5 Rockets football predictions for 2013

8/25/2013

■ A few years from now myself or whoever The Blade’s UT beat writer is will write a piece under this headline: Is the 2013 recruiting class the best in UT history? Some of its members will fizzle, others will get hurt, but the majority will produce.

■ The Rockets will go 6-0 at home. Yes, that means a late-season win against nemesis Northern Illinois. Has to happen eventually, right? Another prediction: Fans at the Glass Bowl in November will choose cocoa over Coors when the Rockets play three consecutive evening games.

■ Two former UT coaches will be unemployed after the season. Everyone seems to agree Tim Beckman is toast at Illinois. Gary Pinkel, coming off a 5-7 season, could be out at Missouri if he loses to the Rockets in Week 2.

■ The Oct. 26 game at BG will be as compelling a matchup as this rivalry has produced in the better part of a decade. BG could be 6-1 at that point.

■ UT’s five-year drought in the NFL draft will end. Hard to believe seven rounds will pass without someone selecting Zac Kerin, Bernard Reedy, or David Fluellen.