Ten Thoughts: It's Football Time in Tennessee!!!!

It’s back. The grill is getting fired up. The television business is booming. There is more of that beautiful orange in the air. The expectations are rising. The negativity is falling. There is nothing better than the first Saturday of September. It’s a beautiful thing, this football. It brings together families and it tears them apart. It brings the most joy and the most sadness. We get addicted when we know we shouldn’t. It takes years off our lives, yet brings us the most joy to it. There is nothing better than college football.

1. Don’t expect much on offense– The offense will be very vanilla. You don’t want to show too much against your better opponents in the future. I wouldn’t expect many deep balls or play action. You’ll see a lot of off tackle runs, a lot of underneath routes, and a lot of simple plays. You want to get into a rhythm, come away with no injuries, and make sure your fundamentals are solid.
2. Get the jitters out of the freshman– With a minimum of 13 freshmen expected to make contributions, and three other JUCO players, there will be a lot of players in orange for the first time in their lives. This is a good game to get the jitters and silly mistakes out of the freshman in this game. They can get a little feel for the speed of collegiate football, experience the feel of 100,000 of their closest friends cheering for them, and can hit some people.
3. Watch how the offensive line run blocks– This is very important in my mind. The last six games of the year in 2010 were horrid in run blocking. The team had no consistent push and struggled to get to the linebackers (a very important element for a zone blocking team). This year, the unit is more experienced and seems to have worked better in practice. Alex Bullard is a key to watch. He could be a major help getting the backs open space.
4. Defensive player to watch is Daniel Hood– He shocked everyone (including the coaching staff it seems) locking down a starting spot over highly touted JUCO Maurice Couch and sophomore Corey Miller. He has been very solid during spring and fall ball, and the staff expects good things out of the third year sophomore. He has never played defensive tackle in a game, so it’s important to see how he can handle blocks and see if he can shed them in his first action. He might not be an All-American type player, but that’s not what Tennessee needs. If he can prevent some double teams from Malik Jackson in the future, that would be tremendous.
5. The Slot/Third Down receiver– Say what you want about Gerald Jones. He did a great job as the slot guy/third down receiver last year. And Tennessee needs a safety valve like that. Two freshmen are going to get shots at that spot: Vincent Dallas and DeAnthony Arnett. Zach Rogers will also get a shot. Finding a slot guy is crucial to the development of the offense, especially with how much three wide sets you see in a Jim Chaney offense. This will also help Justin Hunter and Da’Rick Rogers. They will get more single coverage outside if Tennessee can find a consistent slot guy. I expect lots of throws to Dallas and Arnett Saturday.
6. Return Game– Can Tennessee be dangerous on special teams? Possibly. Da’Rick Rogers has the ability to take the ball to the house on any play. Anthony Anderson is the punt returner. He’s not spectacular. He won’t be Brandon James. But he catches the ball better than everyone else, and will get positive yards. An interesting developement with Tauren Poole opposite of Rogers. Dooley likes having a bigger guy back there, and he believes Poole can still make big plays. Should be interesting to look for.
7. Offensive player to watch is Mychal Rivera– Luke Stocker’s departure is being severely overlooked. Luke could do a lot of things: Be reliable on third down, make play underneath, attack the deep middle part of the field. He was also a good blocker. Right now, Rivera is the starting tight end and he needs to play well. Chaney likes using the tight end and Mychal has a chance to make some plays. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bray go to Rivera a few times in the opening game, to see if Rivera can be the tight end for the whole season.
8. How will the D play without Janzen Jackson?– It’s the elephant in the room. Jackson’s best strength was his ability to take away the deep part of the field. Tennessee has only been beat a few times the last two years, and Janzen was a huge part of that. Waggner has to step up. Justin Wilcox needs to be comfortable knowing he has a safety valve deep in case teams try and beat the Vols deep. Prentiss doesn’t have to make big plays…he just has to prevent them.
9. Will Wilcox blitz Maggitt often?– Maggitt’s best strength is his pass rushing ability. He can get to the quarterback as well as anybody on the team, and he is only a freshman. Will Wilcox play Maggitt as a fifth rusher, or will he play him as a normal weakside backer? You want to get Curt comfortable in his role from the first game on. If that’s blitzing considerably with him, then I don’t believe Wilcox will hesitate to do that, even against Montana.
10. You want solid play, no injuries, and a win– The objective is simple: Win the ballgame. But against Montana, you can do other things. You want to see how the freshman play, how the rhythm and timing is, and coming away unscathed from injuries. Tennessee should win the ballgame, and then look to a big showdown against Cincinnati.

GO VOLS!!!