Category Archives: Today on Gameday

If you read only one thing about the Vols today . . .

. . . make it this, from Grant Ramey:

• Tennessee Vols Football: The most explosive plays in Vols history

Lots of awesome video in this one.

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

1. Tennessee QB commit Brian Maurer recruiting for Vols at top prospects event, via KnoxNews
2. Tucker names Top 5, narrows focus as junior season looms, via VolQuest
3. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee OL Riley Locklear, via 247Sports
4. Munoz family among Ohio’s elite, via KnoxNews
5. Tennessee Vols Athletics: Vols still producing draft talent at high level according to ESPN ranking, via 247Sports

Behind the paywalls

• Update on JJ…., via VolQuest
• Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Elite OL Mitchell Mayes enjoys ‘everything about’ Vols on visit, via 247Sports

If you read only one thing about the Vols today . . .

. . . make it this, from Grant Ramey:

• Tennessee Vols Basketball: Vols’ success a ‘reflection’ of Rick Barnes’ leadership

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

1. Phil Steele Sees Talent That Can Help Tennessee This Year, via WNML
2. Tuesday’s top performers from The Opening: Southeast, via 247Sports
3. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee DB Cheyenne Labruzza, via 247Sports
4. College Basketball Top 25: The pressing question for every team in our preseason rankings – CollegeBasketballTalk, via NBC Sports. The question for Tennessee (ranked No. 7) is how they’ll adjust to being the hunted.

Rounding out the first half of our countdown, @TheAndyKatz delivers #15 to #11 in his Top 20 Returning Players for 2018-19! 👀 pic.twitter.com/xUX4C4tKmr

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) July 3, 2018

Behind the paywalls

• How college football coaches think changes to kickoffs will play out in 2018 – The Athletic, via The Athletic. Another terrific piece from The Athletic, this one looking at the strategies that might develop in response to the new kickoff rule.
• Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Five-star OT Wanya Morris ‘still with Tennessee,’ hearing from Auburn, via 247Sports. But not to worry. Not yet, anyway.
• Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Top juco DT Savion Williams schedules Tennessee visit, via 247Sports
• Recruiting news notes and buzz from The Opening Finals, via 247Sports

If you read only one thing about the Vols today . . .

. . . make it this, from 247Sports:

• Tennessee Vols Basketball: When it comes to expectations, Vols have ‘reference point’

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

1. Who will be the nation’s top QB in 2018?, via 247Sports. Everybody’s loving West Virginia’s Will Grier.
2. Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Four-star WR Ramel Keyton commit locked in with Vols, recruiting others, via 247Sports
3. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee WR Jacquez Jones, via 247Sports
4. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee RB Tim Jordan, via 247Sports
5. Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Vols CB target Jordan Huff decommits from Michigan State, via 247Sports
6. The Opening Finals: Top performers from Monday in the trenches, via 247Sports
7. Monday’s top performers from The Opening: Southeast, via 247Sports

Behind the paywalls

• Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Five Tennessee targets who could commit to Vols soon, via 247Sports

If you only read two things as a Vols fan today . . .

. . . make it these, from SEC Country and The Athletic:

1. Top 10 Tennessee football, men’s basketball moments since 1998, via SEC Country
2. The game within a game: Secrets of a college football signal stealer, via The Athletic

The SEC Country piece is Mike Griffith’s last for the shuttering SEC Country, and is a nostalgic trip down memory lane (with video) of Mike’s time covering the Vols.

The article on signal-stealing is from Bruce Feldman. The Athletic is a subscription-only site, but if you have access, you can’t miss this piece. It’s a really interesting look at the strategy of deciphering your opponent’s coded communications.

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

1. UT recruiting rankings didn’t match won-loss record under Jones, via Jimmy Hyams at WNML
2. Former Vol Josh Smith admits frustrations with Butch Jones, via 247Sports
3. Coming to ‘real terms’ helped Brian Maurer land at Tennessee, via 247Sports
4. Admiral Schofield makes SI’s top 60 prospects for 2019 NBA Draft, via 247Sports
5. Vols focusing on difference between ‘nice run’ and ‘great program’, via 247Sports
6. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee DE/LB Deandre Johnson, via 247Sports
7. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee safety Theo Jackson, via 247Sports
8. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee LB Will Ignont, via 247Sports
9. Offensive Linemen breakdown The Opening Finals 2018, via 247Sports
10. 78 of the greatest college football GIFs ever, via SB Nation

Behind the paywalls

• Top ranked offensive tackle Darnell Wright talks recruiting at The Opening Finals, via 247Sports
• Vols offer Taulia Tagovailoa opportunity to ‘write my own story’, via 247Sports
• Vols one of four teams ‘pushing Georgia’ for five-star WR Jadon Haselwood, via 247Sports
• Vols, Gamecocks ‘above all the other schools’ for four-star CB Jaydon Hill, via 247Sports

If you do only one thing as a Vols fan today . . .

. . . follow friend of the blog Josh Ward from his old podcast digs at SEC Country (which is shutting down) to his new Rocky Talk Podcast feed at SoundCloud.

Josh is really good at what he does, and his podcasts are conveniently bite-sized yet information-packed news bits about the Vols without the downsides of radio (excessive ads, lack of ability to time-shift the content to a schedule that works for you, etc.) Plus, he’s just a good guy. So do him a favor and be sure to migrate over to his new Rocky Talk Podcast feed with him.

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

1. 10 Questions for 2018: Special Teams
2. Vols Get Big Puzzle Piece With Commitment from QB Brian Maurer
3. Josh Smith reveals that Jauan Jennings’ miracle catch vs. Georgia was supposed to go to Jason Croom, via Saturday Down South. Jennings apparently went rogue here, too, but with better results than the time he did it on Instagram.
4. Only 28% of Vols roster has more than one start; UT by the numbers, via Vince Ferrara at WNML. Great compilation of games/starts information about this year’s team from Vince.
5. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee RB Princeton Fant, via 247Sports
6. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee DB Maleik Gray, via 247Sports
7. CFB analyst Mike Detillier weighs in on Tennessee QB Keller Chryst, calls him a ‘dink-and-dunk guy’, via Saturday Down South
8. CFB analyst Mike Detillier calls Jarrett Guarantano ‘erratic,’ but says he has potential, via Saturday Down South. So apparently, Detillier thinks our choices this fall are limited to “dink-and-dunk” or “erratic.”
9. Teams with the most commits at The Opening 2018, via 247Sports
10. With more responsibility, Vols want more aggression from Jordan Bowden, via 247Sports
11. The best (and worst) college football TV intro theme songs, via SB Nation. I haven’t actually made it all the way through this piece, but it looks promising.

Behind the paywalls

• Advice from Peyton Manning in hand, Brian Maurer decides to become a Vol, via The Athletic
• Bowden using offseason to build towards more success, via VolQuest
• DT Jared Harrison-Hunte says Vols ‘in my mind’ after camp, offer, via 247Sports
• Tennessee visit leaves four-star CB Jaydon Hill with ‘hard decision’, via 247Sports