GoVols247: A Tennessee Volunteers athletics podcast

GoVols247’s full staff — Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown, Ryan Callahan and Grant Ramey — convened from various homes in the Knoxville area through the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss Tennessee football’s 30-7 win over UAB and the start of Tennessee basketball season.

It wasn’t the prettiest performance Saturday night at Neyland Stadium, but there’s no such thing as an ugly win for Tennessee football at the moment, and the Vols’ 30-7 win over UAB got them one step closer to securing bowl-eligibility — something that didn’t seem plausible when the team stumbled to a 1-4 record heading into the teeth of its schedule.

Tennessee’s offense never really clicked against an UAB defense that’s ranked near the top nationally in most major categories, but Tennessee’s defense and special teams more than made up for that. The Vols forced four turnovers — three of them interceptions from sophomore cornerback Bryce Thompson — and got a huge performance from junior kicker Brent Cimaglia, and they had a 30-0 lead before backing off and playing reserves for practically the entire fourth quarter.

An overall game recap — the highs, the lows and everything in between — is the main focus of the first segment.

Quarterbacks — who else, right? — take center stage in the second segment, as the Vols’ odyssey with Jarrett Guarantano, Brian Maurer and J.T. Shrout took another interesting turn against the Blazers. A discussion on all things quarterback and where the Vols go from here with that is the primary talking point.

This also was a big weekend for Tennessee recruiting, though, with some really important visitors — including five-star Las Vegas tight end Darnell Washington — in town for official or unofficial visits. Ryan, as usual, has the latest scoop on all things recruiting to cap the second segment.

After a brief concussion on football chatter to start the third segment, basketball takes center stage down the stretch. Tennessee clearly is furious with the NCAA consistently throwing up roadblocks for 7-foot-1 redshirt freshman Uros Plavsic to play this season, but the Vols are still fighting for the big Serbian and plan to exhaust every appeal to get him on the court. Tennessee’s reasons for being so adamant that Plavsic be allowed to play this season are discussed in detail, and then discussion shifts toward what the Vols need to do if the NCAA doesn’t cave at the last minute and allow the big man on the court.

With or without Plavsic, Tennessee’s regular season tips off Tuesday night against UNC Asheville, so there’s plenty of basketball to discuss, and this episode does just that.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Thursday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s full staff — Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown, Ryan Callahan and Grant Ramey — convened at Fort Rucker Studio and then Thompson-Boling Arena to discuss plenty of Tennessee football and basketball topics heading into a big period for both programs.

The first two segments of this episode are focused on football, with Wes, Patrick and Ryan convening in Fort Rucker Studio to discuss Jeremy Pruitt’s rapidly improving Vols. The first segment is a preview of Saturday’s game against better-than-you-think UAB and how concerned the Vols should be heading into a matchup with the 6-1 Blazers. It also features an update on Tennessee’s situation at quarterback — where two of the team’s three scholarship players have recently suffered injuries — and some injury updates on key players on both lines of scrimmage.

Answers to questions from GoVols247 subscribers on The CheckerBoard is usually the third segment on the Thursday morning podcast, but a tweak to the schedule bumped that up to the second segment this week. As always, there were some interesting questions from members of the best online community of Vols fans on Planet Earth.

The third and final segment of this episode was recorded courtside at Thompson-Boling early Thursday morning, with Wes and Grant breaking down the good, the bad and the in-between from Tennessee’s 107-59 win over Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday night. The game ended at approximately 9 p.m. Eastern, but after postgame interviews with coaches and players, writing stories, shooting and editing video and editing photos, Wes and Grant waited a few minutes after the final out of Game Seven of the World Series to regather courtside and discuss the game we’d just covered.

Was there some good on display Wednesday night? Sure. Was there some head-scratchers on display? Sure. Does all of this look incomplete without the presence of Uros Plavsic, who’s awaiting word from the NCAA regarding his eligibility status for this season? Sure.

Bottom line: There was more good than bad, but some of the bad might have been a sign of things to come early this season. And the Vols don’t wait long before stepping up and playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules.

An injury to Knoxville native Drew Pember — a freshman big man for these Vols — put a sour ending on an otherwise solid exhibition finale, but we’ll see how long he’ll have to stay on the shelf. Tennessee’s staff was treating him well into the night after that win.

Regardless, there’s plenty of hoops to discuss, and discuss we did.

This week’s first GoVols247 Podcast episode — an episode featuring a recap of Tennessee’s win over South Carolina and some hoops discussion — can be found HERE.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Monday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s full staff — Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown, Ryan Callahan and Grant Ramey — convened from various homes in the Knoxville area through the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss Tennessee’s 41-21 win over South Carolina on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

A significant amount of adversity leading into the game and early in the game itself served as a backdrop for one of the most significant second halves for the Vols in a long time. Tennessee played three quarterbacks, none of whom were the team’s starter. The Vols had several injuries occur during the game. They had a few really tough calls go against them, and they allowed a 75-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first play.

None of that crushed Tennessee’s will to win, though, and the Vols found a way to win a game that was really important in the moment and could be even more important for the future.

How did Tennessee pull off such a stunning second half in all three phases of the game? What led to that moment? What does that game mean moving forward? How can the Vols find a way to finish stronger than they did last season? In what areas does this team still need to improve in a hurry? And how impactful could some of Saturday's injuries be for this team? Those are the main discussion points in the first two segments.

The third segment switches gear, though, to talk Tennessee basketball. The Vols host Eastern New Mexico in a Wednesday night exhibition at Thompson-Boling Arena, and the regular season opens six days later against UNC Asheville. The Vols lost so many important players from the nucleus that brought the program back from the ashes, but some of those faces are still with the team, and some new, exciting prospects are also in the mix — but one of those new faces (7-foot-1 redshirt freshman Uros Plavsic) is still waiting to hear from the NCAA regarding his eligibility this season.

It’s officially football-and-basketball crossover season, so there’s plenty to discuss. This episode hits on the main talking points to get your week started.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Thursday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to preview Tennessee’s critical game against South Carolina on Saturday at Neyland Stadium, the Vols’ quarterback conundrum and much more.

As the week progresses and it looks more and more likely that freshman Brian Maurer won’t be available against the Gamecocks, the question becomes clear: Will Tennessee start embattled junior Jarrett Guarantano or woefully inexperienced redshirt freshman J.T. Shrout on Saturday afternoon? That’s a huge discussion point of this episode, and it occurs in the second segment.

The first segment of this episode is a general discussion on the Vols-Gamecocks game from several angles, including the unavoidable fact that South Carolina’s Will Muschamp is 7-0 against Tennessee as a head coach. Discussion on South Carolina’s strengths and weaknesses is included in that segment, as well.

As (almost) always, the third and final segment of the Thursday morning podcast is full of answers to questions posted by GoVols247 subscribers on The CheckerBoard.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Monday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio near downtown Knoxville) and Grant Ramey (from GoVols247’s Blount County Satellite Office in Maryville) convened via the magic of Al Gore’s Internets to discuss five-star shooting guard Jaden Springer’s commitment to Tennessee.

Springer — the nation’s No. 16 overall prospect in the 2020 industry-generated 247Sports Composite — chose the Vols over a Who’s Who of suitors, but his final three were Tennessee, Michigan and Memphis.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Springer — a Charlotte native who had a firm offer from North Carolina — transferred to Florida’s IMG Academy to complete his high school career, and he became the latest member of Tennessee’s star-studded 2020 class that also features five-star shooting guard Keon Johnson (No. 23 overall prospect) and high-four-star guard Corey Walker (No. 36 overall prospect).

Why did Springer choose Tennessee? What does his commitment mean to Rick Barnes and his program? Who will become the next member of the Vols’ historically great class? Those are the quick discussion points of this breaking-news podcast episode.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Thursday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) and Ryan Callahan (from his house across town) convened through the magic of Al Gore’s Internets early Wednesday morning to discuss a huge late Tuesday night for the Tennessee football program.

Memphis Whitehaven High School has three SEC-caliber linebacker prospects on its roster, and all three of them committed to Tennessee on Tuesday night.

Four-star inside linebacker Bryson Eason got things starter with a 10 p.m. Eastern commitment to the Vols.

Less than 90 minutes later, the other two — four-star inside linebacker Martavius French and versatile three-star outside linebacker Tamarion McDonald — joined the party by announcing their commitments to Tennessee.

It was a stunning series of events, considering that French was committed to Arkansas until Sunday night and McDonald was committed to Mississippi State until early Tuesday night and that all three linebackers visited Arkansas over the weekend.

What kind of players did Tennessee just get? Where will they fit into the Vols’ defense? What do their additions mean for Tennessee’s plans for the rest of the class? Those are the main topics discussed in this episode.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Thursday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point. 

GoVols247’s full crew Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss Tennessee’s loss at Alabama and all the good, bad and ugly things that happened over the weekend in Tuscaloosa.

Few expected the Vols to pose any threat to the top-ranked Tide, but a game full of attrition and adversity for both teams was a close-run thing until the the midway mark of the fourth quarter, when the Vols self-destructed at the goal-line and Alabama sealed the game with a back-breaking 100-yard fumble return touchdown.

Saturday’s game presented … well … a lot of things. We separated those things into three main topics — the impressive overall performance, the Jarrett Guarantano meltdown and the referees.

A few notes were added for this week’s opponent — the also-improving South Carolina Gamecocks — but most of those discussion will occur later in the week. The Alabama game left a lot of low-hanging fruit to pick, and this episode picks a lot of it.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Thursday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point. 

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss Tennessee’s upcoming game against top-ranked Alabama on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Tennessee got a badly-needed SEC win last week against Mississippi State, and the Vols suddenly have some momentum heading into the toughest game on their schedule. So there’s obviously a lot to discuss, and this episode does that.

An update on the status of Tennessee freshman quarterback Brian Maurer and a debate on whether he should be thrown into the fire at Alabama this weekend is the primary discussion point of the first segment in this episode.

The second segment of this episode focuses on a simple question: “What would be a good outcome for the Vols on Saturday night?” Tennessee’s first objective Saturday is the same as every other game. There’s a game to be played, and the Vols want to win it. But if we’re being honest here, a win in this game isn’t likely. With that in mind, what kind of outcome would be good for Tennessee? What do the Vols need to do in order to ensure they don’t lose the momentum they gained against Mississippi State? Those are tough questions to answer, but the second segment of this episode is an attempt to do that,.

As (almost) always with the Thursday morning podcast, the final segment of this episode if focused on answering questions from GoVols247’s CheckerBoard.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Monday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point.

GoVols247’s full crew — Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown, Grant Ramey and Ryan Callahan — went into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss Tennessee’s 20-10 win over Mississippi State on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

Saturday’s win created plenty of storylines, so there was a lot to discuss in this episode.

The first series of this episode is a quick recap of the game and a discussion on what that game means for the Vols for the rest of 2019 and beyond. Plenty of surprising faces emerged to make big plays in that game, and those faces are discussed in this episode.

One of those surprising faces — junior quarterback Jarrett Guarantano — is the subject of lively discussion in the second segment of this episode. Guarantano stepped in for new starter Brian Maurer when the freshman concussed himself late in the first half, and the veteran made some of the game’s defining plays. What should Tennessee do about the quarterback situation for this weekend’s game at Alabama if Maurer is cleared to play? That’s the big topic discussed in the second segment of this episode, but some other injury news and notes are discussed, as well.

And, as usual, a recruiting update is included in the third and final segment of this Monday morning episode. Interesting recruiting tidbits emerged from Knoxville and other places over the weekend, and some of those tidbits are discussed in this episode.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Thursday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point. 

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to preview Tennessee’s Saturday game against Mississippi State and much more.

The first segment of this episode is an injury status update on several important players and some interesting position switches we’ve noticed on the practice field this week. The Vols continue making adjustments in order to fortify some positions and provide emergency cover for other spots, and some of those tweaks have been interesting.

Focus shifts to Saturday’s game against the SEC’s Western-most Bulldogs for the second segment. Mississippi State is an interesting team for several reasons, not least of which being the mass suspensions announced before the season and the fact that suspended players for each game aren’t released until a couple of hours before kickoff. Discussion on all things Vols-Bullies occupies the entire second segment. 

As (almost) always, the final segment of the Thursday morning podcast is full of answers to questions asked by members of GoVols247’s CheckerBoard.

The next GoVols247 Podcast episode will be released Monday morning, unless breaking news occurs before that point.