2020 Oklahoma: Most important game in Tennessee history?

#76
#76
TennesseeVol2006 said:
Rarely in life do you get a 2nd shot.

2015 Oklahoma was the most important game of Tennessee’s future. We were still figuring out who Butch Jones was. We had this recruiting class coming in full of talent that set out to restore Tennessee to greatness. We had a national power in Oklahoma coming to Knoxville with an unproven transfer QB leading their team. Checkerboard in Neyland. We all know what happened. Oklahoma won in stunning fashion. Baker Mayfield carried that momentum to go on to lead Oklahoma to the playoffs and won a Heisman. Trevor Lawrence and a host of other top talent was at that game and left Knoxville possibly deciding against Tennessee. Butch’s youthful recruits never really gelled and took the next step. 2016 was a year of promise that just resulted in the collapse that culminated in 2017 being the worst season in the history of Tennessee football and the firing of LARP band dork pretending to be an alpha SEC HC. (Restored band geek status by being a coffee boy at Bama).

Winston Churchill famously said: “Those who fail to acknowledge history are condemned to repeat it.”

Now, here we are going into the 2020 season with a similar situation. We have a team comprised of elite talent on the offensive line. Potentially the best offensive line in Tennessee history. Right there with the team in 2013(14?) with Tiny Richardson, Zach Fulton, etc. Gray has shown flashes of brilliance at RB. Our WR’s are definitely a question mark. Our defense has shown promise and development.

The biggest question mark—is QB play. I will flat out say it: Guarantano is not good. If he goes into this season as a starter and gets the reps, we will be repeating exactly what we did in 2015.

Guarantano is a great kid. But he’s not a talented QB. We want talent like Joe Burrow or Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields.

Just a reminder for you....Joe Burrow threw nearly twice as many TD passes this year (60) in 15 games as Guarantano has thrown (32) in his 3 seasons (34 games) at Tennessee. Add to that his running abilities which would’ve put considerably more pressure on Bama’s D, which is something that Guarantano doesn’t have the ability to do.....Burrow 768 yards and 12 tds rushing in 2 years at LSU....Guarantano -79 yards and 1 TD rushing in 3 years at Tennessee.

We’re going to experience another decade of irrelevance and misery if Guarantano is our starter, and Pruitt’s regime will come to an end as a failure. That’s not what I want to happen, it’s just what will happen. A disaster campaign for the 2020 season means Pruitt starts being on the hot seat. That makes it even harder to recruit. And then you just don’t have the talent to compete.

Mark my words: if Guarantano gets the reps, we have a ceiling as an 8-9 win team for the next 10 years again. If ANYONE other than Guarantano gets the reps last season—we’re a 10 win team.

Before you comment—go through and look at the play by play drives on ESPN for any of the games we lost. You’ll notice some serious problems with our offense. It wasn’t our defense’s fault at any point this season.

Go Vols.
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NO.
 
#80
#80
TennesseeVol2006 said:
It’s almost like our entire success as a program rests on QB PLAY.

I am actually a Tennessee fan and want our program to be relevant. What about you? Do you just want us to be bottom feeders forever? Did you actually watch Tennesee football?

Are you satisfied about our win streak against:

UAB
Mizzou
Kentucky
Vanderbilt.

Did you watch the Alabama game where poor decision making on a selfish QB sneak causes a 14 point swing? What about the Kentucky win was Guarantano? Or Mizzou? Did you watch the Florida game where are defense put up a Spartans at Thermopylae like effort for a QB that fumbled, threw interceptions, and gave Florida the ball on our side of the field the ENTIRE first half, and yet our D STILL HUNG IN THERE!?!?! Come on. DID YOU WATCH TENNESSEE FOOTBALL???

Please, use your brain. And maybe you’ll understand what I am saying.
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Brain? You look like you're running on pure emotion .
 
#81
#81
TennesseeVol2006 said:
And you don’t think a young team will be better poised and more confident to win those conference games by beating a national power in their home stadium?

People. Please. Breathe through your nose, and think before replying and posting.
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You are equivocating "it would be awesome to get the win" with "the most important game in UT history, and our team will be a bottom-feeder perpetually if we don't win it."

Don't be an idiot. If you decide to keep being one, don't try to gaslight like we're the idiots.
 
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#82
#82
Iam4utalways said:
I’m expecting JG to do the 180 and redshirt HB.
The OK game is big when it comes to how 2020 ends up.
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I just don’t see JG making the 180. If he does, I would love it. That would be the most glorious crow sandwich in the history of my life.

But from what I have seen, I have to assume JG doesn’t have it, won’t ever have it, and will never have it.

I think letting him take reps is the biggest mistake we can make. I’d like to get a fresh start.

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Year 3 of Guarantano? Insanity.
 
#83
#83
OP

Nice (looong) post. But......

The most important game ever? Come on. You gotta be kidding. Not even top 4 important game next year.

We all know that “now” is most important, but there have been 100’s of games that meant more than OK.
 
#84
#84
peaygolf said:
OP

Nice (looong) post. But......

The most important game ever? Come on. You gotta be kidding. Not even top 4 important game next year.

We all know that “now” is most important, but there have been 100’s of games that meant more than OK.
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It sets the tone for the season.

I’ve heard some say we have an 8-4 type of season to look forward to. But with the offensive line we have coming in, I think we have to shoot for a 10 win season next year.
 
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#85
#85
TennesseeVol2006 said:
It’s called logic and reason. Do you want Tennessee to be a good program or not?
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The logical thing is to put the game in the hands of the future. There for the reason or reasoning is because like your stats are saying...JG isn’t learning from his past well enough. They are just making the game simpler for him. JG isn’t getting better with the progressions not enough to expand the offense. He’s at a stalemate with who he is or gonna be. I wished it was different I really do. The young man is a VFL that’s for sure. But this isn’t little league and the coaches sons make all stars no matter what. That being said...The future for now is let spring summer and fall camp play out with the competition. If the FUTURE (H. Bailey) is ready to hand the ball off and progresses with in the plays...YOU PLAY HIM....NOW !!! I ask any of you what is the difference at that point than what JG can do..? If your being honest it’s the SAME ! That being said he gets better and better learning from his mistakes. If he doesn’t then once again you have a QB competition. But HB is our future and you play him now not later. VFL
 
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#86
#86
TennesseeVol2006 said:
It sets the tone for the season.

I’ve heard some say we have an 8-4 type of season to look forward to. But with the offensive line we have coming in, I think we have to shoot for a 10 win season next year.
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Sets the tone.....a win definitely would. But UF, UGA, Bama, and Vandy are more “important”
 
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#88
#88
TennesseeVol2006 said:
I just don’t see JG making the 180. If he does, I would love it. That would be the most glorious crow sandwich in the history of my life.

But from what I have seen, I have to assume JG doesn’t have it, won’t ever have it, and will never have it.

I think letting him take reps is the biggest mistake we can make. I’d like to get a fresh start.

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Year 3 of Guarantano? Insanity.
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The good news is it’s all mental.
My theory is he has a lack of trust with some of his receivers. He has to wait and see what they will do, then it’a too late.
 
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#90
#90
tritonvol said:
Our offense will be average until we can run the football like we used too. It is also hard to score in the red zone when you can’t run the ball. If the Oline pans out like it looks like it could, we will run the ball better this year. This will help our passing game as well.
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Dovetailing the OP to this quote...both are correct! The problem we have had recently with SEC defensive coordinators is that because of our lackluster QB play they simply do not respect the passing threat, and as a result stack the box. Watch the film, our down linemen were so outnumbered in most games that the Oline for the 85 bears would have been hard-pressed to help out the ground game.

Both posts are correct, in part. We absolutely need better QB play, but not just for Oklahoma, who might be the 4th best defense we will play, but more importantly, for us to be relevant against our SEC opponents. If we can simply get above average play at QB, then opposing defenses stack the box at there own peril! With this line, our QB will have time to find the open man...but can he deliver to that open man? GBO
 
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#91
#91
TennesseeVol2006 said:
Rarely in life do you get a 2nd shot.

2015 Oklahoma was the most important game of Tennessee’s future. We were still figuring out who Butch Jones was. We had this recruiting class coming in full of talent that set out to restore Tennessee to greatness. We had a national power in Oklahoma coming to Knoxville with an unproven transfer QB leading their team. Checkerboard in Neyland. We all know what happened. Oklahoma won in stunning fashion. Baker Mayfield carried that momentum to go on to lead Oklahoma to the playoffs and won a Heisman. Trevor Lawrence and a host of other top talent was at that game and left Knoxville possibly deciding against Tennessee. Butch’s youthful recruits never really gelled and took the next step. 2016 was a year of promise that just resulted in the collapse that culminated in 2017 being the worst season in the history of Tennessee football and the firing of LARP band dork pretending to be an alpha SEC HC. (Restored band geek status by being a coffee boy at Bama).

Winston Churchill famously said: “Those who fail to acknowledge history are condemned to repeat it.”

Now, here we are going into the 2020 season with a similar situation. We have a team comprised of elite talent on the offensive line. Potentially the best offensive line in Tennessee history. Right there with the team in 2013(14?) with Tiny Richardson, Zach Fulton, etc. Gray has shown flashes of brilliance at RB. Our WR’s are definitely a question mark. Our defense has shown promise and development.

The biggest question mark—is QB play. I will flat out say it: Guarantano is not good. If he goes into this season as a starter and gets the reps, we will be repeating exactly what we did in 2015.

Guarantano is a great kid. But he’s not a talented QB. We want talent like Joe Burrow or Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields.

Just a reminder for you....Joe Burrow threw nearly twice as many TD passes this year (60) in 15 games as Guarantano has thrown (32) in his 3 seasons (34 games) at Tennessee. Add to that his running abilities which would’ve put considerably more pressure on Bama’s D, which is something that Guarantano doesn’t have the ability to do.....Burrow 768 yards and 12 tds rushing in 2 years at LSU....Guarantano -79 yards and 1 TD rushing in 3 years at Tennessee.

We’re going to experience another decade of irrelevance and misery if Guarantano is our starter, and Pruitt’s regime will come to an end as a failure. That’s not what I want to happen, it’s just what will happen. A disaster campaign for the 2020 season means Pruitt starts being on the hot seat. That makes it even harder to recruit. And then you just don’t have the talent to compete.

Mark my words: if Guarantano gets the reps, we have a ceiling as an 8-9 win team for the next 10 years again. If ANYONE other than Guarantano gets the reps last season—we’re a 10 win team.

Before you comment—go through and look at the play by play drives on ESPN for any of the games we lost. You’ll notice some serious problems with our offense. It wasn’t our defense’s fault at any point this season.

Go Vols.
Click to expand...
Blah blah blah. Is Oklahoma better with veteran talent? Yep. They will probably win, But I believe we will bring a fight and be in it late in the 4th.
 
#95
#95
OP - no I think that is way over the top. Let's wait to make an East-defining game or SECCG to even come close to that. An OOC game in a season we aren't expected to compete for even the conference, let alone the playoffs, I don't see how it is that important.

That said, I think it can have some implications in recruiting. OU is a national brand and would be a big boost to our image.

Would also give us the longest P5 win streak if Texas beats LSU.
 
#96
#96
TennesseeVol2006 said:
Rarely in life do you get a 2nd shot.

2015 Oklahoma was the most important game of Tennessee’s future. We were still figuring out who Butch Jones was. We had this recruiting class coming in full of talent that set out to restore Tennessee to greatness. We had a national power in Oklahoma coming to Knoxville with an unproven transfer QB leading their team. Checkerboard in Neyland. We all know what happened. Oklahoma won in stunning fashion. Baker Mayfield carried that momentum to go on to lead Oklahoma to the playoffs and won a Heisman. Trevor Lawrence and a host of other top talent was at that game and left Knoxville possibly deciding against Tennessee. Butch’s youthful recruits never really gelled and took the next step. 2016 was a year of promise that just resulted in the collapse that culminated in 2017 being the worst season in the history of Tennessee football and the firing of LARP band dork pretending to be an alpha SEC HC. (Restored band geek status by being a coffee boy at Bama).

Winston Churchill famously said: “Those who fail to acknowledge history are condemned to repeat it.”

Now, here we are going into the 2020 season with a similar situation. We have a team comprised of elite talent on the offensive line. Potentially the best offensive line in Tennessee history. Right there with the team in 2013(14?) with Tiny Richardson, Zach Fulton, etc. Gray has shown flashes of brilliance at RB. Our WR’s are definitely a question mark. Our defense has shown promise and development.

The biggest question mark—is QB play. I will flat out say it: Guarantano is not good. If he goes into this season as a starter and gets the reps, we will be repeating exactly what we did in 2015.

Guarantano is a great kid. But he’s not a talented QB. We want talent like Joe Burrow or Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields.

Just a reminder for you....Joe Burrow threw nearly twice as many TD passes this year (60) in 15 games as Guarantano has thrown (32) in his 3 seasons (34 games) at Tennessee. Add to that his running abilities which would’ve put considerably more pressure on Bama’s D, which is something that Guarantano doesn’t have the ability to do.....Burrow 768 yards and 12 tds rushing in 2 years at LSU....Guarantano -79 yards and 1 TD rushing in 3 years at Tennessee.

We’re going to experience another decade of irrelevance and misery if Guarantano is our starter, and Pruitt’s regime will come to an end as a failure. That’s not what I want to happen, it’s just what will happen. A disaster campaign for the 2020 season means Pruitt starts being on the hot seat. That makes it even harder to recruit. And then you just don’t have the talent to compete.

Mark my words: if Guarantano gets the reps, we have a ceiling as an 8-9 win team for the next 10 years again. If ANYONE other than Guarantano gets the reps last season—we’re a 10 win team.

Before you comment—go through and look at the play by play drives on ESPN for any of the games we lost. You’ll notice some serious problems with our offense. It wasn’t our defense’s fault at any point this season.

Go Vols.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...let’s give you the benefit of the doubt here and at the same time get some education on your treatise with the definition below

Hyperbole (pronounced ‘high-purr-bo-lee’) is a figure of speech in which an author or speaker purposely and obviously exaggerates to an extreme. It is used for emphasis or as a way of making a description more creative and humorous. It is important to note that hyperbole is not meant to be taken literally; the audience knows it’s an exaggeration.
 
#97
#97
TennesseeVol2006 said:
Did you actually watch the games or just look at stat lines? It’s miraculous you’re this dense. It’s impressive. Really.
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Both. He had some bad moments, some really bad. Despite those, his efficiency was 3rd best in the SEC. Live with it. Seems you have only focused on bad memories.

That is a psychological bias, so I don't blame you specifically. Most do it - remember the worst. In Confessions of a Winning Poker Player, Jack King said, "Few players recall big pots they have won -- strange as it seems -- but every player can remember, with remarkable accuracy, the outstanding tough beats of his career".
 
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#98
#98
The two most important games in modern Tennessee history were 1997 where Peyton lost to the Gators again and 2001 where we beat the heavily favored Gators. I can't think of two more important games than that. I would actually almost agree with the OP if I hadn't observed so many posters in different threads already excusing OU as an acceptable loss and accepting an 8-4 season as passable. If more fans (at least on this board) were to rightfully scrutinize CJP in year three, I think OP would have a better case.
 
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