Tennessee Football: 2015 Game-by-Game Schedule Predictions
Now that Tennessee has been in the throes of fall camp for a couple of weeks, everybody has a better idea of the Volunteers' strengths and weaknesses.
Though offensive line issues persist, there have been flashes of talented players emerging as coach Butch Jones and his staff look for the best five linemen.
Pretty much every other position has offered reasons for optimism.
Quarterback Joshua Dobbs, runners Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara and a veteran-laden defense are expected to lead Tennessee back into the conference conversation.
Freshman phenom Darrin Kirkland Jr. has blossomed in the past week to battle Kenny Bynum and Colton Jumper at middle linebacker. The youth at defensive tackle is coming into its own to provide depth at the position. A few young receivers are making their presence felt as some banged-up upperclassmen heal.
The Vols don't have enough depth yet across the board, but if they can stay healthy, there are many reasons to be excited about the upcoming slate of games.
Much is expected of UT as numerous publications are predicting the Vols to finish in the top 25 and battle for the SEC East crown with favorite Georgia.
There are a few detractors, of course, who aren't buying into the hype just yet. But with talent all over the field, the Vols are one of the nation's most intriguing teams.
Will that talent win out, or are the questions along the offensive front too great to overcome? Let's take a look at the latest and greatest game-by-game prediction as the opening kick draws near.
Sept. 5 vs. Bowling Green (in Nashville)
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The Vols get a decent test right off the bat against a Bowling Green team that's a favorite to win the MAC East division.
Quarterback Matt Johnson returns after a hip injury in the season opener against Western Kentucky cost him all the 2014 season a year removed from passing for 3,467 yards and 25 touchdowns in '13. He's a talented signal-caller who can put up some numbers.
Johnson also has plenty of offensive weapons to give Tennessee a defensive test, and the Falcons are going to score some points.
Despite that, Dino Babers' team allowed 33.5 points per game a season ago, and the Falcons will have a difficult time stopping Tennessee. With all the Vols' talent on defense, they'll get into a groove after a bumpy start and wind up taking care of business.
There's just no way BGSU can stop Joshua Dobbs and Company.
Playing in Nashville's Nissan Stadium is going to be a neat homecoming for a lot of Vols who've made the trek from the Midstate area to Knoxville during the past couple of years.
Players such as Jalen Hurd, Derek Barnett, Josh Malone, Rashaan Gaulden, Kyle Phillips and others are going to want to put on a show.
This may not wind up being the style-points victory Tennessee fans want to open the season, but a convincing win over a strong Bowling Green team will age well as the Falcons wind up winning the MAC.
Prediction: Vols 40, Bowling Green 23
Sept. 12 vs. Oklahoma
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After the season-opening win against Bowling Green, Tennessee immediately jumps into the pressure cooker on a national stage when Oklahoma comes to Neyland Stadium.
The Vols are much better equipped to handle the Sooners than they were a season ago, when a couple of game-breaking plays made OU's 34-10 victory look a lot more lopsided than the game actually was. Even so, UT never really was in that game.
That'll change this year.
OU coach Bob Stoops has made wholesale changes to his coaching staff, and new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley will employ a more wide-open attack. Still, he'd be wise to attack UT's defense with the running game up the middle, where the Vols are young, and combat the pass rush with quick-hitters and screens.
If Oklahoma can do that, it'll be tough for UT to handle. The Vols have plenty of bullets to fire back, but asking for a 24-point turnaround in one year is a tall order.
The Sooners have Samaje Perine leading a loaded backfield, and that's going to be difficult to handle for the young interior of Tennessee's defense as it starts to find its sea legs.
If the Vols can pull this one off, the season will be special. But the guess here is that the Sooners escape Knoxville with a close victory as the Vols offensive line struggles in its first big test of the season.
Prediction: Oklahoma 24, Vols 21
Sept. 19 vs. Western Carolina
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Following a rugged loss to Oklahoma and just ahead of the season's second-biggest swing game, the Vols will enjoy a welcome respite from a tough schedule as FCS opponent Western Carolina comes to town.
The Catamounts gave top-ranked Alabama a battle for 25 minutes last year, but it won't be the same when they come to Neyland.
With a talent discrepancy too great, Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara are going to run all over WCU, and Tennessee fans will get their first extended look at true freshman quarterback Quinten Dormady during the second half.
He'll get the opportunity to throw a couple of touchdown passes, and the defense will work out all of its middle linebacker questions and defensive line rotation in a hurry as the Vols prepare for Florida with a blowout victory.
WCU has some potential Southern Conference stars in quarterback Troy Mitchell and receivers Spearman Robinson and Karnorris Benson, but the Vols will work out some early-season kinks, and this will be the game their defense finds its swagger.
UT will leave the friendly confines of its home state at 2-1 with the season's biggest game looming.
Prediction: Vols 51, Western Carolina 6
Sept. 26 at Florida
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When Tennessee blew a 9-0 fourth-quarter lead over Florida in Neyland Stadium in 2014, turning the ball over, giving UF quarterback Treon Harris a short field on a touchdown drive and winding up losing 10-9, it magnified the Vols' recent struggles against the Gators.
That made 10 consecutive losses to their hated division rivals.
UT coach Butch Jones told GoVols247's Ryan Callahan back in May that the loss was the "lowest moment" of his career.
That doesn't sound like the coach of a team that can't get over the psychological hump against a team. Instead, it sounds like the head man of a young program that hadn't yet learned how to close a big game.
A pivotal swing moment wound up coming later last season once Joshua Dobbs took over, and the Vols flurried back to upset South Carolina in overtime. Now, a year later, with Florida down and the Vols looking like they're ready to break out, the time seems ripe for vindication.
Everything going into this game feels like it did before the 1995 win over Alabama. The Vols are ready to take out years of frustration on Florida.
While this one may not be that much of a blowout, the Vols have more talent than the Gators this year in every position on the field except maybe the secondary.
The Swamp has lost a bit of its luster during the past few frustrating seasons, and while Jim McElwain may wind up being the answer in Gainesville, he's hamstrung by the roster deficiencies left over from the Will Muschamp era. It isn't going to be the same hostile environment UT has encountered in years past.
Tennessee is going to win this game, and it really won't be that close.
This will be the first real signature win of Jones' tenure because of the albatross it'll shake, and it will get the Vols' season trending in the right direction.
Prediction: Vols 33, Gators 16
Oct. 3 vs. Arkansas
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Arkansas' potential feel-good 2015 story took a real-life hit when it was announced that star running back Jonathan Williams' foot injury would cost him the regular season.
The Hogs still have stud junior Alex Collins as well as talented Kody Walker and Rawleigh Williams to carry the load that the senior left in his wake, and there is still that talented offensive line to run behind. But to pretend the team won't miss Jonathan Williams is crazy.
Riding an emotional high of finally beating Florida, Tennessee has to guard against a letdown against a physical foe like Bret Bielema's bunch.
But just think of how rocking Neyland is going to be after its team finally exorcised the reptilian demon the week before. It's going to be pandemonium by the river.
With that loud, emotional firestorm in Knoxville and with Arkansas' defensive question marks, the Vols absolutely can emerge victorious in a game that is shaping up to be a slobberknocker.
If UT can just keep from getting pounded into submission by the Hogs' running game, you have to like the matchups all over the field.
This one won't be decided until the fourth quarter, and in a tight game with all of that swirling emotion, it's hard not to roll with the home team. This is anybody's game, but the Big Orange train should keep chugging.
Prediction: Vols 27, Arkansas 23
Oct. 10 vs. Georgia
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This game is where the Eastern Division is going to be won and lost.
So many times in recent years, Tennessee has battled Georgia within a single possession, and it's hard to pick against a Vols team that is going to be riding high after a pair of big-time wins that have them firmly ranked in the top 15.
But all that gusto from the previous two weeks will come with a price. The Vols will probably be a little banged-up, and that isn't a good position in which to be for a team that isn't as deep as many.
The Bulldogs too will be coming off a gritty battle against a very good Alabama team that can pound you into submission, so this may very well be a matter of which team is the healthiest.
All things considered, you've got to like where the Vols will be, facing the run-heavy Dawgs after already playing against similar opponents in Oklahoma and Arkansas. That's a benefit for UT, and UGA's quarterback play—at least entering the season—doesn't strike fear in anybody's heart.
The wild card here, however, is Georgia's defense, which is essentially a stable of physical freaks that could rival the old Junkyard Dawg days.
It already had Leonard Floyd, Lorenzo Carter and Jordan Jenkins. Throw in future freshman stars Trent Thompson and Roquan Smith, among others, and coordinator Jeremy Pruitt may have a special unit on his hands.
Tennessee is ready to make a major statement with a win like this, but it's hard to pick against the Dawgs here. Looks like it may be another heartbreaker to keep the Vols out of Atlanta.
Prediction: Georgia 21, Vols 20
Oct. 24 at Alabama
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Nothing would make Tennessee's season and announce a resounding, "We're Baaaaaaack" to the rest of the nation like an upset of the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.
It's not out of the question with 'Bama being more vulnerable than it has been in recent years, but, again, it's just difficult to publicly make this prediction.
The Vols took a major step forward against their biggest rivals a season ago when Joshua Dobbs entered for the first time and gave UA's defense fits in what would be a sign of things to come for Nick Saban's team against dual-threat quarterbacks.
Unfortunately for the Vols, the game was already 27-0 when Dobbs walked onto the field.
This year's game is going to be close; it's going to be a battle. And it's going to be a precursor to UT winning this game a year from now.
The Tide have too much talent on the defensive line for UT's offensive line to handle this season. When you throw in playmakers such as Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake, they'll make enough plays to get it done again this year.
But Tennessee will show everybody yet again that it is ready to compete in this game, and though it won't finish the way the Vols would like, it's going to set up the rest of the season.
At this point, the Vols may be a hard-fought 4-3, but things are going to change for the better the rest of the way.
Prediction: Alabama 26, Vols 17
Oct. 31 at Kentucky
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As Tennessee makes its second consecutive road trip, the Kentucky game in Lexington on Halloween looms as being a little more challenging than in years past.
UK coach Mark Stoops has the Wildcats on the cusp of bowl contention, and this is going to be one of those pivot games that they see as one that could turn around their program.
Meanwhile, the Vols will be emerging from a gauntlet of games that would make anybody in the nation cringe. At this point, UT may be the best 4-3 team in the country.
The 'Cats have a good bit of offensive talent led by quarterback Patrick Towles and running back Stanley "Boom" Williams. But they had those guys last year too, and it didn't wind up pretty in Knoxville because of the other side of the ball.
Stoops has built a little bit of depth on defense with sturdy recruiting classes, but the 'Cats are still not ready to hold up for an entire season—especially when they have to replace studs such as Alvin "Bud" Dupree and Za'Darius Smith off that unit.
It may be a perfect trap game for the Vols, but there's no way Butch Jones lets his team sleepwalk to a .500 record. At this point of the season, there will still be plenty for which to play.
The Vols will answer the call to arms, and this win will be a harbinger of things to come.
Prediction: Vols 31, Kentucky 19
Nov. 7 vs. South Carolina
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No matter how much the Head Ball Coach wants to make "cartwheel" jabs at Butch Jones, Tennessee's coach flat-out owns Steve Spurrier.
The Vols have the Gamecocks' number, and that's only going to get bigger this year when they come to Knoxville.
Tennessee's going to hang its third consecutive victory on Spurrier's question-riddled team, and it will be more than a possession this year.
The bottom line is there are plenty of worries in Columbia, starting with quarterback issues. Though the Gamecocks have a pair of solid running backs, there are questions on the offensive line as well as who is going to take the pressure off star Pharoh Cooper in the receiving corps?
That's before you even get to the defensive side of the ball, where Lorenzo Ward was demoted in favor of new co-coordinator Jon Hoke, and Carolina is trying to rebuild that side of the ball virtually from scratch.
Spurrier has plenty of talent, albeit of the unproven variety. With their extremely difficult schedule, the Gamecocks either are going to be battle-tested at this point or demoralized by a poor record. Whichever way that goes will go a long way in determining the outcome of the game.
But until South Carolina proves it can stop Joshua Dobbs, the Vols are going to keep hanging points on their division foes.
Prediction: Vols 38, South Carolina 21
Nov. 14 vs. North Texas
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Leg-weary and needing to rest some key playmakers for the stretch run, getting a late-season cupcake such as North Texas is virtually the same as another bye week for the Vols.
They're going to really love the placement of the Mean Green on the schedule, especially since UNT hasn't been mean to opponents in a while.
There are so many holes on both sides of the ball for the Conference USA opponent that the Vols are going to wind up beating the Mean Green by as many as they want to. Given how many players will need to get a bit of a breather before the season's final two games, that may be less than you'd imagine.
Dormady again will get some extended playing time, and the Vols are going run all over North Texas' porous defense in front of a crowd of around 90,000 fans at Neyland Stadium.
After the kind of run that UT has just endured, it'll be nice to get a big win without any real strain, and a blowout may just reignite the Vols for the stretch run in what could wind up being a very big season—especially with a huge road game looming the very next week.
Prediction: Vols 48, North Texas 0
Nov. 21 at Missouri
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Someday, down the road, prognosticators will begin giving Missouri its just due when it comes to predicting the SEC East.
But that won't happen this year, as the media picked the back-to-back division champion Tigers behind Georgia and Tennessee.
For once, it got it right.
After three years of getting beaten by Mizzou, the Vols are going to travel to Columbia for what seems destined to be a night game and exact a measure of revenge on quarterback Maty Mauk, coach Gary Pinkel and the Tigers.
While Mizzou should still fare pretty well this year, there simply isn't as much talent as in recent history. Sure, defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski always seems to work magic with his personnel group, but unlike last season, there aren't a Shane Ray and Markus Golden in line to replace Kony Ealy and Michael Sam.
With Harold Brantley's season being robbed by a car wreck, the Tigers are going to have D-line issues in a year when their back seven should be pretty stout.
Mauk returns along with steady senior running back Russell Hansbrough and a quality offensive line, but Mizzou may be one-dimensional with major issues at receiver.
By this point of the season, Tennessee is going to know what it has and will be gearing up to be the team to beat in the East in 2016. These are two programs passing in opposite directions, and the Vols will stamp that with a resounding road win.
Prediction: Vols 27, Missouri 17
Nov. 28 vs. Vanderbilt
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A season ago, Tennessee had to grind out an end-of-the-year knee-knocker against a bad Vanderbilt team by riding quarterback Joshua Dobbs and getting a huge punt return by Cameron Sutton and interception by Todd Kelly Jr.
It was really ugly, and many Vols fans have forgotten how fortunate UT was to get that win once Jalen Hurd exited with injury.
Oh, how the tenor of the program would have changed had that not happened.
This year, there won't be any doubts in the regular-season finale. As the Commodores get ready to have to make some difficult decisions following another really poor season, the Vols are going to drub their in-state rivals in the home digs.
Neyland Stadium is going to be loud and appreciative of the type of year a gritty Vols team has put together as it winds up a program-defining season on Rocky Top with one of the most complete victories of the year. Meanwhile, coach Derek Mason's team will still be searching for its way.
Tennessee finishes the regular season 9-3, and while the Vols may wind up missing out on the SEC Championship Game, they'll get ready to head to Orlando for a major bowl game and a top-10 ranking for 2016 following that.
Prediction: Vols 41, Vanderbilt 14
All recruiting information obtained from 247Sports unless otherwise noted. All stats gathered from UTSports.com unless otherwise noted. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
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