2006 Tennessee Football Picks & Predictions
When California visits on September 2nd, the 2006 Tennessee Vols football team should see it as a make or break kind of game. Last year’s team was one of the worst offensivly in the nation, but their defense still held strong. Even with that 6th rated defense the team was only 3-5 in the SEC and 5-6 overall, a major disappointment to say the least. You’ll probably see more disappointment if our college football predictions are correct.
In order to get the offense back on track Phil Fulmer rehired David Cutcliff, who served as a mentor to both the Mannings in their college days. He should help junior Erik Ainge to take things up to another level and spark the offense. It is going to be Ainge’s team to lead, and he should have more confidence since he won’t be shifting duties with Rick Clausen this season. At tailback the team will have depth in Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty. This gives them a little thunder and lightening combination to wear down the opposition. The receivers will be both talented and experienced and are led by Robert Meachem, Bret Smith, and Jayson Swain.
The defense lost a lot from a year ago, but they did have depth and replacing those starters shouldn’t be too big of a concern. On the line there are two guys with NFL talent in tackles Justin Harrell and Turk McBride. At linebacker there isn’t a single returning starter from a year ago, but there is experience in senior Marvin Mitchell and junior Ryan Karl to go along with the very talented freshman Rico McCoy. The secondary is ferocious with Jonathan Wade and Inky Johnson capable of being shutdown corners and Antwan Stewart and Jonathan Hefney being more than capable at the safety position.
Tennessee is one of the teams that are tough to get a hold of. There is talent there but the team struggled last season and the offense doesn’t look like it should improve all that drastically. Losing a lot on defense leaves us to question whether they can regain their former glory and an SEC title does not look like it’s in the cards this season. The team is going to struggle at home against California, Florida, Alabama, and LSU, while road games at Georgia and South Carolina will be tough tests. We are going to predict seven or eight wins for the Vols this season, any more would be a major surprise.
Odds to win the national title: +7080
Over/Under win Totals: Over 8.5 +122/Under 8.5 -138
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