Notre Dame- Don't much care about. Bama- My hope is for a 8-4 season but I can see 7-5 if things run "decent" for us but can also look at the schedule and see where if most of the breaks don't turn our way we can easily end up with six losses and possibly more. We will be playing A TON OF FRESHMEN this year that I hope will develop pretty quickly by the second half of our schedule. Right now Bama is (in the eyes of the teams at the top of the conference) a "should win" on their schedule. But I do believe that with the 07 & 08 recruiting classes that drastic improvement is "on the way".
How is Bama's depth this year, Buzzard? Got the legs for a 12-game season in the SEC? Still a year away?
DL- Barring injuries we're surprisingly in pretty good shape here. LB- THIN THIN THIN. Odds are there will be two freshmen and one true sophomore manning these positions because it doesn't look like Prince Hall is coming back. Ezekial Knight has a heart condition so who knows how much he'll contribute if at all. Secondary- Should be solid here. But the key word is "SHOULD". It seems not much goes as planned with us here lately. OL- Again, SHOULD be experienced and solid but I'll believe it when I see it. RB- Piss poor in my opinion. We've got two very good recruits coming in the fall (Ivan Matchett and Mark Ingram) that could possibly contribute but that's a lot of pressure to put on true freshmen. We need the OL to step up and the guys we've got coming back at rb to man up and stop pussyfootin' through the hole. There's no excuse for Roy Upchurch. He has the size, strength and speed to be our every down back. QB- I'll believe it when I see it. WR- The strength of our offense in my opinion. Athleticism galore and this isn't including Julio Jones or any of the 2008 class. TE- Solid and should be a weapon under new OC McElwain. Overall- I'd be very happy with 8-4 but realistically 7-5 is more what I'm expecting. But if crap starts going wrong for us I can see an ugly season. But on the other hand if things go right for us (young guys catch on quick, OL gels, qb finally "gets it" and the LB position isn't as bad as we think) I can see a possible 9 win season. But I wouldn't bet on it.
Re: How many loses next year for ND and Bama? damnit! im supposed to dislike aubies! but then theres deceks and now caddy that make me think different with posts like this. pardon me while i go put on even more purple and gold and play the lsu fight song to try to clear my head of nice thougt towards aubies.:hihi:
Re: How many loses next year for ND and Bama? I'll gurantee you one thing that is for sure this upcoming season, and that is the Vols will beat Alabama in Knoxville this year.
Re: How many loses next year for ND and Bama? I don't know if this game is a lock, as Tenn has as many unanswered questions as anyone else, but I imagine last year's loss is still stinging. It will certainly be a factor. Oh wait, Terry says last year matters not at all. Well...
It's always tough to win in Knoxville and usually is a hard fought battle. I'm not sure what happened to the Vols in Bryant Denny last year other than a complete utter mental meltdown by the their coaching staff. They were gashing us with the run then all of a sudden it seemed after we connected on one or two big plays they (the staff) went into panic mode WAY WAY too early in the game and it just fell apart. Our secondary suckered Ainge into making some bad decisions and suckered him into a crucial INT that was near our goal line. I don't know what kind of team UT has coming back so I can't comment on what they have or don't have. But I'm feeling much much better about our DLine than last year and our secondary is pretty solid as well. I feel if our offense can find some consistency we have a good shot of pulling the upset.
You are right about mental meltdown. I think Alabama could have beaten the NY Giants on that day. I turned it off right after halftime. I think this years game will be alot closer, and it's hard to say who has the better team going into fall practice. I'll give UT a slight edge because of motivation from last's years game and playing at home. It will be a good one.
Two things that stood out in my mind that I could never understand. 1. Why was DJ Hall allowed to line up in the slot and basically run uncovered for most of the game? No adjustments were ever made. 2. What in the hell was Cutcliffe thinking? Foster was gashing us like a knife through hot butter and all of a sudden y'alls running game disappeared. The 08 game should be very intense. Our games against each other usually aren't blowouts so I expect a hostile, hostile environment and with a little added preparation the week of the game for the Vols to atone for last year.
u think so? im not so sure any of those guys could get a sack if they didnt have blitz pressure to help them. bama has always had good defensive linemen but those guys are about the worst i have ever seen. i honestly dont think bobby greenwood would start at any other school in the sec.
