What Tennessee Has Going for Them

Contrary to popular belief there are a few things that the University of Tennessee football team has going for it. No it’s not creamsicle-colored pajamas. And no it’s not the fact that there are countless more donuts available in Knoxville now that Phil Fulmer is gone. There are truly football related things that are moving in the right direction for the Vols.

This does not mean they are working in their favor against the Gators on Saturday, but they are moving in the right direction nonetheless.

First off is Monte Kiffin. Yeah his son is a douche, and yes he somehow managed to raise one of the dumbest men in the world. However, there is no doubting the fact that Good ‘Ol Monte can coach. The elder Kiffin is a defensive genius. His schemes befuddled NFL coaches for nearly two decades. Now he’s attempting to do the same at the college level. There’s only one problem facing Monte at Tennessee. His schemes require a load of talent at nearly every position on the defensive side of the ball. While Tennessee has some talented defensive players, they don’t have show stoppers at every position. If Kiffin can keep his Vols’ defense competitive against the Gators on Saturday he would be showing just how great of a coach he is and that he may just deserve to be getting paid more than a lot of head coaches across the college football landscape today.

Another thing that Tennessee has working for them heading into Saturday is Eric Berry. This guy is a beast. He is, in my opinion, the best safety in all of college football. I know there are some Taylor Mays fans out there that would disagree with that statement but they are wrong. I actually had a friend of mine tell me that Ahmad Black and Major Wright are both better safeties than Berry. After punching him in the face, I helped him off the pavement and explained to him why Mr. Berry is in fact better. Trust me, I love Black and Eraser 2.0, but there is no way that they should even be mentioned in the same breath as Eric Berry.

The final thing that Tennessee has going for them is the extreme underdog role. In the whole history of this rivalry, there has never been a team that faced this much of an underdog status. No one, not even people in Knoxville, are clamoring for a UT victory. Normally this would help the underdog. However, thanks to Lane Kiffin opening his mouth, that won’t be the case this time. Kiffin’s off-season comments about Urban Meyer and the Florida program are feeding plenty of fuel to the fire for Saturday.

Even though all 3 of these things are pluses for Tennessee, it will not save them on Saturday. Monte Kiffin will grow increasingly senile as Tim Tebow and the Gators offense continuously rack up points, finally shutting up Rocky Top for longer than 10 seconds. Eric Berry will simultaneously have his ankles shattered by Chris Rainey while being viscously ravaged by a Riley Cooper block. I’ve already stated why the underdog status won’t help.

All in all, I can’t wait for Saturday. Look for my game preview to be posted by the next day.