A lot has been made about whether Bob Stoops will try to run the score up on Tennessee should he get them down Saturday night. I don't think this is a concern. Don't get me wrong, the game has the makings of one that could get ugly, but Bob Stoops is a smart man. He knows that Tennessee's talented freshmen class will be a year older and bolstered by a talented cast of newcomers. Tennessee WILL be ready to compete with Oklahoma next year. Stoops is a survivor. He's learned that you don't poke sleeping giants. This one could look like those classic Saban Dooley matchups where Saban protected his protégé. The Sooners should collect a convincing win if this one goes according to script but it won't be a complete blowout. Stoops is too smart not to run it up. He knows what's coming. Tennessee is rising. That game in Knoxville next year will be extremely winnable for Tennessee. Don't laugh. Look at who the Sooners lose. Look at what the Vols gain. That game will be Tennessee's home opener after the season opener in Nashville against UAB (If only we could get that tax repealed in the city of Knoxville, LOL).
Long and short, I asked Randy Moore who's been covering the UT beat longer than perhaps anyone alive and he said a win Saturday night considering where Tennessee is as a program coupled with the shortcomings in personnel, would be one for the all-time upset category. Consider that when Tennessee was an 18 point underdog in Gainesville in 2001, the Vols had a damn good football team. That's how much respect Vegas had for Florida. Tennessee is so short stacked in this game.
Tennessee needs to create four turnovers and score off all four of them. It would also be wonderful to create some points in the kicking game. These aren't things that have happened versus Arkansas State and Utah State.
Guys at RTI throwing it down today.
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With Richmond flying the coop to Ole Miss, X says to watch Tennessee with Offensive Tackle Emanuel McGirt out of Durham, North Carolina. McGirt was committed to UNC only to recently backtrack. He's got an excellent list of potential suitors. Here's an article on him.
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'X' Says
'Not worried about Richmond
230 miles from Knoxville to charlotte NC
160 miles from Knoxville to Atlanta
Almost 400 miles from Knoxville to Memphis
I can see why I kid would want to make it easier on his parents ….. Ole Miss is a good school.
Freeze “plays in the gray area” with recruiting.
He learned from one the best in Orgeron.
Other than Dan Williams name a Memphis product that has been great here.
Randy Moore’s pregnant pause yesterday on your show in the first segment when speaking of something else going on with Richmond said plenty….
X'
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Mike G is a huge UT fan living behind enemy lines. He's been checking in with us all week from there. Here's his Wednesday report.
'Yo Tony,
The big news on the Tuesday night late news sports report in Oklahoma City highlighted Tennessee's loss of Von Pearson.
At Newsok.com (sports section), Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman has an interesting article entitled "Two Views of Tennessee's Recent Woes." On the same site is an article about Blake Bell (aka The Belldozer) who has gone from starting QB to starting tight end. If I remember correctly, Tennessee had him as a top QB recruiting prospect.
Some Tennessee fans may be heading west on I-40 today or tomorrow, so I thought I better warn them; if they want to buy a soft drink. on Saturday night at Owen Field, they can expect it to have NO ICE. The guy who knew how to make it graduated.
The OU Athletic Department has implemented a new Honor System. "Yes, Your Honor; No, Your Honor."
After Barry Switzer became the Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys, a sports writer asked Coach Switzer what the coach considered to be the most significant difference between coaching the Cowboys and the Sooners? Without hesitation, Switzer replied, "At Oklahoma, I didn't have to worry about a salary cap."
--
MIKE G'
Mike...You're right!!! This Berry Tramel article is TERRIFIC! Wow. Poor Phillip Fulmer seems in denial here.
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Oklahoma has an alt uniform they are breaking out at some point this season but it won't be for Tennessee.
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Meanwhile, some screen shots are making their way around the internets of what could be Tennessee's alt uniform. These poor things look awful. This looks like something Maryland would've worn a few years back.
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Here's a pic of what could be the new unis that Vol Colonel sent me. This includes the helmet and all.
Hatfield's Nine
'It's always interesting to watch the media engage in contrived, made for television indignation. Exactly how did they think Janay Rice ended up unconscious on that elevator floor? Too many allegedly objective observers were all to quick to aid the NFL in their attempted whitewash of this situation until TMZ made that impossible. Save me the transition to faux outrage.
1. It strains credulity to believe that Roger Goodell, or at least one of his NFL Security underlings, never saw the Ray Rice video. Organizations that powerful simply don't suffer from that type of complete failure of access, unless it is intentional ignorance.
2. Goodell's ridiculous initial punishment ended up ultimately making things even tougher on Ray Rice. Had the suspension been lengthy to begin with, there wouldn't have been such shock and backlash resulting from the video.
3. It'll be intriguing to see how the Ravens address this going forward. They had become the modern version of the '70s and '80s Raiders by always standing behind their guys.
4. The video is difficult to watch. The more chilling fact is that countless such acts go unreported each day.
5. It was in character for the NCAA to use the cover of some other entity's foibles to slide through one of their self serving, hypocritical moves. Tossing out Penn State's sanctions on a day when they knew it would get lost in the firestorm of the Rice issue is exactly the type of duplicity I expect from Mark Emmert and his clown squad in Indianapolis.
6. I suppose we're expected to believe that it's a coincidence that Penn State regains its postseason eligibility after a complete disaster of a weekend for the Big Ten. Sure thing.
7. Eli Manning looks done. At the very least, it's obvious he needs a change of scenery.
8. Shuffling your offensive line before traveling to play a Top 5 team on the road isn't an encouraging situation. However, it is obvious Tennessee has to make some changes along the front.
9. Good to see Trooper Taylor managing to make some news during his trip to Knoxville. Hopefully, that's the last time UT fans ever have to hear about that buffoon.
If you have some free time today, I encourage you to attend some of the Medal of Honor Convention festivities. It is an incredible honor for Knoxville to be hosting this gathering of the bravest of the brave. We owe all of those honored warrior a debt we can't ever hope to repay. Showing some appreciation while they are in town is the least we can do.
We're working on some exciting surprises for Friday's edition of Show Cause. It should be fun.
See you Friday from 1-3pm right here at tonybasilo.com on your live stream.
Thanks
Keith'
The King, presented by Smoothie King, returns to Tonybasilio.com today for another installment. He's not giving any quarter to the Sooners.
The King’s Speech/September 9, 2014
Team 118, Game 2 – Arkansas State. This game went about as expected in that Tennessee was clearly the better team and was in total control throughout. The coaching staff kept things as vanilla as possible while making sure we were never really challenged. Arkansas State is a better team than Utah State and this will help us as we move into the Big Boy part of the
schedule.
Offensively, we still need to get more out of our rushing game and use quick hitters instead of the read-option, waiting for the defense to react before we give or keep. The reality is we have a QB that is not keeping the ball enough to make us an effective read-option offense. Either Worley or the coaches have to make sure he keeps the ball at least 2 or 3 times in the first quarter so we can keep the defense honest and even gain some easy yards. I do not care if Worley only gets half the yards a more athletic QB would get.
I will take 5 even if 10 is possible. Play-calling against Arkansas State was reined in by design. We did not run the jet sweeps or any screen passes to running backs. We stayed away from the middle of the field and quick hitters.
We have a stable of receivers and backs to catch the ball and get significant yardage after the catch. The offensive line is better than most think. Better
scheming will take advantage of that in the run game, using quickness instead of sustaining blocks for an inordinate amount of time. Pass blocking is solid with one of the sacks a combination of good coverage downfield and a safety/corner blitz. Hurd was outstanding in pass coverage for a true freshman.
Remember, Arkansas State has 3 all-conference DBs that can play for most schools. Worley was high on 3 or 4 passes due to a tendency to throw off his back foot. Overall, Worley has impressed with his ability to put the ball where only the receiver has a chance to make the catch. On one possession, Worley threw 3 consecutive passes that should have been TDs. One was dropped, the next one was caught but the receiver came down with his foot on the line and the last one was caught by North.
Expect improvement on the field this week in the running game and the play-calling.
Defensively, Arkansas State was a bigger challenge than Utah State was a week earlier. The QB and skill players were better and challenged our defense, preparing them for an even bigger challenge this week. The most impressive thing was how the defense adjusted, especially at halftime. It was night and day as far as containment on the QB and shutting down their offense. A. J. Johnson and Cameron Sutton continue to stand out. Owen Williams applied pressure up the middle and that is always a good thing. Mike Williams, Todd Kelly, Jr. and the group of young linebackers continue to show they are the real deal. Now they all have to kick it up a notch and do it on the big stage this weekend.
Scheduling two fast-paced teams with mobile QBs has helped us be as ready as you can for a team with the firepower of Oklahoma. We will need the defense to play extremely well and have at least 3 takeaways in order for us to have a chance.
Special teams must continue to improve and we will need to flip the field a few times with good returns. Expect to see a new face or two to contribute in the return game this week, with positive results. Again this week, the Vols will continue to get better and gain confidence. This will not be another Oregon. Two scenarios, the Vols lose a tough game by less than 14 points or the Vols get the takeaways mentioned above and pull the upset in Norman. A major factor will be how our coaching staff stacks up against Stoops and staff. Tennessee has to open up the playbook and add some wrinkles in the running game, maybe even a greased Pig Howard running wild through an unsuspecting Sooner defense. Utilizing the middle of the field will be imperative, even without Wolf. Attention Coach Jones, Worley must keep the ball early and often (but not too) for us to keep the defense honest and the chance to win.
From the top,
The King
'Tony,
I’ve been a listener for 10+ years. Never called just listen. You claim to speak up for the common fan. I took my two daughters to the fair w my gf and dropped $39 JUST TO GET IN. Then, you can buy either a $25 wrist band or 20 tickets for $20.00. Each ride requires 4 to 5 tickets so they pretty much force you to buy wristbands. We took the wrist bands adding another $50. That’s almost $100 dollars for a fair. Are you kidding me? Not to mention, it thundered Saturday night so they got to ride all of about 4 rides before they delayed them. By the time it cleared it was bed time. No rain checks! Will you please speak up for us single parents who work hard and find this absolutely ridiculous!!! You always talk about the raising ticket prices in sports. This is right here in our back yard. Love the show.
Chris'
Chris:
This blog is read by literally thousands. It's my hope that someone affiliated with the fair will see this and shoot you some rain checks through me. I'll be glad to handle the arrangements. If I had tickets I would take care of you right now! Hate that this happened to you. What would the harm be in them comping you four tix for a future trip to the fair? Maybe somebody will reach out. My best to your family. Thanks for listening....
Stephen Garcia won't attend our team tonybasilio.com film study tonight but he breaks down OU and UT nonetheless.
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Just to be a fly on the wall at this meeting of the alleged minds. My favorite elected official with my favorite fighter.
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On the way out, I want to remind the Vol Colonel to remember the snacks for our film study session tonight. We will host Dr Sean Sinclair, Christian Lundy, Geoff Brock, Beano, Tony Robinson via Skype, Jerry Colquitt via Skype, Matt Nelson, Vol Colonel, Keith Hatfield, The King, Brian Hartman, Dar Flash & Lil Timby. We will have Ellidios' Pizza, Hardee's, Calhoun's, Sushi Spot and Vol Colonel's bringing desert.
After distilling the film study material, we will run our thoughts on the UT/OK matchup Friday right here!
Thanks
Tony
