Super Bowl Sunday!

Yeah baby! For those of you who don't know I am a football buff! I played with about 20 people until a couple of months ago. In high school I was a line man. When I played with my friends I had managed to earn running back and on defense they played me at defensive end or linebacker. I watch my mighty Vols every game. Pay Per View, ESPN, WVLT(The Vol Network) I watch them all. I love my Titans, love the Colts, Like the Redskins, despise New England. I am a small Giants fan. I cheer for them on occasion. Today I will be fully pulling for them to shut down the perfect run of New England. Why?

1. I have watched New England win way to much. Enough is enough. How good can one team be. I remember when I was growing up and the big thing (when I started to watch football) was the 49ers who were lead by Steve Young. What a QB he was. The Pats remind me of the domination that they had. However the Pats are more publicized.

2. Manning. I think that any one with the name Manning is entwined with great throwing ability in their genes. Peyton went to Tennessee which for some reason sways me to Eli. I really wanted to get him at Tennessee. Didn't work out but hey. People have been saying that he is not has good has his big brother Peyton. I will not dispute that. The numbers favor Peyton for now. Except for one. It took Eli only three years to reach the Super Bowl. I think (don't quote me on this) nine years. Not only that but does he have to be has good has Peyton. Eli is his own man. Why does he have to be has good has Peyton. He is in the Super Bowl. That is what counts.

3. Spy Gate! Yep I said it. People want to sweep it under the rug like it is nothing. Some want to down play it. Cheating is cheating. Last year Shawn Merriman got caught taking illegal performance enhancing drugs. He was suspend for I believe 6 weeks. Then at the end of the year he was given an award. What! Why do we give teams or players who get caught cheating an award or allow them to play for a championship. That makes no sense to me.

4. Plaxico Burress Verse Randy Moss- Yes they are both receivers and you will not see them on the field at the same time but I feel like this is the make or break deal. Moss is great down field. When it comes to nickel and diming the field I would take Burress. Here makes those quick catches that are needed to move the chains. If you could pair the two up on the same team you would have a dynamic duo that would Batman and Robin feel second rate.

I am not only rooting for the Giants. Guys I predict a win. Yep. I am going to go out on limb. I think you will see a close game. I believe that the score will end with the Giants on top. It will end one of two ways. The Pats will get shut down on 4th down while being down 31 to 35. I think that the other way for this game to end will be overtime. I see maybe a finally score of 34 to 31. Giants way. I am set in stone on two things. Both teams will score thirty points and the Giants will pull out the upset.
The Giants have played the Pats twice this year and both times played hard. New England has looked good in the playoff but come on guys. The Giants went to Green Bay and won a game that they played hard for 60 minutes. They Giants have been playing good ball. Lets put on our jersey's, grab our lucky football, sit on the couch and watch some big hits!

Tennessee verse Florida

A game that is rich with tradition! No other Tennessee game hold as much as the Florida vs Tennessee came does. This one will prove to be no different.
Both Tennessee and Florida are trying to put together a defense that they can use effectively. Both teams lost over half of their starters from their defenses last year. Tennessee's young defense was ripped apart by California and almost by Southern Mississippi. They had noticeable improvement in the second half. You could really see the confidence growing in the second half against Southern Miss.
Florida had a 49 to 7 lead(may have been 42) going into half time. At the start of the second they were flat. Troy came back to end the game 31 to 59/ They still lost but the fact the Troy was able to score with such ease in the second has to make the Gators nervous.
Both teams appear productive on offense. Tennessee put up good numbers on offense in both outings. Ainge is 55-83 for 547, 5 TDs and 0 interceptions. Foster has 214 yards on 35 carries for 3 TDs. The entire rushing unit has massed up 304 yards on 66 carries (4.6 ypc. Our two top receivers are averaging 20.1(Taylor) and 11.5 (Rogers) yards a catch. Not bad considering we have played one currently top ten ranked team.
Florida is centered around Tim Tebow who is the key player in Urban Meyers Spread Offense. He is currently 31-42 for 536 and 6 TDs. He also has ran for 131 yards on 25 carries with Kestahn Moore running 31 times for 169 yards with 4 TDs. Florida has three receivers with 3 digit receiving yards and two more who are 2 and 5 yards from being in that club.
Special Teams is better at Florida. That is the edge in this game. Yeah Tebow numbers are better but they have yet to play anybody. We will see if they can still put up those numbers with an SEC opponent.
My prediction.... Toss up. You cannot predict this game. This is Florida and Tennessee! Florida seems to have the upper hand with home field and the special teams but falls short on the defense being challenged. If I had to pick I would just have to favor Tennessee because of the defenses arrival late last week against Southern Miss and 19 penalties by Florida in two games for 155 yards when compared to 9 by Tennessee for 80.

Southern Mississippi Vs Tennessee

Last week I predicted that Tennessee would romp on California in Berkley. I was wrong. Alot of weak points can be found in that loss.
First off is we need to tackle. We had 20+ missed tackles. In a game where both sides have great speed you have to wrap up. This is a key reason we gave up so many yards on so many plays. Some were just great plays by Cal but others were just botched tackles. I don't know how you fix a problem like that but the coaches have assured us(through the local paper) that they worked on fundamentals all week long. How big of an improvement it will be, I don't know but I would think that the coaches are going to try to set up a type of zone defense that would make it easy to get two guys gang tackling this week as to trust one on one match ups.
Second is defensive pressure. It was revealed after the game that plan for the defensive line was to get pressure on their own. Unacceptable. Cal was double teaming us all night. The defense only manged one or to hurries and rarely touched any body in the back field. Some linebacker need to rush in to keep the offensive line honest and not let them comfortable. The linebackers are your play maker against the run and the disruption we need for the pass game. Look to find one or two rushes from two if not all three linebackers in every series(if not more).
Lastly is play calling. We have to do better on third downs. Screen passes on third and long are a dead end. I count at least three screen passes where were facing long yardage. This just won't work against Cal and more than likely not against Southern Miss. Why were so conservative I don't know. We have to be aggressive. We had two long passes thrown against Cal that I remember. We have to get our plays to be more productive at the right times. I would say Cutcliff will take a few more chances with deep passes and maybe a couple of reverse hand offs to shake up the defense.
Cal is a different caliber team than Southern Miss is. Tennessee and California have one up on every team in college right now(seeing how they were the only teams to play ranked against each other) Tennessee will now have to prove something. We should able to win by about 17. If not we need to look at ourselves and fix whatever problem it is that is holding us back. I think that we will come ready to play after facing Cal in the opener and seeing we were weak in some spots. Look for alot of improvement and more speed on offense with Coker back in the line up.So I will say Tennessee by 21.

One More Day!(Tennessee V.S. Cal.)

Enough talk guys! Tennessee football is going down in just under 24 hours. We are not going to back down. We have traveled to Cal and are now looking to take them back down the long and lonely ride they were on last year. Vols lets have some mercy on them. Not. Enough talk about the broken pinky of Eric Ainge that happened playing Basketball(no joke don't believe what you heard).Leave the receivers alone. you will see them tomorrow. I predict a win alot like last year.I say a nice 31 to 13 victory for the mighty Vols! Call me on it

2007 Tennessee Vols

All comments are directly from-http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=/cfoot/news/AFN4097410.htm
2007 ANALYSIS:

OFFENSE: Tennessee has one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC in senior Erik Ainge, who fought through injury last season to pass for nearly 3,000 yards and 19 touchdowns with only nine interceptions. While he is the unquestioned starter, sophomore backup Jonathan Crompton is a tremendous talent who will be hard to keep on the sidelines. Last season, receiver was a position of strength for the Vols. That does not appear to be the case heading into 2007, as the corps is rather young and inexperienced. That means tight end Chris Brown will be counted on heavily, at least early in the campaign. With three returning starters along the offensive line paving the way, the strength of the UT offense could be the ground attack. Sophomore LaMarcus Coker and junior Arian Foster are both more than capable of putting up strong numbers, and both were slated to see plenty of action until Coker was suspended indefinitely as he continues to work through some personal problems.

DEFENSE: Only five starters are back for on the Tennessee defense, and there are some concerns up front. The middle of the line will feature fresh faces, and it remains to be seen if they can live up to the standards of the outstanding tackles of 2006. The ends, Xavier Mitchell and Antonio Reynolds, are seniors who have the potential to be strong contributors. At the linebacker position, Jerod Mayo is fresh off a sophomore campaign in which he tallied 83 tackles, including five sacks. Perhaps the best player for the defense is Jonathan Hefney, a safety who returns 96 tackles from his junior campaign. While the defensive unit does not appear to be dominant from the start, there is talent in place to reach that stature.

SPECIAL TEAMS: As Britton Colquitt goes, so goes the special teams units of Tennessee. Colquitt handles both punts and placekicking duties for the Vols, and while he is known more for his booming punts, he does have the ability to be just as good on field goals. Hefney is a good punt returner, but it may not be the best idea to have your top defensive player taking shots on special teams.

OUTLOOK: Of course Tennessee will be a tough out regardless of the quality of the opposition. The Vols have been uncharacteristically beatable the last few years, and Phil Fulmer has heard his critics call for a change. There will be pressure, and in the SEC with such stiff competition, it seems unlikely that Tennessee will reach Atlanta for the conference championship game.

It's almost time!

You may not know this but I am a very faithful football fan. With that said I am a Tennessee Vol fan. The sec is what I believe to be the best conference in college football. You will find a short video on Tennessee and what we plan to do alot this year. Right below this video is the top 25 for 2007.

1. USC (45) 0-0 1,481
2. LSU (4) 0-0 1,372
3. Florida (9) 0-0 1,278
4. Texas 0-0 1,231
5. Michigan (2) 0-0 1,218
6. West Virginia 0-0 1,205
7. Wisconsin 0-0 1,114
8. Oklahoma 0-0 1,026
9. Virginia Tech 0-0 1,005
10. Ohio State 0-0 919
11. Louisville 0-0 836
12. California 0-0 763
13. Georgia 0-0 604
14. Auburn 0-0 595
15. Tennessee 0-0 583
16. Rutgers 0-0 466
17. UCLA 0-0 454
18. Penn State 0-0 440
19. Nebraska 0-0 388
20. Arkansas 0-0 360
21. Florida State 0-0 301
22. TCU 0-0 233
23. Boise State 0-0 222
24. Hawaii 0-0 214
25. Texas A&M 0-0 209