meh, figured I might as well out of tradition...

Bitch of a schedule as usual, new coach, lost time in recruiting, and even if none of that had occurred it was still going to be a down year already (new QB, new starters at EVERY OL position, shitty depth at DL etc.)

Not expecting much this season, 5-7 probably, 6-6 maybe, 7-5 at best.


Tennessee Martin - W
Oregon - L
Florida - L
UAB - W
at LSU - L
at Georgia - L
Alabama - L
at South Carolina - L
at Memphis - W
Mississippi - L
at Vanderbilt - W
Kentucky - W


[Edited on July 20, 2010 at 12:20 AM. Reason : d]

7/20/2010 12:15:07 AM

any bar brawls in the last week or so?

also LOL at chalking up a W to the Tennessee Martin game

7/20/2010 12:26:49 AM

with probably 3 out of the following 6 games involving preseason top 5 teams, I think they should have no shame throwing in Martin

7/20/2010 12:39:20 AM

WOOHOO

just booked my flight down for the Bama game

7/22/2010 4:43:58 PM

I'll post ITT to say GO VOLS even though they are gonna suck ass this year. Maybe UT and State can play in the tire bowl or something.

7/22/2010 4:48:48 PM

or independently start a "didn't qualify for a bowl" bowl game

7/22/2010 4:53:17 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSzcRdEW3Bs&hd=1

Nice highlight video.

[Edited on July 28, 2010 at 12:21 AM. Reason : ]

7/28/2010 12:01:05 AM

man I miss Al Wilson... complete badass

7/28/2010 12:53:07 AM

Bryce Brown bounces

7/28/2010 12:26:45 PM

well he asked to be excused a while ago for personal reasons... this isn't anything new


what makes it news now is that Dooley says he doesn't expect him to come play, but that he needs to do something because he hasn't officially asked to be released by Tennessee (or whatever the proper terminology for that is)

7/29/2010 6:11:47 PM

marlon walls and greg king unsuspended

i thought walls was the one that knocked the cop out

i guess we'll never know what went down that night

8/4/2010 1:39:27 PM

UAB and Vandy could turn out to be rougher than you imagine.

8/4/2010 1:40:52 PM

doubtful

i can imagine us losing every game this season

except ut-martin

8/4/2010 2:50:32 PM

Now that Massoli(sp?) from Oregon has transferred to Ole Miss, that game is looking ALOT tougher.

8/4/2010 2:54:32 PM

nice catch by Da'rick today

8/5/2010 1:39:06 AM

what do you think about the split practices? Not sure how I feel about dividing up the team, but if Dooley thinks it will make things run better, then I guess I trust him

8/5/2010 12:38:18 PM

I really like the idea - everyone gets more reps, especially the younger guys.

I'm surprised this isn't something that is done more often. For some reason, I thought there was an NCAA rule against it (I know there is a proposed rule that would stop this), but apparently not.

8/5/2010 12:41:28 PM

well it is only gonna be for a couple of weeks, so I don't think it will be awful, but I like to see some of the younger guys mixing it up with the older guys (easier to tell who could be an instant asset)- I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard this way either. I guess I'm just a traditionalist

8/5/2010 12:45:47 PM

so i live in Asheville now and since knoxville is only 2 hrs or so away, we were thinking about going to neyland to catch a game. my wife's friend lives in mississippi so we might meet them up there for that game - by that late in a season that's predicted to be rough, is it going to be worth going? or will the stadium be 50% empty? i'm not all that interested in seeing tennessee football, moreso their 105k seat stadium.

also i'm pretty sure i'll just get tickets on stubhub sometime over the next couple months or maybe just buy from a scalper at the game. where should we try to park and tailgate? their website shows everything as permit parking only, but they do mention some shuttles that run to various places around town. what the deal with parking?

8/5/2010 12:59:49 PM

I thought they were combining the squads on Sunday.

I can't wait for football season evean though my teams might not be so great this year.

8/5/2010 1:04:14 PM

^^ stadium is in the middle of campus, which is in the middle of the city, so its not like State where you have huge fields of parking around the stadium. You have random lots scattered all over the place, usually between $10-$50 depending on how close you want to be... Also, a lot of people tailgate at their cars with tents etc. but a lot of people also just park and go to bars to tailgate so you have that option.

For tickets I would search craigslist close to the game, dont use stubhub or anything, too expensive. The Oregon game will be really really good, a lot of west coast people travel to knoxville when their teams play (UCLA, Cal) and are really into it cause they love the SEC experience. Also, barring a disaster against UT-Martin, UT should go into the game undefeated whereas the games later in the year could have them with a shitty ass record.

8/5/2010 3:35:33 PM

and it's a night game, double the awesome

8/5/2010 3:38:42 PM

Video highlights of Freshman at first practice. Boring except for "The Catch" by Da'Rick Rogers about 30 seconds in.

http://tennessee.scout.com/2/989679.html

8/6/2010 3:05:19 PM

^Good video. Thanks for posting.

8/6/2010 3:29:37 PM

Starting DE Ben Martin is likely out for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

8/7/2010 11:20:18 AM

Now, it lools like starting DT Marlon Walls is out for a significant length of time (maybe season) with an Achilles injury. The is ridiculous.

8/8/2010 10:00:47 AM

I'm curious how Dooley's Daddy couldn't get him a walk on gig at Georgia when he was in college, seems, you know, he'd have some connections....

Is Dooley at UT for just a season or two? Surely this isn't long term. I miss Lane Kiffin, he made JB's annual UT thread much more entertaining. Florida/Bama/LSU with Georgia/SCar/Miss (with masoli) is pretty brutal.

8/8/2010 10:46:06 AM

Probably long term on his end... Where would he go? Virginia?

8/8/2010 2:43:32 PM

is Da'Rick Rogers name pronounced Da-Rick (like Daaaa Bears) or like Derrick?

8/8/2010 3:41:02 PM

I think its actually Day-Rick.

8/8/2010 3:47:51 PM

he has said hes heard it a ton of ways, and he likes Day-Reek because it rhymes with freak, but he pronounces it Day-Rick

8/8/2010 4:13:22 PM

what is up with Tennessee getting all these players with weird names - Nu'Keese, Da'Rick

8/8/2010 4:26:19 PM

Damn, lost another dlineman for the year. Weakest position has gotten weaker

8/8/2010 8:11:31 PM

Pictures of Neyland Stadium (mid renovation)

http://www.wix.com/ap2isme/stadium

8/9/2010 10:26:41 AM

and now lost Evander Wells for the season... sigh. Not even in pads yet.

8/9/2010 6:09:36 PM

^ Came here to post that.

8/9/2010 6:31:49 PM

Quote :

"KNOXVILLE — Derek Dooley has never seemed like a sugar-coating type of person. When asked how he felt about his University of Tennessee football team’s depth situation, the Volunteers new coach didn’t mince words. “I’m terrified,” he said. And who could argue? The Vols lost two starting defensive linemen, almost certainly for the entire season, before they donned full pads for the first time Sunday afternoon at Haslam Field. Sophomore tackle Marlon Walls ruptured an Achilles one day after senior end Ben Martin suffered the same injury. “Our Achilles heel so far has been our Achilles heel,” Dooley said. What’s worse for the Vols, both defensive linemen went down in non-contact situations. “They weren’t doing anything. Basically, they were walking over a pad,” Dooley said. “It happens. ACLs happen like that sometimes. I don’t know. The first thing I said was, ‘Did we do anything to contribute to it?’ I don’t know. I think a lot of times, in Ben’s case, sometimes when you’re fighting a lot of injuries, more things creep up elsewhere. Your body’s always compensating. You think your back’s a problem, but it’s something else. “Now, I don’t know that. I’m not a doctor. I’m just a coach.” Walls is a less proven player than Martin, but end is one of the Vols’ deepest positions. Tackle is certainly not. Senior center Victor Thomas was moved back to defensive tackle — his original position — but now sophomore Montori Hughes is the team’s only known commodity at that crucial position. “I don’t have a sense for what any of the D-tackles can do other than Montori right now,” Dooley said. “Montori’s a really good player. He plays with great reckless abandon out there. He’s a competitor. He’s got tremendous competitive fire. “We need to get more guys like him.” Thomas is happy to try. “I was excited to help the team out anyway I could,” said Thomas, who was signed five years ago as a four-star recruit from Mississippi. “It was just another opportunity for me to get on the field. It was kind of odd in the beginning today. But once I got back into the rotation, it came back to me really quickly.” Thomas figures to battle junior Rae Sykes and sophomore Steven Fowlkes — who both played end last season — for a starting position. Senior defensive end Gerald Williams liked what he saw from all three candidates Sunday. “They’re young, but they never quit,” Williams said. “They’re young, but they’re on D-I scholarship just like everyone else here. We’re just going to keep pushing on. “We can’t get down. Injuries are going to occur when you’re dealing with football, so we’ve just got to step up. It’s time for the next guy in line to step up for his opportunity. “Big Vic coming back helps a lot. He’s a natural D-lineman, as we saw today.” Some have suggested the Vols look at switching from the 4-3 base defense to a 3-4 base, but Dooley correctly noted that UT would actually need more big bodies for the switch. The coach then joked that his staff might have to get even more creative than usual. “You really need three big guys in a 3-4,” he said. “In a 4-3, you need two big guys. You can get away with some lighter ends in a 4-3. If you go to a 3-4, you say, ‘There’s one less defensive lineman.’ But you’re adding one more big guy, because you’re reducing them down. “We’re looking at going into a 2-5, maybe a 1-6. We’re going to be the first team ever to employ a 1-6. The 1 better be a big guy; really big.” In all seriousness, though, the coach is clearly — and justifiably — concerned about his attrition-ridden roster. “We don’t have any depth anywhere,” Dooley said. “We’ve had three guys who signed with us who aren’t here. It hurts us, but that’s what happens when you take high-risk guys. We don’t like to do that, with academic risks. Here we are, but we had no choice. The last couple of weeks, we took a couple of risks. “We have zero depth anywhere except on the training staff. We have the deepest training staff in the history of college football.” Other contacts for Wes Rucker are http://www.twitter.com/wesrucker and http://www.facebook.com/tfpvolsbeat."

UT's football team is playing with about 70 healthy scholarship players for the 2010 season. It's looking like a tough year to come.

8/9/2010 9:38:32 PM

Rumor: Kyle Kerbyson, a 4 star OT from Knoxville Catholic High School, has committed to UT. I really hope this is true. He had offers from Alabama, USC and many others.

8/12/2010 3:08:11 PM

here is the best hire Dooley has made:

8/15/2010 2:34:52 PM

UT received it's 14th commitment of the 2011 class when Pat Martin, a 4 star safety, chose the Vols over South Carolina today.

8/15/2010 6:45:22 PM

Tennessee Titans related but I just saw Stafon Johnson suffered a season ending ankle dislocation. He was the USC player who had his throat crushed during the weight lifting accident. Kid just can't get a break.

8/16/2010 1:28:09 AM

I heard about that on the radio yesterday... the fact that he is alive and well is impressive enough, but that he was able to make it to the NFL, well that is impressive. He just seems to have severe ups and downs.


Anyway, back to UT fooseball! 19 days away!!

8/16/2010 9:01:20 AM

Quote :

" Oregon - L Florida - L UAB - W at LSU - L at Georgia - L Alabama - L at South Carolina - L "

That is just a brutal stretch of games. Very few programs would come out of that with less than 3-4 losses. I bet the best ACC team would still lose at least 3 of those games.

8/16/2010 9:26:49 AM

Yeah, it's going to be rough

8/16/2010 3:03:52 PM

Looks like the UNC-UT games for 2011-2012 aren't going to happen.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5469770

Quote :

"KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The scheduled series between North Carolina and Tennessee, which was to be played in 2011 and 2012, will likely be shelved. Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said Monday night that nothing has been finalized, but that the two sides are currently in the process of trying to work out a contract buyout. With an already demanding schedule in 2011, Tennessee had requested that the North Carolina series be pushed back until later this decade, according to Hamilton. But the Tar Heels weren't interested in moving the series, leading to the current talks centered around Tennessee paying a penalty to get out of the series and nixing it all together. Tennessee was scheduled to play in Chapel Hill in 2011 with North Carolina scheduled to come to Knoxville in 2012. The Vols' 2011 nonconference schedule also includes Cincinnati, and Hamilton said he wanted to "break up" that stretch of games that starts with Cincinnati the second week of the season and then includes trips to Florida and North Carolina followed by home games against Georgia and LSU and then a trip to Alabama. With North Carolina likely to come off Tennessee's schedule, Hamilton said the plan was to add an eighth home game during the 2011 season against a non-BCS team. Tennessee opens the 2011 season against FCS power Montana, which was a recent replacement for North Texas."

8/17/2010 7:03:58 AM

^Lame. I hate Mike Hamilton. He is such a little, swarmy bitch of an AD.

8/17/2010 9:20:51 AM

In an interview Hamilton hinted the reason for dropping the game was because UNC wouldn't agree to a home and home in bball. Hahah, college politics.

8/18/2010 11:26:55 AM

"And they feeling me so, they not feeling y'all so
I volunteer every ten I see, Vince Yarbrough
Pat Summit dough, mother fuck a ho"

8/21/2010 12:27:42 AM

oh snap, my jam for Fall 2010

8/29/2010 4:59:10 PM

and fuck I miss EB already



"Here, let me use your own fullback to tackle you with"

[Edited on August 29, 2010 at 5:04 PM. Reason : d]

8/29/2010 5:03:31 PM