In an ode to Peter King, each Friday afternoon on the GQ I’ll post a quick-hitting list of 10 thoughts about the upcoming game. With this being Week 1, today's opinions have more of a macro feel.
Anyways … 10 Things I Think I Think …
1. Tennessee’s 10 most important players in 2018 (in no specific order) are Jarrett Guarantano, Daniel Bituli, Shy Tuttle, Trey Smith, Nigel Warrior, Dominick Wood-Anderson, Kyle Phillips, Drew Richmond, Ty Chandler and Baylen Buchanan. One wildcard pick: Emmit Gooden.
2. The five true freshman poised to make the biggest impact this season are Trevon Flowers, Alontae Taylor, Bryce Thompson, Jerome Carvin and Kingston Harris.
3. I have a story coming out tomorrow morning on Tyson Helton and Tennessee’s new offense. We still don’t know exactly what all it’s going to look like … but there won’t just be cosmetic changes. Helton seriously believes in challenging defenses vertically. A teaser quote: “You have to throw that sucker down there and make everyone stand up and take a deep breath. Whether we catch it or not, you have to throw it down there.”
4. The Vols recorded five interceptions all season a year ago. They’ll have that many by the end of September in 2018.
5. While Taylor and Thompson will have their hands full in their first collegiate game, I expect Tennessee to pick on Hakeem Bailey early and often tomorrow, too. The former JUCO corner routinely got beat like he stole something in 2017 and WVU doesn’t have any other options to bench him.
6. Ty Chandler and Jauan Jennings could both have bigger days than their counterparts, but I think Tim Jordan and Josh Palmer will take the first snaps against WVU.
7. Tennessee must slow down WVU’s tempo tomorrow. The Mountaineers magic number is 70. If they can hit that many plays then the Vols’ chances of pulling off the upset dip dramatically.
8. Jeremy Pruitt will likely decide on a punter following pregame warmups … but regardless of who wins the job (JOE DOYLE RULES) … I wouldn’t kick it to Marcus Simms. He’s feast or famine as a returner, but he’s lightening fast and the Vols can’t afford to give up a big play on special teams.
9. I mentioned this on the podcast … but I wonder if we’ll see Guarantano run more than expected tomorrow. That’s not what Helton prefers to do with his quarterbacks, but the zone read and quarterback counter has been a successful recipe against WVU’s 3-3-5 defense. Last season, Va. Tech’s Josh Jackson (11 runs for 101 yards) had a big game, Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph had a short zone-read touchdown and Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger had 68 yards on the ground. Just something to watch, especially if WVU sells out on the inside runs.
10. I picked Tennessee to lose a close game … but Dana Holgorsen doesn’t have a great record in one-score games against Power 5 teams. If Tennessee can rush for north of 225 yards, the Vols will waltz out of Charlotte 1-0.
Enjoy the game everyone.
Anyways … 10 Things I Think I Think …
1. Tennessee’s 10 most important players in 2018 (in no specific order) are Jarrett Guarantano, Daniel Bituli, Shy Tuttle, Trey Smith, Nigel Warrior, Dominick Wood-Anderson, Kyle Phillips, Drew Richmond, Ty Chandler and Baylen Buchanan. One wildcard pick: Emmit Gooden.
2. The five true freshman poised to make the biggest impact this season are Trevon Flowers, Alontae Taylor, Bryce Thompson, Jerome Carvin and Kingston Harris.
3. I have a story coming out tomorrow morning on Tyson Helton and Tennessee’s new offense. We still don’t know exactly what all it’s going to look like … but there won’t just be cosmetic changes. Helton seriously believes in challenging defenses vertically. A teaser quote: “You have to throw that sucker down there and make everyone stand up and take a deep breath. Whether we catch it or not, you have to throw it down there.”
4. The Vols recorded five interceptions all season a year ago. They’ll have that many by the end of September in 2018.
5. While Taylor and Thompson will have their hands full in their first collegiate game, I expect Tennessee to pick on Hakeem Bailey early and often tomorrow, too. The former JUCO corner routinely got beat like he stole something in 2017 and WVU doesn’t have any other options to bench him.
6. Ty Chandler and Jauan Jennings could both have bigger days than their counterparts, but I think Tim Jordan and Josh Palmer will take the first snaps against WVU.
7. Tennessee must slow down WVU’s tempo tomorrow. The Mountaineers magic number is 70. If they can hit that many plays then the Vols’ chances of pulling off the upset dip dramatically.
8. Jeremy Pruitt will likely decide on a punter following pregame warmups … but regardless of who wins the job (JOE DOYLE RULES) … I wouldn’t kick it to Marcus Simms. He’s feast or famine as a returner, but he’s lightening fast and the Vols can’t afford to give up a big play on special teams.
9. I mentioned this on the podcast … but I wonder if we’ll see Guarantano run more than expected tomorrow. That’s not what Helton prefers to do with his quarterbacks, but the zone read and quarterback counter has been a successful recipe against WVU’s 3-3-5 defense. Last season, Va. Tech’s Josh Jackson (11 runs for 101 yards) had a big game, Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph had a short zone-read touchdown and Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger had 68 yards on the ground. Just something to watch, especially if WVU sells out on the inside runs.
10. I picked Tennessee to lose a close game … but Dana Holgorsen doesn’t have a great record in one-score games against Power 5 teams. If Tennessee can rush for north of 225 yards, the Vols will waltz out of Charlotte 1-0.
Enjoy the game everyone.
