Doug Mathews Big Orange Sunday in a nutshell after KY game

[TGVol]

Bama will run it 50 times when they see film

Maybe this has been Pruitt's secret plan where we pretend we can't defend it leading into Bama game but instead we end up getting bunch of interceptions and CJP famously becomes the first Saban's assistant to beat him?

 

[Roustabout]

• There WILL be an immediate change at QB. Number 15 most likely.
• CJP is still the right guy, rebuilding a program is tough in this league.
• Our Defense is improving, even though we can't cover the slant.
• Young players in the waning moments of the KY game showed some promise.
• Only 3 out of 4 drives of significance for us in the second half. Offense couldn't deliver.
• Pruitt's Sunday will be spent with Offensive staff.
• Receivers can't get any separation and haven't all season.
• Inability to deliver splash plays (down the field) makes life easy for other teams DC.
• Dumb penalties.. lack of discipline.
• To early to give up. Last 5 games will tell the tale of the season.

Feel free to add to this list. This is just off the top of my head after listening to the show.

I’ve seen receivers open. JG had a TE wife open and through the ball in the dirt. How many receivers have been open and over thrown? A bunch.

Chaney has abandoned the middle of the field.

 

[TGVol]

• Receivers can't get any separation and haven't all season.
• Inability to deliver splash plays (down the field) makes life easy for other teams DC.

However the only 2 positive plays against UGA were 2 down the field TD's to Palmer. I still don't understand why we did not keep throwing that same pass again until they proved they could stop it (it's not like anything else worked in that game as far as offense is concerned).

 

[Indianrick]

Who is number 15

 

[Tenacguy50]

Something has got to be up with Maurer. It makes no sense that he started last year but didn’t see the field yesterday.

Covid...he's catching up according to JP

 

[DiderotsGhost]

Nobody is really talking about this much but I noticed that when I was at the SC game. Our WRs seem to really have problems separating after they get jammed and, for lack of a better term, don’t seem to play with much “suddenness”.

This is something I'm worried about as well. I noticed that it was an issue in other games, but with all the mistakes at QB against Kentucky, it was easy to overlook the issues at WR. But it does seem like the WRs have been struggling.

Nothing against Velus Jones and Brandon Johnson, but it's a pretty big dropoff from Jennings and Calloway. The Covid offseason has probably hurt the development of our (mostly Freshman) WR corps, but hoping to see more of Hyatt, Wideman, Beckwith, Holiday, and J. Calloway as the season progresses. I think we brought in one of the best WR classes in the country, but we just haven't been able to get them game-ready.

It does feel a bit like the coaches have been too deferential to seniority this season (player the older players even when the younger players are better), but I realize that Covid has screwed up a lot of things.

 

[Kngsport VFL]

I have no idea what the deal is. Does he have a lingering hamstring injury? I think Shrout shot his wad with that interception right off the bat. Doubt he sees the field again.

Why did he one get one chance, while JG has been allowed to throw away games over and over?

 

[gtin723]

I’ve seen receivers open. JG had a TE wife open and through the ball in the dirt. How many receivers have been open and over thrown? A bunch.

Chaney has abandoned the middle of the field.

Totally agree, nothing across the middle, probably because that would require JG to throw an accurate pass which he can't do to save himself. Would hate to be a receiver dealing with a QB like JG you don't have any idea where the ball is going to be, behind you, over your head, in the dirt, so you don't go full speed because you may be running away from the ball.

Time to give Harrison his opportunity. He is a 5 star QB, ranked #3 in the class and he stayed with his commitment to come to Tennessee, he knew what a mess we were in and he accepted the challenge because he wanted to play early and make a difference to turn this thing around.

Opportunity has knocked on Bailey's door, and the Harrison Bailey legacy has begun. He will make some mistakes as he learns the system and adjust to the speed of the SEC but I believe he has the talent to lead the team the next 4 years.

 

[whodeycin85]

And maurer was well prepared with just one week prep time. I don't buy this that our qb's are not ready. I have heard this far too much. The only exception to date would be Bailely. I have read he has only taken 10 snaps up to the game against ky. That is ridiculous to have a 5 star qb with only 10 snaps. Hc has no idea what he has with Bailey, this is unexcusable.

CJP is 100% responsible for HB not getting snaps....i think JT or BM would do well if CJP let them play longer then 1 mistake....
Btw. HB is a composite 4 star......only rivals ranked him 5 star and he then played poor at the elite 11... if we are going off the highest service then BM was a 4 star and played well at the elite 11

 

[igotworms]

I have no idea what the deal is. Does he have a lingering hamstring injury? I think Shrout shot his wad with that interception right off the bat. Doubt he sees the field again.

Probably right but the "starter" can throw 3 with added fumbles and he trots back out there.

Wonder why the treatment is different?

 

[dgcarter43]

To sum it all up, the Ky game was evidence of poor coaching and a team not well prepared to play. The Vols were outcoached in every aspect of the game.

 

[VOLnMiami]

Bama will run it 50 times when they see film

And throw slants on 3rd down.....

 

[ptcarter]

To sum it all up, the Ky game was evidence of poor coaching and a team not well prepared to play. The Vols were outcoached in every aspect of the game.

Doug Mathews pretty much in a round about way put it all on the coaches. He did back them up though - saying they are in a rebuild still and he's seen this before with good coaches.

The turnovers pretty much killed us in this game and in the second half against GA. He said "Kentucky didn't beat Tennessee, Tennessee beat Tennessee" and "If there are any Kentucky fans listening, which he doubted, they might disagree". He went on to say that because of the turnovers, KY had the field position to stop us, and knowing that we quit throwing deep, they could focus on the run. Kentucky didn't have many "splash plays" either. Field position made their life a lot easier.

The the maxim: "When the breaks don't go your way, put on more steam" didn't happen. After that 3rd interception, the wind went out of everyone's sails. Yes, as a whole, the team quit playing hard.

 

[ptcarter]

Who is number 15

Harrison Bailey

 

[VOLED]

As I and others have said a few times, we do not have playmakers on O and this is especially evident at the WR position. Play those young guys there, too.

 

[74charger]

As I and others have said a few times, we do not have playmakers on O and this is especially evident at the WR position. Play those young guys there, too.

The receivers are good enough, we don’t have a QB that can get them to ball. It would not matter if we had Jerry Rice, Jason Witten, Larry Fitzgerald and Antonio Brown. If JG is throwing to them we still suck

 

[LordBolton]

This is something I'm worried about as well. I noticed that it was an issue in other games, but with all the mistakes at QB against Kentucky, it was easy to overlook the issues at WR. But it does seem like the WRs have been struggling.

Nothing against Velus Jones and Brandon Johnson, but it's a pretty big dropoff from Jennings and Calloway. The Covid offseason has probably hurt the development of our (mostly Freshman) WR corps, but hoping to see more of Hyatt, Wideman, Beckwith, Holiday, and J. Calloway as the season progresses. I think we brought in one of the best WR classes in the country, but we just haven't been able to get them game-ready.

It does feel a bit like the coaches have been too deferential to seniority this season (player the older players even when the younger players are better), but I realize that Covid has screwed up a lot of things.

I thought tye pandemic hit everyone. I don't see the young players for Alabama or Clemson havong any trouble adapting. Just an excuse for failure. UGAs walk on QB looked like he adapted well to not getting preseason reps.

 

[ptcarter]

I thought tye pandemic hit everyone. I don't see the young players for Alabama or Clemson havong any trouble adapting. Just an excuse for failure. UGAs walk on QB looked like he adapted well to not getting preseason reps.

He did look pretty good, and he has a better "supporting cast".

He threw a couple of bad passes against Bama that were intercepted and that's pretty much where they blew the game open. Inexperience is a valid excuse there that we don't have.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

I thought tye pandemic hit everyone. I don't see the young players for Alabama or Clemson havong any trouble adapting. .

Because you're not seeing "the young players" from Bama and Clemson being as integral. Alabama and Clemson are stocked with veteran playmakers. We aren't. We brought in our best recruiting class in years and most of those players just didn't get much of an offseason to prepare, making it more difficult for them to pass upperclassmen on the depth chart. Case in point Harrison Bailey. Tough to bring in a Freshman QB who has virtually no reps, so JG wins the QB competition almost by default.

I said it all offseason: Covid was going to hit us much harder than teams like Bama, Georgia, and Florida.

 

[greazy1722]

This is something I'm worried about as well. I noticed that it was an issue in other games, but with all the mistakes at QB against Kentucky, it was easy to overlook the issues at WR. But it does seem like the WRs have been struggling.

Nothing against Velus Jones and Brandon Johnson, but it's a pretty big dropoff from Jennings and Calloway. The Covid offseason has probably hurt the development of our (mostly Freshman) WR corps, but hoping to see more of Hyatt, Wideman, Beckwith, Holiday, and J. Calloway as the season progresses. I think we brought in one of the best WR classes in the country, but we just haven't been able to get them game-ready.

It does feel a bit like the coaches have been too deferential to seniority this season (player the older players even when the younger players are better), but I realize that Covid has screwed up a lot of things.

WR's is not the problem. The problem is JG. Those turnovers he committing has nothing to do with WR play. The play calling is has been suspect. He calling the same passing plays and they never focus on the middle of the field. Great as Palmer is all he run is go routes and hitches. Its no way you can win being so one dimensional in the passing game.

 

[BeecherVol]

Because you're not seeing "the young players" from Bama and Clemson being as integral. Alabama and Clemson are stocked with veteran playmakers. We aren't. We brought in our best recruiting class in years and most of those players just didn't get much of an offseason to prepare, making it more difficult for them to pass upperclassmen on the depth chart. Case in point Harrison Bailey. Tough to bring in a Freshman QB who has virtually no reps, so JG wins the QB competition almost by default.

I said it all offseason: Covid was going to hit us much harder than teams like Bama, Georgia, and Florida.

The one spot we should have an advantage over a few teams was starting a 5th year Sr at the most important position on the field.

Its time to move on from JG but thats not going to be a quick fix because of covid.
Its gonna take some time to really see it. And patience is no longer a commodity for many.

 

[Skullbone]

Worrying about HB's confidence is terribly stupid to me. When duty calls you answer. It's not about any one person's confidence grooming or anyone's feelings, it's about the team. The team needs a quarterback. If a qb gets ruined by playing early he's not a real qb. The time is NOW.

 

[Nuctech777]

I like DM. Listen has much as possible, including today. DM cannot be objective about Fulmer and Fulmer's job is tied to Pruitt at this point.

Fulmer’s job is tied to Pruitt? No it’s not. Fulmer is much bigger than Pruitt, whom he hired with very little time bc of the previous coaching search disaster that got an AD fired. What an absolute garbage take. We have seen success across multiple sports with Fulmer as AD. If Pruitt doesn’t work out, which it is still too early to tell, Fulmer’s job won’t be on the line, nor should it. Calm down, do better.

 

[Unconditional Surrender]

Fulmer’s job is tied to Pruitt? No it’s not. Fulmer is much bigger than Pruitt, whom he hired with very little time bc of the previous coaching search disaster that got an AD fired. What an absolute garbage take. We have seen success across multiple sports with Fulmer as AD. If Pruitt doesn’t work out, which it is still too early to tell, Fulmer’s job won’t be on the line, nor should it. Calm down, do better.

Fulmer didn't hire Barnes or Vitello. Jolly has not been great.

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

Fulmer’s job is tied to Pruitt? No it’s not. Fulmer is much bigger than Pruitt, whom he hired with very little time bc of the previous coaching search disaster that got an AD fired. What an absolute garbage take. We have seen success across multiple sports with Fulmer as AD. If Pruitt doesn’t work out, which it is still too early to tell, Fulmer’s job won’t be on the line, nor should it. Calm down, do better.

only reason Fulmer got the job was because he promised to bring the coaching search to a quick conclusion.