by Ross Coleman - Contributing Editor
September 11, 2009 01:20
This weekend the Bruins travel to Knoxville to take on what could be considered their biggest SEC rival. This will be the 15th matchup in the history of the two schools. Currently Tennessee holds a seven wins to five edge over the Bruins with two ties. The first meeting was in 1965 under legendary coach Tommy Prothro. Since their inaugural meeting the schools have not gone longer than 11 years between meetings.
Last year the Vols came to Pasadena ranked 18th in the county ready to take on the Bruins who were coming off an interesting offseason coaching change. The Bruins came out ready to play and upset the Vols 27-24 in overtime.
This year the Vols will be looking for revenge against the Bruins. Neyland Stadium, where the Vols play their home games, will provide quite a hostile environment for the Bruins because of its 102,037 seat capacity.
So lets go position by position to take a closer look at the matchup.
Quarterback:
At quarterback the Vols have senior Jonathan Crompton. Last year Crompton struggled through out the year and was eventually benched. But he seems to have turned it around this year throwing five touchdown passes in a week one win, albeit against Western Kentucky which was playing it's first division 1 game. But bear in mind that Crompton threw only four touchdowns all of last season. But Crompton also turned the ball over twice on interceptions against a bad defense. How will he do against one of the best defenses in the country?
For the Bruins redshirt freshman Kevin Prince looked good last week. Not perfect, but good. However, that game was at home in front of 50,000 fans against a team that went 2-10 last year and was starting under a new scheme this year. This week Prince will have his first collegiate road start in one of the toughest places to play in the country against an all-American safety who has been know to intercept balls.
Edge: Vols
Running Back:
The Vols had a successful running game last week that saw both starting running back Monterio Hardestry and touted freshman Bryce Brown both eclipse the 100 yard barrier. The running game should be good for the Vols all year. Last year they seemed to abandon the run against the Bruins despite having early success. This week the Vols will be going against a better run defense but if their big linemen open holes look for them to have success.
The Bruins also had a fairly successful running attack last week. Gaining over 140 yards on the ground behind their young line and with their young running backs. This week will be more difficult for the Bruins to run, but it is tough to say how well the line will do against the Vols Tampa 2 defense.
Edge: Vols
Offensive line:
The Vols offensive line is stacked with upperclassmen and experience. Nearly everyone on the line is close to or over 300 pounds. And most of them are Juniors and Seniors. They should be a talented group that gives Crompton time and opens holes for the backs. But they said that last year too and the Bruins had success getting to Crompton and making sure he was never comfortable. This should be a fun match up to watch.
As for the Bruins, last week the young offensive line struggled with the 3-3-5 scheme that SDSU was employing. Not knowing where the rush was coming from was a tough task for this talented but young group. This week the Vols will be running a pretty straight forward scheme that does little blitzing and relies heavily on the defensive line to generate pass rush. To be honest I like the chances of the Bruins line to give Prince time to throw.
Edge: Push
Defensive line:
The Vols defensive line is talented but unproven, much like the Bruins offensive line. They are quick, not big, and will be relied upon to generate enough pressure on Prince that it takes pressure off the rest of the defense.
The Bruins defensive line is one of the strengths of a great defense. Brian Price will be difficult to block in the middle along with Jerzy Siewierski. At end the speed of Korey Bosworth teamed with the strength and quickness of Datone Jones will be difficult for the Vols to keep up with. If they have time to rest between drives, I think the line will do well against the Vols offensive line.
Edge: Bruins
Linebackers:
The Vols return defensive stalwart Rico McCoy at linebacker after a big season a year ago. McCoy will need to play a good game in order to out play the Bruins talented set of linebackers. If the zone scheme employed by the Vols takes the linebackers far enough from the line of scrimmage it is going to be a long day for the Vols defense.
Last week the Bruins linebackers showed why they are being labeled as the best group in the Pac-10. Reggie Carter looks bigger and plays like the senior leader he is. Kyle Bosworth looked happy to be back and ready to hit. Akeem Ayers looked like the budding young star he is. As long as the Bruins don't have to sub much on defense, the linebackers will be making plays all day.
Edge: Bruins
Secondary:
The Vols have one of, if not the best safeties in college football. Last year the fact that Eric Berry didn't win the Thorpe Award was a travesty. Berry will be a top five NFL draft pick when he comes out. And he is surrounded by plenty of talent in the Vols secondary. They could make it a very long day for Prince much like they did a year ago for Kevin Craft when they intercepted him four times.
The Bruins have an answer for the Vols secondary and Berry with their own talented secondary and Alterraun Verner. Verner will shut down whoever he is guarding. Rahim Moore showed last week that he is ready to be a star. The only real question marks are Courtney Viney, who is starting in place of the injured Aaron Hester, and Andrew Abbott the nickle corner who looked a little shaky last week.
Edge: Push
Special Teams:
Last year special teams for the Vols lost them the game. A blocked punt gave the Bruins a touchdown and a missed field goal in overtime gave them the win. The Vols return kicker Daniel Lincoln who missed that game tying kick a year ago. Lincoln can be a consistent kicker but not to the same extent as his Bruin counterpart.
The Bruins looks surprisingly good on special teams last week with a couple long returns, good kick coverage, and a block kick and score combination. Kai Forbath is one of the best kickers in college football. He will be a factor one way or another.
Edge: Bruins
Coaching Staff:
Head Coach Lane Kiffin has been making headlines since day one in Knoxville. But he has quietly amassed a great coaching staff behind him to back him up. His father, long time Tampa Bay defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin comes in to coach the defense. Former head coach at Ole Miss Ed Orgeron comes in as a defensive line coach. He seems to be taking the same approach that Rick Neuheisel took a year ago for the Bruins.
Neuheisel and Offensive coordinator Norm Chow have had a year of recruiting and teaching to get the team to be better than the 4-8 record a year ago. It seems that they are a year ahead of Kiffin and his staff at Knoxville but time will tell.
Edge: Push
Overall:
I think this is going to be a closer game than the experts think. If the Bruins can come in confident and unfazed by the huge Neyland crowd and if they don't turn the ball over, they will have a shot in this one. Also a special teams play will come into factor the outcome of this game as well. But as of right now I see it 34-31 Vols.