I must be watching a different team

[Brave Volunteer]

So you would have gotten a 15 yard penalty on a 4th and 1 from inside the 10 yard line ? Dang wish you were our coach…

It was late in the game and we had it won. The situation we were in at the time was of no consequence. Protecting my future QB would've been my first reaction.

 

[onevol74]

Are we the only team that doesn't run slants, post routes, deep slants, and corner routes? Along with some reverses, etc?

Seems like all we run are screens, bubble screens, and fly routes. We are getting very predictable on offense. I know our offensive line isn't as strong as it was last year. Just trying to figure out if it's Milton or a Heupel/Halzle issue.

The play calling does Milton no favors.

 

[Volrocketman]

Maybe TV broadcasts just aren't showing it enough but CJH always seems passive to me. I would have crawled all up that ref's backside over that missed face mask. That was egregious!

I’ve been at all of the games except Virginia and Heupel’s been ‘in their business’ numerous times. I’ve watched him through binoculars and I can assure you most of those times he’s not exchanging pleasantries with them. I wonder if he feels handcuffed for not being able to really say what he feels about some of the egregious calls/non-calls that have gone against us this year. Maybe we need to start a “go-fund-me” account to raise money to pay the fine when he really lets people know what he thinks. (Blue font for this last line.)

 

[GVol1966]

And that's inexcusable for a staff in their 4th year. If you're young and thin going into your 4th season, you've failed both on the recruiting trail and in development.

yeah they basically must be just running potential recruits off , I mean who wouldn’t of wanted to come play for a team that won three games and was under investigation for 2 years that got hit with scholarship reductions .
After that 1st class of 20 5 stars that couldn’t wait to get on this train we should of had 20 years of ineptitude completely turned around.
There is absolutely no excuse we are not ranked #1 in recruiting and #1 in transfer portal. Inexcusable incompetence on our coaches

 

[sami]

And that's inexcusable for a staff in their 4th year. If you're young and thin going into your 4th season, you've failed both on the recruiting trail and in development.

It will actually be the third full year, as Heupel came in late before the 2021 season, and he started way behind the 8-ball with all the transfers, many of whom were starters. But that said, I would expect in the next two seasons for the roster to be deeper across the board, and unlike many I'm not ready to draw conclusions on next year at this point.

Last season was a double-edged sword in so many ways. As great and exhilarating as it was, it was clear in retrospect that a generational season by the QB and WR and the fact that the SEC didn't know how to deal with the CJH offense masked the deficiencies and lack of depth in the roster, which only time and solid recruiting can remedy.

I've heard it said that it takes a new system 4-5 recruiting cycles to truly get established, maybe a bit sooner if you go the portal band aid route. It appears that CJH is more focused on building from within than going with the Kiffin win-now portal-heavy approach that might get you 8-10 wins but will never result in the Bama and UGa type of perennial success.

I'm no sunshine pumper, but I'm realistic enough to see that losing players like we lost at critical positions was always going to create a 'transition season'. I'm way more concerned with the fundamental errors (penalties, missed tackles) than I am with pretending that Milton is something he clearly isn't - clean those up and Joe suddenly looks a lot better.

 

[KeyVol14]

I just posted this very thing in another feed. Joe is not thorwing the 7 yd out or the 12 yd comeback, or the TE down the seam. I do not think Heupel feels he can make those throws and is calling (or having called) a very vanilla gameplan for Joe. It is going to start costing us games as defenses are going to go 2 high safety to take away those deep routes and make Joe and the running game beat them.

Yes he has. We just haven't called it as many times as we should.

 

[BowlBrother85]

I mean, they lost to Utah. I don’t see how anyone could say Florida was a bad team based off a single game.

Florida's offense looked awful last night against Charlotte.

 

[LTVol]

Well they did hold McNeese and Charlotte to just 7 points, so there's that.

FL actually beat us by more pts than they beat Charlotte.

 

[barney]

Are we the only team that doesn't run slants, post routes, deep slants, and corner routes? Along with some reverses, etc?

Seems like all we run are screens, bubble screens, and fly routes. We are getting very predictable on offense. I know our offensive line isn't as strong as it was last year. Just trying to figure out if it's Milton or a Heupel/Halzle issue.

I'd add digs and out routes to the list. Wondering if the current crew of receivers are limiting what they run. I just can't figure it out.

 

[BowlBrother85]

And that's inexcusable for a staff in their 4th year. If you're young and thin going into your 4th season, you've failed both on the recruiting trail and in development.

It's Heupel's 3rd season ... and he wasn't hired until January 28, 2021. Since there was an early signing period in December of 2020, he didn't have a chance to put much of a class together for '21. Pruitt's best commitments had all reneged and moved on by the end of January. Heupel has had two recruiting classes, which were both limited by self-imposed scholarship reductions in effort to mitigate the looming NCAA sanctions.

 

[OldVolMan]

Florida’s offense is terrible, but I think it’s becoming pretty clear their defense is a lot better than our fans are willing to give them credit for. At least based on what I have seen through 4 games. That could change.

But I will give Florida credit for their team enthusiasm, ,determination, and motivation, something that I noticed was a huge difference in them and us in our game with them.
That will help very much winning games and I have not seen that in this TN team as yet.

 

[Pickle1]

And that's inexcusable for a staff in their 4th year. If you're young and thin going into your 4th season, you've failed both on the recruiting trail and in development.

You are absolutely right, I can’t see any development that shows up on the field, they are still making the same mistakes over and over again, and that is because they are not being coached up. It’s inexcusable for this to happen after year three!

 

[sjt18]

All this talk about playing our best qb I understand but Nico goes in he needs to pass basically every down. We are about to get steam-rolled in the SEC with our passive no confidence passing attack. Pass downfield, throw some interceptions, learn.....................get better , much tougher games coming up. Kind of like telling a pitcher to throw strikes every pitch without practicing learning on the field.

No. We're watching the same team. Some of us just recognize that there are both tactics and strategies playing out. You don't put a pitcher on the mound so he can learn how to throw strikes or a curve ball. You practice him until he has absolute confidence that he can locate all of his pitches and can correct himself when something isn't working. One sure way to destroy a pitcher is to put him on the mound before he's ready.

 

[JustinVol]

Florida's offense looked awful last night against Charlotte.

Not like we’ve been stellar. Plus FL always plays hard v us

 

[kckempf]

Are we the only team that doesn't run slants, post routes, deep slants, and corner routes? Along with some reverses, etc?

Seems like all we run are screens, bubble screens, and fly routes. We are getting very predictable on offense. I know our offensive line isn't as strong as it was last year. Just trying to figure out if it's Milton or a Heupel/Halzle issue.

We've scored at least 3 touchdowns on slants.

 

[CAVPUT]

And that's inexcusable for a staff in their 4th year. If you're young and thin going into your 4th season, you've failed both on the recruiting trail and in development.

Well, to be fair, the 21 class and our roster just collapsed when all the NCAA stuff hit. Heupel was in a hole from the get go. The argument could be made that Heupel hasn't performed well enough in the portal, but again, the threat of penalties dampened a lot of the enthusiasm for UT among the recruits. We've been operating at a significant disadvantage for a while. I'm quite sure this is what the NCAA intended to happen when they take years to resolve a case dragging it out for maximum damage. They knew what they were doing and exactly how the impact would play out. It's amazing to see us with the talent we have on this roster. Unfortunately, maturation takes time and this season and next will be painful unless Huepel takes a long, honest look at the roster and is successful in addressing our deficiencies in the portal.

 

[BowlBrother85]

You are absolutely right, I can’t see any development that shows up on the field, they are still making the same mistakes over and over again, and that is because they are not being coached up. It’s inexcusable for this to happen after year three!

It is year 3 ... and does Heupel get any credit for the development of Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt and Byron Young? Those were not highly recruited players coming out of high school. Hooker had been benched at Virginia Tech. Did Hyatt look anything like a potential Biletnikoff Award winner in 2020? Did Byron Young ever play like an NFL draft pick?

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Well, to be fair, the 21 class and our roster just collapsed when all the NCAA stuff hit. Heupel was in a hole from the get go. The argument could be made that Heupel hasn't performed well enough in the portal, but again, the threat of penalties dampened a lot of the enthusiasm for UT among the recruits. We've been operating at a significant disadvantage for a while. I'm quite sure this is what the NCAA intended to happen when they take years to resolve a case dragging it out for maximum damage. They knew what they were doing and exactly how the impact would play out. It's amazing to see us with the talent we have on this roster. Unfortunately, maturation takes time and this season and next will be painful unless Huepel takes a long, honest look at the roster and is successful in addressing our deficiencies in the portal.

Good point. I can't really argue with that. I forgot about the huge exodus after CJH was hired.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Well, to be fair, the 21 class and our roster just collapsed when all the NCAA stuff hit. Heupel was in a hole from the get go. The argument could be made that Heupel hasn't performed well enough in the portal, but again, the threat of penalties dampened a lot of the enthusiasm for UT among the recruits. We've been operating at a significant disadvantage for a while. I'm quite sure this is what the NCAA intended to happen when they take years to resolve a case dragging it out for maximum damage. They knew what they were doing and exactly how the impact would play out. It's amazing to see us with the talent we have on this roster. Unfortunately, maturation takes time and this season and next will be painful unless Huepel takes a long, honest look at the roster and is successful in addressing our deficiencies in the portal.

If you want to be even more fair about it ... It is not year 4. That guy is just wrong all over the place. This is Heupel's 3rd season.

 

[VolForLife83]

Are we the only team that doesn't run slants, post routes, deep slants, and corner routes? Along with some reverses, etc?

Seems like all we run are screens, bubble screens, and fly routes. We are getting very predictable on offense. I know our offensive line isn't as strong as it was last year. Just trying to figure out if it's Milton or a Heupel/Halzle issue.

Yes.
We went from a vertical attack to a horizontal attack

 

[kell7517]

I'll say this too, I'm not very thrilled with CJH's sideline demeanor, especially when it comes to his interaction with the refs. I would've gotten a 15 yard penalty or thrown out of the game if my QB nearly got his head twisted off and no flag was thrown. Same with that ball kicking incident at Florida when it was a crucial 4th and 1 and they were allowed to substitute.. I would been on the field, screaming at that ref instead of just standing there with my arms out, looking confused. There are times when you have to fight for your team and put your foot up the official's ass.

Has a referee ever changed his call because a coach didn’t like the one he called? No. So why get a penalty that won’t change anything. You can voice your displeasure without yelling and whining, just to show your team you have their back.

 

[kell7517]

Are we the only team that doesn't run slants, post routes, deep slants, and corner routes? Along with some reverses, etc?

Seems like all we run are screens, bubble screens, and fly routes. We are getting very predictable on offense. I know our offensive line isn't as strong as it was last year. Just trying to figure out if it's Milton or a Heupel/Halzle issue.

Two passes to the TE were slants. One drop and one overthrow to him. One TD was a slant. And another very bad overthrow in the endzone was a slant.

 

[IncognitoVawl]

I just posted this very thing in another feed. Joe is not thorwing the 7 yd out or the 12 yd comeback, or the TE down the seam. I do not think Heupel feels he can make those throws and is calling (or having called) a very vanilla gameplan for Joe. It is going to start costing us games as defenses are going to go 2 high safety to take away those deep routes and make Joe and the running game beat them.

So predictable that a UTSA linebacker about jumped a screen and had a pick 6. It's like my 12 year old is calling plays o Madden

 

[TJSVOLS]

It was late in the game and we had it won. The situation we were in at the time was of no consequence. Protecting my future QB would've been my first reaction.

Well I absolutely agree with that one. Also, the officiating across the league is absolutely horrible this year.

 

[Carl Pickens]

All this talk about playing our best qb I understand but Nico goes in he needs to pass basically every down. We are about to get steam-rolled in the SEC with our passive no confidence passing attack. Pass downfield, throw some interceptions, learn.....................get better , much tougher games coming up. Kind of like telling a pitcher to throw strikes every pitch without practicing learning on the field.

But the lateral passing game is epic