Recent Comments

I think Tenn comes prepared next week. This game will serve as a wake up call for them. Not saying they are going to win but I think they will play a lot better next week. However I think the game will be a lot closer than I originally thought and right now it's a coin toss.

I also thought I saw they had three players suspended for the game last night but don't know if they were starters or not.

No, I thought it would be a 1-score game either way before, still do. If anything, this will wake them up a little bit.

VT has played Ohio St, Bama, Boise, USC, etc in these types of games before. UT isn't in those teams class. Clearly #9 is too high for a team that is well regarded only for close loses and one quality win last year (a UGA team that fired their coach). In mid-October, the Coaching Carousel type of articles featured potential openings at Miami, USC, VT, UVA and Tennessee. Then UT won 4 in a row over bad teams and beat Northwestern in a bowl.

UT has five swing games before 10/15: VT, UF, @UGA, Bama and @ aTm. Then they don't play anyone who can beat them after that. Look for them to be sitting 3-4 or 4-3 after losing to Bama and Butch Jones to be on the hot seat again and for them to win out. UT's schedule has always been front loaded going back to the Manning-loses-to-Florida again games. And it makes them look better in preseason than they are.

Argue over BBQ? There is no argument over barbecue, Texas style with the slow smoked, dry rubbed brisket is the best. It and my wife are the only good things to come out of Texas.

I expected it to be a close game no matter what. The Vol fans seemed to be confident in a 3-TD victory over lowly VT. Homerism aside, I didn't think the Hokies would roll over that easily. I'm still not sure that we'll win but I do think we can keep it close. What I saw last night was that the Vols have a very porous offensive line, one that I'm hoping our defense can exploit. When Dobbs is pressured, he makes poor decisions. Against a better secondary (#DBU), a few more of those throws are likely picks. The one late in the game would have been a pick-6 against VT but App State just didn't quite get in position.

Am I more confident? Maybe slightly. But I also think the game plan for UT vs. App State was very vanilla, with Dobbs running less than he normally would. I suspect it's the same gamesmanship we'll see out of Fuente - reveal little in the first week. But the fact that last night's game was so close means you can't blame all of it on scheme. UT should have gotten ahead comfortably and cruised. They didn't. This means, to me, that there are things we can do to limit their effectiveness.

allvol: Good luck Saturday, and hope y'all come thru with a good win and no injuries

I'm sure we'll win, but right now we're focused on Liberty.

I think Tenn comes prepared next week. This game will serve as a wake up call for them. Not saying they are going to win but I think they will play a lot better next week.

I also thought I saw they had three players suspended for the game last night but don't know if they were starters or not.

The squeakier the better!

Also, fried cheese curds.

"The Tigers of Rusty Kuntz" sounds like a good title for a Goosebumps book.

It seems like it could give them fits....

It is tough...APP State is far better thank Liberty. Liberty did upset then a couple years ago at home but these are different teams. Teams like APP and Liberty are better prepped in some ways because of the spotlight and opportunity.

I hope we can keep our playbook basic, work out our game chemistry, put up a good score, controlling the game from start to finish.

This is a big fear of mine however I need to SETTLE down because our "good vs good" has gone against a BEAST in the two deep at 2 technique....

Nice rig!