London Vol
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GAME 11 – BALL STATE
1st SEP 2022
When Alexander Rossi gets his new Andretti Indy Car at the start of the season, he is both excited and nervous. He is excited, because he has heard that during practice this year’s model is better than last year’s model, he is excited because it is more powerful and has a few extra goodies and lastly, this new car will allow him to compete again for the Championship. He is also nervous, because he has believed before that he had a car that would outcompete the big boys, only to find out, that it had flaws, again. For last night’s match, I believe we had quite a vanilla game plan i.e. we called a few deep routes for Tillman and McCoy and hardly any scrambles for Hooker and finally no blitzes by the Defense. No doubt, the coaches were acutely aware that Pitt will be studying the game film from last night, anyway taking that into account here are my thoughts.
QUARTERBACKS
There was no drop off from last year’s breakout with Hendon Hooker. He completed 72% of his passes with 221 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs, that will get it done most weeks. If you were being picky, then a couple of passes “sailed” on him, which suggests his mechanics were a bit rusty. Overall, I would say he was in 3rd gear only. Joe Milton was a pleasant surprise. Just to mention his name I know will create a reaction from the fans, but the man wears orange and has not deserted us, so I will wish him well and last night I thought his cameo performance was impressive. He completed 8 of 9 passes with a 53- yard dart to Holiday on a skinny post. No, he is not ready to challenge Hooker as the starter, but can you name me a better backup quarterback in the country?
RUNNING BACKS
Jabari Small (63 yards) looked more durable with his bulking out and he completed a 4th and 1, which is one of the critical improvements we need this season. Jaylen Wright (88 yards) ran for more, although most of this was on one drive. The guys combined for 151 yards at 5.8 ypc, which is fine. Dylan Sampson had his number called and remember he has only been with the team for about one month, yet still showed glimpses of what we will enjoy seeing over the next few years. Do not underestimate how useful the game film of him last night will be for his coaches to help fast track his development.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Cedric Tillman (68 yards) looked just as good as last year and other days his stats will be far larger, when the downfield playbook is opened up, as mentioned above. I was led to believe that Bru McCoy is not quite match fit and might not play, well not only did he start, but he was very impressive. When Tillman texted him on hearing that he was finally cleared to play by the NCAA, he wrote “let’s eat”, he was not kidding. These two are already our best Wide Receivers. Jimmy Holiday, Ramel Keyton and Walker Merrill were nice surprises and Jalin Hyatt would have had an even better day, if Hooker didn’t miss him when he was open and my daughter Marino was delighted that “Squirrel” hauled in 3 catches on his debut.
TIGHT ENDS
Here again, I am going to record a quiet night, I still think they can be game changers on occasions this season, but it was not last night.
OFFENSIVE LINE
They were the stars of the team for me. They completely dominated their opponents, to a man. The time Hooker was allowed in the pocket, was the most I have seem a Tennessee quarterback have in all the years of following the Vols. In fact, he could have made a pit stop for new shoes and still have time to work through his progressions. Good to see Darnell Wright recovering his namesake Wright’s fumble, but the best news here was the performance of Gerald Mincey and to a lesser extent Jeremiah Crawford. Mincey is also only a sophomore, so let’s hope that the Left Tackle position is resolved.
DEFENSIVE LINE
You need to split this into two sections, Run Defense and Pass Defense. As per the last few years we were stingy on Run Defense, only allowing 2.7 yards per carry. However, 27 completions from a rookie from the MAC Conference is a red flag, when you consider that we will face Young, Rattler, Levis and Richardson this season, all who could all be 1st round draft picks in April. Even allowing for not displaying our best moves for Pitt and others, I was still concerned by the lack of pass rush from the front four.
LINEBACKERS
With Juwan Mitchell again missing, I was pleased with the Linebackers, especially Aaron Beasley. He had a major part in the first play interception by getting to the quarterback, he also had 8 tackles. Good to see freshman Elijah Herring getting so many snaps, which will benefit him in the future.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
This was probably the main area of concern before this season. But unlike last season, we at least have a number of bodies, however we still need somebody to step up. Well, last night, that was Kamal Hadden, he had an Interception and constantly looked the best Cornerback. Overall, I thought both Safeties and Cornerbacks all stood off too deep, allowing easy completions, but again, I hope the play calling was to mislead Pitt.
So, what did I make of it? Well, we have completed the first few laps in our new car and early indications are that we might be onto a real winner this time, but next week we will have to put the “pedal to the metal”, so we will then know for sure.
I always enjoy your comments and observations.
GO VOLS
1st SEP 2022
When Alexander Rossi gets his new Andretti Indy Car at the start of the season, he is both excited and nervous. He is excited, because he has heard that during practice this year’s model is better than last year’s model, he is excited because it is more powerful and has a few extra goodies and lastly, this new car will allow him to compete again for the Championship. He is also nervous, because he has believed before that he had a car that would outcompete the big boys, only to find out, that it had flaws, again. For last night’s match, I believe we had quite a vanilla game plan i.e. we called a few deep routes for Tillman and McCoy and hardly any scrambles for Hooker and finally no blitzes by the Defense. No doubt, the coaches were acutely aware that Pitt will be studying the game film from last night, anyway taking that into account here are my thoughts.
QUARTERBACKS
There was no drop off from last year’s breakout with Hendon Hooker. He completed 72% of his passes with 221 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs, that will get it done most weeks. If you were being picky, then a couple of passes “sailed” on him, which suggests his mechanics were a bit rusty. Overall, I would say he was in 3rd gear only. Joe Milton was a pleasant surprise. Just to mention his name I know will create a reaction from the fans, but the man wears orange and has not deserted us, so I will wish him well and last night I thought his cameo performance was impressive. He completed 8 of 9 passes with a 53- yard dart to Holiday on a skinny post. No, he is not ready to challenge Hooker as the starter, but can you name me a better backup quarterback in the country?
RUNNING BACKS
Jabari Small (63 yards) looked more durable with his bulking out and he completed a 4th and 1, which is one of the critical improvements we need this season. Jaylen Wright (88 yards) ran for more, although most of this was on one drive. The guys combined for 151 yards at 5.8 ypc, which is fine. Dylan Sampson had his number called and remember he has only been with the team for about one month, yet still showed glimpses of what we will enjoy seeing over the next few years. Do not underestimate how useful the game film of him last night will be for his coaches to help fast track his development.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Cedric Tillman (68 yards) looked just as good as last year and other days his stats will be far larger, when the downfield playbook is opened up, as mentioned above. I was led to believe that Bru McCoy is not quite match fit and might not play, well not only did he start, but he was very impressive. When Tillman texted him on hearing that he was finally cleared to play by the NCAA, he wrote “let’s eat”, he was not kidding. These two are already our best Wide Receivers. Jimmy Holiday, Ramel Keyton and Walker Merrill were nice surprises and Jalin Hyatt would have had an even better day, if Hooker didn’t miss him when he was open and my daughter Marino was delighted that “Squirrel” hauled in 3 catches on his debut.
TIGHT ENDS
Here again, I am going to record a quiet night, I still think they can be game changers on occasions this season, but it was not last night.
OFFENSIVE LINE
They were the stars of the team for me. They completely dominated their opponents, to a man. The time Hooker was allowed in the pocket, was the most I have seem a Tennessee quarterback have in all the years of following the Vols. In fact, he could have made a pit stop for new shoes and still have time to work through his progressions. Good to see Darnell Wright recovering his namesake Wright’s fumble, but the best news here was the performance of Gerald Mincey and to a lesser extent Jeremiah Crawford. Mincey is also only a sophomore, so let’s hope that the Left Tackle position is resolved.
DEFENSIVE LINE
You need to split this into two sections, Run Defense and Pass Defense. As per the last few years we were stingy on Run Defense, only allowing 2.7 yards per carry. However, 27 completions from a rookie from the MAC Conference is a red flag, when you consider that we will face Young, Rattler, Levis and Richardson this season, all who could all be 1st round draft picks in April. Even allowing for not displaying our best moves for Pitt and others, I was still concerned by the lack of pass rush from the front four.
LINEBACKERS
With Juwan Mitchell again missing, I was pleased with the Linebackers, especially Aaron Beasley. He had a major part in the first play interception by getting to the quarterback, he also had 8 tackles. Good to see freshman Elijah Herring getting so many snaps, which will benefit him in the future.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
This was probably the main area of concern before this season. But unlike last season, we at least have a number of bodies, however we still need somebody to step up. Well, last night, that was Kamal Hadden, he had an Interception and constantly looked the best Cornerback. Overall, I thought both Safeties and Cornerbacks all stood off too deep, allowing easy completions, but again, I hope the play calling was to mislead Pitt.
So, what did I make of it? Well, we have completed the first few laps in our new car and early indications are that we might be onto a real winner this time, but next week we will have to put the “pedal to the metal”, so we will then know for sure.
I always enjoy your comments and observations.
GO VOLS
