Recruiting Forum Football Talk II

[jordan4vols]

Because of limited practice time we have had I look at this as a good win and a live action 3 hour scrimmage. A lot of tape to look at and things to work on. I think teams will start to see big improvement between the next two games because of it.

 

[drvenner]

After sleeping on it, I feel this can be a good to very good team this season. At points during the game, UT looked absolutely dominant, especially on D. If the team can find consistency, they could win 6+ games this season.

We have to find our identity on offense and impose our will. I was somewhat disappointed with the D in the second half. Four scoring drives against a mediocre offense. Plenty of room to improve and I think we will.

 

[volinbama256]

i have been rewatching the game. While some are on here arguing QB play and rightfully so We are missing the biggest deficiency of the night. Fellas we missed Shamburger in a massive way. Slaughter played okay for a Frosh but damn was the middle and the slot wide open all night. After making slot receivers ghosts last year Shi took us to the woodshed. Shamburger is at minimum a 10 pt. Difference in the game.

Yes the secondary/slot/middle of the field killed us last night... that was really the only place that kept their drives alive was running the slant to shi... he was open all night. Why didn't the coaches try and make an adjustment during the game for this when it kept happening to us every series?

 

[ndubvols]

If JG continues to make the decisions that he did last night then I’m confident he’ll be a good sec QB this year. Didn’t really put the ball in harms way and made the correct decisions really all night. He’ll gain better consistency throwing it as the chemistry grows with the new receivers.

 

[drvenner]

My takeaways that stood out from game 1

1. Columbia is still a shithole
2. JG seems far more comfortable in the offense and did a much better job eliminating the big mistake. I think he gets better as the year progresses.
3. Upside on team looks promising. Fully healthy with all starters and a few more practices under their belt I think that game looks like a blow out.
4. This team has grit...you can just tell these kids are fighting for their coach. Its been a while since we have really had that consistently and the long term effects are evident. 7 in a row speaks volumes.

Can’t wait to open In Neyland next weekend...

Ima re-watch the game to see if I can spot you. Not really. You're probably in the luxury box anyway. Appreciate what you do.

 

[bignewt]

Trask
Jones
Costlleo
Nix
Hill
After that put names in a hat....

Costello is easily number one. Set a damn SEC record. Blows my mind how Leach can turn a scrub into a superstar during this crazy off-season and we got a fifth year senior who throws over or behind every receiver he sees.

 

[bignewt]

If JG continues to make the decisions that he did last night then I’m confident he’ll be a good sec QB this year. Didn’t really put the ball in harms way and made the correct decisions really all night. He’ll gain better consistency throwing it as the chemistry grows with the new receivers.

Also if they grow 24 inches by week 3.

 

[Rishvol]

Did anyone else feel that we relied less on blitzing from the boundary last night? I made a comment before the Slaughter sack that it was odd not seeing a single corner blitz from Pruitt yet. Do we think we will see a shift to relying more on our 4 man rush this year?

I think that's because of how much contain was lost last night. Can't blitz if no one is outside the tackle

 

[Dooby15]

So, you're advocating becoming conservative with a lead?

I think if you have a back averaging nearly 7 yards per carry, and there’s 8 minutes left, and your D is struggling to stop them, and your QB is not the most accurate, maybe try to run it once?

 

[volinbama256]

My takeaways that stood out from game 1

1. Columbia is still a shithole
2. JG seems far more comfortable in the offense and did a much better job eliminating the big mistake. I think he gets better as the year progresses.
3. Upside on team looks promising. Fully healthy with all starters and a few more practices under their belt I think that game looks like a blow out.
4. This team has grit...you can just tell these kids are fighting for their coach. Its been a while since we have really had that consistently and the long term effects are evident. 7 in a row speaks volumes.

Can’t wait to open In Neyland next weekend...

Agree with all,but unfortunately this is as good as JG gets... period. He's a 5th yr guy. After 5yrs playing QB in the SEC, he's not all of a sudden going to figure out how to throw the ball to wide open WRs... He did some good things last night and didn't turn the ball over, but if this is what people are okay riding with, then be realistic and fully expect not to compete with the FL, GA, and AL's this year... they will shut him down and make us pay for the bad throws.

 

[AllVol11717]

If Elijah Simmons can get better at hand fighting he’ll be dominant. A lot of plays last night where he got a good push but then just ended up locked up with the lineman. Needs to study some Vince Wilfork tape asap.

 

[headhunter15]

We have to find our identity on offense and impose our will. I was somewhat disappointed with the D in the second half. Four scoring drives against a mediocre offense. Plenty of room to improve and I think we will.

Agreed.

 

[Weezer]

They normally say the biggest improvement comes between weeks 1 and 2. So many coachable moments from last night. Makes me wish I could attend practice this week just to watch the coaching.

 

[vol4eva]

We need to run the ball more. I thought we looked good when we stuck to the run game.

 

[reeceb73]

JG looked better than I expected tbh. He definitely looks more comfortable in this offense. He still needs to learn when to throw a dart and when to put touch on the ball. He isn't the most accurate qb and probably never will be, but he seems to understand where to go with the ball much better than last year.

 

[BruinVol]

Trask
Jones
Costlleo
Nix
Hill
After that put names in a hat....

You really think Hill out played JG last night?

Surely not

 

[NMVol]

This might not be a popular opinion, but I was as done with JG as anybody, so I feel fine saying it...

He looked like an actual QB tonight.

He went through his progressions well and always threw to an open man. Not a single ball thrown was in danger of being picked.

He looked confident and pretty poised.

Yes he overthrew some balls, but surprisingly, they were the passes that he usually hits. His deep balls were thrown where our WRs could catch and run. That is something I thought i’d never see from JG.

He consistently stepped up and moved in the pocket. He made SC blitzers miss multiple times. In the past he has been completely stone-footed in the pocket. Again, the pocket mobility and presents displayed tonight was something I thought I’d never see from JG.

Again - he overthrew some passes. But even NFL QBs and coaches talk about how in the first game of the year you see more overthrown balls than any other game. The adrenaline is pumping. JG has made some poor throws in his career, but usually it’s because they are late or underthrown. Not tonight. He was on time and throwing to the correct WRs, just a little too much juice. I don’t expect him to hit every throw, but his intermediate passing is usually much better, and the mistakes tonight can be fixed and - imo - explained away by first game of the year adrenaline.

The main thing for me is just how he looked in the pocket. His feet were moving. He was evading the initial rush. He looking steady and decisive in his progressions. He worked from one side of the field to the other multiple times. He even showed some scrambling ability for the first time in his career.

Was he perfect? No. But we can’t expect that if we want to be reasonable fans. We need him to be more consistent. We need him to hit those open guys on third downs. But honestly, the mistakes he made tonight are fixable.

Before tonight, I was certain JG did not have the natural instincts to be a good QB. I don’t feel that way anymore.

That safety-valve toss to Gray on the flea-flicker and his fleet-footed high-stepping scramble really stood out as signs of a QB who continues to evolve. There were some great long balls too, as you say. He's not close to his ceiling but his ball security is good and he's a part of plenty "big splash" plays.

 

[Jackcrevol]

That safety-valve toss to Gray on the flea-flicker and his fleet-footed high-stepping scramble really stood out as signs of a QB who continues to evolve. There were some great long balls too, as you say. He's not close to his ceiling but his ball security is good and he's a part of plenty "big splash" plays.

not close to his ceiling? JG? his ceiling is met @ 5th yr Sr.

 

[jakez4ut]

You really think Hill out played JG last night?

Surely not

Yeah. Already said it... Stat line for jg.. Can't argue with it. Eye test... He's the same as he has been. Biggest positive from him last night was 0 turnovers and he was not a disaster.

Hill was efficient and showed good accuracy and timing and if not for a woulda, coulda,shoulda to his te... They may win that game.

Jg had multiple woulda, coulda, shouldas...

In the end, that he didn't turn it over and he wasn't a disaster may be all we need going forward...

 

[BruinVol]

I was shocked Tillman didn’t play more. I only saw him in the game at WR at the very end.

 

[BruinVol]

Yeah. Already said it... Stat line for jg.. Can't argue with it. Eye test... He's the same as he has been. Biggest positive from him last night was 0 turnovers and he was not a disaster.

Hill was efficient and showed good accuracy and timing and if not for a woulda, coulda,shoulda to his te... They may win that game.

Jg had multiple woulda, coulda, shouldas...

In the end, that he didn't turn it over and he wasn't a disaster may be all we need going forward...

this is so funny how we view QBs and mistakes. It’s almost like we don’t notice their bad throws. Hill had a number of bad throws especially the huge miss to the TE late where the throw was high and the guy could have caught it. There was also a wide open miss on the left sideline late in the game where his throw was awful. He surely held on to the ball too long and was careless along with other poor throws.


All things posters here really notice against their own but not so much with others.

 

[gainesvol82]

We have some really good young players. Amazing how many true freshmen and sophomores we have contributing early.

Our last two recruiting classes are much better than their rankings. We are going to be a force in the coming years.

Need to recruit some more stud corners, a couple edge rushers and keep loading up on the OL and DL.

Where was Tillman?

 

[TrippieRedd]

Was excited to see Crouch start last night, but man I hope he returns to edge, he was way better.

 

[NMVol]

Or rockets. It seemed like the mental pressure of 3rd down got to him, and he forced too many instead of taking his time and passing with touch.

.

And yet at times historically, JG has had stellar 3rd down efficiency.

 

[butchna]

Take a lap and do the math while you are running.

He has a patent for fretting over that which isn’t an issue. Pruitt saw an issue and called a timeout. He didn’t go with the “it’ll prolly be aight” approach. And what happened? They ran the clock out.