Vols look to dominate early and get meaningful reps for backups against North Texas

In college football, you generally don't ever want to classify an opponent in your division (or perhaps any other division) as a breather, but when you're running a marathon or competing in any other contest of endurance, you look for and take advantage of any opportunity to conserve energy for when you might need it more. The Vols have such an opportunity this week against North Texas.

No offense to the Mean Green, but this game should be about as close to a gimme as you'll see in college football. They are 1-8 against the 56th-toughest schedule in the FBS, their sole win a one-score victory over UTSA. They started the season at 28 on our 5-30 scale and quickly moved to 29 and stayed there. The commentariat has suggested they go ahead and move on to 30, but that's the land of never, and we just don't go there. But we are right across the tracks, and advanced stats give the Vols a 99% chance of beating the Mean Green.

So what do we want to see this weekend in a game like this? Let's see . . .

A no-questions, dominating quarter to a half. Tennessee's starters should come out rolling, roll some more, and then for goodness sake, keep the pedal down until we have a final score with which we can live. We should be well over 40 and holding them to well under 10 by halftime. Tell the starters they're playing half a game, but they have to accomplish an entire game's worth of points and stats in that time.

A second half of the second and third units practicing for the future. I know you don't want to humiliate anyone. Neither do I, but running up the score doesn't necessarily equate to humiliation. We're still not the deepest team, and our second and third string need actual practice reps, not just walk throughs of run plays. College football isn't just a string of games; it's a season, and what we do now matters later.

No injuries. Ironically, as I understand it, the best way to minimize the risk of injuries is to play like you mean it rather than playing at half heart, speed, and strength. That is all.

My prediction? Tennessee 52, North Texas 10.

Here's the comparison chart. Tennessee currently resides at third on the list of toughest schedules. North Texas is 56th. If you're interested in advanced stats, you can find them here (Tennessee's |North Texas's). They predict Tennessee 48.5, North Texas 9.8.

					Comps				Result against Comps		Guess
					Closest Lower		Closest Higher		Closest Lower	Closest Higher
					Team		Team		Team	Team
	Rank	Value	Rank	Value	Rank	Value	Rank	Value
Tennessee rushing offense vs. North Texas rushing defense	29	207.3	120	254.4	None		SC/KY		None	SC/KY	250
					None	None	109/97	208.3/195.3	None	153/249
Tennessee passing offense vs. North Texas passing defense	77	215	117	286.9	None		AR/BG		None	AR/BG	230
					None	None	114/107	283.6/268.7	None	232/205
Tennessee rushing defense vs. North Texas rushing offense	60	162.1	75	165.8	BG		SC/AR		BG	SC/AR	130
					78	163.4	58/41	175.8/192.3	124	152/275
Tennessee passing defense vs. North Texas passing offense	81	239.6	107	180.1	None		SC/GA		None	SC/GA	200
					None	None	99/97	191.3/193.4	None	233/279
Tennessee scoring offense vs. North Texas scoring defense	34	35.1	125	45.6	None		AR/KY		None	AR/KY	52
					None	None	86/82	29.4/28.9	None	20/52
Tennessee scoring defense vs. North Texas scoring offense	58	24.9	117	17.6	None		SC/KY		None	SC/KY	10
					None	None	106/102	21.7/22.6	None	24/21