Now That the Dust Has Settled

#1
MikeTheVol

MikeTheVol

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#1
Been a rabid Vols fan since the 60's, and I can't remember any game where I was more frustrated, angry and disgusted than I was last Saturday. This is a retrospective, logical, unemotional look at the game. If I'd written this after the game Saturday, there would be no way to look at it without emotion and it probably wouldn't make much sense.

I know this is easy to say, but IF you take away the turnovers (including the touch back fumble through the end zone), and IF the play calling had been more creative, it could have, would have, should have been a much different game. Not saying the Vols would have won, but the game would have been much closer. And yes, I know, that IF a frog had wings . . . . . yada, yada, yada . . . . .

A couple of the turnovers were, IMO, related directly to lack of play on the offensive line AND play calling combined. Related to the offensive line, they appeared to NOT know who they were supposed to block on several plays, which, in turn got JG killed. This is true not only for the offensive line but for the running backs and fullbacks. Related to the play calling, especially on screen passes, it was like the Gators were in the huddle with them and the Gators were jumping the routes, and that caused one of the turnovers. Play calling was WAY too conservative IMO. They've GOT to open the playbook some more, let the guys learn, and take their licks until they get it. But if play calling is this conservative all year, the outcomes will be dismal.

But the bottom line is, no matter what plays are called, no matter who the Vols are playing, there won't be many happy Saturdays this year unless the offensive line figures out, and fixes, their woes. In watching the highlights (or in this case, the low lights), even when it looked like they DID know who to block, they got manhandled on several key plays. The worst one I noticed was on the safety. The entire left side of their line got pushed two or three yards back into the end zone, thus, safety. I don't get it. I mean for YEARS, every time we get a new strength and conditioning coach, all we hear is how good he is and how our players, especially the linemen, are going to be able to compete, or even push the other teams around. This hasn't happened, as we well know. The offensive line is dotted with 4 and 5 star players, who, had they gone to another school, would be kicking butt. At UT, not so. Why? This reminds me of when the Dooley dude was there, and from week to week, they could not snap the ball to the QB consistently in the shotgun. I kept thinking to myself . . . . well I'm sure they will address that in practice this week and next game these snap errors won't be an issue. But, guess what, as we all know, that went on for several weeks. Same thing seems to be going on with the offensive line right now.

We're not that bad. Broad statement? Yes. But as the old saying goes, "you're never as good as you look on your best day, and never as bad as you look on your worse day". I think that's true of this team. That being said, we're NOT going to beat anyone in the next three games, UGA, Auburn, Bama. As a matter of fact, if they haven't improved immensely on the offensive line, they will be lucky to hold UGA under 50. Same goes for Bama. Not sure about Auburn. As for down the stretch, USC Jr, KY, Vandy, IF JP can keep the team, and IF they can gel, we might be able to compete and maybe even win a couple, but it won't be easy.
 
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#2
#2
There are rumblings of dissatisfaction with the OC and play calling. Is Helton in over his head? Is Friend too heavily involved? They need to resolve it quickly or we’ll see more of the same.
 
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#4
#4
Honestly, before the season began I believed we could win 5 games, 6 if we played over our heads and upset someone. Seeing how this team has yet to put anything together on the O line, and the play calling as a result is very basic and predictable, I can't see more than 3 wins this year.

I don't know that SC is the entire issue with our woes. So much of it I believe is technique. If you can't figure out how to get leverage, how can you expect to block anyone? Couple that with the lack of effort, not knowing who to block, we have issues that cannot be fixed quickly. At this point I don't believe it is the present coaching as much as a lingering attitude from the previous coach.

I think everyone can see that the freshmen on the field are giving effort, and are developing. But with the upper class, I just don't see that they have the discipline or heart to improve to the potential that is there.Yeah
 
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#5
#5
That's true of just about any loss you want to look at though. If you take away the turnovers, penalties, missed assignments yada yada yada. That's football, and that's part of the game. The part that frustrates me is that we have this same problem every time we face the gators. It doesn't matter who is playing or which coaching staff were talking about. We always have costly turnovers, penalties at the worst possible time, or missed assignments that kill a play.
 
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#7
#7
I watched a young man I thought very highly of, a former 5 star player, struggle with a player blocking him that he outweighed by 75 pounds. He literally was playing patty cake with the smaller player and made no push into the backfield. When opposing teams can send a 200 lb RB to push one of our front 7 defensive players around like he owns him, something is very rotten in Ktown.
 
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#11
#11
Remy said:
I watched a young man I thought very highly of, a former 5 star player, struggle with a player blocking him that he outweighed by 75 pounds. He literally was playing patty cake with the smaller player and made no push into the backfield. When opposing teams can send a 200 lb RB to push one of our front 7 defensive players around like he owns him, something is very rotten in Ktown.
Click to expand...
The Florida players have been more properly coached than our guys. I don't blame JP for that. The blame lies with BJ and the previous staff.
 
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#16
#16
The OL is just bad. There is no push from the line. Look at the safety for a good example as there was not a single OL past the goal line. Every single player got pushed backward. If our line cannot drive players off the ball, then there is little that will improve this season. Our OL is getting manhandled by each opponent.
 
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#17
#17
Jack Burton said:
There are rumblings of dissatisfaction with the OC and play calling. Is Helton in over his head? Is Friend too heavily involved? They need to resolve it quickly or we’ll see more of the same.
Click to expand...
Yep. Although I thoroughly agree with OP, I just as thoroughly agree with you, Jack. The OC's job isn't only to install the overall dynamics of a teams offense...from the get-go, It's also to create a game-day playbook which contains the best-suited set of plays for that upcoming opponent, along with a deletion of plays which just haven't been perfected enough to install for that contest. Also, the overall lineup needs to be better established before entering the conference part of the schedule. None of these have been accomplished...to date. They should have, even if a lot of these guys have had to re-tool their methods of executing their parts within this setup. The only coach I've got at least a smidgeon of a doubt about, is Coach Helton.
 
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#18
#18
MikeTheVol said:
Been a rabid Vols fan since the 60's, and I can't remember any game where I was more frustrated, angry and disgusted than I was last Saturday. This is a retrospective, logical, unemotional look at the game. If I'd written this after the game Saturday, there would be no way to look at it without emotion and it probably wouldn't make much sense.

I know this is easy to say, but IF you take away the turnovers (including the touch back fumble through the end zone), and IF the play calling had been more creative, it could have, would have, should have been a much different game. Not saying the Vols would have won, but the game would have been much closer. And yes, I know, that IF a frog had wings . . . . . yada, yada, yada . . . . .

A couple of the turnovers were, IMO, related directly to lack of play on the offensive line AND play calling combined. Related to the offensive line, they appeared to NOT know who they were supposed to block on several plays, which, in turn got JG killed. This is true not only for the offensive line but for the running backs and fullbacks. Related to the play calling, especially on screen passes, it was like the Gators were in the huddle with them and the Gators were jumping the routes, and that caused one of the turnovers. Play calling was WAY too conservative IMO. They've GOT to open the playbook some more, let the guys learn, and take their licks until they get it. But if play calling is this conservative all year, the outcomes will be dismal.

But the bottom line is, no matter what plays are called, no matter who the Vols are playing, there won't be many happy Saturdays this year unless the offensive line figures out, and fixes, their woes. In watching the highlights (or in this case, the low lights), even when it looked like they DID know who to block, they got manhandled on several key plays. The worst one I noticed was on the safety. The entire left side of their line got pushed two or three yards back into the end zone, thus, safety. I don't get it. I mean for YEARS, every time we get a new strength and conditioning coach, all we hear is how good he is and how our players, especially the linemen, are going to be able to compete, or even push the other teams around. This hasn't happened, as we well know. The offensive line is dotted with 4 and 5 star players, who, had they gone to another school, would be kicking butt. At UT, not so. Why? This reminds me of when the Dooley dude was there, and from week to week, they could not snap the ball to the QB consistently in the shotgun. I kept thinking to myself . . . . well I'm sure they will address that in practice this week and next game these snap errors won't be an issue. But, guess what, as we all know, that went on for several weeks. Same thing seems to be going on with the offensive line right now.

We're not that bad. Broad statement? Yes. But as the old saying goes, "you're never as good as you look on your best day, and never as bad as you look on your worse day". I think that's true of this team. That being said, we're NOT going to beat anyone in the next three games, UGA, Auburn, Bama. As a matter of fact, if they haven't improved immensely on the offensive line, they will be lucky to hold UGA under 50. Same goes for Bama. Not sure about Auburn. As for down the stretch, USC Jr, KY, Vandy, IF JP can keep the team, and IF they can gel, we might be able to compete and maybe even win a couple, but it won't be easy.
Click to expand...

Dude at this point in time, I hate to say it; the only win we will have will be against Charlotte.
 
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#19
#19
The turnovers were indeed costly, but the Vols were manhandled by a questionable Florida team, long story short
 
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#24
#24
Sara Clark said:
Are you kidding, serious? If true, Helton is in trouble.....
Click to expand...

It’s a rumor. There’s confusion over whether or not this is Helton’s offense. Some say it’s Friend’s offense with Helton calling the plays. So why pay Helton all that money?
 
#25
#25
Jack Burton said:
It’s a rumor. There’s confusion over whether or not this is Helton’s offense. Some say it’s Friend’s offense with Helton calling the plays. So why pay Helton all that money?
Click to expand...
I would expect, not having any inside knowledge, unless things change, Helton's gone at the end of the season. If the money isn't there, he's assigned another job and someone on staff moves in. JMO, I really have no idea.
 
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