What other message boards are saying (Arkansas pre-game edition)

[OHvol40]

Cowbells didn’t make us look like goofs on defense.

If scoring 14 makes them look like goofs, I hope they look goofy as h3ll.

 

[Eastknox865]

I'm wondering if the players wanted Pittman fired and how they feel about Motorcycle man taking over. One would assume that not every player is on board with all of the changes

 

[Raleigh-Vol]

So some of them think they are going to put in a new defensive scheme and changed some of the defensive coaches and they are going to put that change in a bye week mid-season on the road in a very hostile place to play and there is not going to be all kinds of confusion and busted coverages. Ok, we'll see. I expect their defense to be worse not better.

 

[feathersax]

So some of them think they are going to put in a new defensive scheme and changed some of the defensive coaches and they are going to put that change in a bye week mid-season on the road in a very hostile place to play and there is not going to be all kinds of confusion and busted coverages. Ok, we'll see. I expect their defense to be worse not better.

Yeah....maybe Arky will utilize that defense that Tennessee did against GA St. a few years back.

 

[Nationdom]

Yeah well they had super short fields to score all game thanks to dropped passes. They had one TD drive that started inside their own territory. The other TD drives were 17 yards, 26 yards and 20 yards.

That doesn’t matter to me. Defense should hold them to field goals in those situations

 

[superdave1984]

Regardless of the turmoil that Arkansas is dealing with, we should not take them lightly. Petrino is a nut, but also a darn good offensive coach and he is going to be going all out to win and keep the job. I expect them do do some wild stuff. We need to get out fast and put them against the wall early. Their defense may not hold up due to the changes. It is one thing to open up the playbook on offense and try stuff they haven't yet, it is another to try and make big changes on defense.

 

[Illinoisvolfan2]

We owe Petrino for that 49-7 arse whuppimg back in be Doolittle disaster

 

[RockyTop140]

Oh please gawd them try switch from 4-3 base to 3-4 base mid-season. Tennessee would put up 100. That said, whoever had this hope is a moron.

It’s like he thinks there’s a defense that would catch Heup off guard. Heupels seen it all. We have better athletes and a coach who knows his Xs and Os. Execute and we win by multiple scores

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

It’s like he thinks there’s a defense that would catch Heup off guard. Heupels seen it all. We have better athletes and a coach who knows his Xs and Os. Execute and we win by multiple scores

It is going to be funky. They are overhauling their defensive staff in two weeks, with a defense that looks completely lost already.

I expect them to start running some exotic stuff to try and get us out of rhythm.

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

It’s like he thinks there’s a defense that would catch Heup off guard. Heupels seen it all. We have better athletes and a coach who knows his Xs and Os. Execute and we win by multiple scores

Not trying to be a debbie downer, but State held us to 20 points from our offense. We have to limit the turnovers because if you take both of those plays away then State doesnt get a short field on us those times to score.

Also if Mike caught that TD then the character of the game is completely different. Have to execute better.

 

[JCHateSteve]

Question: What if we come out in a 3-4 base with aggressive blitzing and man on the backend?

Answer: This guy goes for 300 yards and three touchdowns.

It's amazing that anyone would think an offensive minded coach is gong to wave a magic wand and completely change their defense using the same players in 2 weeks.

 

[RockyTop140]

Not trying to be a debbie downer, but State held us to 20 points from our offense. We have to limit the turnovers because if you take both of those plays away then State doesnt get a short field on us those times to score.

Also if Mike caught that TD then the character of the game is completely different. Have to execute better.

Fair concern. I think the shots were there. Too many mistakes kept MSU in the game. From the second the game started we were doing exactly what you can’t do in a road environment.

My main worry from that game was we could t seem to get the ground game going early. If I remember correctly MSU did load the box some. But even in light boxes we couldn’t seem to get much going

 

[fossilfiction]

It’s like he thinks there’s a defense that would catch Heup off guard. Heupels seen it all. We have better athletes and a coach who knows his Xs and Os. Execute and we win by multiple scores

That along with anyone that has ever seen a defense transition from 4-3 to 3-4 knows there is a curve and personal need for it. It would be glorious for us.

 

[HalfullVol]

I think Petrino has been calling the plays for them on offense all season, so I would not expect drastic changes from their offense, maybe a couple of added plays and maybe a trick play or two, another fake punt or something, but the defense may a bit different.

This ^
Offense probably won’t change much and hasn’t been the problem - see defensive side of the ball for Hogs for concerns.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

By all rights, the Arkansas defense should be a sloppy mess.

You don't simply retool overnight in college football. Even assuming that the new defensive staff has a defensive philosophy and playbook all set to go walking in the door (they probably don't, but we can worst-case it and say they do), it takes time to train the team on that scheme and teach their lads those plays.

The best thing the new staff could do in terms of seeking a W this weekend would be to change almost nothing, to adapt themselves to the staff that was there before.

But that poses Petrino a dilemma: is he tooling up for success now, immediately, or is he building for the future? Does he take the probably costly (in wins and losses) step of beginning to build for 2026 and beyond now, or does he try to grab as many wins immediately as he can, knowing it will put him behind the curve in the off-season?

Most coaches would accept short term cost in exchange for longer term benefit. But *shrug* we won't know what Petrino & Co will do until we see them playing against our lads this Saturday.

I'm hoping we rip them a new one, either way.

Go Vols!

 

[VFFL@THE BEACH]

I would think any changes on defense for them would mostly be simplifications, not complete formational changes (3-4 vs 4-3). maybe a couple new look blitzes, but with how bad their defense has been and how little time they have had, I wouldn't expect too much.

the key to the game will be turnovers. I don't see their defense being consistent enough to reliably get turnovers.

and I think in a game like this you don't try to overanalyze what they might do, you instead focus on yourself. what do you do well, vs what needs work.

I agree, and would add that another key to the game would be not to force things.
No reason to panic if the few wrinkles Ark puts in stop us or slow us down. Keep doing what we are doing, make small adjustments, in order to score and win the game. The first responsibility is to win the game, not make any statement wins.

 

[Pride85]

Something else to keep in mind in regards to the A&M game.... the score was 14 to 3 in the 4th quarter. After State lost Bothwell, the offense deflated. The D folded after that and A&M scored the knockout punches.

Quit bringing facts into the argument. I would also add we had a dropped TD, were robbed of a TD, had one of our usually reliable WRs have the worst game of his career during most of that game, including the muffed punt, and physically beat their QB up. I have a feeling that there might have been a bit of that showing late in the game that contributed to the massive collapse in the 4th quarter. The miserable minority seem to be out in force again this year.

 

[NeverWe'llSever]

Sick of Arkansas and their fans. We need to steamroll this team. 10 point win or less isn’t good enough for me lol.

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

Quit bringing facts into the argument. I would also add we had a dropped TD, were robbed of a TD, had one of our usually reliable WRs have the worst game of his career during most of that game, including the muffed punt, and physically beat their QB up. I have a feeling that there might have been a bit of that showing late in the game that contributed to the massive collapse in the 4th quarter. The miserable minority seem to be out in force again this year.

Agreed. People look at things at face value without any sort of analysis. State played them close but you cannot win without your star RB and a offensive tackle that is getting whooped all night.

 

[VolFan_stuck_in_the_901]

Oh please gawd them try switch from 4-3 base to 3-4 base mid-season. Tennessee would put up 100. That said, whoever had this hope is a moron.

Yeah that was one of the more hilarious comments I read; no coach worth a damn is instituting a scheme change mid-season, it would be a career killing move.

 

[VolFan_stuck_in_the_901]

It is going to be funky. They are overhauling their defensive staff in two weeks, with a defense that looks completely lost already.

I expect them to start running some exotic stuff to try and get us out of rhythm.

If they try "exotic stuff" we're putting a 60-burger on their ass.... stop trying to act all scared of every team in this conference! I swear some of y'all should've been Vandy or Kentucky fans, not Vol fans

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

If they try "exotic stuff" we're putting a 60-burger on their ass.... stop trying to act all scared of every team in this conference! I swear some of y'all should've been Vandy or Kentucky fans, not Vol fans

I'm not scared, but every team outside of Kentucky this year has the talent to up and bite you if you let them.

I tend to agree but I think they will try to throw every weird blitz they can to just disrupt us. We have the scheme and talent to drop 50 on them if we don't screw up.

 

[Sudden Impact]

I can see it right now, during the game a bomb thrown well over the head of an Arkansas defender.
Arkansas Coach asks player "why didn't you cover that player."
Player replies "in practice you told me to stand right there to confuse the offense. I did my part."

 

[YankeeVol]

Home atmosphere vs an Away atmosphere. Huuuuge difference

There was a TON or orange at MSU

 

[vavolfan6]

It took multiple dropped passes, terrible OPI call, playing away, and still an unhealthy defense to for MSST to take us to overtime. Now you have to deal with us in Neyland and we are a little more healthier. You are going to wish you were playing MSST or Auburn by half time.