re: Georgia Tech vs Tennessee - Am I Crazy?

quote:

---

Tenn lost at least two of their best defensive players (Barnett and Maybin(sp? LB) along with their starting QB, both RBs, and at least one WR.

---

Reeves-Maybin missed most of the season with a shoulder injury. He played a few series against the Gators but was ineffective and didn't play again for the rest of the season. Both RBs missed games, with Hurd dipping halfway through the season. 17 of 22 starters missed games, and we were hit particularly hard on the defensive line.

Losing Dobbs will hurt us. He bailed out our offense so many times last year with his creativity and elusiveness. Quinten Dormady will start at QB and, while he doesn't have the mobility of Dobbs, I am cautiously optimistic about his season mainly due to better accuracy and the fact that we SHOULD have a much better o-line. John Kelly will start at RB and should have a solid season running behind the improved o-line. We have a few FR/SO RBs to fill in behind Kelly, but no one has more than a few in-game snaps. As was mentioned, the big dog Jauan Jennings will be WR #1, but others will have to step to the plate to fill Josh Malone's shoes.

On the defensive side, replacing VOLS sack-king Barnett with a single player is unlikely. However, during the home stretch of last season, VOLS had defensive ends playing DL due to injuries. If Shy Tuttle and Kahlil McKenzie can stay healthy, they will lead a solid DL group and should get help off the edges by an improved Kongbo and Co.

You didn't mention the loss of Cam Sutton to the draft. This is as concerning as any of the other positions you mentioned but again, he missed about half the season last year with a broken foot/ankle. We picked up graduate transfer CB Shaq Wiggins from Louisville, and he should provide some good depth to offset the lost experience.

On special teams, we get our kicker, punter and kickoff return man back. Trevor Daniel, the double-first-name drop-kick master has continued the legacy of VOLS Punter U. Aaron Medley is nearly a guarantee FG from anything sub-40+. Evan Berry is a home-run threat on every kickoff, but missed significant time last season with multiple injuries.

I personally think that the VOLS will have a better season than most expect. Yes, we absolutely lost a number of stars, but to expect a double-digit loss is a little nuts IMO. I'm not guaranteeing a win, but I think a close loss is far more likely than a double-digit loss. Who knows, football can be weird. Sometimes you lose a game because your RBs can't get pick up 7 yards on 4 downs...

quote:

---

GaTech isn't fun to play, period. UT's rushing defense ranked #104 in the nation last year with 219 rush yards per game allowed. Defending the option all game sucks. Vols run-d has to step up.

---

That's what happens when you play DEs at DT and have backups of backups at LB. For game one, we should *knock on wood* at least have most actual starters starting and barring that players playing at their actual position.

I can see this game going one of two ways. The Vols jump out on top early and have one of those games where GTech just gets taken to the woodshed. Everyone says this is the year that Butch turns the corner at the Vols.

Or GTech gets their offense going and matches the Vols in the first half. It becomes a battle of second half adjustments... Butch Jones biggest weakness and Paul Johnson's biggest strength. The Vols drop the game and the natives move from restless to rioting in the street.

quote:

---

Everyone says this is the year that Butch turns the corner at the

---

No that was last year

quote:

---

second half adjustments... Butch Jones biggest weakness

---

I recall a game last season...

FLA @ VOLS: 21-3 at halftime, 28-38 final


Not saying he is an adjustment genius, but Butch Jones has had some games where he made fantastic adjustments. I think his biggest weakness has been questionable calls in high-pressure scenarios. Even more than that, Jones doesn't seem like a solid developer of players to me. The players that have succeeded under him had a lot of natural talent and didn't seem to progress much under Jones.

It's a little crazy considering they still have some great talent on the DL and all summer long to prepare for it.

quote:

---

Not between 2 pretty much equally matched teams it seems. Not predicting a double digit win by either team for sure. Especially with that annoying offense gtech runs. It would be different if it were 2 unequally matched teams but not this one. I wouldn't bet on it either way, lets put it like that.

---

Yeah, that definitely makes sense.

What would worry me for Tennessee is they haven't faced anything like GT in...well I can't remember when. That's a tough one to open with, and I imagine on turf it doesn't get much better.

They're certainly more talented but a lot of times that really doesn't matter against that type of offense.

quote:

---

Not saying he is an adjustment genius, but Butch Jones has had some games where he made fantastic adjustments. I think his biggest weakness has been questionable calls in high-pressure scenarios. Even more than that, Jones doesn't seem like a solid developer of players to me. The players that have succeeded under him had a lot of natural talent and didn't seem to progress much under Jones.

---

I disagree with regards to development although not hiring a QB coach before now was a mistake, imo. That said, he's had one draft and it was one of the best drafts we'd had in over a decade. We had the 2nd SEC player off the board and put a ton of players, most of whom came from a so-so class, in the NFL.

Adjustments I agree with you.

quote:

---

Tennessee brings back even more starters and a talent advantage.

---

And GT has to plan for an offense without any idea of what it's going to look like. We have a new OC and will likely play both QBs that game.

VOLS win this one by at least two scores IMO