London Vol
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2015
- Messages
- 881
- Likes
- 6,911
For Tennessee to return to national prominence under Jeremy Pruitt I felt we would need to go through four stages: Fear, Hope, Progress and Challenge. Remember the days only a few years ago when we won no SEC games and even those powerhouses of Vanderbilt and Missouri were stealing our lunch, so I went into year 1 Fearing what was going to happen. Entering year 2 I had Hope as despite the usual hammerings from various teams the previous year we had actually beaten Auburn and a good Kentucky team. Then we finished year 2 on a 5 win stretch. So year 3 I now wanted to see Progress and its through this prism that I list my thoughts on the team’s performance yesterday because next year, year 4 it should be Challenge
QUARTERBACK
For the second week Guarantano neither won or lost the match as our teams’ raison detre is to control and win the game through the Offensive Line and Running Backs, for this reason I am was happy with his performance yesterday. One point, it did seem that when he threw, it was often into tight coverage. Now this may be on the backs of the wide receivers for the routes they ran or the play calling, but I wish sometimes there was some nice easy completions. Week 3 demands will change but more of that later.
OFFENSIVE LINE
In 11 years of following the Vols this was the best O Line performance I have seen and I believe this is either the norm or the start of something even better. Its very easy to site Cade Mays as the difference maker from weeks 1 and 2 but whilst he was great, the improvement from others especially Morris also explains the difference. If this group (don’t disregard the importance of depth, not just the starting 5) can stay injury and COVID free then we are looking at a 7 and 3 record or possibly even better.
RUNNING BACKS
Chandler was good as normal but still frustrates me that as much as the 6 to 8 gains are good, he doesn’t make the last tackle miss even once. Now Eric Gray has this ability and that what makes him the better player. We can be on the 20 and I hope/believe Gray, unlike Chandler, could go to the checkboard untouched However we do have the best one/two in the SEC so I’m not complaining. And the good news doesn’t finish there, one of the biggest surprises on Saturday was Jabari Small, he showed that if either of the 1st two runners are not available then we are still in good hands.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Another solid if not outstanding performance form the Wide Receivers. Palmer again showed how good he is and I wish he was targeted more often. Johnson confirmed that he is going to have a productive if not spectacular year and Hyatt flashed the promise that we have been reading about during pre-season. My big concern is that Keyton had a second disappointing match and is in danger of being overtaken in the depth chart by Hyatt. Remember due to the commitment to the run game there will only be around 25 passes to go round so it makes it even harder for Keyton to get back.
TIGHT ENDS
Still no evidence that 2020 will be a good year at Tight End and even the blocking requirements have been outsourced to the Jumbo Tight End position filled by Cooper Mays and Locklear.
DEFENSIVE LINE
They get only an OK grade here. They are not getting penetration like I wish but they are not being overrun completely either. So far nobody has made a move and there are big challenges ahead to come this season.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
Johnson got what was a really big sack on 3rd down late in the game so he now has 3 ½ sacks this season which is way more than I expected, so what was my biggest concern pre-season has been surprisingly good.
INSIDE LINEBACKERS
To`o To`o was actually even better this game albeit not with a pick 6 this week, All- American consideration is on the horizon. Couch was better this week but still no “break out” and Banks kept his ill-discipline under control this week. I did allow myself a thought what this department would be like this season if Bituli was playing?
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Taylor was not as good this week but overall ok and George is no Thompson. This was the first time I have noticed Flowers and was pleasantly surprised, so hopefully he can build on this and Jackson redeemed his performance with the late pick. However, if we are to compete with the big boys in the next few weeks, we really need Shamburger and Thompson back.
NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMS
Snapping this week did not seem like a game of “pass the soap” but Cimaglia still missed from inside the 40, fortunately his performances have not cost us so far and maybe he is saving his “clutch” moments for games when it matters. Brooks if fine kicking but I would like to see Jones return some kicks even from inside the endzone (against all advice) as I think he will break one all the way.
AROUND THE SEC
South Carolina – competed with Florida but will have a long season without those cupcake games.
Missouri – Bazelak gives them hope and Bolton is a beast but the win column will be thin
Georgia – see below
Kentucky – 408 yards rushing shows how good that O line really is but they still lost to Ole Miss. That tells you everything
Alabama – Best team in the SEC, hope we keep it close.
Arkansas – they are better than we thought and we should not sleep on them, but with Mike Leach you can’t judge anything its all famine or feast.
Texas A & M – Still to be wowed and they are there for the taking
Auburn – Still to be wowed and they are there for the taking
Vanderbilt – Oh dear, the win column will be empty.
Florida –So glad we do not play them in Week 3 as normal and things could be very different in week 10, but to me they are the favorites to win the SEC East.
NEXT WEEK
Bob Kesling should introduce his commentary next week from “Its Football Time” to “Its Big Boys Football Time”. The good news first, the days of Georgia assaulting us are gone and we are a real test for them now. The bad news is the match-ups are wrong for us, they have the best run defense in the nation, they have only conceded 116 yards total at 1.93ave this season, if we can get 100 yards that would be an achievement. Therefore, barring a special teams day, Guarantano will need to step and win the game and that’s where it becomes dicey. Still the really good news is that we could win next week and that means Progress has been made in year 3.
GO VOLS.
QUARTERBACK
For the second week Guarantano neither won or lost the match as our teams’ raison detre is to control and win the game through the Offensive Line and Running Backs, for this reason I am was happy with his performance yesterday. One point, it did seem that when he threw, it was often into tight coverage. Now this may be on the backs of the wide receivers for the routes they ran or the play calling, but I wish sometimes there was some nice easy completions. Week 3 demands will change but more of that later.
OFFENSIVE LINE
In 11 years of following the Vols this was the best O Line performance I have seen and I believe this is either the norm or the start of something even better. Its very easy to site Cade Mays as the difference maker from weeks 1 and 2 but whilst he was great, the improvement from others especially Morris also explains the difference. If this group (don’t disregard the importance of depth, not just the starting 5) can stay injury and COVID free then we are looking at a 7 and 3 record or possibly even better.
RUNNING BACKS
Chandler was good as normal but still frustrates me that as much as the 6 to 8 gains are good, he doesn’t make the last tackle miss even once. Now Eric Gray has this ability and that what makes him the better player. We can be on the 20 and I hope/believe Gray, unlike Chandler, could go to the checkboard untouched However we do have the best one/two in the SEC so I’m not complaining. And the good news doesn’t finish there, one of the biggest surprises on Saturday was Jabari Small, he showed that if either of the 1st two runners are not available then we are still in good hands.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Another solid if not outstanding performance form the Wide Receivers. Palmer again showed how good he is and I wish he was targeted more often. Johnson confirmed that he is going to have a productive if not spectacular year and Hyatt flashed the promise that we have been reading about during pre-season. My big concern is that Keyton had a second disappointing match and is in danger of being overtaken in the depth chart by Hyatt. Remember due to the commitment to the run game there will only be around 25 passes to go round so it makes it even harder for Keyton to get back.
TIGHT ENDS
Still no evidence that 2020 will be a good year at Tight End and even the blocking requirements have been outsourced to the Jumbo Tight End position filled by Cooper Mays and Locklear.
DEFENSIVE LINE
They get only an OK grade here. They are not getting penetration like I wish but they are not being overrun completely either. So far nobody has made a move and there are big challenges ahead to come this season.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
Johnson got what was a really big sack on 3rd down late in the game so he now has 3 ½ sacks this season which is way more than I expected, so what was my biggest concern pre-season has been surprisingly good.
INSIDE LINEBACKERS
To`o To`o was actually even better this game albeit not with a pick 6 this week, All- American consideration is on the horizon. Couch was better this week but still no “break out” and Banks kept his ill-discipline under control this week. I did allow myself a thought what this department would be like this season if Bituli was playing?
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Taylor was not as good this week but overall ok and George is no Thompson. This was the first time I have noticed Flowers and was pleasantly surprised, so hopefully he can build on this and Jackson redeemed his performance with the late pick. However, if we are to compete with the big boys in the next few weeks, we really need Shamburger and Thompson back.
NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMS
Snapping this week did not seem like a game of “pass the soap” but Cimaglia still missed from inside the 40, fortunately his performances have not cost us so far and maybe he is saving his “clutch” moments for games when it matters. Brooks if fine kicking but I would like to see Jones return some kicks even from inside the endzone (against all advice) as I think he will break one all the way.
AROUND THE SEC
South Carolina – competed with Florida but will have a long season without those cupcake games.
Missouri – Bazelak gives them hope and Bolton is a beast but the win column will be thin
Georgia – see below
Kentucky – 408 yards rushing shows how good that O line really is but they still lost to Ole Miss. That tells you everything
Alabama – Best team in the SEC, hope we keep it close.
Arkansas – they are better than we thought and we should not sleep on them, but with Mike Leach you can’t judge anything its all famine or feast.
Texas A & M – Still to be wowed and they are there for the taking
Auburn – Still to be wowed and they are there for the taking
Vanderbilt – Oh dear, the win column will be empty.
Florida –So glad we do not play them in Week 3 as normal and things could be very different in week 10, but to me they are the favorites to win the SEC East.
NEXT WEEK
Bob Kesling should introduce his commentary next week from “Its Football Time” to “Its Big Boys Football Time”. The good news first, the days of Georgia assaulting us are gone and we are a real test for them now. The bad news is the match-ups are wrong for us, they have the best run defense in the nation, they have only conceded 116 yards total at 1.93ave this season, if we can get 100 yards that would be an achievement. Therefore, barring a special teams day, Guarantano will need to step and win the game and that’s where it becomes dicey. Still the really good news is that we could win next week and that means Progress has been made in year 3.
GO VOLS.
Last edited:
