Saturday is a Success if .......... | Tennessee Football

[Music] [Music] he [Music] happy kickoff Eve this is Frank rock this is house hor Sports channel coming at you on this Friday evening we're a little less than 18 hours until kickoff for this 2024 season and the vs the MOX they take the field tomorrow on the SEC network uh I think I saw kickoffs at like 12:47 exactly tomorrow but I'm excited excited for it it's finally here we've been waiting for a while of course College na uh college baseball National Championship was back in June we've had to wait we've had games off till now used to you were kind of used to um basketball whatever they did whether they got to the Sweet 16 and bowled out or whatever and in baseball there was really not a whole lot there but the these last specifically four years now baseball's Ro held people over and given them really you know less time to get ready for football now and especially the investment that there's been the last you know four years here like I said with going to the College World Series three out of the four and then that 2022 team being what it was and um so people you know there's not that as big of a dead period as there has been like March to August waiting for a little short but still yet it's time it's time for football the vs kickoff tomorrow what constitutes success for this football team tomorrow everyone's expecting a big victory this is not as easy as just saying well a win constitutes success yeah I mean a win great but Monday night car and myself we made our predictions he said 63-3 I said 52-10 on it that was on Monday I'll link that at the end if you want listen our uh preview our predictions along the way but what means success I mean you probably plenty of you watched last night as NC State played Western Carolina I think I saw it end up 3821 I didn't watch any of it but you know NC State was coming in planning on mopping the floor with Western Carolina getting her Subs in playing plenty of guys now does that mean I think it'll be easy next week for Tennessee against NC State no but Tennessee's got a game to play beforehand and chattanoga is a top 10 FCS team coming in into this one Higher ranked than Western Carolina so when you get into this one tomorrow what what to me means success well I was reading an article on volquest.com today Bren hubs made sense he said your younger guys like Nico like um you know your your linebackers your defensive backs or like an Arian Carter specifically your defensive backs you want to get as many reps as possible for those guys a lance herd you want to get as many reps as possible for those guys but to me one my first thing I start off with is you're able to dictate when you make Subs meaning by that you take care of business you come out you put your foot on the gas you put your foots on their throats and you don't let off until it's time to let off which is the end ideally for me Nico plays personally I I would probably P him at halftime but also I I understand getting him reps I mean if that game is out of hand at halftime there's such a drop off and and we talked the other night about how we would be feel confident in Gaston Moore if he had to go in but let's let's make no mistakes about that having gastore in is nowhere near the same as having Nico IAM malava in maybe you get him some extra reps in that second half if it weren't it I mean we thought that with Austin P last year and of course Austin P uh they played the kind of game that if I'm Tennessee I never schedule them again chattano gu was lead uh reading article West Rucker does his better knowah fo on 247 talking to Chattanooga Rider and he said he doesn't see the Chattanooga riter said he doesn't see Rusty Wright coming in just trying to make a point and stay close and control ball and keep him off the field he said he thinks that he's good with trying to see where his team's at by playing the style they want to play uh and I respect that as well with it because their bigger picture is FCS it's not this game this is big it would put them on the map but you know if they this game and don't do much in their their conference or in FCS what you know it's kind of irrelevant in respect so in this case for me Tennessee take care of business I say Midway through the third you pretty much got all your guys out I think it would be a success if at halftime you can get Cade Ma spragin you can get those two guys out um you can get Dylan Samson out realistically because I think I think he'll try to get Reps for Nico you can rotate your running backs as you want and as you wish you can play younger guys on offense L getting them some snaps just in case something happens later on you're able to get Brew McCoy out you're able to get squirrel white out you're able to play you know some of your younger guys at wide receiver maybe you're able to get your Dante Thorton out your Chris brazzel you're able to play more of get your Mike Matthews your brillan staly your Nathan Lee guys a little further down the chart right now but you kind of see what you've got with them IDE Del too with your defense you're able to we saw the we talked about it Monday night as well that defensive line depth chart it listed 14 guys on it you're able to get out your James pieres your Omari Thomas's your you know your main guys you get these younger guys Caleb heren your Jordan Ross you know this is your games you want to get these younger guys all the Reps that they can get you can get Keenan py out by halftime Arian Carter um getting him the Reps can but you know in a rotation I think it'd be great in a rotation because they're starting to build a little bit of depth that lineer spot but definitely to at that defensive back spot I think it would be good if you're up big enough to get gerod McCoy out because I think that's going to be your main guy at corner you're up big enough to get Andre tantine out because I feel he's going to be a fixture at safety as well now your Ricky Gibson's maybe get them a little more playing time Christian Harrison bu Carter you know Jordan Matthews getting him in getting in Maybe Christian Charles will Brooks what's will Brooks gonna be looking like but you know get some of those younger guys at John Slaughter some playing time as well jacobe Thomas getting those guys in also to me that constitutes a success that Tennessee can dictate when and where and how they can play younger guys tomorrow Point number two for me is with Nico does this does Nico manage the game well does he take care of the ball what's his decision making like tomorrow now that's not totally all on him that offensive line does their job and gives him all the time he need sure it is that offensive line does not do their job and Nico's running for his life day that to me constitutes a concern okay if he's taking off if he's making plays there may be times where coverage something happened you know their guys are covered uh or something along those lines can NCO break down that defense and take off and it may be a case that L does their job if Nico's running on his own if he's making plays happen on his own he's getting yardage he's keeping that defense honest I think that's a great thing I think that's a big success in my eyes Devil's Advocate is if he's having to run for his life if Chattanooga's defensive lineer on him before he can think that's a major major concern about this defensive line is Tennessee Gets Ready next week for NC State you got Kent State a week and then it's right into the thick SEC play so I'm playing Devil's afoc on that if Nico has the time success if he does not concern about that offensive line now in the meantime too success with Nico it's good decision-making that's where I thought he was pretty good in the bowl game against Iowa last year and he did not have the most time in the world he made things happen and I think that's an underrated aspect of what he did in that bowl game is that was one of the most makeshift lines I have ever seen a Tennessee team put on the field you put him out here he he did a good job against a very highly rated defense and um I feel like he's going to come out tomorrow and have a big game what constitutes success for me this running game is able to pretty much do what they want to do tomorrow I'm not saying they're averaging 10 15 yards a carry or anything like that but you're able to see Dylan Samson do his thing you're able to see Seldon Bishop Lewis maybe even Keith you're able to see him rotate a lot of guys and do a lot of things Devil's Advocate to me is and this goes back to the offensive line if they're having trouble running against Chattanooga that's going to be a very big concern to me tomorrow success for me tomorrow says receivers making plays you can't expect they go be open on every single play now I did see a concern that the Chattanooga riter who was on with West Rucker said breaking in a new secondary so you would think this would be a secondary right for the picking based on Nico based on receivers based on the depth and the quality that they say they have concerned for me these receivers are a not able to get separation they're not able to make plays tomorrow that's going to be a concern tomorrow and if your main guys cannot get that if I'm Josh hyp if I'm Kelsey Pope and staff I start looking for hey who can get this for me and I make uh adjustments based on how I wanted to defensive line okay we'll shift to the defense now I'm excited about seeing the tight ends I'm normally I mean it's kind of to me great if tight ends do things but we've heard about Ethan Davis you know kelman we've really not whole heard a whole lot about holding stays we've heard a lot about even Ethan Davis can this team use the middle of the field now that's going to be a big one to me because I feel they predominantly been an Outer Perimeter team can they use that inside the field can do they have that receiver I think Brew is going to be that guy for sure who can use the middle what about these tight ends can they open up that middle and make some mismatches with not only Chattanooga's linebackers but linebackers moving forward shiting to the defense success for me this line This defensive line tomorrow especially I don't really think they'll go 14 deep in a tight situation but could they around 10 10 to 12 I think there's a couple guys listed that are more maybe blowout type games May you know maybe not maybe it's a case of these guys are up there ready but to me success this defensive line has their way tomorrow especially with all the bodies that they're playing Chattanooga has a strong quarterback they have a strong offense they have a strong receiving Corp tomorrow Chase otopia come from UCLA he's 23 years old he's played football he's played good football for Chattanooga uh I think it's Javin Watley his name top-notch receiver could have went up to FBS he could have went up uh and he did not and that's um so to me what kind of pressure are you getting your playing again this Tennessee defensive line should outman Chattanooga's offensive line I want to see them really take control of this game in a couple aspects number one you're not giving artopia all day long to sit back and throw number two you're shutting their you're making their their life hard to run the football and again this is an offense that specifically in FBS is going to be or I'm sorry FCS is going to be one of your top offenses can Tennessee put enough pressure on them that really makes their life hard tomorrow that's what I'm expecting that's what I hope see what constitutes a concern for me that they're not able to get a lot of pressure and that Chattanooga is able to get plenty of lanes running the football that's going to be a major concern to me tomorrow my expectation is this defensive line dominates this football game but that's why you play it on the field not on paper linebackers what's success to me Kenan phy getting some good action and staying healthy that's gonna be the big thing you get out of this game with him healthy you didn't get out of the Virginia game last year what he get seven snaps and he was done with he looked good in those snaps but um getting him out of this game healthy success number two to me you see Arion Carter making plays being what we've heard this off season now do we expect him to be a finished product in week one no no we don't uh I think you're you're going to come out of this game if you're a coaching staff with things you need to work on you're always there's never going to be a football game you're not going to come out of with things to work on Arian Carter Tander Caleb Perry some of these guys that you're seeing that potential they're able to cover in the flats they're able to make the open field tackles that's success to me concern for me is they're not able to cover in the flats they're losing their guy they're getting juked out they're not able to make the open field tackle that's a concern to me that has been an issue with Tennessee linebackers they're able to not able to cover that's a a concern to me and then the biggest one to me success tomorrow you're going against a good passing you now anytime you leave a defensive back on an island on their own with all day for the quarterback to throw majority of the time that defensive back is not going to win that battle a great a good defensive line can make a defensive back's life much much easier I'm looking for this young inexperienced secondary success for for me tomorrow they're making plays bowl game last year success I I would venture to say Chattanooga's offense will be better than Iowa's that we saw last year okay that's a bold statement but I'm G to say Chattanooga's offense tomorrow that we see is better than Iowa's offense from last season I I'll go to the bank on that one how does this young secondary play tomorrow are they making plays I don't think the yardage aspect is the big concern because obviously you know later in the game they may play looser along the way especially if they get a big lead they will but H are they able to make plays are they able to cover their guy are they keeping guys especially those safeties from getting behind them are these safeties able to make the open field tackle if when it presents itself they do those things that's success to me concern is guys are getting over the top for Chattanooga Corners not able to do their job they're not able to press they're not able to cover they're not able you know any of those things the secondary is going to be under a spotlight or you know a microscope for a while especially you know going into NC State next week I wouldn't take what happened last night NC State as what will happen next week I still spoiler alert expect now my mind could change tomorrow I think Tennessee is going to be a lot better than NC State but we got to play the first one first and um concern you know again for me is the secondaries looks like it has the past couple years it's the same thing they're not able to cover guys they're not able to make tackles if we're seeing that in game one tomorrow just wait till we see NC State Oklahoma some of these better teams down the line it's going to be the same old same old I expect a better more polished more athlet athletic secondary than what we've seen the last three years I really do I maybe I'm setting myself up for disappointment tomorrow but that's what it is success to means blowing Chattanooga out tomorrow blow them out do what you want that was my first point but I come back to it you're getting all the guys that you can to play in time that they want tomorrow and then I think one more success is if the kicking game presents itself you're breaking in a new kicker I know there was an or on the depth chart odd zard is going to be Max Gilbert put him in let him you know if the opportunity presents itself let him kick a long field goal see what he's got um that's a success a concern to me is if he's a guy who consistency is not there and I don't think that will show up for a bit but um you know you want to see the kicking game at least do its job that's that's kind of what you the biggest thing with the kicking game is you leave it with they didn't make any really errors along the way any bonehead mistakes that's that's the big thing to me but I think I still stick to it 5210 I could see it being more um my host Tennessee like I said they put their foot on their throat they put their feet on their throat they don't let off they don't let off halftime we know this thing's well in check I if we're going to halftime with this thing a concern it is a concern so um my plan for the weekend is just a May I'll probably do a postgame video if I got time tomorrow because I do have to head out tomorrow evening the next day will be on Sunday the next day is a fixture it's going to be a fixture on here uh it was for basketball it was for baseball it's going to be for football it's going to be for basketball G it's going to be for lady V's basketball and so on the next day is fixture on here previews I don't know how much I'll do in previews other than kind of like this right here um keys to Victory maybe along the way but it's here it's here uh I think we're all excited we're all ready 12:47 kickoff tomorrow SEC network let's rock and roll man it is go time more wrap up on that one Frank Rock House of orange sports channel I'll see you when I see you and I hope you have a great rest of your [Music] Friday everyone rejects me