2022 preseason prediction

[GoodmanVol]

10-2 is my prediction, with losses to UGA and Bama.

Where I'll deviate from previous comments is that I think South Carolina will be a tougher game than we think. The game is in Columbia (loud, tough place to play) and they have Spencer Rattler as a transfer QB. Beamer was building a solid culture and over-acheived in year one, then finished with an unexpected win against UNC in the bowl game. That's momentum. Our game is at the end of the season, so it's possible he'll have South Carolina playing well together. I think we win, but I also think USC gives us a fight.

LSU - LS Who? As someone already pointed out - name a player on their team right now. They lost a ton after the 2019 natty, and never reloaded properly because Coach O went off his rocker. Kelly won't be able to turn them around in a single season.

I know others on here are a bit PTSD/shy about picking a win over Florida, but guys, Florida is awful right now. They had huge gaps in recruiting under Mullen (remember that spring where they lost like 10 guys from their signing class or guys just didn't enroll - 2019/2020 maybe?) And Mullen didn't recruit well to begin with...
- Napier 1st year coach
- Roster mismanagement by Mullen
- Heupel / Hooker in year 2 with a healthy Cedric Tillman

I'm no rocket surgeon but my calculus says Vols by a mile!

 

[zooguy]

Until they get quality depth on the defense, the roof is 9-3. I’m seeing 7-5. If Hooker gets injured (which he will due to his playing style), you’ve got Milton at QB - woof.

 

[Vol$_Deep_11_9]

Went with 9-3

Two losses being to Georgia and Alabama, the 3rd I think we split with LSU/Florida. If we go 8-4 we've more than likely lost those 4 games or dropped one we shouldn't have.

We got 10-2 if we take both LSU and Florida. Won't lie that, it would sure be wild to go in to that Alabama game 5-0. The hype for that one would be unreal and Neyland would be rocking.

 

[LittleVol]

7-5 + Bowl

 

[Volfan1000]

9-3 with a bowl invite.

 

[SoullessGinger32_]

7-5 is laughable. Possibly a top 5 offense this year. Looking at the schedule, besides UGA and Bama there's not another team that has the defense to slow our offense down. 10-2 for the Vawls this year.

 

[Volmac2022]

7-5 is laughable. Possibly a top 5 offense this year. Looking at the schedule, besides UGA and Bama there's not another team that has the defense to slow our offense down. 10-2 for the Vawls this year.

I agree to a point but I think LSU ans Florida has a good enough defense to stop us or slow us down. To be honest any team can if they keep flopping like LeBron

 

[stolitonic]

I'll go with 8-4.

Shockingly enough, I am going to say we beat UF.
Loss to Bama and Georgia of course
Pitt I see developing kind of like last year. Jump out to a lead but Pitt comes on strong later.
Also think we lose to either LSU or SC(weird I know but just a weird gut feeling).

 

[OneVolNation]

It looks like the majority have expectations of 9-3. Hope springs eternal every offseason that the next season could finally be one of those David vs. Goliath victories over Alabama. Six seasons ago was the last time we beat Georgia. Anything is possible and that's why the games are played on the field on game day and not on paper. I predict 10-2 but wouldn't be surprised if we knocked off a Bama or Georgia. I'd be ecstatic if both and while not probable, it is certainly well within the realm of possibility. Most people probably have us at least another season with these recruiting classes before we contend for a playoff berth. Wouldn't that be something? Go Vols!

 

[sechamp2012]

I voted 7-5
in polls like this at the end IMO the top 10% of the highest & lowest votes should be thrown out. Because some are unrealistic and some just post to try to get a rise. JMO

 

[miket4god]

7-5 is laughable. Possibly a top 5 offense this year. Looking at the schedule, besides UGA and Bama there's not another team that has the defense to slow our offense down. 10-2 for the Vawls this year.

Had to top 10 defense last year and we went 7-5. Not sure our defense will be any better next year.

 

[Devo182]

Ok so you see nothing wrong with beating Saban and losing to a coach like Beamer? Lol. Whatever.

That is variance lol. Basic statistics 101. UT baseball won every series this season except lowly UK. Does that mean they stink?

That's sports...that's how things work.

 

[Devo182]

Had to top 10 defense last year and we went 7-5. Not sure our defense will be any better next year.

We were also 3 plays (awful ref calls) from a 10 win season...

And that was in YEAR ONE.

Not saying we win 10, but it's not a crazy thought. Last year's team was much better than a 7 win team. +10 PPG Margin and the best YPP margin since Fulmer outside of 2015.

 

[miket4god]

We were also 3 plays (awful ref calls) from a 10 win season...

And that was in YEAR ONE.

Not saying we win 10, but it's not a crazy thought. Last year's team was much better than a 7 win team. +10 PPG Margin and the best YPP margin since Fulmer outside of 2015.

Absolutely. I was just responding to someone who said that 7-5 is "laughable". I will be disappointed with 7-5, but it is certainly not laughable to predict it.
The key will be can we be better on short yardage on offense and can we get off the field better on third down on defense.
I hope so but...........we'll see.

 

[Behr]

That is variance lol. Basic statistics 101. UT baseball won every series this season except lowly UK. Does that mean they stink?

That's sports...that's how things work.

You might as well be explaining Chinese arithmetic to Cliff Clavin.

 

[NO SIR EEE]

Is there a single person on here who can name a good player for LSU right now?

No they can’t. UT will hammer LSU.

 

[dduncan4163]

For the first time in many many years I feel good about Florida.We have an All SEC QB 4 O-Linemen retuen and we have a really good receiving core. It's a home game and it's early in the season. Napier won't have his system humming yet and I don't think they have an Offense that can keep up with us. Our Offense has a chance at being Elite. TN wins 38 28

 

[dduncan4163]

LSU scares me simply because its in Death Valley. If Hooker plays lights out we win. If he has a average day we loose.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

Other than having BVS how can some of you rationalize going 7-5? Or 6-6?

Do you remember how bad we were in 2020?

Did you see what Heupel did in ONE year with a bunch of Pruitt pound puppies and transfers?

We bring back our 3,000 yard 31 TD 3 INT 620 rush yard (while missing a game and a half) QB

4 offensive line starters and a quality transfer at tackle.

1,000 yard unstoppable receiver. A former 5 star receiver and loads of talent.

Bring back both starting TE's.

Return every starting specialist.

Heupel's offenses have improved from year one to year two every single year he's coached.

Add a more bought in Juwan Mitchell to the LB core and bring the entire room back. (Remember how far they came since last spring) Banks is a boss.

Lost 3 D-linemen. Baron and Byron Young will be better. Maybe NFL good. And many of these guys are going into a second year under Rondney freaking Garner.

DB's were rough, but at least all of them are back plus two transfers. Willie Martinez is a proven DB coach. Puts dudes in the league. Dumb to assume none of them get better.

We might get worse in the return game because Velus was incredible. But we have Squirrel White, Calloway and Holiday who are all tremendous athletes.

Then look at the schedule.

Ball State, Akron, UT Martin and Vandy are all guarantees. 4 wins there.

Mizzou? We mopped their field with their own blood last year, have beaten them 3 years in a row easily. Basically a guarantee. 5 wins.

USCjr UK? Well we have beaten USCjr 3 years in a row. We dismantled them last year. Idc how supposedly good Beamer is. His best win last year was against a 6-6 UNC team. We bring everyone back. Like they have to make up a lot of ground to go from 28-0 to beating us.

We always beat UK. They lost their offensive coordinator. Lost some offensive linemen and lost Wandale who made their offense 1000 times better.

Pitt barely beat us even though we had no Byron Young. No Tiyon Evans. Baron was banged up. No Cooper Mays. Small was knocked out of the game. Hooker came in rusty after Milton botched it and them with the best QB in the 2022 draft and the best WR in college football only beat us by a touchdown. Those guys are gone and so is their offensive coordinator....

Florida and LSU. Coming off bad seasons. First year head coaches.

Only BVS can predict 7-5 or worse.

It is valid because we have had so much go wrong. But things can't go wrong forever.

 

[LittleVol]

Other than having BVS how can some of you rationalize going 7-5? Or 6-6?

Do you remember how bad we were in 2020?

Did you see what Heupel did in ONE year with a bunch of Pruitt pound puppies and transfers?

We bring back our 3,000 yard 31 TD 3 INT 620 rush yard (while missing a game and a half) QB

4 offensive line starters and a quality transfer at tackle.

1,000 yard unstoppable receiver. A former 5 star receiver and loads of talent.

Bring back both starting TE's.

Return every starting specialist.

Heupel's offenses have improved from year one to year two every single year he's coached.

Add a more bought in Juwan Mitchell to the LB core and bring the entire room back. (Remember how far they came since last spring) Banks is a boss.

Lost 3 D-linemen. Baron and Byron Young will be better. Maybe NFL good. And many of these guys are going into a second year under Rondney freaking Garner.

DB's were rough, but at least all of them are back plus two transfers. Willie Martinez is a proven DB coach. Puts dudes in the league. Dumb to assume none of them get better.

We might get worse in the return game because Velus was incredible. But we have Squirrel White, Calloway and Holiday who are all tremendous athletes.

Then look at the schedule.

Ball State, Akron, UT Martin and Vandy are all guarantees. 4 wins there.

Mizzou? We mopped their field with their own blood last year, have beaten them 3 years in a row easily. Basically a guarantee. 5 wins.

USCjr UK? Well we have beaten USCjr 3 years in a row. We dismantled them last year. Idc how supposedly good Beamer is. His best win last year was against a 6-6 UNC team. We bring everyone back. Like they have to make up a lot of ground to go from 28-0 to beating us.

We always beat UK. They lost their offensive coordinator. Lost some offensive linemen and lost Wandale who made their offense 1000 times better.

Pitt barely beat us even though we had no Byron Young. No Tiyon Evans. Baron was banged up. No Cooper Mays. Small was knocked out of the game. Hooker came in rusty after Milton botched it and them with the best QB in the 2022 draft and the best WR in college football only beat us by a touchdown. Those guys are gone and so is their offensive coordinator....

Florida and LSU. Coming off bad seasons. First year head coaches.

Only BVS can predict 7-5 or worse.

It is valid because we have had so much go wrong. But things can't go wrong forever.

We lost 2 NFL DBs in our secondary. You said we return all of them.
We lost Payton and Jones. Both guys were players that could make a guy miss and score long TDs (quick strike)

No one at QB behind Hooker.
Juwan Mitchell was plenty bought it, he got injured...

Not BVS. We need to keep recruiting exactly how we are for the 23 class. Explosive edge rushers and potent offensive weapons.

7-5. 8-5 with the bowl

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

We lost 2 NFL DBs in our secondary. You said we return all of them.
We lost Payton and Jones. Both guys were players that could make a guy miss and score long TDs (quick strike)

No one at QB behind Hooker.
Juwan Mitchell was plenty bought it, he got injured...

Not BVS. We need to keep recruiting exactly how we are for the 23 class. Explosive edge rushers and potent offensive weapons.

7-5. 8-5 with the bowl

Did you see what we lost from 2020???

I know Taylor is gone. I just misspoke. Kenneth George hardly played and it's amazing he even got a look in the NFL. But we bring everyone else back plus transfers, a JUCO and some freshmen. None of them stand out? None of them get better? It's just guaranteed Purdue game over and over again? Willie Martinez suddenly can't develop anyone on out roster even though he just got multiple 3 star guys drafted from UCF?

Banks, Solon Page, Aaron Beasley etc. All improved tremendously from 2020 to 2021. Like no one thought Page and Beasley would ever be allowed on the field. Banks wasn't half the player he turned out to be.

But I guess none of them will improve and Juwan Mitchell will have no positive impact again.

Joe Milton could very easily be a serviceable back up. Kind of hard to somehow inexplicably overthrow wide open guys on the deep ball for the rest of eternity. He didn't have that issue in high school, Michigan, in practices or in scrimmages just in one and a half games he played here. He missed the intermediate throws. Which Heupel fixed. He didn't miss those. He ran the offense well. He didn't miss the deep ball against UGA's first team and hit plenty of them in practice and the spring game. He could very easily be fine. If he goes out there and continues to miss every wide open deep ball. We put Jackson in and he has impressed. So no. We have other guys with plenty of potential being coached by people who have consistently churned out quality QB after quality QB.

Javonte Payton is not that big of a loss. We have a bunch of guys that can do what he did. Velus is harder to replace, but remember, who were they before Heupel. Not NFL players at all. So somehow no one else will step up? Not Bru, Hyatt, Calloway, Holiday, Keyton, Squirrel, Merrill Webb? Tillman can't get better? Or Will it just be the Tillman show in an offense that routinely gets WR's open all over the field? There's a verrrrry solid chance one or more of those guys kills it this year.

Byron Young and Baron both looked great in the spring and should really help the pass rush. We still have Roman Harrison too.

Then like, all our other oppents get better but we don't? I mean we were a few plays away from a 10 win season will a depleted roster. These coaches worked a miracle. Now we have so much back including every coach but Burns.

You're predicting that none of our transfers or freshman make a significant impact, no one gets better under a coaching staff that has done nothing but make our guys drastically better from the moment they stepped foot in Knoxville. And then LSU, Florida, UK, Pitt, Mizzou, USCjr all improve more than we do.

Things have to go horribly wrong if we go 7-5.

 

[LittleVol]

Yu

Did you see what we lost from 2020???

I know Taylor is gone. I just misspoke. Kenneth George hardly played and it's amazing he even got a look in the NFL. But we bring everyone else back plus transfers, a JUCO and some freshmen. None of them stand out? None of them get better? It's just guaranteed Purdue game over and over again? Willie Martinez suddenly can't develop anyone on out roster even though he just got multiple 3 star guys drafted from UCF?

Banks, Solon Page, Aaron Beasley etc. All improved tremendously from 2020 to 2021. Like no one thought Page and Beasley would ever be allowed on the field. Banks wasn't half the player he turned out to be.

But I guess none of them will improve and Juwan Mitchell will have no positive impact again.

Joe Milton could very easily be a serviceable back up. Kind of hard to somehow inexplicably overthrow wide open guys on the deep ball for the rest of eternity. He didn't have that issue in high school, Michigan, in practices or in scrimmages just in one and a half games he played here. He missed the intermediate throws. Which Heupel fixed. He didn't miss those. He ran the offense well. He didn't miss the deep ball against UGA's first team and hit plenty of them in practice and the spring game. He could very easily be fine. If he goes out there and continues to miss every wide open deep ball. We put Jackson in and he has impressed. So no. We have other guys with plenty of potential being coached by people who have consistently churned out quality QB after quality QB.

Javonte Payton is not that big of a loss. We have a bunch of guys that can do what he did. Velus is harder to replace, but remember, who were they before Heupel. Not NFL players at all. So somehow no one else will step up? Not Bru, Hyatt, Calloway, Holiday, Keyton, Squirrel, Merrill Webb? Tillman can't get better? Or Will it just be the Tillman show in an offense that routinely gets WR's open all over the field? There's a verrrrry solid chance one or more of those guys kills it this year.

Byron Young and Baron both looked great in the spring and should really help the pass rush. We still have Roman Harrison too.

Then like, all our other oppents get better but we don't? I mean we were a few plays away from a 10 win season will a depleted roster. These coaches worked a miracle. Now we have so much back including every coach but Burns.

You're predicting that none of our transfers or freshman make a significant impact, no one gets better under a coaching staff that has done nothing but make our guys drastically better from the moment they stepped foot in Knoxville. And then LSU, Florida, UK, Pitt, Mizzou, USCjr all improve more than we do.

Things have to go horribly wrong if we go 7-5.

THEO JACKSON, man.
He and Alontae were drafted.

You're only looking at the Vols
What about our opponents??

You think we beat an LSU team now coached by Brian Kelly, that is considerably more talented than us? 0-1
Bama still has Bryce Young and Nick Saban.
0-2
UGA is still strong.
0-3
Florida
0-4
Heupel has trouble with Pitt.
At UCF and now here. Yeah they lost Addison, but Narduzzi has his program in place now. Toss up game that give to Pitt right now.
Not to mention they are the ACC CHAMPIONS.
0-5

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

Yu


THEO JACKSON, man.
He and Alontae were drafted.

You're only looking at the Vols
What about our opponents??

You think we beat an LSU team now coached by Brian Kelly, that is considerably more talented than us? 0-1
Bama still has Bryce Young and Nick Saban.
0-2
UGA is still strong.
0-3
Florida
0-4
Heupel has trouble with Pitt.
At UCF and now here. Yeah they lost Addison, but Narduzzi has his program in place now. Toss up game that give to Pitt right now.
Not to mention they are the ACC CHAMPIONS.
0-5

Damnnnn can't believe I forgot Theo.

Turnage did replace him and get SEC defensive player of the week though. Doneiko has looked okay. Wesley Walker was good at GT. Turrentine might be used there.

UGA and Bama are losses.

The LSU game is a flat out toss up. The talent gap isn't that significant either. We still have a top 20 roster. They were very average last year and they are uncertain at QB. With what we have coming back it is obviously a 50/50 game on paper.

You're just assuming we lose to Florida because we always lose to Florida. That's another toss up with us currently being the Vegas favorite.

Pitt didn't just lose Addison. They lost their OC, Pickett, a corner their tight end and others. Addison, Pickett and the tight end were the only reason they had a chance in hell of beating us last year and barely did despite all of our issues that day.

Heupel only lost to them because of an inordinate amount of injuries uncharacteristic turnovers, 13 uncharacteristic penalties.

Yeah Heup lost to them at UCF, but Pitt had a more talented roster and he barely lost.

We are 8-4 at worst.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Yu


THEO JACKSON, man.
He and Alontae were drafted.

You're only looking at the Vols
What about our opponents??

You think we beat an LSU team now coached by Brian Kelly, that is considerably more talented than us? 0-1
Bama still has Bryce Young and Nick Saban.
0-2
UGA is still strong.
0-3
Florida
0-4
Heupel has trouble with Pitt.
At UCF and now here. Yeah they lost Addison, but Narduzzi has his program in place now. Toss up game that give to Pitt right now.
Not to mention they are the ACC CHAMPIONS.
0-5

Did you see what we lost from 2020???

I know Taylor is gone. I just misspoke. Kenneth George hardly played and it's amazing he even got a look in the NFL. But we bring everyone else back plus transfers, a JUCO and some freshmen. None of them stand out? None of them get better? It's just guaranteed Purdue game over and over again? Willie Martinez suddenly can't develop anyone on out roster even though he just got multiple 3 star guys drafted from UCF?

Banks, Solon Page, Aaron Beasley etc. All improved tremendously from 2020 to 2021. Like no one thought Page and Beasley would ever be allowed on the field. Banks wasn't half the player he turned out to be.

But I guess none of them will improve and Juwan Mitchell will have no positive impact again.

Joe Milton could very easily be a serviceable back up. Kind of hard to somehow inexplicably overthrow wide open guys on the deep ball for the rest of eternity. He didn't have that issue in high school, Michigan, in practices or in scrimmages just in one and a half games he played here. He missed the intermediate throws. Which Heupel fixed. He didn't miss those. He ran the offense well. He didn't miss the deep ball against UGA's first team and hit plenty of them in practice and the spring game. He could very easily be fine. If he goes out there and continues to miss every wide open deep ball. We put Jackson in and he has impressed. So no. We have other guys with plenty of potential being coached by people who have consistently churned out quality QB after quality QB.

Javonte Payton is not that big of a loss. We have a bunch of guys that can do what he did. Velus is harder to replace, but remember, who were they before Heupel. Not NFL players at all. So somehow no one else will step up? Not Bru, Hyatt, Calloway, Holiday, Keyton, Squirrel, Merrill Webb? Tillman can't get better? Or Will it just be the Tillman show in an offense that routinely gets WR's open all over the field? There's a verrrrry solid chance one or more of those guys kills it this year.

Byron Young and Baron both looked great in the spring and should really help the pass rush. We still have Roman Harrison too.

Then like, all our other oppents get better but we don't? I mean we were a few plays away from a 10 win season will a depleted roster. These coaches worked a miracle. Now we have so much back including every coach but Burns.

You're predicting that none of our transfers or freshman make a significant impact, no one gets better under a coaching staff that has done nothing but make our guys drastically better from the
moment they stepped foot in Knoxville. And then LSU, Florida, UK, Pitt, Mizzou, USCjr all improve more than we do.

Things have to go horribly wrong if we go 7-5.

I'm really encouraged by the direction of the program. I thought the team showed more fight than they had in years last year. The things Heupel does both in the season and otherwise, generally make sense, which is far more than I can say of his immediate predecessor.

That said, the improvement in our record last year was largely a function of having teams like Bowling Green and Chattanooga back on the schedule. In 2020, we went 3-7 against P5 teams. Last year, we went 4-6.

We are way behind Bama and UGA talent wise. Last year Bama signed 15 top 100 players, UGA signed 12, we signed 0. All of our classes currently on campus are similarly mismatched vs. Bama & UGA. Currently our 2023 class appears likely to at least be in the neighborhood of their classes come December and that will be huge progress but we'll need to do the same for at least 2 more cycles after that to be close to closing the talent gap.

Florida, @ LSU and @Pitt will all be tough games, could go either way. We've lost what, 16 of 17 to Florida? Until we get several wins against Florida, I'm never going to go into that game thinking it's a lock. LSU still has Top 5-10 talent, wait for the 247 talent composite to come out in August, that's where they'll be. Kelly is a major upgrade over Ed O in the coaching department also. With that game also being on the road, that's a toss-up at best. Most publications are ranking Kentucky and Pitt also. As long as we don't sleep on Kentucky we should beat them at home but we can't take them lightly. Kentucky under Stoops is far more legit than the Kentucky of yesteryear that it is still tempting to think of them as. Pitt got Kedon Slovis who is a good QB when healthy so that's a wild card of a game on the road.

South Carolina I also expect us to beat but basically Rattler was considered to be what Nico is coming out of high school. He's got plenty of talent. If he puts it together, they could be a tough out too. I'm in the 8-4 camp officially but 7-5 isn't crazy, any more than 9-3 is. 10-2 would require everything to go right and 6-6 would require everything to go wrong. That's my take fwiw.

 

[Volunteer forever]

6-6 and lose bowl game. End season 6-7. Then everyone thinks TN wins national championship in 2023