Tennessee will kick off its 2022 season Sept. 1 against Ball State at Neyland Stadium (7 p.m. EDT, SEC Network).
“This team is a team that’s on the rise right now,” Harper said of Tennessee. “Tennessee is going to play big-time spoiler this year. They will beat Georgia or Alabama.”
Harper further detailed Tennessee’s offense under Heupel.
“I have Tennessee as the third best team in the conference, right now,” Harper said. “That is because you bring back this offense, and as I continue to watch football, over, and over, and over, it is really hard to defend. If they are able to run the football successfully, with their offensive line, that takes all the pressure and puts all the pressure on everyone else defensively.
“You can only have five or six guys in the box at a time — those are the numbers in your favor. If you are able to do that and spread guys out, the way that they do, play with the amount of tempo, you see guys all the time, they’re not even getting lined up. Next they are throwing the ball all over the ballpark. Tennessee would have had two more wins last year if they started Hendon Hooker from the start, and then not mess up the bowl game.”
On Thursday, Harper provided his game-by-game predictions for Tennessee in 2022. Harper’s predictions are listed below.