jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
(11) Tennessee -41 over UTEP:
The currently ranked #11 Volunteers (8-2) return to Neyland Stadium after a tough loss to then #12 last week 31-17 at Sanford Stadium. Knocking the Volunteers out of the playoff spot but not close to totally eliminated yet, ironically #12 Boise St (9-1) now has the inside track of grabbing an at-large bid. It wasn't anywhere in Tennessee's expectation to foil on a 10-0 first quarter lead, especially after Miles Kitselman ran it in from a yard out to score, his only carry of the contest that saw the Vols build a 10-0 lead. However, Carson Beck (25/40 347 2 TD) then got the Bulldogs going in the second quarter throwing back to back scoring passes to Oscar Delp (4-56 2 TD) of 19 and 4 yards respectively giving Georgia a 14-10 midway through the second quarter. Dylan Sampson's 27-yard run gave the Vols back the lead 17-14 before Peyton Woodring's 36 yard field goal tied the game at the half. The Georgia defense pitched a shutout and Beck scampered 10 yards to paydirt that gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. Beck ran for 33 yards on 3 carries (11.0) overall. Nate Frazier capped the scoring on a 2 yard run (19-68 3.6 1 TD) and Georgia moved up in the rankings to #10 winning their 5th in the last 6 games. Nico Iamaleava (20/33 167) was a non-factor in the second half as was Dylan Sampson outside of his TD run (19-101 5.3 1 TD) a lot earlier. Georgia outgained Tennessee 453-313 and recorded 24 first downs to Tennessee's 20. Meanwhile, UTEP (2-8 2-5) stopped their 2 game losing streak by edging Kennesaw State 43-35 in OT. Scotty Locklear (28/33 327 4 TD) threw 2 TD in overtime to Kenny Odom (8-108 3 TD), one from 2 yards and the game winner from 16. A close game marred throughout the second half, the Owls (1-8 1-4) took a 35-28 lead in the first OT thanks to Davis Bryson (14/25 180 2 TD 2 INT) from 25 yards to Qua Ashley (4-52 1 TD) which wound up short lived. Trey Goodman caught 12 passes for 150 yards but could not find the end zone. Both teams were held under 120 receiving yards.
Iamaleava (163/253 2044 11 TD 4 INT) got off to a rousing start the first 3 games of the season looking dominant and disciplined before injuries to the offensive line and backfield helped cool things off as SEC play became a factor. Donte Thorton Jr. (20-505 4 TD) has seen his productivity drop off as has McCoy (31-395), leading in receptions but has failed to find the end zone thus far. Sampson, however, has been a one-man wrecking crew on the ground (220-1232 5.6 21 TD) but has put up some astounding scoring numbers. The loss against Georgia stopped a 5 game winning streak and have made the Volunteers look tighter and somewhat vulnerable inside the SEC. However, they should be able to run things up on a CUSA team struggling all season. Averaging nearly 39 ppg, the Vols are 12th in the country allotting 457 total yards on average, including 10th in the nation in the ground game. UTEP surrenders nearly 31 ppg, and ranks 100th in rushing yards allowed giving up 172 on average, despite in the top 60 at 213 when it comes to passing defense. Nate Dyman and Dorian Thompson are tied with a team leading 74 tackles overall. Maurice Westmoreland has 6 sacks out of26 team wise overall, while Hopkins and Lance Russell each have 3 each of a team high 11 picks overall. The defense is not so much to say a slouch, but given Tennessee has momentum after a tough loss looking to get back in the playoff picture, it will take a herculean UTEP effort just to stay with arm's distance.
Locklear (126/188 1356 9 TD 5 INT) easily had his best effort of the season last week in a highly inspired win. Odom (37-662 7 TD) has top ranks in receiving yards and TD, but is just 3rd on the team in receptions. Jevon Jackson (160-650 4.1 2 TD) is the only workhorse to play all 10 games in the backfield, as the latter Ezell Jelly (62-244 3.9 1 TD) have suffered key injuries limiting their ability as well as their availability. UTEP is averaging only 19 points per game, and has struggled allotting on average 350 total yards while in the bottom 15 on offense overall. The Vols only surrender 14.3 ppg, and allow only 290 total yards on average, including 7th against the run with only 101 yards on the ground. Arion Carter has a respectable 54 tackles to lead the team. James Pearce Jr. has 6.5 of his team's 23 sacks. and Will Brooks has 4 of his team's 9 picks, an area that head coach Josh Heupel may need to look at when it comes to beefing up the secondary.
It may not seem like a ton of inspiration with critics potentially expecting an otherwise blowout scenario in a one-sided affair likely on the field as well as on paper. The Volunteers have had some issues scoring consistently, but their defense has been great and should really limit UTEP’s time of possession. This is going to be one of those matchups where on both sides of the ball, look for Tennessee to take out their frustrations in what was an important game last week when it came to their otherwise playoff position to be intact but only by threads given about what happens to their foes still vying for position. Hence a lot of matchups early in their schedule, the Vols were taking care of business. However towards the end of their campaign, it will be in some cases lucky and fortunate to somehow battle for a chance as games come down to the wire within the schedule,
I'll have a second selection coming up before Saturday.
The currently ranked #11 Volunteers (8-2) return to Neyland Stadium after a tough loss to then #12 last week 31-17 at Sanford Stadium. Knocking the Volunteers out of the playoff spot but not close to totally eliminated yet, ironically #12 Boise St (9-1) now has the inside track of grabbing an at-large bid. It wasn't anywhere in Tennessee's expectation to foil on a 10-0 first quarter lead, especially after Miles Kitselman ran it in from a yard out to score, his only carry of the contest that saw the Vols build a 10-0 lead. However, Carson Beck (25/40 347 2 TD) then got the Bulldogs going in the second quarter throwing back to back scoring passes to Oscar Delp (4-56 2 TD) of 19 and 4 yards respectively giving Georgia a 14-10 midway through the second quarter. Dylan Sampson's 27-yard run gave the Vols back the lead 17-14 before Peyton Woodring's 36 yard field goal tied the game at the half. The Georgia defense pitched a shutout and Beck scampered 10 yards to paydirt that gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. Beck ran for 33 yards on 3 carries (11.0) overall. Nate Frazier capped the scoring on a 2 yard run (19-68 3.6 1 TD) and Georgia moved up in the rankings to #10 winning their 5th in the last 6 games. Nico Iamaleava (20/33 167) was a non-factor in the second half as was Dylan Sampson outside of his TD run (19-101 5.3 1 TD) a lot earlier. Georgia outgained Tennessee 453-313 and recorded 24 first downs to Tennessee's 20. Meanwhile, UTEP (2-8 2-5) stopped their 2 game losing streak by edging Kennesaw State 43-35 in OT. Scotty Locklear (28/33 327 4 TD) threw 2 TD in overtime to Kenny Odom (8-108 3 TD), one from 2 yards and the game winner from 16. A close game marred throughout the second half, the Owls (1-8 1-4) took a 35-28 lead in the first OT thanks to Davis Bryson (14/25 180 2 TD 2 INT) from 25 yards to Qua Ashley (4-52 1 TD) which wound up short lived. Trey Goodman caught 12 passes for 150 yards but could not find the end zone. Both teams were held under 120 receiving yards.
Iamaleava (163/253 2044 11 TD 4 INT) got off to a rousing start the first 3 games of the season looking dominant and disciplined before injuries to the offensive line and backfield helped cool things off as SEC play became a factor. Donte Thorton Jr. (20-505 4 TD) has seen his productivity drop off as has McCoy (31-395), leading in receptions but has failed to find the end zone thus far. Sampson, however, has been a one-man wrecking crew on the ground (220-1232 5.6 21 TD) but has put up some astounding scoring numbers. The loss against Georgia stopped a 5 game winning streak and have made the Volunteers look tighter and somewhat vulnerable inside the SEC. However, they should be able to run things up on a CUSA team struggling all season. Averaging nearly 39 ppg, the Vols are 12th in the country allotting 457 total yards on average, including 10th in the nation in the ground game. UTEP surrenders nearly 31 ppg, and ranks 100th in rushing yards allowed giving up 172 on average, despite in the top 60 at 213 when it comes to passing defense. Nate Dyman and Dorian Thompson are tied with a team leading 74 tackles overall. Maurice Westmoreland has 6 sacks out of26 team wise overall, while Hopkins and Lance Russell each have 3 each of a team high 11 picks overall. The defense is not so much to say a slouch, but given Tennessee has momentum after a tough loss looking to get back in the playoff picture, it will take a herculean UTEP effort just to stay with arm's distance.
Locklear (126/188 1356 9 TD 5 INT) easily had his best effort of the season last week in a highly inspired win. Odom (37-662 7 TD) has top ranks in receiving yards and TD, but is just 3rd on the team in receptions. Jevon Jackson (160-650 4.1 2 TD) is the only workhorse to play all 10 games in the backfield, as the latter Ezell Jelly (62-244 3.9 1 TD) have suffered key injuries limiting their ability as well as their availability. UTEP is averaging only 19 points per game, and has struggled allotting on average 350 total yards while in the bottom 15 on offense overall. The Vols only surrender 14.3 ppg, and allow only 290 total yards on average, including 7th against the run with only 101 yards on the ground. Arion Carter has a respectable 54 tackles to lead the team. James Pearce Jr. has 6.5 of his team's 23 sacks. and Will Brooks has 4 of his team's 9 picks, an area that head coach Josh Heupel may need to look at when it comes to beefing up the secondary.
It may not seem like a ton of inspiration with critics potentially expecting an otherwise blowout scenario in a one-sided affair likely on the field as well as on paper. The Volunteers have had some issues scoring consistently, but their defense has been great and should really limit UTEP’s time of possession. This is going to be one of those matchups where on both sides of the ball, look for Tennessee to take out their frustrations in what was an important game last week when it came to their otherwise playoff position to be intact but only by threads given about what happens to their foes still vying for position. Hence a lot of matchups early in their schedule, the Vols were taking care of business. However towards the end of their campaign, it will be in some cases lucky and fortunate to somehow battle for a chance as games come down to the wire within the schedule,
I'll have a second selection coming up before Saturday.
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