The Tennessee Volunteers and the Oklahoma Sooners are two teams on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Oklahoma is an established team that is a threat to win the national title this season. Tennessee, on the other hand, is working hard to get back to national prominence.
And while the Vols are well on their way back to being a team that competes yearly for the SEC East crown, they’re still a little ways off. That’s why it’s no surprise that Oklahoma is a 20.5 point favorite against Tennessee this Saturday.
No one, essentially, is giving the Vols a chance to win.
You can count me among those folks.
It’s nothing against Tennessee. I like what I’ve seen from them so far this season.
But Oklahoma isn’t Utah State or Arkansas State. This is a team that could possibly go undefeated this season. The Vols just aren’t in a place where they can consistently compete with a team like the Sooners.
Of course, it’s a good thing for Vol fans that writers and media personalities aren’t the ones taking the field on Saturday night in Norman, OK (for a lot of reasons).
While we aren’t giving the Volunteers much of a chance, the team itself is expecting a W.
Senior quarterback Justin Worley knows it won’t be easy, but he also knows you can’t put a game (or team) like this on a pedestal.
"Worley: You can’t get caught up in the crowd, or the stadium and all the lights and everything. It’s just another week for us, it just happens to be on the road."
Redshirt junior center Mack Crowder took it a step further, saying that a win isn’t too “farfetched”.
#Vols junior center Mack Crowder: “Being 3-0 is our goal, and right now we don’t see that being too farfetched."
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) September 10, 2014
If Tennessee has any plans to pull off a huge upset on Saturday, they’ll need plenty of confidence. It looks like they’re not lacking in that department.
The Vols will also need consistent leadership. That’s another area where they don’t seem to be lacking.
Crowder praised Worley’s leadership, saying “Overall, for the whole team he’s a great leader. He brings a good mentality every day. He says this our time to step up and win some games”.
Worley, for all of his ups and downs, has been through a lot at Tennessee. He’s dealt with adversity. He’s suffered through brutal losses. But he’s also played in some hostile environments on the road. This is nothing new for Worley.
Bascially, Justin Worley is the perfect guy, at this time, to lead the Volunteers.
Tennessee might not pull the upset on Saturday night in Norman, but make no doubt about it — winning is the clear expectation in week three.