Big Orange Roundtable - Week 2

The Big Orange Roundtable continues this week - you can check out all the contributing blogs anytime in the links column to your right, and check back here throughout the week each time, where we'll be linking to everyone's answers on this post. All of us read and encourage your comments on all of our sites as we answer these questions, so feel free to play along...

With that said, here's Week 2, with the questions coming from The Power T:

1. A position of strength for the Vols this fall should be wide receivers. Which 2 guys will emerge from the pack to start the opener against UCLA alongside Lucas Taylor? Why?

Gerald Jones is the wild card here - Dave Clawson said this in part of an interview that Third Saturday also mentioned: "Who’s our go-to wideout? Is it Gerald Jones or is it Lucas Taylor? Lucas was hurt during the spring. He nor Austin Rogers were out there, so you really don’t know until you get to preseason practice."

Now, I know we're trying to get the ball to the playmakers...but let's keep something in mind:

TENNESSEE 2007 RECEIVING STATS
Lucas Taylor - 73 catches, 1000 yards, 5 TDs
Austin Rogers - 56 catches, 624 yards, 4 TDs
Josh Briscoe - 56 catches, 557 yards, 6 TDs
Gerald Jones - 11 catches, 111 yards, 1 TD

Now, if you're into this sort of thing, you could take those numbers and make a bad joke about Gerald Jones being "The One". Or you could realize that Jones got a lot of publicity for the G-Gun, one catch at Kentucky and all of his potential...but the on-field result shows three guys who are all proven threats and will demand respect from the defense when they're on the field together. Jones I think will ultimately be a much greater factor in the 2008 offense, from both the G-Gun and the WR spot. But right off the bat in the first game of the season? I think you'll see Rogers and Briscoe alongside Lucas Taylor to start things off.


2. Which game on the schedule do you, as a fan, need Tennessee to win for your own sanity and happiness? Why?

Florida - but not because they're our divisional rival or our "most important game". And let's be clear: Alabama is the Eternal King of Tennessee Football Rivalries.

But the Gators have won three straight against the Vols. Bama's win hurt last year; Florida's hurt more - the 59-20 woodshed treatment was the worst loss the Vols have taken in my lifetime. And it seems like just when we got comfortable with Florida, winning three of four from 2001-2004 after the Gators took seven of eight, now they're one win away from rightfully asserting that "own" word on the Vols. And plus, it means Urban Meyer is still undefeated against Phillip Fulmer.

Losing to Bama will always hurt, and if we do we'll have to deal with more Nick Saban propaganda I'm sure. But if the Vols can't bust this Florida streak, it's going to feel just like old times around Knoxville. And I for one would like to be rid of my fear of Florida once and for all.


3. What are your thoughts on the 8-win clause in Coach Fulmer's new contract that automatically rolls his contract over another year if he wins 8 games in a season?

If any of us passionately defend this, I'll be stunned.

I don't care that the contract makes us a punchline among SEC and even national circles...though I'm sure that'll be used against us in recruiting as a poster for mediocrity. And I do like Fulmer and always have, have never called for his head and like the idea that he can, in turn, use the contract to ensure recruits that he'll still be around.

But here's the thing - if the Vols do win just 8 games a year, after about two years of that, we're all going to be screaming for Fulmer's head.

And what's more - and this is the part that makes absolutely no sense to me - it's below the standard. Fulmer averages 9.5 wins a year. I've read that the contract says "eight wins in the regular season" - okay, well Fulmer averages 8.8 wins a year in the regular season. So we're rewarding him for doing worse than usual?

Even if this thing said "9 wins a year", I'd be uncomfortable with it. I like him as our coach and hope he gets to stay as long as he wants, both because I feel he's earned it and because I think he's still good at everything involved with being the head coach at the University of Tennessee...but this contract doesn't make any sense and lowers the bar, which I'm always against. Hopefully, we stay north of 10 wins and this doesn't become an issue. But if it's 8-4 in 2008, this becomes expensive gasoline on the fire.


4. What is your favorite gameday recipe, whether for tailgating or in your own kitchen? Explain why in delicious detail.

Offering the single guy perspective...let's just say I don't have many delicious details. And since I've been 3.5 hours east of Knoxville for the past two seasons and always have to leave right after the game to come back home, I usually work with a shorter time window on Saturdays and almost never tailgate.

The best recipe in my own kitchen would be to pick up the phone and call Calhoun's, and pick it up a half hour later. Because that is the one place I miss the most among Knoxville eateries, and anytime you're there on the river it feels like football.


5. You have a tag team championship match against the Legion of Doom coming up. Which current Volunteer do you choose as your tag team partner? Why?

Rico McCoy, and here's why:



If it were wrestling, we'd call that "the spine on the pine."


Check out the Week 2 responses directly from:
- The Power T
- Third Saturday in Blogtober
- YMSWWC
- Moondog Sports
- Rocky Top Talk
- Gate 21
- Fulmer's Belly
- Losers with Socks