The Vols remain likely to win eight regular season games, and the Butch Jones Decision remains TBD.
Unfortunately, the Vols lost to Florida on Saturday. Even more frustrating was they lost while appearing to be the better team, the defense opened the playbook and our talented guys started to look like talented guys. John Kelly was a hoss again and Larry Scott unveiled some new wrinkles that made this Tennessee offense less frustrating to watch (outside of goal line situations) than in years past.
After three weeks of football the same thing that happens every year has happened, one or two teams appear to be a cut above; the rest are trying to figure things out. Some will and some won’t and everything will sort itself out in the end.
Of Tennessee’s remaining opponents there are two OOC given wins and the SEC competition of South Carolina, Kentucky, LSU and Mizzou seem to be in an equal or worse position when analyzing the combination of talent and dysfunction levels. Bama again should be considered a loss, but the game will be played. Georgia appears to have a high caliber defense and a consistent enough offense to rise above the mayhem of the east, but the sample size is small (How good is Notre Dame?) and things can change quickly. Could Vandy be the the 3rd toughest game remaining? A nightmare scenario for us Vol fans is an 8-4 year while losing to the 4 teams we stomach worst (Dores, Bama, Dawgs in addition to the Gators).
The silver lining here is that there are more football games to be played and although many fans may not want to realize it, Tennessee was a better football team on Saturday than in weeks one and two. While many fans are ready to pull the plug on Butch, the ones calling the shots will realize that a hasty decision gains no advantage and creates many disadvantages.
Georgia is up next, a win puts the FAHR crowd back in the shadows and puts Tennessee squarely in the mix for the east, because unless that Florida team makes drastic improvement, they have a couple losses coming their way.
However, it shakes out 8-4 is (most) likely, and another match up with an over ranked Big10 team for a probable bowl win. No one is really satisfied but coaches don’t get fired for back to back to back nine win seasons, even if the way they came about was less than encouraging. The Butch Jones Decision gets pushed back at least one more year to the 2018 season.
Unfortunately, the Vols lost to Florida on Saturday. Even more frustrating was they lost while appearing to be the better team, the defense opened the playbook and our talented guys started to look like talented guys. John Kelly was a hoss again and Larry Scott unveiled some new wrinkles that made this Tennessee offense less frustrating to watch (outside of goal line situations) than in years past.
After three weeks of football the same thing that happens every year has happened, one or two teams appear to be a cut above; the rest are trying to figure things out. Some will and some won’t and everything will sort itself out in the end.
Of Tennessee’s remaining opponents there are two OOC given wins and the SEC competition of South Carolina, Kentucky, LSU and Mizzou seem to be in an equal or worse position when analyzing the combination of talent and dysfunction levels. Bama again should be considered a loss, but the game will be played. Georgia appears to have a high caliber defense and a consistent enough offense to rise above the mayhem of the east, but the sample size is small (How good is Notre Dame?) and things can change quickly. Could Vandy be the the 3rd toughest game remaining? A nightmare scenario for us Vol fans is an 8-4 year while losing to the 4 teams we stomach worst (Dores, Bama, Dawgs in addition to the Gators).
The silver lining here is that there are more football games to be played and although many fans may not want to realize it, Tennessee was a better football team on Saturday than in weeks one and two. While many fans are ready to pull the plug on Butch, the ones calling the shots will realize that a hasty decision gains no advantage and creates many disadvantages.
Georgia is up next, a win puts the FAHR crowd back in the shadows and puts Tennessee squarely in the mix for the east, because unless that Florida team makes drastic improvement, they have a couple losses coming their way.
However, it shakes out 8-4 is (most) likely, and another match up with an over ranked Big10 team for a probable bowl win. No one is really satisfied but coaches don’t get fired for back to back to back nine win seasons, even if the way they came about was less than encouraging. The Butch Jones Decision gets pushed back at least one more year to the 2018 season.
