Episode 157: No. 1 Vols still chasing history
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a week that featured double-digit wins over Missouri and Florida and the challenging stretch run coming in the next few weeks. Saturday’s 73-61 win over Florida extended Tennessee’s program-record winning streak to 18 games, and the Vols controlled most of the game — as they did in Tuesday’s win over former Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin and his Missouri Tigers. There’s plenty of Tennessee basketball to discuss at the moment, and this episode hits on several of those important topics: Yves Pons’ injury...
info_outline
Episode 156: Vols surge on National Signing Day
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a big National Signing Day and provide thoughts on Tennessee’s full class — a class that looks a lot better now than it did Tuesday night. Tennessee had a decent class heading into National Signing Day, but the Vols closed with a bang, landing five-star West Virginia offensive lineman Darnell Wright and four-star California linebacker Henry To’oto’o, the nation’s top two uncommitted prospects heading into the day. A big finish helped the Vols surge to the No. 12 spot in the 247Sports...
info_outline
Episode 155: Top-ranked Tennessee flexing muscles again
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a Tennessee basketball team that suddenly looks more comfortable with the top spot in the polls and everything that comes with it. After looking a bit uneasy at times in their past three games, the Vols went to South Carolina and controlled the Gamecocks — and a hostile, sellout crowd — in a 92-70 win that had just a few moments of shakiness early in the second half. Junior guard Jordan Bowden missed Tuesday’s game with a sore knee that started bothering him during that morning’s shoot-around, but the...
info_outline
Episode 154: Recruiting cycle winding down, heating up
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down all things Tennessee football heading into the final stages of the 2019 recruiting cycle. There aren’t many spots left in Tennessee’s class, but there are several elite prospects still showing significant interest in the Vols, and this episode ends with a detailed discussion with Callahan on some of those prospects. Actual team news hasn’t been tough to spot in the past week, either. Tennessee safeties Charles Kelly accepted a position on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff, meaning the Vols are...
info_outline
Episode 153: Vols not satisfied despite No. 1 ranking
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a historic week for the Tennessee basketball program. The Vols overcame a dreadful second half to outlast rival Alabama over the weekend at Thompson-Boling Arena, and that coupled with losses by Duke and Michigan took Tennessee from the No. 3 spot to the No. 1 spot in both major polls for just the second time in program history. A special group of players took their lumps early in the Rick Barnes era, and now they’re rolling under future Hall of Fame coach Rick Barnes — who became just the sixth coach in...
info_outline
Episode 152: Red-hot Vols seeking Crimson Tide revenge
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down Tennessee’s wild, come-from-behind win at Florida over the weekend and the Vols’ 106-87 thumping or Arkansas on Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. A healthy Lamonte Turner has teamed up with fellow junior guard Jordan Bowden to give the Vols a heck of a powerful punch off the bench, and now a deep and dangerous Tennessee team is starting to look even deeper and more dangerous. The Vols are now ranked second nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency ranking, behind only Gonzaga...
info_outline
Episode 151: Welcome home, Tee Martin
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a newsy week for Tennessee football highlighted by the return of Tee Martin to Knoxville. Martin, the starting quarterback on Tennessee’s 1998 national championship team, has flirted a few times with the idea of returning to his alma mater, but second-year Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt was the man who finally got him to pull the trigger and do it. Known as one of the top recruiters in the college football world, Martin most recently served at USC’s offensive coordinator but became available...
info_outline
Episode 150: Vols steamrolling early SEC foes
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down third-ranked Tennessee’s torrid start to SEC play and talk about this weekend’s usually-tough test at Florida. Virtually every team in virtually every sport virtually every season has to overcome adversity and play through some rough spells, but things at the moment are looking smooth for the Vols, who entered SEC play looking like the league favorites and have done nothing but enhance that status, winning at home against Georgia and then at Missouri by a combined 70 points. Mizzou actually held a nine-point...
info_outline
Episode 149: Welcome back, Jim Chaney
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down Tennessee's offensive coordinator coup. Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s 44-day search for an offensive coordinator took longer than most on the outside expected, but it ended in style. Pruitt plucked Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, who coordinated some explosive offenses at Tennessee from 2009-12 but wasn’t retained by Butch Jones. Chaney’s track record of producing explosive offenses and sending several players to the NFL continued during his time at Arkansas, Pittsburgh and...
info_outline
Episode 148: No. 3 Vols begin SEC play
GoVols247 Podcast
GoVols247's Wes Rucker and the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Mike Wilson (pinch-hitting for Grant Ramey) went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down all things Tennessee basketball heading into the start of SEC play this weekend. Tennessee will begin its conference-title-defense tour with a Saturday home game against Georgia, and there are several interesting topics to discuss heading into SEC play. Is this Tennessee team as good as it looks, or are there potential problems lurking in the weeds? When will Lamonte Turner return? If Turner doesn’t return soon, do Rick Barnes and his staff need to...
info_outlineGoVols247's Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan and Patrick Brown went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down Tennessee's SEC-opening, 47-20 loss to Florida and the Vols' Saturday trip to Georgia for a game against the second-ranked Bulldogs.
Florida, another proud program in rebuilding mode, was considered one of the more winnable games on this season's SEC schedule, but ... welp. The Vols turned the ball over six times and lost a game that probably will make it tough for Tennessee to secure bowl-eligibility in Jeremy Pruitt's first season.
Saturday's game at Georgia marks the beginning of the nastiest part of Tennessee's schedule. After facing the Bulldogs — who came agonizingly close to winning the national championship last season — they'll play at 10th-ranked Auburn, at home against top-ranked Alabama and then go back on the road to face a South Carolina team that opened the season in the polls and might be back in the polls at that point.
Things get a little more manageable after that, but it's tough to see another SEC game this season where Tennessee will open as the favorite in Las Vegas.
First thing's first, though: Georgia.
We take a look back at the Florida game in this episode, but we pivot — PIVOT! — back to Georgia pretty quickly, and then we discuss the reasons things might get better and the reasons things might not get better this season.
At this point, what's fair to expect from this team this season? We don't dance around it. We discuss the good, bad, the ugly and fugly.