KnoxRealtorVOL
First of his name
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2010
- Messages
- 17,733
- Likes
- 30,992
For those that didn't notice, Oklahoma absolutely rang our bell last season. I agree the score didn't accurately reflect the way the game was played, but regardless we were dominated at all angles. They are returning the good majority of their team, including Eric Striker, who now legally owns property in our backfield.
Regardless, Tennessee fans are spewing overconfidence about this game in every form of social media possible. Sure, we'll be better on the O-line, the loss of Justin Coleman is addition by subtraction, the loss of Bajakian immediately makes us better, and we are no longer a team of freshmen. But Tennessee fans are confident about this game for one reason: Astro Dobbs.
I decided to do some research to see if this confidence is warranted. Obviously Dobbs didn't play against Oklahoma last year, so I found the closest defense I could to Oklahoma's that Dobbs played against. Mizzou, like Oklahoma, was strongest in their front seven. Mizzou was ranked about 28 spots higher in total defense, but they were stronger in the front, weaker in the secondary, just like Oklahoma.
Looking at stats:
Worley vs. Oklahoma:
201 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Dobbs vs. Mizzou:
195 yards. 1 rushing TD. 1 INT.
Fairly similar, and again, keep in mind, Mizzou is a much higher ranked Defense than Oklahoma. But again, is this enough to be extremely confident? There must be an X-factor....
Stoops brought the house almost every down last year, and rightfully so. We didn't have the O-line to handle it. Oklahoma is still going to be one of the bigger tests of this O-line, so how is Dobbs going to handle that this year?
Worley did what he was supposed to do here, he stepped up and moved a bit. I think he ended up with a decent, but risky throw. I think Dobbs picks up some yardage here, then hopefully he gets down.
Here we see Worley essentially doing what Worley did. He's looking off his receivers, and in what would have been an obvious run situation, his mind is on the open receiver. The O-line woes were terrible, but this is a great example of how to worsen a bad O-line. I don't mean that to bash Worley, the guy just wasn't a runner.
Worley finally moves a bit here, but just to avoid pressure. He doesn't run for positive yardage. If this is Dobbs, he hits the wide open gap with one defender downfield to beat. Dobbs is more than capable of beating one defender, this is a massive gain if not a TD.
Basically, seeing Dobbs as the X-factor is entirely justifiable. I doubt Stoops game plans the exact same way in 2015, but the strength of Oklahoma isn't going to play nearly as heavily to our weakness this year. You can bring the house every down if you want, but if you try that and you miss Dobbs, you will get roasted for enormous gains every time.
Gameday can't be here soon enough.
Regardless, Tennessee fans are spewing overconfidence about this game in every form of social media possible. Sure, we'll be better on the O-line, the loss of Justin Coleman is addition by subtraction, the loss of Bajakian immediately makes us better, and we are no longer a team of freshmen. But Tennessee fans are confident about this game for one reason: Astro Dobbs.
I decided to do some research to see if this confidence is warranted. Obviously Dobbs didn't play against Oklahoma last year, so I found the closest defense I could to Oklahoma's that Dobbs played against. Mizzou, like Oklahoma, was strongest in their front seven. Mizzou was ranked about 28 spots higher in total defense, but they were stronger in the front, weaker in the secondary, just like Oklahoma.
Looking at stats:
Worley vs. Oklahoma:
201 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Dobbs vs. Mizzou:
195 yards. 1 rushing TD. 1 INT.
Fairly similar, and again, keep in mind, Mizzou is a much higher ranked Defense than Oklahoma. But again, is this enough to be extremely confident? There must be an X-factor....
Stoops brought the house almost every down last year, and rightfully so. We didn't have the O-line to handle it. Oklahoma is still going to be one of the bigger tests of this O-line, so how is Dobbs going to handle that this year?
Worley did what he was supposed to do here, he stepped up and moved a bit. I think he ended up with a decent, but risky throw. I think Dobbs picks up some yardage here, then hopefully he gets down.
Here we see Worley essentially doing what Worley did. He's looking off his receivers, and in what would have been an obvious run situation, his mind is on the open receiver. The O-line woes were terrible, but this is a great example of how to worsen a bad O-line. I don't mean that to bash Worley, the guy just wasn't a runner.
Worley finally moves a bit here, but just to avoid pressure. He doesn't run for positive yardage. If this is Dobbs, he hits the wide open gap with one defender downfield to beat. Dobbs is more than capable of beating one defender, this is a massive gain if not a TD.
Basically, seeing Dobbs as the X-factor is entirely justifiable. I doubt Stoops game plans the exact same way in 2015, but the strength of Oklahoma isn't going to play nearly as heavily to our weakness this year. You can bring the house every down if you want, but if you try that and you miss Dobbs, you will get roasted for enormous gains every time.
Gameday can't be here soon enough.
