AndyVFL

...you left off another mediocre team, Florida.

One team allowing more rushing yards than UTEP coming into the weekend....Florida. Just saying. Tennessee had 345 yards rushing against UTEP, so there's that...

I know we didn't score on some chances that could have easily made it 38-0 and had the tempo been pushed it could have been more, but as weird as it sounds, I think it was better how it turned out. Rather than having a team score 50+ points two games in a row and thinking all is fine, the coaches have more than enough to warrant a focused and grinding week of practice to get ready for SEC play. Also, we all knew they didn't push the tempo because they were working on fine-tuning the running game, getting sustained drives, Pruitt wanted Jennings involved more and that happened, they wanted JG to run more and that happened, and of course there was more of a pass rush which is a welcomed site. Now lets see how that translates to the games that really count.

Well, technically two years ago we were all excited the first half of the season being 5-0 and in the top 10... ...unfortunately, when Dobbs, Barnett, Malone, Kamara, Hurd, and others were no longer there to bail out Butch Jones, it became very clear, very fast that he was a salesman and not a coach who could develop players.

Tennessee orange is a real, natural orange that was adopted in 1889. At least our color and mascot have some meaning, unlike Georgia. The color came from the flowers that grew on the hill, which is an iconic spot on campus. Same with the nickname 'Volunteer' which originates from the states nickname stemming from the valor shown by Tennesseans in the War of 1812. Better than a mascot that licks himself and a random color palette.

I was waiting on this to be pointed out at some point. Tennessee has a long history of great punters, thanks in large part to the Colquitts. When you rank 9th all time in NFL draft picks with 346 players, you're bound to have a good number at each position.

When did we start dropping rap lyrics or whatever that jumbled up mess of letters is supposed to be on the comment section?

Didn't Georgia lose at home to Vandy and barely hold off Nichols St. during Kirbys first season? Oh yeah, both true. Only thing worse than a Georgia fan is a Georgia fan after they won a game.

Speak for yourself there, buddy. Amazing the conclusion you reached four quarters of football into the mans head coaching career. If you can get me those lottery numbers using your super future vision, that'd be great.

This is when having to play freshmen last year due to injury actually can pay off in the long run. We've got guys who didn't start game one who have experience at center, thank fully. So, while obviously not ideal, there are 2-3 guys who can jump in there and get the job done and Kennedy has 1-2 more years left, depending on rather or not he seeks a medical redshirt along with his year he already had left.

I'm certainly no SC fan, but if you don't think their stadium can be a factor, you haven't been there or you're kidding yourself. I've always given their fans props, they can show up, make some noise and support their team even when they're having a less-than-stellar season.

Also, both have right at a 60% head coaching winning percentage.

33-39 SEC head coaching record from 2009 to 2017, perhaps? 69-46 all time record as a head coach, perhaps?

Umm, no.

Auburn is always such a wildcard each year. Seems like the more they're hyped the worse they do, the less they're hyped they come out of seemingly nowhere and go undefeated or close to it.

Recruiting in a nutshell. Some will pan out, some won't. Some lower ranked guys turn into stars, some never get further than special teams at best. More of a guideline than an exact science or rule. That's why I laugh when Georgia fans are already crowning themselves the 'next Bama' or 'guaranteed champions' even though being that close to Atlanta, they have never had a shortage of talent, they just follow the footsteps of the Falcons and the Braves and come up short way more often than not.

But it wasn't a Tennessee fan who was starting the trash talking, it was the Florida fan who thinks too much, too soon of his team so he feels justified in his bad attempt at making jokes.

I was thinking the same thing. Coming off a 5-6 season, Cal had Marshawn Lynch and DeSean Jackson, #9 in the nation. Final score 35-18, Tennessee. I fully expect Grier to get his numbers, but that means about as much as Bray passing for big numbers with Hunter, Patterson, and Rogers only to see us not get to a bowl game. There is a reason WV was 7-6 last season with these same players (now they don't have their 1000 yard rusher from last season). Their defense is horrible. Heck, Kansas ran for 367 yds, Oklahoma 313 yds, OK State (a pass-first team) 246 yds....Tennessee is at least 3-deep with RBs capable of starting between Chandler, London, and Buff Hamster himself, Tim Jordan.

Tennessee: 833 all time wins (10th all-time) 4 national titles (6 depending on your source, 12th all time if going with 4) 346 NFL draft picks (9th all-time) 52 bowl games (6th all-time) Missouri: 671 all time wins (32nd all-time) 0 national titles 214 NFL draft picks (37th all-time) 32 bowl games (30th all-time) Oh, and Missouri hired Dooley as their OC..... Missouri has nothing on Tennessee outside of doing what every other team did and enjoy the Dooley/Jones eras.

I got about 15-20% into the article and realized it must be a Dave Hooker article, sure enough it was. JG was a redshirt freshman playing behind a makeshift OL last season. He was formerly the #1 dual threat QB recruit and picked Tennessee over Ohio St. Had he chosen Ohio St. it's not hard to imagine how much hype he would be getting. Keller Chryst was the #3 pro style QB coming out of high school and held his own when starting at Stanford until he got banged up and lost the starting job in large part due to injuries. He has recently been added to the Unitas Golden Arm award watch list. Point being, there are way worse positions to be in at QB than having two former 4-5 star QB recruits battling it out. I personally would take our QB scenario over Florida or LSU, for instance. Add in who we have committed in this current class and the likely top target for next season and how sharp they are looking early in their high school seasons right now and you've got a very solid group of QBs.

Probably why I acknowledged that in my comment, but still more like a 'football months away' kind of post vs. a 'kickoff this weekend' post. Surely there is more to cover, especially with who we play, new faces on the team, surprises on the depth chart (TKJ 3rd string safety? I didn't see that one coming) and so on.

To be honest, my first thought was 'well, we only play 12 games, so I don't think that is possible unless we get like 3-5 bonus games'...

Somehow got to #6 before I realized I wasn't getting of this valuable time in my life back reading this nonsense. I get the author (loosely used term) has 'comedian' listed in his bio, but this doesn't quite even reach those standards. Maybe a June or July 'out of news' type of thing to post, but not a 'season kicks off this weekend' post.

Florida fans sure stuck with the whole citrus thing, I reckon they got excited they have at least one word they can spell now. Can't spell failure without 'UF" after all.

Congrats on winning one of of the last three against Butch Jones.

Umm, yeah it's been streaky. The all time series, before this most recent streak by Alabama, was within six games or so of being tied up, saying or so before I'm going off memory here. I know Georgia gets a little foggy on what a steak is, they're excited to have one in a row over Tennessee after losing the previous two, but what you described would be the definition of streaky in my book.

Sure it will. It's been a rival of streaks, Bama just happens to be enjoying a winning streak currently. Before that, Tennessee became the first team to beat Alabama seven in a row. Goes in cycles.

Haha, idiot. Jeremy Pruitt has the 5th highest salary in the SEC only behind Saban, Fisher, Mullen, and Malzahn. In case you can't figure this out on your own, and judging by your ignorant comments that seems quite likely, he makes more than Smart, Stoops, Morris, Orgeron, Muschamp, Luke, Mason, Odom and Moorhead.

I'd be all for Tennessee and Florida slugging it out for first place in the east just like in the 1990's. That was some fun football, even if we didn't come out on top several times. Classics.

269 lbs? He wasn't going to play this season unless massive injuries hit. Heal up, redshirt, be ready next season.