Urban Meyer predicts ‘Tennessee of old’ to play for SEC title

Tennessee Football is widely projected to be a College Football Playoff team after its 4-0 start. Not only that, some are predicting the Vols to advance to the quarterfinals in the 12-team bracket.

Urban Meyer this week added another prediction: Tennessee will play in the SEC championship game against Georgia.

“I’ve got Georgia still up there,” Meyer said on The Triple Option . “I’ve got them (Tennessee) in the SEC Championship Game.”

With the addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, the league ditched the old east/west divisions. Now the two teams with the best league records will go to Atlanta for the conference championship game.

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee at Arkansas

No. 5 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) is off this week, coming off the 25-15 win at Oklahoma on Saturday. The Vols go to Arkansas next Saturday before returning home for four straight games at Neyland Stadium.

Meyer’s praise for Tennessee didn’t stop in Atlanta. He knows what the Vols are capable of because he keeps hearing it from NFL scouts.

“I’ve got inside information there,” Meyer said, “and I ask every week, I have an NFL guy that scouts around and helps me with some stuff, and he commented, ‘It looks like Tennessee of old,’ that’s the respect I had for the old Tennessee outfit.

“I know Nico (Iamaleava) — the quarterback, we all love him. I think he’s certainly a Heisman (Trophy) candidate. I think he’s a top-ten pick. He’s got to do a couple things a little better, but he went into Norman, Oklahoma … he had a good day. But you’re at Oklahoma, and you find a way to go win that game.”

Vols ranked first in total defense, second in run defense, fifth in scoring defense

Iamaleava threw four games is 61-for-88 (.693) passing for 892 yards, with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Dylan Sampson has ran 69 times for 449 yards and has 10 rushing touchdowns, the most in college football.

Defensively the Vols are ranked first in total defense, second in run defense, fifth in scoring defense and 11th in pass defense.

“As I said on Big Noon, I’m going to say it again this week, (Iamaleava) is not the only show in Knoxville,” Meyer said. “They are balanced on offense. They have a good running game. They’re good in the trenches, and they’re very good on defense.

“Obviously, we’re going to find out. They’re jumping into the rest of the SEC coming up here. But there’s no doubt. I have them as the No. 4, potentially No. 3 team in the country right now.”

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