Category Archives: Today on Gameday

The coaching staff is using some of the extra time this week to speak directly to recruits, the firing of Butch Jones is not a forgone conclusion, and two more reasons that John Kelly is awesome. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Whispering into the other ear

In this week’s Gameday on Rocky Top Podcast, Brad and I debated the question of just how concerned we should be about two Class of 2018 commits re-opening their recruitment earlier this week. We both agree that there is cause for at least some degree of concern, but although he’s not all the way to “freak out” yet, he is much closer to that territory than I am. Brad is definitely in the majority, but I learned this morning that I am not completely alone, as Blake Morgan at SEC Country has now posted that he thinks fans may be overreacting as well.

None of us actually know at this point, of course, but the most important thing to take away from all of this is that the coaches are using the bye week to get their own message to recruits:

“The biggest thing is it gives us a chance to talk about our program,” running backs coach Robert Gillespie said. “Rather than the media talk about the program and what they think is going on inside of it. It gives us a chance to go out and put truth to the expectations and how our team is doing. Rather than reading it in the media and Twitter and all those things. It gives us a chance to let those guys see what is going on. So, we are excited about it.”

Only mostly dead

Of course, everyone is still talking loudly and often about Butch Jones, and although favoring one source over another may give a different impression, there does not yet appear to be a consensus about the future of Jones at Tennessee, which is probably as it should be. Gridiron Now’s Mark Nagi devoted some space to making the case for Jones, giving five reasons why firing him might not be the best thing in the world. SEC Country’s Mike Griffith did the same (while also balancing it out with five reasons why he should be fired anyway), and also points out in another article that if the team is still willing to do its part, then Jones may not yet be past the point of no return.

Mostly, the concerns about termination at this point come down to money, stability, and recruiting. For counter-arguments, open your Twitter app and wait a few seconds.

John Adams, by the way, told Paul Finebaum the other day that Vols fans are more enraged with Butch Jones than they ever were with Derek Dooley, which even in this day and age of the Extra Most Bestest is a bit much.

John [Fulmerized] Kelly

There are not one, but two more reasons today alone that John Kelly is the best thing on Rocky Top right now. First, he’s putting his personality on full blast and directing it on his teammates to rally the troops during the bye week:

Junior running back John Kelly said he’s put it on himself to help ensure that the team’s spirits remain high and the bond between the players continues to stay strong and grow.

“All you got to do is make sure you are focused on keeping the team together,” Kelly said on Tuesday. “That’s really the main thing that I focus on every day I come in here. It’s just how can I help us be a closer team, we are already a pretty close team, but it’s always improvements that I can make, that we can all make.”

And then, his response to his fumble in the Georgia game (which apparently may not have actually even been a fumble, but whatever), is classic Kelly. When asked if he would be more assertive in getting his coaches to challenge the call the next time, he did what John Kelly does, which is to smile first and then surprise:

“Man, next time I’m gonna score,” he said.

Quick hits

• The South Carolina game will be a noon kick. Boo.
• Defensive end Darrell Taylor, who got ejected for a frustration fight last week against Georgia, is almost certainly going to miss the first half of that game. That may actually force defensive line coach Brady Hoke, who is wanting more pressure from his front four and also to make better use of depth along the line by using eight to nine guys in the rotation, to actually do it right out of the gate. I hope he’s not waiting for my permission or something.
• Defensive backs coach Charlton Warren says that Shaq Wiggins is continuing to do well as his role continues to grow. Warren also gave an explanation for why they asked Trevor Daniel, the nation’s second-best punter, to rugby punt. Basically, they weren’t happy that Mecole Hardman was having such success returning Daniel’s long punts, so they wanted to change up where he caught it. Sigh. Okay. But me, I think I would have focused on changing on what the punt return coverage unit was doing wrong or even asking Daniel for more hang time or different placement rather than asking him to completely change the way he punts so dramatically.
• Evan Berry is reportedly getting better but is still not expected to be ready for South Carolina.
• Remember Jonathan Hefney? He suffered an injury not unlike the one that Inky Johnson suffered, although not quite as severe, in the CFL. He’s now used up his medical benefits but still needs some treatment. Read this article for the background and then donate a little something to his GoFundMe if you are able and inclined:

There is a GoFundMe set up now…here’s the link https://t.co/s2okhUJJMV Please pass it along. Thank you in advance for your love! ❤️💪🏾

— Jonathan Hefney (@ElHefney5) October 2, 2017

It’s an absolutely huge game tomorrow for the Vols when the 7th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs come to Neyland Stadium looking to avenge two consecutive losses to their rivals to the north. Based on the history between these two teams, it’s going to feature a fair amount of drama, as the last four games have all been decided by seven points or less. Peyton Manning’s going to be there. Brett Favre is going to be there in his Wranglers. SEC Nation is going to be broadcasting its pre-game show live from campus, and the game is the SEC Game of the Week on CBS.

It’s all hands on deck, and that includes you.

Yes, you. Defensive coordinator Bob Shoop is imploring Vols fans to make Georgia freshman quarterback Jake Fromm uncomfortable in his debut on the road in the SEC:

“This will be his first SEC road game, we’ve got to get Neyland rockin’ on Saturday,” Shoop said. “We’ve got to introduce him to what SEC football’s all about.”

It’s admittedly going to be a tough challenge for the Vols, who are 7.5-point underdogs at home. They are also still trying to establish an identity on offense, and the buzzards continue to circle above Butch Jones despite the attempts to shoo them away by the likes of none other than Phillip Fulmer and Peyton Manning.

And yet the players seem to be tuning all of that out just fine and are quietly going about their business. Game captains this week are junior running back John Kelly, senior defensive tackle Kendal Vickers, junior defensive back Rashaan Gaulden, and senior punter Trevor Daniel. And although Georgia may be one of two teams on Tennessee’s schedule that is more talented than the Vols, it’s not like Tennessee doesn’t have the nation’s most-elusive running back in John Kelly:

The SEC’s most elusive backs – led by Tennessee’s John Kelly. pic.twitter.com/5HZWvZCrAG

— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) September 25, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

and the second-best true freshman after four games in Trey Smith:

Before we kick off Week 5 tonight, here’s a look at our top freshman through the first four weeks of the season. pic.twitter.com/BM2YoOjNHQ

— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) September 28, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

and one of the SEC’s highest-rated defensive ends in Jonathan Kongbo:

PFF Week 4 – SEC Team of the Week – Defense pic.twitter.com/54c4ZH0vw4

— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) September 26, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

and one of the SEC’s most efficient tacklers in Daniel Bituli:

SEC’s most efficient tacklers are paced by a couple of Georgia Bulldogs pic.twitter.com/Do5Czr57V3

— CFB Film Room (@CFBFilmRoom) September 28, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

And with Georgia playing a more traditional style of offense, Tennessee will no longer have to choose between talent in Bituli and experience in Colton Jumper as both can get on the field and still leave room for a third talented linebacker in Quart’e Sapp.

Meanwhile, everybody’s weighing in on what the Vols need to do to pull off the upset against Georgia tomorrow:

• Our own Brad Shepard has five keys to a Vols victory over Georgia: we have to make Jake Fromm look like a freshman; slow Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, and D’Andre Swift; get the offensive groove back, get some turnovers, and band together as a team.
• I said in my Tennessee-Georgia statsy preview that the defense needs to strike the right balance between mitigating the damage inflicted by Georgia’s run game and protecting against the occasional deep pass.
• A Georgia beat writer says the Vols’ best chance is to exploit the Bulldogs’ secondary, as it hasn’t really been tested this season.
• SEC Country says that the Vols need to get off to a fast start and need improved quarterback play from Quinten Dormady, who’s thrown four interceptions and fumbled the ball twice already this season.
• And most importantly, it sounds like Butch Jones believes that the game will be decided on first down:

“Everything is about first-down efficiency,” he said. “When we talk about first-down efficiency, four yards, whether pass or run, is considered efficient. We have to be about 65 percent at first-down efficiency. When you look at scoring drives, most first downs occur on first or second down opposed to third down. When you go and look at the video from last week we had way too many 2nd-and-12 and 2nd-and-15 plays. Against a team like this, we have to be ahead of the sticks. Like I said on Monday, against this defense, a two-yard run can be a productive run. What we have to do is, stay ahead of the chains and work to eliminate negative yardage plays. That’s one of the critical elements of this game, staying on schedule, so to speak, on first and second down. They do a great job on third down, so we can’t be in third and long situations.”

Whatever happens, you’ll want to be there, and you’ll want to do your part, as it is shaping up to be a good one that has significant impact on the all-important SEC standings.

Also, you’ll want to stay in your seats at halftime tomorrow, as that’s when we’ll be honoring Peyton Manning by recognizing his induction into the National Football Foundation’s College Hall of Fame. Manning’s using his influence to get both coach Fulmer and coach Majors on the same field with him at the same time, and the Pride of the Southland Marching Band’s halftime performance is reportedly centered around Manning, so that should be interesting as well.

Go.

Vols.

Quick hits

• Don’t forget to download this week’s Gameday on Rocky Top Podcast.

• It’s not only a big game, it’s a huge weekend for Vols recruiting.
• The men’s and women’s basketball teams are going to host a Rocky Top Tip-Off on Friday, Oct. 13, at Thompson-Boling Arena from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The event, which is free, features an autograph session, team introductions, a three-point shooting competition, and a dunk contest.

Addressing that press conference yesterday, and moving on to actual reasons to be excited about Tennessee playing Georgia this week.

Butch Jones had a press conference yesterday, and . . .

. . . yeah, that was . . . something. Jones gave an odd response to a question about why Jauan Jennings hasn’t been on the sideline, and then he responded to a question about whether Shy Tuttle’s injury might have been caused by a teammate with a lecture about negativity, reality TV, and fake news.

Look, I think I understand Butch Jones. I’m on record as being an unapologetic cultivator of the optimism bias, and I have a raging allergy to negativity. He and I probably have that in common, which is likely a dangerous thing to admit this week. So forget I said that.

But . . . but, . . . that really didn’t help.

The odd thing is that the guys on ESPN’s College Gameday said some very similar things just a couple of days before:

The lesson here, I think, is that this isn’t a point you can make for yourself. That, and if your aim is to criticize the media, you probably don’t want to trial balloon that sucker with the media first.

Butch’s closing statement triggered a whole bunch of nonsense on Twitter, but that should have been the expected result. The smartest thing I read about the whole ordeal came from Mike Griffith at SEC Country, who said (a bit too, generously, I think) that Butch just continues to try too hard:

If recent history is any sort of indicator, most coaches would not have had much to say to either of the questions that seemed to irritate Jones, and some might have abruptly ended their press conferences.

But Jones continues to try to explain everything and say the right things, and in pressing to do so he produces explanations that not everyone has the perspective to understand.

As I said, the second part of that might actually be a little overly generous, but I think the point of the first part stands. I personally believe that Jones’ heart is in the right place, but he hasn’t yet learned when to say what. The only thing you can do when everybody’s in a mood is keep quiet and get back to work.

Speaking of getting back to work . . .

It’s Georgia Week

Yeah, so Georgia had a good weekend, and Tennessee had a bad one, so the stage is set for a blowout, right?

Maybe. But maybe not. Some are saying loudly that Jones is coaching for his job this weekend, but that doesn’t necessarily portend disaster. We’ve seen that movie before with a different cast of characters, as this wouldn’t be the first time that the Georgia game kept a season from going off the rails. And besides, the same thing that was so disappointing about last weekend is actually the same reason to be excited for this one:

Regardless of anything else, it’s a big game. SEC Nation is going to set up shop on Rocky Top, broadcasting live from the Ayres Hall lawn from 10 to noon Saturday. The school has announced that it’s a Checker Neyland game, so if you need to figure out whether to wear orange or white, you can do that here.

Lost in the hubbub of yesterday’s press conference is the fact that starting tight end Ethan Wolf and backup tight end Jakob Johnson both left the UMass game with injuries. Fortunately, the team expects at least one of them back for Georgia (Wolf, I’m guessing, as he wasn’t in a walking boot.) Also, Evan Berry is still out, but the team expects to have Jashon Robertson and Shy Tuttle back Saturday as well.

Expect the team to pull out all of the stops Saturday and possibly even take a look at a Wildcat package to give the offense another dimension and a spark.

Quick hits

Do you need more evidence that John Kelly is THE MAN? Well, here:

The SEC’s most elusive backs – led by Tennessee’s John Kelly. pic.twitter.com/5HZWvZCrAG

— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) September 25, 2017

Have you ever wondered what the point of those honorary coaches is? Well, here:

See what it’s like to be an Honorary Coach – https://t.co/sdgYUz5eic

— VFL Films (@VFL_Films) September 25, 2017

Rocky Top stops fretting about the running backs, turns its attention to Florida, and counts its Indiana State blessings. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Who’s no longer anxious about the running backs?

One of the concerns about the Vols heading into the season was the depth of the running back position. You had John Kelly, then a guy best known for causing a fumble that probably cost the team the South Carolina game last year, and then a handful of new guys we knew next to nothing about.

Well, never mind.

Kelly is, so far, everything we believed he would be. Carlin Fils-aime began re-writing his history Saturday, as he had 41 yards and two touchdowns on only three carries against Indiana State. Ty Chandler exploded onto the stage by taking the game’s opening kickoff all the way to the end zone, and the other newcomers got a chance to shine a little bit as well. Kelly’s the man, but there are two solid options behind him in Fils-aime and Chandler, and the unit has some extra added depth if needed, too.

Vols turn their focus to Florida

The Vols are now #23 in both the AP and Coaches polls, just ahead of Florida. And yet, Florida opened as 8.5 point favorites over Tennessee.

The early storylines are pretty much all the same reheating of last year’s leftovers: The Vols haven’t won in The Swamp since 2003. If that bothers you, just remember that this time last year the story was that the Vols hadn’t beaten the Gators at all in over a decade.

History also shows that Florida looked terrible against Michigan. The Gators played two quarterbacks against Michigan two weeks ago. One went 5-of-9 for 75 yards, and the other went 9-of-17 for 106 yards. Their running game gained 11 yards on 27 carries, and their offensive line gave up six sacks. Tennessee may have some issues, but so do the Gators.

The decision-makers are waiting until Hurricane Irma moves on before announcing whether the game will still be played in Gainesville this Saturday, but either way, the guys have turned their attention and focus to the Gators and sound like they’re going to be ready.

Quick hits

• Indiana State provided the Vols an opportunity to get a lot of new guys onto the field. A total of 15 true freshmen played Saturday, and 10 made their collegiate debuts. Wide receiver Josh Palmer and running back Ty Chandler got their first starts.
• Some additional great news for Team 121: defensive tackle Shy Tuttle was back in the game Saturday after a serious knee injury sidelined him again late last season.
• Among the things we learned about the Vols on Saturday is that while Jarrett Guarantano is talented and will be good for the Vols, Quinten Dormady is, without controversy, the team’s first string quarterback right now.
• Hidden away in Jimmy Hyams’ post-game blog is this sweet nugget about receiver Marquez Callaway: He has three touchdowns on only five receptions.
• Mike Griffith chose a good time to catch up with Casey Clausen, the last UT quarterback to beat Florida in The Swamp. Clausen was an awesome 15-1 on the road during his career as a Vol, with four of those wins coming at Alabama and Florida.
• Yesterday, VFL Jason Witten passed Michael Irvin and put his name first on the list for most receiving yards in Dallas Cowboy’s history.
• The Times Free Press has a nice feature on Paul Bain of Champs and his exceedingly strong will.

We’re five days away, and the options at quarterback for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff have been narrowed down all the way to six people. Also, everyone has an opinion on the outcome, but nobody’s putting any money on it. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Georgia Tech

247Sports says the smart call on the Tennessee-Georgia Tech game is to not bet any money on it due to neither team having named a starting quarterback yet. Well, that’s not exactly accurate: Georgia Tech has published a depth chart that identifies the starter as Matthew Jordan. Or TaQuon Marshall. . . . Or Lucas Johnson or Jay Jones.

Georgia Tech, the institute of innovation, breaking new ground with the revolutionary "triple-or" at starting QB. pic.twitter.com/lGVqDr0SGf

— Andy Demetra (@AndyDemetra) August 29, 2017

I’m going to check again tomorrow to see if maybe I’ve made the list.

And, of course, Butch Jones hasn’t announced yet whether he’ll be starting Quinten Dormady or Jarrett Guarantano, so that’s six potential quarterbacks for the season-opener.

So yeah, most folks don’t have any firm feeling about this game, but that doesn’t stop any of us from making our picks now, does it? A couple of 247Sports staff members have picked Tennessee to cover the three-point spread, even with linebacker Darrin Kirkland out. After all, Georgia Tech is without running back Dedrick Mills, who was dismissed from the team last week, and might also be without running back Clinton Lynch, who’s not been practicing.

Quick hits

• We posted our sort of unique method for baselining preseason expectations this morning. I’m settling in at 9-3 and won’t be surprised by 8-4.
• The staff at GoVols247 have all weighed in with their own predictions, and they’re all saying 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the SEC. They’re also marveling at the effectiveness of the buzzkill that was the end of the 2016 season, noting that many Vols fans are still wandering around in apathy even a mere five days away from kickoff.
• Paul Finebaum, though, thinks that Tennessee is going to have a big year, so there’s that. Which is nice.
• The Times Free Press seems to maybe sort of agree, as long as they do three things: Start well, stay healthy, and value the football. Good goals.
• Tennessee is sending the Big Orange Caravan to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game, and it’s just what it sounds like: a pre-game party for Vols fans. If you’re going to be in Atlanta, you should be there.
• I do love offensive coordinator Larry Scott’s no-nonsense answer to the question about his expectations for the Vols opener. Scott said, “Realistic expectations are to win — to score points and win, that’s the realistic expectation.” He sounds grumpy. Good.
• 247Sports thinks you should expect a breakout year for Vols wide receiver Brandon Johnson.
• Tight end Ethan Wolf is loving the competitive depth on the team this fall and says that it should help them overcome any injury attrition.
• When former 5-star recruit Jonathan Kongbo says that fellow defensive end Darrell Taylor is more athletic than Kongbo, it speaks volumes. Kongbo is also trying not to sound overconfident, but he can’t keep regular confident from escaping his lips: “I don’t think there will be a drop-off. I’ll just say that.”
• We’ve been hearing all offseason about the growing maturity of Vols cornerback Justin Martin, and Martin recently informed his Twitter followers that he’ll be avoiding the social media channel starting Sunday because he doesn’t want it to be a distraction. If you don’t think that’s a big deal, stop what you’re doing right now and count the people around you currently staring at their phones instead of lifting weights or studying playbooks. #GetOffMyLawnAndYourPhone
• CBSSports has an amusing and informational post of 25 things to watch this college football season, including a “Netflix or Ole Miss” quiz. Examples: “House of Cards,” “Stranger Things,” and “Walking Dead.”