The SEC Forum at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

while WVU is a clearly better team (based on end of season last year) the mystery that is UT may cause them some consternation... 

UT won't stop the pass- that is a safe bet.  WVU won't stop the run, which is equally safe to say.  WVU can pass and UT most likely can run apart from comparing team:team.   

I don't think UT will pull it off, but I wager it will be close until the end... I imagine a 21/28 to 31/35 affair, and anywhere in between. (meaning it could be 21-35 final or a 28-31 final).  

in all honesty, it should be one of the better games this weekend!!!

Not one football player at the University of Tennessee has lost one second of sleep worrying about West Virginia. Tennessee plays at least 6 other teams this year with more talent and capability than the Mountaineers. They have Mr. PED from Florida to throw the ball. Who gives a damn. According to the bloated West Virginia fans they likely have the best WR corp in all of college football. My ass. Tennessee will see better WR’s when they play Georgia, Bama, and few other SEC teams this year. Also, according to their fans they have one of the best OL’s in the nation. Whatever. I guess UT should just forfeit the game now because the Mountaineers are too scary with all of their top 5 recruiting classes over the past 5 years. Oh wait, they haven’t even sniffed the top 20 in the past 5 years.
In reality UT has more talent at every position on the field and bench with the exception of QB. Yes, Mr. PED is a decent QB. UT’s problem has been coaching or the lack of. If they can put it together quick enough this Saturday with the drastic upgrade in coaching they’ve received over the past 6 months the ole Mountaineers might be rubbing their heads wondering what just ran over their over confident arrogant asses. 
I don’t know if Tennessee has put it together yet or not because it does take time to overcome 10 years of incompetence but I’m not going to pretend the over rated Mountaineers are a team that any team should fear either.  

i've been saying this for years to this (now reduced in size) crowd, and i still believe it completely.   

offenses like that WVU runs is excessively potent.  they can and will score points.  that can't be taken away from them... but... 

it also takes a few weeks at game speed (which can be approximated in practices but not duplicated) to fully gel those components.  meanwhile, three yards and a cloud of dust adhering to fundamentals players have executed their entire lives will play out and 'gel' within a few downs.  

If i've got Pruitt's intent for offensive execution right, this actually lends credit to UT's chances in this game.  the thing about WVU's attack is it will be herky-jerky throughout the game, and this is by nature what can be expected from their type/family of offensive execution. they WILL break off some big ones no doubt, but i DO doubt they'll be able to methodically move the ball downfield like they'll be able to from likely week three/four onward into the season... 

because i am guessing this will be the case with WVU's O, I don't think they'll pile the points on UT's questionable D.   Also, WVU's D is honestly so bad that UT's O should be able to gain early confidence.... confidence that won't last when they encounter a truly elite D later in the year.  

I still think WVU pulls it out.  I wouldn't for a second doubt that UT doesn't fight until the end- maybe in same fashion they did last year against GT in the opener, meaning: unlikely and defying probability.  

add to this that nobody really knows what to expect from UT.  their aren't films to observe or habits exposed.  it's a brand new team.  

for these reasons i give UT a helluva shot in this game.  I just don't think they have enough in the defensive backfield to protect against those receivers every play.  I fear they'll be like Jones's first season when "as soon as the ball gets behind the defensive player, it's six points".  WVU only has to do that 5 times to win this game.  

i think you misunderstood my comment or maybe i didn't present it well enough... I wouldn't attribute a WVU score of 35 as anything UT did limiting... I would attribute it more to WVU limiting themselves due to no playing cohesively as they will later in the season. 

Yup, the might be able to manhandle WVU in the lines and open up lanes and stay with them.

I look for a high score akin to the Tech game last season.

I obviously have no clue about the moral state of the Vol team right now.  It seemed there were divisions on the team under the old regime.  My guess is Pruitt has a lot to sort out and reestablish including letting everyone know he is the HMFIC.

There is talent there of course, so organization and scheme and work etc. would generally lead to a decent team.

I know you are being facetious, but imho Tennessee is not the more talented team. The opposite is true. Tennessee has nobody with anywhere near the talent of Will Greer. I don't think it will be close.