AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > September > 13
Thursday, September 13, 2007
How badly does Fulmer need to beat Florida?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five burning questions as we head towards Saturday:
1. How badly does Phillip Fulmer need a big road win? Fulmer has won 80 percent of his games at Tennessee but the Vols haven’t had a huge upset road win in a while. The only way to calm down the critics is to go on the road and win a game that most folks think you’re not going to win. I’m talking about a signature win like 2001 at Florida or 2003 at Miami. Fulmer could use one of those. If Tennessee loses in The Swamp the stat you’ll see the most next week: Tennessee will be 15-12 in its last 27 games.
2. Will Les Miles EVER talk about it? Every day between now and the end of the season somebody, somewhere is going to speculate that Miles will leave LSU and become the next coach at Michigan should a change be made in Ann Arbor. He’s smart by saying “I’m not going to talk about it.” Nick Saban got tired of hearing questions about Alabama and so he talked about it. He still regrets it. I don’t think it’s a done deal that Michigan will call Miles. But if the alma mater calls, he’ll listen. And he’ll be in a good position to negotiate if the Tigers play for the BCS championship.
3. What will be the over and under for Kentucky-Louisville? Louisville gives up 42 to Middle Tennessee State. Kentucky gives up 324 yards rushing to Kent State. Great quarterbacks on both teams. Can you say the first team to 50 wins? It may take five hours to play this game.
4. Is the ACC going to get a meaningful non-conference win? Miami gets ripped by Oklahoma. Virginia Tech gets hammered at LSU. Wake Forest plays valiantly at home and loses by three to Nebraska. Virginia loses at Wyoming. North Carolina loses to East Carolina. N.C. State loses to UCF. Georgia Tech beats Notre Dame but this season a LOT of people are going to beat Notre Dame. There are two opportunities coming up. West Virginia is at Maryland tonight. That’s a long shot for the Terps. Florida State goes to Colorado on Saturday. Colorado’s not very good but league needs to win one of these intersectional games. People are starting to challenge the ACC’s manhood as a football conference.
5. If Arkansas wins Saturday, will Houston Nutt’s critics finally shut up? There has never been a coach who wanted to start playing games this season more than Nutt. He’s 1-0 going to Alabama on Saturday and the only way to answer the critics is to keep winning. If Arkansas wins in Tuscaloosa, will that put an end to the Mitch Mustain affair? If the Hogs are 5-0 when they host Auburn on Oct. 13, will THAT do it? If he’s 8-0 when South Carolina comes to Fayetteville on Nov. 3, will that do it? I’m just wondering how long this fan base is going to be divided over one kid.
