College Football Predictions – Tennessee Volunteers 2020 College Football Preview
2019 Recap
Record – 8-5
ATS – 7-6
The Vols got off to a rough start and lost their home opener to Georgia St (!), and in fact, they dropped four of their first five games. Things looked dire after a loss to ROLL TIDE but they turned the season around and won their final regular season five games in a row. They finished in style by taking down the Hoosiers in the Gator Bowl (W 23-22) and come into the 2020 season riding on a wave of momentum.
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
East Division – #4
SEC – TBD
Tennessee Volunteers 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Vols showed a bit of improvement LY but still had one of the weaker offenses in the SEC (#12 total offense, #12 rushing, #8 passing). Senior QB Jarrett Guarantano was inconsistent (59%, 16-8 TD to INT) and it’ll be interesting to see if he can step up his game this season. It’s a major worry that he’ll be missing his top-two WRs from LY (J Jennings, M Callaway) and the WR room is very inexperienced. The good news is that the running game should be rock solid with the return of the 1-2 punch of T Chandler and E Gray who combined for over 1,200 yards and 7 TDs LY. The offensive line is one of the best in the SEC and they return well over 100 career starts. Georgia transfer Cade Mays is a fine addition.
We’ll call for another small increase in overall production (22.8 PPG in 2018, 24.2 in 2019).
DEFENSE
HC Jeremy Pruitt knows defense and it showed LY when the Vols made fine strides. They allowed the fewest PPG (21.7) since the 2015 season and were particularly effective defending the pass (#6 SEC pass efficiency D, 14-15 TD to INT). They also booked 34 sacks which was their highest total since 2014. The stop unit looks good on paper heading into 2020 despite the loss of leading tackler and leader D Bituli and leading sack man D Taylor (NFL – Seattle). There is a ton of experience up front and note that the Vols allowed just 140 YPG rushing LY. The LB group has a couple holes to fill as noted above, but the secondary returns three starters and should be very strong once again. Hopefully, they can find new players to get heat on the QB.
This has the look of a slightly-above average SEC defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Vols have an excellent PK in Brent Cimaglia who nailed 23/27 FG attempts LY (2/2 from 50+) and all 35 XPs. They’ll miss M Callaway on punt returns (TD).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – They start with a pair of winnable games (at SC, Missouri) but draw Alabama and Auburn from the SEC West. The season finale vs Florida LOOMS LARGE.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Missouri (October 3)
Massive game with Georgia is on deck.
Season Win Total
TBD
TBD
MEGALOCKS says:
TBD
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Neyland Stadium holds well over 100,000 fans and is the 5th largest football stadium in the USA.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
Jeremy Pruitt has this team moving in the right direction. They look good enough on both sides of the ball to be able to pull a major upset along the way, but it seems to us they are still a few impact players away from being a legit contender to win the SEC East. They’ve got a tough schedule but we’ll call for them to bag six wins.
Want more Tennessee Volunteers football ?
WEBSITE
https://utsports.com/sports/football
FORUM
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-football/
https://247sports.com/college/tennessee/Board/Rocky-Top-Board-102675/
http://tennessee.247sports.com/Board/Tennessee-Volunteers-Message-Board-Forum-114
http://www.secrant.com/rant/tennessee-sports/
https://tennessee.forums.rivals.com/forums/the-generals-quarters.10/
NEWS
http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/govolsxtra/
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/2633/tennessee-volunteers
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