Beating up on a hopelessly outsized and overmatched squad was good and fun, but, sadly, not without its costs:
- Gerald Jones broke a bone in his hand and is out at least 2-3 weeks. Denarius Moore and Jarrod Shaw may or may not miss some time as well. So, heading into "big boy ball," Matt Simms is behind a possibly depleted line, down at least one starting WR, possibly two. Nothing to worry about. David Oku is listed at PR2 on the depth chart, but Dooley says he'll take a look at Janzen Jackson, Eric Gordon, and Justin Hunter. Simms and Luke Stocker will be working on finding their first connection.
- The defense got the most press attention over the weekend. The News Sentinel has Chris Walker (who wears a Superman backpack, in an homage to Weezy) on getting his prized goose egg against Martin and on "raising the bar" for Oregon. There's also some good stuff on Austin Johnson who had a rather nice debut on the defensive side, grabbing himself an interception and a safety (and coming awfully close to a second safety).
- Opening line has Vols a 13.5-point dog. John Adams says there are "striking pregame similarities" to four years ago when the Vols, coming off a 5-6 year, blew out #9 Cal.
- In human interest stories of note:
- The Tennessean profiles former S Greg Gaines and his struggle with the pills. (While it's a good story, there's some chance the editors ran it solely as an excuse to include this incredibly badass shot of Gaines walking off the field in what looks to be a "Feelin' Lucky" cap.)
- UTSports.com has a cool story on Gate 17 being dedicated to Marine Don Weller, who gave his brother his kidney. Weller played on the Vols' freshman team before leaving for Vietnam. Semper Fi.
After the jump: a look at how the upcoming opposition fared over the weekend.
- Oregon 72-0 New Mexico. Oregon beat the living bejesus out of New Mexico. 350+ yards both rushing and passing? Big boy ball indeed.
- Florida 34-12 Miami (OH). Florida's breaking in of a new QB/C duo went a little less smoothly than expected, with Mike Pouncey taking over for his brother at C and firing snaps all over the place, sometimes somewhat in the vicinity of John Brantley. The Gators had a whopping 28 yards through three quarters, and the RedHawks matched or bettered Urban's boys in total yards, first downs, and time of possession. Gators' starting CB Moses Jenkins got himself banged up and is out indefinitely.
- UAB 31-32 FAU.
Watson Brown's squadThe Blazers blew a 16-point second-half lead at Legion Field and missed a field goal to win it. QB David Isabelle had 214 yards on the ground. - LSU 30-24 UNC. Les Miles continues his campaign of proving he's the worst coach to ever win a national championship as LSU is lucky to escape with a win over UNC's junior varsity. John Chavis and his "Mustang" defense gave up 260 yards passing in the fourth quarter alone. Miles surprises no one by tweeting "Woeojuwejhdjwe."
- UGA 55-7 LA-Lafayette. Redshirt freshman QB Aaron Murray impressed, even without A.J. Green, who was held out because he maybe attended Marvin Austin's Shady Agent Orgy in Miami. Green claims he's never set foot in that cesspool of a city.
- Alabama 48-3 San Jose St. Julio Jones shows Gerald maybe he doesn't need both hands.
- Memphis 7-49 Miss St. Memphis gets a late score to avoid being shut out in Starkville.
- Ole MIss 48-49 Jax St. (2OT). The fans in Oxford were treated to some free football against the #17 team in the country (excluding FBS). They responded by rethinking life choices.
- Vanderbilt 21-23 Northwestern. The Turkey Inseminator in Chief kicked off his reign by continuing Vandy's proud tradition of finding ever-more-inventive ways of losing. This week's special: a two-point loss featuring a missed PAT, two failed two-point conversions (including one on a botched snap), and a missed FG. Top that off with a truly horrendous call from the visiting Big 10 crew to kill your last hope, and you've pretty much encapsulated the continuous gut punch that is Vandy football.
- Kentucky 23-16 Louisville. Alcoa grad and Fulmer reject Randall Cobb continues to tear it up.