Date: Saturday, October 24th
Game Time: 3:30 pm ET
Venue: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN
Network: CBS
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Tennessee faces off against Alabama this week following the worst home loss to Kentucky since the 1800's. That said, you are not getting much analysis out of me this week. Historic loss to Kentucky... facing Bama... I think you can do the math here. Two weeks ago, many of us thought we had a great shot at Georgia but delusions of grandeur should be greatly tempered by now.
Keys to Victory:
1. Grab a tater: Tennessee needs to reach into it's bag of quarterbacks and pull one out and put him in. It doesn't even matter who in this game... just get some reps in. Then try another... then try another. This game is out of reach, but it doesn't need to be wasted. Demote JG to 4th string, thank him for his effort, but we need to see if any of the other three can give us what we are certain JG cannot. He's had 4 years to show what he can do. The others need more than a series to see what they've got.
2. Defend a slant: Ok folks... this is going to be bad. Waddle and company are going to absolutely eat us alive on the slant and probably wherever else they want to go. But in theory, Tennessee would defend the middle of the field well and force Bama to make a living elsewhere.
3. Soul search: It's not hard to see why the Vols lost heart on Saturday. When everybody is pushing their hardest and you have the sequence of events that transpired against Kentucky, it's hard to get your head right. As if JG's fumble and back to back pick-sixes were not bad enough, just when you thought JT Shrout may be able to rally the troops, he throws a pick, and the Tennessee was done. Trotting JG out after that play was not only dumbfounding, but completely destructive for the team's morale. If they had not given up on their QB during this game, they were doing a bad job of showing it. This is a new week, and hopefully a new QB or three. Tennessee needs to show up ready to fight in the face of adversity.
4. No offense, but no offense: The Tennessee offense is in a terrible funk. The quarterbacks are missing throws. The play calling is abysmal and bizarre at times. Every time the OL springs a great hole for the RB, he promptly get's tackled by precisely the first person to lay a finger on him as opposed to getting any yards after contact. If this team can't carve out an identity of offense... whatever the heck it may be, not only will they not surprise any teams this year, they will not win the games they are supposed to, ala Kentucky.
5. Youth Movement: I played football, but am no expert at the X's and O's. Maybe someone can 'splain it to me why we can't have several of our young fellas lined up and tell Jalin Hyatt "Run a 5 and out". Wideman, "Go run a post." Calloway, "time for that fake reverse". They don't need the whole play book. Tell those cats to just go run to this place or that place. It doesn't even have to go to them so you can avoid predictability. I don't know, but I'm not making a million plus to make these decisions, so I guess I'll defer. I'd like to see our freshmen get move involved.
Prediction: Not pretty. Tennessee finds the fight that they need, but they don't have anywhere close to the talent to compete in this game.
TN 10
Bama 31
