Congratulations to us all. After months of uncertainty we have made it. Tennessee’s football season is here as they open their 10-game conference only campaign on the road tonight at South Carolina. What’s key for the Vols? Here are four, in a game of unknowns, in what we call The Cheat Sheet.

Keep it simple — Austin has talked about this for a couple of weeks on the podcast and I completely agree with him, don’t outsmart yourself. Just keep things simple. You have had a strange fall camp with a lot of guys missing time. You haven’t had your normal pre-season scrimmages and as a result you are not as far along as you normally would be for an opener. So keep it simple enabling guys to play fast on both sides of the ball. Scheme is important and you can’t get out matched x’s and o’s wise but you can’t slow your guys down by trying to do too much. As I like to say, don’t have too many meetings.

2. Limit big plays — The Vols want to play aggressively on defense and they will. They will attack trusting their corners. But it can’t be feast or famine meaning you can’t give up cheap points. South Carolina’s Mike Bobo is creative and he will have wrinkles looking for chunk plays. Tennessee’s defense can’t give up anythings easy. Collin Hill will start at quarterback for the Gamecocks. He had three ACL injuries in college and is 3-8 as a starting signal caller. Tennessee doesn’t need to let Hill get comfortable or confident by giving up easy big plays. The Vol defense struggled in giving up chunk plays to start last year but greatly improved as the season went on. That needs to continue to start the 2020 season.

3. Don’t lose the kicking game — Tennessee is returning experience with their specialists so that’s not a concern, but coverage teams and return teams are unknowns as they are for everyone. Velus Jones is expected to be in the return game and he brings experience and speed to the table. However, with multiple guys out during camp due to COVID or contact tracing, special teams has been challenging to get settled. The coaching staff has made the kicking game a major priority the last ten days as they have gotten guys back on the practice field. Tennessee obviously wants to win the kicking game and that would be a big help. But they simply cannot lose it tonight on the road.

4. JG must keep it in the fairway — I used this analogy on the Tuesday podcast and I think it’s fitting. Jarrett Guarantano doesn’t have to be anything special, but he can’t be bad JG. As Austin has noted the Vols don’t need 400 yard JG like they got at Missouri last year, but they can’t have 100 yard JG like they got against Vanderbilt. Guarantano should be more comfortable than he’s ever been as the Vols quarterback. He’s playing behind a veteran offensive line. He has established running backs and he’s in the same system. It’s the first time in his career he had the same coaches for back to back years. So his experience should really show tonight. That experience should me that he just has to play smart. Take care of the football and make the easy plays offensive coordinator Jim Chaney sets him up with.