Most Tennessee Volunteer fans already know this, but the start to this season is much like the start of the 1994 season. Back in '94, we began with a narrow road loss at UCLA. We sputtered to a 1-3 start mostly because of uncertainty at quarterback, which has been the case this year. In '94, we narrowly defeated Washington State 10-9 in game number five to improve to 2-3. Of course, we edged Northern Illinois last week by the nearly identical score of 13-9 to improve to 2-3.
For the sake of Vols' fans, we better hope this year winds up like '94. After that slow start, Tennessee rallied to finish 8-4 and beat Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl. Of course, that team was led by a rapidly maturing freshman quarterback named Peyton Manning.
Unfortunately for this year's team, there isn't a quarterback of Manning's caliber. However, Nick Stephens did well in his first start last week. He appeared comfortable and more decisive in his decision making than Jonathan Crompton did in the first four games. Then again, that was against Northern Illinois. This week the Vols travel to Georgia.
Though most of the focus is on our quarterback play, our running attack must improve. Tennessee managed only 69 yards rushing last week, and Stephens must get more help than that. The defense has been fabulous, and must keep it up. Tennessee must force at least three turnovers to have a chance to win. And it would be nice if we could go one game without a blocked punt or a fumble inside our 10-yard line.
Tennessee is catching Georgia at a bad time. The Bulldogs got whipped two weeks ago by Alabama and have had all this time to think about it. Plus, the three-touchdown whipping Tennessee gave them last year is fresh in their minds.
Look for this game to be close for three quarters, but the Bulldogs will pull away in the fourth.
The pick: Georgia 27 Tennessee 13
Other picks: Florida over LSU, Kentucky over South Carolina, Vanderbilt over Mississippi State, Auburn over Arkansas
Last week: 4-1 (.800), Overall: 38-10 (.791)
3 comments:
Georgia 26 Tennessee 14. Obviously, the better team won. Just when you thought Tennessee's offensive woes couldn't get any worse, we go out and rush for a grand total of one yard in this game. Mississippi State is next who beat Vanderbilt today. We'll see....
If you were a bettin' man, what do you think the odds are that UT will have a coach whose last name ain't Fulmer next year?
If we lose to Alabama and don't go to a bowl, I'd say the odds are 50-50 Fulmer won't be back.
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