We are a few months away from the beginning of college football. So until then I will attempt to go over all Power 5 teams schedule and predict their W-L record. We will be starting with the SEC and the worst team in it from the year before, the Tennessee Volunteers. After a disastrous 2017 season that was so bad you couldn’t look away, the Volunteers are going to look for a quick turn around. The main point of optimism for the Vols seems to be their offense as they have several key players coming back and are banking on Jarrett Guarantano to help lead this team back into a bowl game. Defensively, I have heard some good things about the front four, but also that the back seven–particularly the secondary–is going to be a point of concern. It’s Pruitt’s fist year with Vols so the bar is set pretty low and they are not expected to make much noise this season.
Last Years Rankings:
Offense YPG– 125th
Points Per Game– T-117th
Offensive Efficiency– 99th
Defense YPG– 81st
Points Allowed PG- 84th
Defensive Efficiency– 71st
Recruiting Class of 2018:
https://247sports.com/college/tennessee/Season/2018-Football/Commits
Projected Lineup:
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/tennessee/91993
Schedule
Game 1: vs West Virginia (Neutral Field)
A pretty tough debut for Pruitt, as he has to go to North Carolina and play against the highly potent West Virginia offense. Not to mention that the mere sight of Will Grier is going to trigger a lot of Vols fans. Even though it seems like a good match up for West Virginia, but I think Tennessee could hang around for a half or maybe three quarters. However, I expect West Virginia to be ahead for the entire game and pull away late with ease.
Result: Loss
Record: 0-1
Game 2: vs East Tennessee State
There is really not much explanation for this one. Tennessee is at home going against a lowly ETSU, so all we should really expect is for Tennessee to beat the snot out of East Tennessee State. A tune-up win and the first of Pruitt as head coach, and maybe a momentum builder for the near future.
Result: Win
Record: 1-1
Game 3: vs Univ. Texas El Paso
We got another tune up for Pruitt. So I expect another game for the team to tee off an inferior opponent, and trying to build up for their next match up. Which will be a big one.
Result: Win
Record: 2-1
Game 4: vs Florida
Another match up that will probably trigger its fans. The last four match ups for these two teams have been pretty dramatic. Florida winning two of them by a single point and the most recent game was won on a hail mary, as well as Tennessee having a big rally in the second half that snapped their 11-game losing streak to the Gators. This will be the first match up where Pruitt really has to out-coach his opponent in order to win. Even though Florida appears to be average at best, I think Mullen’s experience will have his guys in a better place than Pruitt will. I expect another close battle, but Florida will take this one.
Result: Loss
Record: 2-2 (0-1)
Game 5: at Georgia
Just a game where Tennessee is out-gunned, out-manned, and are in enemy territory. While Georgia has a lot of players gone from the previous season, they have been consistent with having a tough defense and a reliable run game. Smart took huge strides last year and Fromm–while he is average–doesn’t put his team in a bad spot or lose them games. Tennessee will give it the ol’ college try but to no avail. Georgia wins easily.
Result: Loss
Record: 2-3 (0-2)
Game 6: at Auburn
No breaks for Tennessee as they have to play Auburn, who seems to be poised for a title run this year. Just another case of a well built team where they just have more weapons than Tennessee. The one glimmer of hope Tennessee has is if Gus Malzahn has a brianfart–which has happened a few times against teams he shouldn’t have. However, I don’t see that happening.
Result: Loss
Record: 2-4 (0-3)
Game 7: vs Alabama
The Football Gods are giving no mercy to Tennessee as they are playing the National Champions from the previous year. There really is no hope for them either in this game. So ya…
Result: Loss
Record: 2-5 (0-4)
Game 8: at South Carolina
Finally, a game where Tennessee actually has a chance! South Carolina is not great by any means but this will still be a game where I bet against Tennessee. However, I expect this game to go down to the wire and expect this team to give a good fight out of desperation for a win. But again, to no avail.
Result: Loss
Record: 2-6 (0-5)
Game 9: vs Charlotte
This game will not be pretty. Tennessee, at this point, would be on a five-game losing streak and would be playing another lowly FBS team. I fully expect Tennessee to have another blowout and keep their slim hopes alive for a bowl game.
Result: Win
Record: 3-6 (0-5)
Game 10: vs Kentucky
This game usually doesn’t involve a whole lot of defense, so I’ll play it safe and predict the same thing. While I think Pruitt can out-coach Stoops, it’s going to be tough because Kentucky does have a lot of experience coming back and are better on paper. This will be a back-and-forth game, but I think BBN pulls away late.
Result: Loss
Record: 3-7 (2-6)
Game 11: vs Missouri
Time to play spoiler. Much like their match up with Kentucky, I do not expect this game to display much defense. This will be the game of the QBs, as one of the best QBs in college football (Drew Lock for Missouri) will be going up against the up-comer Guarantano. Pruitt–with nothing to lose–will pull out of the stops and pull out the victory, his first SEC win.
Result: Win
Record: 4-7 (1-6)
Game 12: at Vanderbilt
Ending with their state rival, Vanderbilt. These two teams will more than likely be polar opposites as far as play style. I expect them to meet somewhere in the middle and give a good fight. For one of the few times this season, it appears that Tennessee has more talent than their opponent. Tennessee will close out the season winning this game and winning three of their last four, giving some hope for the future.
Result: Win
Record: 5-7 (2-6)
Summary
Sometimes, teams get better even though it won’t reflect in the win-loss column. That’s where Tennessee will be this season. They are not very talented on paper and have a brutal middle part of the schedule. The main thing I will look out for is how this team is going to respond when things don’t go their way. That’ll be a huge role in the development side and whether or not Pruitt can handle a job of this magnitude. At the end of the day, the light will be dim, but still there for a chance at relevance.