THE DAY AFTER: 5 REASONS WHY THIS TENNESSEE FOOTBALL SEASON HAS FULLY ENTERED THE OPPORTUNITY ZONE
Week 3 in College Football has come and gone, and we saw things pretty much go to plan…not totally to plan… but, pretty much. There were a few things I saw that lead me to believe that, with one quarter of the regular season already in the books, Tennessee continues to add steam to their climb towards the College Football Playoffs. I could go on and on with Vol superlatives, combined with what happened to other key opponents for the Big Orange, but I’ll summarize it in “a tight 5”…goes like this:
1)Nico is as real a talent as it gets: Well…yeah! I know…stating the obvi, but every week I watch this guy running the seemingly simple, but sophisticated Vol offense, and I come away impressed by something! Last night, it was his precision in the 71-0 crushing of Kent St. Case in point: Eight-Ball’s 53 yard touchdown pass to Chris Brazzell wasn’t just a great throw; it was a work of art…all of 50+ yards in the air, but with perfect arc to the pass, Brazzell never breaks stride, ball falls right into his hands…absolute football porn for the fans. And a little more under the radar, but Nico’s 27-yard dart across the middle to Chas Nimrod was positively sublime…we have waited SO long for those kind of passes! Alright, maybe we saw a lot of those in 2022 with Hendo, but that year in between then and now felt like dog years! Without question, order’s been restored at the QB position, let’s just settle in and enjoy it!
2) If Nico’s the Captain of the ship, Dylan Sampson is the engine of that ship! Another Saturday, another 101 yards rushing and 4 tuddy’s for #6. Not trying to say I called it earlier, but…hell…I’m going to say that I called it! This was an excerpt from my previous piece on fanrun.com one week ago:
“All of this talk about Nico for the Heisman…I’m going to say that 12 games like this from Sampson this season could absolutely stake legitimate claim for Heisman consideration…1st Team All-American at least!”
Nico’s inevitable, his time will come, and he could still very well be a Heisman finalist this season…although it feels like it’s becoming a little long-shotty already…namely because we are SO good running the ball! That said, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Dylan Sampson is one of the Heisman finalists in New York in December. With all due respect to Ashton Jeanty at Boise St., if Sampson can convey his current nuclear performance level throughout SEC play, Jeanty, talented as he may be, can’t keep up by stacking stats in Mountain West (i.e. future Pac 12) Conference play.
3) The company the Vols keep these days…look beatable! Look, the true testing window begins on Saturday in Norman, but I’m seeing teams that are ranked ahead of Tennessee that, while impressive at points so far, haven’t convinced me that they’re not gettable by a team like ours. Georgia? Looked the part of a National Title contender in Weeks 1 and 2, but Week 3…in Lexington…that team looked offensively bankrupt against a middling (at best) Kentucky team, that tucked it between their legs when they had a chance to knock off the number one team in the country. Don’t get me wrong; Georgia’s the standard still, but I believe we saw a bit of regression to the pack by the Dawg’s last night. A team with that much talent in the trenches and at skill positions…13 points? It’s cost them the #1 ranking in the polls this week, and now, Tennessee should look at them like any other “nameless, faceless opponent”, per Josh Heupel’s postgame comment last night. Also, Texas may have a quarterback situation brewing. Quinn Ewers, who’s been absolutely cookin’ for the Longhorns, leaves yesterday’s game with a strained oblique. Yes, Arch Manning came in, and yes, he looked quite good…but the potential of a QB controversy in Austin comes at a time when the Horns enter SEC play, and anything that can potentially disrupt their early season momentum should make us happy!
As for Alabama, they won big in Madison, and while I like what I see with DeBoer’s handling of Jalen Milroe, but I haven’t forgotten about how South Florida held the Tide’s feet to the fire for 3+ quarters in Tuscaloosa…just one week ago! Again, after seeing how we’re clicking, I’m SO ready for the matchup with Bama in October!
4) We’ve moved on from the other SEC teams we’ve been bunched up with for months now. LSU? Please! Hey, here’s an idea Kelly & Co., go win a game decisively with all that talent…jeez what an undisciplined team! Missouri? Nice one-possession win at home against #24 Boston College. See, last weekend, Tennessee played the nations #24 team in that team’s home state, and the Vols won by 41. Move along Drink…and enjoy the Citrus Bowl! Ole Miss? Sure you’re off to a good start, but I see nothing that separates you from us. And when it comes to coaching, for all of the folks who pined for Lane Kiffin to be Tennessee’s coach in years past should now view Lane as a “Poor Man’s Josh Heupel”, and it’s no contest!
And then there’s Oklahoma. Big week upcoming. The prodigal son comes home to Norman, College GameDay comes to Norman. Most importantly though, the “It” team in College Football comes to Norman! Oklahoma is 3-0, but there’s been nothing I see from the Sooners that leads me to believe they can win this matchup. More bluntly put, I don’t see how they can even hang with the Vols in this matchup. Watching them against Tulane yesterday, the Green Wave defense was in the Sooner backfield A LOT in the second half. Jackson Arnold is athletic enough, and made some solid escape plays yesterday, but much of that was out of necessity…running for his life. A couple solid running backs, sure…a top tier WR in Deion Burks, OK. But beyond that? Not a lot. And so far, I haven’t seen much from their defense that impresses me. Now, the Sooners will likely be the first team to score an offensive TD against the Vols, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Sooners ride that homefield momentum early and punch the Vols in the mouth, but I don’t see them being able to sustain that for 4 quarters…maybe not even for a half. It’s there for the taking…if the Vols dismiss the Sooners on their homefield, then a CFP berth is likely in the bag, and we then set our sights on a bigger prize than just getting there!
5) This season can be different, because this team is different! I said it on Voluntary Reaction last night. We all compare this team to 2022’s squad, but I firmly believe this team is better than 2022. Not necessarily better on offense…yet, as I’d say it’s fair to believe this season’s offensive unit is deeper than the 2022 version. The difference with this edition of the Vols, is the defense. This defensive unit is so, so nasty…even with a secondary that’s still taking shape. We’ll learn a lot about them in the coming weeks in Norman and later in Fayetteville, but honestly, if the front line does what they do regularly, an OK secondary might be just fine…much like what we saw in 2019 with LSU. High octane offense, good enough defense…we know how that one played out, and frankly, I’m comfortable in saying Tennessee’s defense in 2024 is beyond “good enough”…really, potentially dominant!
That’s where we are…this season is different because this edition of the Vols is built to win at the highest level…on both sides of the ball, and Josh Heupel has done it all in less than 4 seasons…let that sink in for all of us who suffered through 11 years in the coaching abyss before Josh rolled into Knoxville and created the Harvard of College Football Excellence on Offense. And now, with a defense to match that offense…well, the opportunity zone is WIDE OPEN!
Now, it’s simply time to go do it…the “walkthrough” is over, the real season starts this week!
