I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet how far down talent-wise Tennessee has found itself, but this article paints a pretty grim picture for the next two seasons.
… First, UT’s senior class has some longtime contributors, but few standout players. The Vols have 13 seniors who have started a game, led by two potential All-SEC players: tight end Luke Stocker and defensive end Chris Walker – if he’s healthy.
UT’s seniors boast competent receivers (Gerald Jones and Denarius Moore), solid linebackers (Nick Reveiz and LaMarcus Thompson) and starting defensive ends (Walker, Ben Martin and Gerald Williams).
But after the seniors, the roster gets scary.
UT only has one junior who has started a game at his current position: cornerback Art Evans.
There are some brutal quotes from unnamed SEC assistant coaches that follow.
Derek Dooley says he won’t dip into the JUCO ranks too deeply to fill holes, but to me that looks like it’ll be a hard temptation to avoid on his part.
Get The Picture 
It’s so funny how the Ufk faithful always complain about the natural advantages that UGA and UF have when it comes to their natural, in-state recruiting bases.
Yet, if Ufk had simply gotten Patrick Turner, Michael Oher, Greg Hardy, Graig Cooper, Harrison Smith, Golden Tate, Barrett Jones, Dont’a Hightower or Patrick Willis over the last few years, their program would have been significantly different.
People want to bag on UGA for not getting the best recruits in GA every year, but the notion of even being able to do that is ridiculous. There are 200+ kids from the state every year who sign D1 scholarships. TN, however, is a different story. Their highest qualification is on par with the best programs in GA’s A classification and Ufk should pick who they want every year.
It is a much bigger deal for Ufk to not get a great player from their own state than it is for UGA to not get one from GA, because for every one that UGA does not get, there will be 2-3 who are just as good.
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Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the 3 States of Tennessee. UTK is not part of western TN. The majority of the players you mentioned were Western TN, they have much more in common with ALa, Miss or Ark than UTK.
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Didn’t Kiffin say upon bolting for USC that “they” left the program in a better place than it was when they got there a year earlier?
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I’m doubt I’m the first to think of this, but if Derek Dooley isn’t careful he’ll become Dreck Dooley.
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On the other hand, with their O-line forced to play 2 walk-ons and 1 freshman last year, they still beat our butts. Tenn is and will always be Tenn with their winning tradition. They are like Auburn. From year to year you are ambivalent about the outcome when entering the game. Neither team, along with SC, will give you a great feeling of superiority when we play. And that’s why we play the games.
GO DAWGS!!
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+1 For whatever reason ( I personally think it’s the number of players from GA on these teams) SC, TN and Auburn play us hard whether they are supposed to or not. We need to mind our own team and not worry about the others. UT has flat out embarrassed UGA on a number of occasions and this has got to stop.
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Auburn hasn’t beaten us since 2005.
I agree with your point though, we’ve been beaten by inferior Tennessee teams before, gotta make sure that doesn’t happen this year. But…. damn… this is the most inferior Tennessee team we’ve ever seen. Ever.
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Damn. When I saw the title of this post I thought it was going to be something bad about West Opelika.
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Do you mind please naming the Offensive Players in this state of Georgia whom we signed 2010 ?
1-4 vs SEC East 2006 Georgia * lost last 4 in row
3-2 vs SEC East 2007 Georgia * lost first 2 in a row 6 total
4-1 vs SEC East 2008 Georgia
2-3 vs SEC East 2009 Georgia * half last 4 yrs losing record
10-10 vs SEC East Georgia last 4 years not winning record
4-1 vs SEC East 2006 Tennessee
4-1 vs SEC East 2007 Tennessee
2-3 vs SEC East 2008 Tennessee
4-1 vs SEC East 2009 Tennessee
14-6 vs SEC East Tennessee last 4 years
5-0 vs SEC East 2006 Florida
4-1 vs SEC East 2007 Florida
5-0 vs SEC East 2008 Florida
5-0 vs SEC East 2009 Florida
19-1 vs SEC East Florida last 4 years
LOSSES by UGA last 4 years vs SEC East :
vols 2006 Final AP Poll Top 25 team # 25
crocodiles 2006 Final AP Poll Top 10 team # 1
*1 Vandie 2006 not ranked 4-8 Final AP Poll Top 25
*2 Kentucky 2006 not ranked 8-5 Final AP Poll Top 25
vols 2007 Final AP Poll Top 25 team # 12 lost 4 games
*3 South Carolina 2007 not ranked 6-6 no bowl Final AP Poll Top 25
crocodiles 2008 Final AP Poll Top 10 team # 1
crocodiles 2009 Final AP Poll Top 10 team # 3
*4 vols 2009 not ranked 7-6 Final AP Poll Top 25
*5 Kentucky 2009 not ranked 7-6 Final AP Poll Top 25
*Combined Record 32-31 of 5 not Top 25 Final AP Poll SEC East teams who beat UGA the last 4 years.
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LOSSES vs Final AP Poll Top 25 SEC East teams last 4 years :
2006 lost to Florida Top 25 Final AP Poll team # 1 vols # 25
2007 lost to vols 4-Loss only Top 25 Final AP Poll team # 12
2008 lost to Florida only Top 25 Final AP Poll team # 1
2009 lost to Florida only Top 25 Final AP Poll team # 3
Lost to 5 ranked Final AP Poll Top 25 SEC East teams last 4 years.
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WINS over Final AP Poll Top 25 SEC East teams last 4 years :
2006 NONE
**2007 only beat 4-Loss Florida as only ranked SEC East team beat
2008 NONE
2009 NONE
**In the last 4 years, the ONLY SEC East Win by UGA over a ranked Final AP Poll Top 25 team was 4-Loss Florida we beat in 2007, just after we had LOST 6 SEC East games in a ROW, 4 consecutively to end 2006 and 2 more in succession to begin 2007.
1-5 vs SEC East Ranked Top 25 teams last 4 years Coach Richt Era.
Out of 20 possibly SEC East Opponents, only 6 have been ranked in the Final AP Poll Top 25, and against those only 6, we have lost 5.
14 of the 20 SEC East Opponents for UGA the last 4 years have NOT been ranked in the Final AP Poll Top 25.
The SEC East has been absolutely horrible for good Opponents for UGA the last 4 years, yet we are a miserable 10-10 vs SEC East teams the last 4 years including 5 of the 10 losses to unranked non-Top 25 Final AP Poll teams with only 1 win the last 4 years against a Final AP Poll Top 25 SEC East opponent.
We have not been very good the last 4 years. We are not viewed as having been any good the last 4 years, we are # 19 in the nation at 38-14 the last 4 years and we have played against sorry opponents in The SEC East the last 4 years.
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When VD game to UGA in ’64 the Dawgs had suffered through 3 consecutive losing seasons (2 with 3 wins and 1 with 4 wins). Nobody thought the Dawgs would win immediately. Yet VD put together consecutive seasons of 7-3-1, 6-4 and then broke through with a 10-1 season. I see some similarities here. Maybe we should be beating UT on a regular basis before we start dissing the Vols.
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