Okay, does anybody actually think we beat Oklahoma (poll within)?

[vol445]

I hate to say it but it's a route. Would love to be wrong.

 

[sjt18]

Oklahoma's roster of 116(includes walk-on) is made up of the following:

23-seniors & redshirt seniors
20-juniors & redshirt juniors
34-soph and redshirt sophs
35-fr, and redshirt fr.

we have young talent. they have EXPERIENCED TALENT. They are at home. They will be in the final four selection and want to beat down any SEC team, to impress the selection committee. They will be no letdown,nor letup. their schedule is cupcakes. our schedule is
brutal.
As much as I would like to be competitive, there is no reasonable hope of keeping it within 5 TDs.

First, it is useless unless you take out walk ons.

Second, the future schedule has nothing to do with this particular game. If anything, the FACT that UT has played and soundly beaten two opponents that are MUCH better than the two OU played and blew out... is a benefit.

Last, unless you believe that Jones is an incompetent boob who will never get it done at UT... there is EVERY reason to hope that UT can keep it respectable and NOT get blown out like Tulsa and LT were.

To put in perspective the comparative quality of the two teams UT and OU have faced so far...

UT faced USU who last fall played in the MWC CG and beat a ranked NIU team in their bowl on the way to 9 wins. Along the way they gave USC a scare. ASU has won 28 games over the past 3 years including 2 consecutive bowls.

OU faced LT in the first week. They went 4-8 last year with a win over FCS Lamar (5-7) and 3 FBS teams that combined for 4 wins. They only beat horrible teams. Tulsa was just as bad last fall. They went 3-9 with wins over LT, Co St, and UTEP. CSU was the only team with a winning record that either of these teams beat as they combined for a 7-17 record.


Maybe LT and Tulsa have improved significantly or USU and ASU have fallen off... or both. But I think it is probably fair to say that UT played much more difficult opponents so far. It is also VERY fair to "hope" that UT can keep it closer with OU than Tulsa or LT did.

In fact... I'd call it pretty pathetic that some of you guys don't think the Vols are any better than those two teams.

 

[Volbackhomefromtx]

It goes against my grain to think that the Vols approach a game thinking they cannot win. I believe in the recent past that former Vol coaches were of that mindset and it showed in the play of the team on the field. I have actually gone to Neyland in the last five years convinced that the Vols were going to lose. So, I am a realist. My orange glasses are tinted. But I do believe it is possible. The probability is not good but it is possible. There is reason to play the game. For the Vols to win, it will take flawless execution, big play by Worley and the receivers, the running game has to be established, the OL has take command, special teams have to be special, and the defense has to continue to improve. There can be no turnovers, the Vols have to force Oklahoma to make some mistakes or taking advantage of any mistakes that they make. That's all. And most of all, the Vols have to believe it is possible.

 

[99gator]

As a veteran of having been typically the third team on Tennessee's schedule, I do not understand why some continue to do put stock in the "we played better cupcakes than they played" philosophy.

 

[butchna]

Butchna you now know you have set yourself up for obligatory photes, videos, etc. We will all be patiently waiting come Saturday...

Clearing space on my iPhone...might dust the cobwebs off my digital camera....planning to tailgate with beer brats and moonshine Jell-O shots. :rock:

 

[American Pig]

With enough steroids and meth, anything is possible.

 

[sjt18]

As a veteran of having been typically the third team on Tennessee's schedule, I do not understand why some continue to do put stock in the "we played better cupcakes than they played" philosophy.

I am not doing that and am unsure who is.

I am simply pointing out that OU isn't "awesome" and unbeatable based on smacking two terrible teams around... and UT has to be viewed in the context of who they played and beat as well. UT probably benefited as a young team from playing reasonably good opponents... but OU honed their skills as well on the homecoming fodder they beat up on.

OU is one of the better teams in the country. UT will have to play extremely well and catch some breaks to stay in it.

As for you being the 3rd game and all that... coaching matters. ONLY during Zook's brief tenure has UT had a better coaching staff than UF had and especially when it comes to preparing a team through practice without games.

Frankly as we sit here with still pretty limited facts on the two men... I think Jones is a better coach than Muschamp. I think he has done a better job preparing the Vols through camp than Dooley, Kiffin, or Fulmer. It still probably won't be enough to beat OU in Norman but it should be enough for the Vols to be more competitive than Tulsa or LT were.

 

[Sandvol]

The deal will be how we react when OU gets up a couple of touchdowns. Do we fight back and get some breaks or put our tails between our legs? Or if we get out to an early lead how we react then and how does OU react. It's a game of team psychologies.

 

[Vato]

If we play mistake free and find a wrinkle for a run game, the answer is yes. If we have penalties, blown coverage, and INTs or fumbles early, no. GBO

 

[chattavol420]

As a veteran of having been typically the third team on Tennessee's schedule, I do not understand why some continue to do put stock in the "we played better cupcakes than they played" philosophy.

The same reason people pick sec teams in bowl games when playing against teams for the big 10. Teams that play a higher level of competition are more battle tested. It's not a hard concept to understand. Now that being said... It probably won't mean much at this point in the season. But just answering your question

 

[Midnight Toker]

First, it is useless unless you take out walk ons.

Second, the future schedule has nothing to do with this particular game. If anything, the FACT that UT has played and soundly beaten two opponents that are MUCH better than the two OU played and blew out... is a benefit.

Last, unless you believe that Jones is an incompetent boob who will never get it done at UT... there is EVERY reason to hope that UT can keep it respectable and NOT get blown out like Tulsa and LT were.

To put in perspective the comparative quality of the two teams UT and OU have faced so far...

UT faced USU who last fall played in the MWC CG and beat a ranked NIU team in their bowl on the way to 9 wins. Along the way they gave USC a scare. ASU has won 28 games over the past 3 years including 2 consecutive bowls.

OU faced LT in the first week. They went 4-8 last year with a win over FCS Lamar (5-7) and 3 FBS teams that combined for 4 wins. They only beat horrible teams. Tulsa was just as bad last fall. They went 3-9 with wins over LT, Co St, and UTEP. CSU was the only team with a winning record that either of these teams beat as they combined for a 7-17 record.


Maybe LT and Tulsa have improved significantly or USU and ASU have fallen off... or both. But I think it is probably fair to say that UT played much more difficult opponents so far. It is also VERY fair to "hope" that UT can keep it closer with OU than Tulsa or LT did.

In fact... I'd call it pretty pathetic that some of you guys don't think the Vols are any better than those two teams.

They'll probably keep it closer than those two did. Then again, OU has a habit of blowing out good teams at home as well. If OU scores quick, the game will be over and it'll be a route. And yes the two teams OU beat already are not any good at all, but they were good warm up games just like yours were. You have to consider a few things, even though both teams scored, it was against the 2nd team, neither team was able to move the ball much at all against the starters. OU played a very vanilla playbook due to the lower talent, and if Tenn makes it a good game, they'll open it up a lil bit and wouldnt that be fun? It'll be a fun game tho, it's always good to know where you stand. It'll be cool to see how Tenn does against the likes of alabama and georgia and see how OU compares to that.

 

[Sandvol]

This game has nothing to do with how much OU beat their previous two opponents. They will be much more passionate, their crowd will be much more passionate and it will be how our team handles that environment and how well Coach Jones prepares them for it and how they respond to his preparations.

 

[vols72]

Voted yes, I think we can... Now will we,well that wasn't the question

 

[Sandvol]

We are the SEC. We even thought we had a chance at taking their coach when Kitten or Dooley left. They will be up for us like they were BAMA. We better have our chinstraps extra tight.

 

[james_govols]

 

[deaconkane]

If we don't beat ourselves, we can beat Oklahoma

We really are a different and dangerous team when we just hike and throw.. man we could turn some heads.

 

[Vol8188]

It's laughable that Oregon vol calls Saturdays game "close", but considers our game against Florida last season to be a "blow out".

 

[vtvol98]

As of 12:24 pm EDT today there are at least 86 people on this who need to lay down the crack pipe and walk away.

 

[biganbad]

UT wins by 8 ,,,,,, I had a vision

 

[sjt18]

They'll probably keep it closer than those two did. Then again, OU has a habit of blowing out good teams at home as well. If OU scores quick, the game will be over and it'll be a route. And yes the two teams OU beat already are not any good at all, but they were good warm up games just like yours were.

Actually most "experts" didn't think either was a warm up game except those who changed their view of the ASU game after the USU game. Going into the season a LOT of experts (both amateur here and professional in media) believed that UT would lose one of those games. One or two writers thought they'd lose both.

Habit? Define blowout. I would say a "blowout" is a win by at least 17 points when the winning team scores over 30. Would you accept that? If so, OU didn't blowout a good team last fall. They haven't blown out a team with a winning record since early '12 vs Texas and TTU.

You have to consider a few things, even though both teams scored, it was against the 2nd team, neither team was able to move the ball much at all against the starters. OU played a very vanilla playbook due to the lower talent,

I don't have to consider them... I have. I'd pretty much say those are the facts of what happens when a very good team plays homecoming fodder teams. If UT had scheduled one of those two teams then they'd have probably done something similar.

and if Tenn makes it a good game, they'll open it up a lil bit and wouldnt that be fun? It'll be a fun game tho, it's always good to know where you stand. It'll be cool to see how Tenn does against the likes of alabama and georgia and see how OU compares to that.

I hope your team has banked this game too... overconfidence on the part of OU can only help the Vols.

Open it up? You've been running the same O for a very long time now. You don't have a whole bunch of secrets waiting to be revealed. For a young team like UT, that's another benefit of playing well coached and successful "warm ups". They took the best shots USU and ASU had... LT and Tulsa really have no "best shot". You could have stopped them with 10 players.

Again, I hope your players underestimate the difference between the athletes they'll face from UT's D and those from Tulsa and LT. Indeed that could make it "fun".

I also hope that OU believes that the skill players of LT and Tulsa prepared them to shut down UT's skill players. That might make it "fun" too.

 

[m1al]

Have to say no and we keep it respectable..


Sheeyut happens though...

 

[IluvdoubleD's]

I am continually impressed by how smart coach jones is. he is playing just about everyone right now. He says what he means and means what he says...but not in the ways most people take it. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he knew USU was not as good as EasSPN stated and didn't start he's best O line. Just keep telling everyone we can't win...it helps us at this point.

 

[Sharriscgcs]

Yeah, but there's a certain breed of poster that emerges during and shortly after games that provide a level of comedy through their unbridled outrage not seen Monday - Friday. The entertainment is a good consolation for losing a game imo.

Would those be the ones that are s***house hammered screaming "Far tha coaches"?

 

[FlyTNGuy]

Coach Bajak. and CBJ will open up the playbook vs. OU this Sat. Worley, our coaching/gameplan, and our team effort/determination will keep us in the game and give us a chance to win it in the 4th quarter IMHO.

 

[omghulkhands]

Yeah, but there's a certain breed of poster that emerges during and shortly after games that provide a level of comedy through their unbridled outrage not seen Monday - Friday. The entertainment is a good consolation for losing a game imo.

They are called "People that voted yes in this poll"