Someone asked this question on another board, thought I would ask it here....

[volsboy]

"Would a losing season put your coach on the hot seat"? It would put him on it with me. I think a lot of people are buying into the preseason hype a little too much. I have seen some unreasonable predictions and expectations from numerous sources. With our schedule, it would only take a few bad bounces to have a bad season. We all want/expect us to win the games we are supposed to at a minimum, but with this years schedule it is hard to figure out which ones are games we are supposed to win. Some people have went as far as saying Bama is the only game we aren't supposed to win. I'm not buying in that much...yet. What do you guys think? You just don't know how good many of these teams will be. Some could be a lot better than we expect. Or worse.

[VOLMAN]

season then I'd say yes. Vegas puts the over/under for the 2015 team at 7.5 last I heard and I think that's about right. I personally think 8 would be a good season, 9 great and 7 ok but losing, again barring major injuries, would indicate to me that something is wrong at the top.     

[Creek Walker]

Absolutely. Barring injuries, this team should have a 7-5 or 8-4 type of season. 6-6 wouldn't be the end of the world because it's still a tough schedule, especially if Arkansas lives up to expectations. But anything less than that will be unacceptable.

[droner]

There will be no losing season. No hot seat.

No negative waves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuStsFW4EmQ

[HerbTarlekVol]

This is a big year for Butch and his staff.  The no talent excuse is a thing of the past.  It's on their shoulders now to prove that they can coach, which is still a huge question mark right now - see last year's Florida game as prime example 1. 

On the other side of that, I am not one of those who believe that this team will win 10 games this year.  I think Vegas has it about right with the over/under of 7.5.  I believe we should win 8.  Anything less than that will have to be considered sub-par, in my opinion. 

[Tnphil]

8-4 most likely.....9-3 on the high side......7-5 not out of the question.

One play away from playing a true freshman QB in the SEC.....Not good if it happens.

[Clockwork Orange]

I agree with most of what has been posted already. I think 8 wins is most likely, but get a few breaks, stay healthy, and 10 wins is attainable.

Key injuries and we could be back at 6 wins in a hurry. It's critical that Dobbs, Hurd, and Kamara stay healthy as there's no experience behind them at all.

[HerbTarlekVol]

I fear that the fans are putting way too much on Dobbs, and here's why.

Dobbs came out of the gate well last year, but most of what he did he did because of his legs.  He is still erratic throwing the football. 

SEC defensive coordinators now have game film on Dobbs and see what he can - and can't - do well.  They are going to be better prepared for him.  And if you recall, he didn't exactly tear it up against Kentucky and Vandy once there was some tape out there.  He bounced back and had a good bowl game, which was encouraging to see. 

Is Dobbs a talented QB?  Absolutely and of course he is, but SEC defenses and their coordinators see talented QBs pretty much every week.  Dobbs is going to have to prove that he can throw the football this year for UT to be successful. 

[Black Diamond Vol]

I fear that the fans are putting way too much on Dobbs, and here's why.

Dobbs came out of the gate well last year, but most of what he did he did because of his legs.  He is still erratic throwing the football. 

SEC defensive coordinators now have game film on Dobbs and see what he can - and can't - do well.  They are going to be better prepared for him.  And if you recall, he didn't exactly tear it up against Kentucky and Vandy once there was some tape out there.  He bounced back and had a good bowl game, which was encouraging to see. 

Is Dobbs a talented QB?  Absolutely and of course he is, but SEC defenses and their coordinators see talented QBs pretty much every week.  Dobbs is going to have to prove that he can throw the football this year for UT to be successful. 

I assume you mean Mizzou and Vandy, as he had a pretty big game against UK (nearly 300 yards and 3 TDs passing, 50 yards and another TD rushing).  And while your point is valid, you must also remember that Dobbs had very few weapons left for those two games.  Hurd was very limited against Mizzou, and out completely at Vandy.  And his only healthy, reliable WR in those games was Pig Howard.  The offense got some guys back for the bowl game, and you see what happened there. 

The Heisman talk is probably taking it a bit too far, but I think Dobbs is in for a big season.  He'll have a full array of skill guys around him for the first time (at least to start the season).  The OL should hopefully be better.  He will have had a full offseason knowing he's the guy, repping with the 1's, and not having to split reps with two other backups.  And all reports from spring practice to his time as a counselor at the Elite 11 this week suggest that his accuracy has drastically improved. 

[Creek Walker]

I'm not completely sold on Dobbs, for the same reasons Herb mentioned. He won the hearts of the UT faithful at South Carolina, and had a huge game against Iowa, but there were some struggles in between, particularly with putting the ball on target. His legs can carry him far, but only if he has an arm to compliment them...give SEC defensive coordinators a year to scheme around him, and they'll take away the running threat if they don't have to respect his arm and his options at receiver (which haven't shown a lot so far). I really, really WANT Dobbs to be the QB we all think he's capable of becoming, because I think he's the best representative this university has had as a student-athlete since Peyton Manning. The Iowa game and the coaches' comments coming out of spring practice are what give me the most encouragement, but he's still going to be a huge question mark for this season.

Probably not as big a question mark as the OL, though. I think folks are taking it for granted that this OL will be beast this year. Given the way Mahoney adjusted as last season progressed, I'm not taking anything for granted. This OL still looked like crap against Missouri and Vanderbilt at the end of the season. Hurd and Kamara may be the best 1-2 punch we've had at running back in a long, long time . . . but they can't beat SEC defensive fronts on their own.

[Clockwork Orange]

I think folks are taking it for granted that this OL will be beast this year.

I don't know anybody who's in this camp. I think a lot of people think this OL has the chance to be average, which may be good enough if our skill guys stay healthy. But I haven't seen people predicting better than that for this group.

[PirateVOL]

I'm not completely sold on Dobbs, for the same reasons Herb mentioned. He won the hearts of the UT faithful at South Carolina, and had a huge game against Iowa, but there were some struggles in between, particularly with putting the ball on target. His legs can carry him far, but only if he has an arm to compliment them...give SEC defensive coordinators a year to scheme around him, and they'll take away the running threat if they don't have to respect his arm and his options at receiver (which haven't shown a lot so far). I really, really WANT Dobbs to be the QB we all think he's capable of becoming, because I think he's the best representative this university has had as a student-athlete since Peyton Manning. The Iowa game and the coaches' comments coming out of spring practice are what give me the most encouragement, but he's still going to be a huge question mark for this season.

Probably not as big a question mark as the OL, though. I think folks are taking it for granted that this OL will be beast this year. Given the way Mahoney adjusted as last season progressed, I'm not taking anything for granted. This OL still looked like crap against Missouri and Vanderbilt at the end of the season. Hurd and Kamara may be the best 1-2 punch we've had at running back in a long, long time . . . but they can't beat SEC defensive fronts on their own.

The OL looked the worst with Crowder out of the lineup.  For his shortcomings as a center he does appear to make good calls. 
One thing that was encouraging later in the year was there seemed to be fewer individual breakdowns that were present earlier in the year and really throughout the Dooley black years. 
IMO the OL will be better, perhaps "average" which as others have said might be good enough.  Next year the line has the potential to be very, very good.  Last year the only game the line approached average was against Iowa.  The line blocked well on average with far fewer breakdowns.

Re: Dobbs:  While I still have some doubts I'm beginning to believe that Dobbs is going to be much improved.  HE was very inconsistent in the SC game, hitting some really great passes, especially to Pig while have others that left me shivering, and not from the cold.  Perhaps the mechanics they have been working on were the source of the inconsistency we were seeing.  One other thing is I am far ore worried about our WR than I am with Dobbs.  Other than Pig we have no other receiver I have confidence in to a run routes, b) catch the damn ball, c) block.  The remainder seem to stay hurt, are suspended or have, so far, never lived up to their recruiting hype.

[BanditVol]

It is correct that the OL is by far the biggest concern.  We are solid to outstanding at every skill position on offense.  Dobbs was inconsistent, but I am pretty sure another year of practice under his belt where he is the prime will help.

OL simply can't be worse, I don't think that's even possible. FWIW, they looked better at the end of the season last year. Even an average line will be a big improvement this year.  Hopefully they gell by the end of the season and we flat out start whipping people at the LOS.

This will be an average to above average year, but if Dobbs comes on strong this year, the line improves, and the D plugs a few holes at DB and DL over the course of this season and with the incoming recruits, we have the chance to be a top tier team in 2016.   

[HerbTarlekVol]

I assume you mean Mizzou and Vandy, as he had a pretty big game against UK (nearly 300 yards and 3 TDs passing, 50 yards and another TD rushing).  And while your point is valid, you must also remember that Dobbs had very few weapons left for those two games.  Hurd was very limited against Mizzou, and out completely at Vandy.  And his only healthy, reliable WR in those games was Pig Howard.  The offense got some guys back for the bowl game, and you see what happened there. 

The Heisman talk is probably taking it a bit too far, but I think Dobbs is in for a big season.  He'll have a full array of skill guys around him for the first time (at least to start the season).  The OL should hopefully be better.  He will have had a full offseason knowing he's the guy, repping with the 1's, and not having to split reps with two other backups.  And all reports from spring practice to his time as a counselor at the Elite 11 this week suggest that his accuracy has drastically improved. 

Yes, I meant Mizzou. 

And I understand on the "weapons".  It is basically the same cast of characters this year as it was last in the receiver corps.  I hope they show some improvement.

While I am encouraged that his accuracy has improved in 7 on 7 type stuff this spring/summer, it's a whole different world once the pads go on, the big uglies are in front of you, and somebody is trying to knock holy hell out of you. 

Looking forward to seeing the progression of Dobbs and the entire team in a few weeks.   

[Tnphil]

Our WR group needs to improve a lot in all areas just to move to above average status. Need to be able to spread the field with our WRs and hit some long balls.

[Creek Walker]

I don't know anybody who's in this camp. I think a lot of people think this OL has the chance to be average, which may be good enough if our skill guys stay healthy. But I haven't seen people predicting better than that for this group.

I think anyone who is predicting 10 wins (and there are a lot of those UT fans out there!) HAS to be thinking that...because you don't win 10 games in the SEC without strong line play.