Early look at Tennessee’s 2015 football schedule: October

Games four through eight on Tennessee’s 2015 schedule are far and away the toughest part of the 2015 schedule.

Back to back games against Arkansas and Georgia, both at home, will show if Tennessee is a serious contender in the wide-open SEC East.

Then comes arguably the most difficult game of the season for Tennessee – a game in Tuscaloosa against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

And a game on Halloween against the improving Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington is not as easy of a contest as it has been in years past.

Here’s how the second part of Tennessee’s schedule plays out:

October 3 vs. Arkansas

After losing his first 13 SEC games, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema finally broke through last November. And then he and the Razorbacks did it again.

Rebuilding a program in the treacherous SEC West is no easy task, and even though Arkansas only finished 2-6 in conference play last season (7-6 overall), the two wins were big ones. Arkansas shut out both LSU and Ole Miss, 17-0 and 30-0 respectively.

The Razorbacks also lost four of their SEC games (Texas A&M, Alabama, Mississippi State, and Missouri) by average of just 5.5 points.

Since 2008, Tennessee has started SEC play 0-2 every season. If a loss to Florida occurs for the eleventh consecutive year, the Vols will be looking to break that streak against the Razorbacks.

Arkansas will bring both a high-powered offense and stellar defense into a matchup that has the potential to be a top 25 clash in Neyland Stadium.

Arkansas’s run heavy offense ranked 26th in the country with 218 yards per game in 2014, while the defense allowed only 19.2 points per game which ranked 10th in the nation.

After Josh Dobbs took over the Tennessee offense in 2014, they averaged 37 points per game. Something has to give.

People who follow SEC football have been monitoring the rebuilding of the Volunteer and Razorback programs, and have questioned which one is ahead of the other. On Oct. 3, they will get their answer.

In 2014, the Vols did not fare well defensively against teams that ran the ball frequently like Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.

Arkansas runs the ball more than those teams, and even though the defensive front seven for Tennessee will be improved, it won’t slow down the Alex Collins-Jonathan Williams running attack enough.

Tennessee’s offense will be able to overcome Arkansas’s defense, but Arkansas’s running game will be just enough for the Razorbacks to win in a shootout.

Early Prediction: Loss (3-2, 0-2 SEC)

October 10 vs. Georgia

Usually, the losses of players like Todd Gurley, Hutson Mason, and Chris Conley would set a team back greatly, but the Georgia Bulldogs will just reload in 2015.

2014 SEC freshman of the year running back Nick Chubb, wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell, and running back Keith Marshall will all be major contributors in 2015.

One of the only uncertainties for the Bulldogs offensively will be the quarterback position. Brice Ramsey, the backup to Mason in 2014, is the frontrunner.

Whoever the Bulldog’s signal caller is in 2015, they will have a lot to work with. Georgia was eighth in the nation in points per game (41.3), and twelfth in rushing yards (257.8) last season.

Those numbers could possibly decline in 2015 though; with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo leaving Athens to take the Colorado State head coaching position.

The Bulldogs will probably be ranked in the top 10 preseason, and if they go 5-0 (which would include a win over Alabama) before they face Tennessee, there is a possibility they could be ranked in the top five, or even number one, when they travel to Knoxville.

If Tennessee is a serious contender in the SEC East, this is a game that they must win.

Georgia (10-3, 6-2 SEC in 2014) will most likely be the favorite to win the East in 2015, but the early October clash with Vols could decide who wins the wide-open division.

Georgia’s running attack is strong, but not as strong as what Tennessee will have faced a week earlier against Arkansas.

The game against the Razorbacks should provide good preparation for this game, even if it’s a loss.

A powerful running game definitely helps, but the uncertainty at quarterback combined with the improvement of Tennessee’s defense will not end well for Georgia.

After coming close to beating the Bulldogs three years in a row, Tennessee will finally break through on their home field and put themselves in a position to compete to win the SEC East.

Early Prediction: Win (4-2, 1-2 SEC)

October 24 at Alabama

Even though they will be coming off a bye week, a trip to Tuscaloosa in late October will be the toughest game of the year for the Tennessee Volunteers.

Alabama is coming off a 12-2 (7-1 SEC) season in which eventual national champion Ohio State eliminated them in the college football playoff semifinals.

Tennessee has lost eight games in a row to Alabama, but showed fight against the Tide last season. After falling behind 27-0 in the first half, the Vols fought back and made it interesting, eventually losing 34-20.

But even though Tennessee played better against Alabama last season, playing in Tuscaloosa is a different story.

2015’s edition of the Third Saturday in October has the potential to be a ranked versus ranked matchup, and winning a high profile game in Bryant-Denny Stadium (a place no Vols team has won since 2003) is not easy.

If Tennessee does win this game, it will be because of the mobility of Josh Dobbs.

Alabama has had difficulty in the recent past with defending mobile quarterbacks. Dobbs rushed for 75 yards against the Tide last season and was highly successful after Nathan Peterman was ineffective.

Alabama is not expected to be as dominant this season as in years past, but that’s not saying much. The Tide have a combined record of 61-9 against SEC teams since 2008.

“Not as dominant” for Alabama is only winning eleven games instead of the customary twelve.

Though the mobility of Josh Dobbs will give Tennessee a shot to win this game, going into Bryant-Denny Stadium for a potentially high-profile matchup will be too much to overcome for UT.

The Vols will lose in Tuscaloosa, but put up a good fight against the Tide.

Early Prediction: Loss (4-3, 1-3 SEC)

October 31 at Kentucky

After coming off of a brutal stretch of games at Florida, vs. Arkansas, vs. Georgia, and at Alabama, Tennessee will get an easier game with a trip to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats.

After starting the 2014 season 5-1, Kentucky awarded head coach Mark Stoops a raise and Wildcat fans started looking for potential bowl game locations.

Kentucky then proceeded to lose its next six games (by an average of 22 points) and miss out on a bowl trip, finishing 5-7 (2-6 SEC).

The low point of Kentucky’s season came during a trip to Knoxville on Nov. 15, when they lost 50-16 and gave up 511 yards to the Tennessee offense.

But despite an awful ending to last season, Kentucky football is trending upward.

Stoops has brought in the 22nd and 39th ranked recruiting classes for in the past two seasons respectively (247 Composite), and Wildcat quarterback Patrick Towles, one of the best returning quarterbacks in the SEC, comes back to lead UK in 2015.

But for Kentucky overall to take a step forward, its defense needs to improve.

The Wildcat defense ranked 95th in the country in 2014 in points given up per game with 31.3. That number increased to 43.8 in the final six games of the season.

Kentucky should be an overall improved team in 2015, and has a great shot to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2010. And the Wildcats would love nothing more than to steal a win against their border state rival Tennessee.

Kentucky will be motivated for a Halloween game at Commonwealth Stadium against Tennessee, but the Vols will come away with a quality road win in a tough environment, and move themselves back into the race for the SEC East.

Early Prediction: Win (5-3, 2-3 SEC)

October Games Opinion:

The success of Tennessee’s 2015 football season hinges on games five through eight of the schedule.

These four games can either make or break the season for Tennessee, and determine if the Vols have enough in them to win the SEC Eastern division crown.

Tennessee has the potential to be as good as 3-1 in this stretch, but could easily go 1-3.

The Arkansas and Georgia games will provide major tests for UT’s rushing defense, and the Alabama game, the toughest game of the season, will be an overall assessment for the Vol football team.

If Tennessee can achieve a record of 2-2 or better in this stretch of games, the Vols will go into November with a chance to win the SEC East.

And if Tennessee goes into the final month of the season with a chance to win the SEC East, the Vols have to like their odds, with a game at Missouri being the biggest test remaining.

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