VolFanin CAndyland

This is one of those I have no idea what to expect, which teams will show up, etc. With the recent history and our poor play on the road, I'm having a hard time going into this brimming with confirmation. That said, our D has played lights out this year. If we can hold GA to less than 20 or so, I think we have a chance to pull off what would be one of the bigger Ws we've had in a while. Heupel is making a habit out of ending losing streaks, getting double digit win seasons, getting us to more prestigious bowl games.. Not looking forward to Vandy but I'm glad we don't have to play SCar this year. 21-17 Vols

I mean.. do we really? It's not the players on the Vols team that is ranking them as one of the top teams in the country. They're not going out and blowing out teams and beating their chests. But they do keep winning.. The sports media sure does love to build someone up just so they can later profess how they knew all along how these kids were frauds the whole time..

The Vols have not played great on the road this year, or under Heupel in general, especially against top competition. And considering the talent advantage GA has, I won't be surprised if GA wins this one. That said, the Dawgs haven't looked unstoppable this year. Y'all's QB has thrown quite a few INTs. Vols are very good on D, and if we keep improving in the passing game, we have the ability to put it all together and beat anyone anywhere on any given day. Dunno if we are quite there just yet but we should find out soon enough. GA should probably be focused on Ole Miss tomorrow, as TN should be focused on MS St. If we both win our games tomorrow that will set up quite the showdown next week. Heupel has ended a lot of streaks since he took over, and getting that first W against GA is the next one up. Looking forward to seeing what this team can do...

I don't see any team that isn't flawed in some aspect. We need our OLine to step up and give Nico some protection. Y'all GA fans are so obnoxious. Heupel has more wins against Bama than Smart. As far as Nico, the guy is a freshman and we r in the top 10 at 6-1. He's 7-1 as a starter. He's gonna make some freshman mistakes. That said, this is a team sport, and if our Oline can give him a little more time, he has the arm talent and athleticism to make all the throws. He just needs to learn when to drill it in there, and when to put some touch on it, when to put some air under it and give our receivers a chance to catch it when they are running deep routes. He will improve. There were multiple times in the Bama game when our receivers got behind the defense. It's not all on Nico and the OLine tho there were at least 2 or 3 deep passes that were on target and dropped. That said, Bama isn't the same Bama under Saban. GA is a very good team, and they proved that going into Austin and drubbing the #1 team in the country. They have also had more than their share of underwhelming games. Any team in this league can beat any other team in this league on any given day. Smart has probably the best talent in the country and has 2 Nattys in his 9 years as a head coach at GA. Congrats. If I were a GA fan I would be pretty happy with where my team is at and sure as shoot we wouldn't be worried about what's going on at Tennessee... But hey y'all be you...

If you look at SEC standings after today, surprisingly TA&M is #1 It goes 1 TA&M 2 LSU 3 GA 4 TN 5 Mizzou 6 TX 7 Vandy 8 Bama 9 FL 10 Arky 11 SCar 12 Ole Miss 13 OK 14 KY 15 AUB 16 MS St Obviously this will change but... Who woulda thought. If you showed me this b4 the season I would put big money that you were BSing me...

Remember when Heupel said our defense would be elite and all the Bama and GA trolls came on here and just laughed and laughed... Apparently because our of our offense... Well the GOAT seems to have something to say about that...

Vols D looked great against an obviously overmatched OK offense. They feasted, and honestly the game wasn't as close as the score indicates. It was 22-3 at the beginning of the 4th quarter, and Heupel obviously had taken his foot off the gas due to the way the defense was playing, as well as the missing O linemen who led to our freshman QB turning the ball over. Nico is gonna b a great QB one day, and that day might come as soon as this year. I could see this team get better each week, as there are quite a few young but talented players, especially in the secondary, at LB, and QB. Yes, Nico is a redshirt freshman and is going to go through some growing pains, and will make some freshman mistakes. Hopefully for us Vol fans he learns from his mistakes and improves each week. The one thing this team has that Heupel's other teams didn't have is a defense that is good enough to play complimentary football and take care of things if Nico is having an off night. He's had multiple turnovers, but so far they haven't hurt us. In fact twice in the OK game the defense got the ball back on the first play following both of Nico's strip sacks. Now that's what I call "I got your back" football! It's nice to hear the Vols mentioned in the same grouping as Bama GA Texas and OSU, but let's let the media do the talking and the team concentrate on getting better each week. Us Vol fans need to remember that Nico is still a freshman and as good as he is is going to make some mistakes. I think the difference this year than in years past, like I said earlier, is that we now have a defense that can pick up the slack on days when the offense is having a bad day, or playing a defense like teams like GA has had for a few years now. I'm cautiously optimistic but I think some of us Vol fans need to let the teams play on the field do the talking a bit more and beat someone who has won a championship recently before we start mouthing off like we are the kings of the world. I do like our chances though. Go Vols win them all! Use this off week to get healthy on the Oline, and let's concentrate on beating Arkansas in 2 weeks. If we do that, the rest will take care of itself..

28 points

I remember back in... Wanna say 96 or 97, some time around then. Florida came out fired up . Scored 8 points in the first quarter.... Then kicked an inside kick, and scored another TD to go up 35-0 on the last play of the the first quarter... Man that guy was nasty. I would say I miss those days, but we lost way too many of those games.... It's been a long time and I'm an old guy so some of these details could be a bit off but it was something along those lines....

Man talking about delusional.... I hope you're joking....

Oh I guess I left Bama out of my post.Bama is Bama not sure what to think about them just yet they obviously have a great roster and a great coach. The SEC is a different animal than Washington tho so, we'll see how their season goes....

Good outlook Booches. Always hard to say this early in the year but the way Texas looked against Michigan (although Michigan's coach did head off to the NFL after getting them a 15-0 national championship season) I'm assuming they still have a good roster but don't know the first thing about their new coaching staff... Anyway Texas looked good. And GA is GA and is gonna be up there until someone knocks them down. As for the next 3 SEC teams, Ole Miss has looked impressive and I think I would put them in that next spot, and Mizzou and Tennessee could probably go either or for those next 2 spots although after that whuppin y'all gave us last year why not put y'all above us for now. It'll all come out in the wash. Texas GA is gonna be a fun game to watch, and assuming TN can get past OK and FL (yes they live in our heads still, at least until we beat them a couple times in a row or win one in Gainesville, Bama and GA are the only teams left on our schedule that seem to be questionable. Y'all have a pretty sweet schedule this year I'd love to see y'all beat Bama but even if y'all lose that one you could still run the table and make the playoffs. At this point it looks like there may be 5-6 SEC teams in the playoffs (not sure if 6 are possible with all the conference champions and at large teams) but it's early in the year so lots of football to play. Gonna be fun! Go Vols!

Not so sure how good NCST is after watching their first 2 games, but the Vols have looked dominant in both games. I think the Oklahoma games will show us a little more but again they didn't look great yesterday either. Florida has always given us problems, so I'm at least glad we get them in Knoxville this year. Aside from those teams, I think getting Bama in Knoxville gives us a good chance in that one, especially with how Bama looked yesterday. Playing GA in Athens is a talk order. But I think 11-1 definitely gets us into the playoffs. Not saying we are going 11-1, but the way we have looked these first two weeks (albeit against inferior competition), I think our chances of making it into the playoffs is legit. And once you're in, anything can happen. Go Vols!

That's one hell of a gimmicky offense to be the number 1 offense in the country... In 2022 obviously we weren't that last year. Not sure what Milton's problems were last year. He seemed slow, wasn't quick at making decisions in a lot of situations, and didn't seem willing to put his head down and use his 6-5 245 pound frame to get those extra couple yards. And then of course there was the throwing the ball out of bounds on 4th down. He has all the god given talent in the world, but the space between his ears sometimes seems like an empty void. And yet he still beat Clemson and led us to an 8-4 season with a tough schedule. We had Bama beat in that first half yet couldn't seem to do anything in the second half. Florida scored the vast majority of their points in an 8 minute span in the second quarter and were held scoreless in the second half. I think with better QB play both of those games could have been winnable. GA and Missouri just straight smoked us we had no reason being on the field in those games. All that said Milton did seem to get better as the year progressed. But the fact that that was his 3rd year in the program leaves me scratching my head a bit. Anywho, that was last year. We have a new QB who from all accounts seems to be able to run Heupel's offense more like Hooker did. And by all accounts we are deeper at most positions, have one of the best DLines in the country, and have a deep WR room. If they can put it all together I think 9-3 or 10-2 is totally feasible. Who woulda guessed Heupel would have us going 11-2 in his second year with a couple of transfer QBs? I think this staff has the ability to surprise some people. Let's hope they do that this year, next year, and if he keeps recruiting like he has been these last few months, we could be looking at the beginning of a long and prosperous run. Hope springs eternal. Go Vols!!!

You nailed it! Someone's been doing their homework....

Ah yes. College football season is back! Along with all the ridiculous takes, trolls, and everything that comes with it. Tomorrow can't get here fast enough. Here's to lots of SEC wins, zero injuries, and Tennessee winning them all. Go Big Orange!

Vols Online is looking good this year and we did lead the sec in rushing last year so.. there is that. Our DLine is a whole different animal though if the back end of our D can gel we r gonna be tough to beat... In Neyland at least. Can't say I'm not a little concerned about our away record these last couple years..

Haha.. A true football fan indeed! As usual I like y'all's chances this year..

I would love to come on here and talk Xs and Os but.. I guess that's just where we r at these days. At least on these anonymous Internet comment sections. And I only really care about the Vols and don't really keep up with most of the other teams so... There's usually some decent convo on Rockytoptalk my man...

Seeing GA and Bama fans on here making statements like this don't seem to understand how building a team works. With all the big recruits Heupel is getting now that he has shown he can coach a team that doesn't have a bunch of 5 stars to an 11 win season, this narrative that "he doesn't like winning championships" is asinine. Just because the Vols haven't won anything recently, just like the Bulldogs hadn't won a natty in decades when Smart took over, Heupel is building a program that can and will compete for championships. Will he win it all this year. Nobody knows, but I kinda doubt it. Can we make it into the playoffs with the team's defense taking a big step forward and a former #1 overall QB (depending on which service you look at) taking the reins? I think it's definitely a possibility. Just like Tennessee's baseball team has shown these last few years, building a team the right way and making it into the playoffs on a consistent basis can and will lead to winning it all. GA and Bama fans should feel great about where their teams are at and quit worrying about Tennessee. We'll see y'all on the field in the years to come with a coach who understands how to build a team, and is now getting the players that he wants and needs to win at the highest level....

Wow that's some in depth commentary u got there Luvdaride.. It'd b nice to actually discuss our favorite football teams strengths and weaknesses without the middle school commentary but I guess thats what y'all Bama fans would rather do.. that's the internet for ya

Is it just me, or is this website getting more and more glitchy? The expand comments button was super glitchy for the longest time. I don't know much about computers and websites and whatnot but I'm not real sure why that button is necessary anyway. It does seem to be working better lately, but other buttons won't respond when pressed. Like the one in the top right corner on the home page that allows you to go directly to your team's articles. Logging in, back page buttons... Seems like whoever is in charge or the IT part of the website needs to do some debugging..

From what he inherited to where he has us now with talented depth on defense, which I think a lot of people are overlooking, as well as top tier talent on offense, I think he has done a great job getting Tennessee back into the national conversation. To beat Alabama Florida LSU and Clemson and an Orange bowl win in year 2 was much quicker than I think any Vol fan anticipated. Yes we took a step back last year as Joe Milton showed why he never lived up to the expectations. But he took a mid level transfer in Hooker and developed him into what would have been a Heisman finalist if not for his injury late in the season. And we still ended that season with the number 1 offense in the country. Even with losing Hooker we still led the SEC in rushing last year. And won 9 games. Which we had only done twice in the preceding decade and a half. All that to say, I love Heupel and the direction he has the Tennessee program. Landing elite recruits is only going to help us in the coming years. Anyone who still uses that gimmicky offense narrative doesn't know what they are talking about. Will we be at GA this year. Kinda doubt it they are and have been the class of the country for the last few years and show no signs of slowing down. Congrats that feels great I'm sure of you are a Dogs fan. But I love my Vols even if they lose a game or 2. Who knows though with an improved defense and QB play the sky is the limit. Go Vols

No article on the 4star WR we got out of GA?

Oh that was on an On3 site thus their ranking he's #113 overall in the composite

We also get a 4 star WR commit (#59 overall) out of GA and... No article? Sup with that?

I'm gonna guess this has something to do with grades? On another note, did SDS finally fix the expand comments problem? I haven't gotten sent back to the top comment once today. I haven't been on here for a while because, well, it's not football season, but there for a while it was near impossible to read comments past the first 3.... Seems like that glitch finally got solved? Or did I just get lucky today?

We r getting a lot of good talent on the defensive side of the ball if we can get the secondary situated our defense should be stout. Could use a little more depth at LB but our starters are solid and the DLine is one of the better lines in the conference, thus the nation. Not too worried about the offense. Looking forward to the Oklahoma game that should be a fun one! Great pickup Go Vols!!

I dig it

Anywho I do recall him getting burned over and over in that Missouri game