Tennessee to Play Against North Carolina in the Music City Bowl
by David Hooper on Dec 5, 2010 9:14 PM EST
in Tennessee Volunteer Football
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PrintIn one of the more intriguing bowl selection bids that the Vols have been involved in, Tennessee was chosen by the Music City Bowl for a December 30th date against the Tar Heels.
After Florida went to the Outback (who-you-know) Bowl, the Gator had a selection between Tennessee, Mississippi State, and South Carolina to consider. The ultimate factor to the Gator had to be their bid for a new sponsor; the brand-less bowl knew it had to compete against several other New Year's Day bowl games for TV viewership in a year where they'll be advertising themselves out, and Nielsen ratings are the ultimate money-driver in their upcoming quest for a partner. With that in mind, The Gator Bowl went with Mississippi State and Dan Mullen based on their 8-win record and hot-coaching-prospect-name, leaving South Carolina for the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and Tennessee for the Music City Bowl.
Tennessee now faces off against North Carolina in a game that has two significant meanings to the team: the first is practice time - an asset that the Vols need perhaps more than any other team in the NCAA; the second is respect; after the carousel of coaches, the losing seasons, and the slew of various roadblocks the team has encountered, a bowl win against UNC would go a long way towards validating the November run that put Tennessee in the bowl picture at all.
The re-scheduling subplot will assuredly be driven into the ground in the run-up to the bowl game; with Tennessee having opted out of the UNC matchup for a Buffalo squad next year, we'll never hear the end of it as these two teams do finally play each other. Though the matchup is purely incidental to the earlier rescheduling events, we will at least see these two teams play once. That, on its own, is a good thing and will probably be worth the unfortunate publicity that the rescheduling will assuredly give Tennessee over the next few weeks.
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Did Chik-fil-a bowl pick before the Gator Bowl?
So they picked USC over MSU? Or does the Gator bowl pick first and picked MSU over USC?
I'm not at all sure.
The Chicken has precedence, but we never heard a thing out of them prior to this, so they must have made a three-way collaboration with the Music and Gator.
This feels like the right place to be
But I must admit that I got my hopes up a bit for the NYD bowl against Meeshigan.
Seconded
My heartbreak is mitigated both by it feeling right and me having tickets!!!!
Now anyone know how we match up with UNC?
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:10 PM EST up reply actions
Well...
UNC has one of the worst run games in the country, and isnt that great passing either… the last 6 games they have looked bad, including close wins over William & Mary and Duke.
Statistically speaking...
We’re pretty much mirror images… except while they were getting worse late in the year, we were getting better. They can be dangerous if TJ Yates goes off passing, but thats about the extent of it. Abysmal special teams, and poor play on both lines.
Nice
Poor line play will help negate our poor line play. Especially if the month off aids our young team, as it should.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:16 PM EST up reply actions
They also beat Florida State
How’s their secondary? Bray would’ve been licking his chops against Michigan. What about UNC?
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:15 PM EST up reply actions
South Carolina isn't the best pass defense he's faced
At least not statistically. Wasn’t Kentucky #12 or something?
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:18 PM EST up reply actions
and...
the #5 team in the ACC is in the 60s in passing efficiency,
Possible chicken or egg problem there, but I don’t know that the ACC has more than 2 good QBs(one being Yates).
wtf... didnt post text...
ACC #5 pass defense is ranked in the 60s… possible chicken/egg problem, but the ACC really only has 2 very good passers(Yates being one of them).
Just checked their last four opponents
*Ponder was 24/34 for 264, 3 TDs, 0 INTs (but Yates went crazy for 400+ in a 37-35 win)
*Tyrod was 13/28 for 249, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
*Russell Wilson was 15/29 for 163, 2 TDs, 1 INT
*Cutt’s QB was 24/39 for 242, 1 TD, 2 INTs
So it looks like they’re holding the completion percentage down, but the yards were really only held down against NC State.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:46 PM EST up reply actions
Looking
CBS’ sack stats are being weird, and ESPN doesn’t keep them in the game recaps.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:57 PM EST up reply actions
Got 'em
3 sacks for 21 against FSU
3 for 24 against VT
4 for 32 against NC State
3 for 23 against Duke
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:59 PM EST up reply actions
Only 3 in the last four games
2 against Duke.
But they have held 3 of their last 4 opponents to under 3.5 YPC. VT had 4.4.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 6:00 PM EST up reply actions
only 1 against LSU and Bill&Mary
But 2 against Rutgers and 3 against ECU. Their total is really boosted by FIVE picks against Virginia.
Games with multiple picks:
Rutgers (2)
ECU (3)
UVA (5)
Duke (2)
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 6:24 PM EST up reply actions
Better than anything he's faced...
since getting the job, but only slightly better than average… and that may not hold true considering the relative lack of big passers in the ACC.
It's fair
This is where we should end up, I look forward to a good game!
Dooley-isms Archiving the Genius.
I'd like to point out
That I called this at the start of the season. If it weren’t for the extra play in Baton Rouge, my picks would be perfect thus far, including bowl and opponent.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:12 PM EST reply actions
Yeah
I was thinking LSU was the most common upset pick (maybe because it was mine). But 11 called the win over Oregon, and only 5 over LSU (not including 14-0 picks).
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 5:48 PM EST up reply actions
I called a loss in the Georgia Dome
so…I’m glad that’s not going to happen.
Dooley-isms Archiving the Genius.
by kingofzachland on Dec 5, 2010 5:55 PM EST up reply actions
Houston Nutt hosed me.
So did the Vols forgetting they had a game in Athens, but it’s much easier to blame Nutt.
by Chris Pendley on Dec 5, 2010 5:32 PM EST up reply actions
Their 3DD has been basically equivalent to ours on the year.
They have a 39.6% conversion % and UT has 39.8% (lower is better for defense).
Which means worse
Since ours has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few weeks.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 6:15 PM EST up reply actions
I just decided, btw,
To go with a full-out proposed ranking over in the BlogPoll thread. I’m sure there will be disagreement, but I think mine makes sense.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 6:22 PM EST up reply actions
More on UNC
They don’t exactly have the offensive prowess of Ole Miss or Kentucky. They’ve put up 30 points three times this year:
*Ran for 250 yards against one of the worst defenses in college football to beat ECU 42-17 on Oct. 2.
*Oct. 16 in Charlottesville, they were held to 140 on the ground, but T.J. Yates put up 300+ on only 17 completions in a 44-10 win over UVA.
*UNC held to 1.0 YPC, but Yates randomly throws for 439 on a November 6th win @Florida State.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 6:44 PM EST reply actions
Yeah, I don't know what happened there
You’ll see that Yates has had a couple more big days, but that and NC State were the only ones against a team with a semblance of a defense. Well, that and LSU, but that was the Mustang package’s fault.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 6:59 PM EST up reply actions
Yates has pretty good passing statistics overall, but it looks like he’s just had 4-5 really big days, 1 bad one, and 6 average. Has gone over 250 yards five times:
*LSU (playing from behind): 28/46, 412 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
*UVA: 17/22, 325 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
*FSU: 24/35, 439 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
*NC State: 33/44, 411 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
*Duke: 28/35, 264 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs.
Had a really bad game against VT, throwing 0 TDs and 4 INTs.
In the remaining 6 games, he had 6 TDs and 4 INTs.
It is worth noting that he has hit 68% or more of his passes in EIGHT games this year. Wonder if that means it’s a dink and dunk offense?
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 6:57 PM EST reply actions
Interestingly
3 of those big days passing were in their last four games. The other game was where Yates threw for 0 TDs and 4 INTs. So did they figure something out and have an anomaly? Or is there another explanation?
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 7:04 PM EST up reply actions
hmm...
Yates is at 8.3 yards per attempt and 12.3 yards per completion.
Bray is at 8.5 yards per attempt and 15.6 yards per completion.
They average 3.5 yards per rush.
We average 3.6 yards per rush.
They are 52% rush/48% pass.
We are 53%rush/47% pass, although obviously that has changed a lot.
ILB Bruce Carter is questionable, he is a Butkus Candidate… but his numbers aren’t great this year.
They throw to their TE, Zach Pianalto quite a bit… Their best WR is Dwight Jones with 27% of their receiving yardage and 15ypc. Denarius Moore has 30% of ours and 21.2 ypc. Gotta think we probably have 4 WRs who could start for them right now.
Their kicker, Casey Barth is 16 of 19 with a long of 49 but the VAST majority of his kicks are from inside 30 yards.
Daniel Lincoln is 10 of 11 with a long of 49 with 50% being from 40+.
As far as defense, we should be in good shape… Yates does not run, and they seem to like the I-formation.
Overall stats:
Passing offense: 26th
Rushing offense: 95th
Total offense: 52nd
Passing defense: 40th
Rushing defense: 33rd
Total defense: 29th
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 5, 2010 7:01 PM EST reply actions
Wow. Biggest upside to the bowl: it's the only one on during its entire time slot.
6:40 PM on a Thursday night is basically MACtion time during the regular season, so people are used to it; this is just a better game.
Conversely, the Gator (1:30 PM on Jan. 1 — Miss. St. / Michigan) competes with
+ TicketCity (Noon EST — Northwestern / Texas Tech)
+ Outback (1 PM EST — Florida / Penn St.)
+ Cap One (1 Pm EST — Alabama / Mich. St.)
TV-wise, Tennessee came out in much better shape. UT basically only loses the bowl revenue difference.
Just realized that all four games involve Big Ten teams.
Wow. The Big Ten should consider getting some separation there. Of the four, I’d rate the Gator as #3 in terms of generic interest, and I wouldn’t change that rating if Tennessee were in it.
by David Hooper on Dec 5, 2010 11:56 PM EST up reply actions
I dunno, I think it's more interesting than Florida/PSU
Although there is some desire to watch the Gators crash and burn some more.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 6, 2010 12:29 AM EST up reply actions
Even with a bad year, just the name 'Florida' may be worth more.
But I can definitely see that. The ratings between those two will be interesting.
by David Hooper on Dec 6, 2010 12:30 AM EST up reply actions
TicketCity is a NYD bowl now? For real?
And yeah, you’re right. Also we now have three auto-hookups between the SEC and Big 10, with the obligatory 4th in the BCS. Does that seem a bit high? Shouldn’t we play the Pac-10 or something at least once?
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 6, 2010 12:23 AM EST up reply actions
TicketCity has that Jerry Jones money
They moved the Cotton Bowl to a week later, and just replaced it with this in its old timeslot. That’s called showing the BCS you can handle two games at your site.
by Will Shelton on Dec 6, 2010 12:27 AM EST up reply actions
Ah
But if they had the money to get this timeslot, couldn’t they have gotten a decent matchup? Big 12 #7 vs. Big 10 #8 doesn’t scream New Year’s Day to me.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 6, 2010 12:28 AM EST up reply actions
I think a PAC-10 / SEC bowl would be a great matchup.
It’s late or I’d double-check that.
by David Hooper on Dec 6, 2010 12:29 AM EST up reply actions
Ok, so I checked.
Other than the NC game, it doesn’t happen. But you already knew that.
by David Hooper on Dec 6, 2010 12:32 AM EST up reply actions
THIS IS GREAT!!
After our poor start, “YEA MAN”…Go Vols
I'm thankful
If this is the bottom of a rebuild cycle, than I"m very thankful for a 6-6 season including a decent bowl with an interesting match-up and a team with some bright young players. Especially after everything this program and we fans have been through.
Well Said Phil
I hoped for the best at the start of the season, but with little experience and a coach that I thought had no business in the SEC, except to visit his dad I was prepared for the worse. Things were bupy, but DD can coach, and we have some real talent in these young kids. I am happy as heck that we are going to the Music City Bowl, and if we can get a W it sould go a long way to finishing off our recruting class this year.
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