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Ah, yes. We have come to the end of our long, bumpy journey through all 120 teams in Division I college football. I didn’t exactly stick to the original schedule, but yet I’m still finishing with plenty of time before the season gets underway Thursday night (thank goodness).
Anyways, to the actual task at hand, as every year, I am incredibly excited for this season of Tennessee football. Last year was such a roller coaster with some really frustrating times as well as some times that honestly were just fun. Being in Gainesville and Tuscaloosa and watching those games I can still remember the different emotions and feelings of frustration, disappointment and anger that resulted from those trips.
At the same time, three home games – UGA, Carolina, and Arkansas – were just a joy to see in person. Of course the Kentucky had more of an emotional toll on me than probably any game before because after the game I wasn’t even that excited – just more relieved and worn out. If I learned anything from last year, it was two things: (1) the heart that team showed was tremendous and I admittedly wrote us off of ATL about ten times, only to be proven wrong EVERY time, and (2) just a few plays can determine a good season and a great season.
As for this year, I feel there’s a new air of excitement about the 2008 Vols for a couple different reasons: (1) the new offensive staff – finally, some unpredictability, and I for one have little clue as to how exactly the Clawfense/Circle of Five is going to run; (2) we’re flying so much in the shadows of Florida and Georgia that it almost has to fire you up as a Tennessee fan, especially knowing how we have recently fared in such situations; (3) the new QB – it’s like 2004 all over again, except there’s just one guy and he’s not a true freshman. Nevertheless, I think all Tennessee fans are interested to see how a guy who’s waited his turn will do finally getting his chance; (4) finally, the defense. This might prompt some questions, but just think back to the end of last year to how our defense, particularly against LSU and Wisconsin, was absolutely knocking some folks up (Tyler Donovan and Early Doucet in particular).
I don’t expect us to miss a beat offensively. I know he has called as many plays in a game at Tennessee as I have, but I have full confidence in Dave Clawson’s ability. Maybe it’s just a feeling, maybe I’m a homer all up on the kool-aid, but I think our offense is going to be very good. Of course, Jonathan Crompton is the wild-card. I think he’ll do fine, but I also expect to see some risk-reward tradeoffs here. He’s going to throw some picks, but I think he brings more of a deep passing game than Erik Ainge or even Casey Clausen did, as he showed against LSU in 2006.
I expect a much more concentrated commitment to running the ball this year than under David Cutcliffe. I think our group of running backs with Foster, Hardesty, Creer and potentially Tauren Poole might be one of the best in the SEC. We know what Foster can do, and we’ve seen Hardesty’s ability when he’s healthy, which he says he is heading into UCLA (and hopefully it stays that way). The progress of Poole – he’s very much in the mix for the third back with the talented Creer – can only be encouraging.
Yes, I know our offensive line hasn’t been pushing folks around the past two years, but by all means we have absolutely no reason for not being able to run the ball this year. I do know Tennessee had success with Jacques McClendon and Vlad Richard on the line last year. Crompton couldn’t ask for a better group to throw the ball from behind.
Like the backs, the receiving corps is one of the more underrated in the SEC. I know some have been saying that Gerald Jones hasn’t proved enough and questioned if he can be the dynamic player others have predicted, but he’s going to be a huge part of this offense, and I expect the G-Gun to be used til someone stops it and I also think we’ll see him throw it at some point.
The growth of Lucas Taylor and Josh Briscoe has been incredible, and despite some dropsies, Austin Rogers is almost money on third downs. Quintin Hancock made some big catches last year. Denarius Moore and Ahmad Paige brings some big-play and yards-after-catch aspects to the group.
Brandon Warren and Luke Stocker provide more weapons down the middle of the field and Warren will be a real matchup problem for defenses. Another reason for Crompton to feel comfortable and confident.
Defensively, the obvious strength is in the secondary, which I think talent-wise might be one of the nation’s best. Eric Berry (need I say anything else?). I expect a big year from Demetrice Morley. After what he went through to get back into Tennessee, you can’t not respect the guy.
Two plays from the Florida game last year I still remember: (1) deep pass down 42-20, DeAngelo Willingham has inside position on Percy Harvin and Harvin basically takes the ball from D-Will. (2) Cam Newton running over Dennis Rogan. Even at the end of last year, the improvement from those two was just amazing, despite Willingham’s struggles against LSU. Brent Vinson might have been our best corner last year, and that was with a major shoulder injury he played through after being switched early in the season.
However the front seven will determine the ceiling for this time. It’s not even the linebackers though really – Rico McCoy is this year’s stud, Ellix Wilson was great in limited time last year, and Nevin McKenzie I think is a very good player, and he’s probably not going to even start (Adam Myers-White). Hopefully this mess with Gerald Williams clears up SOON because he’s too good not to see the field.
I have full confidence in our starting defensive line (Robert Ayers, Wes Brown, Dan Williams, Demonte Bolden) and Walter Fisher. Behind that, though, I’m honestly scared because that’s the most glaring weakness I see for Tennessee. Chris Walker and Ben Martin have the ability, but can they be consistent and can they be relied upon? Are Victor Thomas or Donald Langley going to step up this year? Whether you want to admit it or not, Tennessee’s going to need those guys to play some snaps and at least hold their own. You have to be able to run the ball and stop the run to win championships, especially in the SEC.
What question do surround the Vols are going to have be answered quickly, with the front-loaded schedule. After the Georgia game, I don’t see a game we should lose. However, there is a real possibility that Tennessee could start 0-3 in the SEC, thus making the remainder of the year pretty much irrelevant. The restlessness of the masses could also come into play should such a start happen.
That said, Tennessee has to absolutely beat Florida in Knoxville September 20. Absolutely a must-win. Win that, and it could be a great season with very real championship hopes. Lose to the Gators, and it’s trips to Auburn and Athens with no room for error. Can Tennessee repeat as SEC East Champions? Definitely. The talent is certainly there.
Friday I walked over to TRECS (that’s the student recreation center for those that might not know – if you get a chance, check it out because it’s amazing) and the band was practicing their pregame routine on the intramural fields. As I happened to walk by, they of course began to play Rocky Top and I found it hard not to smile knowing how close we are to the start of the season.
Just one more week…
One of my favorite times of the week has returned, time for the purely majestic Big Orange Roundtable. This week it’s hosted by Fulmer’s Belly, and he’s determined he’s going to pick a winner at the end of this week, breaking the “everybody’s a winner” norm. We’ll call this the Start-of-School Edition, since UT starts today (I don’t – let’s hear it for a 12-hour, Tuesday/Thursday class only fall semester!).
I’m probably not going to win anyways, but I’m still going to answer his wide array of interesting questions for this week. You should know the deal by now, the other blogs will be linked at the bottom so you have to at least skim my ramblings to get there to see the others.
Enjoy!
1. Knock on wood before answering this question, but let’s assume that Jonathan Crompton goes out with a season ending injury in the 1st half of the first game of the season. Should we just pack it up and wait until next season, or is there a glimmer of hope in any of the young backups?
For the record I really did knock on wood. That’s mostly because if Crompton gets hurt, we’re screwed. Neither Nick Stephens or B.J. Coleman have played in a real game and for them to be thrown in there due to injury is something that obviously I really REALLY don’t want to happen.
Now that said, the part about us being screwed is if Crompton goes down, say, against UCLA. It would of course be different if he was hurt against, say, South Carolina or anytime the middle to latter portion of our schedule.
For example, Rick Clausen, after botching the Notre Dame game, led Tennessee to wins over Vandy and Kentucky, thanks to the help of the Riggs/Houston combination. So Coleman, who I see as the backup, could beat those two teams, but to have him for Florida, Auburn, Georgia? No thanks.
Then again, either could be the next Peyton Manning, er, probably not, but those around the new QB could really step up, so I don’t think we’d not win a game with a backup or anything like that.
2. Does Erik Ainge have a future in the NFL?
As a starter, no way. As a practice squad QB, possibly. The main reason is that he doesn’t have David Cutcliffe to help him out, and I really think that shoulder injury his freshman year diminished his potential a little bit.
Yes, he did put up some pretty gaudy numbers in 2006 and 2007, but he was a different QB then than he was in 2004 as a true freshman. He was so afraid of getting hurt again – though last year he played through a couple different injuries, so you can’t hate on his toughness – that it effected him in the pocket.
In the NFL – even more than in college – you have to be able to take some hits and deliver throws in the pocket. The only time I saw Ainge do this last year was the two-pointer in the 4th OT in Lexington when he hit Austin Rogers. Unless he can change from the last two years and do that, he’s not going to see the field.
3. Why in the hell did you decide to blog about Tennessee football? Aren’t there already enough Tennessee blogs?
Of course The View isn’t a strictly Tennessee football, or even Tennessee sports for that matter, blog. There’s been and will be plenty of college football and college hoops – my two favorite things – on here in the future.
As for why I started, I had kinda always wanted to start a blog, and starting a month of summer school seemed like a good place to start one. I did, and here I am today. I had been reading some other blogs for awhile, so I guess you could them inspiration.
The hardest part was thinking of a name. I think the name I chose fits, me being a UT student and all.
4. If you could be one player in one game in Tennessee history, which player and which game would you pick? Why?
Thomas from over @ YMSWWC and I are great minds because we thought alike. I knew this one pretty quick: from a game I still have never watched (I have my reasons), it’s Travis Stephens in Gainesville 2001.
Get the hell off him!
That was probably Tennessee’s greatest win since 1998, as the underdog in Steve Spurrier’s last home game in the Swamp. He had 226 yards and Florida could not tackle the guy. That’s gotta be such a great feeling – knowing you can’t be stopped.
5. Which is your favorite rivalry and why? (Not necessarily limited to Tennessee teams)
I don’t care what you say, Yankees/Red Sox is in a league by itself. But I’ve progressively have begun to care about baseball less and less over the last couple years that I’m not gonna answer this question with a baseball rivalry.
There’s Ohio State/Michigan, Auburn/Alabama, and countless other interstate rivalries in college football and even college basketball. As a Tennessee fan I despise Florida and Alabama of course, but UGA as well thanks to my trip down to those score 51 on them and their awful fans in 2006. But I wanna pick a non-Tennessee rivalry.
The Big Ten especially likes to play for silly little trophies like an ax (Wisconsin-Minnesota), a pig (Iowa-Minnesota), a brown jug (Minnesota-Michigan), a bucket (Indiana-Purdue), and useless crap like that.
Those trophies are ants compared to Chief Caddo, the trophy battled for each year by Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State. This joker stands 7-foot-6 and weighs over 320 pounds and it’s basically a big wooden Indian chief. Who wouldn’t wanna play and win THAT big ole hunk of wood?
That said, trophies are cool and all, but there’s absolutely nothing better than playing purely for pride and bragging rights – the way it’s done in the SEC. Though I may and usually do despise the two teams playing, any and all SEC rivalries are my favorite.
Bonus: Who will win the national title this year? And by how many points will Tennessee win? (See what we did there?)
The perfect preseason question. After a wild and wacky year, Clemson gets to the title game and Tennessee crushes them 49-7.
Here’s everybody else’s:
- Fulmer’s Belly
- Gate 21
- Your Mom Did It With The Wilt
- Losers With Socks
- SESB
- Third Saturday in Blogtober
- Rocky Top Talk
- MoonDog Sports
FINALLY…
It’s official too, per GVX and VolQuest, and that’s about all I need to see. I had been waiting for that text update – as had many, many Vol fans – for way way too long but now we know. I’m not sure I ever thought he wasn’t going to win his appeal, but with it taking so long, you could just never know.
The tight end depth concern is no longer there, while at the same time giving the Clawfense another weapon as part of the whole “get the ball to the playmakers on the move” thing he’s going for. Warren could see time at the fullback or H-back-type position as well, since he seems pretty versatile. In other words, our opponents might wanna think about trembling at the thought of this addition.
Relief, excitement, exuberant happiness…and school starts in two days…who knew?
Ah, yes, my second week on the Roundtable. This week it’s the Great & Powerful Moondog hosting the questions, and let’s just say I’m glad this isn’t my first week because these questions are tough, yet brilliantly excellent at the same time.
Of course the deal is the ten Vol blogs all answer these five questions, and I’ll of course have them linked at the bottom for your viewing pleasure. Nevertheless, here’s my go at this week’s questions…
1. Let’s assume the worst for a moment and say the Vols finish the season 6-6. Does Fulmer survive? If not, whom do you believe would be the best person to fill the head coaching vacancy? Even if you believe Fulmer survives, feel free to offer your thoughts on the Vols next coach.
Yes, Fulmer survives and I’m beginning to believe he’s going to end up leaving on his own terms. Granted, 6-6 will cause an uproar and the legions will be restless and calling for his head (as if they weren’t/aren’t already). The only unlikely scenario in which 6-6 get Fulmer fired is if those six losses are all like/worse than the Florida loss last year.
For me, I’m not sure I would have anyone else other than Phil as Tennessee’s coach, probably mostly because I have not really known Tennessee football under anyone else’s leadership other than Fulmer in my 20+ years of existence. So seeing someone else running of the program would and will be honestly slightly odd for me.
Phil still wants at least one more SEC Title and then he’ll ride off into the big orange sunset. He’s been a great representative for this university, and while General Neyland built Tennessee football, Fulmer has had everything to do with the recent success. Whether you want him gone or not, it’s tough to argue with his track record. Sure, you can try and twist numbers – especially in recent years – to use against him, but he wins, and does so without coming across as a tool like some other SEC coaches (our rivals would obviously say otherwise).
The only beef I have with Coach is the drought. I don’t care if we backed into the SECCG at 8-4 this year, if we won it I would be ecstatic. Like last year, if we had only finished LSU off, the painful effects of watching us get killed by Florida and Alabama would have been completely erased with a ’ship.
As for replacements, I had my candidates after the Gainesville trip last year. Ultimately I think Tennessee’s next head coach will be Dave Clawson, unless his offense is a complete and total bust (my bet is that it won’t be). My choice at that time was probably USF’s Jim Leavitt with what’s he done building that program and his connections to Florida.
I’m also going to steal a choice from the host’s repsonse and say former Auburn/current Texas DC Will Muschamp. Except I’m going to use YouTube to point out why…his obvious fire and passion for strong, fast, hit-you-in-the-mouth defense, not to mention he stopped Tebow last year (language warning!)…
2. With the off-field troubles many college football programs have encountered over the past five years, including Tennessee, what actions would you take to prevent players from getting into undesirable situations?
This is tricky, but I think the first thing you have to try to do is recruit players that will stay out of trouble. That said, we are talking about college kids and naturally they/we tend to somehow someway find trouble. So as much as you may try for that, it’s pretty much a wash.
Obviously, there’s varying degrees – from underage drinking, to DUIs, to beating dudes up, to smoking Mary J, to selling cocaine – so you just gotta hope you end up on the lower end of the “trouble severity scale.”
The best way I think to go about this is you just have to find player leaders that you know will stay out of trouble with the law that can effect the way other players conduct themselves. Will at SESB brings the trust issue into it, which is certainly smart. Another way is a no-tolerance type policy where you get rid of one player (preferably a third-string holder) to show that you’re not messing around.
3. The Vols have rolled through UCLA, UAB, Florida, Auburn, Northern Illinois and Georgia. We’re No. 3 in the polls and up next is Alabama. With 3:16 left in the 4th quarter the Vols are down 20-17 and it’s 4th and one from the Bama 29-yard line. Do you kick the field goal or go for it?
Easy, you go for it. You bring in Vlad Richard, line him up between Jacques McClendon and Ramon Foster with Warren at the tight end on the right side, put Jeff Cottam in the backfield with whoever the fullback’s going to be and you give the rock to Arian Foster and cram it down the Bammer’s throats. Boom, First-and-10 Big Orange. Money!
And then you run it the next however many plays it takes until you hit those checkerboards for the W. If you have to, give it to G-Jones and let him run over some unsuspecting Tide backer/safety (see Outback Bowl). Heck, if you’re really feeling crazy and adventurous, actually give the rock to McClendon or Richard and let them use that I-can-bench-like-700-pounds strength. I sure as hell wouldn’t wanna tackle them if they had a head of steam coming right at me…
4. What impact, if any, do you believe Stan Drayton will have as the Vols prepare to play Florida?
Here’s an idea: Drayton paints Coach Meyer’s phone number on the rock over by Stokely and frat row and the students go all LSU on Urban, calling him at all hours disrupting his game-planning and Tebow-loving time the two weeks of prep time for the Vols (UF has a bye before they play us).
Let’s hope Stan Drayton knows the entire Florida offense so we can have a prayer of stopping it
In all seriousness, I think Drayton will bring a slight advantage. He knows things about the Gator offense that we obviously probably don’t and that alone should help. If he’s as good at coaching as he is at recruiting, any help with the defense and Tennessee’s RB stable should be in great shape.
But it may be more than that, by re-reading a GVX article after his hiring. He seems to take some shots at Urban, especially about the manner of his leaving Gainesville. Perhaps Coach Drayton is still pissed off at Urban and the Gates that week, and he fires up the whole team. Hey, it’s possible he might even be the one player/coach/fanwho wants to beat Florida the most, and that’s saying something after the last three years.
5. We’ve discussed the Vols offense and defense, but what about special teams? Give us your thoughts on Tennessee’s kicking game and special teams in general.
I’m not worried about the return game. Mark it down, Dennis Rogan will take both a kickoff and punt back for six this year. He should have last year, and this year supposedly he’s going to have Eric Berry and Dee Morley blocking for him on punts. Lennon Creer also had some nice kickoff returns nearly breaking one against LSU, so I expect an impact there. Denarius Moore has also gotten some looks in recent practices at returning kicks.
After the “punt coverage” of the first three games of last year, Tennessee broke out a new formation and it worked very well, so I expect to see that this year. Kick coverage is a little dicier, but there’s some NFL special teams experience with Jason Michael and his time with the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets. I have some worries as to whether we’ll be able to kick the ball inside the 15 until Britton returns as well.
FGs should be fine. I went to high school/worked on my high school’s newspaper staff with snapper Morgan Cox, and I don’t know I’ve ever seen him not have a perfect snap (knock on wood) any time I’ve seen him play, and Daniel Lincoln I thought did pretty well for a redshirt-freshman last year. He hit some big kicks but did did struggle later in the year, but he should be more consistent this year.
Chad Cunningham worries me a little bit. From what I’ve read he has a good leg, but every now and then shanks one and those can kill you. I would also expect Cunningham to handle those kickoff duties in Colquitt’s absence as well. That said, I do believe he will step up.
Here’s a thought in Britton Colquitt’s suspended absence…if you never have to punt (a la the Colts with Hunter Smith), you don’t have to worry about your punter being suspended…
Still special teams should be better than last year, and I thought the latter half of last year they were much better than at the beginning of the year.
Here’s my fellow Vol bloggers and their responses:
- MoonDog Sports
- Third Saturday in Blogtober
- Southeastern Sports Blog
- The Power T
- Rocky Top Talk
- Gate 21
- Fulmer’s Belly
- Losers With Socks
- Your Mother Slept With Wilt Chamberlain
Like I’m sure most Tennessee fans do, I really enjoy getting to see the pro careers of former Vols. A couple of former Vols made some noise last night in their first NFL preseason games.
I know it’s just preseason and the starters on both sides get a series, but preseason football is still more interesting than I had previously thought. You get to see some guys play that you might not get to again, some familiar names. Also, many of these guys are playing for a job, so there’s (supposedly) effort. Plus, it’s football.
First, the Robert Meachem story was quite interesting. The GVX story is here if you haven’t seen it. Meach made a diving catch on a bomb from Mark Brunell in the second quarter of last night’s win over Arizona, and later in the fourth went all old-school with a beautiful catch-and-run for about a 60 yard TD. It looked eerily similar to some of his plays his breakout year in 2006.
You can see those two catches from Meach’s 129-yard performance last night here (at 1:04 and 1:32).
Fall my freshman year I had classes with two football players (that I can at least remember): one was a math class with the unfortunately-departed LaMarcus Coker, and the other was a geology class with Meachem.
The other Vol was Jerod Mayo. I can’t stand the Patriots like most everybody else, but you can’t deny that Mayo didn’t get drafted by a team that’s going to maximize his ability in the league. I have full confidence in Ellix Wilson this year, but replacing Mayo is going to be hard. Mayo became one of my favorite Vols throughout last year, so of course I hope he wins MVPs and makes Pro Bowls.
His most notable play was one of those “oooooo!” hits on fellow rookie, Rutgers HB Ray Rice. You can see that here (the play is :40 seconds in).
In other, less-positive news, Erik Ainge did not play in the Jets preseason game last night, and, Brett Ratliff, the guy he’s battling for the supposed third QB spot (behind B**** F**** and Kellen Clemens), threw two TDs last night.
