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Louisville 102
Ark St   87
Ole Miss 105
Tamu 32
Missouri 90
Louisiana 116
Arkansas 115

The only decent D they have faced is Texas A&M. 

I watched part of the Mizzou game.  Mizzou got to Tua more than anyone I have seen this year and he missed some throws.  He's been around long enough now to know his tendencies.  I think we can get some pressure on him.

I'll go ahead and predict we hold them under their season average of 54 ppg, and maybe even under 40.   :naughty:

Or to flip your argument, couldn't it be Bama's offense put up such numbers it made these teams defensive rankings terrible. I was watching one Bama game, I think it was vs Arky and Tua completed 10 passes in first half and 4 of them were Td's. He had more TD's than incompletions. That just ain't right. Their WR Juedy is a killer. I always wondered what would happen if Bama had a Heisman calibre QB instead of a game manager. I think we are seeing it. I also am pumping the breaks on the Vols last performance. Did we just catch Auburn at the start of a downward spiral and dumpster fire. Couldn't it have possibly been a fluke game. I mean we only put up 24 on UTEP. You think they are more stout than Auburn? I do think we will beat the spread, which will be a nice feat considering the depth Bama will throw at us.

Yeah, I thought of that also.  It's 7 games into the season.  I don't think bammer's effect by itself was really that great, and you can find other examples for all the teams, like when Illinois State scored 41 on Ole Miss in the first half. 

It's true also that Auburn is in a spiral and not 100%, but we played really well on offense.  I have of course factored that in.  Let's keep in mind that with much of the same personal, this team last at home to Vandy last year 42-24.

24 on UTEP.  Same answer.  Are you really that unimpressed with JG's accuracy and the clutch catches by Jennings, Calloway, and some of the other guys?

Two things.  First, you remain as alway unrelentingly negative.  Second, bammer is overrated, period, dot.  I saw Tua miss at least 3 passes against Missouri.  I am going to go ahead and stick wiht my prediction.   :powert:

Bama starts off really quickly

- Take the kickoff, don't kick to them first
- Balanced offense all game. Run the ball even if it isn't working very well. Mix in play action.
- Defensively a pass rush is crucial

I think Bama will win about 38 - 21

I don't think i'm negative. I just know what I see and do not sugar coat it.  Are the Vols improving? Yes. Are they gonna be bowl eligible? I hope so. Do they have a long way to go to be relevant again? Yes. You should thank me..lol. I just don't want to let you get too excited and then be let down if they lose to SCar, Ky, Mizzou and Vandy.  I do believe they win at least 2 of these 4.  As far as Bama being over-rated I can't argue with that.  Who in the SEC do you see beating them though?  Plus they got a young team and that is scary as well. It just doesn't compute for UT to compete with them and UGa consistently when they get top 5 classes every year, until Pruitt can consistently get top 5 classes.  We have a lot of talent to make up to compete with these two. And these two are who we need to beat to get to where we want to be.

I don't dispute that bammer is literally the toughest opponent in the country and that we are still far from par with them.  At the same time, they are not invincible, no one is.  I also think that you look at the most obvious things and latch on to them. Your analysis seems to go only to the last game or two, and you don't factor in things like strength of schedule.  Bammer has played a 2-5 Lousivlle team, two FCS schools, and literally the two worst teams in the SEC West, which are each potentially the weakest SEC teams. I  think Tennessee or Vandy could beat either Ole Miss or Arkansas.  So they have really only played one good team, Tamu, and that game was close into the late third quarter.   Jimbo Fisher turned Tamu around.  Is Pruitt in a season where Tennessee improves significantly?  So far it looks that way.

I see no reason why Tennessee can't play as well at home as Tamu did on the road, and I also think Tua is off a bit.  I think the injury will bother him and we have had great pressure the last two games. 

I think we will give a good account of ourselves.

And you just never know.  Kiffin almost beat a much better team in 2009, and even Jones had a close one in 2015.   On any given day....

About Auburn  We can't remember them being worse than they are now.
About Alabama. They have never been better on offence. they play the first half and call of the dogs.

Auburn lost three games by thie point in the season as recently as 2015, and they were 4-8 in 2012.  Your memory is shizzle, maybe go get that checked out?  LMAO

About Alabama:  You're missing the point of my post.  Just pointing to the very obvious facts that "everyone knows" and not digging any deeper doesn't cut it IMO.  My experience in sports is that there is always a conventional wisdom.  Until there isn't.  Trends don't continue forever.  The whole point of my post is that *I* am not impressed by alubmmer's offensive prowess because they have done it against 6 of the shizzletiest defenses in college football and one decent defense in Tamu.  But to your point, they did not "cruise from halftime" against A&M.  It was 31-15 at the half and Tua stayed in till the 4th quarter.  They never did call the dogs off in that game

Now, our D looked bad against WVU, but I think they have improved tremendously.  Maybe not.  But we will find out soon enough.

I'm not optimistic about this game. But it's a good test to see just how far this team has come. We have given the appearance of growing up a good deal the last two times out, but we're finding out that Georgia was probably over-rated and I'm still not sure what to make of Auburn. They beat Washington but they're really tanking right now. Find a way to keep this game competitive, and I'll feel a lot better about our bowl chances going forward.

But let's not fool ourselves into thinking that this Alabama team isn't good. This Alabama team is very good. I've watched at least part of every game they've played thus far and I think this is the best team Saban has ever had -- yes, even better than that 2009 team that Kiffin almost beat, though that was a good team. I don't know if there's another team in CFB this season that can put a serious scare into Alabama. That offense is a machine.

Bammer is very good.  Haven't said they are not.  But the quality of the defenses they have played matters.  And they have been really, really bad.  Even though we have struggled defensively, we are still the second best D they will have faced, and IMO we are much improved.   Heck, if we had played their schedule we could easily be 6-1 or even 7-0.

So I think we will give them more of a test than most teams on their schedule.  ICBW though, I'm not infallible.  But seriously we could beat any of their opponents to date with the exception of Texas A&M, and even that one might be competitive.  And no, we are not a good team yet!  That's how bad their schedule has been and apparently everone is overlooking that.

I bet Bama would put up 150 against UTEP. By the end of the season their schedule will be about as strong as usual. They still have LSU, Miss. St and Auburn on their schedule plus SECC game which will probably be a 1 loss UGa.

I bet a lot of you would be okay with UCF getting into the playoff playing their schedule, yet a lot of folks bitch about Bama's schedule. Go figure.

why are you defending them?  your true colors showing

I'm the only person that's brought it up, and it's not even a criticism, just an observation.   And a very accurate one also. 

It's true that they haven't been tested much this season, that's for sure.

What I want to know is whether saban going away from his usual grind it out physical run the clock offense to passing it all over the field is really going to work for him in the long run.  His D is a down a notch.  Heck, Arkansas laid 31 on them.  I guess we will find out.   

One other note, our scoring D is 64th.  That's middle of the pack, and the second best bammer will face so far. 

But I think we have definitely improved.   I am sure bammer is going to hang a few on us but I hope we at least slow  them down.

Hey Bandit.....Bama still hasn't played a defense worth a $hit.

And Bama is really really good

Bama's D remains untested.

I repeat — Best team Nick Saban has ever had.

No doubt.  I would say our performance was on par with Arkansas and Ole Miss, unfortunately.  Or maybe just a tad better.

It didn't help that JG fumbled inside the ten right out of the gate and that we basically spotted them an extra 9 points at the start of the second half.  

Tamu is still their toughest test so far.  

MSU is the best scoring D in the country and  LSU has a tough D.  If bammer can hang 50+ or even 40+ on either of them, then, and only then will I be impressed.   :biggrin:

LSU can't and won't score enough points to beat Bama. Bama's offense having a bad day is still 35 points and LSU couldn't score that in 6 quarters....same with Miss State.

You might be right. I  am simply commenting that Tua will face some of the best DBs in the country at LSU.  He has seen nothing of the sort to date.

For all of JG's good qualities, one thing that gets me with him is at times he can't see the most obvious of blitzes.  I saw that blitz coming from my nosebleed seats in PP.   :dunno:

He might have seen something of that sort today, but future AA Alontae Taylor got tossed because...reasons.

Yep.  That was frustrating.

I agree, but they are not there yet.  Thompson had some good plays today - again.   I think our future at DB is bright.  Pruitt knows how to  coach em up.   :nod: