No QBs, one returning man in the secondary, even newer coaching staff than ours…

None of the news at UCLA is good so far this offseason. UT was already generally considered the favorite, but all of this will really tip the books. It’s actually beginning to worry me a bit.

I’m not worried about the Vols laying an egg, though I won’t guarantee a victory, either. Two things get to me, though. First, every setback they have will either dampen the emotion of a Vols victory or intensify the emotion of a Vols loss. Winning against the ICU ward at UCLA Medical Center doesn’t really do it for me, and neither would losing.

Second, it’s not much fun to watch a game when one side is depleted. Last season was great because there were a lot of close games and exciting finishes (with occasional pauses while we got drubbed by teams we’d most hate to lose to). But the expectation of an entertaining game – close or not – is diminishing.

But hey, at least it’s the beginning of the season. Football will have been absent for 7 months, so I’ll take it.

The biggest thing they can gain from this game is confidence. There is going to be some kinks to work out in the new system, so if they can get through those growing pains on the west coast against even a depleted BCS conference opponent, it will give the guys a lot to build on. Especially going into an offweak and a tune-up game against UAB. I look for a lot of growth those first 3 weeks