Pruitt's record as coach....

#26
#26
Sorry, year three, you don’t give up 44 points to ANYONE. Pathetic. This excuse is no longer acceptable. Losing maybe, but not getting manhandled like we did. Talk about change in culture all you want, but giving up 40+ to GA in subsequent game is NOT TN football.
This was a loss by heart and passion. Period. And that is all on the Head Coach. Same problem as we had with Dooley and Jones. We have better athletes but they are still getting whipped and giving up.

If you want to see a team that quit on Pruitt, then look to the Mizzou and Vandy games in 2018. This team didnt quit Saturday.

Kirby and his staff made adjustments at halftime Saturday that we did not have an answer for. Combine that with a poorly coached OL, UGA having better depth, and bad QB play and you get the 2nd half in Athens.
 
#27
#27
I was actually ok until I saw what Ole Miss gave Bama after our game Saturday. Why are we always “a couple of classes away” but teams with even weaker rosters keep giving the big boys all they can handle. Heck, South Carolina can beat Georgia on a given Saturday. Shouldn’t we occasionally be able to pull off an upset like that? “Any given Saturday” hasn’t happened in VolnLand for a long long time.
Honest question. When do the excuses no longer hold water?

1. Ole MIss' coach was OC at Bama and knew their tendencies and was likely stealing their signs as well, and still lost, we were as close last year to Bama until the fumble.
2. Tennessee is 3-9 vs Georgia since Fulmer left including the win 4 years ago, that's with Tennessee at its lowest point in history and UGA at it's highest, and four of those losses came down to the last play, so to act like we can "never" upset them is again sounding like someone who hasn't been around Tennessee football longer than a decade. We HAVE pulled off upsets (of both Florida and UGA recently), and have come close to Bama the juggernaut a couple of times, but not enough yet.
3. Realizing reality and logical thinking isn't "making excuses"
 
#29
#29
1. Ole MIss' coach was OC at Bama and knew their tendencies and was likely stealing their signs as well, and still lost, we were as close last year to Bama until the fumble.
2. Tennessee is 3-9 vs Georgia since Fulmer left including the win 4 years ago, that's with Tennessee at its lowest point in history and UGA at it's highest, and four of those losses came down to the last play, so to act like we can "never" upset them is again sounding like someone who hasn't been around Tennessee football longer than a decade. We HAVE pulled off upsets (of both Florida and UGA recently), and have come close to Bama the juggernaut a couple of times, but not enough yet.
3. Realizing reality and logical thinking isn't "making excuses"

1. Seriously doubt that is what was going on. Kiffin left, what, 3-4 years ago? If they are still using the same signals that is on Saban. Also, OM was moving FAST on offense, sometimes less than 10 seconds from end of play to start of snap. There is no time to catch a signal and call/change the play. Kiffin is just that good. He schemed a masterful game. Wish we could.

2. This is a good point. We just need to get over the hump. I hate to say it, again, and it sucks....but we need more and better players. We have to start beating UGA/Bama in the recruiting battles if we want to beat them in the on field battles. UGA/Bama have our game marked every year...USC and OM has the ability to sneak up on them.
 
#30
#30
What is a signature win in your book; a big win over one of the big 3? A squeaker over a better team? How do you define it?

UGA is in the books and Bama is probably not realistic unless they play a bad game. UF game is winnable and would be a signature win. Wins over A&M and Auburn would be nice too. I believe our talent level is on par with Barn and A&M.
 
#31
#31
Yes. Soembody posted it on here before and I can't find it now. But looking at the sheer numbers of 4 and 5-stars that have been amassed at GA and Bama is astounding when compared to our roster...and comparing it against just upperclassman right now is downright depressing. From a sheer, raw, blue blood talent perspective, we aren't close.



I just don't see it. Saturday was strength against strength and our OL didn't even come close. Our OL is beating who they should and getting run out of the stadium against who they shouldn't. Again, we weren't even close on the OL on Saturday. How much is coaching and how much is talent is up for debate, but at some point the players need to be held accountable too.

I was pleasantly surprised by DL play until they got gassed.



I don't disagree with a lot of this, scheming and lining up I fully agree is a coaching issue. I also don't understand the loyalty to JG.

But the coaches aren't false starting out there. Mays, Smith, and Morris getting smoked on the edges isn't a coaching issue. Outside of the OL, which absolutely got it's *** kicked, UGA had the talent advantage or it was a push at every other position.
They had the snap count timed. They got such a good jump i'm not sure anyone could of blocked that effectively. That's up to your QB and OC, head coach to get together and change something. They knew after the half exactly when we were snapping the ball. They picked up on something. Goes back to the JG is too robotic argument, it was a factor there.
 
#34
#34
So Pruitt's dominant win over #11 Kentucky wasn't a big deal because they lacked the 24 votes needed to be in the top 10 during that game? :oops:
It is what it is. Do you think the average non UT fan makes that distinction? Recruits considering the University?
The National storyline on Tennessee will still record that we have not beaten a top 10 team in 33 tries. There is no footnote because we beat a number 11.
 
#35
#35
They had the snap count timed. They got such a good jump i'm not sure anyone could of blocked that effectively. That's up to your QB and OC, head coach to get together and change something. They knew after the half exactly when we were snapping the ball. They picked up on something. Goes back to the JG is too robotic argument, it was a factor there.

You know for a fact that was the main problem? We could have given JG more time and rushed for more than -1 yd...all we needed to do was change the snap count? Maybe you think it is naive, but I'm going to give the coaches more credit than that.

FWIW - I agree it couldn't have hurt to try out somebody other than JG when it got out of hand.
 
#36
#36
I was actually ok until I saw what Ole Miss gave Bama after our game Saturday. Why are we always “a couple of classes away” but teams with even weaker rosters keep giving the big boys all they can handle. Heck, South Carolina can beat Georgia on a given Saturday. Shouldn’t we occasionally be able to pull off an upset like that? “Any given Saturday” hasn’t happened in VolnLand for a long long time.
Honest question. When do the excuses no longer hold water?

Honest answer: I don't know when the excuses no longer hold water. Here's what I do know, any excuses made on this fan forum have zero effect on our team and program. I haven't heard excuses from Admin or coaches. I've heard a lot of ownership from them.

Like you, I watched the OM team and practically salivated. If we had hired an innovator and genius schemer, I think we would have similar results to Kiffin / OM. I think Kiffin is a modern day Steve Spurrier. But OM's W/L column looks identical to ours on Saturday.
 
#37
#37
Agreed.
The improvement is apparent for any objective person to see. This year is most certainly a better start than last year. The team looks prepared to play each game which is something I couldn't say the previous two seasons. We are competing hard but we still have a few key pieces to sort out to put together a complete team.
Even some of our fan expectation is an indicator things are trending in the right direction. We were mostly optimistic about our chances against GA if we caught a lucky break or two. Some were even confident we could win without an assist from luck. These expectations are not something we've seen around here since Kiffin...or maybe even Butch in Dobbs' senior year. We were a double digit dog for a UGA home game...but we had hope in a victory. And, we were on track for a half. I haven't seen that in a long time.

Georgia first half was like taking the homecoming queen out on a Friday night. Second half was like seeing her fogging up the windows in somebody else's back seat on Saturday. Euphoria, despair. That's Vol Football I guess.

Hope we can get turned in the right direction this week. Kentucky is very well coached and can certainly beat us if we make half the mistakes we made against Georgia. Their preparation against Mississippi State was impressive. It looked like they figured out the QB's tells and knew where the ball was going before it was thrown.
 
#38
#38
UGA is in the books and Bama is probably not realistic unless they play a bad game. UF game is winnable and would be a signature win. Wins over A&M and Auburn would be nice too. I believe our talent level is on par with Barn and A&M.
I think that is fair. Auburn is a nice win but not signature. A win over a bitter 3 rival is a sig win.

I believe the win is coming.
 
#39
#39
You know for a fact that was the main problem? We could have given JG more time and rushed for more than -1 yd...all we needed to do was change the snap count? Maybe you think it is naive, but I'm going to give the coaches more credit than that.

FWIW - I agree it couldn't have hurt to try out somebody other than JG when it got out of hand.
No i don't think other than putting a lead blocker in front of the runningback we were going to get any yards. Gray did have like 30 something yards at halftime, so we weren't totally ineffective at least for a half. I bet Bama has a plan for it. Bet they max protect, use a lead blocker and do the little things we should of done. Bama scores 30 or 40 on them i'd just about bet on it.
 
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#40
#40
Agree. Good analysis. We are one good SEC QB away from maybe being able to take down one or more of the big 3,
 
#41
#41
They had the snap count timed. They got such a good jump i'm not sure anyone could of blocked that effectively. That's up to your QB and OC, head coach to get together and change something. They knew after the half exactly when we were snapping the ball. They picked up on something. Goes back to the JG is too robotic argument, it was a factor there.
CJP was hot about the shifting (vocal interfering) with our cadence. He was into the refs about it. If it isn't a penalty, I agree with another poster, we need to adopt those techniques asap.
 
#42
#42
Pruitt has UT beating the teams we are supposed to in the SEC in Vandy, Mizzou, SCAR, and Kentucky again. IMO we will beat UK this Saturday & Vandy later in the season. The next step this year is to prove we can compete and beat the next tier of teams in the SEC. There is huge separation with Bama and UGA compared to other teams in the SEC. We fall in that second tier with A&M, Barn, and UF. If we go 0-3 against UF, Barn, and A&M, then this year will be a disappointment showing no positive steps in the right direction.
 
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#43
#43
Honest answer: I don't know when the excuses no longer hold water. Here's what I do know, any excuses made on this fan forum have zero effect on our team and program. I haven't heard excuses from Admin or coaches. I've heard a lot of ownership from them.

Like you, I watched the OM team and practically salivated. If we had hired an innovator and genius schemer, I think we would have similar results to Kiffin / OM. I think Kiffin is a modern day Steve Spurrier. But OM's W/L column looks identical to ours on Saturday.
I think it comes down to confidence and lack of fear. Some coaches just seem to be able to inspire a kid, no matter the star rating, to play 10 miles over their head. No matter who we have had as coach, TN players seem to be hesitant, snake bit, and frankly scared. Heck, CLK made a legitimate SEC QB out of Jonathan Crompton. It is no longer a question of Xs and Os or of bodies on the roster. It is a question of what the players believe they can do.
 
#46
#46
So you're saying the roster difference is so great we should expect to get blown out by these teams? We have some depth along the Oline and a Dline that has played above it's expectations so far. We don't defend the middle of the field and our QB is a headcase, but i don't see a huge difference here. We shouldn't be getting clowned stomped at this point. We're a undisciplined team that can't get lined up half the time, Oline false started a million times last week. 84 yards in penalties. You clean that up and limit the turnovers and we're in that game til the end. The roster excuse is just that, a excuse.

Excuse? No it’s just facts. Let’s use UGA. Which roster has the advantage? QB? UGA. RB? Push. WRs? UGA. TE? Push. OL? TN. Defense? All UGA.

UF?
QB- UF
RB- TN
WRs- UF
TE- lol
DL- UF
LBs- UF
DBs- TN

Bama?
QB- Bama
RBs- Bama
WRs- Bama
TE- Bama
OL- TN
Defense- Bama
 
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#47
#47
There is a difference in saying, Pruitt is making some progress and UT is getting better but yes we still have issues we need to work on VS. Pruitt is in over his head and is terrible and should be fired...

Most rational people can see that we are getting somewhat closer to a top 10-15 type team, but we still have some issues to fix.
Yes but those issues aren't fixable until you start competing and finish every once in a while against those teams. Recruiting won't take the next step until we can do that.
 
#49
#49
CJP was hot about the shifting (vocal interfering) with our cadence. He was into the refs about it. If it isn't a penalty, I agree with another poster, we need to adopt those techniques asap.
It's amazing people think UGA are the 85 bears. They figured us out, we never adjusted what we were doing because i think we're limited in what we can do offensively with JG. He's stiff , robotic and just doesn't pick up on stuff quick enough.
 
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#50
#50
I think it comes down to confidence and lack of fear. Some coaches just seem to be able to inspire a kid, no matter the star rating, to play 10 miles over their head. No matter who we have had as coach, TN players seem to be hesitant, snake bit, and frankly scared. Heck, CLK made a legitimate SEC QB out of Jonathan Crompton. It is no longer a question of Xs and Os or of bodies on the roster. It is a question of what the players believe they can do.
It's a question of all of those things. Talent, scheme, preparation, confidence, inspiration, game day awareness (for coaches), adjusting on the fly, ...I mean every single thing comes into play for the ultimate team sport.
 
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