I just want to win this game lol, I think it is our most important game coming into the season

#1
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volbound1700

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#1
Because it sets the tone if we are going to win 10 games or struggle.

Even if it is 1 point victory, I just want to win it.

My fear is that Florida isn't as bad as people think because SEC (or any East Coast team) usually plays like crap on the West Coast. We had our own issues when we traveled to Cal and UCLA.

Even Alabama and Georgia lost some of their last games out West (Georgia to Colorado and Oklahoma State) and Alabama to UCLA (granted pre-Saban). Georgia did beat Arizona State and LSU has beaten both Arizonas and Washington in its trips.
 
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#2
#2
I do think Florida will have difficultly running the ball on us and our defense could set the tone for the game. We just need to not make mistakes and move the ball/stay on the field.

Florida will try what they did last year with the deep throws and I think they roll the dice a lot and go for it on 4th down again.
 
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#6
#6
This one will be about which team can run the ball better. I don’t expect either qb to light it up, but it’d be awesome if Milton put it together this game. I think if we come out and Milton looks a little shakey, we’re in a slug fest game from that point.
 
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#7
#7
It is 100% the most important game for the Vols on Saturday. 1 game at a time.

Seriously though, if they can't be focused and execute from the first whistle for this game, then I don't have much faith in this team or this season.
 
#8
#8
volbound1700 said:
Because it sets the tone if we are going to win 10 games or struggle.

Even if it is 1 point victory, I just want to win it.

My fear is that Florida isn't as bad as people think because SEC (or any East Coast team) usually plays like crap on the West Coast. We had our own issues when we traveled to Cal and UCLA.

Even Alabama and Georgia lost some of their last games out West (Georgia to Colorado and Oklahoma State) and Alabama to UCLA (granted pre-Saban). Georgia did beat Arizona State and LSU has beaten both Arizonas and Washington in its trips.
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If we don't turn it over, I think we win by 2-3 scores. If we turn it over, it may turn into a slug fest and a very close game.
 
#9
#9
I'll be there. Ready for a Big Orange Victory. I'll be sitting in the Fla Season
ticket section. Should be fun in my orange and white. Go Vols!!!!
 
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#17
#17
OffTackleVol said:
If we don't turn it over, I think we win by 2-3 scores. If we turn it over, it may turn into a slug fest and a very close game.
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I think it is more than just turning it over. We need to stop run game (I think we will) and make sure we don't give up those 3rd and 4th and long pass plays like we did last year (not sure about this one).
 
#18
#18
bonavol said:
I don’t think it’s the most important game to win this year, but it is the most important one not to lose.
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Being a Tennessee Alumni and Fan most of our life, our seasons tend to hang on whether we beat Florida or not (especially during Fulmer era). The only exception I can think of is 2016 where we beat Florida and Georgia both but collapsed late season.

Usually when we beat Florida, we finish with 10 or more wins and in the top 10/15.
 
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#20
#20
cherokeeeVOL said:
I also want them to win this game so that the threads whining about the team will go away at least for one week...
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Yeah, the responses in the Austin Peay game thread this past week were rough. I do think Florida is not as bad as everyone is making them out to be but I feel confident Tennessee may win the game. I felt like my thread was the only one actually talking about dynamics of the game instead of whining. If I was a neutral observer, here is what I see:

1. I think Tennessee will shut down Florida's run game
2. Florida is going to gamble (like last year) and throw kitchen sink at us. Everyone trashes Napier but his aggressive game plan last year nearly won the game for Florida. I expect something similar this year but I think our secondary is in a better position to slow them down.
3. Graham looks like an alright QB
4. Our offense has been questionable to date. My primary issue is the play calling more than the drops/execution. Not enough creative down field pass plays and the running plays have been pretty conservative as well. I have several theories below:

a. We are trying to hide our play book - This is BEST case scenario
b. The coach staff doesn't trust our QB/WR/OL/RB in certain situations so they haven't ran plays from last year
c. We are missing Alex Goresh
d. Combination of all 3

If a is true, and we come alive, we will blow Florida out (provided our secondary is improved and stops those 4th and long. Florida got lucky on some of those plays last year as well). If b-d are true, this game could be tighter than we expect.

I do think Florida can slow down our run game enough to force us to pass. If Florida cannot stop the run game, then sure they got major problems and we will win easy. I don't think that will be the case. IMO, Florida is still one of the tougher teams on our schedule. I would put them ahead of Missouri, Vandy, and possibly UK right now. South Carolina and Texas A&M are about even with Florida. South Carolina actually has many of the same issues as Florida based on what I saw of their team.
 
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#21
#21
volbound1700 said:
Yeah, the responses in the Austin Peay game thread this past week were rough. I do think Florida is not as bad as everyone is making them out to be but I feel confident Tennessee may win the game. I felt like my thread was the only one actually talking about dynamics of the game instead of whining. If I was a neutral observer, here is what I see:

1. I think Tennessee will shut down Florida's run game
2. Florida is going to gamble (like last year) and throw kitchen sink at us. Everyone trashes Napier but his aggressive game plan last year nearly won the game for Florida. I expect something similar this year but I think our secondary is in a better position to slow them down.
3. Graham looks like an alright QB
4. Our offense has been questionable to date. My primary issue is the play calling more than the drops/execution. Not enough creative down field pass plays and the running plays have been pretty conservative as well. I have several theories below:

a. We are trying to hide our play book - This is BEST case scenario
b. The coach staff doesn't trust our QB/WR/OL/RB in certain situations so they haven't ran plays from last year
c. We are missing Alex Goresh
d. Combination of all 3

If a is true, and we come alive, we will blow Florida out (provided our secondary is improved and stops those 4th and long. Florida got lucky on some of those plays last year as well). If b-d are true, this game could be tighter than we expect.

I do think Florida can slow down our run game enough to force us to pass. If Florida cannot stop the run game, then sure they got major problems and we will win easy. I don't think that will be the case. IMO, Florida is still one of the tougher teams on our schedule. I would put them ahead of Missouri, Vandy, and possibly UK right now. South Carolina and Texas A&M are about even with Florida. South Carolina actually has many of the same issues as Florida based on what I saw of their team.
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I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous about the game after watching the first couple games for the Vols but I do think we'll win. I think the play calling has been fine, they just need to execute better. And, I'm not sure how much truth there is to this, but it sure sounded like our receivers were pretty banged up during fall camp so that very well could be why they've been out of sync so far. Against Clemson, those same guys caught the ball for the most part and Joe looked pretty good.

Agreed on the defense shutting down Florida's run game. Force Mertz to beat you deep and hope that Hadden and company are in position. And, yes, Florida will probably go for it a bunch to try to keep up with the pace of the game again if Milton and the receivers are catching fire.

Go Vols!
 
#23
#23
I think Heupel and company have been pretty conservative in the first two games. A deep shot or two, but basically short passes, or passes to the boundary. Austin Peay had a very unorthodox game plan, and they executed it very well, but we still won. Our defense was in the backfields of both teams a lot, expect more of the same against Florida. As someone pointed out, Napier may have his players faking injuries to make personnel changes. Heupel needs to bring this to the attention of the officials, but don't expect it to matter.
 
#25
#25
Don’t play into that “every SEC team plays bad on the West Coast”. Everyone in the SEC has not looked up to par this year. Our DL is going to be in that backfield all day long. The only thing they might gash us on is screens from being overly aggressive.
 
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