Two things about David Wunderlich’s piece on every Dawg fan’s favorite meteor game…
First off, “best shot” is Georgia’s meme, damn it.
Second, and seriously, I think David’s premise is spot on. It’s something I’ve thought about as well. Let’s face it, even if you think Jeremy Pruitt’s a stone football genius, the roster he’s inherited is the weakest group he’s had to work with since he left the high school ranks. It’s going to be a good year in Knoxville if the Vols wind up bowl eligible.
UT isn’t winning the division, let alone the conference. Alabama, Auburn and Georgia are likely to win comfortably. The opener against West Virginia is going to be a real challenge, to put it mildly. Beating the Kentuckys and the Vandys on the schedule would merely be a return to normalcy, more a cause for relief than celebration.
That leaves beating the Gators as the most likely opportunity to make a mark. The game’s in Knoxville. Florida is coming off a year almost as disappointing as Tennessee’s was. UF is in a coaching transition, too. If there’s a legitimate shot to give the fan base a dose of excitement for the program’s future, this is it.
I do think this is the game where Pruitt has his team totally sell out physically and emotionally. Will that be enough to win? I can’t say. Will there be anything left in the tank the next week when Tennessee travels to Athens? I hope not.
Get The Picture 
I want the see him and Tennessee to both fall on their collective asses too. But my guess is, he improves them….especially on ‘D. When he came in at UGA, total defense was ranked # 45 nationally the year before…. but he improved it to #17 the next year and #7 the next. Glad we had him, but I hope the entire program (UT) falls in a sink hole.
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It’s two fold. He is going to have to show the fan base that he is up to the challenge and can out coach a decent coach and team but that most assuredly will be a huge recruiting weekend for UT. He doesn’t play at home again for weeks and that game is Bama. A win would go a long way to showing recruits that this job is not to big for him fairly early in his tenure. Their are only so many teams in the east that can rise to the top. I hope it’s neithet of these.
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If I were in Pruitt’s shoes, I’d worry more about Mizzou than FU this year. That statement doesn’t pack well into the number of losses they will probably take. I would prime the fans for a bad and rebuilding year that won’t show results for two years. If not, Pruitt runs the possibility of getting scars that will never allow his appearing whole as leader of their program for the future.
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Just a couple of more really bad years. Maybe another loss to Vandy…and we can put Tennessee into the “Basketball School” category.
This I hope..
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I would just love.
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that.
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A women’s basketball school.
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They’re already there
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Pruitt needs to beat KY and Vandy and the cupcakes this season and try to throw in a “big” win or two against UF, SCu or Missouri. If he can cobble together 6 wins and a bowl he will buy some good will. Another bowl free season and the toothless inbreds will get restless fast.
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If Pruitt lasts the season without losing his mind, it’ll be a miracle. BTW, tenn, auburn, florida, so car, tech and now bama every post-season; does any team suffer the turd fanbases we do?
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He’ll be in the bottom of the bottle by mid-season
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I have said it here before and I will say it again. I have a hard time believing Tn will not be much improved. Schematically, Pruitt will do a lot of things to cover up the deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball. It will mean a lot of close games— if the team is still fighting at the end and loses, Pruitt will still have a lot of goodwill. However, if he gets beat down badly against Ala and UGA, it will evaporate.
Pruitt is a great defensive coach. I think the problems he will run into are the same as Kiffin. He will go all in to try and have a turnaround in years 1-2 without focusing on building the program for the future. You see it with all the transfers they have picked up. I think he makes Tn more competitive this year (won’t show up in the W-L record), makes a nice jump to a 9-10 win season year two, and then the wheels fall off in year 3. (Year 2 Mizzou loses Lock, KY loses Snell, Bentley may leave USC) Should beat Vandy in year 2 and UF will be a toss up. Just my opinion… and nothing would make me happier to be proven wrong.
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No way he turns around a 15 year decline in 2 years. You give Pruitt WAY to much credit.
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I don’t think the Vols will shock West Virginia but I do think they’ll surprise anyone who believes West Virginia will walk over them.
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I think it comes down to which Grier shows up. The Heisman hopeful or the inaccurate, turnover machine. If it is the latter, I think the game will be close.
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I’ve enjoyed the chaos at UT, but I enjoy chaos at UF far more. If Pruitt can make that rivalry competitive, I would be all for it. If he can’t, well I’ll still enjoy chaos in Knoxville.
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I hope Fulmer wasn’t shocked by Murray’s and Pollack’s comments. I think any competent search firm would have registered those red flags. I also think he probably left FSU under a cloud (NC winning coordinator makes lateral move to us for a little more money; there’s something more to that story). That said, he’ll have them competitive in a few years but he’ll probably burn more bridges than he builds: 6-6 then 8-4.
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Perhaps the turf at Neyland will do plenty of damage to both fu and utk.
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WVU 38 UT10
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Game of the year: UT and Florida batting for fourth place in the east.
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Just speaking for myself.. but my two favorite teams are the Dawgs and whoever plays (and beats) the Gators..
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