CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => SEC => Topic started by: Kris60 on August 28, 2018, 10:53:19 AM
-
Anybody going (I am)? Any predictions?
I think Grier and the boys throw it all over the lot on the Vols. UT moves it pretty well but has a couple costly turnovers.
42-24 WVU
-
while WVU is a clearly better team (based on end of season last year) the mystery that is UT may cause them some consternation...
UT won't stop the pass- that is a safe bet. WVU won't stop the run, which is equally safe to say. WVU can pass and UT most likely can run apart from comparing team:team.
I don't think UT will pull it off, but I wager it will be close until the end... I imagine a 21/28 to 31/35 affair, and anywhere in between. (meaning it could be 21-35 final or a 28-31 final).
in all honesty, it should be one of the better games this weekend!!!
-
I don't have a clue about Tennessee this year for obvious reasons. I presume WVU will score a lot of points, high 30s I'd guess.
-
Not one football player at the University of Tennessee has lost one second of sleep worrying about West Virginia. Tennessee plays at least 6 other teams this year with more talent and capability than the Mountaineers. They have Mr. PED from Florida to throw the ball. Who gives a damn. According to the bloated West Virginia fans they likely have the best WR corp in all of college football. My ass. Tennessee will see better WR’s when they play Georgia, Bama, and few other SEC teams this year. Also, according to their fans they have one of the best OL’s in the nation. Whatever. I guess UT should just forfeit the game now because the Mountaineers are too scary with all of their top 5 recruiting classes over the past 5 years. Oh wait, they haven’t even sniffed the top 20 in the past 5 years.
In reality UT has more talent at every position on the field and bench with the exception of QB. Yes, Mr. PED is a decent QB. UT’s problem has been coaching or the lack of. If they can put it together quick enough this Saturday with the drastic upgrade in coaching they’ve received over the past 6 months the ole Mountaineers might be rubbing their heads wondering what just ran over their over confident arrogant asses.
I don’t know if Tennessee has put it together yet or not because it does take time to overcome 10 years of incompetence but I’m not going to pretend the over rated Mountaineers are a team that any team should fear either.
-
We will find out something about the Vols for sure, especially if WVU is out talented at nearly every spot.
A loss would have their fans feeling less than hopeful perhaps, perhaps not.
-
i've been saying this for years to this (now reduced in size) crowd, and i still believe it completely.
offenses like that WVU runs is excessively potent. they can and will score points. that can't be taken away from them... but...
it also takes a few weeks at game speed (which can be approximated in practices but not duplicated) to fully gel those components. meanwhile, three yards and a cloud of dust adhering to fundamentals players have executed their entire lives will play out and 'gel' within a few downs.
If i've got Pruitt's intent for offensive execution right, this actually lends credit to UT's chances in this game. the thing about WVU's attack is it will be herky-jerky throughout the game, and this is by nature what can be expected from their type/family of offensive execution. they WILL break off some big ones no doubt, but i DO doubt they'll be able to methodically move the ball downfield like they'll be able to from likely week three/four onward into the season...
because i am guessing this will be the case with WVU's O, I don't think they'll pile the points on UT's questionable D. Also, WVU's D is honestly so bad that UT's O should be able to gain early confidence.... confidence that won't last when they encounter a truly elite D later in the year.
I still think WVU pulls it out. I wouldn't for a second doubt that UT doesn't fight until the end- maybe in same fashion they did last year against GT in the opener, meaning: unlikely and defying probability.
add to this that nobody really knows what to expect from UT. their aren't films to observe or habits exposed. it's a brand new team.
for these reasons i give UT a helluva shot in this game. I just don't think they have enough in the defensive backfield to protect against those receivers every play. I fear they'll be like Jones's first season when "as soon as the ball gets behind the defensive player, it's six points". WVU only has to do that 5 times to win this game.
-
How embarrassing would it be if overly confident Vols get run over in this game instead?
Maybe it would be a good idea to wait and see while being hopeful of some progress this season. Holding WVU under 35 would show some progress perhaps.
-
i think you misunderstood my comment or maybe i didn't present it well enough... I wouldn't attribute a WVU score of 35 as anything UT did limiting... I would attribute it more to WVU limiting themselves due to no playing cohesively as they will later in the season.
-
i actually think the vols could have a decent running game and if things tip their way, could make a good game of it.
-
Yup, the might be able to manhandle WVU in the lines and open up lanes and stay with them.
I look for a high score akin to the Tech game last season.
-
I doubt the Vols that just went 0-8 in conference play last year will be over-confident. Plus, Grier isn't just a preseason AA at QB, he's the guy who completed a last-minute, 60-yard TD pass vs Tennessee on 4th and 14 a couple of years ago.
I hope WV wins by 50.
-
I obviously have no clue about the moral state of the Vol team right now. It seemed there were divisions on the team under the old regime. My guess is Pruitt has a lot to sort out and reestablish including letting everyone know he is the HMFIC.
There is talent there of course, so organization and scheme and work etc. would generally lead to a decent team.
-
A loss to a less talented team here would suggest Pruitt has more work to do, and WVU is favored.
-
I know you are being facetious, but imho Tennessee is not the more talented team. The opposite is true. Tennessee has nobody with anywhere near the talent of Will Greer. I don't think it will be close.
-
A poster asserted they were more talented, I was going along with that based on recruiting rankings.
-
What good is talent if they don't play better?
-
Other than the obvious, not much. A more talented but poorly coached and motivated team should be able to stay somewhat close to a lesser talented better coached team in the main, unless they get down and just quit.
I saw some quitting last year. A lot in fact especially after it was clear Jones was history.
Pruitt by any metric would be a better coach. OAM would be also.
Jones was horrible, it's amazing they won as many times as they did. Well, outside conference play anyway.
-
For me, signs of progress for the Vols go beyond the score.
1. Are they well organized, in position on defense before the play, etc.
2. Do they get stupid penalties like substitutions, PFs for no reason, etc.
3. Is there any internal dissension?
4. Effort, this may be the biggest one, is anyone out there quitting or loafing?
If there are good answers to these questions, they should be improved no matter the final score.
-
Well, Herbstreit picked UT in the upset, so that's fun.
-
It amuses me how some (not many here) get upset when some TV dude picks against their team (or FOR in the case of Corso).
It's as if their pick will somehow impact the game.
It's fun to what if on a message board, but if someone picks against my team it's fine with me. They could be right.
Not today, but in general.
-
I agree with this. I don't expect Tennessee to beat West Virginia or to win many games, but if they play disciplined and hard from start to end that will be an improvement. That is the way Bryant and Saban did it at several places. Improvement needs to be incremental.
-
TN will finish the season with about 6 to 8 regular season wins. Any TN fan expecting more is likely dilusional. Win or lose today TN has more talent. WV vs TN recruiting rankings over the last 5 years bear that out. To discount that would lead one to believe you’re just a TN hater and should probably discount the talent of your own teams recruiting class if you have any intellectual integrity.
It is crystal clear to anyone with an IQ more than 70 that TN Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors have been coached down for many years and I’m not sure if 6 to 7 months of good coaching, high expectations, and accountability is enough to over come years of Butch’s incompetence. Coaching matters. Before Saban the bamers sucked ass regardless of the recruited talent. Before Kirby Smart the dogs sucked ass regardless of the recruiting class ranking so don’t give me any of your bias bullshit.
-
So UT is more talented than WV because of the recruiting numbers, BUT
coaching matters, regardless of the recruiting class rankings.
Mmmmkay. Maybe you should drink less?
-
Yep. They both matter. You’ve got to recruit decently regardless. Look at TN’s last 5 to 6 recruiting classes vs WV. It doesn’t take a eff’n rocket scientist to determine who’s recruited better. But with a shit coach like Butch it didn’t translate to the field which is why TN fired him.
BTW, the Gators have recruited fairly well over the past 5 to 6 years but y’all played like shit last year. Why? Oh, I don’t know but the Gators fired their coach so I’m going to go out on a limb and say coaching because it sure wasn’t because a lack of talent on the field.
-
Recruiting did not help.
-
Yep. They both matter. You’ve got to recruit decently regardless. Look at TN’s last 5 to 6 recruiting classes vs WV. It doesn’t take a eff’n rocket scientist to determine who’s recruited better. But with a shit coach like Butch it didn’t translate to the field which is why TN fired him.
BTW, the Gators have recruited fairly well over the past 5 to 6 years but y’all played like shit last year. Why? Oh, I don’t know but the Gators fired their coach so I’m going to go out on a limb and say coaching because it sure wasn’t because a lack of talent on the field.
Who, on the planet, doesn't understand that both talent and coaching matters?
-
WOW
-
No it did not, Cincy. Regardless of recruiting rankings / talent on the field Lyle instilled years of lack of discipline, horrible S&C, and a losing mentality. It will take time for Pruitt and company to overcome that and it won’t happen this year apparently. The Vols lack any confidence and killer mentality.
-
Fro, apparently you don’t understand talent (recruiting rankings) and coaching matter. Once again, the Vols have recruited head and shoulders above WV over the last 5 to 6 years but they were coached down by Saban’s coffee boy for many years (which is why no one else has hired him to coach. His time at UT exposed his pathetic coaching ability).
Read what I typed above but slowly this time. I never said that coaching matters regardless of recruiting ranking so I’m not sure where in hell you got that from. You’ve got to have both and TN has had 1 out of the 2 for years.
-
Everyone knows they both matter, you're arguing against no one but yourself, it seems.