2014
Tennessee Vols
College Football
Betting Preview
Odds and Schedule
Tennessee has finished 5-7 for three straight seasons and Butch Jones is looking to rebuild the team’s outlook in his second year. Unfortunately, this probably won’t be the year. The Volunteers have just eight returning starters with an entirely new offensive and defensive line. Those are not the ingredients to compete with the top teams in the SEC.
The sportsbooks agree that the Vols have little chance to win a National Tithe in 2014. However, to show you how important it is to shop for the best odds, we’ll show you the prices on the Vols for two of Our Top 3 rated sportsvooks. The first book, 5 dimes has the Vols listed at 225 to 1 to win it all. Meanwhile, sportsbook.ag has them listed at 110 to 1. Both great sportsbooks, Vastly different prices for this prop!
The Vols have three options at quarterback, which could be an ongoing question all season long. Justin Worley has the most experience from a season ago, but he didn’t play extremely well and his year ended short due to a thumb injury. He’ll compete with Joshua Dobbs and redshirt freshman Riley Ferguson. Like last year, they’ll pound the running Game with their read-option offense, but will need to air it out a little more, especially without Rajion Neal (1,124 yards, 12 TDs) in the backfield.
Marlin LAne will take over lead tailback duties, but he’ll also get spelled plenty by freshman Jalen Hurd. One of the only areas they improved in due to experience is at wideout where Marquez North and Von Pearson are the top options. Although one of last year’s top receivers, Alton Howard, took a leave of absence in the spring. The fresh offensive line could be an issue right out of the gates, especially with the tough Schedule.
Tennessee improved slightly on the defensive end last year, but were still outmatched against the better teams on their Schedule. With a new defensive line, that will likely be the case again this year. Linebacker/end Curt Maggitt returns after missing last season and needs to figure in immediately for this defense to be respectable.
The problems get worse when looking at Tennessee’s Schedule. When you throw in how inexperienced this team is as a whole and look at their first five Games, they could be in trouble early.
The Vols get Utah State and Arkansas State at home, and both are bowl teams that are no pushovers. Then they’ll travel to Oklahoma and Georgia before hosting Florida in their fifth Game. That could be one of the toughest opening five-Game stretches for any team in the country. Getting wins out of those first two Games will be vital because otherwise Tennessee could be looking at 0-4 before facing the Gators.
To make matters worse, it doesn’t get much easier for Tennessee opponent-wise. OUtside of that Chattanooga Game, they’ll face a number of tough Games and could start SEC play with five straight losses if they aren’t careful.
since the defense is far from dominant, it’s going to fall on the offense to keep pace. That’s a tall task for a team with so many new faces all around. Don’t expect a bowl Game yet for the Vols, and getting to that 5-7 mark may even be difficult this year.
2014 Tennessee Vols Football Schedule
Aug. 31 vs. Utah State
Sep. 6 vs. Arkansas State
Sep. 13 at Oklahoma
Sep. 27 at Georgia
Oct. 4 vs. Florida
Oct. 11 vs. Chattanooga
Oct. 18 at Ole Miss
Oct. 25 vs. Alabama
Nov. 1 at South Carolina
Nov. 15 vs. Kentucky
Nov. 22 vs. Missouri
Nov. 29 at Vanderbilt