nicksjuzunk
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Tennessee rolls back into Neyland for arguably the most anticipated game of the season. For some, it is Florida. For others, it is Bama. The importance of the rivalries may be disputed, but the magnitude of this game is not. It is huge.
Keys to Victory:
1. Attack through the Air: Bama, as we all know, is pretty much stacked from top to bottom, every year. Even when they have deficiencies, it maddeningly doesn't seem to matter, and they win anyways. When looking for holes in this season's team, you find it in the secondary. Breakerboy will be here in a minute to tell you exactly why they are terrible, but I'll just give you numbers.
The Bama defense is 61st in the nation in pass defense. They have given up 400 yards passing to ARK and 421 to Ole Miss. However, they are also opportunistic. They have 6 INT's, 3 of which have been returned for touchdowns. Tennessee needs to exploit the holes in the Bama secondary, and I would look for Debord to dial up a ton of screens for Kamara to take advantage of an over aggressive defense. He did this brilliantly against A&M.
2. Ball Security: Tennessee has been flirting with disaster all season. Only 4 teams in Division 1 have lost more fumbles than Tennessee. That's not counting the ones we have actually recovered. I believe someone said we have fumbled 21 times, and lost 8. You cannot do that this week. Interceptions as well. Turnovers are huge.
3. Complete Game: This one repeats from last week, because it's still true, and it still hasn't happened. Tennessee must play well for 4 quarters. I do not doubt the heart of this team, but their execution has not been there for a full game yet. This is week 7...
4. Something Special:Tennessee hasn't been bad on special teams, but last season, they were spectacular. They need to make something special happen this week to give them an edge.
5. Crowd Factor: The mood around the Tennessee fanbase seems oddly positive, given the loss on Saturday. Everyone can see, and appreciate the effort that is coming every week. The Vols have knocked off both of their other rivals already this season, and there is one scalp left to claim. The crowd is going to be hungry for this one, and is going to make life very difficult for Bama, as long as the Vols are still in the game.
Prediction: Well, this certainly won't earn me many "likes" on here, so I guess I'll have to get my dopamine fix from other places this week. Tennessee has yet to put together a complete game, and I just can't get over that. I can't predict them to do something I have seen them fail to do 6 times already this year. They have the talent. The depth is questionable with key injuries, but they just don't have the consistency, so this one is a loss. If they put it all together though, all bets are off.
TN 20
Bama 31
Flame away.
Keys to Victory:
1. Attack through the Air: Bama, as we all know, is pretty much stacked from top to bottom, every year. Even when they have deficiencies, it maddeningly doesn't seem to matter, and they win anyways. When looking for holes in this season's team, you find it in the secondary. Breakerboy will be here in a minute to tell you exactly why they are terrible, but I'll just give you numbers.
The Bama defense is 61st in the nation in pass defense. They have given up 400 yards passing to ARK and 421 to Ole Miss. However, they are also opportunistic. They have 6 INT's, 3 of which have been returned for touchdowns. Tennessee needs to exploit the holes in the Bama secondary, and I would look for Debord to dial up a ton of screens for Kamara to take advantage of an over aggressive defense. He did this brilliantly against A&M.
2. Ball Security: Tennessee has been flirting with disaster all season. Only 4 teams in Division 1 have lost more fumbles than Tennessee. That's not counting the ones we have actually recovered. I believe someone said we have fumbled 21 times, and lost 8. You cannot do that this week. Interceptions as well. Turnovers are huge.
3. Complete Game: This one repeats from last week, because it's still true, and it still hasn't happened. Tennessee must play well for 4 quarters. I do not doubt the heart of this team, but their execution has not been there for a full game yet. This is week 7...
4. Something Special:Tennessee hasn't been bad on special teams, but last season, they were spectacular. They need to make something special happen this week to give them an edge.
5. Crowd Factor: The mood around the Tennessee fanbase seems oddly positive, given the loss on Saturday. Everyone can see, and appreciate the effort that is coming every week. The Vols have knocked off both of their other rivals already this season, and there is one scalp left to claim. The crowd is going to be hungry for this one, and is going to make life very difficult for Bama, as long as the Vols are still in the game.
Prediction: Well, this certainly won't earn me many "likes" on here, so I guess I'll have to get my dopamine fix from other places this week. Tennessee has yet to put together a complete game, and I just can't get over that. I can't predict them to do something I have seen them fail to do 6 times already this year. They have the talent. The depth is questionable with key injuries, but they just don't have the consistency, so this one is a loss. If they put it all together though, all bets are off.
TN 20
Bama 31
Flame away.
