SINCE WE LAST SPOKE: 9-10-15

BIG ORANGE REARVIEW MIRROR By the time you read this segment each week most of what is mentioned below will be old news. I’ve decided to include it however to remind myself that as George Santayana once said “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it”…but mostly because as I like to say “if I don’t write it down I’m doomed to forget it”.

-The Vols offense was very impressive regardless of how pedestrian Bowling Green’s defense proves to be going forward

-Tennessee’s pass defense was very unimpressive regardless of how good Matt Johnson, Gehrig Dieter and the rest of the Falcon’s offensive entourage prove to be going forward

-Alvin Kamara’s ability and how he compliments other weapons in the Vol offense reminds me of the addition of Charlie Garner in 1992

-Trevor Daniel was excellent in his debut as the Vols punter. Combining both booming and placement punts in your first start cannot be an easy task

-Aaron Medley on the other hand probably had his worst day as a Vol. I’m sure the last thing Butch Jones wanted to do was kick a FG up 26 points with very little time left but he also wanted Medley to leave with something positive to rebuild on.

-I’m all for safety of both the players and fans but if weather radar can tell us that a thunderstorm will hit Marlow at 6:37; Shinliver at 6:39 and Dossett at 6:41 what in the hell are they doing emptying a stadium for 80 minutes of dry weather?

BEANO-RHYTHMS Players and coaches have to -as Butch Jones says- “snap and clear”. As a fan however I’m more likely to “clearly snap”. Therefore each week I will take just a second to describe what the results of the previous game have done to my Big Orange outlook:

While extremely pleased with the Vols skill level and efficiency on offense I can’t believe that my major impression of Game 1 was how glaring a weakness our secondary appears to be. Conceding that Matt Johnson and company may well be the best passing attack the Vols face this season their –and their staff’s- ability to so frequently identify and exploit one-on-one coverage against 4, 5 and 6 DBs has to sound an alarm. Our defensive staff’s inability to find an answer is also disturbing from both a personnel and schematic standpoint.

Beano-Rhythm Status: Less confident in a win over Oklahoma than I was entering the Bowling Green Game

WHAT WE LEARNED IN WEEK 1

NATION:

TEMPLE WITH MORE VANDY-VENGENCE: I realize it’s a reach but in the last two season openers the Temple Owls have beaten James Franklin twice. They beat the team he left for Derrick Mason in 2014 then Saturday beat the team he left Vandy for. It was the Owls first win over Penn State since 1941 and the type of loss that Franklin may never be able to perform well enough in Happy Valley to erase from Nittany Lion fan and former players’ minds. Neither were flukes; Matt Rhule’s Owls have outrushed Franklin’s formers and presents 461-234 and shut both out in the second half

BYU; HAPPY and BLUE: Over the last several weeks I have both praised BYU for their scheduling courage and questioned why Nebraska is in the Big-10 and coached by Mike Riley. I guess blog karma hit both on Saturday when backup Cougar QB Tanner Mangum heaved a 42 yard Hail Mary TD pass for a 33-28 victory in Lincoln. The elation was tempered however by yet another injury to starting QB Taysom Hill. Hill is a terrific –and throwback- player who actually played into the 4th quarter on a foot he fractured in the second.

NOTHING STRONG ABOUT CHARLIE SO FAR: Rumor is Charlie Strong is making very few friends in Austin and his team’s performance to date is probably making those he has reconsider their rapport. Texas had most certainly slipped under Mack Brown but appears to have fallen and can’t get up with Strong. Realizing he is only 13 games into his tenure the eyes of Texas upon him are probably glaring with rage after witnessing a three game losing streak spanning the last two seasons by a cumulative score of 117-20 (TCU 48-10; Arkansas 31-7 & ND 38-3)

PAC-12 NORTH GOING SOUTH: Washington’s loss on the blue turf in Boise is nothing to be ashamed of. Washington State’s loss to Portland State and Stanford’s putrid offensive effort in a loss at Northwestern are.

SEC:

SCHEDULE TEXAS A&M LATE: Steve Spurrier and his Gamecocks found out last year what Todd Graham and the ASU Sun Devils learned the hard way Saturday; you don’t want any of Texas A&M in the opener. The Aggies who spanked 9th ranked South Carolina 52-28 in last season’s lid lifter scored 21 fourth quarter points in route to a three TD victory over ASU Saturday (38-17).

WISCONSIN NOT THEMSELVES OR SAME OLD ALABAMA: Over the last five seasons Wisconsin averaged 264 yards/game on the ground. Four of the last five seasons Bama’s defense has surrendered 78 or less (76, 72, 110, 78 & 74). Saturday we either saw the same old Bama D or a much less effective Badger running attack. Wisconsin had 40 yards on 21 attempts for a paltry 1.9 yds/carry. Alabama on the other hand was downright UW-like mauling the Big-10 West’s preseason favorite for 238 yards on 37 attempts (6.4 ypc)

SEC WEST REGAINS SOME SWAGGER: After being reduced from best division in America to bowl game patsies late last season the West took out some frustrations on Power-5 opponents. Had Auburn not taken the second half off Alabama, Texas A&M and the Tigers would have completed a trifecta of routs versus the PAC-12, Big-10 and ACC respectively

WHAT WE WILL LEARN IN WEEK 2:

IS THIS PEEWEES OR DIVISION 1? Looks like CFB’s highest classification is taking a page out of Boys Club and Little League Football’s playbook. Much like when Claxton loads the Hoppers, Cutters, Peewees and Midgets up in cars, buses and vans and heads to Norwood for a Saturday of football the State of Oregon’s teams are headed for Michigan. The Beavers of Oregon State head to the Big House as the Wolverines opponent in Jim Harbaugh’s second game as the Head Man at Michigan while the Ducks waddle into East Lansing for the back end of their home-and-home series with Michigan State after last season’s 46-27 Oregon victory. The Oregon contingency may find they’ve bitten off even more than teams from the Beaver State can chew with the Spartans winning their last 16 home openers and Michigan winning 18 of their last 19 home games versus non-conference opponents. An interesting tidbit is the fact that Gary Anderson had to move to Corvallis to face the Wolverines since his two Wisconsin squads did not.

WHO GETS WELL AND WHO CATCHES HELL? Both David Shaw’s Stanford Cardinal and George O’Leary’s Central Florida Knights suffered offensive power outages and embarrassing defeats to Northwestern and Florida International respectively. The two highly regarded squads combined for a measly 20 points with Stanford’s 4th quarter FG proving to be the only second half tally that either could muster. Now they face each other Saturday night in Palo Alto at 10:30 EDT with one assured of starting the season an unthinkable 0-2. Most in our time zone will be asleep before the second half starts and if last week is any indication everyone else should think about doing the same.

IT’S NOT REALLY A B-GAME RIGHT? Boise State and BYU face off in Provo for what has recently become an early-season elimination game. The Cougars and Broncos are often mentioned as non-power league teams capable of crashing the big boy’s exclusive New Year’s Day Bowl extravaganza. The Broncos are 4-1 all-time in the series but lost by 17 (37-20) in their last trip to BYU in 2013.

WHO PASSES THE FIRST WEST-TEST? LSU travels to Starkville to take on Dak Prescott and the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the first of many SEC Western Division bloodbaths. The Bullydogs pulled out a less than impressive 34-16 win versus Southern Miss in Hattiesburg but that had to beat the heck out of sitting around watching it lightning in Baton Rouge. State won their first game over LSU this millennium (since 99) last season in Tiger Stadium and need to get a streak going to avoid an early start on their preseason forecast of finishing last in the division.

WHAT WE MUST SEE FROM VOLS IN GAME 2:

FIND SOMETHING THAT “PASSES” AS A SECONDARY: The Vols had no answer for Dino Babers’ Baylor-like passing attack and faces one of its cousins Saturday. New Oklahoma OC Lincoln Riley is schooled in Mike Leach’s Texas Tech Air Raid-like approach which is very similar to what we just failed so miserably trying to stop. The return of Willie Martinez is bound to have some positive effect but he has no eligibility left.

BLOCK A REAL FRONT SEVEN: DE Charles Tapper and OLBs Dominique Alexander and Charles Striker bolster what will be a very difficult corps to run against.

KICK IT IN GEAR: Let’s hope Medley’s struggles were a case of first game jitters and that the friendly confines of Neyland Stadium bring his mojo back. I believe we are preparing to witness a close contest in which a couple of shanks could prove devastating

DEFEND OUR HOUSE: I have checked its pulse and the horse is deceased…but I’m taking one more whack at it. For the third -and final- time this year I post this ugly stat on the blog:

The Vols have lost at least three home games in seven of the last ten seasons with 2007 being the only year in that timeframe with only one home loss (2 losses in 2006 & 2009). Not surprisingly that was the last time the Vols made an SEC Championship Game appearance. In order for the Vols to have the season we all hope for they must end the five-year streak of suffering three home losses

As difficult as a victory over the Sooners may be to accomplish I believe the Vols must find a way to do so in order to avoid a repeat of the above sad fate.

WHAT VOL FANS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OKLAHOMA?

OFFENSE:
Jr QB Baker Mayfield set the OU record for passing yards in a season opener with 388 against Akron

RB Samaje Perine became the first freshman in Big 12 history to lead the league in rushing, averaging 131.8 yards per game in 2014. That average ranked him eighth in the nation, as well.

OU welcomes back its top two ground gainers from last season; Perine (1,713 yards, 21 TDs) and Jr Alex Ross (595 yards, 4 TDs), and will introduce R-Fr Joe Mixon

Sr WR Sterling Shepard ranks ninth in OU history in receptions (150), sixth in receiving yards (2,262) and fourth in 100-yard receiving games (8), five of which came in 2014.

Sr WR Durron Neal has played in 37 games (16 starts) with 62 receptions for 824 yards and 3 TDs in his career

For the first time in school history, OU started two freshmen at OT. Redshirt freshman Orlando Brown started at left tackle and true freshman Dru Samia started on the right side. Also making his first career start was sophomore left guard Jonathan Alvarez. Alvarez played in one game last season and that was the opener against Louisiana Tech.

Returning starters are senior C Ty Darlington (15 career starts) and senior RG Nila Kasitati (14 career starts).

DEFENSE:
In 32 career games (26 starts), Sr DL Charles Tapper has 90 tackles, 16.5 TFL, 8.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR and 4 PBUs

Jr DL Matt Dimon has played in 21 games, recording 21 tackles, 2.5 TFL and 0.5 sacks.

NEWS FLASH; SOONER LBs ARE SCARY:
* SR Eric Striker led the team in sacks (9.0) and TFL (17.0) in 2014.

*Dominique Alexander and Jordan Evans, who each started all 13 games last year, paced OU with 107 and 93 tackles, respectively, as sophomores.

*Sr Frank Shannon, who was not enrolled at OU last year, led the Sooners with 92 tackles in 2013

JR CB Zack Sanchez has played in 21 games, recording 21 tackles, 2.5 TFL and 0.5 sacks. He also led the team with 14 pbu

SPECIAL TEAMS
Fr Austin Seibert became the first true frosh in OU history to start season opener at both kicker and punter

R-Jr Alex Ross finished 3rd in nation in kickoff return avg. (31.2) and tied for 2nd with 2 kickoff return TDs

Shepard has returned 15 punts for 105 yards with a long of 18 vs. Louisiana Tech (8/30/14)

OTHER FUN (or not) STUFF
Saturday’s game will mark just the second for OU in the Volunteer State. The Sooners posted a 24-3 win at Vanderbilt (Nashville) on Sept. 11, 1976 (39 years and 1 day from this Saturday’s matchup)

The Sooners are 47-6 in September under Stoops (have outscored their opponents by an average count of 42-16 in those games).

OU owns a 2-1 record against Tennessee. The Sooners posted a 34-10 home win over the Volunteers last year. The other meetings came in the 1939 Orange Bowl (17-0 Tennessee; was OU’s first bowl appearance) and the 1968 Orange Bowl (26-24 Oklahoma).

Bob Stoops is 5-4 against teams in the SEC at the time of competition and has won two straight (34-10 vs. Tennessee last year and 45-31 vs. Alabama in 2014 Sugar Bowl)

OU is 11-4 in non-conference road games under Stoops and has won five straight dating back to 2009

IN A PERFECT WORLD: Tennessee and Oklahoma would have played more than three times in history.

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