Volnation, buckle your chinstraps. The time for talk has come and gone. With apologies to Jimmy Buffet, come Monday it will be alright. We’ve spent nine lonely months in a big orange haze, and it is time for kickoff to arrive.
After nine months of talk, in just a few short days we will know the answers to several questions that have plagued the Nation since their win against Wisconsin.
• Who is Dave Clawson? He is an offensive coordinator with an Ivy League mind. How will that translate onto the field?
• Will Vol fans see some second half offensive adjustments that were absent all of last year?
• Is Jonathan Crompton ready to be a prime time player?
• Will Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty be able to carry the load and stay injury free?
• Will the defensive front seven be ready to play, and can UT keep their defensive line healthy?
• Which Demonte Bolden will show up to play? Will it be the consistent run stopper that has shown promise but no real consistency, or will it be the beast he was recruited to be?
• Is Robert Ayers worthy of some of the internal hype he has received?
• If we don’t pressure opposing QBs how effective can this All Everything secondary be?
• Can we find a kicker that can kick off past the opponent’s 15 yard line?
All are relevant questions. As depleted as the Bruins football squad is, I expect some answers to all of these questions on Monday night. If by chance the answers fall on the affirmative side, UT has the chance to be a rather good football team.
This is certainly no prediction of greatness, but looking around the SEC east, which I consider to be the best division in college football today, I think that every team that participates in that division has a litany of questions to answer as well. Even Georgia and Florida have concerns on the offensive and defensive side of the football.
That brings us to another question……is the race for the SEC East really up in the air, and can Tennessee actually be competitive in the division? Regardless of the hype surrounding Georgia and Florida, I say yes.
However, that yes doesn’t come without yet another query. Can Tennessee run the football? Can the Vols stop the run? If they can they just might paint the 2008 football season Orange.
Until next time, go Vols!
2 responses to “Guitar Shots to The Head: Burning Questions Facing the Vols”
The first two questions were answered immediately tonight! Clawson has no offensive football sense and Crompton is inaccurate and inconsistent. What coordinator in his right mind sees his team get 5 and 6 yds a carry on 1st down and then doesn’t EVER run the ball again two times in a row to control the game and cement the fact that we were playing a far inferior team athletically than we are?? He said he was going to get the ball into our playmaker’s hands this year, but instead of letting our two phenomenal backs run the ball down UCLA’s throat, he puts the ball into an inexperienced and inaccurate QBs hands so that he could throw the game away for us. The game wasn’t lost in the end of the 4th quarter, it was lost in the first 3 when Clawson refused to call running plays against a much slower defense even after we had shown we could run the ball successfully against them! The halftime analyst, the commentators, hell, even kids watching the game could see that we should run the ball! Everyone EXCEPT Clawson!! He has NO division I playcalling experience and Fulmer hires him to call plays for one of the elite programs in the country in THE toughest conference in the country! That just shows what Tennessee’s problem has been the last 5 years: A lack of intelligent leadership!! TN has more players starting in the NFL right now than any other program, yet no national titles to show for it since way back in the Tee Martin days, and we keep getting outcoached by LSU in the SEC. RUN THE BALL! RUN THE BALL! RUN THE BALL!!!!!!!!!!
Is Jonathan Crompton ready to be a prime time player?
No. And neither is the kicker.