Fearless Prediction: Tennessee vs. Kent State
Two games down, at least 10 to go for the Fearless Prediction. Like the Tennessee Volunteers, we are undefeated and nowhere close to hitting our true potential.
Last week Tennessee absolutely dismantled NC State 51-10. If you are doing the math (and I hope that you are keeping that abacus sharp), the Vols have outscored their first two opponents by a combined score of 120-13.
Is that good? Yeah, that’s good.
On Saturday night, No. 7 Tennessee plays their last tune-up before SEC play begins, so the Vols want to stay healthy, stay sharp, and continue sending a message that this team is a College Football Playoff contender.
Kent State comes to Neyland Stadium with an 0-2 record. No my friends, the Golden Flashes will not strike fear into the hearts of Vols fans following defeats to Pitt and (checks notes) St. Francis University? That 23-17 result was the first time SFU defeated an FBS opponent. Ever.
The only drama should be whether the Vols can cover the 49-point spread (via DraftKings).
The Golden Flashes don’t throw the football very much, averaging 191.5 yards per game. That’s 96th nationally. Not great. Devin Kargman completes 55% of his passes. Of course if they have a powerful rushing attack you can give away a little in the passing game.
Well, Kent State rushes for 54.5 yards per game, placing them 129th in the country. Yes, only 4 teams in the FBS rush the football less than the Golden Flashes. When they do run, Ky Thomas or Curtis Douglas get those carries, while averaging a mere 3 yards per attempt.
Will Kent State’s defense present problems for Tennessee’s high powered offense? The Magic 8 ball says “Outlook Not So Good.” The Golden Flashes are ranked 125th in total defense, allowing 486 yards per game. They are 115th in rushing defense and 120th in passing yards allowed.
This is shaping up to be a long night for the visitors, and a fun capper to Family Weekend at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
The season might only be 2 games old, but this Tennessee offense is looking an awful lot like that record-setting group from 2022. They are ranked 5th nationally in total offense at 589 yards per game. Those aren’t empty yards, either. The Vols are 2nd nationally in scoring average (a crisp 60 points per game).
Nico Iamaleava has given fans reason to believe that he will be the next great Tennessee QB. He’s been named SEC freshman of the week twice in as many weeks. Ten receivers already have caught at least 3 passes, with Bru McCoy leading the way with 7.
But junior running back Dylan Sampson is the breakout star of this offense. Sampson rushed 32 times for 256 yards combined against Chattanooga and NC State. He also has scored 5 TDs — tied for 3rd nationally — and has caught 3 passes in each game.
That all said … Iamaleava only has 3 college starts under his belt. The sky is the limit for him and for this offense.
I mentioned that 2022 Tennessee team, which won 11 games and was perhaps one torn ACL from making the Playoff. The defense was decent that season, but not Playoff-worthy.
The 2024 Tennessee defense? Well, that might be the difference for the Vols. They are ranked 5th in total defense nationally, allowing only 185 yards per game. With the exception of a Mocs FG, Tennessee’s defense hasn’t allowed any points (NC State scored its TD on a pick-6). When you factor in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day, they’ve kept opponents out of the end zone for over 12 quarters.
The defensive line is legit and deep. Bryson Eason, Omari Thomas, Dominic Bailey, Omarr Norman-Lott, Tyre West, Elijah Simmons and Joshua Josephs each have at least 3 tackles. And the best of the bunch, James Pearce, Jr., a potential high first-round NFL draft pick, has 1 tackle this season. They only allow 56.5 rushing yards per game.
Linebacker play has been solid with Keenan Pili, Arion Carter, Jalen Smith and Jeremiah Telander. That front 7 can help make up for some of the issues in the secondary going forward.
Next week Tennessee plays at Oklahoma, and the Fearless Prediction will have a lot to say about that game when the time comes. So we need to get some rest to prepare for that prime-time affair in Norman.
The Vols will hope to rest their starters as soon as possible against the Golden Flashes. We expect them to be able to do that after the first half.
Fearless Prediction time …
Tennessee 56, Kent State 7
Bold huh… Not sure what will happen in this game, other than a beatdown. Should be over by halftime and lots of backups playing the second half. if not somethings wrong. kent is so bad that even 3rd or 4th stringers might hang 50-60 on em. This is one of those games where you just want to get the W with nobody getting injured so you can officially start getting ready for the sooners.
It’s the playoff era. Every offensive series is an opportunity to score a TD. To continue on our pace, we need to drop 70 with TDs out of Moore and Merklinger.
Yeah you need those style points with that weak OOC schedule
Well, I guess Tennessee Tech was a juggernaut that you beat, then. Look, most teams in the SEC have had weak OOC games to start the season, but I don’t think NCSt. is on the level of UTC or Kent State. As far as Clemson being good, I really don’t know, I guess we will see when they and NCSt. play each other in the ACC.
Ha! Every SEC team has a couple weak teams on the schedule. Tenn Tech and UMass are a couple world beaters, eh? Georgia played Clemson, Tennessee played NC State. You’re gonna find out next week that those teams are very evenly matched. Schedule strength is very similar. And that’s pretty weird flex anyway. :)
When I started looking at Kent State and the fact that they lost at home to St Francis of the FCS last week, I naturally asked myself this question: “I wonder how Kent State would compare to the Chattanooga team we played in week one?” I don’t think there is any doubt, UTC would beat this team pretty badly. Looking at the numbers of this 23-17 loss to St Francis, the game really wasn’t all that close. The final score was pretty close (23-17), but St Francis had 402 total yards to Kent St’s 280. St Francis was very balanced- 195yds passing and 207 rushing. They led time of possession 34.5 minutes to 25.5 minutes. They scored 20pts in the first half and led by 9 going into the 4th quarter. They didn’t even need to take any serious risks in the 2nd half because they were ahead and Kent St couldn’t move the ball. Kent St hit a late FG with a minute and a half left to cut the lead to the final margin. Now, someone might say, “well, Kent St got caught looking ahead to Tennessee.” That might hold some water if they didn’t get destroyed the week before by Pitt and maybe if they didn’t go to Penn St after UT. I’m not buying it. This is who they are.
With all that said, the final score will primarily depend on how many points Tennessee wants to score in the game and maybe how quickly the first 2 sets (the either/or depth chart) of players get taken out of the game. It’s likely going to come down to how the 2nd and 3rd quarterbacks play. Either way, 56 points seems low to me, but why argue? :)