Music City Bowl

Tennessee (6-6) vs. North Carolina (7-5)

North Carolina was my preseason #10 team. I thought with their great defensive talent and 10 returning starters on offense they would be able to vault to #1 or #2 in the country within the first 4-5 weeks of the season. It all started with beating LSU - who I underrated - but that didn't happen. It almost did even though the Tar Heels were missing half their team due to suspension. But those suspensions killed them all year and they had a disappointing 7-5 season after a summer full of hype.

I think four months ago any Tennessee fan would have taken 6-6 and a Music City Bowl appearance. They had their knees bent, eyes squinted, and a hand over their head bearing for the worst this year. And that's what they got for the first two months of the season. Tyler Brey stepped in during the South Carolina game and played great at the quarterback position from there on out. Even though the Vols lost that game to go to 2-6, he led them on a tear through November beating four mediocre teams and making it to a bowl - a great accomplishment for Derek Dooley.

Tennessee ended the year hot, and now Dooley has had almost five weeks to work with a young football team who will be excited to play in this game. The game is also in the state of Tennessee, so they should have plenty of fans there. North Carolina was a little more shaky in November, but they did play much better competition. How motivated will they be coming into this game knowing their preseason expectations were so lofty?

North Carolina relies a lot on the arm of T.J. Yates. Their leading rusher, Johnny White, only had 720 yards all season. The Vols don't have the best secondary but I think it will be enough to contain the Heels enough to let Tyler Brey take control of the game. I think Dooley has dug UT out of the hole they were in and they are a decent team right now, I look for Tennessee to win this game. I think they will be up by a couple touchdowns in the 4th quarter and UNC will score late to make it a one score game, 24-17 Tennessee.

JB