Do the Vols suck again?
That is the question many Tennessee fans are asking themselves after The Vols failed to cover a massive spread in the season opener against Bowling Green.
It’s also a question many other SEC fan bases are asking after an opening weekend that mostly brought more questions than answers.
Take LSU for starters. The only SEC team to lose its opener besides Vanderbilt, Randy Sanders doesn’t lose to Vanderbilt. The Tigers looked sloppy and disinterested as the men in the sissy blue shirts from UCLA brought their asses on down there and put Ed Orgeron’s ass squarely on the hot seat.
In the SEC East, Georgia is clearly the class of the division. But the offensive juggernaut many pundits predicted failed to materialize against Clemson. The next offensive touchdown J.T. Daniels and company score will be their first.
Meanwhile, Florida may be on the verge of a full-fledged quarterback controversy after Emory Jones looked pedestrian against Florida Atlantic. Jones may get another start for the Gators, but Anthony Richardson is the people’s quarterback in Gainesville.
Missouri struggled with Central Michigan. Mississippi State needed a late rally to knock off Louisiana Tech because chaos is a built-in feature of Mike Leach football. Texas A&M led Kent State 10-3 at the half before pulling away late.
Perhaps the only team left thoroughly satisfied by their season debut (besides Alabama, who looks predictably dominant) is Kentucky. Will Levis appears to be the quarterback the Wildcats have been looking for since Andre Woodson left Lexington over 10 years ago.
Which brings us back to Tennessee. Josh Heupel’s boys will have to kick it up a notch to beat a decent Pitt team this week. But before you channel Rob Schneider from The Waterboy, take a moment to consider the angst that pretty much every SEC team besides Alabama is feeling at this moment.
Extra Point
LSU fans are already jumping off the good ship Orgeron en masse. A quick scan of Tiger message boards show that Billy Napier is at the top of many fan wish lists. LSU would be well served to look outside the state for their next coach. They went with Louisiana ties for their last coach, and it is not ending well. Once coordinators Joe Brady and Dave Aranda left Baton Rouge, Coach O’s empire crumbled quickly.
The Tigers would be better off replicating the success they had by raiding the Big 10 for Nick Saban. PJ Fleck would be the recruiting machine Orgeron has been without all the Red Bull fueled insanity.
