Some quick Friday morning notes:

• Andrew Gribble covers yesterday's practice, including updates on Freshman QB Justin Worley and hoops convert Melvin Goins, and looks ahead to tomorrow's scrimmage. Sounds like Wilcox is putting in a more complex defense than we saw last year, but will keep it simple Saturday.
• John Adams takes a look at the Vols' yo-yo hiring practices and predicts that Cuonzo Martin's successor will be a sleazy flaunter of the NCAA rulebook. Cuonzo's been here, what, half a week? Why are we already talking about what comes next? And isn't Calipari happy at UK?
• Tyler Bray's back ink of explosive self-love will never get old. 
• Former Vol Luke Hochevar got the opening day start for the Royals.. The Vols are already 25 games into their season and open a three-game series at UF today.

Big news is of course the Vols surviving and advancing to earn a third shot at Florida, and here's your daily round-up of all else Orange-hued:

• Justin Hunter shows great humility in saying he could "probably" qualify for the Olympic long jump and play in the NFL. And we're certainly not one to doubt him. We are, however, slightly concerned by his talk of choosing one sport over the other next spring. Here's a vote for him jumping over DBs rather than into sandboxes. 
• Nick Reveiz and 12 other Vols showed up for pro day and went through drills for scouts. Reveiz, who just may be a bit self-interested, argued against the importance of 40 times for LBs.
• We would question strength coach Ron McKeefery's claim that "we've doubled our speed", except that we just learned he was formerly the "human performance coordinator" for the U.S. Army Special Forces, 160th Special Operations Aviations Regiment. So: speed doubled. Nicely done.

• Tobias Harris had his ankle iced after the W at Auburn but should be good to go tomorrow against Bama. Hopson, probably not.
• Dooley says we're looking at another year of Baby Vols, with 70% of the roster to be freshmen and sophomores. We don't really know about his math, but here's a helpful projected depth chart from the guys at Third Saturday.
• Stop me if you've heard this before, but Eddrick Loften has signed with the Vols. Good luck getting those scores this time around.  
• The Tennessean has a nice little feature on former Vol OT, current Knox County juvenile court judge, and upcoming Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame inductee Tim Irwin (including a bonus story about Reggie's  "Jesus is coming now" line).  Irwin will be inducted a week from today along with Bill Battle and, at long last, the great Jackie Walker. In other news from the HoF, Kenny Chesney has been named "Tennessean of the Year" for some reason. THIS IS OUR MOMENT. THIS IS OUR TIME. Peyton should be proud.

The Tony Jones Era kicks off tomorrow in Fayetteville. Bruce says he may be watching in a rubber suit from a padded room. Wes Rucker sits down for a little Q&A with Coach Jones, who has been advised to get an early T but says concern for his knees will limit his foot stomping.  Elsewhere in Vol News:

• Texas decided to leave our DC be and opted for Miss St's Manny Diaz, but they've come back for our Strength Coach. Farewell, Bennie Wylie, you cartoonish beast of a man. You'll be missed. Rucker says Dooley's talked to Tommy Moffitt, the Tennessee boy now at LSU. Vol fans have taken to Moffitt's LSU bio page to bid him return home.
• Alex Bullard, the former 4-star OG out of Brentwood Academy, is joining the Vols after not getting on the field for Notre Dame as a redshirt freshman. Bullard, whose father passed away in the spring, will be applying for a hardship waiver to allow him immediate eligibility.
• Good round-up of LB prospects from Andrew Gribble.
• And, finally, the Vols of the Female Persuasion beat the bejesus out of Bama.

The Vols got "back on the grass" yesterday and are gearing up for Carolina.  Gerald Jones says things "started off a little rusty," Tyler Bray thought everybody played "tremendous," and Coach Dooley saw some "good spirit."  Wes Rucker's professional assessment is that the rust level was "relatively low."  The only real excitement seemed to be early enrollee Brendan Downs struggling with a tiny helmet.  Pretty exciting.  Elsewhere:

• Vols head to Charlotte tonight for a hoops match-up with the 49ers.  Our guys will be in white for some reason having to do with a planned Charlotte "black out."  Transfer Jeronne Maymon has been cleared and should play.
• Everybody's academically eligible for the Music City Bowl.  Well done, gentlemen scholars.
• Former Vol Josh Briscoe may avoid imprisonment for that time he was an assistant at Pigeon Forge and sexted a 15-year-old player.  Briscoe's attorney described the text (which included some suggestion of a "particular sexual favor") as locker-room banter, but unfortunately for Briscoe the authorities saw it as one count of soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of solicitation of a minor.  Briscoe's reached a tentative deal with the state and should have the case expunged from his record with a little community service (and a lot of refraining from soliciting sexual favors, particular or otherwise, from 15-year-old boys).
• For reasons apparent to no one, Luke Stocker picked tomorrow to get hitched.  Groomsmen Nick Reveiz, Daniel Lincoln, and Cody Pope will be arriving late because Dooley has rejected the Luck Stocker Bowl Prep Plan.  So, post-practice road trip to Kingsport.  Here's hoping they make the parish line.  

• Bruce Pearl goes Ackbar to warn that MTSU will be a "total, 100 percent trap." The Vols -- mid-exams and coming off their impressive preseason NIT win and jump to #13 in the AP poll (interesting breakdown of votes here) -- host the Blue Raiders at 7:30 tonight.
• Channing Fugate gets some love from Austin Ward.
• Not much other news from the football Vols after wrapping up their four-game push to bowl eligibility, which most seem to think will land them in the Music City Bowl Dec. 30 vs. UNC (unless Mike Hamilton decides we can't compete and somehow buys out the Heels).
• Wes Rucker, the go-to man for Vols news, is packing up and heading out to 247sports come the new year.  
• Knoxville Catholic grad Harrison Smith may have turned down the Vols, but he did us all proud by clinching Notre Dame's win over Southern Cal. "I now officially believe in karma," said the father of Knox Kiffin.
• Meanwhile, Pearl may be the only Knoxville resident pining after Kiffin. "I've made mistakes, I clearly did, but what I was hoping for was that some other dumbass would get on the front page and take me off the hook. I miss Lane Kiffin."

Your Tuesday round-up:

• Let's play two. Or watch two. Pearl & Co. host Belmont (led by Ray Mears's former student assistant Rick Byrd) at Thompson-Boling tonight, with Arkansas St. vs. Missouri St. on the undercard. The Vols' game will be on ESPNU. Winners meet tomorrow night for a berth in the preseason NIT at the Garden. The Vols are expected to join Wake, UCLA, and Nova in the big city, but Belmont wasn't exactly an easy W the last time we met.
• Good news: NFL arbitrators do not like Kiffykins any more than you, I, or undead Al Davis.
• Speaking of our old pal Lane, seems he and Tauren Poole had a little gentlemen's disagreement during the Memphis game last year, leading to the then-fourth-string RB staging a one-man work stoppage. And apparently Tauren wasn't the only one on the sidelines not pleased he was stuck behind Bryce Brown and David Oku.
• We've come full-circle. Original PR Gerald Jones will be back there again after Dooley experimented with Eric Gordon, Janzen Jackson, Justin Hunter, and, finally, playing real, live SEC football without fielding a punt returner. We would say G. Jones would have to be an improvement over no one, but his numbers on the season are 2 returns for -8 yards, and we seem to remember a muff or two. Gerald says, "If nothing else happens, I'll catch it." Here's hoping nothing else happens.
• TE Luke Stocker is a Mackey award semi-finalist.
• John Adams thinks we wouldn't be as excited about Bray and this team turning things around a little had they stopped the scoring at 49 the last couple Saturdays. That or John really needed a column.
• The Female Vols' 15 3-pointers were, by themselves, enough to top UTC, but they added another 58 points for good measure, leaving Mocs' coach Wes Moore looking for "a hug and a post player."

Big Friday.  Hoops tips off for the first game that actually counts (we'll just forget about the Indianapolis mess, thank you very much), Neyland gets unveiled, and we're a day away from starting this (we hope) three-game push to bowl eligibility. Your links:

• The AP notes that, since his first throw pick against South Carolina, Tyler Bray is 28-47 for 484 yards and 7 TDs without an interception. Sayeth Dooley: "I still don't know if he knows what coverage the other team plays. It drives coach (Darin) Hinshaw crazy, but it doesn't bother me at all. He just sees an open guy or a covered guy and knows where to place the ball. I'm good with that."
• While we seem to have settled on a QB, no one's quite sure who will be starting for Ole Miss, as Jeremiah Masoli is dealing with a concussion. But Prentiss Waggner says, if Masoli gets the go, we'll be in man and looking to contain the zone read.
• TE Luke Stocker has some traumatic brain injury issues of his own, to go along with a staph infection (Dooley's proper shower technique seems not to have taken). Sophomore back-up Mychal Rivera is ready to fill in.
• Zach Fulton and Marsalis Teague are looking unlikely to play. No one's really sure what's going on with Art Evans, but his "unspecified personal issues" may keep him out as well. Hope all's well, Art.
• The LA Times pretty much clears that whole Cam Newton mess right up with this headline: "Lane Kiffin says Cam Newton didn't ask for money while he was coaching at Tennessee." Actually not paying Cam / Cecil may be the one thing we have to thank Lane for.
• The 9-foot, 1500-pound statue of Brig. Gen. Neyland, complete with the Game Maxims, is in place and will be unveiled this afternoon. We're kind of hoping they took a page from Silvio Berlusconi's book and it's just a marble statue of Superman with Neyland's face. Or not. Wes Rucker takes to Twitter to remind us that Neyland had 9 undefeated seasons and 1 home loss in 21 years. He also led the 1939 team that did not give up a point in the regular season (before being shutout in the Rose Bowl by Southern Cal, in case you needed historical grudges to bear against that particular program). And there's this quote from Bear, who failed to beat Neyland in seven tries: "People think I'm the greatest damn coach in the world, but Neyland taught me everything I know."
  

Quick Tuesday round-up:

• Folks, we got ourselves a brand spankin' new starting QB. True freshman Tyler Bray and his upper back of explosive self love will get the start Saturday. In the ultimate silver lining, Wes Rucker reports that, with the Vols at times potentially fielding 8 true freshmen, 1 redshirt freshman, 1 sophomore, and 1 senior, Bray's take is that "It keeps me more relaxed knowing I'm not the youngest guy in (the huddle)." That would be the huddle where Bray is having problems being heard. 
• Also a new punt returner: Janzen Jackson. Ever the optimist, Dooley says he might just close his eyes.
• Jacques Smith won't be missing any time for his little simple assault in a scuffle (or sucker punch to the back of the head, depending on who's telling the story) over a female. "It's been happening since Adam and Eve," Dooley said, most likely in reference to Vols being arrested on Cumberland Ave. 
• Bobby Bowden was in Knoxville for some reason.  In "good ole boy coaches who dominated the 90s before watching things kind of fall apart before getting shoved out the door" solidarity, he cracked wise on Kiffin. He thinks Dooley will do "a heckuva job."
• And, finally, this article says something about the hoops squad, but we were far too distracted by Skylar McBee's positively lustrous locks to retain any information.

• Simms and his banged-up and black-stockinged knee were "limited" in practice yesterday, with Bray getting the first team action. But Simms will supposedly be "100 percent" by game time. It's not looking like Marsalis Teague will be able to go, so Prentiss Waggner and Eric Gordon got his time. JerQuari Schofield got some work, but doesn't look to be back tomorrow unless there is some form of emergency. 
• Spurrier bemoans the Gamecocks' special teams woes, while Vols special teams coordinator Eric Russell says our guys are looking good and playing with "excitedness."
• According to the News-Sentinel we also have an edge at RB.  Because we have two RBs and they only have one Destroyer of Worlds Lattimore. 2 > 1. Math! Also something about how Tauren Poole does well against good defenses, so South Carolina's success against the run (as we are limiting this discussion to humans, Cameron Jerrell Newton does not count) is a liability? I do not know the equation for this bit of logic, but I'm on board. 
• Wes Rucker has a nice little feature on RB2 Young Buck Rajion Neal and how Dooley and Chaney are getting him involved.
• Turning to hoops, we're opening up the season at #23, but our Memphis recruiting struggles continue as we learn that Melrose's Adonis Thomas is staying home next year. I know Calipari is gone and all, but it still kind of rankles to hear a guy explain picking Memphis over the Vols because of "the uncertainty about the program" and a desire not "to jeopardize my college career."

Thoughts and prayers with the Irish.  RIP Declan Sullivan.

It's the day before the "Third" Saturday in October, but somehow hoops steals the headlines.  Here's what's out there this morning:

• Pat Summitt gets top billing this for saying she should be fired were she ever to bend the rules in recruiting. Although the question followed up on a discussion of Bruce Pearl's rather unfortunate cheating and lying, Summitt has since clarified that Pearl "never entered [her] mind" and claimed the media were "making something out of it that it's not." We will not question Pat Summitt because we're pretty sure she would find us and make us regret it.
• Speaking of Bruce, he's not exactly a full employee of the University of Tennessee at the moment.  It seems the University terminated Pearl's contract in order to draw up a new one with the agreed $1.5 million salary reduction. So Bruce has been working under a "letter of appointment" since Sept. 9, meaning he could walk at any time (won't happen) or the University could fire him at any time (also unlikely, although no one's really quite sure what they and/or the NCAA know that we don't). AD Mike Hamilton sent Pearl a proposed new contract on Oct. 8, and the lawyers have been doing their lawlerly best to iron out the details. Sounds like a done deal from what everyone's saying publicly, but nothing's actually signed yet.
• At least one of Bruce's players might not be so sure about this contract.  When asked whether Bruce would be at Tennessee through the end of the season, guard Scotty Hopson said, "I don't know."
• All right, enough of that mess.  On to football.  Where there's actually not that much to report.
  • Derek Dooley and Nick Saban are friends. They play golf together. Saban's a funny guy. Funny how? I mean, funny like he's a clown? Like a little midget clown? That actually does sound kind of funny.
  • Chuck Smith and Nick Saban are also friends. This makes less sense, but apparently they know each other through Jimmy Sexton and Chuck has given motivational speeches to Saban's squads at Michigan St. and Bama. Huh.
  • Coaches want the secondary to get more physical with receivers. That would involve them being close enough to make contact, which, yes, we would like.
  • Former #11 Joey Kent hopes current #11 Justin Hunter breaks all his career records (receptions, receiving yards, receiving TDs). We're with you Joey, and here's hoping Bones finds somebody half as good as #16 to get him the ball.

• In the most tedious story of all time, everyone's favorite former Vol Bryce Brown has, in a sworn affidavit, cited the following reasons for requesting a release:
  • Feeling "too far away from home."
  • Realizing that he "did not fit in with the other players in the football program."
  • His teammates being "involved in a range of activities that [he] was not comfortable being around." (According to a separate affidavit signed by his father, this included Janzen Jackson, Nu'Keese Richardson, and Mike Edwards telling him they were "on their way to rob a convenience store.")
  • His father being "under a doctor's care for stress, insomnia, anxiety, anorexia, and marital discord."
  • His grandfather being treated for prostate cancer.
• Wes Rucker looks at how the Vols will try to slow down A.J. Green. Secondary coach Terry Joseph gets in this gem: "Obviously, genetics has a lot to do with a guy that big."
• Rucker also covers Chris Walker's multiple knee surgeries, Dooley putting Nick Reveiz on the "really small list of things I don't worry about," and Dallas Thomas and Daniel Lincoln each missing another day of practice as they hope to be ready for Saturday (Thomas faces a pregame test, Lincoln looks to be out). If Thomas can't go, we're looking at an OL with three true freshman and a sophomore going up against a Georgia DL that has had problems of its own.
• John Adams takes a look at the five Georgia recruits Dooley has signed, including CB Justin Coleman, whose high school coach recently played him for 146 snaps in one game in a rather transparent attempt to kill him rather than allow him to become a Vol
• Our old pal Coach O is back in the hospital because his broken foot got infected. We actually joked about hoping for this a few weeks back, and just to be clear that we are not using our power for evil, we do not actually hope Coach O dies of an infected foot. We ask that he go out like Herod the Great, who, according to trusty Wikipedia, was put down by a combination of "foot drop" and "a putrefaction of his genitals that produced worms, convulsions, and difficulty breathing before he finally expired."

Vols got the day off to rest their weary bones. Vols scribes did not. Your round-up:

• Gerald Jones returns to practice today with a splint on his hand. Splints are designed to immobilize injured body parts to facilitate healing; hands are prehensile appendages widely considered key to the catching of projectiles. Coach Dooley's waiting to see how this goes before clearing Jones for Saturday, but he has ruled out the senior reclaiming his punt return duties just yet. In other injury news, Cody Pope and and JerQuari Schofield are likely out this weekend. Tauren Poole, Art Evans, and Herman Lathers are day-to-day. As, to paraphrase Vin Scully, are we all.
• Dooley says "about half" of the Vols heading to Baton Rouge will be making their first ever collegiate road trip. They have not been missing much -- even the seniors have seen only four road wins: Miss St. '07, Vandy '08, and Kentucky '07 and '09 (both in OT).
• Matt Simms, described by Mark Wiedmer as an "offensive star," is excited about his first SEC road game because, as a Garden State native, he revels in "not being liked." Elsewhere, Simms reports that he has "mastered how to take a sack." Of such are stars made. Simms on his mastered art of sack-taking: "You can't really fight against it." Sadly true given his protection thus far.
• John Adams fuels the Patrick Peterson panic attacks by reminding us all of the Brandon James and DeSean Jackson horror shows. How good is Peterson? Take it away, Coach Miles: "When he's hydrated, he's the best in the country, arguably." 
• Fun with stats: The Vols clock in at 119th nationally in third-down conversions, 113th nationally in sacks allowed, 109th in kick-return average, 107th in punt-return average, and 3rd in number of freshman seeing playing time. LSU stands at 9th in total defense, 110th in total offense, and 115th in passing offense. A grand total of 120 teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
• R.I.P. Emmon Love

Quick morning round-up for ya:

• Don't worry, everybody: Matt Simms is gonna be fine. He is avoiding your nasty observations that he might not be a very good QB and Nick Reveiz's harassing him for being an annoying Yankee. His secret for zoning out you and el hijo de Faud? Getting his Led out. This has never not solved anything. In fact, the last pairing of East TN and Zeppelin produced this gem.
• David Oku will get another shot at KR against UAB, but Janzen Jackson and Eric Gordon are waiting in the wings should Oku continue to underwhelm.  As Beth Rucker notes, attention should maybe also be focused on the punt return squad, currently averaging -1.5 yards with a season-long of 2 yards.
• Cody Pope is likely out again tomorrow.
• Look for Austin Johnson to continue to get on the field and spell Reveiz.
• In the latest from the story we really don't want to deal with (is being 13-15 since 2008 not enough?), Mike Griffith says Vols penalties will be similar to those just announced for UTC.  Reasons to be skeptical:
  • We do not recall UTC's hoops coach flat-out lying to the NCAA, then, once incriminating pictures of high schoolers in his home surfaced, following up with a tear-filled mea culpa and announcing self-imposed sanctions that conveniently allow for the continued pursuit of a particular 5-star Memphian. 
  • We do not recall UTC having recently retained as football coach a jackass extraordinaire who rather openly considered the NCAA rulebook best employed as a single-ply post-defecatory cleansing aid.

Here we are in Florida week. Remember when we used to be crapping our pants all week imagining the relatively easy path to Atlanta if we could just somehow get by the Gators? Yeah, well, judging by the 16.5-point line, any pants crapping this year likely has more to do with avoiding breaking the record for biggest whupping in Neyland history two weeks running.

• The News Sentinel has Dooley on how the Vols' second-half lack of fight is "like an addiction." I do not like the idea of being chemically dependent on giving up 45 unanswered in 33 minutes. Bad news: "There's not a pill they can swallow, they're not going to tomorrow wake up and say, 'I can fight through adversity.'" Good news (that is actually more bad news): "We've got plenty of opportunities to work our way through adversity."
• First opportunity is of course the Gators, and no one seems particularly optimistic. The Great Pumpkin says the Vols are "not showing a lot of progress" and won't be able to hang with Florida.  He helpfully notes that "when a coach has to talk about his team's effort, that's not a good sign."  No, it is not, Phil...as you well know.
• Unlike years past, however, Urban's offense hasn't quite resembled a perpetual annihilation machine. This may have something to do with adapting to a QB that appears to be both non-divine and non-rhinoceros (and who has yet to demonstrate mastery of the jump pass).  EDSBS's Spencer Hall / Orson Swindle is cautiously optimistic that the Gator offense has maybe found some semblance of something after two weeks of mostly under-impressing: "The offense still feels arrhythmic, schizoid, and lacking any real identity, but it showed signs of coherence with the run, and everything else can--in a perfect world--build off that."

After the jump, more football notes, Coach O hurts himself, and a bit about hoops (focusing on threats from pugilists while conveniently ignoring Pearl and his mess).

Continue reading this post »

Here we are, final day before Rub-a-Dub Dooley's first real test. And quite the test it will be. We all saw what Oregon did to New Mexico last weekend, and now they're welcoming back LaMichael James from a one-game suspension. James, who ran for 1,500+ yards as a freshman last year, spent a portion of his offseason imprisoned for allegedly beating an ex-paramour. In his absence, Kenjan Barner scored five TDs. In other news:

• It may not be James/Barner (which Dooley has on par with Bama's Ingram/Richardson) just yet, but Wes Rucker takes a look at our RB duo. And, in a pairing involving players that tend to actually be on the field at the same time, Austin Ward takes a superhero-themed look at our safeties.  DB coach Terry Joseph has decided Janzen Jackson is Batman and Prentiss Waggner is Robin. Why not?
• For some reason, some people have decided wearing camo to the game is a good idea. Because we're playing the Ducks so we should dress up like duck hunters, see? There is also talk of adopting duck calls as a one-game Miss. St. cowbell-type deal. Please no one do this. It's really lame. Just get your orange on and get loud. Do it for Nick Reveiz, who's reminiscing about his first game running through the T and Nate Longshore's rather adverse reaction to the Neyland crowd. We did that without any duck (or golden bear) calls, mind.
• Both Beth Rucker and Wes Rucker cover the WRs, where, depending on whether Denarius Moore can play, we may be looking at combined career totals of five receptions, 35 yards, and one Kid Rock impersonator.  Dooley says the main concern is "making sure everyone's aligned right and knowing what to do on every play." That would be nice.
• Still no word on who will be filling in for Gerald Jones on punt return duty.  But it sounds like we'll get our first look at Michael Palardy, who will be handling kickoffs.  Oregon's kicker will be making his first appearance of the year after sitting out the opener for violence-related issues, and he's not worried about being rusty.  "I didn't play physically, but I did play mentally." 
• Our friends at Bruins Nation give us reason to blame this Staphylococcus aureus grossness at the feet of Kiffykins. Which we will do gladly. There's probably some kind of a metaphor about Dooley cleaning up a festering rot left behind by his predecessor, but we'll just get our shower technique down and move on.
• More fun fallout from young Kiffin: the NCAA is looking into the hoops squad. Clay Travis says they're checking out all the programs (with baseball somehow being the real problem spot). Thanks again, Lane. There may be another metaphor here involving other types of diseases. Something about a one-year fling, some filth left behind, and now we're at the clinic getting checked out to see what the long-term damage is looking like. Lovely. Someone please instruct us on proper cold shower technique.

Beating up on a hopelessly outsized and overmatched squad was good and fun, but, sadly, not without its costs:

• Gerald Jones broke a bone in his hand and is out at least 2-3 weeks. Denarius Moore and Jarrod Shaw may or may not miss some time as well. So, heading into "big boy ball," Matt Simms is behind a possibly depleted line, down at least one starting WR, possibly two. Nothing to worry about. David Oku is listed at PR2 on the depth chart, but Dooley says he'll take a look at Janzen Jackson, Eric Gordon, and Justin Hunter.  Simms and Luke Stocker will be working on finding their first connection.
• The defense got the most press attention over the weekend. The News Sentinel has Chris Walker (who wears a Superman backpack, in an homage to Weezy) on getting his prized goose egg against Martin and on "raising the bar" for Oregon. There's also some good stuff on Austin Johnson who had a rather nice debut on the defensive side, grabbing himself an interception and a safety (and coming awfully close to a second safety).
• Opening line has Vols a 13.5-point dog.  John Adams says there are "striking pregame similarities" to four years ago when the Vols, coming off a 5-6 year, blew out #9 Cal.
• In human interest stories of note:
  • The Tennessean profiles former S Greg Gaines and his struggle with the pills. (While it's a good story, there's some chance the editors ran it solely as an excuse to include this incredibly badass shot of Gaines walking off the field in what looks to be a "Feelin' Lucky" cap.)
  • UTSports.com has a cool story on Gate 17 being dedicated to Marine Don Weller, who gave his brother his kidney. Weller played on the Vols' freshman team before leaving for Vietnam. Semper Fi.

After the jump: a look at how the upcoming opposition fared over the weekend.

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And...we're under way. Real, live, it-counts football is officially back and not a minute too soon. Our old favorites had good showings last night, with Spurrier getting the W at Southern Miss's expense and Kiffykins improving to 13-21 lifetime (apparently permanently scarred by Daniel Lincoln, he largely eschewed PATs). But, most importantly, it's (just about) football time in Tennesee:

• The Times Free Press and News Sentinel go with looks at our new QB and RT, respectively, where we learn that Matt Simms is "just going to try and stay focused and not keep my mouth wide open" and that Ja'Wuan James "could barely breathe in the mock game from anxiety." Best of luck with basic oral respiratory skills to the both of them.

• Sadly, they will not be the only ones out there tomorrow taking it all in for the first time. I don't know about his math, but Dooley's saying 2/3 of the roster has never taken a snap at Neyland.

• This may sound somewhat familiar, but special teams will supposedly be improved. Can't hurt that there's an actual special teams coach this time around.

• Chris Low says expectations haven't been this low for the Vols since Bear's boy was forced out after a 6-5 year to make way for Majors and a return to our natural whiskey-lovin' ways.  Majors, coming off an undefeated national championship season at Pitt, started things off at 4-7 before righting the ship (and then taking a pirate shiv to the back and being dumped overboard).

• Herman Lathers gets the start over Savion Frazier at WLB.

• In other news from around the Conference, 'Bama's Marcell Dareus faces a two-game suspension for taking his talents to South Beach.  Saban's appeal will be based on Dareus's having been "Shanghaied."  

• After the jump, some looks at the Martin Skyhawks (né Baby Vols) and notable kin, profiles on the Dooleys and Gen. Neyland, and a smidgen of hoops.

Continue reading this post »

Dooley gave the boys the day off, but we're always here for you at Rocky Top Talk.  Even when the lead story is the hiring of a sideline reporter.

• Yes, that's right, the VOL Network has hired Andy Kelly to do his thing from field level. You may remember the Rhea County boy from back-to-back conference championships under Majors...or from throwing for approximately 14 million yards for about a dozen different teams, all while wearing garishly hideous unis and competing for the Bon Jon Bovi Cup in some form of grotesque football / hockey / video game hybrid. Mazel tov on the new job, Señor Kelly.  Obligatory (and still awesome) Miracle at South Bend clip here.  Jeremy Lincoln blocking the kick with his big ole behind (for which he graciously thanked his momma post-game) at 7:10 or so.
• Sounds like Marsalis Teague's taking to the defensive backfield.  Which is what you want to hear after losing two DBs to early jumps to the League (one arguably more well-advised than the other), a stud Sophomore to the old "ghost riding a whip post-toro roll binge" / "elbowing a cop in the face while fleeing the scene of an off-duty cop beat-down" combo, a top incoming Freshman to the dread Clearinghouse, and then suffering mild shock when reading that Art Evans is the most experienced member of the secondary.  Where's Brent Vinson when you need him?  Oh, right.  
• Our first opponent from outside the fine TN system of schools wrapped up its final QB auditions, but no word yet as to who might be strapping on this atrocity when the Ducks arrive.
• Zach Rogers, Austin Johnson, and Grad Assistant Peter Sirmon get some good local ink.