Expectations for UF game

[BanditVol]

A win is a tall order, to say the least.  But I do have expectations for the team.

1. Score at least 20 points.  Heupel infamously has been in the top ten in scoring the last three seasons (his entire resume as an HC).  If he can't produce points, its not going to go well for the Vols the next few years.  Florida's defense impressed against bammer for 3 quarters, but I think that's overstated, as bammer lost SIX offensive no. 1-2 draft picks to the NFL, three of which were in the top 15!  Bammer usually reloads, but nobody reloads from those losses, not even bammer.  Bottom line, their offense is down a notch or three this year, making what UF did less impressive.  Bottom line 2, I don't GAS anyway, if our HC is an offensive guru we should never score less than 20 points, period, dot. If Heupel can't deliver points we are fizzleed.

2. Generate turnovers and/or keep the turnover ratio close or even win it.  UT produced zero turnovers in the first two games.  We had four ints vs Tech. I know it's "just Tech" and that we knocked out their starting QB, but that's still encouraging. UF is challenged currently in the passing game and depends on the running game. If we can snatch an int or two early, it might put them in a shell offensively and keep us in the game.

3. Run for at least 100 yards. I know UF limited the bammer running game, but (a) see above point about bammer offense not being the same (some specifics...two WRs, RB and QB in the top ten of the draft, two OL in the first round, another OL in the second round....NOBODY does a "plug and play" on that level of talent!  This is still a modest number, and I am absolutely factoring in, and counting on QB runs by Hooker and/or Milton.  Without the QB run ability, this would be 50 yards. We can be competitive without running for 300 yards, just need enough to keep them honest.

4. Hit some long passes. This speaks for itself, as Heupel is (I have read/heard) considered a leading playcaller, and has shown he can get people open downfield in his offense and with his play calling ability (though granted not against top notch competition, but still).  The only issue is having a QB able to hit those long bombs.  It doesn't do any good to free the WRs downfield if you can't hit them.

5. Hold the gators under 40 points. I know defense is a weak point, but I am not overwhelmed by the gator offense either.  The key will be if we can keep them from running.  Run D numbers look good, but we obviously have not been really tested yet either.  This is the least likely item on this list. If Tennessee wasn't challenged at LB and have new young faces everywhere on D, this number would be lower, and FTR I am not confident we can do this.  Turnovers would help obviously. 

I think tomorrow might get ugly, but if the Vols can do well on the above five items, it likely will be a lot more respectable, and increase the odds for an upset.

[Creek Walker]

It's going to get ugly simply because our defense lacks a pulse. I'd love to see Heupel slow it down on offense tomorrow to limit Florida's snaps a little bit, but you gotta run what you run I suppose. We're going to face better offenses than Florida, for sure (and may have already in Pitt), but our complete lack of an LB corps is just completely hamstringing our defense.

[SmokeyJoe]

I saw a prediction of 45 - 24 UF. I would like to agree. I'm afraid they have the ability to shut us down with their defense. I'd just like to get out of there with some dignity.

[BanditVol]

It's going to get ugly simply because our defense lacks a pulse. I'd love to see Heupel slow it down on offense tomorrow to limit Florida's snaps a little bit, but you gotta run what you run I suppose. We're going to face better offenses than Florida, for sure (and may have already in Pitt), but our complete lack of an LB corps is just completely hamstringing our defense.

Agree on our defense, particularly after the Pittsburg game.  I do think Pitt has a better pass offense than Florida...so far.  I also think going into this season most would say that our DBs were the best unit on our defense. Some might now say it's DL, which is actually a good thing.  I really do fear they put up big points, but we will see.   I like what I have seen from Theo Jackson so far, and Alontae Taylor IMO is still solid, and some of the other younger DBs have shown some flashes.  We also have a couple of decent DEs.  Having said that, Mullen is a good enough offensive mind that he can exploit whatever Pitt did to us even with a pass-challenged offense. I guess we will see.  Like I said, I am hoping we pick them off a time or two early and rattle the QB.

[PirateVOL]

It's going to get ugly simply because our defense lacks a pulse. I'd love to see Heupel slow it down on offense tomorrow to limit Florida's snaps a little bit, but you gotta run what you run I suppose. We're going to face better offenses than Florida, for sure (and may have already in Pitt), but our complete lack of an LB corps is just completely hamstringing our defense.

Disagree
The defense has a pulse
When they needed to in the 4th they SHUT DOWN Pittsburg, till they flat ran out of gas
Can they stop UF? Doubtful as their OL and running game are top notch but I think they can stop them, on occasion

The offense?
I think if we can click in the passing game (we haven't to date) we can score on them, not enough  to win but score we can
We sure as hell ain't going to run on them

[tshadow]

Transfer portal... Won't be healthy for a lot of programs.

[VinnieVOL]

I'd like for the offense to look like it can move the ball against SEC defenses, and I guess that starts with effective QB play.  That would give me hope for the season.

[Coupe De VOL]

I am not expecting anything.  We usually just plain crap the bed when we play the Gators and usually everything that can go wrong, goes wrong when we play the gators.  On top of that they almost always come into this game as world beaters just for this one, lone weekend.  Pretty fizzleing maddening.  Maybe one outta every 5 years there is an exception to these general rules, but even when that happens we usually find a way to fizzle it up.

However there is something to be said for this game, this year.  If Coach Heupel  is gonna be the one to lead us out of the wilderness, then he surely knows that things need to change with respect to Florida, Bama and also UGa - but particularly UF where we have inexplicably underperformed for so many years, so many decades, actually.

IF Coach is gonna be the one, he MUST know he has to beat UF.  This game should have been his main focus since the very moment he arrived in Knoxville.  Now he doesn't have to call this shot, He doesn't have to be an idiot like Kiffin and immediately start talking shizzle that we're gonna beat those Gators.  It would be better, smarter, to keep that on a low profile.  BUt the emphasis really needed to be there under the surface this whole dang year.

I will say this game will be an indicator of whether Heupel makes it here or not.   I'm not saying we have to win, but we need to see a different story out there, this time around.  We need to see a team that at times is dominating the Gators, has the Gators on their heels, etc.  Need to see a team that fights back if down big early.  Need to see a team make it closer that it usually is.  I wanna see a game where the outcome is still in doubt with 10 minutes to go.  If I see that, I will feel pretty good at Coaches chances.  If it is just another miserable loss, I will take it as a bad sign of his long term chances of turning this horror show around.  I'm not expecting 7 wins this year, but I am expecting to see a few sparks - particularly in this damn game. 

[Tnphil]

Get back to K'Ville with all their equipment still intact. 

[wtkvol]

I am not expecting anything.  We usually just plain crap the bed when we play the Gators and usually everything that can go wrong, goes wrong when we play the gators.  On top of that they almost always come into this game as world beaters just for this one, lone weekend.  Pretty fizzleing maddening.  Maybe one outta every 5 years there is an exception to these general rules, but even when that happens we usually find a way to fizzle it up.

However there is something to be said for this game, this year.  If Coach Heupel  is gonna be the one to lead us out of the wilderness, then he surely knows that things need to change with respect to Florida, Bama and also UGa - but particularly UF where we have inexplicably underperformed for so many years, so many decades, actually.

IF Coach is gonna be the one, he MUST know he has to beat UF.  This game should have been his main focus since the very moment he arrived in Knoxville.  Now he doesn't have to call this shot, He doesn't have to be an idiot like Kiffin and immediately start talking shizzle that we're gonna beat those Gators.  It would be better, smarter, to keep that on a low profile.  BUt the emphasis really needed to be there under the surface this whole dang year.

I will say this game will be an indicator of whether Heupel makes it here or not.   I'm not saying we have to win, but we need to see a different story out there, this time around.  We need to see a team that at times is dominating the Gators, has the Gators on their heels, etc.  Need to see a team that fights back if down big early.  Need to see a team make it closer that it usually is.  I wanna see a game where the outcome is still in doubt with 10 minutes to go.  If I see that, I will feel pretty good at Coaches chances.  If it is just another miserable loss, I will take it as a bad sign of his long term chances of turning this horror show around.  I'm not expecting 7 wins this year, but I am expecting to see a few sparks - particularly in this damn game. 

This is the least talented team Tenn has ever had. They are not going to dominate a good team.

[Volengineer]

Our only hope was for FU to beat the Turd and have a let down.  Since that didn't happen, this will get ugly quick.

[VinnieVOL]

Kaiir Elam, UF’s all SEC CB is out tonight.

[tshadow]

How could one not expect to see what happened tonight? They competed. Usually, what separates the great teams from the good teams is depth (and coaching, and officiating, etc...). I expect to see them in all their games for at least a half. I think they go bowling this year.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

The Calloway drop was the game killer. If we make that first down, maybe we score and maybe we don’t - but it was a potential 14 point swing. Any possibility of winning was over at that point.

Get a TD there and, though we still likely lose, it’s a completely different game. I think that depth would have doomed us in the end anyway, but there would have been at least a chance.

Hopefully we didn’t lose too many to injuries tonight.

[BanditVol]

Agree that drop was huge and it was inexcusable. That was his second drop I believe.

[Tnphil]

This staff can scheme and I've been really surprised how open our receivers have been....and we ran the ball pretty darn well against FL.

Bama last week had 330 yards against FL......last night we had 423 yards against FL's defense. Just too many mistakes and stopping ourselves. Defense can hang on only so long without help from the offense.....same story...different year.

[BanditVol]

This staff can scheme and I've been really surprised how open our receivers have been....and we ran the ball pretty darn well against FL.

Bama last week had 330 yards against FL......last night we had 423 yards against FL's defense. Just too many mistakes and stopping ourselves. Defense can hang on only so long without help from the offense.....same story...different year.

We exceeded what I thought we could do running the ball, and with our RBs.  They had some nice runs up the middle and to the edges.

I'm not a huge expert, but from my knothole I saw a lot of good variety in the calls.  We would get successful running up the middle, Florida would react, and we would run some play to the outside and catch them off guard.  That happened throughout the game, and a lot of the plays were very creative compared to what I have seen in the past.  For instance, we didn't just throw the same stupid bubble screen all day, we mixed it up.  Would run to the margin and then a play or two later look like we were going to run but do screen behind the line with several blockers out in front and it would work.  Very pleased with the play calling.  It's the first time in a very long time I thought it was clever and original at UT.