Event Details
- What: Tennessee vs. Oregon
- When: Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010, 7 p.m.
- Where: Neyland Stadium
- Cost: $60
- Age limit: All ages
Tennessee Stat Book
My first reaction to Oregon's 59-0 halftime score last Saturday: Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton bought off the wrong school.
This summer, Hamilton saved UT from the terrifying prospect of having to play North Carolina in 2011 and 2012 by throwing more money at the Tar Heels than rogue agents have spent on Marvin Austin. Wouldn't those buyout bucks have been better spent on the Ducks?
I'm not suggesting Hamilton should have wired money to the Oregon athletic director at halftime of the Ducks' 72-0 victory over New Mexico. It was too late by then.
This could have been resolved in 2008 when the potential threat was already apparent (the Vols were 5-7; the Ducks were 10-3). UT could have bought out Oregon and brought in a more suitable Florida warm-up act - like New Mexico, for example - and this weekend could have gone as smoothly as last week's 50-0 victory over Tennessee Martin.
Oregon 27, Tennessee 17: Excuse my provincialism, but I usually expect SEC teams to prevail in matchups such as this.
It's not just a matter of too many miles and too much humidity for West Coast guys. It's also a manifestation of my SEC superiority complex, which - after four consecutive national championships - is no longer just a widespread regional condition.
But I've got enough self-awareness not to let provincialism get in the way of facts.
One fact: UT has lost three consecutive games to Pac-10 teams, including one to maybe the worst team in UCLA history.
Another fact: Oregon is more talented and more experienced.
If the Ducks are as overconfident as Cal in 2006 and Neyland Stadium is as loud, a UT upset isn't out of the question. It's just not likely.
Florida 30, South Florida 13: Gators fans should come up with a new drinking game.
They could take a drink every time center Mike Pouncey makes a perfect snap in the shotgun formation. The best thing about it, they still would be capable of driving home by the end of the game.
South Carolina 24, Georgia 20: This might be the toughest game to predict all season since you don't know how many players from either team will be suspended between this writing and kickoff.
Best Bet: Georgia running back Washaun Ealey won't be driving the team bus from the hotel to the stadium.
Second Best Bet: Bulldogs fans didn't get the Weslye Saunders rate at the Whitney Hotel on Friday night.
Alabama 30, Penn State 10: The preseason consensus: Alabama had the two best running backs (Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson) in the SEC. That was before we got a load of redshirt freshman Eddie Lacy in the season opener.
The Tide might have the three best running backs in the SEC.
LSU 20, Vanderbilt 17: The Tigers aren't exactly roaring after beating the North Carolina Replacements. So you have to wonder how they will fare against first-teamers.
Look for an intriguing fourth quarter in which LSU coach Les Miles' remedial clock-management skills will be matched against a program that's more self-destructive than Lindsay Lohan.
Kentucky 38, Western Kentucky 10: In losing 21 consecutive games, the Hilltoppers have quietly established themselves as the most consistent football program in the country. No. 22 could be worth it if they can pick up a couple of recruiting tips from John Calipari while they're in Lexington.
Ole Miss 45, Tulane 20: Good thing for the Rebels they couldn't decide on a new mascot for the season opener. He never could have lived down a loss to Jacksonville State.
Wonder if Houston Nutt can?
Arkansas 56, Louisiana-Monroe 14: The Warhawks play an unorthodox 3-3-5 defense under new coach Todd Berry. They will need a 4-4-6 to stop the Razorbacks.
Top 25: Ohio State 27, Miami 21; TCU 45, Tennessee Tech 0; Texas 41, Wyoming 10; Nebraska 42, Idaho 14; Iowa 30, Iowa State 17; Oklahoma 34, Florida State 27; Wisconsin 38, San Jose State 7; Virginia Tech 38, James Madison 10; Georgia Tech 30, Kansas 20; Southern California 45, Virginia 17; Utah 38, UNLV 13; Stanford 27, UCLA 20.
Last Week's Results: 22-1 (.956) overall, 5-8 (.385) against the spread.
John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Softball: Tennessee 2, Georgia 1
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 112
volfan112 writes:
The real Adams is back. Doom and gloom. I knew his recent streak of good, optimistic articles would have to come to an end soon.
acarr13 writes:
what a pus
tnsportsman writes:
Hell Adam why doesn't Tennessee just forfeit all the games this year, LOL.
Big Orange 35 & ducks 31, won real late in the game!
GO VOLS, WE ARE UT!
crzyivan writes:
You Sir (Adams) are a Crack Baby! I am not a UT fan but I do pull for any SEC team playing outside the conference. I basically live in a house divided! I have been reading a lot about the Oregon Crack Babes also and all I have to say is welcome to the SEC. You have no tradition and no honor! After what I have read and heard from Quack Heads you will loose. If you do happen to end up in a National Championship game you will loose cause you don't have the heart to survive an SEC beating no matter which of us end up there.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
according to Mr. Pac-10 (from tennesseeinsider.com) the Ducks are favored by 21 points. No one west of the Miss. expects this to be close.
10ECMATT writes:
adams needs to be ran out of town on a rail. How does he get to post this? He and corso should get a room, at the ncaa, together. Go Vols!!!!!
bigorangenerd writes:
Why do people even read anything he writes?
jobrando#216494 writes:
Watch the gators fall this week. I agree the pac-10 has got the VOLS number but these new coaches may give you a surprise.
HarryHood writes:
I share your optimism, but I think a UT win will occur more in the first half. I have a feeling the Ducks will own the second half; we need a nice lead at halftime to win...
10ECMATT writes:
adams is full of "natural gas".......
Big_Orange writes:
Buying out is the wrong way to handle it. Going forward we should just schedule weaker teams.
LaneBrains writes:
YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING 'Worst UCLA Team in school history'???? Monte (dad) told us before the game that there we several guys on that team he thought could go toe to toe with just about any Jr. College team.
When are you going to stop deflecting the attention from the cheating Urban, Mark, and that Cheating wus at Ucla by attacking Monte, inventor of modern football defense, Ed, the best damr recruiter in history of USC and Miss....and me who has been head coach at 3 of the best jobs on the planet...ok 2 of the best...
Get your head out of the clouds Johnny...
Ayres_Hall writes:
Adams is worthless. No wait, he's hopeless.
orangecountyvols writes:
112,
Your words are almost exactly what I was going to say.
Adams appeared to be turning the corner somewhat recently, but we should have known all his compliments were going to be short-lived.
He's baaaacccckkkkk! True to form, a smart **** comment about buying out Oregon.
Better idea would be to buy out Adams and wish him well on his return to Louisiana. You do realize why he and Hyams were made 'honorary' coaches in the O & W game. Adams' feelings were hurt because he didn't know what was going on over at U T and so they had to pacify him.
Anyway, that first post was very accurate and Volfan112 nailed it.
GBO against Donald and Daisy
volsfan74 writes:
I agree BB maybe we can pass a hat around Neyland tomorrow and take up a collection to buy out Adams contract!
SFOrange writes:
These Ducks have too much.
Oregon 41 UT 14
pspink22 writes:
adams you have no clue what you are talking about. you wouldn't last being the athletic director for a girl's middle school. hamilton has done a tremendous job as our ad.
utrxlax writes:
OH GOD!!! Someone didn't pick the Vols to win!!! Seriously, he's a writer. Quit B$%^$ing just you don't agree with his view. Just because he covers the hometown team doesn't mean he has to choose them to win regardless. He speaks the truth; in order for the Vols to win, Oregon needs to come in overconfident for the Vols to pull the surprise. Guess most can't handle the truth.
ballavol20 writes:
u write for a tennessee website none of us on here wanna have to read ur dumb phooey bashing ut all the time we would go to espn.com if we wanted to read something like tht go on somewhere mr. adams ur worthless
10ECMATT writes:
Wrong rxlax. He is a hometown writer, yes. He does not have to agree, true. He may live in Tennessee but his heart is not here. He will cry like a baby if he does not get the prime material from the team. If he wants to write negative op-ed pieces, he can do it elsewhere. Find another paper to pay him.
shipperman#280095 writes:
I love the Big Orange, win or lose, but the Ducks will likely take us out quickly. They will likely score early, and often
VolsToTheWall writes:
its no use dude, the majority of people on this site are the blind fans who don't ever step outside there orangeblooded brain to see the actual facts. Adams is a frank matter-of-fact writer and that just gets under a lot of peoples skin. I love him as a writer. He's hilarious. Yeah, he's dark and doesn't always tell us what we want to hear, but he doesn't just make stuff up or write things that aren't true. He writes the truth, just in a different (again, hilarious) style. The good thing is there's enough people who know that...the bad thing is, i can't read an article on here by him and look at the comments without seein all this
10ECMATT writes:
volstothewall, you don't have to look.
mjaichele#464960 writes:
Adam's is a Woody Paige wannabe, but he does come up with some funny stuff now and then. If Dooley wins this game, he is one helluva coach, and even if they lose, he still is gona be a great coach. Dooley was a great hire, and we should all thank Hamilton for getting him.
tovolny writes:
Well, I was right. I told my wife last week that I bet Adams will come out with a "should have bought out Oregon" smirk. And by golly here it is. I was just trying to be funny with my lady, but she barely smiled and asked why I even bothered reading GVX. I said well Erin Chapin and one of the Ward guys report on what's happening without editorializing.
With what is happening now in UT BB, Adams will go buy an up to date thesaurus and bang UT and Bruce on a daily basis. He came up with " provincial", can you believe this. He is still striving to be hired by ESPN.
And one last thing...I am taking bets that no UT kick off from the 30 will go beyond the 10 yard line. Sad isn't it. Sad, real Sad. But I still love the VOLS and will be watching every snap and hoping for the best. Go BIG Orange!!!!
VolsToTheWall writes:
aw com'on....you gotta look
57TexasVol writes:
Anyhting can happen in Football on Saturday but...REALITY CHECK;
37-10 Ducks. There's less depth and experience than the last two years.
VolsToTheWall writes:
even though i just defended adams, there's no way he could consistently make up enough one liners for woody paiges chalkboard
OrangeAppeal writes:
Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Adams: If you were as critical of yourself as you are of UT, you would be the best sports editor in the nation.
But, we all know that's not the case.
CoverOrange writes:
Did you rolled on the floor laughing after readin his Picks Panel each week? Hilarity he ain't. And what gets under our collective skins is his opinions which are not fact and the fact that he seems to revel in putting down UT.
SocalDuck writes:
Yeah...just imagine if the line had opened at 30...but dropped to only 25. Sure a nail biter!!! :)
TennVolAlum writes:
I've been called a "pessimist" (aka realist) by some folks on here, but I'm afraid Mr. Adams takes the cake with this story.
I'm all about realizing the vols are in a rebuilding period, but to post some "spit" like this the day before kickoff???? KNS---what in the world are you thinking?
Fire John Adams.....Hire Wes Rucker.
CoverOrange writes:
BTW, what kind of math is this:
Last Week's Results: 22-1 (.956) overall, 5-8 (.385) against the spread.
"I got'em all right except for the ones I missed!!!"
BigBadVol writes:
And Adams is still an idiot!!!
VolsToTheWall writes:
i thought the florida thing was pretty funny....
gaj619 writes:
Did anyone else notice this Adams boy jumped around at the beginning of this article like a frog leg in a greasy hot skillet. I say we give him a pass on this one because he may be gettin' his 'corn from a jar'.
10ECMATT writes:
That's true. I only look to see what new crapp he is writing. At least you, and others post comments. Keeps the fires going. Go Vols!!!!!!
EverybodyDuck writes:
Lighten up, he was being humorous, he knows we wouldn't have taken the money.
It is only a game.
10ECMATT writes:
Sure you would. More jerseys, socks, and eyeliner from nike. And you don't even have to get beat. That's a deal even a duck couldn't pass up.
myers2324 writes:
ncaa just sent a letter of inquiry to knox news to investigate bad articles done by ADAMS
movol77 writes:
Good grief. At least write something worth reading. Lazy?
RJ_Vol writes:
Adams, please stop doing quack.
SocalDuck writes:
We don't need the money, supported by a little sports company based in Portland which has, well...a little bit of cash.
And certainly, we won't lose. This trip makes tons of sense for Oregon. Almost an automatic win, against a team that's supposed to be a good team in an excellent conference. Kind of like playing Michigan State or Iowa State, why would we take money to get out of that?
SocalDuck writes:
You are all calling out Adams, and honestly I don't get it. Seemed to be a column that made sense: First, his Florida comments (presumably you hate them, I assume, if you still consider them a rival?) are hilarious, he predicts a somewhat close game (less than the spread) vs Oregon.
But most of all, if Oregon wins by 20, 30 or more, and his well-written article is on target...are ya'll gonna come back on here and recant?
Or...is it just about wanting a homer columnist who says UT is going to win, no matter who they are playing?
10ECMATT writes:
A lot of teams have had the same idea coming to Neyland Stadium. Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Cal. Sounds like good teams there. You have more of a game coming than you expect. Lil' bit of cash and fancy costumes won't matter. Grow up.
jarvol writes:
I'm pretty sure Adams was referring to the 2008 UCLA team. They were horrid but then again it didn't take much to beat Fulmer, Chavis, and the Clawfense.
Don't let your blind hatred for Kiffin obscure your objectivity. God knows there isn't any excess objectivity in Knoxville. Oregon is a 12 point road favorite for a reason.
RJ_Vol writes:
TrojanMallard. Adams loved Kiffin. Glad you all get to hang w/ the cheater. Couldn't stand Kiff from day one. My score for tomorrow is 48-24, Oregon. Seven 40 pt games in the PAC 10(or 12) last year gets my attention. Though, I once watched an Auburn team w/ Bo Jackson come strolling into Neyland w/ similar numbers. They were down 38-0 in the third before they woke up. Ducks may be the top team in the country. They have a shot at the NC. What are the Ducks wearing tomorrow?
rockytopatl writes:
No Matt, you are wrong. UTrxlax (is that a Big Orange laxative?) has it exactly right. Adams' heart has nothing to do with it. He's picking winners and NOBODY in the media is picking the Vols this week. I thought we would be an upset special, but even the people who usually like us aren't buying this week. Nobody thinks we have the talent or the depth to win. I think that gives us even more of a chance to be the big upset. It increases the chances the Ducks will be fat and happy when they waddle into Neyland.
As for Adams, the man is not a fan and isn't supposed to be. He's just doing his job as a newspaper columnist. He has a scoreboard to keep, a season-long tally, and he can't burn what he sees as an easy pick just to keep the hometown fans happy. (And to give you a little journalism lesson, oped pieces aren't in sports. They are on the page that faces those boring editorials you never read.)
DannyVol writes:
Hey, I suppose any score is possible because no one knows after last week's marshmallows, but you just can't post that score with "Orange" in your name.
rockytopatl writes:
Did you know Woody went to UT? He was a Beacon sports editor. He's a great guy and despite his objectivity in print, he roots for Tennessee every week. That does not keep him from bashing us in print, which is his job when we deserve it.
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