David Paschall, Wells Guthrie, and Greg Larnerd-The team of ESPN Chattanooga.
David Paschall has been covering the SEC since the stone ages. Okay, he’s not that old but the point I’m trying to make is that he’s got loads of experiences covering the SEC on Press Row (M-F 3-6p EST) and for the Times Free Press here in Chattanooga.
Wells Guthrie is the Program Director as well as Co-Host of Press Row with David Paschall. He’s been covering the Vols for over 10 years while working here at ESPN Chattanooga.
Greg Larnerd, me, I’m what some would still call a ‘Chatta-newbie’ as I’ve been here for about a year and a half at this point and I host The Word With G (M-F 12-2p) where I’ve immersed myself in all things VFL culture.
As the 2022 Vols football season approaches I thought it would be fun to share each of our thoughts on the upcoming campaign for UT as Josh Heupel enters year two of his tenure at Rocky Top.
So, without further ado take a look at what each of us think of the Tennessee Volunteers this coming year…
David Paschall
Tennessee should be effective again offensively and improved defensively, where a linebacker group with Byron Young on the outside and Jeremy Banks inside has the potential to be special. Yet the comfort of year two under Josh Heupel could be countered by SEC opponents being more familiar with his up-tempo attack, which will challenge the Volunteers from duplicating dominating starts such as their 28-3 lead at Missouri and their 28-0 lead over South Carolina after the first quarter.
The Vols will be double-digit underdogs against Alabama and Georgia and don’t have the same across-the-board talent as those two programs, and the toss-up opportunities are against Pittsburgh, Florida, LSU and Kentucky. Let’s go with a split in those four games and an 8-4 regular season followed by a bowl victory, which would match Tennessee’s best record of the post-Fulmer era.
Wells Guthrie
While last season didn’t end on the highest note following Tennessee’s controversial 48-45 overtime loss to an undermanned Purdue team in the Music City Bowl, there are a wealth of positives to take away from Josh Heupel’s first season in Knoxville. Quarterback Hendon Hooker and the rest of the offense thrived, and Heupel proved his fast-paced, balanced attack can work in the SEC. The other side of the ball was a completely different story. The Volunteers struggled on third-down, especially in third-and-long situations, and ranked towards the bottom of the league in total defense. That’s what concerns me the most about the upcoming season.
I think most people, including myself, believe the Vols will excel offensively for as long as Heupel is running the show. But the defense must take a noticeable step forward under defensive coordinator Tim Banks. A select group of returning starters and improved depth should increase the likelihood the Vols do just that. Linebacker Jeremy Banks and defensive end Byron Young stick out in terms of importance, and fifth-year senior safety Trevon Flowers will need to produce while providing leadership in the secondary, an area the Vols struggled mightily last season.
If Tennessee stays relatively healthy and ranks more towards the middle of the league on defense, this team will improve their win total from a season ago. The real question is, by how many games? To me, PITT, Florida, LSU, and Kentucky are the most-important games on the schedule, and only the LSU game is away from Neyland Stadium. If the Vols start hot, they could welcome Nick Saban and The Tide to Knoxville with a 5-0 or 4-1 record. From there, beat Kentucky and win the rest of the games you should be favored in, and Tennessee could win 10-games for the first time since 2007. While I can see the path to a double-digit win regular season, I’m settling on a 9-3 prediction. That’s two more wins than last season and would be considered another successful season for the program under Heupel’s direction.
Tennessee Volunteers (9-3, 5-3 SEC)
9/1 – vs. Ball State (W)
9/10 – at. PITT (W)
9/17 – vs. Akron (W)
9/24 – vs. Florida (W)
10/8 – at. LSU (L)
10/15 – vs. Alabama (L)
10/22 – vs. UT-Martin (W)
10/29 – vs. Kentucky (W)
11/5 – at. Georgia (L)
11/12 – vs. Mizzou (W)
11/19 – at. South Carolina (W)
11/26 – at. Vanderbilt (W)
Greg Larnerd
Since I’ve arrived in Tennessee all I’ve known is Josh Heupel and I love what he’s done to turn this program around from where I’ve heard they had been in years past. I came from Lafayette, LA, home of the Ragin’ Cajuns or as my friends down that way would call it, ‘Cajun Country’. I had a front row seat to Billy Napier taking over that program and completely overhauling it to the point it evolved into a Top 25 team. I see similar traits with how Josh Heupel is building things here at Rocky Top.
Culture, it’s something that doesn’t have a stat, you can’t see it/read it in a box score but it’s ultra important for success of a program and you can tell this Tennessee staff is building a place where players want to be. Not only because they saw the success offensively on the field last year but when things are going well, Rocky top is a special place. Having a veteran QB returning in Hendon Hooker along with his WR 1 in Cedric Tillman from last season is exceedingly important. I could see those two taking things to a new level this coming season that’ll place Hooker in the Heisman conversation and Tillman in the Biletnikoff Award conversation as well. Also, watch out for RB Jaylen Wright this coming season, I’m a big fan of this kid’s game.
While opposing program’s might be more aware of Josh Heupel’s up-tempo offensive attack I think like a good starting pitcher in baseball that he’ll be on top of making any adjustments when necessary.
As far as the defense goes, keep your eye on No. 51 at DT Elijah Simmons who landed on Bruce Feldman’s ‘All-Freaks’ list this preseason. At 6-2, 340lbs this man will be a load to deal with and will make opposing running backs think twice about trying to run towards him. I’m also looking at a secondary that needs to improve from last season where they lost Alontae Taylor and Theo Jackson to the NFL. Much is going to be asked of Kamal Hadden, Tre Flowers, and Warren Burrell, how those guys hold up this season will say a lot as to how far they go.
As far as a prediction goes, I’ll go 9-3. I want so badly to say they’re going to win 10 games but I’ll stick with nine and say they finish the season in the Top 25 in all of college football. The major games will be PIT, FL, LSU, KY, and SC those games will determine whether they reach their potential of nine or ten wins or underachieve and finish with six or seven wins.