Early look at Tennessee’s 2015 football schedule: September
- Wyeth Wilson
- Apr 12, 2015
- 5 min read

Coming off their first winning season since 2009 and a second consecutive top five in the nation recruiting class, Butch Jones and the Tennessee Volunteers are poised to take the next step in the rebuilding of a storied program.
The 2015 schedule will lend no favors. Nine of Tennessee’s 12 regular season opponents finished with winning seasons in 2014.
Here’s how the Vols’ schedule shakes out:
September 5 vs. Bowling Green (in Nashville)
After UAB dropped their football program, Tennessee was left scrambling for an opponent to open the season with at LP Field.
Bowling Green filled in, and the Falcons are no easy task to open the season.
Bowling Green finished 8-6 (5-3 MAC) in 2014 and competed in their conference championship game. Their 2014 season included a win over the Big Ten’s Indiana and a victory in the Camellia Bowl.
The Falcons return their leading passer (James Knapke), leading rusher (Travis Greene), and leading receiver (Roger Lewis) to lead a high-powered offense that will give Tennessee’s defense an early test.
Although the offense was a success in 2014, Bowling Green’s defense was nothing special.
The Falcons defense was 108th in the FBS last season, allowing 33.5 points per game. Josh Dobbs and Tennessee’s offense like the sound of that statistic.
Nashville and LP Field should be packed with Volunteer fans for the beginning of the much-anticipated 2015 season, and UT will most likely start the season 1-0 before a huge game against Oklahoma the following week.
Early Prediction: Win (1-0)
September 12 vs. Oklahoma
When a young Tennessee team traveled to Norman, Oklahoma last season (a 34-10 loss), they weren’t quite ready to compete with a team as talented as the Sooners.
This season they will be.
Oklahoma started the 2014 season with lots of promise. They were ranked number four in the preseason, coming off a Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama.
But the ending to the Sooner’s season went much differently. They dropped three of their last five games, including a 40-6 loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl to finish 8-5 (5-4 Big 12).
Despite quarterback Trevor Knight returning in 2015, Knight’s poor ending to the season has made the offseason quarterback battle something to watch.
Texas Tech transfer Baker Mayfield has the most potential of any of the quarterbacks on Oklahoma’s roster to beat out Knight.
Tennessee’s main downfall against Oklahoma last season was the Vols’ offensive line against the Sooner’s defensive front.
The offensive line was the obvious weakness the entire season for Tennessee, but Oklahoma especially exposed it, sacking Justin Worley five times and forcing one fumble.
The mobility of Dobbs combined with more experience on the offensive line for the Vols should flip the battle in the trenches in favor of Tennessee in this season’s edition of the game.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Vols played admirably on the road against a good Oklahoma offense last season, and should play even better this season against an offense that has lost much of its luster from 2014.
In the end, you can never underestimate the intimidation factor of a packed Neyland Stadium in the eyes of a visiting team. Neyland should be sold-out for the first home game of 2015.
On the second week on the 2015 season, 102,455 screaming Tennessee fans will see their beloved Vols beat Oklahoma and burst onto the national scene to set the stage for an exciting 2015 season.
Early Prediction: Win (2-0)
September 19 vs. Western Carolina
After a potential big win seven days earlier, Tennessee needs to be wary of a let down performance.
Western Carolina finished 7-5 (5-2 SoCon) in 2014, and don’t be surprised if they hang around early with the Vols. In a 48-14 loss to Alabama last season, the Catamounts hung around late into the first half before the Tide pulled away after halftime.
But Western Carolina is still an FCS team, and lost to Chattanooga 51-0, a team Tennessee beat 45-10.
If Tennessee can win their first two games, this game will be an opportunity to start 3-0 for the first time since 2004.
Josh Dobbs and Tennessee’s offense should have no trouble moving the ball on the Catamounts, and this one will be pretty much over by halftime.
Early Prediction: Win (3-0)
September 26 at Florida
Despite just winning 11 games in the last two seasons combined, the Florida Gators (7-5, 4-4 SEC in 2014) have been able to do one thing consistently – beat Tennessee.
Florida has beaten Tennessee ten straight times, and last years clash between the two teams especially hurt for Vol fans.
The Vols had a sellout, checkerboard clad crowd behind them, possessed a nine point, fourth quarter lead, and held the Gators scoreless until 13:40 remaining in the game.
But Tennessee still managed to lose the game, 10-9.
Despite having significantly better teams than the Gators in each of the past two seasons, Tennessee just can’t seem to break through against Florida.
Even with an undefeated record against the Vols, Will Muschamp was fired in 2014, and former Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain took the reins.
McElwain is a good coach, and probably will eventually get it done at Florida, but his first season could possibly be another rough one for UF.
Tennessee fans will probably say once again, that in 2015 it will be their year to beat Florida. And they could be right.
The problem in recent losses to Florida has been a lack of offense, something that this UT team will have plenty of.
But picking Tennessee to beat Florida every year is just madness. Tennessee just simply finds ways to lose against the Gators.
It will also be a challenge for a still-young Tennessee team to play in their first true road game of the season.
Walking out of Neyland Stadium after the terrible loss to UF in 2014, I promised myself that until the Vols ended the streak against Gators, I would never pick UT to win (like I have done in losses in 2011, 2012, and 2014).
It's tempting to pick the Vols since the Gators will once again be beatable, but Tennessee has to stop the streak before that pick can be made.
Early Prediction: Loss (3-1, 0-1 SEC)
September Games Opinion:
The first third of Tennessee’s 2015 schedule is not as difficult as in years past, but is still one of the tougher front ends of a schedule of anybody in the country.
Tennessee probably won’t be any worse than 2-2 after this stretch, and also has a real possibility at going 4-0.
Fans should learn a lot about UT in the first four games.
The game against Oklahoma will indicate whether or not the Vols can handle themselves in a big game – something most of their roster has not been a part of.
The late September matchup in Gainesville against Florida will show if Tennessee is able to win in a hostile environment like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The first four games of the schedule will give somewhat of a preview into the second third of the schedule – by far the hardest month on the schedule.
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