Kickoff is finally here. Year 2 of the Jeremy Pruitt Era has arrived. Pruitt, who clearly seems more comfortable as the team's CEO, has made it clear he likes this team.

The Vols haven’t had wasted days this preseason. Pruitt hasn’t had to beg and coach effort. Everyone in the program really likes this freshman class.

And while that’s great, it’s been said by some that the best thing about a freshman is they become a sophomore. In other words, there will be growing pains and a learning curve.

How steep the learning curve and how quickly this team can get through it will determine this years success.

Offensively, the Vols are better starting with offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. The competition on the offensive line will sort itself out and this team will find their best five. Chaney will get the ball into the hands of their playmakers. They won’t be the highest scoring offense in the SEC, but they will be improved for sure.

Defensively, things should be better in Year 2 simply because they understand the system better. However, their best defensive lineman in Emmit Gooden is out for the year. Daniel Bituli, their best linebacker when you factor in experience, is dealing with a sore knee. Their best secondary player, Bryce Thompson, is suspended indefinitely.

But the simple story on this defense and their success in 2019 is the growth of an inexperienced defensive line. Can they line up and stop the run with any kind of regularity?

I think this team will improve throughout the year, provided they stay healthy enough. If they do then they will go bowling.

Season record: 7-5

As for tomorrow, the Vols are simply better. Pruitt, Chaney and defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley will be looking for specific things. They will keep the plan simple and just play. Ansley wants to see how the defensive line handles the front and Chaney wants to see his offensive line come off the ball and play physical running the football. It won’t be as clean as anyone likes, but fans will start thinking about BYU early.

Tennessee 41 Georgia State 13

AUSTIN’S PICK

There is no doubt this team has made strides this offseason. They are bigger, faster and stronger. Those old cliché’s hold very true here thanks to Craig Fitzgerald and his staff. Add in that Pruitt is more comfortable this year and the strides will be made. The question looms as to how much improvement will we see?

Offensively, Jarrett Guarantano is the main man and has a full control of the offense. He has more authority with Jim Chaney and in my opinion will see things more simple in 2019. He has some really solid playmakers around him which is pivotal. Flip it to the other side and that’s where the questions come in for me. Where is the quality experience outside of Darrell Taylor, Daniel Bituli and Nigel Warrior?

The schedule sets up well with seven of the first nine at home. I’m giving the Vols all non-conference games and thus the Mississippi State game becomes massive in my mind. Win that one and no matter what happens against Florida, Georgia and Alabama then Tennessee is above .500 exiting the third Saturday in October.

I know I’m the “Tennessee guy” on the board and while 7-5 is the trendy pick, I’m going with the Vols going 4-1 after Alabama, giving them an 8-4 season.

As for this week, Tennessee rolls early and often. I feel like the defense answers the call by forcing turnovers this week and gives the offense some short fields. Give me Eric Gray and Tim Jordan finding the end zone on Saturday.

Tennessee 52 Georgia State 10

I’m not going to rehash the whole offseason here, but Tennessee’s roster is better. The schedule is much more navigable compared to 2018 and Jeremy Pruitt’s coaching staff is much improved, too.

So will that all equate to major jump in Year 2?

I’m not sure. Anyone who tells you definitively yay or nay would be lying, too.

No one knows. By nature, college football, full of 18 to 22-year-olds, is one of the hardest sports to predict because you’re counting on more than 70 kids to coalesce towards a common goal.

What if Tennessee’s offense takes a step forward this season but the defense regresses? What if both units improve but it doesn’t equate to a dramatic improvement in wins? What if it does?

Jobs are determined by wins and losses, but what’s more interesting to me this fall is what the Vols actually look like in 2019.

The most important thing for Pruitt’s team in his second season isn’t an arbitrary win total but to be competitive on a week-to-week basis. Forget Alabama and Georgia. In the other 10 games on the schedule the Vols need to give themselves a true chance. They need to be in the game in the fourth quarter. Tennessee lost six games by 26 points a year ago. That can’t happen again.

Sure, going 8-4 and getting to a Florida bowl game would be a nice perception boost in the short-term, but what if the four losses are blowouts? What would that really mean for the program? Going 6-6 or 7-5 and being competitive most weeks would be much more telling about Pruitt’s future, in my opinion.

Barring losing quarterback Jarrett Guarantano for multiple weeks, the Vols should make a bowl game this fall. I think they do one better and finish the regular season 7-5.

As for Saturday, Georgia State is really bad. But to my season predictions point, the Vols didn’t even blowout bad teams (UTEP and Charlotte) a year ago. They will tomorrow.

An offensive line constantly rotating bodies might take a few lumps early, but Guarantano is sure to have some explosive plays against the worst returning pass defense in the country. Ty Chandler, Tim Jordan and Eric Gray should find plenty of running room against a front-7 that allowed 251 rushing yards a game last season, too.

GSU quarterback Dan Ellington might give a young linebacking corps some problems at times but Tennessee’s size and talent will overwhelm the Panthers. Plenty of newcomers on both sides of the ball should get the feet wet in Neyland for the first time and get ready for a much stiffer challenge against BYU in Week 2.

Tennessee 45, Georgia State 10

Tennessee opens the 2019 season, Jeremy Pruitt’s second year in what anyone can see is a substantial rebuilding job, with some modest goals. Post a winning record. Make it back to a bowl game after a two year absence. End an embarrassing three year losing streak to Vanderbilt and crawl out from the SEC cellar after posting a 2-14 mark in league play in the last two seasons.

That all looks attainable, but it also looks like less than a rock solid guarantee. Tennessee has three ‘gimmees’ on the schedule in Georgia State, Chattanooga and UAB. Can they find four more wins from amongst the remaining eight games to get to 7-5? Could they possibly find five to get to 8-4?

The former seems more realistic to me, to get there the Vols have to win four games out of eight against BYU, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Vandy. That’s not the lock that it used to be for this program.

I think the real swing games are BYU next weekend and Mississippi State on Oc. 12. Win those two and you’ve given yourself a real chance to get to seven and with some luck eight. I’m penciling Alabama and Georgia in as losses, and there’s no shame in that. I also have Florida down as an ‘L’ on the road despite some optimism from some fans that that one is a possible upset (just don’t feel good about the Vols’ OL being ready to win that kind of matchup).

I think Tennessee beats a Kentucky team that lost a lot from the squad the Vols thumped in Neyland last year and I think they end the nightmare losing streak against Vandy. A win on the road at Missouri is certainly possible, but that’s a team that has beaten Tennessee a combined 100-34 in the past two seasons. That leaves South Carolina at home which I think will be an eminently winnable game and something of a litmus test for where this program is.

It feels to me like Tennessee will be much better on both sides of the line of scrimmage than they were a year ago, but I’m not sure how much of a benefit that will be early on. I like Jarrett Guarantano at quarterback and I believe we’ll see him have a big year.

Inexperience in the front seven and questions on the offensive front keep from feeling optimistic that this group gets to eight wins though I wouldn’t say that’s impossible at all, 7-5 feels right to me, which would be a sign of progress, and that should really be enough considering what Pruitt inherited when he landed in Knoxville.

As for this weekend’s game, I look for the Vols to put up some points and to contain a Georgia State offense that lacks much in the way of big play ability and boast a pass defense that was the worst in the country last year by several metrics.

Vols 41-13.