What you saw last Saturday at the Neyland pressure cooker was a few million dollars difference in talent – players and coaches.
What you will see this Saturday at Bobby Dodd’s place will be closer to even. Georgia Tech will have home-field advantage and a bit more maturity (two years) and experience at quarterback.
But, but, but Alberto Mendoza is 0-1 as a starter. Faizon Brandon is a very impressive 1-0.
Opponents were very different.
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Tennessee fans still seem divided. Optimists are beginning to make playoff plans. Pessimists still think this is a rebuilding year with 40 new players and freshmen in key roles.
We realists are willing to wait and see. By the third Saturday in October, we’ll have a better idea where the Volunteers are going.
Quarterback Faizon Brandon #11 glides into the end zone. The freshman passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more in Tennessee’s season opener. (Photo by Peyton Collimore/ Tennessee Athletics)
There are four conceivable defeats in the first half of the schedule and three in the back half. Don’t try to convince me that Tennessee will lose again to Vanderbilt.
The spirit of George Cafego simply won’t tolerate such a disturbance. If you don’t understand that sentence, look it up in one of my books. The hall-of-fame tailback absolutely hated the Commodores.
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I do believe Georgia Tech will be one revelation step. I don’t believe the early betting line, Vols by 13 or 14.
The Yellow Jackets should have beaten Colorado. They found a way to lose. They failed to block ex-Vol Boo Carter and he blocked what should have been the winning field goal.
Like so many teams, Georgia Tech is still in an identity search. Coach Brent Key comes from a power running background. These Yellow Jackets were 51 net yards above zero against Colorado.
The offensive line, supposedly a strength, lost too many one-on-one fights and had far too many execution errors.
Running backs Justice Haynes and Malachi Hosley averaged two or three yards per carry. Three sacks of Mendoza took away 22.
Tech points were two field goals and the home-run kickoff return by Rahkeem Smith. Beware of that guy. He can go.
Mendoza had good passing stats and hit the big one that gave the Jackets the winning opportunity.
The Vols may face a much-improved rushing attack. Perhaps. Possibly.
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Tennessee tackling was better in the opener than last season. I liked three linebackers in several schemes.
As good as the Vols were, there is more than enough room for improvement. Concerns remain about offensive line unity. The big uglies did not knock the Paladins anywhere near Blount County.
David Sanders, in fact, was a minor disappointment. This man is highly paid. Heupel let left tackle Lance Heard go so Sanders could have the position he wanted. I expected David to dominate Furman.
One grumpy fan said “Where was all that stuff Derek Owings did to make everybody bigger and stronger?”
Ouch.
There must be a way to improve punt returning. Furman kicked eight times. Qua Moss returned one for 12 yards. He didn’t catch the short punts which gave the Paladins better field positions than they deserved.
I’ll tiptoe lightly on this little gripe. Reserve center Antoni Ogumoro dispatched a poor snap. The ball was on the ground, in front of the quarterback.
From his shotgun position, George MacIntyre watched the scramble for possession. He did not dive head-first into the fray. Dewey Warren would have recovered that football.
As quarterbacks go, I am a George MacIntyre fan. Maybe next time.
Marvin West welcomes comments and questions from readers at marvinwest75@gmail.com Read more westwords. Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our free newsletter.
