Here is a bit of perspective. has anyone wondered why Butchs' teams always take a quantum leap for bowl games? it is because of 2 things. The extended period of time to prepare and the ability to get a lot of guys reps that would have gotten reps in the regular season.
Now this is the part where someone pops out and says well he does not perform this way in game 1 each season and has all offseason to prepare. The answer is that is totally different game 1 you are preparing for what might be. For a bowl game you have a season worth of tape on the team.
Do I think our D will be world beaters? Heck no, but they will be much improved over what we saw over those last 3 games. I keep seeing people say last 5 games but erm last I checked Tn tech put a goose egg on the scoreboard and 224 yards of total offense. The south Carolina game was not a defensive breakdown it was a whole team breakdown and I blame most of that on the distraction caused by Hurd. They also only produced a bit over 300 yards of total offense.
Our defensive breakdowns in the last 3 games were amplified by the teams we played. lets not fool ourselves Before they played us Vandy and Kentucky were 2 of the best rushing attacks in the SEC (UK was 3rd total behind alabama and auburn). Missouri was one of the best offenses in the SEC (2nd behind alabama in total offense and second in passing behind ole miss 7th in rushing right ahead of UT)
Vandy was just a complete brainfart. Most people fans included do not give Vandy the respect they deserve on their end all be all game. The tradition had kind of went away the past decade or better to say they didn't feel like the underdogs they actually are so lost their hunger. Vandy used to be a team that would play their best game of the year against UT. no matter how bad they were they wanted that game and we knew it. This team didn't know it. You can blame anyone you want but it was the wakeup call I think this coaching staff needed.This season was that.
the one really great positive from this season is this. We won't have this problem next year. Guys that in normal circumstances wouldn't have gotten a single meaningful snap this year played some serious time and got quality reps and will get more between now and Nebraska. Shoop got a look at guys he might not have had a chance to see until next year and a better idea of what holes need plugging in the recruiting class.
This Vol team will show up in Nashville and the results will likely be quite similar to bowl games of the past few seasons. The defense will look better. Even though Nebraska has the same advantage of a full year of tape on us they have never seen a tape of a healthy UT team. No one has.
How many of you know that UT had the second best scoring offense in the SEC and lead the league in QBR? First in td's. @ Qbs in the SEC threw for over 20 TD's only one threw less than 10 ints (Jalen Hurts at 9) os Dobbs 12 is not a huge anomaly like a lot of people try to make it out. especially when you consider the game situations he was in when he threw them. This has been an outstanding team that has faced a tremendous amount of adversity this season and still performed as expected minus the vandy game.
Imagine what this team if Jalen Hurd and Preston Williams had not given up. What do we look like without the devastating injuries to Cam, Kirkland and JRM early season and the decimation that happened at DT. Trust me if Hurd hadn't left the team and we hadn't lost Tuttle and KMac we are sitting at 10-3 now and everyone is bi--hing about why we cant seem to beat Bama. because if one thing is true no matter what folks around here will find something to burn a mattress about. If the past 2 months have not shown you that east Tennessee has an obsession with arson I don't know what to tell you. We love complaining about everything an setting fire to the house we live in.
Now this is the part where someone pops out and says well he does not perform this way in game 1 each season and has all offseason to prepare. The answer is that is totally different game 1 you are preparing for what might be. For a bowl game you have a season worth of tape on the team.
Do I think our D will be world beaters? Heck no, but they will be much improved over what we saw over those last 3 games. I keep seeing people say last 5 games but erm last I checked Tn tech put a goose egg on the scoreboard and 224 yards of total offense. The south Carolina game was not a defensive breakdown it was a whole team breakdown and I blame most of that on the distraction caused by Hurd. They also only produced a bit over 300 yards of total offense.
Our defensive breakdowns in the last 3 games were amplified by the teams we played. lets not fool ourselves Before they played us Vandy and Kentucky were 2 of the best rushing attacks in the SEC (UK was 3rd total behind alabama and auburn). Missouri was one of the best offenses in the SEC (2nd behind alabama in total offense and second in passing behind ole miss 7th in rushing right ahead of UT)
Vandy was just a complete brainfart. Most people fans included do not give Vandy the respect they deserve on their end all be all game. The tradition had kind of went away the past decade or better to say they didn't feel like the underdogs they actually are so lost their hunger. Vandy used to be a team that would play their best game of the year against UT. no matter how bad they were they wanted that game and we knew it. This team didn't know it. You can blame anyone you want but it was the wakeup call I think this coaching staff needed.This season was that.
the one really great positive from this season is this. We won't have this problem next year. Guys that in normal circumstances wouldn't have gotten a single meaningful snap this year played some serious time and got quality reps and will get more between now and Nebraska. Shoop got a look at guys he might not have had a chance to see until next year and a better idea of what holes need plugging in the recruiting class.
This Vol team will show up in Nashville and the results will likely be quite similar to bowl games of the past few seasons. The defense will look better. Even though Nebraska has the same advantage of a full year of tape on us they have never seen a tape of a healthy UT team. No one has.
How many of you know that UT had the second best scoring offense in the SEC and lead the league in QBR? First in td's. @ Qbs in the SEC threw for over 20 TD's only one threw less than 10 ints (Jalen Hurts at 9) os Dobbs 12 is not a huge anomaly like a lot of people try to make it out. especially when you consider the game situations he was in when he threw them. This has been an outstanding team that has faced a tremendous amount of adversity this season and still performed as expected minus the vandy game.
Imagine what this team if Jalen Hurd and Preston Williams had not given up. What do we look like without the devastating injuries to Cam, Kirkland and JRM early season and the decimation that happened at DT. Trust me if Hurd hadn't left the team and we hadn't lost Tuttle and KMac we are sitting at 10-3 now and everyone is bi--hing about why we cant seem to beat Bama. because if one thing is true no matter what folks around here will find something to burn a mattress about. If the past 2 months have not shown you that east Tennessee has an obsession with arson I don't know what to tell you. We love complaining about everything an setting fire to the house we live in.
