Tennessee football vs. WVU: Final predictions for Vols and Mountaineers

2. Tennessee football will rush for over 200 yards.

This is how the Vols can win. They want to force turnovers, and they also want a few big plays from their stars at receiver in Marquez Callaway, Jauan Jennings, Brandon Johnson and Josh Palmer. However, the running game will be how they can pull out a win.

West Virginia gave up over 200 yards a game on a regular basis last year. Their rush defense was terrible. Also, it gets tired because the offense scores so quickly. As a result, with a new tough-minded coach in Jeremy Pruitt and an offensive coordinator in Tyson Helton who openly said he wants to play smash-mouth football, this team is going to use the ground game a lot.

Ty Chandler is a proven playmaker at running back. He’s the speed guy. Tim Jordan is the smart guy who has clearly been able to pick up the offense. Then there’s graduate transfer senior Madre London, who has experience in the power-running pro-style system coming from Mark Dantonio’s Michigan State Spartans program.

The combination of the three gives the Vols plenty of options to torch WVU on the ground. London, who was once a four-star recruit, is the guy who brings the power along with four-star freshman Jeremy Banks. As a result, he should be able to do a lot to wear down the Mountaineers.

Add in the big plays of Chandler and the efficiency of Jordan, and it’s clear the Vols should dominate on the ground. Their strategy with uncertainty at quarterback will focus on this as well. So going over 200 while running the ball is almost a must. And yes, it will happen.