Pruitt as an underdog is better than our last 3 combined

[BanditVol]

Pruitt as an underdog is 5-10

Kiffin, Dooley and Jones combined were 4-42.

Pretty amazing!   

And FTR, Fulmer was 16-28-1

[volsboy]

Pruitt as an underdog is 5-10

Kiffin, Dooley and Jones combined were 4-42.

Pretty amazing!   

And FTR, Fulmer was 16-28-1

If you lose the orange glasses you will see that Pruitt has only beaten the teams any UT coach should beat. Let me know when he beats, UF, UGa and Bama in the same year. Don't give me the we are young BS. Young teams have been in the CFP recently.

[VinnieVOL]

If you lose the orange glasses you will see that Pruitt has only beaten the teams any UT coach should beat. Let me know when he beats, UF, UGa and Bama in the same year. Don't give me the we are young BS. Young teams have been in the CFP recently.

Yes but beating the teams TN should always beat is the step we have to take to get back to the point of beating UF, UGA, and Bama.  This past decade we haven't even beat the teams TN is supposed to beat.  You don't go from that to beating Bama in one season.

I say all this like I don't know your trolling, lol.

[FLVOL]

I say all this like I don't know your trolling, lol.

BP just doing BP stuff, the routine is literally decades old now

[volsboy]

Yes but beating the teams TN should always beat is the step we have to take to get back to the point of beating UF, UGA, and Bama.  This past decade we haven't even beat the teams TN is supposed to beat.  You don't go from that to beating Bama in one season.

I say all this like I don't know your trolling, lol.

I have never trolled. I am a Vols fan from birth. I just tell the truth some don't want to hear. I don't know about you, but losing to Ga state is hard to excuse. I just hope he can win out. If he loses any games the rest of the season, is he really "that guy"? I remember most of those here thinking Jones was "that guy". Yet I knew when Jones lost to OK the first time, he was not an SEC caliber coach. But you guys are the football experts. Yes Pirate, you know more than anyone.

[PirateVOL]

I have never trolled. I am a Vols fan from birth. I just tell the truth some don't want to hear. I don't know about you, but losing to Ga state is hard to excuse. I just hope he can win out. If he loses any games the rest of the season, is he really "that guy"? I remember most of those here thinking Jones was "that guy". Yet I knew when Jones lost to OK the first time, he was not an SEC caliber coach. But you guys are the football experts. Yes Pirate, you know more than anyone.

BULLshizzle!

[Tnphil]

What team has beaten UGA..FL...Bama in the the same year in a long time? LSU has a chance to do it if both LSU and UGA get to the SECCG and LSU has the best team they've had in years with a NFL gonna be QB.

[volsboy]

What team has beaten UGA..FL...Bama in the the same year in a long time? LSU has a chance to do it if both LSU and UGA get to the SECCG and LSU has the best team they've had in years with a NFL gonna be QB.
[/quote
I hate to break it to you but isn't that what you expect a UT coach to do? or is losing to Ga State now acceptable for a UT coach. You will never explain that one away. You all have a short memory. Now you talk like Pruitt is Lombardy. Puleeze. I want him to be that. Is he?

[volsboy]

BULLshizzle!

It is the truth. Tough shizzle if you don't want to hear it. I think Pruitt is the coach we need. But he needs to beat a team of significance. The Minnesota coach has.

[VinnieVOL]

It is the truth. Tough shizzle if you don't want to hear it. I think Pruitt is the coach we need. But he needs to beat a team of significance. The Minnesota coach has.

Nobody is or has excused the loss to Ga State, nobody.  But if you can't admit this team has gotten better since then, then you are just being willfully obtuse.

[volsboy]

Nobody is or has excused the loss to Ga State, nobody.  But if you can't admit this team has gotten better since then, then you are just being willfully obtuse.

Vinnie I think he has done a great job the last few games. He is our coach. But do you see him winning the East or the SECc in the near future?  I don't. Why am I a treated like a turncoat? You guys make no sense. I expect winning the East and an SECc championship from time to time. Why don't you? Pruitt is getting paid well to end up third or fourth in the SECe.

[VinnieVOL]

Vinnie I think he has done a great job the last few games. He is our coach. But do you see him winning the East or the SECc in the near future?  I don't. Why am I a treated like a turncoat? You guys make no sense. I expect winning the East and an SECc championship from time to time. Why don't you? Pruitt is getting paid well to end up third or fourth in the SECe.

Of course that is the expectation.  But if you expected to be in Atlanta in JP's second year then you are insane.  The roster situation JP inherited was not suited for a trip to Atlanta immediately.  It just wasn't.

If we are fortunate enough to get really good QB play in the next year or two, yes, I do expect to compete with Florida and Georgia.

[Black Diamond Vol]

To be fair, Kiffin/Dooley/Jones rarely got to face teams like USC, UK, Mizzou, and Vandy as underdogs. It's only due to their fine "work" that those teams are routinely favored against us now.

That said, I agree that re-establishing dominance over those programs is step one towards getting us back to where we need to be. And to that end, Pruitt is succeeding this season where his predecessors failed.

I would caution, however, that the bottom half of this league is historically weak this year. It won't always be that way.

[Tnphil]

When it comes to UGA and Bama you can't go to gun fight with a butter knife...yet midway into the 4th quarter we were pretty much going toe to toe with both. Both have recruited way above us the past several years. No brainer with Saban but go back to Richt at UGA he was recruiting in the top 8 every year. I can't explain Florida because we've been pretty much on par with them recruiting the past 4-5-6 years. Only explanation I've got it's more mental than anything. Seems like we are beat against them before the ball is placed on the tee. The one game we did beat them in the last umpteen years we were down 21-0 before the band got back to their seats then Dobbs..JJ and others took over the game. Maybe we are now getting mentally tougher and that will improve going forward.

Not one person I've seen...heard or read excuses the Ga State game because there is no excuse for it...Pruitt learned a hard lesson that you don't take anyone you play and treat it as a glorified scrimmage. That game was 95% Pruitt and staff's fault and 5% team. They played like the staff coached. The defense was confused the first 2-3 games and Pruitt if he could go back I'm sure he would call a timeout there at the end of the BYU game and should have but also there comes a time when players have to make plays to close out a game. Both of those games are in the history books and there's nothing you can do but go forward.

[volsboy]

Nobody is or has excused the loss to Ga State, nobody.  But if you can't admit this team has gotten better since then, then you are just being willfully obtuse.

Yes they have gotten better. But you have to figure in the opponents.  He should beat Miss St., USCe and UK. That is not UF, UGa and Bama. He should beat Mizzou and Vandy. Will he?

[volsboy]

When it comes to UGA and Bama you can't go to gun fight with a butter knife...yet midway into the 4th quarter we were pretty much going toe to toe with both. Both have recruited way above us the past several years. No brainer with Saban but go back to Richt at UGA he was recruiting in the top 8 every year. I can't explain Florida because we've been pretty much on par with them recruiting the past 4-5-6 years. Only explanation I've got it's more mental than anything. Seems like we are beat against them before the ball is placed on the tee. The one game we did beat them in the last umpteen years we were down 21-0 before the band got back to their seats then Dobbs..JJ and others took over the game. Maybe we are now getting mentally tougher and that will improve going forward.

Not one person I've seen...heard or read excuses the Ga State game because there is no excuse for it...Pruitt learned a hard lesson that you don't take anyone you play and treat it as a glorified scrimmage. That game was 95% Pruitt and staff's fault and 5% team. They played like the staff coached. The defense was confused the first 2-3 games and Pruitt if he could go back I'm sure he would call a timeout there at the end of the BYU game and should have but also there comes a time when players have to make plays to close out a game. Both of those games are in the history books and there's nothing you can do but go forward.

I agree. He has done a great job. But is it really a great job or just mediocre opponents? He needs a recruiting class with a QB and players to fill the other needs. Same old story. Jones used to dominate the bottom part of the schedule too. Next season he faces Oklahoma second game of the season and UF in late September and UGa in Nov. Will he be ready? We get Bama and Arky from the west.
2020 TENNESSEE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Date   Opponent   Location
Sept. 5   Charlotte   Knoxville
Sept. 12   at Oklahoma   Norman, Okla.
Sept. 19   Furman   Knoxville
Sept. 26   Florida *   Knoxville
Oct. 3   Missouri *   Knoxville
Oct. 10   at South Carolina *   Columbia, S.C.
Oct. 17   BYE WEEK   
Oct. 24   Alabama *   Knoxville
Oct. 31   at Arkansas *   Fayetteville, Ark.
Nov. 7   Kentucky *   Knoxville
Nov. 14   at Georgia *   Athens, Ga.
Nov. 21   Troy   Knoxville
Nov. 28   at Vanderbilt *   Nashville, Tenn.
* SEC Game    BOLD = Home Game   
 



I see 8 wins. Losses to Oklahoma, UF, UGa, Bama. Not hard to predict this. If things go different we could win more games or less games. Seems we win one we shouldn't and lose one we shouldn't every year. This year we lost two, Ga State and BYU that we shouldn't have. But Pruitt is the man according to most.

[VinnieVOL]

Yes they have gotten better. But you have to figure in the opponents.  He should beat Miss St., USCe and UK. That is not UF, UGa and Bama. He should beat Mizzou and Vandy. Will he?

Right, we beat teams that TN traditionally "should" beat so far the latter part of this year.

Not too long ago, those teams were also beating us year in, year out.  Let me break it down into simpler steps:

• 1. TN loses yearly to Vandy, USC, etc...
• 2. TN beats the Vandy's, USC's, UK's consistently (as TN should)
• 3. TN starts beating UF, UGA, and Bama.

You act like we're supposed to go from step 1 straight to step 3 in Pruitt's 2nd year or he's not the guy.  And I'm saying to you that is completely unreasonable.  I know you know this, and I want you to admit it.

[VinnieVOL]

But Pruitt is the man according to most.

"According to most" of who?  Very rarely have I read anyone on any board say Pruitt is the man, and for sure no one has said that here.

All I've said and most of what I've seen has been "it's encouraging the way this team has rebounded after a disastrous start" and that there are signs that maybe he shouldn't be thrown out just yet.

You are claiming things that "everyone is saying" when everyone is most certainly not saying those things.

[PirateVOL]

It is the truth. Tough shizzle if you don't want to hear it. I think Pruitt is the coach we need. But he needs to beat a team of significance. The Minnesota coach has.

You wouldn't know "TRUTH" if it slapped you in your whiny bamer face!
Go to your bamer board and STAY THERE!
Nobody gives a shizzle about your whiny shizzle, sounding like an old 45 stuck on the same groove!

[BanditVol]

To be fair, Kiffin/Dooley/Jones rarely got to face teams like USC, UK, Mizzou, and Vandy as underdogs. It's only due to their fine "work" that those teams are routinely favored against us now.

That said, I agree that re-establishing dominance over those programs is step one towards getting us back to where we need to be. And to that end, Pruitt is succeeding this season where his predecessors failed.

I would caution, however, that the bottom half of this league is historically weak this year. It won't always be that way.

I'm aware they are teams we "should" beat that we are now underdogs to, but as I post 3-4 times below, we have to beat those teams before we can beat the big boys.  We have been dead last in the SEC two years running, with losses to most of the teams you mention (1-7 the last two years!).  This year we may go 4-0, that is big progress.  I get your point but there is a clear improvement in this team.

As for your last statement about the bottom of the league being "historically weak", I'm going to push back a bit. I know Arkansas really sucks over in the West, but this year we beat Kentucky, who particularly last year but certainly this year is well above their historical standard.  We dominated South Carolina, who are up and down, but did beat Georgia.  It's true that Vandy and Mizzou are much worse this season than expected, but we have yet to play either.

MSU is not a dominant team, but still pretty good.  Bottom line we were not favored against MSU, S Carolina or Kentucky and frankly should not have been.  So maybe collectively the entire bottom half the SEC is in some kind of slump, but I can assure you that the 3 teams we have beaten are not part of that, with the possible exception of MSU.

[BanditVol]

I have never trolled. I am a Vols fan from birth. I just tell the truth some don't want to hear. I don't know about you, but losing to Ga state is hard to excuse. I just hope he can win out. If he loses any games the rest of the season, is he really "that guy"? I remember most of those here thinking Jones was "that guy". Yet I knew when Jones lost to OK the first time, he was not an SEC caliber coach. But you guys are the football experts. Yes Pirate, you know more than anyone.

Who were the "most thinking Jones was 'that guy' "????  I recall doubt about Jones almost from the beginning, and even when others were optimistic they would qualify it with "if he gets a good staff".  I don't recall anyone being "all in" on Jones, not really, more like cautiously optimistic but, to quote another oft-heard phrase that would hedge by saying "if he can learn on the job" (which he did not!  Too stubborn I guess). 

Even I, who defended Jones as much as anyone, was definitley not 100% sold on him.  Recall that he brought a ranked Cincy team into Neyland and got pounded by Dooley.  I still recall the picture of him that day as it appeared in the KNS.  He looked wide-eyed and overwhelmed.  I was concerned when he became coach, not near the top - scratch that - not on my list AT ALL of potential coaches.  Yet he did have some pleasant surprises, was a good recruiter, won some good games, early on had the kids playing well for him.  But in the long run it became very apparent he was not the answer.  Even his big wins almost had an asterisk, like yeah, we beat Florida but fell behind 22-0.  Yeah, we beat Georgia but on a miracle Hail Mary to JJ.  And so forth.

So don't go around saying "everyone was sold on Jones". Having defended the sombitch, I can tell you they most certainly were not!