Article: What is Wrong with the Tennessee Passing Attack

I spent a little more time looking at the throwing game vs Oklahoma this afternoon.

First, to help answer the question, "where'd he throw it?" here is a graphic showing the placement of all 31 of Dobbs' pass attempts:

Whered%20He%20Throw%20It.png



Second, the stats show 31 pass plays, but the coaches actually dialed up 37 of them. The other 6 don't appear in the stats because they were counted as runs: 3 times, when Josh was sacked, and the other 3 when he tucked the ball and ran with it after not finding any open targets.

So 37 pass plays, of which 13 resulted in a completed pass. So I went back and looked at the 24 that did NOT have a pass completed. Just to figure out why we were missing so much. I scored each one for good vs. bad pass protection ... and good or bad throw (accuracy, placement) ... and good or bad receiver effort (separation, hands, body use).

Pass protection breakdowns: 13 (of the 24 plays)
Inaccurate or poorly placed throws: 12 (of the 24)
Receiver faults (drop, etc.): 9 (of the 24)

And to anticipate the question: no, all the bad passes didn't follow pass pro breakdowns. Josh was sometimes VERY accurate even under pressure, and sometimes badly inaccurate even when well protected.

Bottom line is, this was a team loss. It's not on any one person or position group.
 
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I spent a little more time looking at the throwing game vs Oklahoma this afternoon.

First, to help answer the question, "where'd he throw it?" here is a graphic showing the placement of all 31 of Dobbs' pass attempts:

Whered%20He%20Throw%20It.png



Second, the stats show 31 pass plays, but the coaches actually dialed up 37 of them. The other 6 don't appear in the stats because they were counted as runs: 3 times, when Josh was sacked, and the other 3 when he tucked the ball and ran with it after not finding any open targets.

So 37 pass plays, of which 13 resulted in a completed pass. So I went back and looked at the 24 that did NOT have a pass completed. Just to figure out why we were missing so much. I scored each one for good vs. bad pass protection ... and good or bad throw (accuracy, placement) ... and good or bad receiver effort (separation, hands, body use).

Pass protection breakdowns: 13 (of the 24 plays)
Inaccurate or poorly placed throws: 12 (of the 24)
Receiver faults (drop, etc.): 9 (of the 24)

And to anticipate the question: no, all the bad passes didn't follow pass pro breakdowns. Josh was sometimes VERY accurate even under pressure, and sometimes badly inaccurate even when well protected.

Bottom line is, this was a team loss. It's not on any one person or position group.

nice work :hi:
 

Very good read and it looks like brutal truth.

After two games, it looks like our DBs cannot play man/press without getting beaten and our receivers cannot beat man/press.

And did we call one draw play against all that blitzing?

And I am with others on here who say that our offense should know before the start of the season how to make teams pay for blitzing. Didn't they practice this in fall camp? This is football 101, isn't it?
 
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And did we call one draw play against all that blitzing?

Yep, saw a few draw plays. And a couple of attempted inside screens (neither of which was completed).

There were attempts to counter the heavy rushing. Some more successful than others. The most successful methods of all were (1) handoff to Hurd who simply ran past or away from the blitz, or (2) Dobbs scrambling, often for a first down in spite of the blitz.
 
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it does make me wonder why they didn't put Crowder in for a couple of series,we all seen the improvement in line play,when he came back last year

and thanks for the article OP:hi:

Good article and videos. We need our veteran center for the Florida game. One who has experience that can stand against the nasty swamp noise and stress. This is a major concern.
 
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it does make me wonder why they didn't put Crowder in for a couple of series,we all seen the improvement in line play,when he came back last year

and thanks for the article OP:hi:

Crowder is mostly likely a great person, but unless there is an injury his ship has sailed.
 
So in 37 attempts only 4 were between the hash marks....anyone notice where most of Tulsa's yards came from today?

To be accurate, 4 of 27 attempts were between the hash marks.

The other 10 pass plays, we can't know where Josh would've put the ball on the field...because he didn't get a chance to put it on the field at all (3 sacks, 3 scramble runs, 4 thrown out of bounds or into the turf). For all we know, all 10 of those throws--or none of them--may have included a primary target across the center.

So calling it 4 of 27 (about 15%) is more accurate.
 
Just simply do not like this offense. Butch has always been a proponent of the vertical passing game. He has never in his career, either at CMU or Cincinnati tried to take advantage of the middle of the field. Period.

Ironically, if you watch UT beat Cincinnati in 2011, you saw the Vols in press coverage most of the time as well. Also, pressure. I believe it is pig-headedness, and unwillingness to just admit that this offensive scheme is predictable, deficient, and easily beaten. Oh yeah, Azzani sucks.
 
Just simply do not like this offense. Butch has always been a proponent of the vertical passing game. He has never in his career, either at CMU or Cincinnati tried to take advantage of the middle of the field. Period.

Ironically, if you watch UT beat Cincinnati in 2011, you saw the Vols in press coverage most of the time as well. Also, pressure. I believe it is pig-headedness, and unwillingness to just admit that this offensive scheme is predictable, deficient, and easily beaten. Oh yeah, Azzani sucks.

I don't know about his whole career, but what is his seemingly flat out refusal to take advantage of the middle versus strong blitzes is going to lose us games for sure. Any good team you watch will drag a slot and get him wide open against blitz happy teams, and open quickly. No 5 second routes to wait on and watch your leaky line give up a sack. Drags, slants, he'll a tight end hitch against a small body safety. All of these things would help out a struggling line and a shaky quarterback. We just seem to be stuck in go vertical or die trying mode. I certainly hope we adjust our scheme to help our players instead of imposing a scheme onto players that can't execute it. You have to put what you have in a position to win, and it wasn't done against Oklahoma and hasn't been done several times in Butchs tenure here. I would love for him to win and win big here, but I'm afraid he won't adjust his offense to do it. And obviously, our flaws in concept were easy for a good coaching staff to jump on and choke the life out of our offense altogether. I truly hope it's the last time I see it, but I'm afraid it's going to be a lingering trend. Maybe we'll get lucky and Debord will retire and by some miracle we'll get a good coordinator that will find a way to bring Butchs offense up to speed instead of burying it in stale methodology.
 
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Impressive work gentlemen.

Goes to show there is some weight to the "we should have thrown more slants" talk.

Butch may think that the fans don't understand analytics, but I should understand that the fans are just throwing out basic football concepts. It's time to see the coach make the necessary changes, thus abandoning his stubborn mindset
 
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Impressive work gentlemen.

Goes to show there is some weight to the "we should have thrown more slants" talk.

Butch may think that the fans don't understand analytics, but I should understand that the fans are just throwing out basic football concepts. It's time to see the coach make the necessary changes, thus abandoning his stubborn mindset

Simple and concise. I like it. Very well said.
 
Just simply do not like this offense. Butch has always been a proponent of the vertical passing game. He has never in his career, either at CMU or Cincinnati tried to take advantage of the middle of the field. Period.

Ironically, if you watch UT beat Cincinnati in 2011, you saw the Vols in press coverage most of the time as well. Also, pressure. I believe it is pig-headedness, and unwillingness to just admit that this offensive scheme is predictable, deficient, and easily beaten. Oh yeah, Azzani sucks.

The plays to beat press coverage are part of the offense. We have just not used them often.
 
Passing Coordinator Zack Azzani is the problem. He's underachieved with a mound of talent. can him after this season.
 
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