:40] You know at this point he would probably still start. But no I’m just kidding. But you know. But I mean seriously throw him to the side and let’s let’s talk about Andre Johnson. Let’s talk about it. I mean the Allen kid the JUCO it for him from San Francisco. Let’s talk about you know Austin Smith I mean a guy that I’d like to see you know a little bit more of a woman. Let’s pin the ears and have some guys that can get after to the quarterback. I mean you don’t ever want to say anything negative about a kid. But. I’ve seen Jonathan Kombo fall off a block maybe two or three times in his entire career. TIMOCI so maybe you know maybe the lot’s going to come on but I didn’t see a whole lot Saturday that made me have a lot of faith in it. So let’s trust some other thing. Let’s try some other players and just because they can get the quarterback issue doesn’t mean the candidates order. But you know Tennessee’s got to play some kids got to try to make some things up. And we’ve got to try to find some sort of semblance of a pass rush and the front 7
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:25:51] Yeah I want to see a score
Brad Shepard: [00:25:53] Or
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:25:53] That looks like the ones that are SGC brethren put up against their cupcakes something that’s going to make me feel like we can have hope against Florida. That’s what I want to see. So
Brad Shepard: [00:26:07] Like a 55 to 3 or something.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:26:09] Yeah you know
Brad Shepard: [00:26:11] Yeah.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:26:11] At least getting close to 50 and holding them understand 10 something just a blowout as long as it’s a blot. Want to see it that’s probably bad expectation to go into a game with. But that will make me feel better. So and right now I just want to feel better. So
Brad Shepard: [00:26:27] Sure absolutely.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:26:28] Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:26:29] I mean we’re we need that because we’re not going to have no we’re talking about maybe five or six field good games this year. So that’s
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:26:38] Yeah
Brad Shepard: [00:26:38] If that’s it. I mean 6 if we’re if we’re really happy
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:26:41] Yeah
Brad Shepard: [00:26:41] And that’s you know that’s that’s that’s bad. And that was not good. So
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:26:45] Yeah.
Brad Shepard: [00:26:46] Let’s be happy this week
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:26:48] All right. Well that’ll do it for the game day Aracataca podcast please subscribe via iTunes or Google and give us orating give us a review. Bonus points if you use the words next. Randy Sanders and you have to spell it
Brad Shepard: [00:27:07] Nobody
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:27:07] And
Brad Shepard: [00:27:07] Wants to see it
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:27:08] You have to spell it e KayKay ID. Alternatively you can get bonus points for using the word Taylor Swift or to.
Brad Shepard: [00:27:18] But not but not make it tailors with
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:27:21] No we don’t want that. No. Well that might be good for hits I don’t know. But anyway so for Brad Shepard I’m Joel Hollingsworth and this has been the game to rocket up podcast.
Brad Shepard: [00:27:37] That got to look for my wife.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:27:40] Well as it should.
Brad Shepard: [00:27:42] Because
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:27:42] We need a chaperone
Brad Shepard: [00:27:43] It’s your
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:27:44] For you. You also confirmed to by the way that you have no idea what 60 seconds is.
Brad Shepard: [00:27:50] No.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:27:50] So
Brad Shepard: [00:27:51] No not at all. Oh big I’m capable of doing anything in 60 seconds
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:27:59] I’ll leave that one alone.
Brad Shepard: [00:28:01] Yeah look it up.
Joel Hollingsworth: [00:28:02] Yeah.
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