TN the "best medicine" for USC

#27
#27
JohnnyJava said:
Wish I shared your enthusiasm for our defense. But, you throw out UTEP and FCS (1-AA) ETSU, and UT's defense is giving up 41.4 pts per game and 474 yards per game against the 5 real teams we have played. The eyeball detects that the defense has improved, the heart points out that we've played against some outstanding teams. The stats, however, say that Pruitt has been unable to move the needle much at all from Shoop/Sunseri levels of ineptitude. Maybe we'll see that improvement in the easier back half of the season. The jury is still out, imo.
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You throw out #1 bama and west va. and it doesn’t look too bad. That works both ways. Stats are what you want them to be.
 
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#28
#28
Jake Bentley has been garbage this year. He's not the same QB as the last couple of years
 
#29
#29
LibertyVolance said:
I watched one of their games when Bentley was out. Their backup looked better than Bentley from what I saw of him.
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That's a pretty big debate from their fans on who to start. I have also seen Bentley has had some rough first half's and better second half's that put them back into games that they just don't close out. So had they played well for a full game, they could easily be a 1 loss team with their only loss being UGA where they never stood a chance.

As others have said, this will be a fight and I'm not really sure who will come out with a W. We both really need this win for bowl eligibility, probably them more than us with likely losses to Florida and Clemson after us.
 
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#33
#33
Cartervol said:
I know no one really wants to hear this , but they probably have better depth and a little more talent in the lines of scrimmage. We'll have to steal one here if we get it. The Auburn game gave us some hope , but it's still a uphill climb with this bunch.
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truth will set you free...we'll actually have to steal a few but that's ok...we're in the mix...:D

GO VOLS...BEAT GAMECOCKS!
 
#35
#35
When I google the game time it says kickoff is at 6:30, but ESPN lists it at 3:30. Anyone know what time kickoff is?
 
#37
#37
The key to beating Tennessee is walking into the game with the assumption you are going to win and bully our player as soon as you walk on the field. Get early sacks on the QB and get quick points on the board. Get those two things done and 50% of the Tennessee starters start looking to just get the game over with. If you don't give Tennessee a chance to win early, they quit.
 
#40
#40
Big difference with Pruitt at the helm of our defense...
and I'm sure CJP is going to have plenty to say to our DBs this week about their performance....
 
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#42
#42
njvols said:
I think it's going to still take more time this year. Pruitt hasn't been able to coach all the CBJ out of them yet.

I'd expect Pruitt to double down on aggressiveness this week to show the team we're not regressing from our Bama beat down. USC has beaten us last two years, but it's not like they were dominant. Think about it...last year was our worst team in UT history, and we had a chance to win the game in 4Q. In 2016, we should have won that game, if not for critical errors. IF... we play our game, we can win vs USC.
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That tip-toeing on a corner blitz is history. A.Taylor doesn't do that so he was referencing some player in the game after Taylor's ejection. Almost like calling the player out publicly. I saw a lot of standing around from our defense Sat. with DKjr and Ignont. I don't know if it had anything to do with Bituli sitting out or not. I can't blame coach for being pissed.
 
#43
#43
I think this team has played better on the road and SC isn't even as good as Auburn. Unless our players just meltdown, they should win this game. They were one catch away in the endzone on the last play from beating SC last year...and I think SC has taken a step back this season while UT has improved. You have to take the Alabama game and just toss it aside. That is not an indicator of how this team will do against SC.
 
#45
#45
tbones0711 said:
That tip-toeing on a corner blitz is history. A.Taylor doesn't do that so he was referencing some player in the game after Taylor's ejection. Almost like calling the player out publicly. I saw a lot of standing around from our defense Sat. with DKjr and Ignont. I don't know if it had anything to do with Bituli sitting out or not. I can't blame coach for being pissed.
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I agree...that will for sure be a coaching point this week on corner blitz. I also think Pruitt pissed that mistakes caused other mistakes. Taylor got thrown out of game, so we were vulnerable the rest of the game. Chandler botch of second half kick off put us in bad position and we made it worse by two other errors, and completely erased any momentum coaches probably tried to establish coming out of half time. Taylor and Chandler are two players who have bought in, so didn't catch too much ire, but gets back to the "all the time" effort Pruitt talks about. Just can't afford to have those mental lapses... will get you beat most every time. I'd expect we have things tightened up this week.
 
#46
#46
xpsyclonex2002 said:
The key to beating Tennessee is walking into the game with the assumption you are going to win and bully our player as soon as you walk on the field. Get early sacks on the QB and get quick points on the board. Get those two things done and 50% of the Tennessee starters start looking to just get the game over with. If you don't give Tennessee a chance to win early, they quit.
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While generally I would agree with that, Auburn marched right down the field on their first drive and scored. Made it look exceptionally easy. They also hit a long TD pass after we had fought to tie the game back up, yet we won that game.

Part of me wonders if we were able to mount that comeback because Auburn isn't "in our head" (we just don't play them often). None of these guys currently on the team were on the team the last time we lost to (or even played) Auburn. In contrast Florida is absolutely in some of these guys heads and the sheer dominance of Alabama tends to lead guys to give up early if they get down. The last two South Carolina games have been embarrassing and painful losses. There is going to be a lot of talk during Kentucky week of last year's loss and attempting to preserve the home winning streak against them that dates back to 1984. We are 2-4 against Vandy over the last 6 years (perhaps the single-most embarrassing stat you can rattle off). There is a culture of losing here that Pruitt & Co. have to break.
 
#47
#47
JohnnyJava said:
Wish I shared your enthusiasm for our defense. But, you throw out UTEP and FCS (1-AA) ETSU, and UT's defense is giving up 41.4 pts per game and 474 yards per game against the 5 real teams we have played. The eyeball detects that the defense has improved, the heart points out that we've played against some outstanding teams. The stats, however, say that Pruitt has been unable to move the needle much at all from Shoop/Sunseri levels of ineptitude. Maybe we'll see that improvement in the easier back half of the season. The jury is still out, imo.
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We have the 2nd toughest schedule in the nation, yet we've already beaten a ranked team, on the road, that we shouldn't have. I've seen progress every week, other than Fla. That's all I was hoping for. Bama doesn't count imo because nobody will even come close to beating them this year.
 
#49
#49
This game will set the tone for the rest of the season. A win makes this an extremely confident 5-4 team going into the Kentucky game and puts 8-4 very much in play. With a loss, getting to 6 wins looks like a far more daunting task. I don't want to call game 8 a must win game, but this game is very close to being in must win territory.
 
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#50
#50
The reason we beat Auburn despite the fact that they came out and kicked our butts in the beginning, is that we got a few big pass plays in. Tell me that everybody on the field including the Tennessee players weren't shocked to see those. Auburn allowed us to hang around and paid the price. And let's be honest, that quarterback for Auburn handed us the game with all those interceptions and fumbles. He was single-handedly the best player we had.
 
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