London Vol
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I can’t believe that we have already had 11 out of the 12 regular season games, I guess there’s truth in the old adage “time flies when your having fun”. Even though yesterday was seen by many as a cupcake game, there was also lots of clues about the direction of travel we are heading and some insights for what might be in store next season.
What was very revealing was the commitment by the team, this tells us that the coaches got the” players up” for the game and everyone is “buying in”. This season a number of teams have had close shaves and have even lost to these types of opponents just ask Florida fans about Samford, (yes, I did spell it right not Stanford), remember Butch had his Appalachian State and Pruitt his Georgia State. Vegas had us as 28-point favorites and the Bear on College Game Day predicted us not to cover, well we won by 42 and if we had kept the 1st team out for the 4th quarter the differential would have been larger. A pattern has now emerged that we can take care of anybody with ease other than the elite teams and we can scare those. With more recruitment and development of the existing players, next season has so much potential.
QUARTERBACKS
Hendon Hooker was back to his best which makes last week more of an aberration than the norm. His passes were sharp and decisive, it was noticeable that he gave more air on the deep ball allowing both Cedric Tillman and Velus Jones to make the completion. Another improvement was that he used the middle of the field at last, by doing this makes us really dangerous. We have in our playbook a number of designed plays where we throw in the flat and then other plays where we throw deep for one-on-one plays, but if we can incorporate the middle of the pitch then the defense will be even more stretched.
The 4th quarter also gave us a glimpse of the full repertoire of Milton, a laser pass in the flat that would have been impressive even on Sundays, he then nearly broke the fingers of a receiver with a rocket over the middle and of course the obligatory overthrown long ball. However, I do not believe we would have got near 60 points if Milton played all the game.
RUNNING BACKS
250 yards at an average of 5.8 y.p.c. is a good day. Wright confirmed he has improved and Small is fast becoming “Mr. Reliable”. Whitehead had an impressive 60 yards from only 6 carries, this is important because whilst Wright and Small are more than adequate, they offer a very similar skill set akin to Lightning, Whereas Whitehead looks to be more the Thunder and we have desperately needed a big body this season especially on 3rd and 1.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Our big two, Jones (we will mention him again later) and Tillman both hit the century mark and both look to have futures in the NFL. Jalin Hyatt continues to have dropping issues, lets hope he could be one whose “light comes on” next season as he has the tools and with Calloway he will be needed to carry the mantle of the aforementioned two.
TIGHT ENDS
With the introduction of the passing game over the middle, we finally saw what Warren and Fant can contribute with 73 yards from 7 catches between them, this is a season best. Added to their contribution in the blocking assignments, this is a very useful additional “string to our bow” and makes us even more dangerous.
OFFENSIVE LINE
I know yesterday’s opponent was a drop off in standard compared to the last 4 games but South Alabama were renowned to have a good defense, well the Offensive Line took control from start to finish, not only allowing Hooker plenty of time to survey the field but they also created many good running lanes. Some of the pulling by the guards especially Spraggins, stood out. My one concern was for Cade Mays, I sincerely hope he is not badly injured, not only because of the next two games but because he deserves to be the beneficiary of a good draft pick
DEFENSIVE LINE
A solid day at the office for the Defensive Line. They restricted USA to only 1.9 y.p.c and had another 13 tackles for losses (this puts us in the higher echelons in the country in this category). A special shout out to Da`Jon Terry and Omari Thomas (wow, Terry Thomas a great British actor, look him up) added to Elijah Simmons, these guys have the makings of a very good Defensive Line next season. Roman Harrison also had his best game as a Vol and Butler was his usual dependable self.
LINEBACKERS
Strange that Banks did not appear until the 2nd quarter. The Linebackers had some good and not so good moments. We so need a big Middle Linebacker who doesn’t whiff on tackles and shoots the right gap, study hard the transfer portal Mr. Banks
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Warren Burrell had a really tough day against a NFL rated WR in Tolbert who finished with 143 yards. I thought earlier this season that he had progressed but now I`m not so sure, he will need to improve fast otherwise Rucker, Turnage or Hadden will replace him next season. Theo Jackson looks healthy again and was everywhere just like at the beginning of the season.
VELUS JONES
103 yards from 6 catches, 47 yards on Punt Returns and 96 yards on Kicks Offs with a TD, this is why he deserves his own section. This was a career day and whilst I was rather underwhelmed when we signed him a couple of years ago, I will now miss him dearly. I know I have said this before but I would get him to return every kick off even from the endzone as he is the best returner we have had since Evan Berry.
WE ARE GOING BOWLING
I always enjoy your comments and observations
GO VOLS
What was very revealing was the commitment by the team, this tells us that the coaches got the” players up” for the game and everyone is “buying in”. This season a number of teams have had close shaves and have even lost to these types of opponents just ask Florida fans about Samford, (yes, I did spell it right not Stanford), remember Butch had his Appalachian State and Pruitt his Georgia State. Vegas had us as 28-point favorites and the Bear on College Game Day predicted us not to cover, well we won by 42 and if we had kept the 1st team out for the 4th quarter the differential would have been larger. A pattern has now emerged that we can take care of anybody with ease other than the elite teams and we can scare those. With more recruitment and development of the existing players, next season has so much potential.
QUARTERBACKS
Hendon Hooker was back to his best which makes last week more of an aberration than the norm. His passes were sharp and decisive, it was noticeable that he gave more air on the deep ball allowing both Cedric Tillman and Velus Jones to make the completion. Another improvement was that he used the middle of the field at last, by doing this makes us really dangerous. We have in our playbook a number of designed plays where we throw in the flat and then other plays where we throw deep for one-on-one plays, but if we can incorporate the middle of the pitch then the defense will be even more stretched.
The 4th quarter also gave us a glimpse of the full repertoire of Milton, a laser pass in the flat that would have been impressive even on Sundays, he then nearly broke the fingers of a receiver with a rocket over the middle and of course the obligatory overthrown long ball. However, I do not believe we would have got near 60 points if Milton played all the game.
RUNNING BACKS
250 yards at an average of 5.8 y.p.c. is a good day. Wright confirmed he has improved and Small is fast becoming “Mr. Reliable”. Whitehead had an impressive 60 yards from only 6 carries, this is important because whilst Wright and Small are more than adequate, they offer a very similar skill set akin to Lightning, Whereas Whitehead looks to be more the Thunder and we have desperately needed a big body this season especially on 3rd and 1.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Our big two, Jones (we will mention him again later) and Tillman both hit the century mark and both look to have futures in the NFL. Jalin Hyatt continues to have dropping issues, lets hope he could be one whose “light comes on” next season as he has the tools and with Calloway he will be needed to carry the mantle of the aforementioned two.
TIGHT ENDS
With the introduction of the passing game over the middle, we finally saw what Warren and Fant can contribute with 73 yards from 7 catches between them, this is a season best. Added to their contribution in the blocking assignments, this is a very useful additional “string to our bow” and makes us even more dangerous.
OFFENSIVE LINE
I know yesterday’s opponent was a drop off in standard compared to the last 4 games but South Alabama were renowned to have a good defense, well the Offensive Line took control from start to finish, not only allowing Hooker plenty of time to survey the field but they also created many good running lanes. Some of the pulling by the guards especially Spraggins, stood out. My one concern was for Cade Mays, I sincerely hope he is not badly injured, not only because of the next two games but because he deserves to be the beneficiary of a good draft pick
DEFENSIVE LINE
A solid day at the office for the Defensive Line. They restricted USA to only 1.9 y.p.c and had another 13 tackles for losses (this puts us in the higher echelons in the country in this category). A special shout out to Da`Jon Terry and Omari Thomas (wow, Terry Thomas a great British actor, look him up) added to Elijah Simmons, these guys have the makings of a very good Defensive Line next season. Roman Harrison also had his best game as a Vol and Butler was his usual dependable self.
LINEBACKERS
Strange that Banks did not appear until the 2nd quarter. The Linebackers had some good and not so good moments. We so need a big Middle Linebacker who doesn’t whiff on tackles and shoots the right gap, study hard the transfer portal Mr. Banks
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Warren Burrell had a really tough day against a NFL rated WR in Tolbert who finished with 143 yards. I thought earlier this season that he had progressed but now I`m not so sure, he will need to improve fast otherwise Rucker, Turnage or Hadden will replace him next season. Theo Jackson looks healthy again and was everywhere just like at the beginning of the season.
VELUS JONES
103 yards from 6 catches, 47 yards on Punt Returns and 96 yards on Kicks Offs with a TD, this is why he deserves his own section. This was a career day and whilst I was rather underwhelmed when we signed him a couple of years ago, I will now miss him dearly. I know I have said this before but I would get him to return every kick off even from the endzone as he is the best returner we have had since Evan Berry.
WE ARE GOING BOWLING
I always enjoy your comments and observations
GO VOLS
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