How important is the Utah State game gonna be? It will be the catalyst for the

[volsboy]

rest of the season. I expect the Vols to win. But you never know what you have until you play. I think a loss by the Vols would be a season-killer though. I have hopes of a bowl game this year and have Utah State penciled in as a win. How bad do you guys think a loss to Utah State would effect this team? It is really young and youngsters are hard to keep from spiraling when things go sour. Hopefully we will be this years Auburn and go 10-2.

[VOLMAN]

team after this game, they're running/throwing QB will be a challenge for our defense to remain disciplined and patient. We have plenty of weapons on offense, if the OL is adequate we should be able to score. My greatest concern is from all of the reports I've heard that the DL simply can't stop the run....if teams can run at will we won't win many SEC games. I'm hoping the upgrade in talent is enough to get us to at least 6-6 this year since we came so close last year and should have won at least 1 more game than we did.     

[volsboy]

Yep, should have beaten UGa and if we played UF later in the season, I think we would have beaten them.

[VOLMAN]

of the games we should and avoid mistakes and injuries. Injuries really would devastate us...I feel like we have good talent, of course much of it has zero experience at this level, but we are as thin as an Obama promise.     

[Creek Walker]

The importance of this game cannot be over-stated. A loss means virtually no hope of bowl eligibility, and it's going to send our impatient fan base into an uproar.

I don't think many UT fans realize just how close this game is on paper. A fan who is generally even-keeled and fairly intelligent told me the other day that if UT doesn't win by at least 20, Butch Jones isn't the man for the job. I was like, "Do huh??!?"

[Clockwork Orange]

The importance of this game cannot be over-stated. A loss means virtually no hope of bowl eligibility, and it's going to send our impatient fan base into an uproar.

I don't think many UT fans realize just how close this game is on paper. A fan who is generally even-keeled and fairly intelligent told me the other day that if UT doesn't win by at least 20, Butch Jones isn't the man for the job. I was like, "Do huh??!?"

"On paper" I don't think it's that close. We have a huge talent edge and experience and coaching are both pushes, at worst. But one thing Utah State has that we haven't had is a culture of winning, which is very hard to quantify. If Butch is on schedule when it comes to culture correction, then we should win this by 2-3 scores. But culture is awfully hard to fix so quickly so if we have some breaks go against us you never know what will happen.

[VOLMAN]

to challenge the heck out of our defense, but I think with the offensive weapons we have this year, the improved defensive speed, I think we win, by how much I have no feeling for the margin because I do know the challenge being confronted.   

[RipleyVol12]

Just so it's know Keeton is coming off an ACL injury suffered during the season last year. As we know with (Maggit) those can't be rushed. Having torn the ACL and MCL last October this will be a rushed game for him in my opinion.

GO VOLS!!!   

[Creek Walker]

"On paper" I don't think it's that close. We have a huge talent edge and experience and coaching are both pushes, at worst. But one thing Utah State has that we haven't had is a culture of winning, which is very hard to quantify. If Butch is on schedule when it comes to culture correction, then we should win this by 2-3 scores. But culture is awfully hard to fix so quickly so if we have some breaks go against us you never know what will happen.

I still think that's an over-estimation of where we're at, or an under-estimation of where Utah State is at.

[Clockwork Orange]

I still think that's an over-estimation of where we're at, or an under-estimation of where Utah State is at.

I disagree re: their talent, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at all concerned. There's plenty of reason to think this could be a tight game.

[Creek Walker]

Regardless of whether it's tight to the end or we jump on them early, I just want to see one thing: Neyland Stadium get LOUD. We saw signs of what it used to be like last year vs. UGA and USCe. It's time to act like 102,000 fans are supposed to act and turn that place back into a place opponents fear entering.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Regardless of whether it's tight to the end or we jump on them early, I just want to see one thing: Neyland Stadium get LOUD. We saw signs of what it used to be like last year vs. UGA and USCe. It's time to act like 102,000 fans are supposed to act and turn that place back into a place opponents fear entering.

I think when we finally do get this turned around, Neyland is going to be the most loud, hostile, obnoxious, profane SEC venue since the Swamp circa 1990. Most of our students and younger fans can scarcely remember when this program was worth a damn, and you're going to see a lot of frustrations taken out on our opponents and visiting fans.  For better or worse.

[BanditVol]

As I have stated elsewhere, Utah State has only 3 starters coming back on offense and one of them, Keeton, is recovering from a serious injury.  Further, he is a dual threat QB who obviously depends on running quite a bit.  The other two starters are an OL and a TE.  Their top two WRs AND top two RBs from last year are gone.  Further, they lost 3/4 DL and 3/4 DB on defense, though most of the LBs are back.

I think we can out score them.  But we will see.

[crockettman]

Vols win by at least 21..Yep I'm wearing my Orange colored glasses.. Go Vols!