John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. P

Tennessee opens a season of greater expectations on Thursday night at Neyland Stadium.The ninth-ranked Volunteers draw Appalachian State, the Sun Belt powerhouse which went 11-2 last season and has the talent to make the Tennessee nervous entering the first game on the SEC Network this season (7:30 p.m. ET).Everyones optimistic. For the first time Thursday night, well put our initial football identity on video. Were responsible for what we create so were looking forward to that, Volunteers coach Butch Jones said.The talk of Tennessee this week is not just the opener, but next weeks Battle At Bristol, when the Vols play Virginia Tech at the fabled racetrack with a crowd in excess of 100,000 expected to be on hand.Jones said no one in his locker room is looking ahead. Appalachian State is a run-based offense and led the Sun Belt in red-zone defense. On film, Jones said, they already look like they belong.Appalachian State is coached by Scott Satterfield, who played quarterback at the school and is in the programs third season since jumping from the FCS. He seeks the biggest win the program has had since beating Michigan in Ann Arbor, nine years to the day from Thursdays kickoff. App State is 0-5 against Power Five programs since that landmark win.Every time we play a Power Five school it gets brought up, Satterfield said. I think in a way it kind of hurts us because everybody always references that game to their team.Only 160 miles separate Appalachian States campus from University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The talent gap might not be as great as the uninitiated believe, either.The Mountaineers arrive having won 17 of their last 19 games and 17 starters return from the team that beat Ohio in the 2015 Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. Appalachian State was the preseason pick to win the Sun Belt Conference and boasts both of the leagues preseason players of the year in running back Marcus Cox and linebacker John Law.Cox has three 1,000-yard seasons and has a career average of 113.6 rushing yards per game. At this pace, hell be the all-time leading rusher in Mountaineers history by midseason. At 168.4 yards per game, Tennessees run defense was 65th in the national last season.That porous defense caused Jones to make a change on defense, hiring coordinator Bob Shoop away from Penn State for matchups like this one. Shoop declared this offseason, nobody will run the football on Tennessee.It helps to have a loaded front seven and talent galore at every level of the two-deep.Tennessee will honor former Vols offensive tackle Chad Clifton, who played in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, and late womens basketball coach Pat Summitt. Players will wear a cursive P decal on their helmets this season in memory of Summitt, who died June 28. Texas Rangers Jerseys . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Edinson Volquez Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. http://www.texasrangersshop.com/rangers-ivan-rodriguez-jersey/ . JOHNS, N. Joey Gallo Rangers Jersey . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Delino DeShields Jr. Rangers Jersey . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. Pascal Wehrlein has completed the latest test of Pirellis 2017 prototypes at Paul Ricard, completing 270 laps in a Mercedes mule car on wet tyres.Pirelli is conducting an extensive testing programme for next year involving Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. The latest ran on Wednesday and Thursday at the French circuit, with Manor driver Wehrlein driving a modified Mercedes car with added downforce to replicate next years rule changes.Wehrlein completed 135 laps on either day, which both concentrated exclusively onn the wet weather tyres.dddddddddddd Mercedes is the next team to test, as it is slated to run the slick tyres at Montmelo, Spain on October 12-13. Red Bull will then continue testing for the next three days. The tyre tests will conclude at Abu Dhabi at the end of the season.The wet tyres had previously been tested by Ferrari in August. The testing schedule can be seen in full below: ' ' '