Recruiting Forum Football Talk V

[Ulysees E. McGill]

It takes some of us longer to find grace than it does others. My Tim Banks anger will last a few weeks, at least.

I don't think I will ever get over my anger at Tim Banks, and I will always doubt him from here on out...there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[smokeyhuntsgators]

Seriously though, all of these young ins’ in here making me feel old!

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

With all due respect. It's not just who we lost to. It's how we lost.

We lost by less to SC on the road than LSU lost to us at home...people are blinded to that fact by the SC score being so high.

Plus our victory over LSU was a mauling from start to finish...we got within 4 halfway through the third.

 

[therickbol]

I hope they haven't put it behind them too far. I want them to be angry about being humiliated. I want them to unleash that anger on Vandy.

Ah to some degree that is true. But I want them to focus on technique and the game plan. I want them to execute to perfection. Playing to win and be a competitor shouldn't NEED to be spured by motivation from that loss. But it's also blind to not notice that lack of motivation and competitive spirit does happen sometimes.

 

[SpringBokVol]

42. Graduated from UT in 2003.

 

[volinbama256]

51, UT grad, and crabby as hell as most of you see during game days... been through a lot of UT football and have eternal BVS.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

I bet Alabama would destroy SC. Doesn't matter. What hurts is all the respect we got nationally going into that game and after what had been a fantastic season pretty much evaporated after that drubbing. This loss was like a kick in the nuts.

And I bet if we played SC 10 times on a neutral field we would blow them off of it 8 of those times.

Rattler was out of his mind accuracy and cognitive wise, damn near perfect performance....he had never played that well before, and he will never play that perfectly again.

 

[jakez4ut]

time is very uncooperative.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

if you only had 5 spots, what positions are you prioritizing

(no order)

CB - not just a secondary guy, not a safety, but a CB someone with footage of actually covering WRs and someone with real speed
OL - I don't think you have to get a tackle, because Crawford/Mincey both played lots of LT and one can play RT I'm sure...but you need a day 1 starter to add to that group losing Carvin and Wright
Pass Rusher - OLB, Edge, DL...whatever position it is you need someone that can just flat out beat their guy at the LOS and force teams to pay attention to them. We need that threat of even in a 3 man rush the potential for a sack if coverage is good
RB - I really like our RB room, Wright and Sampson both look more than ready to be big time threats...but their size and lack of pass protection hurts. Small has been inconsistent and at this point in his career not sure he turns a corner. But you only take a RB if he's elite and you know can be a starter in the SEC
ILB - I'd love to get a tackling machine that has a high IQ to help get people set. Someone like Beasley but turn the physical skillset up by about 2 or 3

 

[smokeyhuntsgators]

And I bet if we played SC 10 times on a neutral field we would blow them off of it 8 of those times.

Rattler was out of his mind accuracy and cognitive wise, damn near perfect performance....he had never played that well before, and he will never play that perfectly again.

Same with AR for UF except in a losing effort..played the best game of his career.

 

[LA Vol]

Yep, knew we'd drop at least 3 spots, and with who was behind us (and won their games) it's not too surprising. I don't think Oregon should have jumped us, but that's my only real complaint.

Still GA vs LSU in title game (LSU loses and you expect they'll drop behind us)
Ohio State vs Michigan (loser will stay ahead of us, but will drop outside top 4)
USC vs Oregon (Oregon falls behind us for sure if they lose, and a 2 loss USC may drop behind us as well)
Clemson vs UNC (if Clemson loses to UNC in their title game they'll drop behind us)

We have a real shot to finish the season in the top 5 if we take care of business against Vandy and get some help with teams losing ahead of us. I don't think a 3 loss LSU will get picked ahead of us for bowls either, so really the NY6 SEC bowls will be likely picking between Bama & UT.

I do not think the final ranking or bowl selection process is going to be that pure. At this point in the season, there's a lot of subjectivity and bad losses hurt. I figured they would put UT at #10 to keep us in the Top 10 while rewarding other teams for looking better than the Vols have down the stretch. It's all eyes on Milton now. If he runs the offense without a hitch, easing the uncertainty of losing Hooker, we'll see.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

I 100% agree with this. If he had been playing like that all year, they are likely 8-2 coming into our game and definitely ranked. Also, I think we would have had a little different plan. It sucks that he had the game of the year against us, but I know we all agree we did make it extremely easier for him.

Those huge cushions.. and that vanilla blitz package

 

[UTSuave’]

Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney Takes Shot At Tennessee Following South Carolina Loss | Rocky Top Insider

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Shouldn’t you just be tired of people continually interacting with the negativity. If people didn’t like the negativity and it didn’t drive clicks then the media wouldn’t be so negative.

It’s a business just like any other business.

Easier to want a smaller group to change behavior than expect a larger majority to do so.



I can keep the one kid from pissing in my pond, I can't force the hundreds of fish to stop drinking it.

 

[jakez4ut]

I agree it's a must-win for the program. Have to get up off the mat and fight. People are going to disagree on the narrative, but recruits need to see that UT is, and will remain, elite with strong leadership.

this and only this.

said it on Sunday...this is the first real adversity this staff, this team has had to deal with, so i think there's a lot to be taken away, about the overall leadership on this team and in this program in general, from how they respond Saturday, good or bad.

you absolutely do not want/need this season to end on a sour note. there's only 1 thing you can control at this point, so better be focused on that, and nothing else.

 

[jakez4ut]

I remember when I was 16.........View attachment 517113

no you don't.

 

[jakez4ut]

We will be the same age for about 7 months until I turn 50 next June..

good, good, i'm glad you're winning that race.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Same with AR for UF except in a losing effort..played the best game of his career.

And he never threw that accurately again.

Levis did last year, but when he played like his normal self this year we obliterated them.

I posted earlier this week that I believe the huge cushions give these guys a few really easy throws early in the game and then they get in a great rythym and go off.


Against UF, the defense also made enough good plays that it offset his play quite a bit...but against SC the defense played like garbage all the way around...it was just a perfect storm

 

[MarcoVol]

Easier to want a smaller group to change behavior than expect a larger majority to do so.



I can keep the one kid from pissing in my pond, I can't force the hundreds of fish to stop drinking it.

That small group of people is a business. It is not easy to get a business to willfully start doing things that will make them less money

 

[thomaseusin]

This holidays, I’m thankful for our Vols in giving us a wonderful season and brought joy most Saturdays this fall. Thankful that it has made me feel disappointment and not be indifferent this time of the year. Thankful that we have reached the highest of highs and lowest of lows, and with it comes lessons of adversity and humility that sets us up for years to come.

We still have lots to play for, let’s get our minds right, get that good juju back and beat Vandy for our first 10-win regular season in 20 years.

Go Big Orange!

 

[BucVol98]

I don't get it. No one predicted we would beat Bama, LSU, Florida, and Pitt and have a chance to win 10-11 games this year. We have played above our heads all year long. Now, we have a really bad loss to a bad SC team, and we're trying to find something wrong with us. Why can't the reason be that we have played above our heads all year, especially with the lack of talent we have on defense. We went to a road environment at night, we played horrible and also lost our starting QB, both starting corners, and a starting WR while also missing our best LB and at the same time SC played outstanding. Yes, some of that was due to our poor defense, but anyone who watches that game can see that Rattler played at a level he had never played at before. He was dropping dimes, even when on the run he was putting balls on the money. Sometimes that happens. Why do we have to find something wrong?

I don't understand this firing everybody, looking for internal problems, trying to find something to blame. Fact is, we are still a low talent team on defense and SC played above their heads and we played horribly. But this doesn't mean that everything is burning down, or that our program is about to be in shambles, or whatever else I've seen.

Look at other teams. UGA went 8-4 in year 1 with a loss to Vandy. Yes, they went to the NC in year 2, but they played no one to get there. They had a pitiful SOC that year, and they got blown out by AU in the regular season. They got to go to the NC because they played AU again, instead of Alabama in Atlanta and then went on to lose to Bama for the championship game. That playoff appearance doesn't happen if they play Bama in Atlanta.

In year 3, GA went 11-3, with a blowout loss to a mediocre LSU team, a loss to Bama in Atlanta, and a loss to a mediocre Texas team in the bowl game.
In year 4, Kirby lost to a 4-8 (4-8!!!!) SC team in a day time game at Willie B and then got blown out by LSU in Atlanta.

In year 5, Kirby went 8-2 with blowout losses to Florida and Alabama. Uncompetitive losses in both games.

And Kirby did that with far more, far more talent than what Heup has. Our roster would not compete with any of those rosters, especially on defense, and we're wanting to burn the program down looking for answers because of one bad loss. So many are panicked because of one bad loss? Give me a break! That doesn't mean that some changes shouldn't be made on defense, but I just don't understand why there are so many looking for explanations to what happened. It's year 2.

Agree totally, this team has been special... not '98 special but few are. Sometimes a lesser team gets up for a game and the superior team doesn't, happens in sports all the time.

 

[engineerVOL]

Seeing poster’s ages in prior posts, I am curious of the age range in this great thread. I am 31 and about to be 32 in a couple weeks.

38 special, baby.

Pew pew pew!

 

[drvenner]

Yikes.

@InVOLuntary have you heard about this?

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Seeing poster’s ages in prior posts, I am curious of the age range in this great thread. I am 31 and about to be 32 in a couple weeks.

54..and feeling like 74..

 

[jakez4ut]

I do not think the final ranking or bowl selection process is going to be that pure. At this point in the season, there's a lot of subjectivity and bad losses hurt. I figured they would put UT at #10 to keep us in the Top 10 while rewarding other teams for looking better than the Vols have down the stretch. It's all eyes on Milton now. If he runs the offense without a hitch, easing the uncertainty of losing Hooker, we'll see.

i still think the orange and Sugar are in play. we did beat Bama and LSU, so on the field, qualified. we travel and we're great on TV. LSU is an hour or whatever away from New Orleans, so i really don't think the Sugar necessarily wants LSU, and i can't imagine the SEC would disagree.

Bama...they're kinda the wildcard. Bama fans, will they travel to Miami, New Orleans or Dallas w/no playoff or national title in play?

and the other commonality, i don't think any of the 3 want to go to the Cotton bowl to play Cincy or Tulane. all kinds of meh.

if we win Saturday, LSU loses next week, and Bama wins....i think it shakes out Bama/TN to Sugar/Orange, and LSU to the Cotton.....that should make the most sense, if it plays out. if we lose to Vandy....then who will really care. lol.