The Tennessee Titans will play a role in how the Tennessee Volunteers prepare for UCLA.
So will Southern Cal, North Carolina State, BYU and several junior college teams.
This is what happens when you study a team with a new coaching staff and an unproven quarterback.
UT's coaches and players have compiled an impressive stack of videos as they get ready for the season-opener at the Rose Bowl on Monday. UCLA has a new head coach in Rick Neuheisel and a new offensive coordinator in Norm Chow. And the Volunteers are looking for tendencies anywhere they can find them.
"There's so much technology out there so there's not a bunch of secrets,"
UT Coach Phillip Fulmer said. "Unless you all of a sudden change to the wishbone."
There is no sign Chow has done such a thing.
The former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator is now leading the Bruins' offense, and safe to say, it's been a challenge this offseason.
Work in progress
Simply put, UCLA's offensive line lacks experience. Of the top 10 offensive linemen on the depth chart, two were tight ends and two were defensive tackles last season.
The problems only get worse at quarterback. Veterans Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson have been lost to injuries, which means Kevin Craft will likely get the start. Craft spent 2005 and 2006 at San Diego State before playing last season at Mt. San Antonio, a community college in Walnut, Calif.
"You have a quarterback that's starting and you have to look at San Diego State film and junior college film,"
UT defensive coordinator John Chavis said. "You have to look at several different teams to see what you think they are doing offensively. And you have to look at UCLA film for personnel. It's a little bit different, but you have to be ready to play."
Craft certainly has ability. Last season, he threw for 4,231 yards and 44 touchdowns at Mt. San Antonio. Also, UT may need to keep an eye on running back Kahlil Bell, who led UCLA in rushing last season with 795 yards and a team-high five touchdowns. Bell played in only eight games because of an ACL injury, but he appears healthy heading into this season.
Getting defensive
Defense is the strong suit for the Bruins, however. UCLA's defensive front is thought to be its strongest unit, which could limit UT's running game and force first-year starting quarterback Jonathan Crompton into more passing situations than UT's staff wants this early in the year.
"They were second and third in pretty much every category in the Pac-10 last year on defense,"
Crompton said. "That says a lot with some of the offenses out there in Oregon, Southern Cal, and Cal."
"They are a strong defensive team, they are fast, they fly to the ball. It's going to be a tough game, but I think we're ready to handle it."
One defensive weakness is the secondary, though. The Bruins lost two standout defensive backs after last season and experience will be an issue early on.
"Do they run the same package? Do the simplify things? Do they put more on their linebackers? Those are the things that we don't know,"
UT offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said.
But UT knows it's a two-way street. The Volunteers have a slew of new coaches of their own sidelines. Most notable is Clawson, the former Richmond head coach who will bring a new West Coast-style to the West Coast opener.
"First games are hard because you don't know what you're 100 percent going to get,"
Fulmer said. "But it goes both ways. They're not 100 percent sure what they're going to get from us either."
And rest assured, UCLA is studying film of Richmond and its 2007 opponents. That includes Vanderbilt, which beat Richmond 41-17 last season.
Talk about coming full circle, Music City style.
