Vols Running Into The Perfect Storm (Literally & Figuratively)

[keepitreal2022]

My heart says will put out a win by field goal.

However, my gut tells me that OSU will win by a minimum of 10 pts.

Think about this: OSU has the talent (if not one of the best in the country) but never figured out how to put it altogether.

1.)Everyone and their uncle has trashed the program for the last month
2.) Coach on the brink of getting fired
3.) They're humiliated by their rival Mich.
4.) No one is given them a chance to win the Championship, when they were everyone's pick at the beginning of the season
5.) Media and fanbase has, literally, turned on them to the point where we're about to take over the horseshoe
6.) A lot of us Vol fans are under-estimating the cold weather. I seriously doubt we have a passing game, so we'll have to depend on our running game?
7) The Buckeyes are due for a breakout moment

I hope I'm wrong - my heart says the good-guys 24-20, however, my head says OSU is about to run the table and win the championship.

 

[BruiserVol]

OSU played out of their minds last time they got humiliated by Michigan before playing Georgia.

 

[Orangecrush#27]

Yea I know what you mean. I’ve had that scenario playing in my head as well. We’ll see

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

Has Ryan Day lost his players? We know for a fact he has lost a good portion of the fan base, but if he has lost his players (which I doubt), he is in for a long saturday night

 

[stolitonic]

OSU played out of their minds last time they got humiliated by Michigan before playing Georgia.

At least in my eyes, that tOSU team was on a different level than this one.

Their QB and O-line aren't setting the world on fire by a long shot

The Suckeyes no doubt have the more talented team. They also are not used to being punched in the mouth-they play 2 maybe 3 at most games a year that they could conceivably lose

TN comes out pouring on more and more steam beginning with the kickoff, and I could very well see the Suckeyes begin to question themselves and each other

Pressure either creates diamonds or it destroys you.

 

[INKYBERRYVOL]

I can see this game going in several different directions. I can see OSU’s wrs having a field day the way we leave our CBs on islands. I can also see our defense suffocate their offense like we did Oklahoma’s. OSU’s D is stout and can cause issues for Nico and crew.

I am going in with the thought of a Vol takeover like at LSU and finishing them Mortal Combat style but my BVS says expect the worst.

We just need to put the call down and play already! Vols by fiddy!

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

OSU played out of their minds last time they got humiliated by Michigan before playing Georgia.

The Michigan team that beat that OSU team was a far cry from the 2024 version. More importantly, Will Howard is not on the same planet as CJ Stroud.

 

[Voluntarius]

The pressure is all on them. We're just lucky to be on the same field as this collection of talent, remember?

 

[BruiserVol]

The Michigan team that beat that OSU team was a far cry from the 2024 version. More importantly, Will Howard is not on the same planet as CJ Stroud.

Fingers crossed. We have looked shaky in every win this season. Our mantra has been winning ugly is better than losing, but my confidence level is less than ideal.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

My heart says will put out a win by field goal.

However, my gut tells me that OSU will win by a minimum of 10 pts.

Think about this: OSU has the talent (if not one of the best in the country) but never figured out how to put it altogether.

1.)Everyone and their uncle has trashed the program for the last month
2.) Coach on the brink of getting fired
3.) They're humiliated by their rival Mich.
4.) No one is given them a chance to win the Championship, when they were everyone's pick at the beginning of the season
5.) Media and fanbase has, literally, turned on them to the point where we're about to take over the horseshoe
6.) A lot of us Vol fans are under-estimating the cold weather. I seriously doubt we have a passing game, so we'll have to depend on our running game?
7) The Buckeyes are due for a breakout moment

I hope I'm wrong - my heart says the good-guys 24-20, however, my head says OSU is about to run the table and win the championship.

Heck, I want to win this game as much as any other Vol fan, but I don't care how we do it. My gut tells me it's a close game either way. We have far too many fans talking smack. I hope these hyperbolic claims as to how we are going to dominate them come true. Any kind of intelligent inference says it isn't likely. That we're in the freaking playoffs is huge in itself. We got a ****** draw. We have, by far, the toughest route to the championship game. Those type of nuances should be fixed in the next couple of years

 

[DaddyChad]

Heck, I want to win this game as much as any other Vol fan, but I don't care how we do it. My gut tells me it's a close game either way. We have far too many fans talking smack. I hope these hyperbolic claims as to how we are going to dominate them come true. Any kind of intelligent inference says it isn't likely. That we're in the freaking playoffs is huge in itself. We got a ****** draw. We have, by far, the toughest route to the championship game. Those type of nuances should be fixed in the next couple of years

Fan opinion won’t matter in this. If either side’s players are overconfident that may be an issue

 

[Wahoooo]

Sorry Vol fans, Michigan is pulling for OSU. Not because they are in the Big 10, they just don’t want RD to be fired!

 

[njvols]

I like this take better

If you look at the games in which [Ohio State] struggled, mainly on the offensive side, you would point to the Nebraska game and you would point to the Michigan game,” Klatt said on The Herd. “And the thing that Nebraska and Michigan had is they were very stout in the interior of their defensive line. That’s the whole deal. And a team that was committed to running the football on the opposite side. Those two teams had terrible offenses and Ohio State survived against Nebraska with a fourth down goal line stand with their defense and didn’t survive against Michigan. So this is not a great matchup for Ohio State, not in the least.”

 

[njvols]

I can see this game going in several different directions. I can see OSU’s wrs having a field day the way we leave our CBs on islands. I can also see our defense suffocate their offense like we did Oklahoma’s. OSU’s D is stout and can cause issues for Nico and crew.

I am going in with the thought of a Vol takeover like at LSU and finishing them Mortal Combat style but my BVS says expect the worst.

We just need to put the call down and play already! Vols by fiddy!

I think we'll stress test them early to see if we can get to QB w/ 4 linemen. Ultimately, we play strength (DL) on strength (OSU WR), and if 4 DL doesn't work, you know we're doing more blitzes. Time in pocket is very bad for us w/ their WR group.

 

[901 Orange]

At this point their talent don't matter. Everyone has talent. We just went through a full season of football in the best conference in football. We're battle tested. We already saw the most talented team (UGA), at their place, with cold temperatures. We played it tough and fell apart in the last 8 mins of that game. We get another opportunity to finish the job.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Fan opinion won’t matter in this. If either side’s players are overconfident that may be an issue

I know. That's my point. Don't count your chickens.....

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

At this point their talent don't matter. Everyone has talent. We just went through a full season of football in the best conference in football. We're battle tested. We already saw the most talented team (UGA), at their place, with cold temperatures. We played it tough and fell apart in the last 8 mins of that game. We get another opportunity to finish the job.

We got home cooked a little too

 

[901 Orange]

We got home cooked a little too

That's likely to happen in this game. We gotta play above that. That's why we can't have a 12 play drive that ends in no points like we did at UGA. Every single drive matters.This game is about finishing drives with TD's for me. We can go up and down the field on anybody. Don't matter if we ain't getting 7.

 

[Delmar]

Sorry Vol fans, Michigan is pulling for OSU. Not because they are in the Big 10, they just don’t want RD to be fired!

Probably a good point but Michigan absolutely loathes OSU and vice versa. Can’t see them rooting for each other.

 

[adam.vol]

For you EA enthusiasts:

This contest is blue chips vs hidden gems. The guys everyone wanted vs the guys many didn’t notice. I expect our team to go up to Columbus and give the Buckeyes enough grit that would take the rust off the entire Rust Belt. I believe our Vols to be very capable and more willing.

We met our biggest goal this season, which was to make the playoffs. We pulled that off by beating two of our 3 toughest rivals (Florida and Alabama). Now the team has the chance to achieve some hard earned respect and cement their legacy as one of the teams worth remembering for decades.

Storm Troopers, all the way.

 

[volfeeva]

Not sure how true it is, but the ticker tape running on ESPN says Tenn has lost the last 21 games vs top10 teams on the road. I hope we can break this trend . IMHO the defense will win this game for us if we win at all. Here's hoping JH can prepare the team for the biggest game he's had so far, and make adjustments during the game if we get behind.

 

[Rocky Top T]

My heart wants a Vols win, but I do not feel good about it.

 

[njvols]

Not sure how true it is, but the ticker tape running on ESPN says Tenn has lost the last 21 games vs top10 teams on the road. I hope we can break this trend . IMHO the defense will win this game for us if we win at all. Here's hoping JH can prepare the team for the biggest game he's had so far, and make adjustments during the game if we get behind.

Jeremy Pruitt and Butch says hello

 

[sjt18]

My heart says will put out a win by field goal.

However, my gut tells me that OSU will win by a minimum of 10 pts.

Think about this: OSU has the talent (if not one of the best in the country) but never figured out how to put it altogether.

1.)Everyone and their uncle has trashed the program for the last month
2.) Coach on the brink of getting fired
3.) They're humiliated by their rival Mich.
4.) No one is given them a chance to win the Championship, when they were everyone's pick at the beginning of the season
5.) Media and fanbase has, literally, turned on them to the point where we're about to take over the horseshoe
6.) A lot of us Vol fans are under-estimating the cold weather. I seriously doubt we have a passing game, so we'll have to depend on our running game?
7) The Buckeyes are due for a breakout moment

I hope I'm wrong - my heart says the good-guys 24-20, however, my head says OSU is about to run the table and win the championship.

Literally none of that is a rational reason to think UT will lose by more than 10 points. Nada. If that's the way your "head" works... I'm sorry. You aren't keeping anything real.

OSU is talented. They're not more talented than UGA or Bama.

And... a lot of you fans are OVER estimating the cold weather. It hasn't been very cold in Columbus so it isn't like they've had a chance to acclimate in a way UT's players haven't. The stadium will mitigate some of the wind which is only supposed to be 11 mph anyway. Without wind, 25 is pretty tolerable once you warm up. I've sat in open deer stands for hours without moving around for body heat with temps in the 20s and low winds.

These are young athletes in great physical condition. If they're beaten by those temps... they didn't belong there anyway.

 

[vols1221]

That's likely to happen in this game. We gotta play above that. That's why we can't have a 12 play drive that ends in no points like we did at UGA. Every single drive matters.This game is about finishing drives with TD's for me. We can go up and down the field on anybody. Don't matter if we ain't getting 7.

I disagree. This is a match up between 2 top 5 scoring defenses. So I think points will be at a premium. A FG will mean a lot more this weekend then any other game we've played.