The Volunteers have all the ingredients to be a force this season: veteran, experienced quarterback, stable of running backs, a TON of experience on defense and a bitter aftertaste from a bowl loss to Penn State.
Last year's defensive unit was decent, but with eight seniors running the show the expectation should be a top 25 unit. With seniors manning all four defensive backfield positions, most notably Jonathan Hefney at safety (96 tackles last year), teams should have a tough time passing the ball. A great test will be the season opener in Berkley against Cal. Can Nate Longshore and DeSean Jackson pick apart that veteran unit? If so, it could be a frustrating year of unmet goals.
The linebacking corps of Jerod Mayo, Ryan Karl and Rico McCoy has enough experience to hold its ground this season. McCoy is the least experienced with the group, starting just two games as a freshman last year, but his work earned him spots on the freshmen SEC and All-American teams. But if the Vols want to shore up a very suspect run defense, the three seniors up front have to show up every game. Last year was important, as the line went through growing pains with several first-year starters. Tackle J.T. Mapu had just come back from a two-year church mission and likely had a layer of rust on him. If that's gone and the line has indeed grown up, it should be a different story this year.
On offense, Erik Ainge is entering his second year of sole possession of the spotlight at quarterback - it's also his last year. In 2006 his numbers were very solid (completed two thirds of his passes). However, Ainge lost a lot of important talent at wide receiver with the departure of Robert Meachem, Jayson Swain and Bret Smith. His top three receivers this year had 24 combined catches last season, so he'll likely throw to his oft-used tight ends Chris Brown and Brad Cottam.
From top to bottom, Tennesse has one of the three deepest backfields in the country with LaMarcus Coker, Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty - all three are home run hitters on any given down. However, last year's rushing offense was bested by 95 schools. This needs to be a Top 40 or 30 unit and should be considering the passing game lost its big names at receiver.
On the line, mammoth tackle Aaron Sears is gone, but Eric Young isn't, so they'll be fine there. The line gave up just 19 sacks last season and there shouldn't be many more allowed this time around, either.
Generally, Phil Fulmer's team has to deal with the perennial tough schedule. And, although this year's including trips to California, Florida and Alabama, trading a date with LSU for Mississippi State has to be a sigh of relief. Tennessee might be able to sneak in to the SEC championship game if they beat Florida and only lose two games. I know I hinted at this about South Carolina, but Tennessee has a better team on paper. Just don't be surprised if the Vols are BCS bound and Bruce Pearl paints his chest again.
Player I would shred you with on NCAA Football 2008: LaMarcus Coker
80s theme song: "In The Air Tonight" - Phil Collins (1981) … no real explanation necessary.
Save this date: Sept. 15 at Florida
11. Nebraska
12. Ohio State
13. Cal
14. Penn State
15. Louisville
16. Arkansas
17. Rutgers
18. Oregon
19. South Carolina
20. Oklahoma
21. Georgia
22. Florida State
23. Hawaii
24. UCLA
25. Boston College