Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
This is one of those programs.
It’s like Nebraska, or Michigan, or Florida State, or Texas, or USC. It’s a brand-name, should-be powerhouse that has every possible advantage.
It knows what it’s like to be among the elite of the elite, and it’s one of those places that wouldn’t surprise you all that much if it belted out an 11-1 season and pushed for the College Football Playoff …
If you’re of a certain age.
No, Tennessee hasn’t been totally miserable, but 2007 was the last time it was in the SEC Championship and 1998 was the last time it won the thing.
There are a whole lot of players on the 2021 Tennessee team who weren’t alive yet when Peerless Price was taking down Florida State in the first BCS Championship.
It’s been a long, long time since the Vols mattered in the national championship race.
To a younger generation, the program has become defined by bizarre coaching searches, the inability to beat rivals Alabama, Florida or Georgia – at least on a regular basis – and three losing seasons in the last four years.
However …
Set The Tennessee Volunteers Regular Season Win Total At … 7
This might be a renovation instead of a total overhaul.
At the very least, the program made a call to upgrade the offense in the SEC arms race by hiring Josh Heupel. He might not have the coaching trophies in the case, but he did a good job at UCF, his offense works, and it’s a shot at getting Tennessee to pivot into the new era where you don’t get into the building against the better conference teams without starting at around 400 yards per game.
It’s going to take at least a year to get this whole thing going, though, with a mass exodus of players through the transfer portal and with the scheme probably not enough of a differentiating factor to push past the SEC stars. Even so …
Bowling Green, Tennessee Tech, South Alabama, Vanderbilt. That’s a base of four wins to build on, home dates against Pitt and South Carolina are 50/50 battles, and there needs to be a road victory or three somewhere – like at Missouri or Kentucky – to show that things are headed in the right direction.
A giant win would be nice, but assume road losses at Florida and Alabama and at home against Georgia. On the plus side, there’s no Texas A&M, LSU or Auburn to face, the last three games are at home, and the offense is going to give it a shot to make Tennessee football more fun.
A winning season and a bowl appearance will be a good start.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– Tennessee Schedule Analysis