Published September 22, 2010 - 10:16am
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UAB travels to Knoxville Saturday to take on the Tennessee Volunteers, who are coming off a 31-17 loss to Florida. Tennessee will look to rebound this week against a weaker opponent, who they beat two years ago 35-3. Below are a few things that Tennessee must do in order to win this game.
1: Run the football: Tennessee entered last week against Florida with the top rated rushing attack in the SEC. They managed only 29 yards on the ground on 23 carries. Florida has one of the better defenses in the nation right now, so Vol fans shouldn’t be too concerned with last weeks rushing performance. In order to beat UAB, the Vol rushing attack will need to duplicate the 182 yards it put up against Oregon in week two. Tauren Poole has the ability to be a legitimate threat, and UT needs to try and get him the ball 20-25 times on Saturday.
2: Minimize Simms mistakes: In the second quarter with the Vols down 7-3, Simms threw an interception in the end zone and cost UT a chance to regain the early lead. In the third quarter UT was down 17-10 when Simms threw his second interception of the game near midfield. Florida went down and scored and put the game out of reach at 24-10. Simms had thrown only one interception in the first two games before throwing two against Florida. He has to eliminate these mistake if Tennessee expects to compete with the upper echelon of the SEC.
3: Special Teams, needs to be special: UT is currently ranked 117th in the nation in punt return yards, with -6 yards on the year. Yes, that is correct -6 yards on the year. Vol fans will be happy to know that Punter/Kick-off Specialist Chad Cunningham is being replaced this week after struggling through the first 3 games. Tennessee also allowed Florida to convert a fake punt for a 38 yard gain. In order to win against UAB, and more games down the road, UT will need to greatly improve their special team.
Prediction: Tennessee 34 UAB 24
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