New Game: Guess Hat's Reaction

[allvol]

I'm going to stand somewhere in the middle, here, and say that I'm just not sure how good Cal is, and I'm not real sure how good we are yet. All we know, for sure, is that we are better than Cal. They sure had some strength up front on defense. Lynch is definitely going to be a good back for them. But, we abused the passing offense, the O-line, and the secondary. So. . . .is our defense just that dominant? Are our receivers that much more physical?

Guess we'll know in about two weeks.

And, on a side note: Do people really think SC and Arkansas will be better than Alabama? If so, that would be cool.

Compared to last season's opening win (17-10) over UAB, I would have to say that this was much more enjoyable. Not only that, but struggling against a team like UAB versus dominating a team like Cal says alot to me. Even if Cal ends up the season with only 5 wins, the Vols looked better in this one game than at any time last season.

 

[volfan2024]

I think the freshman d-back hurt Cal on coverages as well as I think Tennessee actually has a offensive coach that knows how to direct offense.Our d-backs and line are fast.Our defense actually has something to get play for this year.There is no doubt in my mind Cal will only lose one or two more games.But SEC teams that we have play will for sure try to re-exploit Ainge's weaknesses.We must run and pass to win.As I stated earlier, Cal is but one game.

 

[volinbham]

I agree. While I'm not predicting anything for the rest of the season I'm still very excited about this particular game.

In the end, my guess is that this will still count as a quality win and Cal will be an 8 - 10 game winner. I think they are at least on par with SC or Ark and probably a step better. Who wouldn't take the performance we had Saturday over an SC or and Ark? I think beating either of those teams the way we beat Cal would be above expectations.

We will still lose some games this year (as will virtually every team). I congratulate the coaches and players for how they responded to the negativity of last season.

 

[GVF]

I'm not sold on the fact that Cal was really that overrated. I don't think anyone was able to calculate that our defense was actually that good and able to completely and effectively stuff their shoe up someone's A**. They were ranked in the top 15 for a reason.

 

[GVF]

Compared to last season's opening win (17-10) over UAB, I would have to say that this was much more enjoyable. Not only that, but struggling against a team like UAB versus dominating a team like Cal says alot to me. Even if Cal ends up the season with only 5 wins, the Vols looked better in this one game than at any time last season.

Don't undersell our meager win over UAB last year. Ask Oklahoma if UAB is a pushover. They had all they could take. UAB will be the new So. Miss. Now there will be 2 off-conference patsies that can beat you.

 

[WA_Vol]

I think Cal will finish the season ranked near the bottom of the top 25. Probably will lose to USC and one other PAC-10 team and go 9-3.

It was a solid win over a top 25 team.

 

[GVF]

I think Cal will finish the season ranked near the bottom of the top 25. Probably will lose to USC and one other PAC-10 team and go 9-3.

It was a solid win over a top 25 team.

That is true. Maybe not a big win over a true top 10 team, but definitely a solid win over a team deserving of a ranking in the top 25. And a major D1 opponent as well. Where we don't get props from rankers is that there are never any teams below D1-A on our non-conf.

 

[jakez4ut]

someone said it earlier....and hat was right...Cal definitely overrated and over confident. and i bought in to the hype. I thought Cal would represent a much tougher game and never thought we would handle them in the fashion that we did.

But on the same token, i'll give UT credit. with all the questions surrounding this team coming in, it wasn't unreasonable to think we could very well lose that game.

based on the scrimmage reports and practice reports we've all been reading the past month, the questions just kept coming.

and after seeing our defense on Saturday night, if that's the defense our offense was playing against, then no wonder the offense didn't exactly light it up.

All in all i was very impressed, but am cautiously optmistic about the rest of the season....UF will be a big game as usual. win that....sky is the limit.

 

[GVF]

someone said it earlier....and hat was right...Cal definitely overrated and over confident. and i bought in to the hype. I thought Cal would represent a much tougher game and never thought we would handle them in the fashion that we did.

But on the same token, i'll give UT credit. with all the questions surrounding this team coming in, it wasn't unreasonable to think we could very well lose that game.

based on the scrimmage reports and practice reports we've all been reading the past month, the questions just kept coming.

and after seeing our defense on Saturday night, if that's the defense our offense was playing against, then no wonder the offense didn't exactly light it up.

All in all i was very impressed, but am cautiously optmistic about the rest of the season....UF will be a big game as usual. win that....sky is the limit.

Unreasonable to have doubts after last year. No. You really don't know how long it will take to really correct the problems we have.

Did Cal have the tools to beat us? Sure. Very good HC. Good staff. Lots of talent. Overrated. Some, but not much. They were a 4 loss team getting back up to a top 10 preseason. Ill prepared. Absolutely. They did not give us the battle one would have looked for from Cal. We may have still won, and I picked us to win for other reasons than just being a fan, but we should not have blown them out. Reminds me of last year for us. Just a few missed plays being the difference between a close game or possiible win, and a blowout loss.

 

[jakez4ut]

Unreasonable to have doubts after last year. No. You really don't know how long it will take to really correct the problems we have.

Did Cal have the tools to beat us? Sure. Very good HC. Good staff. Lots of talent. Overrated. Some, but not much. They were a 4 loss team getting back up to a top 10 preseason. Ill prepared. Absolutely. They did not give us the battle one would have looked for from Cal. We may have still won, and I picked us to win for other reasons than just being a fan, but we should not have blown them out. Reminds me of last year for us. Just a few missed plays being the difference between a close game or possiible win, and a blowout loss.

well i don't think it anyone would argue that poor tackling on Cal's part was an issue for them. But at the same time, we showed a lot of effort....it was a perfect combo...poor execution from an opponent combined with great effort equals a W for UT.

 

[therickbol]

Since we are ranking our schedule, I will take a stab
1. LSU
2. UGA
3. Florida
4. Cal
5. SC
6. Ark

While I don't think Florida is overrated by much, I think everyone is giving them too much credit. Urban Meyer is still their coach, and Chris Leak is still their quarterback. Let's see how they fare against our SEC defenses.

And I guess that is something we can take heed of as well. Let's wait and see what we can do in our first SEC test.

Did you see any of the GA game? They are nowhere near the second best team on our schedule with Terrible Terry III at QB.