Honestly folks, which remaining opponents besides Vandy do you think we beat?

[volsboy]

4-8 is a real possibility. The UF game was a killer for this team and staff. I honestly don't believe Vandy will be a breather. It never seems to be an easy game. Do you think we beat UK as well? We will be the underdog. Damn, that just sounds creepy.

[volsboy]

I do believe we will be a tough out for all our remaining opponents, including Bama.

[Creek Walker]

Our defense will give us a chance to beat Missouri, South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

In the win/loss column, we're exactly where most of us expected to be. Before the season started, most reasonable UT fans thought we'd finish 6-6, with the November stretch run getting us to .500. Most assumed we would beat Utah State and Arkansas State, lose to Oklahoma and Georgia, hopefully beat Florida but probably not, beat Chattanooga, lose to Ole Miss and Alabama, split with South Carolina and Missouri (with Missouri being the most logical bet for a win), and beat Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

So far we're right on track. Obviously, in hindsight, we should have beaten Florida and that was a critical loss. But we're still where we expected to be.

I'd say the defense is playing better than most of us hoped, while the offense is playing worse than most of us hoped. I think we're exactly where we need to be for a run to bowl eligibility. But, it probably goes without saying that the line and Worley will have to start playing better if we're going to beat South Carolina or Missouri. Without a running game and with Worley being hurried on his throws, every offensive possession has an above-average possibility of ending in disaster. I'm still holding out very slim hope for the OL. Sadly, I think hope is lost for Worley. Not sure what happened with him, but he appears to have completely lost the confidence he had gained.

[HerbTarlekVol]

I see wins over UK and Vandy. 

Just don't see beating a Mizzou team that beat the pulp out of Florida, and I don't see winning at South Carolina. 

And beating Bama?  Not even in my thought process. 

[Clockwork Orange]

I see wins over UK and Vandy. 

Just don't see beating a Mizzou team that beat the pulp out of Florida, and I don't see winning at South Carolina. 

And beating Bama?  Not even in my thought process. 

I think we should win 1 of 2 vs. Mizzou and SC. Florida imploded in every possible way last week-- Mizzou scored one offensive TD. I take nothing away from that game re: Missouri, who has struggled mightily this season.

I think we lose to Bama and then win 3 of 4 against Mizzou, SC, UK, Vandy.

[volsboy]

I hope I am wrong but I think we only beat Vandy. If that. What worries me the most from what I have seen of this team this year, is the way UT-C pushed this O-line around at times. I just don't see them doing anything positive against any SEC d-line. Anyone see it differently? Do you see us favored over anyone but Vandy?

[Creek Walker]

I think we should win 1 of 2 vs. Mizzou and SC. Florida imploded in every possible way last week-- Mizzou scored one offensive TD. I take nothing away from that game re: Missouri, who has struggled mightily this season.

I think we lose to Bama and then win 3 of 4 against Mizzou, SC, UK, Vandy.

119 yards of total offense for Missouri in that game. That game said much more about Florida than it did about Missouri. Yes, their defense is very good (one of the big reasons why they routed Muschamp), but it isn't as good as Florida's defense or Ole Miss's defense. And to be honest, their offense doesn't worry me in the least. It's not a given that we beat 'em, but we'll have our chances.

[VinnieVOL]

Our defense will give us a chance to beat Missouri, South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

In the win/loss column, we're exactly where most of us expected to be. Before the season started, most reasonable UT fans thought we'd finish 6-6, with the November stretch run getting us to .500. Most assumed we would beat Utah State and Arkansas State, lose to Oklahoma and Georgia, hopefully beat Florida but probably not, beat Chattanooga, lose to Ole Miss and Alabama, split with South Carolina and Missouri (with Missouri being the most logical bet for a win), and beat Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

So far we're right on track. Obviously, in hindsight, we should have beaten Florida and that was a critical loss. But we're still where we expected to be.

I'd say the defense is playing better than most of us hoped, while the offense is playing worse than most of us hoped. I think we're exactly where we need to be for a run to bowl eligibility. But, it probably goes without saying that the line and Worley will have to start playing better if we're going to beat South Carolina or Missouri. Without a running game and with Worley being hurried on his throws, every offensive possession has an above-average possibility of ending in disaster. I'm still holding out very slim hope for the OL. Sadly, I think hope is lost for Worley. Not sure what happened with him, but he appears to have completely lost the confidence he had gained.

Agree with that.  Ainge also said some things that make sense regarding Worley yesterday... he blames 50% of our protection problems on Worley.  I noted a couple of times "why is Worley taking 5 step drops?" and I thought it was being called that way.  But Ainge made sense, he said "Worley shouldn't be taking a shotgun snap then taking a deep drop from there to pass.  Plays aren't designed to do that".  And he says the reason he's probably doing this is because he hasn't had protection and that it's a natural, self preservation reaction.  He's accustomed to running for his life.  Whereas he needs to take the shotgun snap, sit in the pocket and get the ball out in 2 or 3 seconds.  And if you think about it, if he drops back from a shotgun snap, albeit instinctively, that's directly in the line of fire of the speed rush of the DE.

[PirateVOL]

 And if you think about it, if he drops back from a shotgun snap, albeit instinctively, that's directly in the line of fire of the speed rush of the DE.

Which directly led to the sack when he ran into Thomas Saturday night

[Memphisvolunteer]

119 yards of total offense for Missouri in that game. That game said much more about Florida than it did about Missouri. Yes, their defense is very good (one of the big reasons why they routed Muschamp), but it isn't as good as Florida's defense or Ole Miss's defense. And to be honest, their offense doesn't worry me in the least. It's not a given that we beat 'em, but we'll have our chances.

Geez Creek, it is like you are inside my head!  I have said the same things you said above and earlier to some friends of mine.

We are exactly where we thought we would be.  The UF game sucked, yes, but I have never seen a fan base turn on one game.  Before that game, people were thinking the sky is the limit.  After that game, they said we would be lucky to go  4 - 8!  The truth probably is somewhere in the middle, which is exactly where people  said we would be this year.  Most people said 6 - 6 would be great.  Well we can still get there.  If you look at the November schedule, none of those teams have great defenses and most don't have good offenses.  I think our D will keep us in every one of those games.  You look at the November schedule:

South Carolina - their D has been giving up yards like crazy this year.  I still don't see how they beat UGA, but outside of that game, they looked awful against A &M, had to stretch to beat ECU, gave up a boat load of yards to UK.  Against Furman last week, they gave up 211 yards rushing.  Their Offense is good but not great.  I think our DB's can cover their receivers and their running game isn't great.

Missouri - which Misouri team shows up?  The one against Indiana where they looked bad or the one against UGA where they looked awful?  The UF game was misleading becasue if you look at the box score, they had 119 total yards and their QB was 6 for 18 for 20 total yards.  Geez!

UK - everyone was in love with UK before last week but I kept saying I didn't see it.  Sure they looked better but look at their 5 -1 schedule.  They beat UTM and Ohio.  Ohio they led 14 - 3 after one and only beat them 20 - 3 and the next week Ohio lost to Mashall by something like 50 - 0.  Beat vandy 17 - 7 and didn't score in the seonced half.  Beat Lousiana Monroe.  They lost to UF, same as us.  Beat South Carolina but was trailing by 14 in the 4th and spurrier refused to run the ball to run the clock.  And then got hammered at LSU and made LSU's offense look great...which is hard to do...while only gaining 220 yards against a defense that was giving up a boat load of yards.  UK ends the season with:  home against Miss state (loss), at Missouri (??), home against UGA (loss), at UT, and at Louisville.  They will be fighting to get to 6 - 6 like us.

vandy - enough said.

[Volznut]

We'll beat UK, Vandy, and one of USCe and Mizzou

[Black Diamond Vol]

Up until a couple weeks ago, I felt pretty confident we would win six or seven, even with our OL playing like it is.  But I wasn't counting on Worley's regression.  If we can't get more out of the QB position, we'll only win one more, and I'm not so sure about that one.  If we keep setting up shop for the other team on our side of the 50, we can lose to anybody.

[Tnphil]

JMO

Bama.....Less than 5% chance. It will be Ole Miss type score. We might not even get 3 points.

USC.....60-40 in favor of USC

KY...60-40 in favor of UT

Mizzou....60-40 in favor of Mizzou

Vandy....75-25 in favor of UT.

[BanditVol]

I see wins over UK and Vandy. 

Just don't see beating a Mizzou team that beat the pulp out of Florida, and I don't see winning at South Carolina. 

And beating Bama?  Not even in my thought process. 

Remember that Mizzou only had 119 yards total offense.   

I rarely say this, but they didn't win.  Florida lost.   

If uga can beat Mizzou 24-0 and INDIANA can beat them...both in Colombia mind you, then yeah, we can beat em.

[BanditVol]

I see some of you have noted how overated Kentucky is.  They played literally four of the worst offenses in the country (including Vandy and Florida) in addition to UT Martin, which is basically a glorified HS team, and USCe.  And we know USCe ain't all that either.

Don't get me wrong, they are better than usual, but we will beat Kentucky.

Mizzou, we can beat.

USCe will be close, but we have a shot.

We will beat Vandy handily.

And while I am at it, I think we will match up better with bammer than we have in a while, just like we gave Florida more trouble than we have in a long time.

 

[ChattanoogaVol]

I will admit, I am more than a little down on UT right now, but if I'm being honest...I think we will be extremely lucky to go 6-6. I honestly think we will finish 5-7 again which would be another epic failure for the Vols....maybe 6-6 if we luck up and beat SC??

 

[Tnphil]

Before the season I said 5-7 with 6-6 being the high-end. Playing all new players on both lines.....a less than average SEC QB....and all the true freshman's I just didn't see how we could do much better with the hard as hell schedule we play.

The defense has been a big surprise....the lack of offense has been a SHOCK!!!

[Black Diamond Vol]

I will admit, I am more than a little down on UT right now, but if I'm being honest...I think we will be extremely lucky to go 6-6. I honestly think we will finish 5-7 again which would be another epic failure for the Vols....maybe 6-6 if we luck up and beat SC??

 

I'll be disappointed with 5-7 or worse, but I wouldn't call it an "epic failure".  In a season like this, with little to no expectations in the first place, there's no such thing.  Next season and beyond, it's a different story.

[HerbTarlekVol]

Remember that Mizzou only had 119 yards total offense.  

And yet they still beat the gator shizzle out of a team that we lost to - at home.

Not exactly a confidence building argument in our favor.  

[BanditVol]

And yet they still beat the gator shizzle out of a team that we lost to - at home.

Not exactly a confidence building argument in our favor.  

They did it with two kick returns, one int return, one fumble return for TDs (that's four), two FGs, and one sole offensive TD.  Their offense only scored one TD! (though they did get a two point conversion at some point).

On the contrary, it's a huge confidence builder.

1.  Mizzou offense not much better than ours...validates my opinion that Florida D is still tough.  Only 13 points...their QB was 6 for 18 for TWENTY YARDS!
2.  Our D will eat their QB alive.
3. Florida has obviously quit, while they played us to the end.
4.  Will Mizzou get all those turnovers against us?  I doubt it.  That's a historical performance for scoring by special teams and D.  We aren't THAT bad!

WWFD!!! 

[Screaming Eagle Dad]

When I looked at the schedule for this year with what the Vols had coming back I thought UT could win anywhere from 3 to 6 games but leaned heavily on the 3 win side. The reality of this years team is this up until the Ole Miss game. Tennessee was two plays away from being 4-1. Against UGA the Vols scored a TD on their first drive and a FG on the second drive that really should have been a TD. Marlin Lane was wide open somewhere between teh 5 and 10 and Worley overthrew him for an easy score that would have put it at 14-0 at that point. The final score should have been 36-35 Tennessee had Worley not overthrown that ball. In the Florida game if Tennessee had converted just one of those redzone attempts into a TD it would've been a Vols victory. Even with the youth nobody espected Tennessee to be as competitive as they have been this year. As far as Im concerned team 118 has not shown that they will back down from anybody and I've not seen them quit and I dont expect them to. As fans we want to see them win, but there is not a single fan of the Big Orange that wants to see them win as much as the players and staff want to win. All we do is watch and bitch about stuff. They, the staff and players, are the ones trying to do something about it. Do I have my concerns, yes but I'm not the one making the decisions. I'm behind this team and this staff. Go Vols, Go Team 118! Go out and shock the freakin' world.   

[HerbTarlekVol]

They did it with two kick returns, one int return, one fumble return for TDs (that's four), two FGs, and one sole offensive TD.  Their offense only scored one TD! (though they did get a two point conversion at some point).

On the contrary, it's a huge confidence builder.

1.  Mizzou offense not much better than ours...validates my opinion that Florida D is still tough.  Only 13 points...their QB was 6 for 18 for TWENTY YARDS!
2.  Our D will eat their QB alive.
3. Florida has obviously quit, while they played us to the end.
4.  Will Mizzou get all those turnovers against us?  I doubt it.  That's a historical performance for scoring by special teams and D.  We aren't THAT bad!

WWFD!!! 

So, with our offense and special teams being what they are is it not quite possible that Mizzou makes some of those big plays against us? 

Honestly, the confidence that we'll beat Mizzou without even trying gets past me.  Just can't get past the fact that they beat a team in their house that we folded in the fourth quarter against and lost to in ours. 

Newsflash:  Mizzou has beaten us twice in two years. 

[BanditVol]

I will admit, I am more than a little down on UT right now, but if I'm being honest...I think we will be extremely lucky to go 6-6. I honestly think we will finish 5-7 again which would be another epic failure for the Vols....maybe 6-6 if we luck up and beat SC??

 

Yes, but this is what many including me expected preseason, so....

[ChattanoogaVol]

Yes, but this is what many including me expected preseason, so....

I expected we would beat Florida and get 6 wins after the first 3 games this season...The Offense from coaches to players is just killing us.

 

[BanditVol]

I expected we would beat Florida and get 6 wins after the first 3 games this season...The Offense from coaches to players is just killing us.

 

I will go back to Mizzou only scoring 13 on offense...other than bammer, UF D has played well and even in the bammer game it was close late in the third until a turnover switched the mo and UF folded like a cheap card table.  Unfortunately we just....barely...didn't do enough to make them fold, IMO.

I am not excusing the loss...we should have won.  I am saying it's not a complete disaster for me as I expected to to be close and hinge on a few plays, and it did.  Yes we should have beaten them, no we should not have dominated them.  IMO....