Instead of telling you how little I know about East Tennessee State, I have decided to jump to a conclusion. I’ll tell you what I think of Josh Heupel. He’s pretty good at what he does. He can coach.

I do believe he has convinced the Volunteers that they can survive, even succeed, without Nico. He may have known that all along but his players undoubtedly had doubts. So many outsiders showered them with discouraging forecasts.

Some of the predictions were downright disrespectful.

Colton Hood, talented new defensive back who switched from Colorado, summed it up succinctly: “They said we weren’t going to be good.”

Indeed they did. Guilty as charged. The Athletic, knowledgeable sports subsidiary of the New York Times, dropped the Vols out of its preseason top 25. Shocking.

The Associated Press was more gracious. It said No. 24 in the country – if all goes well. Painful. Please pass the aspirin.

Regional media experts, paid a lot for what they know, awarded the Vols ninth place in their Southeastern Conference forecast. That was low enough to bruise feelings and perhaps cause an inferiority complex.

Aging Phil Steele, determined publisher of summer football magazines, saw Tennessee finishing in a three-way tie for seventh in the SEC race. Oh my.

Lindy’s 2025 National College Football Magazine was brutally negative. It said 11th.

Here and there a voice in the wilderness disagreed. One named Blake said “This feels like a knee-jerk, half-baked reaction to Nico Iamaleava’s transfer.”

Tennessee did have questions about the replacement quarterback who had lost far too many interceptions in times past, the reconstructed offensive line, a young, thin group of receivers and a committee of running backs where an SEC player of the year previously served.

Heupel and the Volunteers answered some of those questions Saturday in Atlanta.

There was the quick, aggressive start, 17-0 over Syracuse in the first quarter. There were explosive plays on offense and defense.

Joey Aguilar had a good day. He was cool hand Luke at the controls. He threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns and ran well. He was a few times wild high but decisive. He did not lose a pick.

The offensive line endured rearrangement just before kickoff, but didn’t give up a sack. The three-man running attack produced 246 yards and some hard-nosed touchdowns. DeSean Bishop had the best grade on the team from Pro Football Focus – 90.4.

The defense couldn’t stop two long Syracuse drives but did inflict five sacks. Because of injuries, freshmen played more than anticipated. Several exceeded my expectations.

Heupel did not jump up and down or wave the power T flag in celebration. It was almost as if he knew what was coming and got what he expected.

“All we’re trying to do is be the best football team on the field every Saturday. Good teams continue to get better. This is the beginning of our journey. We’ve got a long ways to go.”

The guy can coach. He might have had extra motivation, a chip on his shoulder left from the Nico experience.

Questions remain – or maybe this is nit-picking. Former five-star receiver Mike Matthews, a declared No. 1 target, caught two passes for 29 yards. He dropped two. That was a reminder of last season.

Somebody calling plays decided to hide tight ends. Maybe they will be futures in the pass game.

For some reason, Tennessee did not attempt a return when slow coverage provided obvious open space on one Syracuse punt.

Syracuse had six pass plays longer than 20 yards. Fair warning: ETSU probably has an aerial attack.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com