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
- Beat Mid Tennessee, 35-7
- Beat Nevada, 41-10
- #8 Notre Dame, 2:30 PM ET NBC
- S Carolina, TBD
- Tennessee St, TBD
- #3 Georgia, TBD
- Florida, TBD
- Kentucky, TBD
- Arkansas, TBD
- Missouri, TBD
- Ole Miss, TBD
- Tennessee, TBD
We are starting to look like we know what we are supposed to do. Glass Half Full Kinda Guy. But I am still only slighty more optimistic on wins at 4.54 – only based on Florida’s ineptitude at home against Kentcuky. We beat a hapless ETSU team and got several breaks. The first quarter wasn’t encouraging. For a long time, the teams had negative combined yards rushing. Repeat that – an entire quarter plus of negative rushing yards. Against ETSU. I hope I am wrong and we win at least 6. We can use the extra practices and the morale… Read more »
I’m now at 4.84, down from 4.98 last week (and 5.12 pre-season.) Beating ETSU was virtually guaranteed already so moving them from 99 to 100 on my list didn’t move the needle much. I think most of the movement is from worry about Kentucky.
I got us at 5.74 mostly because I’m feeling good about the Florida matchup.
Our O line still has issues and UK made the Florida D line look like a sieve. Something is going to give and I’m banking that the visiting Gators will break first. Also if we manage to continue playing disciplined and winning the turnover margin it’ll tip the scales even more in our favor.
5.8… believe depth and the OL line will begin to show as we hit the meat of the SEC schedule. MO, KY and Vandy are no sure wins. Plus I am afraid confidence will be low coming out of the middle of the season. Hope I am wrong. Go Vols!
I’m at 4.8, down a bit from the beginning of the season. Florida looks worse than I expected, but Kentucky looks much better, so that’s pretty much a wash. Vanderbilt and Missouri are both looking better than I expected. Our slow starts have made me unconvinced that this team is going to be able to survive the meat of the schedule.
5.77
6.00
I would be pumped about this win total and getting a bowl game, not so much for the bowl game but for the extra time that Pruitt would get coaching the team.