Offensive line was pathetic last year

[sjt18]

Originally Posted by King Webbsticles

That video also shows direct evidence that stats do not tell the whole story.

People brag that our pass protection was really good, but the tape suggest otherwise. Just because there wasn't a sack doesn't mean that the pressure didn't result in a negative play. Anytime UF sent over three people, Bray was hurried.

Considering that UF knew that UT was going to pass, the pass pro was decent. When they bring more than you have people to block, the QB has to get rid of it. For the most part Bray did. On those clips, I only saw one time when UF got to Bray before he had time to read/throw without a blitz.

The snaps were horrible. That has to be fixed.

The run game was bad... likewise has to be fixed.

Rivera drops too many passes. Has to be fixed.

The stats do not lie and especially when they extend across the season. UT attempted alot of passes and had very few sacks. Bray was hit no more than and probably less than other QB's.

[Volbeat]

Watching that just makes me even more ready to play them this year. Add Hunter and Patterson and they aren't going to be able to stop our passing game.

[sjt18]

Originally Posted by Volbeat

Watching that just makes me even more ready to play them this year. Add Hunter and Patterson and they aren't going to be able to stop our passing game.

We'll never know but I think UT wins that game with Hunter. UF had a hard enough time trying to stop UT's pass game without him. He changes the way DC's have to play call.

[VolsRule]

the oline should be a lot better this year

[Volbeat]

Originally Posted by sjt18

We'll never know but I think UT wins that game with Hunter. UF had a hard enough time trying to stop UT's pass game without him. He changes the way DC's have to play call.

I agree! I've heard people talk about Florida's D playing prevent and that's the only reason we got within 10 but that's crap! They were blitzing like crazy!

[Vol8188]

Originally Posted by King Webbsticles

That video also shows direct evidence that stats do not tell the whole story.

People brag that our pass protection was really good, but the tape suggest otherwise. Just because there wasn't a sack doesn't mean that the pressure didn't result in a negative play. Anytime UF sent over three people, Bray was hurried.

What do you mean anytime they sent over 3 people? You do realize they ran a 4 man front them majority of the day, and therefore they sent 4 men on almost every play, right?

Secondly, Bray was almost never under pressure for the entire game. Even the first sack of the game wasn't the oline, if you watch the play they send an overload blitz and both the FB and Poole block the first LB. Leaving the second man on the edge untouched.

Sure Bray had to step up on a few plays, that's going to happen. They also got some pressure and forced a quick throw on a few plays were they sent more rushers than we had blockers, once again that's going to happen. There's nothing you can do about that, we have 10 possible men to block their 11 possible rushers on any passing play. You just have to hope we can hit the hot route in time. For the most part though, the blocking was excellent.

[Vol8188]

Originally Posted by sjt18

Considering that UF knew that UT was going to pass, the pass pro was decent. When they bring more than you have people to block, the QB has to get rid of it. For the most part Bray did. On those clips, I only saw one time when UF got to Bray before he had time to read/throw without a blitz.

The snaps were horrible. That has to be fixed.

The run game was bad... likewise has to be fixed.

Rivera drops too many passes. Has to be fixed.

The stats do not lie and especially when they extend across the season. UT attempted alot of passes and had very few sacks. Bray was hit no more than and probably less than other QB's.

I agree completely. For our offense to be 100% one dimensional and still be the best in the SEC in sacks per attempt, that's very impressive.

[volsfan75]

Originally Posted by Spartacavolus

And again, people that haven't played team sports continue to not understand all aspects of the game. Use the word "blame" however you want.
But to say that a young Oline lacking in confidence and leadership on the field wasn't adversely mentally affected by watching their AA go down in a heap on the the road in the Swamp, shows a lack of understanding of football in its totality, and a lack of understanding of the importance of upperclassmen leadership to help get over it easier.

Whoever wants to dispute the above, feel free, but there is really not an argument.

Your stupid. I'm smart. See I can play this game too.

[Vol8188]

Originally Posted by LifeisO&W

No they weren't. Bray just gets rid of the ball quickly. Watch the tape. The pass protection was atrocious as well.

Did you watch the tape? The protection was great against the 4 man rush. Of course teams are going to get pressure when they blitz, that's why you have hot routes. Most of the time when I actually saw them get pressure on Bray, which was rare, it was because of a missed block by the RB's or TE.

[JayVols]

The first thing that I see is the lack of footwork, effort, and nastiness. Could be lack of knowledge of technique, could be attitude, passiveness....pick one and/or come up with more. There's almost no limit as to reasons.

The OL is a group of positions where lack of narural talent can be compensated for to more of a degree than most others. Think about it. A RB is either fast or not. He either has field vision or not. A WR is either 6'5" with tacky hands that can accelerate quickly out of a cut or not. A QB either has a cannon or not. The skill positions are called skill positions for a reason.

Back to my point. Size is a limitation for sure. A 250 lb guy isn't going to play OL in the SEC. But, you don't have to be 320 lbs to be an adequate OL in the league. Size and strength are great. In a perfect world, having the total package is ideal. But, we don't live in a perfect world. The most underrated aspects of an OL is technique and desire. Give me a 285-290 lb guy with flawless technique and an unstoppable motor over a 340 lb guy with average technique that is as lazy as whale manure. A prime example of what heart and desire can do is the Sullins Brothers. Make no mistake, they in no way can ever be confused with All-SEC linemen, but they were a part of an OL that produced a 1,000+ yard rusher in Mo Hardesty. Their accomplishments are far more than what should have been. These undersized, slow, broken down guys truly gave their all for Tennessee. They had a drive and desire to succeed which helped mitigate, to some degree, what they lacked in size and talent.

We have/had a group of young, talented, and good sized linemen. You can't expect them to have flawless technique, but you can expect their technique to improve. We didn't get that for the most part last year. We lacked mental toughness because we blew assignments right and left, jumped offsides in way too many critical 3rd and 4th down situations, and stood around looking lost too much. Mental toughness can be built. We didn't build it. That's on coaching. Our technique didn't improve adequately particularly in the run game. That's on coaching. We didn't get max effort. That's on coaching. What we got were missed assignments, mental mistakes in critical situations, and guys standing around watching our skill guys running for their lives. We had too many holding penalties due to laziness and lack of technique. That's on coaching. Having said all that, we have a new OL coach. I'm hoping that he changes the atmosphere of what is acceptable for OL. It seems there's been a lot of effort to nurture pride and a sense of togetherness in this group this offseason. It should pay huge dividends, but I'll wait to see what happens when we start playing.

We've had too many "look out" blocks recently. We've had too much laziness and lack of effort. It takes no talent, size, or technique to hustle. The players have to take it upon themselves to have the drive and desire necessary to violently collide with the defense every snap. No more standing around looking lost. Go hit someone even if it's the wrong guy. Again, it takes no talent or experience to hustle. Let's hope that Coach Pittman can provide an atmosphere that fosters max effort every play. We are way past due to get our attitude of punishing the defense until the whistle blows, play after play. OL is a state of mind. Let's get it, punish some folks, and start winning some damn football games.

[ncvol17]

The old axiom 'you haven't done it - until you have done it'...let's finally beat UF and then we can talk...all this 'we're gonna' is troll food until we do it. Just MO

[LifeisO&W]

Hell yeah Jay!!! Solid post

[Titan&Volfan4life]

Good post Jay and I totally agree.

Sparty also has a valid point.

Our guys came out motivated and fired up and ready to end the streak of wins floriDUHHH had and to start a Tennessee Win streak.

Everyone knew the plan was to run enough to keep the D honest but that our main attack was going to be our extremely dangerous passing game.

Our sails were full of expectations of alot of scoring and nobody had any doubts about that.

Very 1st possesion and Hunter goes down and everyone quickly knows he's not coming back and that our entire gameplan just went down the toilet.

The wind goes out of our sails and excitement becomes shock and they're completely stunned at what's just happened and suddenly they're not so certain of what's coming next.

They were shellshocked and depressed and it took far too long for our young Vols to recover.

We let floriDUHHH take advantage and build too big a lead but when ouyr Vols did recover and started fighting back we started to hold them and to make our own scores but it was just too late.

A mature team led by a Al Wilson/Peyton Manning type leadership would have recovered much faster and we wouldn't have been so far behind before we rallied and started our comeback.

floriDUHHH had no idea how to stop us with Rogers and Hunter both on the field and I have zero doubts that we would have Won that game if Hunter hadn't been hurt just as I believe we would have Won several more games with Hunter still on the field.

Da'rick scares people but Hunter scares them even more and after we lost Hunter the D plan was to double Da'rick and limit him and stuff our run and force other WR's to step up big or lose the game.

Big injuries to key playmakers oftentimes takes the wind out of the sails of most every team and that's what happened to our Vols at floriDSUHHH last season and we never really recovered the whole way back for the rest of the season.

This season we have more depth and playmakers available so I don't think we'll lose all the wind out of our sails if we have just 1 key injury and I think our attitudes will be tougher this season after what they let happen to them last year.

I'm more than ready for it to be football time in Tennessee!!!

VFL...GBO!!!

[Spartacavolus]

The fact is that bad play was a result of all of the above. But if you try to disprove either point and lay all the blame on one factor, you arent seeing what you need to see.

[King Webbsticles]

Originally Posted by sjt18

Considering that UF knew that UT was going to pass, the pass pro was decent. When they bring more than you have people to block, the QB has to get rid of it. For the most part Bray did. On those clips, I only saw one time when UF got to Bray before he had time to read/throw without a blitz.

Of course he does. However, when they bring four and Bray is rushed, that is not good protection. There are two examples in the first minute of the video. I realize that steppiing up is part of what QB's have to do, but when facing a four man rush, there should be more time than that.

I wouldn't agree that UF knew we had to pass. We had just come off two games where we made a concerted effort to rush the football. Towards the end of the game, yes I agree, they knew we had to pass to get back into it. Ironically, this was the best pass protection all day.

The snaps were horrible. That has to be fixed.

The run game was bad... likewise has to be fixed.

Rivera drops too many passes. Has to be fixed.

Agree.
Agree.
Agree.

The stats do not lie and especially when they extend across the season. UT attempted alot of passes and had very few sacks. Bray was hit no more than and probably less than other QB's.

Throughout the season the OL got much better in pass blocking. Look at the video of the game against UGA. UGA sent multiple blitzes that never sniffed Bray. That was one of their best games as a unit, pass blocking wise.