What Tennessee’s Win Really Means

This game actually meant more than you’d think. WKU is the worst team in FBS football, but they’re no less talented than any number of FCS teams that played BCS conference opponents this weekend. Lane’s inaugural performance as UT’s HBC was a smashing debut. It’s not time to buy the tickets to Atlanta just yet, but there are a lot of positives to take away from this.

• Mike Hamilton made the right call. There has still been a small, but vocal, contingent that wondered why you hire a coach with 5 total wins on his resume to replace a coach that won over 150 games. The Vols were stale, listless, and down right tired. One win over the worst team in football has rejuvenated the fan base and quieted these critics. Hamilton was right and Lane didn’t let off of the gas in week 1 in order to prove that point.
•  There were serious player development issues. Last season Quentin Hancock didn’t catch a single pass. On Saturday, we wondered how he could be left off the field when Gerald Jones and Denarius Moore are 100 percent. The OL was a question mark with little depth and even less proven talent. Bobby Scott tells me that they played 12 OL on Saturday and the team averaged nearly 9 ypc. Clearly, the former staff played their favorites and gave up on almost everyone else.
• Eric Berry’s numbers will go down in the Tampa 2. John Lynch and Bob Sanders didn’t pick off a lot of balls either. It doesn’t mean that he’s less of a player. Improved tackling by the LB’s will mean less for Berry. Also, Berry now patrols one third of the field instead of half of it. If teams are smart, they’re throwing away from number 14. That should mean better numbers for his teammates. Berry probably will be passed over for the Thorpe again. It doesn’t mean that he had a less productive season and it doesn’t diminish his value at the next level.
• We still don’t know how good Crompton is. He rarely had to go to his second or third read. We’ll hold our judgment until after the UCLA game. He has improved, but who knows how much.
• Nick Reveiz works at MLB. We wondered about his speed playing the Derrick Brooks position. He looked good and kept the passes in the soft middle of the zone from being broken into big plays.
• Tennessee’s back…sort of. The Vols are going to win more than the 6 games that we had them pegged for in August, and should plow through an undermanned UCLA squad this weekend. They aren’t ready to beat Florida quite yet, but this year no one may be.