NighthawkVol
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Overall, it's hard to be more pleased than a 2-0 start, both being SEC wins, and the one yesterday in impressive fashion. Last year, this team started out 0-2, with losses to Georgia State and BYU. Let's not take this for granted.
-Guarantano played as well as I could expect him to play. If he plays like that the rest of the season, we should be fine. He missed a couple he could've hit, but there were no glaring horrible throws and he seemed to have corrected the high throw problem from Game 1. He made a couple of marvelous throws, one being a deep, deep out on the sideline that was beautiful.
I do think he still seems off timing-wise with Keyton. I thought this last week: he seems to be in sync with Palmer and Johnson, both of whom have experience with JG in the past. He seemed to have synced up with Hyatt this week. But he still doesn't seem to have timing with Keyton. I wonder if that has to do with Keyton not running crisp routes and arriving at a spot on time or if it's just a lack of chemistry thing. Regardless, if that "relationship" improves as the year goes on, that means JG will look even better.
Like last week, he seemed to make all the correct reads and, even when it was an incomplete pass, it wasn't because he threw to the wrong man. Further, he put Tennessee in the right play and has to be credited some with the rushing success. Oh...and nice to see him recognize when he can just tuck it and run for some yardage. I have gone from wondering if Bailey would become the QB midseason to being convinced that JG will be the man all year. And I'm good with that.
-That was the best Oline performance in a long time. Mays gives Tennessee another star on the line. But let's also not overlook Wanya Morris. He played a fantastic game. I thought Kennedy did too. Seeing Spraggins getting playing time in his first two games as a true freshman tells me that kid has a bright future. Because this OLine is not an easy one to crack.
-Chandler is solid, but I think Gray should be the main bell cow at RB. Chandler still doesn't really get you more yardage than the OLine blocks for. Gray gets you more...because of superior vision, superior ability to make people miss, and, seemingly, superior ability to break tackles.
-We got a couple of breaks...Gray fumbled on a catch, but that was negated by a defensive penalty. JG's first or 2nd pass should've been picked, but they dropped it. Missouri is not a good team. But it's better than the one Bama faced because they faced Robinson, while we faced the freshman kid (who has a very bright future for them).
-Loved seeing Jabari Small get in there and truck some people. He looked good...like a guy who might develop into a real contributor. Of the freshman RB class, he was the one I was highest on from seeing film, but that had a lot to do with the fact that I thought Whitehead would move to LB (I still think there's a good possibility of that), and the fact that I don't think Hodge is an SEC RB.
-I saw a #4 come onto the field on offense...was that Tillman or Whitehead?
-I hope Elijah Simmons is okay because that kid is going to be a star. I don't know if he was a starter, but he seemed to get the most minutes at Nose. It's surprising to see him in the thick of things downfield, for a guy his size. I think he was a steal for Pruitt.
-Did anyone notice Omari Thomas get in there and make a big play in the backfield? He looked GOOD.
-I'm a little concerned about Cimaglia. He missed that FG badly and it wasn't a long one. I realize lack of spring or much preseason hurt special teams, but Missouri's true freshman kicker didn't seem to have a problem nailing a 50 yarder, as well as a shorter one. We know he has it in him, but kickers are weird and I don't want it to become a mental thing.
-I saw Fant making some nice blocks from the TE position. That was a concern with Pope out. Good to see.
-Tennessee's CBs are the most physical I can ever remember them being, going back to the mid-80s. Pruitt really has those guys playing hard-nosed football. I fhtey don't make a tackle on the edge, they blow up blockers so someone else can. George had a really nice play doing just that. Getting Shamburger back will also help in that department because he's a good run stopper and pass rusher from the Star position. We only got hit with one slant pattern this week....not sure if that's a result of adjusting/improving in that area or Missouri not running those patterns. But after seeing us last week, you'd think they'd want to exploit that.
-I didn't see Slaughter in there this week. I did see Burrell playing. I'll have to go back and look to see who was playing Nickel. I'm guessing it was one of the top 3 CB, considering I saw a lot of George, Thompson, and Taylor. I am a little concerned about Flowers. He got beat on a deep ball that was dropped. He may not have developed like we'd hoped due to his injuries. I wonder if Theo Jackson may beat him out at some point this year. Or maybe Slaughter, if he is a fast learner.
-I love our defense. The line play has been more than solid and this team tackles well. Toots is an absolute star and I like both Crouch and Banks at the other ILB spot. But I LOVE Johnson and Bennett at the OLB spots. Never imagined Bennett would be this good when we signed him as a 3* DT (he may have only been a 2* when he committed). Deandre Johnson...wow. If this keeps up, I'm guessing he won't be back next year. He's really helping his draft stock. By the way, 247 ranked Bennett the 102nd best recruit in Florida in the 2017 class, and they ranked Johnson the 111th best recruit in Florida in the 2017 class. Think this staff can coach guys up?
-After seeing what Auburn and aTm have this year, I'm predicting wins in both of those games. I'm especially confident against aTm. And Kentucky has done nothing to make me think they'll win in Knoxville for the first time since 1984. So we're looking at 7-3, based on games I think we should win/lose. But with Florida coming to Knoxville in December, and who knows what the rosters will look like at that point (Florida does have concerns on defense and in the run game), maybe we can pull that one off and go 8-2 with losses to Bama and Georgia. I would take that in a heartbeat. Georgia looked outstanding last night and Alabama looks like a pro team. Winning either of those games would be a near miracle. But Georgia playing that well last night probably works in our favor. They probably won't play that well 2 weeks in a row.
-Guarantano played as well as I could expect him to play. If he plays like that the rest of the season, we should be fine. He missed a couple he could've hit, but there were no glaring horrible throws and he seemed to have corrected the high throw problem from Game 1. He made a couple of marvelous throws, one being a deep, deep out on the sideline that was beautiful.
I do think he still seems off timing-wise with Keyton. I thought this last week: he seems to be in sync with Palmer and Johnson, both of whom have experience with JG in the past. He seemed to have synced up with Hyatt this week. But he still doesn't seem to have timing with Keyton. I wonder if that has to do with Keyton not running crisp routes and arriving at a spot on time or if it's just a lack of chemistry thing. Regardless, if that "relationship" improves as the year goes on, that means JG will look even better.
Like last week, he seemed to make all the correct reads and, even when it was an incomplete pass, it wasn't because he threw to the wrong man. Further, he put Tennessee in the right play and has to be credited some with the rushing success. Oh...and nice to see him recognize when he can just tuck it and run for some yardage. I have gone from wondering if Bailey would become the QB midseason to being convinced that JG will be the man all year. And I'm good with that.
-That was the best Oline performance in a long time. Mays gives Tennessee another star on the line. But let's also not overlook Wanya Morris. He played a fantastic game. I thought Kennedy did too. Seeing Spraggins getting playing time in his first two games as a true freshman tells me that kid has a bright future. Because this OLine is not an easy one to crack.
-Chandler is solid, but I think Gray should be the main bell cow at RB. Chandler still doesn't really get you more yardage than the OLine blocks for. Gray gets you more...because of superior vision, superior ability to make people miss, and, seemingly, superior ability to break tackles.
-We got a couple of breaks...Gray fumbled on a catch, but that was negated by a defensive penalty. JG's first or 2nd pass should've been picked, but they dropped it. Missouri is not a good team. But it's better than the one Bama faced because they faced Robinson, while we faced the freshman kid (who has a very bright future for them).
-Loved seeing Jabari Small get in there and truck some people. He looked good...like a guy who might develop into a real contributor. Of the freshman RB class, he was the one I was highest on from seeing film, but that had a lot to do with the fact that I thought Whitehead would move to LB (I still think there's a good possibility of that), and the fact that I don't think Hodge is an SEC RB.
-I saw a #4 come onto the field on offense...was that Tillman or Whitehead?
-I hope Elijah Simmons is okay because that kid is going to be a star. I don't know if he was a starter, but he seemed to get the most minutes at Nose. It's surprising to see him in the thick of things downfield, for a guy his size. I think he was a steal for Pruitt.
-Did anyone notice Omari Thomas get in there and make a big play in the backfield? He looked GOOD.
-I'm a little concerned about Cimaglia. He missed that FG badly and it wasn't a long one. I realize lack of spring or much preseason hurt special teams, but Missouri's true freshman kicker didn't seem to have a problem nailing a 50 yarder, as well as a shorter one. We know he has it in him, but kickers are weird and I don't want it to become a mental thing.
-I saw Fant making some nice blocks from the TE position. That was a concern with Pope out. Good to see.
-Tennessee's CBs are the most physical I can ever remember them being, going back to the mid-80s. Pruitt really has those guys playing hard-nosed football. I fhtey don't make a tackle on the edge, they blow up blockers so someone else can. George had a really nice play doing just that. Getting Shamburger back will also help in that department because he's a good run stopper and pass rusher from the Star position. We only got hit with one slant pattern this week....not sure if that's a result of adjusting/improving in that area or Missouri not running those patterns. But after seeing us last week, you'd think they'd want to exploit that.
-I didn't see Slaughter in there this week. I did see Burrell playing. I'll have to go back and look to see who was playing Nickel. I'm guessing it was one of the top 3 CB, considering I saw a lot of George, Thompson, and Taylor. I am a little concerned about Flowers. He got beat on a deep ball that was dropped. He may not have developed like we'd hoped due to his injuries. I wonder if Theo Jackson may beat him out at some point this year. Or maybe Slaughter, if he is a fast learner.
-I love our defense. The line play has been more than solid and this team tackles well. Toots is an absolute star and I like both Crouch and Banks at the other ILB spot. But I LOVE Johnson and Bennett at the OLB spots. Never imagined Bennett would be this good when we signed him as a 3* DT (he may have only been a 2* when he committed). Deandre Johnson...wow. If this keeps up, I'm guessing he won't be back next year. He's really helping his draft stock. By the way, 247 ranked Bennett the 102nd best recruit in Florida in the 2017 class, and they ranked Johnson the 111th best recruit in Florida in the 2017 class. Think this staff can coach guys up?
-After seeing what Auburn and aTm have this year, I'm predicting wins in both of those games. I'm especially confident against aTm. And Kentucky has done nothing to make me think they'll win in Knoxville for the first time since 1984. So we're looking at 7-3, based on games I think we should win/lose. But with Florida coming to Knoxville in December, and who knows what the rosters will look like at that point (Florida does have concerns on defense and in the run game), maybe we can pull that one off and go 8-2 with losses to Bama and Georgia. I would take that in a heartbeat. Georgia looked outstanding last night and Alabama looks like a pro team. Winning either of those games would be a near miracle. But Georgia playing that well last night probably works in our favor. They probably won't play that well 2 weeks in a row.
