Pandemonium Reigns
Episode 164 - Can Tennessee come out 5-0 on Saturday?
[Intro Music] Tennessee travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas, this Saturday night, 7.30 kickoff, 6.30 central time. Will the balls come out of this thing undefeated? Will they walk out of this game by the node? I want to talk about this because I still believe, sticking in my guns, that this is very much a trap game. It's very much a trap game. I'm Dan, this is Pandemonium Reigns. Thank you so much for taking your time to hang out with me as we talk Tennessee, traveling to Arkansas. Now, I want to recap just a little bit the reasons why I think this is a trap game. So far, in Hypo's time, he's lost a game every year in Tennessee that he shouldn't have. 2023, Florida, 2022, South Carolina, 2021 Pit, and this one screams the trap game. Some of you guys have commented on the previous video saying, "It's Florida. This is not a trap game. Kentucky is the trap game." I'm just going to be hard pressed to disagree. Stan Pittman's fighting for his job. Here's my point. They have the dudes in order to pull this off, and they're reaching the place of desperation. Not to mention the fact that there is a very real world where in this current week, Arkansas is actually undefeated. They found a way to lose in still water. And they found a way to lose in Dallas last week against Texas A&M. How much longer is that pattern going to continue? Bear a real world where that pattern does continue, and Sam Pittman is no longer the helm for the pigs. That world very much exists. But there is a real possibility where there's a world that does exist where that's not the conversation, you're seeing cue the jukebox videos from Sam Pittman in the locker room where the hogs are trending all over again. Look what they've done in the pool by getting Taylor and Green and whatnot and Jacqueline and Jackson. That world is very much alive, or excuse me, very much could be alive. I mean, it's a very real, real possibility. So for the Tennessee fans who are dismissing this and looking on to Florida and looking on to the Bama game, we're going to go into Bama undefeated. I'm just telling you, as a fan, it's a mistake. Not in the sense of, you know, we're the ones that have to get ready for the game. We're not the ones playing the game. We can look ahead, whatever. It's wrong in the sense of, don't get your hopes up. There's a real world where this can go south, where this thing cannot turn out the way that you want it to. I don't care how strongly you feel about something. How strongly you feel about something doesn't make it truth or reality. To be so confident in something doesn't make it truth or reality. That's not how truth and reality work. The truth and reality is Arkansas is a few plays away from being undefeated, just a few. And there's still a conversation out there. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with it, where Tennessee hasn't played anybody. Okay. Fine. Whatever. I want to talk through some of the reasons why I think this game could be problematic. What are the match-ups to look for, but I'm just telling you, as a fan, I'm just telling you as a fan, one fan to another, especially of all fans. How many times do we have to do this to ourselves? Let's not look ahead. There is a reason that Fowler and Herb Street are calling this game. It's a marquee game. I mean, I mean, it is. This is a big deal. It's a big-time match-up. Again, one more time before I move on. The real possibility where we can come out on the losing end of this thing, okay? I'm not going to pick it. I'm not going to pick it. I'm just telling you, I believe that this is a real possibility. Don't go jumping in the comments. Once the game is over, if we win by 40, 50, 60, whatever, which I think is a possibility as well, saying, "Oh, look, told you, it's not my point, it's not my pick, it's not my pick." Okay? I'm just telling you, as someone who has worn pads before, as someone like you who loves this game and watches this game religiously, how many times during a college football season? How many weeks do you text your best friend, your friend who is also a lover of this sport, and you say, "Click over to this one. Look what's happening here. This team is about to pull this off. Did anybody anticipate Appalachian State beating Michigan in 2007? Did anybody, even under Jeremy Pruitt, as wretched as we were, as god-awful as we were, did anybody pick Georgia State in 2019, stop it. It's why you play the game, okay? There were some matchups there that night that really led to some serious problems that we couldn't figure out. The final answer was the Georgia State win in Knoxville. I get it. Not the same team. I've seen those in the comment section as well. Not the same team. I get it. I'm not picking it. I'm telling you it's a real possibility. Here are some matchups that I think you need to be paying attention to, that I think are going to have a strong determining factor in the conclusion of this game. I think there are two major matchups that are going to highly dictate the outcome of this game. Just two of them. Just two of them. I'm going to give you those two, and then I'm going to talk about what I think Tennessee has to do in order to win this game. The first thing that I think you need, the matchup that I think you need to be paying attention to, is Taelyn Green versus Tim Banks. Taelyn Green versus Tim Banks, so far. Taelyn Green has not necessarily been good under pressure, 1200 yards, pretty dang good. In five games, five touchdowns, five picks, five touchdowns, five picks. If you look over that A&M game, he didn't handle pressure well. He didn't handle pressure well. Some were saying that he hasn't handled the transition from Boise to Arkansas yet. The lights are brighter, the lights are bigger, the stages, the stage is bigger. Maybe that's the case. Maybe he's still getting acclimated. Which Tennessee fans, how many times have we given the guy who has it done anything all season, given them their Heisman moment? Hello, 2022, Spencer Rattler, like let's not do this again. Let's not do it again. I'm just trying to prepare your hearts. That's all. I just want to prepare your heart. I'm a pastor. I want to prepare your heart. I want to prepare your heart. Taelyn Green is an athlete. He can put zip on the ball. He's got a pretty deep ball. His problem is currently in this stage of his football career and in the stage of this football season, not handling pressure well. So if I am Tim Banks, I'm sending it from different avenues. I told you going into the Oklahoma game with Jackson Arnold at the helm, get pressure with four. I think if you can get pressure with four, I don't think that you really need to iron out anything else. I think that can do it and win it of itself. Just get pressure with four. I don't think that translates directly over to this Arkansas game. I think it's going to play high into our favor if Tim Banks can dial up different pressures. He's been known to but safeties, blitz corners, you know, and there are going to be times where he does need to just send four. Let Omari Thomas, Bryson Eason, James Pierce, Haleb Herring, and company, let them work. Let them eat. Let Joseph's get his, let them do it. We have that kind of a position room, of a D-run room. We have that. But he's not handling the pressure well. So what I really think you need to do is send the pressure from everyone. Let him constantly be guessing on where this is going to be coming from. The second thing, the second matchup that I'm watching, and this one is the one that really concerns me. Because the Oklahoma game showed you. How do I want to describe this? The Oklahoma game showed you that we can't mask this. We can't disguise it. And Arkansas has dudes, specifically a dude on the edge as a pass rusher. So the matchup to watch Dane Davis versus whoever's in front of him. Hopefully, Dane Davis doesn't have to play. Heard was not listed on the injury port this week. Name went down. Hopefully that is all in the rear of the mirror. But stuff like that, those weird stories, they don't necessarily just go away. I'm going to expect to see Dane Davis on the field. I'm going to expect him to line up a tackle. That makes me worried. I like him. I love that he has stayed committed to us, even with his struggles last year. I'm rooting for him. I want him to do well. I want him to lock up whoever's in front of him. But so far, he hasn't done it. And a good pass rusher, an elite pass rusher, like they have in Arkansas and landed Johnson problem. And I want to say that I'm actually getting his name wrong. But number 40, okay, number 40, pretty sure it's landed Johnson. Guys elite, I believe Kyper has them as the second best defensive end prospect going into what will be this coming NFL draft. That is a position that can impact the game, impact the outcome of the game, impact the final score of the game. All fans, let me take your attention to Derek Barnett and how much he saved us on the defensive side for the time he was in orange. He was so quick off the snap, so quick at creating pressure. He's, I mean, he beat Reggie White's record, impacted the game. If I'm Arkansas and if I see Dane Davis, I don't care what play was already called. We're arranging the D line and 40 is now over Dane Davis period, and he is pass rushing period end of story. That's what we're doing. So from the Tennessee perspective, we need to know where he's lined up at all time at all times. Know where 40 is lined up. Where is 40 on the field? He can impact this game. He can help determine the outcome. I know that sounds kind of cliche, well, yeah, all of them can kind of, he can really do it. He's going to have, can have a lot of impact on this thing, a lot of impact on it. Don't allow him to do that. All right. If you need to go into more max protect situations, more 12 personnel situations, which is great because we now have more tight ends that can do that. We've showed that against NC State. Love it. And truth be told, I like Hyples match up against him. I like Hyples ability to play call his way out of a poor man, Zane Davis. But we didn't necessarily do it against Oklahoma. All right. Those, I mean, I mean, go back there in your mind. We had, he allowed two turnovers, luckily the defense turned it right back around. Is that sustainable for the defense to do that? I don't think so. I don't think so. All right. And Michael Hawkins showed us that a mobile quarterback can give us problems. Maybe we were, we weren't expecting it. Maybe we weren't ready for it, whatever. I would say this Jackson Arnold is not exactly a statue. So I mean, we were preparing for it some, right? Are you, are you going to tell me we have it prepared for the scramble drill? I mean, like, that's, that's nonsense. That's, that's nonsense. Every, every team does this, okay? So that's the match up. Those are the two match ups that I'm paying attention to. Him Banks versus Tailing Green and whoever's lined up over Dain Davis, hopefully we don't see Dain Davis, hopefully at tackle, it's John Campbell and Lance Heard and then it's no longer an issue. Here's what I think we need to do to win this game. Let's get back. Ah, that's poor terminology. That's poor phrasing. Let's play the Tennessee way we know to play under high pole. Let's go fast. Let's go tempo. Let's put points on the board because I don't trust Arkansas, Halen Green, Quinn and Jackson to be able to match it. I don't necessarily like as much a, a, a short scoring defensive game where the scoreboard is not quite as lit up if, if, if, if Arkansas, if I'm them, I'm, I'm looking at us. I'm saying if we can keep Tennessee at 21, 24, maybe 27, I think we've got a chance to win this game. So do the thing that we know to do under high pole, put points on the board. Let's, let's, let's, let's draw first blood. Let's get up fast. Let's create some three and outs. Let's, let's create some turnovers, right? And let's put points on the board. Don't. I love our defense. Who saw, who saw our defense coming? I mean, I think we knew we were going to be much improved going into 24 with a 10 base defense, but I don't know that we saw this, right? Statistically, we're killing it. I think the much matter, the much smoother path to victory is being the 2022 offensive Tennessee that we know. If I'm them, I'm Arkansas, I'm going to make Niko pass to Venus. He, seven touchdowns, two picks, eight hundred and ninety yards on the year. I mean every Tennessee fan has seen this so far, right? But if I'm Arkansas, I'm like, like, we can't let them get balanced. We can't let them get a play ahead. We can't, we can't let them get us flat-footed and start backpedaling, right? We can't, can't, that cannot happen. So I say, make it happen, get them, get them, get them backpedaling, like continually to push them up against the wall, let high pull cook in his play calling, let him dial it up. All right. So again, two big match ups, two big match ups that I'm watching for, 10 bakes versus tailing green, and whoever is lined up over Dane Davis is, that's, I can determine an outcome. It really, really can. And I would say, let's get back to offensively the Tennessee that we know. All right. It's going to be, if, if that does happen, let me say this before we close things out. If that does happen offensively, don't be upset with our defense. Well, where did our defense go? Well, we're putting up more points on the board, which means the defense is pulling more snaps. All right. You can't just sustain that, right? Not a video game. It's not artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence. These are real bodies, real people, right? Discovered actually this week through social media. The reason that we fake an injury after, after those P.A.T.s, it's because we've scored too quickly, it's because we scored too quickly and we're trying to give our defense like another 90 second rest, all right? So let's be the Tennessee that we know. Let's put points on the board. Let's score. Let's score fast. I think Nico is capable of that. I think, I think Nico is far better at, at, at leading and managing this offense and the tempo than Joe was. I think that's why we saw a significant slowdown in pace in 23. I would like to see that see us pick that back up. I would really like to see this can return because I would like to know, I would like to see it with my own eyes, that Hyple is looking at these different football games, which every game is different, every game unfolds differently. All the match ups, all the scenarios are totally different from one another. Every game unfolds in its own unique way, but I would like to look at this and go, okay, so Hyple can look at a game and he can dissect it and say, here's what we have to do to win this game. Here's what we have to do to win this game. Here's what we have to do here. He can diagnose it in the moment, and he can attack it, and he can execute it. I've got all the trust in Josh Hyple at this moment, and as Mike so beautifully said, riding an apology to Tim Banks, he has far exceeded our expectations and we are all gaining more trust in him. I have more trust in our roster than I do Arkansas. I like the talent gap that favors us. We are far more talented. There's so many things that scream at Tennessee when here, but there's a few things that if you've put on pads before, or if you've watched this game for a decent amount of time, you have to look at this and go, there's some concerns there, all right? A good coaching staff will recognize those things, they will coach their team through it, it helps that we're coming off a bi-week and they are not that they're coming off a difficult, heartbreaking loss to arrival yet again, right? A lot of things play into our favor, but this is why we love this sport. It has the unexpected. We love it when it's somebody else and not us, right? It has the unexpected. It's got the drama, it's got the pageantry, the tradition, the history, the joy of victory, the heartbreak of defeat, it has it all, it's got it all, it's why we love it. Here it is, here it is obviously the moment that you have all been waiting for, Tennessee, 13 and a half, where did the over undergo, whatever, can't find it, not sure it's going to matter, 13 and a half, final pick is this, I'm going to take Tennessee to win this game and I'm going to take them to cover, I like where our trajectory is. We are, who I think we are, we've all been proven wrong before, we are who I think we are, which is solid on defense, able to score, how we want to, when we want to, whenever we want to. I think we are those things, I hope I'm not wrong, but here's to the vaults going into fayetteville and getting a win in fayetteville, something they have not done since 2001. Now we've only played about eight times, nine times since then, too many, time to break that, time to end that streak, both ends, this is a, this is a, this is a Arkansas team that is better than their record, that is better than their record. If it goes south, don't be surprised, but here's to the vaults, winning by 50, my name is Dan, this is pandemonium reigns, I just want to say thank you so much for taking your time to hang out with me, as we talk. Tennessee Arkansas, one more time before, toe meets leather comes Saturday night, seven thirty eastern, six thirty central, balls by fifty, baby, let's make it happen. I love you guys, again thank you so much for hanging out with me, hit like, hit subscribe, have a great and wonderful weekend, God bless, go balls. Pandemonium reigns. [Music]