3rd and 15

[GVF]

At the end of 3 Qtrs, UT had 5 first downs.

And apparently that's all we needed to keep the score so close at that point.

 

[eskimovol]

Actually the score showed UT trailed Alabama in a seemingly close game. My point is look closer and you find the stats that tell the truth. Bama was dominating on the field as 20 first downs to the Vols 5 at half verifies, and the Crimson Tide had over 300 yards at the half. UT had some big plays to keep it close.

Thats exactly the point of this scheme. Going by your logic, when we were up 28-0 on mizz but UT only had around 3 minutes TOP and fewer 1st downs it was actually mizz dominating. Bama eventually took over as they should've, but it was absolutely a fight until well into the 4th. Stats don't tell the whole story and you know it, they just happen to help confirm your narrative to yourself.

 

[GVF]

Actually the score showed UT trailed Alabama in a seemingly close game. My point is look closer and you find the stats that tell the truth. Bama was dominating on the field as 20 first downs to the Vols 5 at half verifies, and the Crimson Tide had over 300 yards at the half. UT had some big plays to keep it close.

If the stats show Bama dominated so much, why did they need the 4th to pull away, I mean for us to give it away.

 

[OldVolMan]

Correct. That was Bama DB's saying, dang those guys are fast. Tillman dusted the DB on that TD. That was not a blown coverage.

and I’m not sure why JH did not let Hyatt go against that DB later after he saw Tillman blast by him.
I know Hyatt dropped some passes in earlier games but he has too much speed not to go deep with him.

 

[GVF]

Thats exactly the point of this scheme. Going by your logic, when we were up 28-0 on mizz but UT only had around 3 minutes TOP and fewer 1st downs it was actually mizz dominating. Bama eventually took over as they should've, but it was absolutely a fight until well into the 4th. Stats don't tell the whole story and you know it, they just happen to help confirm your narrative to yourself.

You know this is like explaining incest to him, right??

 

[OldVolMan]

Why Bama 52 and UT 24, of course! And yes I agree that is all that matters!

do you ever have VolNation fans coming to your site trying to be party poopers and discredit your enthusiasm?
and Saban was pissed because he did not expect us to be that close after 3 quarters

 

[GVF]

and I’m not sure why JH did not let Hyatt go against that DB later after he saw Tillman blast by him.
I know Hyatt dropped some passes in earlier games but he has too much speed not to go deep with him.

Call me crazy, but in a game like that where you have a very short roster, and clearly in what is supposed to be a one-sided game, pull out all the stops. nothing to lose. UT receivers were clearly faster. I'd have said heck, we got nothing to lose. Rotate the boys in, keep fresh legs on the fly routes, and let it rip play after play. Then when you need it, you'll be able to pull off a run here and there. You're D played hard and was spent. Anything to help put points up for them. Maybe that's why I didn't get an interview for the HC opening.

 

[GVF]

Why Bama 52 and UT 24, of course! And yes I agree that is all that matters!

We all agree that's all that matters. However, this year our measuring stick is what made up that 52-24 score, and when. Saban is pissed cause he knew his team should have put us out to pasture by the 12:45 mark of Quarter 1.

 

[OldVolMan]

What I do not think is being talked about is I don’t think Hooker was 100%. He just looked timid to me and did not scramble around. Looked like he had few opportunities, maybe JH told him not to risk getting hurt worse.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

Heupel’s year one Vols run out of steam (and bodies) in Tuscaloosa

24-31, Hendon Hooker --> Cedric Tillman 70+ yards to the house just happened on the previous drive, 12:55 left in the 4th, Bama is 3rd and 15 at their own 20, and Bama converts on a deep pass.. and the rest is history. Per usual, there have been some heartbreaking plays this year vs Pitt and Ole Miss, but this one stung a lot given what could have happened if UT prevents the deep pass and gets the ball back with a chance to tie in Tuscaloosa.

At this point it has been discussed on multiple forums, but how exciting it will be for this team to have depth and be able to hang with the nation's best for 60 minutes.
Just some thoughts on this Knoxville Monday. I am already super excited about the opportunity at Kentucky!

Go Vols!

I am thinking "We have the X's and O's, but not the Jimmy and Joes" at this point.

 

[GVF]

Bama blew some coverages, yes. Too bad that’s a part of the game. Doesn’t mean we weren’t going toe to toe with Bama.

We had 2-3 blown coverages on 20+ yard passes mid 4th quarter and on. And Bama did what they were supposed to with it. And very quickly... so we couldn't stay in the game.

 

[GVF]

I am thinking "We have the X's and O's, but not the Jimmy and Joes" at this point.

We got X's, O's, a couple of Q's, and a coach with a little sense of the game.

 

[GVF]

I absolutely do not subscribe to moral victories. But, what I saw Saturday was a team on it's way back with a vengance.

 

[bamawriter]

Call me crazy, but in a game like that where you have a very short roster, and clearly in what is supposed to be a one-sided game, pull out all the stops. nothing to lose. UT receivers were clearly faster. I'd have said heck, we got nothing to lose. Rotate the boys in, keep fresh legs on the fly routes, and let it rip play after play. Then when you need it, you'll be able to pull off a run here and there. You're D played hard and was spent. Anything to help put points up for them. Maybe that's why I didn't get an interview for the HC opening.

I think that you're getting to the issue. UT was going to live or die by the big play. They couldn't sustain drives. They couldn't run at all. They needed to keep Hooker clean and exploit mismatches in the secondary. When they were able to do that, they were able to create monster plays. But they couldn't do it enough. Hooker was pressured way too often and he couldn't wait for things to develop. The total absence of a run game got UT completely out of sync, which is why they had to settle for a FG after the blocked punt.

I will give Heupel a ton of credit for seeing some stuff on film and going after it. But he also didn't adjust when what he wanted to do wasn't working. It was all-or-nothing, and nothing won out.

 

[rjd970]

And apparently that's all we needed to keep the score so close at that point.

There is wisdom in this statement. Running a play every 20 seconds and scoring from 60 yards out doesn’t leave a lot of room to rack up first downs.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

Um you must have been asleep in 2015 then. Because if not for a miracle strip sack late in the 4th, we beat the #1 Bama.

Actually it was the non-call of an obvious holding(takedown) right in front of the ref on a 3rd and 11 they converted

 

[bamawriter]

Actually it was the non-call of an obvious holding(takedown) right in front of the ref on a 3rd and 11 they converted

Tennessee's last touchdown was sprung by a WR flat out tackling a defender out in space where there was nothing else to look at, so whatever.

 

[JWilly]

What was the score? That's all that matters.

52 to 24

 

[1world1love]

But Heupel has gotten guys wide open in every game this year. Opportunities for big plays in the passing game have been there for Tennessee in every game this year.

It's a stretch to say that we dominated Bama or that we somehow played toe-to-toe with them. We took advantage of opportunities given to us, which is all you can ask a team to do, but overall we struggled to get into a rhythm on offense all night. The team fought though, for sure.

But this statement by wmcovol is what really caught my eye in the game. During the game thread, I kept posting that they should throw it long every play until Alabama stopped it. Almost every single play there were mis-alignments and mismatches. Hooker exploited a couple of them, but there were many more plays where he didn't, for a number of reasons. But it was there for the taking. And I don't actually think it was by design. I think Bama had some issues in the secondary all night.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

It's a stretch to say that we dominated Bama or that we somehow played toe-to-toe with them. We took advantage of opportunities given to us, which is all you can ask a team to do, but overall we struggled to get into a rhythm on offense all night. The team fought though, for sure.

But this statement by wmcovol is what really caught my eye in the game. During the game thread, I kept posting that they should throw it long every play until Alabama stopped it. Almost every single play there were mis-alignments and mismatches. Hooker exploited a couple of them, but there were many more plays where he didn't, for a number of reasons. But it was there for the taking. And I don't actually think it was by design. I think Bama had some issues in the secondary all night.

No it’s not a stretch to say we played toe to toe with Bama. It was a 7 point game going into the 4th. We were not getting blown out despite the fact that Bama was killing us in nearly every statistical category. So how is that not going toe to toe with them?

 

[wmcovol]

It's a stretch to say that we dominated Bama or that we somehow played toe-to-toe with them. We took advantage of opportunities given to us, which is all you can ask a team to do, but overall we struggled to get into a rhythm on offense all night. The team fought though, for sure.

But this statement by wmcovol is what really caught my eye in the game. During the game thread, I kept posting that they should throw it long every play until Alabama stopped it. Almost every single play there were mis-alignments and mismatches. Hooker exploited a couple of them, but there were many more plays where he didn't, for a number of reasons. But it was there for the taking. And I don't actually think it was by design. I think Bama had some issues in the secondary all night.

You quoted only part of my post. I admitted in the first part Bamas dominance stopping the running game. I feel like those poor souls that go on 60 Minutes and get edited to death.

Imagine the difference if refs had called the obvious calls (targeting would have extended a drive INTO Alabama territory, several holds, etc) not sure the first down difference would have been near as great.

 

[1985Vols]

That game looked bad because of the last 10 minutes or so which included a bad throw/interception/miscommunication, and 2 if not 3 blown deep coverages that all led to very quick scores. Saban wasn't pissed because he had an easy game for 4 quarters. He was pissed cause we took them to the wood shed and didn't run away. a 2 loss season was very real for him most of that game. I get the depleted roster. I'm very impressed the way CJH has them playing. Success will follow quickly. And it's not out of the question to upset KY and UGA. If we can go toe to toe with Bama like that, UGA better strap up. Anyone that over looks UT will go down.

And the AP writer said in his article regarding Bama moving up to #3 this week, that Alabama blew out Tennessee”. He obviously only saw the final score….

 

[VollerNbham]

52 to 24

Not at half time.

 

[bamawriter]

You quoted only part of my post. I admitted in the first part Bamas dominance stopping the running game. I feel like those poor souls that go on 60 Minutes and get edited to death.

Imagine the difference if refs had called the obvious calls (targeting would have extended a drive INTO Alabama territory, several holds, etc) not sure the first down difference would have been near as great.

The play with the potential targeting ended in Bama territory, earned a first down, and UT scored on the possession.

 

[1world1love]

You quoted only part of my post. I admitted in the first part Bamas dominance stopping the running game. I feel like those poor souls that go on 60 Minutes and get edited to death.

Imagine the difference if refs had called the obvious calls (targeting would have extended a drive INTO Alabama territory, several holds, etc) not sure the first down difference would have been near as great.

Yeah, sorry. The first part of my post wasn't related to your post, but rather a general observation. I was on my phone and got the quote in the wrong place. But yeah, a lot of what ifs in this game. It goes to prove that a few plays can mean the difference between having change to win and getting blown out.