Today On Rocky Top: Should Jalen Hurd Start In Week One?

Sep 7, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones on the sideline against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 52-20. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

From Bleacher Report

"Jalen Hurd has been at Tennessee just a month after enrolling early, and the elite running back signee is turning heads in Knoxville.Once he’s 100-percent cleared from the shoulder surgery that caused him to miss most of his senior year, the 6’3″, 230-pound tailback will surge to the top of the depth chart this spring and start for the Vols over Marlin Lane on Aug. 30 against Utah State.People around the football team are gushing about Hurd already."

From FoxSports.com

"Tennessee lost to Florida, 67-58, on Tuesday night. There’s no shame in that loss, but it crystallized what’s likely to be the third straight season of NCAA futility for Cuonzo Martin’s Vols.Cuonzo’s a nice guy, no one dislikes him, I wish he’d won, but you can’t spell Martin without NIT. It’s time to acknowledge that Cuonzo isn’t getting the job done.Namely, this is three straight seasons when Tennessee had NCAA-caliber talent and the SEC was awful, and three straight seasons of underwhelming performances ending in the NIT. Next year’s team will be worse, so this isn’t about needing more time for everything to jell. This year represents the peak of Martin’s Vols. And this year is the worst yet; the Vols are 6-5 in a god-awful SEC with the best win of the league season being on the road at LSU, a team that doesn’t crack the top 50 of the RPI."

From TN Sports Radio

"Tennessee head coach Butch Jones has an opportunity to send a strong message. He should seize the moment.When a handful of Vols were arrested on Saturday night, it broke an impressive streak of zero off-field issues since Jones’ hiring in December 2012. It’s important to commend Jones, his staff and his players for that before dwelling on last Saturday.Such a streak of good behavior is something that any big-time football program would be proud of. It shouldn’t be forgotten and surely excites UT fans about the future of the program.However, that streak was indeed broken when several Vols decided to attend a party in which the police were eventually called three times. Yes, three times. Playing around with the police seems like a dangerous game to play with so many underage players and students drinking."