Glass Half Empty - 5 Reasons to Worry About the UCLA Game

1) Jonathan Crompton - he was a big recruit, has tons of talent and showed great promise as a freshmen. So why worry?

Here is why: he stunk last year, is inexperienced and had to learn a brand new offense this off-season. Worried, now?

The Vols will go where Crompton takes them. I'm not sold that Arian Foster can carry the Vols on his back and I'm not sold that the Tennessee receivers are good enough to make plays on their own without great quarterback play. There is no doubt that Crompton will have weapons around him, but not the type of weapons that can mask his poor play.

If we see the Jonathan Crompton we saw against LSU two years ago, we'll be alright. If we see the Crompton that looked baffled and confused whenever he took snaps last year, we are in for a long season and a long night in the Rose Bowl.

2) Rick Neuheisel - the guy might be an idiot when it comes to common sense on the job, but he can coach. The Bruins will be fired up to impress their new coach, to usher in a new era in UCLA football and to pull off a major opening season upset.

Would I rather Karl Dorrell still be the head coach at UCLA? Yes, yes and yes. Neuheisel is an upgrade who might have a few tricks up his sleeve for Fulmer and the Boys.

3) Norm Chow - yes, that Norm Chow. The architect of the USC Trojans' National Championship offense. The architect of the Tennessee Titans...well, that wasn't his finest work.

Chow is a college guy and he'll be ready to exploit weaknesses in Tennessee's defense. He might not have the tools right now to do it, but once again the Bruins are better in the coaching department than they were six months ago.

4) Dave Clawson - the great unknown. Remember that great feeling two years ago when David Cutcliffe's offense crushed the Cal Bears in the season opener? We were finally out of the Randy Sanders Era and back to playing good offensive football.

We might have that feeling once again...or we might now. Dave Clawson brings plenty of success to Knoxville, but that success was at Villanova and Richmond. Those are not UCLA caliber teams. Is Clawson over his head? Does Clawson have the offense ready for his new system? It could be great, but it could also be awful.

5) Depth - the story of the scrimmage schedule has been dissatisfaction with the second and third units. Fulmer called them out, saying they were not ready to compete in the SEC. That would be fine if this was spring practice, but we are just days from the season opener.

If Tennessee is crossing its fingers for no injuries to expose its lousy bench, the Vols are in trouble. There will be guys hurt on Monday night and there will be a need for guys to come off the bench ready to play. Let's hope they are more ready than we have been led to believe.