The NCAA's stats site served up errors early this morning, at least when I first dragged myself and my coffee to the screen, so instead of #opportunityisnowhere, we get a surprise blast from the past. Yes, it's Talking Points.
I HOPE YOU GOT TO SIGN TYLER BRAY'S CAST, because it came off yesterday and some enterprising medical intern is already preparing the ebay listing. Oh, and Bray's thumb does not appear to have miraculously turned into a butterfly ready to play Arkansas. It's been sitting there, atrophying and getting no range of motion, and it needs time to get used to the big wide world. Too bad, too, because Dooley suggests that it's going to be difficult to keep up with the Wilson's in points on Saturday:
"Statistically speaking, they're the best throwing team in the league," UT coach Derek Dooley said at Monday's media luncheon. "They have a quarterback who has a real playmaking mentality, a little bit like Tyler (Bray) has, and they have a lot of speed. "It's not just that they run fast. They play fast. And they play with a lot of swagger. Every time a team inches close to them, they answer the bell."
TENNESSEE BEAT LMU LAST NIGHT 76-67, but not before enjoying the lesson of a little late tension. The Vols raced out to a 22-point lead, but the Railsplitters cut it to four at one point late. Trae Golden had a fantastic game, going 6 of 13 and getting four boards, eight assists, zero turnovers, and this awesome quote: "Eight assists, no turnovers,'' he said. "I'm a point guard," when asked whether he was more proud of the points or the assists. Clap, clap, young man. Mike Griffith was impressed with the win, but not so much with Jordan McRae, who he says needs to settle down and improve how he practices. McRae was 1 of 9, so yeah.
WONDER WHY ERIC GORDON ISN'T PLAYING MORE? Coach Dooley has answers:
"What Eric does is, he can go out there and make some plays for you, and his biggest challenge is his dependability in lining up right, knowing what to do and not giving up big plays," UT coach Derek Dooley said. "We want Eric to play more, but the dependability is the key on that.
"He's probably frustrated a little bit, as all players are when they're not playing as much as they think they should. But like most players they tend to focus on things that don't involve them instead of focusing on their play and their dependability and their consistency."
Okay, but who of us cannot identify another kind of consistency that we'd like to see eliminated in the secondary? Maybe that's no longer a fair criticism because it's been taken care of, but you know.
MORE FREE GAMES. The Tennessee-Vandy game is set for 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU. Does that mean only one PPV game this season? Consolation prize!
YOU, TOO, CAN WASTE NEARLY 60 MINUTES ON YOUTUBE RIGHT HERE. Hey, look. You can embed playlists. Here's what's in this one:
- Derek Dooley's media appearance from yesterday, in two parts; and
- This week's Derek Dooley Show, in six parts.
Click on the gray rectangle to select separate videos out of the playlist.