CBS: Tennessee Must Make Changes

#27
#27
Truthfully, we all expected a rough year with Nico leaving in the middle and not even knowing who for sure was going to replace him. Expectations rose dramatically once Joey showed that he was a decent QB. We lost a lot to the NFL though last year and didnt have ready replacements. The ones we did have are injured.

So, yeah, a lot of these criticisms seem valid but on the other hand, I dont think in June, any was really expecting this team to go 11-1 or better.
 
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#29
#29
I like the stuff CBS puts out. Usually fair, honest, and not biased.

Write up about Tennessee is right on the mark.

My biggest fear right now is two-fold.
One Heupel won't fire a friend.
Two is it is incredibly hard for a coach to go from a "players friend" kind of guy that allows undisciplined, mental mistakes to a guy that demands discipline and pefection.
 
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#30
#30
Gandalf said:
Truthfully, we all expected a rough year with Nico leaving in the middle and not even knowing who for sure was going to replace him. Expectations rose dramatically once Joey showed that he was a decent QB. We lost a lot to the NFL though last year and didnt have ready replacements. The ones we did have are injured.

So, yeah, a lot of these criticisms seem valid but on the other hand, I dont think in June, any was really expecting this team to go 11-1 or better.
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Yep. That's what really happened - and no one will admit it but - everyone thought we were gonna be decent or good, but not dominant, this year, then Nico jumped ship, we got Aguilar, and they watched Aguilar run the offense for the first two games and said "hot damn it's 2022 again" and got their hopes up about being the big dog in the SEC. Aguilar has had some underthrows in every game this year - some that were really late and slow to get to the target - but people ignored 'em. And it wasn't just Aguilar, who's done pretty well for Tennessee; people just ignored some of the problems Tennessee showed in its early games. Even after that Georgia loss, people piled on with the coping comments. "We won't lose another game." "Tennessee will win every other game on their schedule." Etc.etc. A whole lotta people convinced themselves UT was gonna make the CFP, Now that it's looking far less likely, they're big mad.
 
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#32
#32
The article is correct about drops and the tackling piece; terrible fundamentals. I would take a longer view however and say there are a few "fundamental" logic lapses with Backus's article:

1. Poorly designed play.... that if JA puts the ball in the right spot it's a TD. The play wasn't my favorite but it created a 1:1 we win with a good ball.
2. Banks underperforming over time. He didn't have the horses the first few years and not sure what the guy is pointing to data wise. When we had great talent the Defense was highly effective. Everyone was singing his praises last year and now he's a underperforming coach? A fair criticism is other coordinators have done more with less. It would also be a fair argument to say our LB talent isn't where it should be and that could be on Banks. I don't remember tackling ever being this bad though.....
3. The secondary is where we are seeing the biggest gap and where I would look to improve. Yes, we are down two to tier corners but aside from Hobbs, no one else seems to be improving. I do like that they are finally turning around to find the ball so there is that.....

At the end of the day no one is as good or bad as emotion tells us they are. Could we upgrade? Maybe. As long as we keep RG I'm indifferent but would rather look at DB and WR position coaches first vs. blowing it all up. Same problems next year then I would advocate for change at the coordinator position.
 
#36
#36
MiramarVol said:
Let me see if I get this right. We lost to UGa at home in overtime. Considered a pretty good team. Possibly could have came into the Alabama game undefeated. Go to Bama and get beat, but now we're hot garbage.
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Not at all. We have good (and young) talent, a fine offensive identity, and another good recruiting class so far.
But like a fine sports car, if the driver keeps driving sloppily and making the same mistakes over and over, you ain’t going to win as many races as you should.
The stats show that we have the talent. They were very close to even. But when you still lose by 17; you have to consider what else is happening
 
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#38
#38
MiramarVol said:
Let me see if I get this right. We lost to UGa at home in overtime. Considered a pretty good team. Possibly could have came into the Alabama game undefeated. Go to Bama and get beat, but now we're hot garbage.
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We haven’t beaten a good team and struggled against a couple bad ones.
 
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#43
#43
MiramarVol said:
Let me see if I get this right. We lost to UGa at home in overtime. Considered a pretty good team. Possibly could have came into the Alabama game undefeated. Go to Bama and get beat, but now we're hot garbage.
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If you pay attention, we have been getting worse each game.

We lose at State if we don’t get those crazy turnovers into points from the defense.

We lose against Arkansas if we didn’t get those turnovers.

We lost at Bama because we don’t get turnovers and gave up a crazy turnover.

Offense is getting worse each week.

Guess what? Bama isn’t even the best defense we have left to face. OU and Florida both have very good defenses ready to crush us.
 
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#44
#44
Gandalf said:
Truthfully, we all expected a rough year with Nico leaving in the middle and not even knowing who for sure was going to replace him. Expectations rose dramatically once Joey showed that he was a decent QB. We lost a lot to the NFL though last year and didnt have ready replacements. The ones we did have are injured.

So, yeah, a lot of these criticisms seem valid but on the other hand, I dont think in June, any was really expecting this team to go 11-1 or better.
Click to expand...

The majority of UT fans here on VN picked us to go 9-3.. including me.

We are 5-2 and 9-3 or 8-4 are likely IMO.

Vegas had us at 7.5 wins and you could lay a million bucks either way if you wanted.

The SEC media who covers this conference 365days a year picked us to finish 9th.

We will surpass 7.5wins...and finish much better than 9th in the SEC. All the butt hurt emotional or drunk fans on here wanting to fire our coaches etc because we lost to a HIGHER ranked team AT their stadium are idiots. Thank God their opinions just like mine have absolutely no effect on anything, nor anyone not within earshot of them. The football forum is an absolute sheitshow after EVERY loss and its usually best ignored. We have won 30 games in the last 3 seasons, and have a good chance to grab our 10th win this season as well. Probably in a New Years bowlgame. The Negas will bish about that too though...despite the fact that absolutely NOBODY in the sports world predicted us to have a playoff team except the most irrational of VOL fans. Especially missing BOTH starting Corners for the entire season. Good grief man 😆
 
#47
#47
marcusluvsvols said:
The majority of UT fans here on VN picked us to go 9-3.. including me.

We are 5-2 and 9-3 or 8-4 are likely IMO.

Vegas had us at 7.5 wins and you could lay a million bucks either way if you wanted.

The SEC media who covers this conference 365days a year picked us to finish 9th.

We will surpass 7.5wins...and finish much better than 9th in the SEC. All the butt hurt emotional or drunk fans on here wanting to fire our coaches etc because we lost to a HIGHER ranked team AT their stadium are idiots. Thank God their opinions just like mine have absolutely no effect on anything, nor anyone not within earshot of them. The football forum is an absolute sheitshow after EVERY loss and its usually best ignored. We have won 30 games in the last 3 seasons, and have a good chance to grab our 10th win this season as well. Probably in a New Years bowlgame. The Negas will bish about that too though...despite the fact that absolutely NOBODY in the sports world predicted us to have a playoff team except the most irrational of VOL fans. Especially missing BOTH starting Corners for the entire season. Good grief man 😆
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Love your posts. Easy to respect a man who says what he thinks, and if you're offended or your feelings are hurt...door's right over there.

Agree with what you said here, but...

Make that FG, beat UGA in regulation. There's one win we gave away. Defense truly sucks. Almost cost us the Miss. State and Arky games. Did cost us the Bama game (yeah, I know...the Pick 6 and all that. But we also gave up two field-length drives. 50/50/90)

Might cost us another one before its' over. You trust this defense against Pavia? Or in Gainesville, even if it's Elmer Fudd on the UF sideline?

Bottom line: Good teams get lucky here and there. Remember the '98 team? Could have easily been 8-3, but got lucky. In other words, found a way to win.

That's what good / great teams do. We're just not there yet.

Hang tough. You're fun to watch.
 
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#48
#48
LivinginthePast said:
Why were we not running the ball more? We were gashing them in the second half when we did but he kept wanting to throw the ball and throw incompletions.
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Yep. We ran well whenever we decided to. It's a head scratcher. We're one of the best running teams in the country and when we need a half yard, we pass? If we ignore the mistakes, we actually could have won. We went on 4th down several times and I think we made every one. Had we done that on the goal line then who knows how this game would have turned out.
 
#50
#50
Tman44 said:

www.cbssports.com

College football Week 8 overreactions: Penn State's issues run deep

Perusing the Week 8 college football results to find the biggest overreactions from a chaotic slate
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

This article is a legitimate critique of the state of Tennessee football. The problems are far to large to ignore.

CJH "have to make some tough decisions after this season if he wants to prevent what he's built from tumbling down. "

"The 2025 Vols are a fundamentally bad football team"

"Tennessee struggles with some of the most basic football concepts"
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Pretty much sums it up
 
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