DiderotsGhost
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2011
- Messages
- 4,650
- Likes
- 23,670
It was cupcake game #2 of the season. While gloom-and-doom seemed to be flooding this board after the game, I felt much more positive about our team after this one. Here were my thoughts.
Offense
512 – 134. Our yardage versus theirs. Even against a G5 opponent, this is pretty impressive. We were completely dominant except for …
Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes!!! Huge mistakes cost us at least 14 points if not more. The chop block near the goal line was 7 points. The fumble near the goal line was likely another 7 points. A few other penalties stalled drives. We got away with those mistakes because we were completely dominant in this game, but we can’t get away with them against teams like Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, etc. This was a 24-0 game that could’ve been 45-0 if not for stupid errors. Hopefully, we get things cleaned up before Florida.
Helton offense. Overall, I’m impressed with the Tyson Helton offense. Looks a lot better than the Butch Jones offense, but as we saw in this game, it may take awhile till we have 11 guys on the field that we feel confident running it.
Right side of O-line still struggling. The O-line looked better in Game #3 than it in Game #2 and Game #1 but still significant problems on the right-side, particularly on running plays. Most of our big runs have come running to the left. Not sure that we can continue getting away with only running on one side of the field in the SEC.
Drew Richmond at RT. Hate to call players out, but he’s consistently struggled at Right Tackle. He had 4 penalties that I counted, one that took away a touchdown that was particularly bad since it wasn’t anywhere near the ball and involved a completely unnecessary chop block. He often gets overpowered on run plays. I’m hoping Richmond figures things out, but I also wonder if the coaching staff will consider taking looks at Marcus Tatum or Nathan Niehaus (who has performed well as Trey Smith’s backup at LT) at RT.
Ryan Johnson had a great game. Johnson struggled a lot versus West Virginia, but I thought he played very well in this one. That’s a good sign especially when you consider how quickly he had to transition to playing Center.
We have 2 top 10 SEC RBs. We knew Chandler was a top 10 SEC back heading into the season, but I think both Chandler and Jordan are in that category now. Madre London and Jordan Banks are pretty good, too. I’m liking this RB group a lot! I thought it would be good at the beginning of the season, but it's been better than expected, goal-line fumble aside.
JG played extremely well. This was JG’s best game. 12 for 16 for 168 yards and he would’ve been 14/16 if not for dropped passes. He looked near perfect in the 1st half. A few small mistakes in the second half, but the wind was also impacting deep passes at that point.
JG to Palmer deep pass. Spectacular throw in 1st Quarter. Also great pass protection on that play. We need more of that.
Swain was right about Palmer. Swain called Josh Palmer out best WR at the beginning of the season. I'm starting to believe it.
Cimaglia nails FG. It was just one FG, but Cimaglia hit it perfectly. Let’s hope that’s a sign of things to come.
Joe Doyle. Have walk-on punters replaced our old tradition of Colquitt family punters? Is Tennessee just filled with good punters ignored by the recruiting services?
Chryst. I agree with some other posters that it was weird to bring Chryst in when we did. Felt like it disrupted our rhythm a bit. Hoping this is just something we're doing OOC and not with the SEC games.
Defense
We had a pass rush! Other than the JG to Josh Palmer deep pass, I was most excited seeing our D-line and LBs penetrate UTEP’s backfield. We got 1 sack (but should've been credited with 2), but we finally got some pressure on the QB!
6 QB Hurries, 1 Sack. Pretty good. Definitely want to see more of that! Darrell Taylor and Jonthan Kongbo both recorded 2 QB hurries. I also think that one play they called an "incomplete pass" should have been called either a fumble or lateral for a loss; it clearly did not go forward.
Shamburger. Great knockdown on that deep pass; would’ve been a TD for UTEP otherwise. One of the best plays of the game.
Paul Bain. Gotta admit, it's great any time I see Paul Bain make a big play. Think he had a tackle for loss at one point.
Players getting more comfortable. The biggest thing I sensed from this game was that our LBs and D-linemen felt more comfortable and natural this game. They seemed to react much more quickly than they did versus West Virginia or ETSU.
Overall. Any time you get a shutout, you should be happy. This was the best I've seen our defense play this year. We made a few minor mistakes that I saw, but I thought the D looked improved in this game, albeit, they’ll get their real test next week.
Backups. Not only did we get a shutout, but we did it playing our backups quite a bit. Tough to tell watching the game sometimes, but the stat sheet shows 19 different players with a tackle recorded.
Miscellany
Can’t read too much into it. UTEP is not a good team, so tough to read too much into a win. Every SEC team we face will be much better. That said …
Why so negative? I’m baffled as to why people were so negative after this one. We completely dominated both sides of the ball with a vanilla game plan. Mistakes hurt us a bunch, but overall, this was the best our offense and defense looked since 2016 in the Virginia Tech game. We have a long ways to go, but this team has definitely improved significantly since Pruitt arrived. And sure, this was UTEP, but remember, we looked awful versus UMass and Southern Miss last season.
3 SEC wins. While I like the improvement, the road ahead is still tough. We need 3 SEC wins to make a bowl.
The SEC and CFB
Auburn. I watched the entire Auburn-LSU game. Not sure what to take away from the game, as LSU crushed Miami, so maybe LSU is better than everyone thought. We do have 2 weeks to prepare for Auburn, so it's our most legitimate shot at a (very unlikely) epic upset.
Kentucky. The scary thing is that the Kentucky game is looking much tougher right now. Never thought I’d say that.
Florida. I continue to believe that this is our most winnable SEC game. Florida played well against Colorado State, but CSU has no defense, and has some pretty bad losses. Just like I wouldn't read much into a UT win over UTEP, I wouldn't read much into Florida's win over CSU. That said, we have the better team and I feel like we should win at Neyland. We'll see what happens.
Arkansas. Worst team in the SEC this season. Chad Morris has a very tough job ahead. Losses to Colorado State and a blowout loss to North Texas. Yikes!
Florida State. Wow. This is the worst Florida State team I've ever seen. They just got blown out 30-7 by a Syracuse team that was 4-8 last season and in its last 3 ACC games of 2017, gave up 64 points to Wake Forest, 56 to Louisville, and and 42 to Boston College.
1st Year Coaches. Not doing too well this season. Scott Frost just lost to Troy (albiet with a backup walk-on for a QB), Willie Taggart's FSU team is a trainwreck, Dan Mullen lost to Kentucky, Chad Morris lost to North Texas and Colorado State, Chip Kelly is 0-3 with losses to Fresno State and Cincinnati. It's almost as if coaches don't magically turn programs around overnight
Can't wait till next Saturday!
GBO!
Offense
512 – 134. Our yardage versus theirs. Even against a G5 opponent, this is pretty impressive. We were completely dominant except for …
Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes!!! Huge mistakes cost us at least 14 points if not more. The chop block near the goal line was 7 points. The fumble near the goal line was likely another 7 points. A few other penalties stalled drives. We got away with those mistakes because we were completely dominant in this game, but we can’t get away with them against teams like Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, etc. This was a 24-0 game that could’ve been 45-0 if not for stupid errors. Hopefully, we get things cleaned up before Florida.
Helton offense. Overall, I’m impressed with the Tyson Helton offense. Looks a lot better than the Butch Jones offense, but as we saw in this game, it may take awhile till we have 11 guys on the field that we feel confident running it.
Right side of O-line still struggling. The O-line looked better in Game #3 than it in Game #2 and Game #1 but still significant problems on the right-side, particularly on running plays. Most of our big runs have come running to the left. Not sure that we can continue getting away with only running on one side of the field in the SEC.
Drew Richmond at RT. Hate to call players out, but he’s consistently struggled at Right Tackle. He had 4 penalties that I counted, one that took away a touchdown that was particularly bad since it wasn’t anywhere near the ball and involved a completely unnecessary chop block. He often gets overpowered on run plays. I’m hoping Richmond figures things out, but I also wonder if the coaching staff will consider taking looks at Marcus Tatum or Nathan Niehaus (who has performed well as Trey Smith’s backup at LT) at RT.
Ryan Johnson had a great game. Johnson struggled a lot versus West Virginia, but I thought he played very well in this one. That’s a good sign especially when you consider how quickly he had to transition to playing Center.
We have 2 top 10 SEC RBs. We knew Chandler was a top 10 SEC back heading into the season, but I think both Chandler and Jordan are in that category now. Madre London and Jordan Banks are pretty good, too. I’m liking this RB group a lot! I thought it would be good at the beginning of the season, but it's been better than expected, goal-line fumble aside.
JG played extremely well. This was JG’s best game. 12 for 16 for 168 yards and he would’ve been 14/16 if not for dropped passes. He looked near perfect in the 1st half. A few small mistakes in the second half, but the wind was also impacting deep passes at that point.
JG to Palmer deep pass. Spectacular throw in 1st Quarter. Also great pass protection on that play. We need more of that.
Swain was right about Palmer. Swain called Josh Palmer out best WR at the beginning of the season. I'm starting to believe it.
Cimaglia nails FG. It was just one FG, but Cimaglia hit it perfectly. Let’s hope that’s a sign of things to come.
Joe Doyle. Have walk-on punters replaced our old tradition of Colquitt family punters? Is Tennessee just filled with good punters ignored by the recruiting services?
Chryst. I agree with some other posters that it was weird to bring Chryst in when we did. Felt like it disrupted our rhythm a bit. Hoping this is just something we're doing OOC and not with the SEC games.
Defense
We had a pass rush! Other than the JG to Josh Palmer deep pass, I was most excited seeing our D-line and LBs penetrate UTEP’s backfield. We got 1 sack (but should've been credited with 2), but we finally got some pressure on the QB!
6 QB Hurries, 1 Sack. Pretty good. Definitely want to see more of that! Darrell Taylor and Jonthan Kongbo both recorded 2 QB hurries. I also think that one play they called an "incomplete pass" should have been called either a fumble or lateral for a loss; it clearly did not go forward.
Shamburger. Great knockdown on that deep pass; would’ve been a TD for UTEP otherwise. One of the best plays of the game.
Paul Bain. Gotta admit, it's great any time I see Paul Bain make a big play. Think he had a tackle for loss at one point.
Players getting more comfortable. The biggest thing I sensed from this game was that our LBs and D-linemen felt more comfortable and natural this game. They seemed to react much more quickly than they did versus West Virginia or ETSU.
Overall. Any time you get a shutout, you should be happy. This was the best I've seen our defense play this year. We made a few minor mistakes that I saw, but I thought the D looked improved in this game, albeit, they’ll get their real test next week.
Backups. Not only did we get a shutout, but we did it playing our backups quite a bit. Tough to tell watching the game sometimes, but the stat sheet shows 19 different players with a tackle recorded.
Miscellany
Can’t read too much into it. UTEP is not a good team, so tough to read too much into a win. Every SEC team we face will be much better. That said …
Why so negative? I’m baffled as to why people were so negative after this one. We completely dominated both sides of the ball with a vanilla game plan. Mistakes hurt us a bunch, but overall, this was the best our offense and defense looked since 2016 in the Virginia Tech game. We have a long ways to go, but this team has definitely improved significantly since Pruitt arrived. And sure, this was UTEP, but remember, we looked awful versus UMass and Southern Miss last season.
3 SEC wins. While I like the improvement, the road ahead is still tough. We need 3 SEC wins to make a bowl.
The SEC and CFB
Auburn. I watched the entire Auburn-LSU game. Not sure what to take away from the game, as LSU crushed Miami, so maybe LSU is better than everyone thought. We do have 2 weeks to prepare for Auburn, so it's our most legitimate shot at a (very unlikely) epic upset.
Kentucky. The scary thing is that the Kentucky game is looking much tougher right now. Never thought I’d say that.
Florida. I continue to believe that this is our most winnable SEC game. Florida played well against Colorado State, but CSU has no defense, and has some pretty bad losses. Just like I wouldn't read much into a UT win over UTEP, I wouldn't read much into Florida's win over CSU. That said, we have the better team and I feel like we should win at Neyland. We'll see what happens.
Arkansas. Worst team in the SEC this season. Chad Morris has a very tough job ahead. Losses to Colorado State and a blowout loss to North Texas. Yikes!
Florida State. Wow. This is the worst Florida State team I've ever seen. They just got blown out 30-7 by a Syracuse team that was 4-8 last season and in its last 3 ACC games of 2017, gave up 64 points to Wake Forest, 56 to Louisville, and and 42 to Boston College.
1st Year Coaches. Not doing too well this season. Scott Frost just lost to Troy (albiet with a backup walk-on for a QB), Willie Taggart's FSU team is a trainwreck, Dan Mullen lost to Kentucky, Chad Morris lost to North Texas and Colorado State, Chip Kelly is 0-3 with losses to Fresno State and Cincinnati. It's almost as if coaches don't magically turn programs around overnight
Can't wait till next Saturday!
GBO!
Last edited:
