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Will the horns go down? · Champions of Life

welcome to the champions of life podcast where 3 orangeblooded Tennessee alums discuss how there's always next year Hey, y'all.
Welcome back to the Champions of Life podcast, where you need to know that every time I intro, everyone's mouth fucker- and try not to laugh because of my great introduction skills.
But hey, we're just a couple of UT grads working at R&S Logistics.
Go Vols.
Uh, three UT grads, sorry.
Uh, couple- Under your- is indicative of two.
I shouldn't.
There's a handful of UT grads here working at R&S Logistics for all your warehousing and transportation needs.
Also discussing our beloved undefeated Tennessee- Wow Fighting Volunteers.
Let's go.
Undefeated, yeah.
I mean, Joe, you and I said seven and five at the beginning- Mm-hmm, yeah of the season.
Yeah.
Are you surprised? What do you think? I mean, the Georgia Tech was the one that was up in the air.
We weren't sure.
Okay, they got over that hurdle.
I'm still...
I'm not overreacting.
I still feel seven and five.
Mm.
Okay, yeah.
I think LSU, I know I'm going there, I think they will be so angry and mad that they lost that game.
I was hoping they'd get to us undefeated, and then we could be the first ones to knock them off.
Ooh.
I think they're gonna go on a roll now.
Wow.
So I still think seven and five.
Okay.
I do, too.
'Cause I know, we like to trip on ourselves.
We get excited.
Tennessee fans get too excited.
We move up in the rankings, and we don't do well when, like, moving up in the rank.
We're better- Mm as an underdog.
Mm.
Like in the 20s, like 22, 23, 24.
That's good.
What do you think? Well, so we don't have to go all the way back to the Georgia Tech game, but I did wanna throw out something.
So in Georgia Tech, we had, what was it, 150 penalty yards in that game, just about? Mm-hmm.
Do you know, since Heupel has been here, what's the average number of games per season where we get over 100 penalty yards? How many would you guess? In a season, the average number? Yes, the average number.
Seven games.
I was gonna say eight.
Oh.
Okay, so it's, like, two.
Oh.
But still, it feels a lot more.
He's had 10 games- Yeah, that's why he's had 10 games over 100 penalty yards since he's been here.
And so my question was, I wonder which other game is a for sure, like- Mm over 100 yards in penalties, but it does feel like it's gonna be more than just two games this season.
My dedicated inner circle Vol friend group will know that I do believe that the refs are out against us the vast majority of the time- Yeah which is a big, you know, shocker there.
But undisciplined, and most of the time it's, it's secondary related, so we don't turn our heads to look for the ball, and so you got pass interference.
It's also random offensive- It's mostly- illegal procedure it's mostly offensive.
Yeah.
Which, by the way, I was at a West High, hey, go Rebels.
Go Rebs.
Uh- Go Ads Friday night.
Their corner at halftime, Campbell County was trying to go down and score.
Campbell County? Maybe.
And they're pushing it.
The guy turned around, laid out...
You can't see me 'cause this is a- Oh, this is video.
He snagged the interception and then with like 40 seconds left, West went down the field and scored right before halftime.
It was amazing.
I turned to someone and I said, "I wish Tennessee's corners could see this film right here."
Mm-hmm.
It was incredible.
And this is a high school kid.
Yeah.
He's like a junior, sophomore or junior- Yeah making the plays that Tennessee should make.
Turn your head.
Turn around.
Just switch your head around.
That's all you need to do.
Sorry, I just got excited.
Okay, so let's not get crazy, let's not get crazy, but the number one team in the country is coming to Neyland in five days.
You've got a first time SEC head coach at Auburn coming to town, right? The following week- Yes or the- And they lost to- The next week.
Yeah, they just lost to Florida.
Yeah, so they- they're two and one.
They just, they just lost to Florida.
They looked good in a couple games.
You've got Arkansas, which is an absolute dumpster fire- Yeah of a team.
It's rough.
Fans don't even care.
You don't, you don't go in that game expecting to win, but as fans, we should go into that game expecting to win.
Yeah.
South Carolina, another perhaps dumpster fire.
What is going on there? That is not a good situation.
Is South Carolina with a head coach by the time we go- Mm to Columbia? I don't know.
Kentucky, wow.
I think they look pretty good.
Yep.
Yep.
Yep.
And Oregon, Oregon is doing what Oregon does.
However, they should've lost to Boise State.
They did lose to- Yeah the Pokes.
So maybe he had a lot to do with that.
I think Kentucky is gonna give us more of a, a problem- A problem than we thought.
A&M, I think we've kind of, defenses are kind of, the jury's out on Marcell Reed, the quarterback.
So A&M looks very winnable.
And then you got LSU coming to the Big House.
And then Vandy, who should ha- That's maybe the- Listen one of the worst things I've ever seen as a Tennessee fan, is how they won that game.
Were you watching that? That was unreal.
That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life.
You have...
Just one thing.
Please don't- Just take the safety don't drop the ball.
Like just put your knee down.
Take the knee down.
Take the safety.
Run out of bounds.
Don't scramble and drop the ball.
The only thing you can't do is exactly what that poor kid did.
We say about Tennessee a lot, we have the ability to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.
Mm.
Right.
Like that's what happened to NC State.
It looked like- It was crazy.
Yes.
It looked like Tennessee out there.
Like that's something we would do.
VFL head coach as well.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
So shout out Dave.
Dave Jewel.
Yeah Jewel.
Something like that.
Anyways, seven and five, I don't know.
You got Vandy- Okay A&M, South Carolina We're, we're assuming we're gonna be healthy.
We're assuming no one else- Sure is gonna get hurt.
How many- Right We've already had a, you know, an outbreak of injuries.
How's our- Two running backs how's our running back? Is he, is Bishop gonna be back? Two running backs are- Bishop's fine supposedly Bishop's okay.
Okay.
All right.
Yeah.
But then we have a quarterback who runs sometimes.
If he gets hit by an Alabama guy, it's a little different than a Kennesaw State guy.
Sure.
So.
Or a Texas guy.
Texas- Texas has some big linemen.
Right.
Right.
Got some first rounders on there.
Yeah.
So that's why I still, I'll stay with seven and five.
Yeah.
But what do you think about them? 10 and two now? No, I- 10 and two is, it, it is on the table, but obviously if we get absolutely just smacked by Texas, then it changes.
Think about it.
Again, I don't wanna live in the past, but Georgia last year, you get absolutely rout by Georgia, expectations are different.
Nobody thought we were gonna be that good.
We had a quarterback off the street.
The fact that you had Georgia and you grasp defeat from the jaws of victory in that game, that changed the whole trajectory of our season.
Bingo.
Texas as the fourth game in our season, has the ability to change the trajectory of our season.
Thank you, Bobby.
Where's Faigen go? Is he sharp? Is he not? No, no.
You just, you just don't know No.
No, we're stepping on the rake.
That's what...
Bobby- Texas, let me tell you, they are coming in, they are wanting zero points scored on us.
Like, that's their whole goal.
Mm-hmm.
They're coming in, we're gonna stick it to...
And I feel like they're gonna expose him for the freshman quarterback he is.
I think so too.
I think it's gonna be bad.
I think we're gonna put some points up, but maybe 10 points max.
Our offensive line.
Yeah.
We have not had- It's an issue a set line yet.
It's an issue.
Yep.
I do not understand.
Supposedly veteran, most of them.
That's a massive question mark.
Um, our secondary I don't think has been tested.
We've- Mm obviously had some massive issues Georgia Tech game.
Yeah.
But, like, we've just not been tested across the board.
Sure, our running backs look great, but one of them is out, one is sort of hobbled.
Mm-hmm.
We don't know.
Mm-hmm.
We just lost our starting tight end.
Like, what are our other tight...
Like- Yeah it, there's just so many question marks still, and not that Texas...
Texas has its own question marks.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Like Sarkisian, until they do something, until Arch does something on a consistent basis- Mm-hmm like, I'm kind of out on them, too.
Right.
Same thing like A&M, like they could win or lose.
Everybody could, obviously.
Totally But- They are pinning their ears back- I know like Georgia does, and they are coming after him.
They're gonna scare him.
He's gonna be running for his life.
We are a, a run-heavy team.
I don't think a lot of...
Uh, even me, like I'm, I'm used to my boy Hendon just absolutely- Mm throwing that thing down the field.
Sure.
That's what we synonymize Tennessee football with, that's what we envision Heupel.
But we are top five nationally in almost every rushing category over the last, like, three or four seasons.
So he has shifted his philosophy on how to win football games, controlling the clock, controlling the, the narrative of the game, keeping it on the ground.
That is his MO now, with the ability to make quick reads and, and the screen passes.
And you're still taking shots down the field, which are maybe low probability, but you still run the risk of it's a home run or you're getting a pass interference.
So- That component is there, but we are a run-heavy team.
The concerning piece is David Sanders is an absolute man amongst boys.
The rest of the line, you just watch over Kennesaw State, our right guard is getting absolutely tossed around.
Mm-hmm.
He's missing assignments.
And I'm not just pinning that on one dude, I'm saying that's, that was throughout the whole, minus David, basically.
And so what is first-round draft pick Texas, what are they gonna do to us? They're gonna stack the box, and they're coming after us.
And their receivers, too, are elite.
We have not faced- Yeah.
Mm elite receiving corps.
That's another thing.
Like, our defense has looked great at points, linebackers, good.
But- Linebackers are very good just super concerned about secondary.
We've been here before.
We know what this looks like.
The defensive line is coming on.
I see better pressures out of them each week.
The linebacking corps is gonna be solid.
Secondary, tons of question marks.
The other component of this game is, I've forgotten this, but do you know who the defensive coordinator is for Texas? Muschamp.
It's crazy man Muschamp.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, yeah.
Which he's- He has owned us he's been doing okay.
Yeah.
He has owned Josh Heupal- Yeah offenses.
He has.
Yep.
I don't think we've scored more than 17 points against a- Right Will Muschamp team.
Mm.
We're at home.
It's noon.
I have no stats to back this up, but Tennessee performs better at noon than it does at 7:30, even the games we're supposed to win.
So based on your season prediction- Mm-hmm do you think we're winning this game? Or is this one of the games that- I think this is a winnable game.
No, no, no, I didn't ask you that.
Do you think we're winning this game based on your season prediction? It is a winnable game, yes, if a million things go right for us and wrong for them.
It comes down to can you protect the quarterback? They're not gonna let us run the ball, so can you protect the quarterback? If we protect the quarterback, I think we win the game.
If we don't protect the quarterback, we lose by 10.
Only 10? Mm.
Yeah.
I think our defense hangs in there.
I think they have far better talent from a roster standpoint than us, but I think we can hang in there.
I think the stands will be full in the fourth quarter What's your score? We gotta tell our scores my hope is that you can protect the quarterback.
My, my guess is we don't.
And I do think that it's gonna be extremely difficult for us to run the ball.
With that, I think Texas is probably gonna...
I could see thirty-five to twenty-four.
I know that's not ten points, but I could see that.
I would say Tennessee, I'll go Tennessee 17 and I'll go Texas 20-24.
I like your 35 there for Texas, but I think we don't get more than 10.
Hmm.
Maybe 13.
Maybe we kick a field goal.
If we start kicking field goals because we get down the field, we're gonna lose.
Yeah, I agree.
I'm with you.
I was thinking like 37-17, but even that 17, I'm like, I don't know that we, I don't know that we get there, unless we have a defensive score.
Let me just entice you.
Let me paint you a picture.
You're running the ball, you're getting three, five yards of carry, somewhere in there, and you start taking a couple deep shots, and Mike Matthews brings one in.
You're stretching the defense.
The box gets cleared out a little bit.
Brandon's got some confidence.
I think those, one or two of those in a game can change the entire outcome.
And usually, Heupel's good at getting the quarterback confident early- Mm-hmm in the game.
Some deep shot.
Mm-hmm.
So if that happens, okay, sure, but can we sustain it? Do we have entire quarters where we don't score? Do we get in the red zone and we don't come away with any points? Like, is it the same thing- Yep that we see over and over? We haven't seen it this year yet though.
Or he gets intercepted early and goes the other way.
Yeah.
Then we spend three quarters trying to dig out of a hole.
I think it'll be a good game.
But I think from a season standpoint I think you beat the teams, the triple A's if you will.
I think we beat all those, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas.
I think you beat South Carolina, and I think you beat Vanderbilt.
So you got LSU, A&M, and Kentucky as toss-ups.
So if you lose all your toss-ups plus Texas, that's four.
Mm-hmm.
So you're sitting at 8 and 4 still.
I think 8 and 4 is, that's our floor.
I love it.
All right.
Stay positive.
And also our prodigal son, glad he got beat in Oxford on- Oh, yes 100% on Saturday night.
It was that was fascinating television.
And I'm really it's impressive what Ole Miss has done and what they've built, and he built a lot of it.
But it's also the different...
That quarterback is- Oh so good.
Trinidad is the reason- He's a, he's a winner they won the game.
Yes.
I mean it was like he came out and said, "I'm going to win us this."
Yep.
"We are not losing to our old coach."
Yeah.
Throwing on the run was ridiculous.
Now, what's crazy is people in his class, there's, I think it's, like May and Caleb the quar- the Bears quarterback.
Yeah.
Caleb Williams.
Caleb Will- yeah.
They're all in the same class.
And so they're entering into their third season of the NFL, and he's playing LSU.
So it is kind of crazy college sports right now, but- Mm-hmm i'm glad to see Lane took the L.
Yeah.
Hopefully get some more as the season goes.
Yep.
All right.
Is that it? That's it.
Big old Go Vols.
Go Vols.
Horns down.
Whoo.