Tennessee Vols predicted to pull off 'big upset' in 2022
247Sports recently predicted the biggest upsets of the 2022 college football season and they have the Tennessee Vols as a team printed to do some upsettin'. The national sports publication has the Vols beating the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge on October 8. From 247Sports: Given that this is a home game for LSU, the […]
247Sports recently predicted the biggest upsets of the 2022 college football season and they have the Tennessee Vols as a team printed to do some upsettin'.
The national sports publication has the Vols beating the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge on October 8.
From 247Sports:
Given that this is a home game for LSU, the Tigers will almost undoubtedly be favored to win. New coach Brian Kelly has almost completely overhauled LSU’s roster with a robust transfer class that ranks third in 247Sports’ team transfer rankings. LSU is not without its fair share of questions. The fit with Kelly is weird, to say the least and his hiring of offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock was a head-scratcher.
Tennessee could take a huge leap in 2022 after a successful first season under coach Josh Heupel. While their defense is suspect and could use a huge injection of talent, the Vols are legit offensively. Quarterback Hendon Hooker has Heisman upside if he continues to develop and he gets his top target back in 1,000-yard receiver Cedric Tillman.
I wouldn't be surprised if LSU is favored in this game, since it's in Baton Rouge. But I'm not sure this would qualify as a "big upset".
The Tigers have a new head coach in Brian Kelly that could end up being a total disaster. Kelly isn't a good fit at LSU and there have already been numerous signs that he's going to fail in the SEC.
This is a game that Tennessee should win.
However, on the other side of things, I somewhat understand why this would be viewed as an upset.
The Vols have lost five straight to the Tigers. Tennessee's last win in the series came in 2005 when Phillip Fulmer was still the program's head coach.
If the Vols want to take a big step forward in 2022 and win 10 games, then this is a game they absolutely have to win — whether it's deemed an upset or not really doesn't matter.
LSU has talent — Ed Orgeron recruited well before he was pushed out the door. But will Kelly have all that talent on the same page this fall? It's one of the big mysteries in the SEC this season.
What we do know, though, is that Tennessee is going to put a lot of points on the board when these two teams meet. The Tigers better be ready for a shootout when the Vols visit Louisiana in October.
Featured image via Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
