For those of you who have followed me over the past couple of years, you know that I am passionate about Tennessee Volunteer football. If you haven’t followed me, you know this simply by looking at my picture on the left and the quotes that I throw out. I went through the past threads that I’ve started and I have gathered that my record posting Tennessee games is 8-4. This goes back to 2006 when I went 8-2 (I went 0-2 last year in the first 2 games and gave up). In 2007, I was starting my career and didn’t spend time capping games. In 2008, last season, I said that I was going to get heavily involved again, but the way Tennessee played the first game (against UCLA), I was so sickened, that I didn’t want to have anything to do with college football. This year, with the insertion of Lane Kiffin, there is a renewed excitement for football, not just for me, but the whole city of Knoxville.
I have seen many posters on this site say that they are not “sold” on Kiffin. This is the same guy that recruited the great USC teams that included Heisman trophy winners like Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. His father, Tennessee’s Defensive Coordinator, Monte Kiffin is a legendary defensive mastermind. If you know anything about NFL football, you know that this guy is no joke. Ed Orgeron, Tennessee’s Assistant Head Coach, a few years ago was the head coach of another SEC program in Mississippi. In 1998-2004, he served as Pete Carroll’s right hand man as USC’s Assistant Head Coach. With Jim Chaney, Tennessee’s Offensive Coordinator, there is much experience in the NFL.
I believe that it is easy to make the argument that this is the best staff in college football. I challenge someone to name a more experienced (both NFL and college) staff in the college ranks. I have talked to a few of the players on Tennessee and they are “sold” on Kiffin and his staff. These players are so “sold” on this staff, it isn’t even funny. They are going to work hard for these coaches, much harder for this staff than the previous staff.
This brings me to my analysis of for the UCLA game. At the time I’m writing this Tennessee is a 10 point favorite. I think that Vegas did a good job capping this game opening it at 9. I will be taking Tennessee -10. I think that this could be something like a 41-17 or 35-14 game that Tennessee wins pretty easily. Before you call me a homer, and ridiculous, please read below.
Last week (I know it was Western Kentucky) Tennessee put up the biggest difference in yardage in a game in school history (Tennessee’s 657 to Western Kentucky’s 83). Lane Kiffin didn’t take his foot off the gas like the previous staff would’ve. This week is his first chance to showcase Tennessee Football in front of a national audience. He realizes what this can do for recruiting kids on the West Coast and I think that is enough for him to be at the top of his game.
This is a hard ticket to come by here in Knoxville. The crowd is going to be there in full force. You remember when Neyland used to be a tough place to play, yeah, we finally got that back. This town is more excited about this game than any other non-conference game that I can remember in a long time.
Lastly I want to talk about last year. The UCLA game of last year was the most embarrassing moment for me being a Tennessee fan. We should’ve never lost that game. We had a new offensive coordinator who didn’t connect with the players. We had a very talented team that lacked proper coaching and leadership. We now have the proper coaching and leadership. This team knows that they shouldn’t have lost last year and is hungry for this UCLA team.
Tennessee -10 is the play. BOL.
*Feedback, arguments, and rebuttals are welcomed and encouraged.
I have seen many posters on this site say that they are not “sold” on Kiffin. This is the same guy that recruited the great USC teams that included Heisman trophy winners like Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. His father, Tennessee’s Defensive Coordinator, Monte Kiffin is a legendary defensive mastermind. If you know anything about NFL football, you know that this guy is no joke. Ed Orgeron, Tennessee’s Assistant Head Coach, a few years ago was the head coach of another SEC program in Mississippi. In 1998-2004, he served as Pete Carroll’s right hand man as USC’s Assistant Head Coach. With Jim Chaney, Tennessee’s Offensive Coordinator, there is much experience in the NFL.
I believe that it is easy to make the argument that this is the best staff in college football. I challenge someone to name a more experienced (both NFL and college) staff in the college ranks. I have talked to a few of the players on Tennessee and they are “sold” on Kiffin and his staff. These players are so “sold” on this staff, it isn’t even funny. They are going to work hard for these coaches, much harder for this staff than the previous staff.
This brings me to my analysis of for the UCLA game. At the time I’m writing this Tennessee is a 10 point favorite. I think that Vegas did a good job capping this game opening it at 9. I will be taking Tennessee -10. I think that this could be something like a 41-17 or 35-14 game that Tennessee wins pretty easily. Before you call me a homer, and ridiculous, please read below.
Last week (I know it was Western Kentucky) Tennessee put up the biggest difference in yardage in a game in school history (Tennessee’s 657 to Western Kentucky’s 83). Lane Kiffin didn’t take his foot off the gas like the previous staff would’ve. This week is his first chance to showcase Tennessee Football in front of a national audience. He realizes what this can do for recruiting kids on the West Coast and I think that is enough for him to be at the top of his game.
This is a hard ticket to come by here in Knoxville. The crowd is going to be there in full force. You remember when Neyland used to be a tough place to play, yeah, we finally got that back. This town is more excited about this game than any other non-conference game that I can remember in a long time.
Lastly I want to talk about last year. The UCLA game of last year was the most embarrassing moment for me being a Tennessee fan. We should’ve never lost that game. We had a new offensive coordinator who didn’t connect with the players. We had a very talented team that lacked proper coaching and leadership. We now have the proper coaching and leadership. This team knows that they shouldn’t have lost last year and is hungry for this UCLA team.
Tennessee -10 is the play. BOL.
*Feedback, arguments, and rebuttals are welcomed and encouraged.
