Why we will win, Why we will lose

[bothsocksup]

I think we return a kick for a td and get a pick six. The game comes down to a 42 yard Tripp woody field goal at the buzzer…

 

[Eric15]

Saturday will be only the 4th time this century that we open the season against a ranked opponent. Don't really want a repeat performance of any of these games.

2001 vs. #10 Georgia Tech
2004 at #25 Purdue
2020 at #18 North Carolina

 

[upperdeck]

so a bad 20 yr run. Now we start a good 20 yr run.

 

[bothsocksup]

Saturday will be only the 4th time this century that we open the season against a ranked opponent. Don't really want a repeat performance of any of these games.

2001 vs. #10 Georgia Tech
2004 at #25 Purdue
2020 at #18 North Carolina

Remember it well. Air came out of the tires within the first 8 minutes of the year.

 

[PAcuse]

WHY WE WIN

Fran Brown
Speed, Speed, Speed
Veteran QB who has played in some pressure cooker games
Best punter in the nation
Dline is deep and scary
Jeff Nixon top 5 OC in the nation, will find ways to get to all our playmakers and put Angeli in a place to succeed
Tennessee's offense took a big drop in talent


WHY WE LOSE

New Oline does not gel quickly
New QB, WRs, TE, and RB are to far behind what we had last year
Tennessee runs our defense into the ground in the first half
Dumb mistakes (turnovers/penalties/etc.)
Special Teams are just as bad as last year


I didn't do a ton of in depth number research as I didn't know what to expect with this kind of thread now that SWC is gone.
I feel this keeps a part of him with me each game day by typing out my thoughts and will look forward to it each week!

***MODS not sure if we can but maybe a weekly pinned SWC - Why We Win & Why We Lose thread?

 

[CuseLegacy]

WHY WE WIN

Fran Brown
Speed, Speed, Speed
Veteran QB who has played in some pressure cooker games
Best punter in the nation
Dline is deep and scary
Jeff Nixon top 5 OC in the nation, will find ways to get to all our playmakers and put Angeli in a place to succeed
Tennessee's offense took a big drop in talent


WHY WE LOSE

New Oline does not gel quickly
New QB, WRs, TE, and RB are to far behind what we had last year
Tennessee runs our defense into the ground in the first half
Dumb mistakes (turnovers/penalties/etc.)
Special Teams are just as bad as last year


I didn't do a ton of in depth number research as I didn't know what to expect with this kind of thread now that SWC is gone.
I feel this keeps a part of him with me each game day by typing out my thoughts and will look forward to it each week!

***MODS not sure if we can but maybe a weekly pinned SWC - Why We Win & Why We Lose thread?

Done.

 

[PAcuse]

Done.

THANK YOU!

 

[IthacaMatt]

I am not SWC and I never will be. But I respect the hell out of what he did for us and will give it a shot in his memory.

Why We Will Win
In two words? Jeff Nixon. He's had as long as he'd need to study the Tennessee defense and he has the tools and genius in his arsenal to take them down. Angeli is the real deal and isn't going to cave to the intense and sudden pressure. Our receiver corp is deep as the Mariana Trench, and if you put oversized shoulder pads on the O-Line you could mistake them for the '95 Gator Bowl champs.

I expect the offense to look a little bit like last year--spread, aggressive, and pass-heavy. Johntay has always had the talent, but now he's got a HCFB as a mentor too, and we're going to hear a lot of "Angeli to Cook for the first down'. Not to mention Gill who was solid last year and is going to come back stronger and more elusive.

But I don't think the offense will be exactly the same. With the new line and lack of LeQuint and Oronde as check-down options, it will be exciting to see all 235lbs of Yasin Willis smash open his own gaps. I was also curious to see Fran Jr. listed at Fullback; while I don't expect to see him take many snaps there, it could be an indicator of how the offense is adapting to the talent at hand.

The defense may be questionable, but I see some bright spots too. All eyes are on Demetres Samuel Jr.--Tenesee is going to count on winning some 1v1 routes and he's a day ahead and a dollar over when it comes to the speed to shut them down.

Why We Will Lose
Tennesee is good. Nico was fantastic, but for them it's a don't let the door hit you on the way out situation much less a next man up.

Now, I'm not calling for meathead football, exactly, but I expect them to methodically march down the field and wear out our defense. Those same 1v1s that we can win are going to be a lot harder to keep winning as we tire out.

It will be tense. I'm not going to lie, at times it might even start to feel hopeless, and their time with the ball that stands a good chance of limiting our possessions.

And remember, our offense is new. Steve won the competition but he was not here for spring ball. Mistakes and miscues seem inevitable, and with limited possessions those mistakes will be costly, and they will risk compounding later in the game when the type of 4th and 3 decision can be increasingly tempting. And those difficult and important plays will be in front of a crowd that is increasingly looking like an away game.

Overall?
It's a game we can win. I am hopeful. But we will need some luck.

Out of curiosity, I went and researched the size of our respective starting lines. Physically, we are pretty much the same. Nobody should out-muscle us this year; we are as big and strong as anybody out there.

Will we have chemistry on the offensive line? Well, they have pretty much a totally rebuilt O line full of transfers, too. So that's a push.

Defensively, though, they have a lot of continuity on their D line. But so do we. More returning players than we realize.

I think we can win this game if we play even on the lines. I think our offensive players are better than theirs. I think our secondary is our weak link, but this guy they got is a running QB who is prone to turnovers.

I honestly think that if we keep it close to halftime we are going to win this game.

 

[sufandu]

Out of curiosity, I went and researched the size of our respective starting lines. Physically, we are pretty much the same. Nobody should out-muscle us this year; we are as big and strong as anybody out there.

Will we have chemistry on the offensive line? Well, they have pretty much a totally rebuilt O line full of transfers, too. So that's a push.

Defensively, though, they have a lot of continuity on their D line. But so do we. More returning players than we realize.

I think we can win this game if we play even on the lines. I think our offensive players are better than theirs. I think our secondary is our weak link, but this guy they got is a running QB who is prone to turnovers.

I honestly think that if we keep it close to halftime we are going to win this game.

What I want to see is how athletic we are with our size. When the SEC was beating the snot out of everyone during much of the BCS era, it wasn't that they were bigger than everyone. It was that they were as big or bigger and a lot faster.

 

[IthacaMatt]

What I want to see is how athletic we are with our size. When the SEC was beating the snot out of everyone during much of the BCS era, it wasn't that they were bigger than everyone. It was that they were as big or bigger and a lot faster.

Of course, but Fran has shown a great aptitude for getting elite athletes.

 

[sufandu]

Of course, but Fran has shown a great aptitude for getting elite athletes.

It'll be a good gauge for us.

 

[IthacaMatt]

It'll be a good gauge for us.

I think if this is a competitive game, we can get to 7 or 8 wins this year.