Vols #4 in ESPN FPI power Rankings -ahead of dogs!

[NighthawkVol]

I have been confident up to this point, but strangely, in the wake of a 71-point win, that confidence is eroding. Our pass blocking worries me. The left guard spot is questionable, just like many of us expected. Really hope Lance Heard gets and stays healthy so that the left tackle spot doesn’t become shaky as well. Nico is untested, as is our secondary. Logic tells me we win Saturday, and that it may not be close. There’s still a lot of uncertainty though.

Left Guard? You mean Karic? He’s played very well. Lampley has struggled some, but if he’s in the game, it’s either because Karic is hurt or the game is a blowout. In fact, if Karic gets hurt, we might put Davis in at LG.

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

Left Guard? You mean Karic? He’s played very well. Lampley has struggled some, but if he’s in the game, it’s either because Karic is hurt or the game is a blowout. In fact, if Karic gets hurt, we might put Davis in at LG.

Mostly thinking about Lampley since I was under the impression that he’s almost 1b to Karic’s 1a, similar to how Davis subs in for Campbell a lot. You may be right that the nature of the games is the reason.

 

[pimo1]

Not really...Travis being hurt was the number 1 reason they got left out. By the end of the year our SoS will be top 10-12

Did you not bother reading? I said the reason they justified leaving them out. Everyone knows it was because their QB went down. But they could not use that as a reason because its not valid. They looked saw that FSU had a terrible SoS and used that. The committee uses resume to determine who gets in. In a 4 team field its rarely a nuts as last year in a 12 team field it is gonna get wild. Trust me in the next few years SoS and SoR are gonna be the new metrics football fans follow. Much like how it is for basketball. Notice how end of year we start looking at Net ratings and quad 1 wins for basketball because it matters in a big field. When you have a lot of teams with similar records you have to gauge the quality of them. There are gonna be times when a 9-3 team is much better than a 13-0 team. its a hard argument but resume is how you prove it.

Right now UT's SoS is terrible....but over the next 5-6 weeks it will jump massively. If teams like Vandy and Kentucky stop losing it goes up more. Vandy losing to GA state hurt us. The one saving grace is that GA state likely ends up bowl-eligible with the rest of their record. anyone that had Michigan or FSU or Florida on their schedule this year is hating life. Because they went from big wins to scrubs.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Mostly thinking about Lampley since I was under the impression that he’s almost 1b to Karic’s 1a, similar to how Davis subs in for Campbell a lot. You may be right that the nature of the games is the reason.

Karic is solidly #1 there. Unless Karic is hurt or the game is out of hand, he's the Left Guard. And you're right...Lampley is a concern...which is why Karic is solidly #1.

I hope Sham's injury wasn't too bad...although it looked bad. I'd like to see him develop this year so he can be a solid starter next year, but also a solid backup this season.

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

Karic is solidly #1 there. Unless Karic is hurt or the game is out of hand, he's the Left Guard. And you're right...Lampley is a concern...which is why Karic is solidly #1.

I hope Sham's injury wasn't too bad...although it looked bad. I'd like to see him develop this year so he can be a solid starter next year, but also a solid backup this season.

All of our offensive linemen are huge, but the shot of Sham walking off the field was still striking. He is a mountain of a man. Have had high hopes for him since he was a commit.

 

[VOLtaism]

I am soooo nervous this week. Saturday night will tell if we really are as good as advertised or if we are indeed overrated. Most important game in years IMHO. We are on the cusp of getting (and keeping) real national respect. Let’s go out there and earn it

I have been on the fence to but we either are that good or we're not, may as well go with "ARE" and go full retard!