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Tennessee football: 5 reasons Vols can upset WVU

By Caleb Calhoun

LEXINGTON, KY - OCTOBER 28: Daniel Bituli #35 and Nigel Warrior #18 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate a recovered fumble against the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY - OCTOBER 28: Daniel Bituli #35 and Nigel Warrior #18 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate a recovered fumble against the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images /

Tennessee football is a pretty solid underdog against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Here are five reasons the Volunteers can pull off an upset.

It’s no secret to anybody that Tennessee football has very limited expectations heading into this season. As a result, by opening the season against the West Virginia Mountaineers, it’s a pretty safe bet for most people that they’ll be 0-1 soon enough.

We’ve already gone into detail why this is a bad match-up for the Vols. There are numerous issues facing them in this game that will be incredibly hard to overcome. Vegas, and now Delaware, New Jersey and Mississippi agree. It’s why the line has WVU as a nine and a half point favorite.

But could Tennessee football pull off the upset? Yes, they absolutely could. It would take a miracle, but for all the issues facing the Vols, West Virginia has some of their own. In fact, their issues could potentially run deeper.

A win in Charlotte to kick off the season would be amazing for Jeremy Pruitt and his program on Rocky Top. We wrote on Wednesday that it would completely reset the outlook for the Vols’ season in a good way.

Now, we also said that some factors won’t matter. For instance, West Virginia’s injuries are meaningless. Two freshmen buried in the depth chart and a backup cornerback missing this game will mean hardly anything.

And it’s true that West Virginia’s passing offense with Will Grier going up against the Vols’ defense, which is transitioning to a 3-4, is a terrible match-up made even worse with the uncertainty at cornerback. So yes, there is plenty of reason to be pessimistic about this game.

However, maybe there is some cause for optimism. Pruitt’s team is probably going to lose on Saturday, but they could definitely do the unthinkable. Let’s take a look at why. Here are five reasons Tennessee football could upset the West Virginia Mountaineers.

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