Tennessee Volunteers

[AlabamAlum]

You can't have that sorta thing on a team. He was, no joke, a team cancer.

[Jungle Rat]

So he had good grades?

[AlabamAlum]

TBD

[Hacksaw]

Day after tomorrow!

[Orangefreak]

The official 'last straw' was another failed drug test.

I will never understand why the best athletes come here to only throw their futures away. Maybe that is why they are the best, they are living on the edge.

[hedge]

It's probably b/c they get to Tennessee, look around and think "WTF have I done?? Might as well kill myself now"...

[VolKiller]

KING OF TEH HUKSERZ!!111

IM BACK, YOR RULER AND KING AND KLLER OF ALL THINGS VOLS HAHAHAHAHAHAH IOWN YOU AND YOU NOI IT I NO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

READY FOUR ANTOHERZ BIG YEER FOR NEBRASKA, FOOUR MY LOYIL SUBJECKS!!!! HAHAHAHAHA STOP THE RUNS, VOLS! I SEA THAT WIZ'S OLD BUTBUTTDY HDGEHOG IS HERE! HOWZ THE KORNHOLE, HEDGE? I WPOUD THINK YOU WOUD BE ALREDY DEAD OF SOME SEX DISEZE!!

KIING OF THE HUZKERKS!

SO HAS ANYBODY SEAN MY ITTY BITTY BUDDY WIZ? I HAVNT SEE HIM SENSE WE WAS AT TEH GLORYHOLE DOWN HEAR IN OMAHA, HEDGE KNOW WHAT IM TAKING ABOUT WINK WINK NUDJE NUDJE. WELL IMA TRY TO FIND WIZ OVER AT THE HUKSER FORUM MY6 WIFE SAIS ITS OK IF HE CUMS OVER TONITE BUTT HE HAS TO BRINGZ THE LOOB!!!!!

KING OFF TEH HUSKIEZ!!!

RAT, YOU HAVE A MALE!!!

[Professor Tiger]

BR Tiger has finally returned.

[Jungle Rat]

Who's the homo?

[Orangefreak]

About 27.5 hours to kickoff bois!! I can't wait. In between seasons suck.

Did anyone catch Vol calls last night? I flat out forgot it was on last night. Did everyone seem upbeat or was there a funeral theme to the show?

[AugustWest]

Y'all are going down. Hope the rest of your season works out well.

[AlabamAlum]

I think Tennessee wins this one.

[JRB]

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!

[AlabamAlum]

Heh. Hello, Jason.

[Dr. Nostron]

fear the turtle

fear the paw

fear the pack?

[Orangefreak]

NEVER!!

[Toemeesleather]

fear the turtle

fear the paw

fear the pack?

You left out fear the hokie and the heel.

[Hacksaw]

I've been cautiously optimistic about this game for the past few weeks. But as kickoff approaches, I'm having the kinds of doubts that our recent debacles must inevitably bring. We seem to have a lot of the pieces in place to be good -- but pieces have a way of getting scattered when the pads start popping. Even though we should be much better than we have been the past few seasons, there are still a lot of questions that remain to be answered.

Can we finally return to the days when Tennessee ran the ball effectively behind a bruising OL? Even without DR, we still have the makings of a great passing game -- talent and depth at WR and Bray slinging it. I even like our depth at QB, with Worley looking ready to step-in, should something happen to Tyler -- God forbid. If we can augment the air attack with a powerful, punishing ground game, we'll be hard to stop. We have gone from barely having enough freshmen to cobble together an OL to now having one of the most experienced OLs in college football. These guys have played a ton of snaps. Last year, they were pretty decent in pass protection -- but it's time for them to start road-grading opposing defenses in the running game. I am hoping that Sam Pittman has them ready to do that. Jay Graham, by all accounts, has done a great job with the RBs this off-season. Raijon Neal has looked stellar and Devrin Young is a quick, darting, change-of-pace type of back who can give us some versatility and frustrate defenses. Marlin Lane, who was viewed by many last season as our most physically-gifted runner, will also get a lot of snaps.

I've always considered Hunter to be our best receiver, but how durable will he be? And how quickly can Cordarrelle Patterson adjust and contribute at this level? Can some of our younger talented receivers step-up and finally put Zach Rogers on the bench, where he belongs? Michael Rivera will catch a lot of balls. But we better all pray he stays healthy, because we have no depth at TE thanks to injuries (and Cam Clear being a dumbass).

On defense, I'm as excited about our starting LBs as I can remember being since the combination of Al Wilson, Raynoch Thompson and Eric Westmoreland roamed the field. I think this group of starters has a chance to be that good. Herman Lathers is coming off a season lost due to injury. During his rehab, he has transformed himself into an absolute beast. And he is poised to make a huge impact as the leader of the defense, if he can stay healthy. Curt Maggitt and A.J. Johson are 2 of the most talented sophomores in the country and Jaques Smith will be a berserker at the Jack position. Depth is an issue, so we can't afford to lose any of them.

In front of them will be a huge (literally) question mark in the middle of the DL. Everyone is excited to see Daniel (The Green Mile) McCullers. But even if he is as scary as the hype suggests, he will not be able to play more than about half of the snaps. With a new defense, growing pains are almost inevitable. How well McCullers plays will have a lot to say about how quickly we can overcome them. Darrington Sentimore is another newcomer who has had good reviews and taken over a starting spot at DE opposite Mo Couch. For a change, we have a slew of familiar names providing depth at DL. The secondary is looking like a strength, but time will tell. Overall, I wouldn't be surprised to see the defense be either great or just good. If we can stay healthy, I like our chances. I like what Sal Sunseri has done, so far. And I think he will put a good defense on the field. But it's probably too much to expect them to be dominant right out of the gate.

Finally there is the kicking game. Everyone has said all of the right things over the off-season, but it's still the same guys who have failed to impress in the past. I can only hope, against all reason, that they will somehow be better this season. Or, more realistically, that the rest of the team will improve enough that it won't matter so much.

[Jungle Rat]

Welcome back Jackass

[Hacksaw]

Thanks, buddy.