DG's Quick Takeaways from ETSU Game

[TennesseeTarheel]

I never get more frustrated than when our guys get after the QB and he wiggles and slides for what seems like forever and then throws the ball away without anyone laying a hand on him. These guys need a greased pig to practice with or something.

 

[05_never_again]

To your point batted balls are a reflection of a rusher not getting close to making a disruption in the backfield. Phillips has a noted wide wing span, very long arms. For whatever reason, Tuttle, Bennett, nor Phillips had more than 3 TFLs individually in the ETSU game. Young Gooden had 8. Our DLs need a fire lit under them or it will come to a point in the season, they'll be watching younger guys start and play in front of them.

That's fine with me. I've totally given up on Kongbo and very close to doing so on Phillips. Those guys have a combined 6.5 sacks between them over 6+ seasons. If you watched a game and didn't know who they were, you'd never, ever, suspect one of them was a 5-star recruit and the other was the #1 overall JUCO a couple years prior. You'd think that with their talent, their floor would be something like each of them getting 6.5 sacks per year.

There is absolutely nothing about their play that indicates they are that talented.

 

[jakez4ut]

as for the o line, it was one of, if not the biggest concern prior to the season. i think many, sefl included, got a little excited about Kennedy, smith, hall, richmond etc....and looking at as that could be a pretty good unit.

well, Kennedy's gone now, and we're still not sure what to think of Richmond. Smith is what he is and no one shoudl be worried, but he's not been "dominant". it's great having hall back, but he's obvsiously not game ready just yet. Carvin and J Johnson have been nice stories out of camp as contributors/rotational/potential starters. we're still not sure what to think of a few of the others.

suffice to say, 2 games in, the o line is still the main concern. so as it stands right now, it's a push. and if this team is going to go to a bowl, the offensive line getting "right" will be a big reason. So nothing has changed on that front.

could say the same thing with the DL, though i think we've seen more flashes from that group. the defense as a group is going to be a work in progress.

it's going to be a week to week deal with this team, and i think the only thing you can say right now is that they did get better week 2 vs. week 1. of course the opponent has something to do with it, but they still went out and exectuted what was expected, in most cases. need to see that again this week.

and definitely the following week.

 

[UpstateVol613]

as for the o line, it was one of, if not the biggest concern prior to the season. i think many, sefl included, got a little excited about Kennedy, smith, hall, richmond etc....and looking at as that could be a pretty good unit.

well, Kennedy's gone now, and we're still not sure what to think of Richmond. Smith is what he is and no one shoudl be worried, but he's not been "dominant". it's great having hall back, but he's obvsiously not game ready just yet. Carvin and J Johnson have been nice stories out of camp as contributors/rotational/potential starters. we're still not sure what to think of a few of the others.

suffice to say, 2 games in, the o line is still the main concern. so as it stands right now, it's a push. and if this team is going to go to a bowl, the offensive line getting "right" will be a big reason. So nothing has changed on that front.

could say the same thing with the DL, though i think we've seen more flashes from that group. the defense as a group is going to be a work in progress.

it's going to be a week to week deal with this team, and i think the only thing you can say right now is that they did get better week 2 vs. week 1. of course the opponent has something to do with it, but they still went out and exectuted what was expected, in most cases. need to see that again this week.

and definitely the following week.

You would never know from this board. Everyone was drinking the orange koolaid preseason on the offensive line. The last 4 or 5 years they have been led by Don Mahoney who couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag and then his understudy for 1 year. The harsh reality is outside of Smith and the first year players they aren’t SEC quality. I have seen Ryan Johnson getting thrown around too many times to count. Also that improvement everyone was talking about for Richmond ain’t happening.

That being said the true freshman DB’s will be fine. Taylor and Thompson will go on to being studs in the SEC for years to come.

 

[Teeman]

as for the o line, it was one of, if not the biggest concern prior to the season. i think many, sefl included, got a little excited about Kennedy, smith, hall, richmond etc....and looking at as that could be a pretty good unit.

well, Kennedy's gone now, and we're still not sure what to think of Richmond. Smith is what he is and no one shoudl be worried, but he's not been "dominant". it's great having hall back, but he's obvsiously not game ready just yet. Carvin and J Johnson have been nice stories out of camp as contributors/rotational/potential starters. we're still not sure what to think of a few of the others.

suffice to say, 2 games in, the o line is still the main concern. so as it stands right now, it's a push. and if this team is going to go to a bowl, the offensive line getting "right" will be a big reason. So nothing has changed on that front.

could say the same thing with the DL, though i think we've seen more flashes from that group. the defense as a group is going to be a work in progress.

it's going to be a week to week deal with this team, and i think the only thing you can say right now is that they did get better week 2 vs. week 1. of course the opponent has something to do with it, but they still went out and exectuted what was expected, in most cases. need to see that again this week.

and definitely the following week.

I bought in too that the OL would be good enough to open some holes and provide decent pass protection. That thought lasted all of one snap. I am afraid this isn't going to be a quick fix. We really shouldn't have expected much. Stewart, Boulware, and Jones are gone. Hall and Calbert have both had serious knee issues. Brooks and Antonutti are a long way away from contributing. Player development in general has been bad, including strength and conditioning. We aren't getting a lot from Tatum, Neihaus, or Locklear. We had to have Richmond and R. Johnson live up to their ratings, and so far they haven't. Carvin, J. Johnson, and Lane need more time. Losing Mays to GA really hurt. It is what it is.

 

[jakez4ut]

I bought in too that the OL would be good enough to open some holes and provide decent pass protection. That thought lasted all of one snap. I am afraid this isn't going to be a quick fix. We really shouldn't have expected much. Stewart, Boulware, and Jones are gone. Hall and Calbert have both had serious knee issues. Brooks and Antonutti are a long way away from contributing. Player development in general has been bad, including strength and conditioning. We aren't getting a lot from Tatum, Neihaus, or Locklear. We had to have Richmond and R. Johnson live up to their ratings, and so far they haven't. Carvin, J. Johnson, and Lane need more time. Losing Mays to GA really hurt. It is what it is.

mays wouldn't have helped this year, really. so not really putting much on that. and if we land who we think we're going to land in this next class, it eases that loss quite a bit.

OL people foget is a developmental position. it's the exception, not the rule, that young guys can contribute immediately. our s&c under thep revious regime was not good, combined with a fairly non physical style of play being taught, and yeah, they're just behind the 8 ball a bit.

the only reason we're "disappointed" in the OL is because some of us, self included, allowed oursleves to believe that maybe they might be further along than originally thought. they're not. that doesn't mean they won't get better. i think they will. it just may not matter all that much given the types of front 7's we're going to start seeing coming up..........

 

[GRN1926]

I'm sure he knows the importance of it, but please Lord keep him away from running details of the program. His O-lines in his later years were nothing to write home about either. We haven't had a truly good offensive or defensive line since we were a nationally-relevant program, probably since the early 2000s. That isn't a coincidence. Those Dooley offensive lines were fool's gold; they were good pass blockers but not run blockers, even though multiple guys went into the NFL off of them.

2004-2006 had good lines. He was let go in 08. So, we had good line play his entire tenure. It was better in his early years yes, but good his entire career. Great compared to the garbage we have field since he left.

Oline only gave up 3 sacks in 2007

 

[GRN1926]

mays wouldn't have helped this year, really. so not really putting much on that. and if we land who we think we're going to land in this next class, it eases that loss quite a bit.

OL people foget is a developmental position. it's the exception, not the rule, that young guys can contribute immediately. our s&c under thep revious regime was not good, combined with a fairly non physical style of play being taught, and yeah, they're just behind the 8 ball a bit.

the only reason we're "disappointed" in the OL is because some of us, self included, allowed oursleves to believe that maybe they might be further along than originally thought. they're not. that doesn't mean they won't get better. i think they will. it just may not matter all that much given the types of front 7's we're going to start seeing coming up..........

May's played last Saturday. You're dead on though. Our lineman have to get stronger, which will take more than 1 off season and likely 3 because we're having to bring in young guys to get it done. They will need 2-3 off seasons to get sec strong and learn how to play. Sucks but it's reality of our situation.

 

[photovol]

The Florida game will give a good indication to where this team is headed, unfortunately.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

That was the origin of our O-line problems. Butch Jones was a crap coach in many ways, but the damage Dooley did was much deeper. Dooley did almost no recruiting after his 1st year on the job.

We kept hoping Butch's much better recruiting would eventually fix things and he recruited the OL much better than Dooley, but Butch was horrendous at developing talent. So now we have a lot of talented guys who haven't been developed properly for years.

I'm really hoping Pruitt is "the guy". We need someone who knows how to both coach and recruit. You can't compete in the SEC with just one or the other.

All 5 lineman Butch's first year (4 were Dooley recruits) went on to play in the NFL. 2 or 3 are still playing.

 

[05_never_again]

2004-2006 had good lines. He was let go in 08. So, we had good line play his entire tenure. It was better in his early years yes, but good his entire career. Great compared to the garbage we have field since he left.

Oline only gave up 3 sacks in 2007

Anything looks good compared to the garbage we have now. I didn't say they were bad; I said they were nothing to write home about.

 

[GRN1926]

Anything looks good compared to the garbage we have now. I didn't say they were bad; I said they were nothing to write home about.

Only allowing 3 sacks in a season is pretty stout. I'd say if we had a line do that this year people would be arguing it may be the best online in the sec.