Even though I've had my criticisms of Tauren

[WeekendWarrior]

I like Poole and I think that he is a good back. He did fine last year with very little help to work with. Having said that, he did seem to make some questionable decisions as far as cutting inside or out, and seemed tentative on many plays.

I think many are a little critical because of Hardesty, and watching lattimore essentially carrying the chickens to an SEC east title. I think the lack of a proper rb coach is partially to blame for many of his issues.
The good news is that he is a year older and wiser and if it translates the same as it did for hardesty, then we will be ok. Otherwise, I like the looks of the income guys and I think both Neal and Williams can be good backs.

A lot of rb skills (vision and speed) are crib skills...coaching only goes so far...IMO

 

[gcvol23]

Do your guys think lane will see the field this year?

We will see lane but smith gets a redshirt imo

 

[tnwalkingVols]

He rushed for over a 1000 yards with a 5.1 average per rush. He also scored 11 tds in a offense that was very pass happy toward the end of the season. When you couple this with a very young offensive line I think he did a very good job. He will probably rush for 1500 yards this year and we will see our offense improve greatly.

 

[VolBalla2014]

+1500 yrd season this year.

Barring injury of course.

Tall order for a pass happy offense.

 

[sjt18]

I hope that he sees the staff is recruiting talented RBs and he steps it up. I want him to be a veteran leader and I think he can do it if he puts in the work. Maybe the fact that not having to deal with a new head coach this year, he and the rest of the team can have a focused off season, where all he has to think about is getting better. We'll see...

Get it done Tauren.

GO VOLS !!!

Good Lord! How many times do we have to go through this? It is the testimony of multiple sources that no one works harder than Poole.

As for him "stepping up"... how much more will it take for you than to rush for over 1000 yds while getting over 100 against three ranked opponents behind an OL made up of underclassmen and one Sr who was beaten out by a walkon last year?

I have no doubt he will see the quality of the guys coming up behind him. He will push himself harder and mentor those guys.

I've said previously that I didn't think a Fr could overtake Poole. Lane has that kind of ability. However, if he makes a push then it will only mean that UT has two capable backs instead of one.

This all comes down to the OL development. If Poole did that well behind last year's OL then he should be very good behind next year's OL.

 

[Cyclopskiller]

A lot of rb skills (vision and speed) are crib skills...coaching only goes so far...IMO

Is that dude on your avatar the guy from Kentucky?

 

[gnm53108]

Tall order for a pass happy offense.

Which should make it easier.

 

[UTVOLS107]

Tall order for a pass happy offense.

The reason we were pass happy towards the end of the year was because the coaches realized the strength of our offense was to get it out to Moore, Jones, and Stocker to move the ball effectively. Not to mention we basically had a freshman Oline that struggled a lot at times as expected.

There is no doubt Poole missed some holes, cuts, etc. but to get 1000+ yards this season considering all the circumstances is remarkable.

I think next year we'll see a much more balenced attack on offense because we'll have some experience on the OL, and have some talented backs to run the ball.

 

[Volgrad98]

Good Lord! How many times do we have to go through this? It is the testimony of multiple sources that no one works harder than Poole.

As for him "stepping up"... how much more will it take for you than to rush for over 1000 yds while getting over 100 against three ranked opponents behind an OL made up of underclassmen and one Sr who was beaten out by a walkon last year?

I have no doubt he will see the quality of the guys coming up behind him. He will push himself harder and mentor those guys.

I've said previously that I didn't think a Fr could overtake Poole. Lane has that kind of ability. However, if he makes a push then it will only mean that UT has two capable backs instead of one.

This all comes down to the OL development. If Poole did that well behind last year's OL then he should be very good behind next year's OL.

You misquoted me. I said "steps it up" and please read below.

I was not implying that Tauren is lazy or does not work hard. When I say "steps it up", I just mean he needs to be the hardest working guy out there. Lead by example and push everyone else to a higher level of performance.

 

[jhall014]

Tauren Poole ran 1000 yards with a horrible OL? Not bad for an ole country boy.

fyp

 

[1world1love]

A lot of rb skills (vision and speed) are crib skills...coaching only goes so far...IMO

Yea, of course. I agree. I do think that Poole has some innate skill. I think good coaching can help a back like him reach his potential though. Good coaches can help with things like consistency.

He may not have The Michael James type speed, but I think he has a decent combination of speed and power. He can be a very good every down back. One problem was that Poole, Oku, and Neal were essentially the same back last year. There was no change up back or power back. That is why we started using Rogers on run plays and were somewhat successful.

 

[sjt18]

Yea and was held to only 40 in the second half. Most of his yards come on busted plays. Even on busted plays he is too slow to go all the way. He has potential, but he is not consistent. We cant blame the o line thats what we did with Simms, but Bray proved it was Simms and not as much the line. Ive seen so many plays he could have gotten good yardage, but he just dont "make" things happen unless its a busted play. JMHO

You are right. Any ol' run of the mill, slow, unskilled, untalented RB can run for over 1000 yds against UT's schedule behind an OL of green underclassmen and a "never was" Sr. Six 100 yd games with 3 vs top 25 teams? Why any avg SEC RB should be able to do that, right? Happens all the time...

Man o man if we had a Hardesty this coming season :loco:

I love MH but if you look at his Sr year statistically and compare it to Poole's Jr year then account for the difference in the OL's... Poole posted more impressive numbers. Hardesty never posted a 100 yd game vs a top 25 opponent. Poole avg'd more ypc. With 28% fewer carries, Poole had 11 TD's vs MH's 13.

If you ask me from a subjective eye ball pov which is the better RB, I'd say MH. But you cannot discount the actual production.

 

[DaDuRkEr]

If anyone redshirts it would be Lane, not Smith. Lane could be evaluated by the training staff and they could very well decide that a year of training and rehab would be in his best interest. Smith is healthy and more of a banger inside with the ability to break it outside. Smith reminds me of Poole and I think we have a very capable and deep backfield

 

[Fumblerooskie]

I honestly think he ran out of gas.. I mean look how we all were in shock and awe when we saw him in the spring. Through the first 4 games of the season he was leading the SEC in rushing. I mean even though that was short lived he still got 1k rushing yards.. I think this year he will have better endurance

There were quite a few running backs we were in awe of this year when we saw them against our defense.

Not knocking our boys on D, just saying...

 

[CarrytheFight]

He ran for 5.1 and 1000 yards. I can't imagine how anyone could think that he wasn't good.

 

[s1216]

Whether he plays next year is about how good the other guys. We know what we have with Poole. He's a #2 back who tweeted that he should have been picked for all SEC.

 

[CHeightsvol]

He rushed for like 120 yards in the first quarter against Oregon...

It should have been close to 200 if he wouldn't have gotten caught from behind on at least 2 plays. That was why we kicked field goals and didn't have touchdowns in the first half....then the rain came and washed all of our hopes away! Although the students and security were entertaining during the delay!!!!

 

[thebjd]

You are right. Any ol' run of the mill, slow, unskilled, untalented RB can run for over 1000 yds against UT's schedule behind an OL of green underclassmen and a "never was" Sr. Six 100 yd games with 3 vs top 25 teams? Why any avg SEC RB should be able to do that, right? Happens all the time...



I love MH but if you look at his Sr year statistically and compare it to Poole's Jr year then account for the difference in the OL's... Poole posted more impressive numbers. Hardesty never posted a 100 yd game vs a top 25 opponent. Poole avg'd more ypc. With 28% fewer carries, Poole had 11 TD's vs MH's 13.

If you ask me from a subjective eye ball pov which is the better RB, I'd say MH. But you cannot discount the actual production.

We played 13 games. 1000 yards is not much. If Poole could have performed consistently he would have gotten more carries. Most schools use multiple backs but Neal and Oku weren't good either. Poole is good for a 6-6 team I suppose. The WR running the ball seemed more productive than our backs. Look at the size of our line in 2009 vs 2010 when you sell short what Hardesty did.

 

[chuck0303]

It wasnt just Tauren that ran out of gas.Our o-line didnt offer him much help.He was having to do alot by himself.This year our o-line should be greatly improved in both exp and depth.

Agree. It helps when there is a hole to go through. I think the new S&C coach is going to make a major impact on our guys and those that survive will be studs.

 

[chuck0303]

Dude, that what i was thinkin'. First year of any real PT, a terribly young OL, little fear of our passing game, and a decent defense, but not one that handed the O the ball instantly. Most importantly, when the OC got Bray under center we basically became a shotgun passing team aka Purdue late 90s and the run nearly disappeared.

To get a 1,000+ in that environment is pretty impressive IMO. Apparently made some mistakes in decision in mid-season, but dang that kid runs hard and waited his turn behind weaker RBs with political prowess. I'm pretty impressed with this kid.

Bray is really going to open the running game up because the opposing D will be running all over the field trying to tackle the recievers. With some good blocking which I believe we will have this year there will be holes for the backs to get plenty of yards. The O will be putting up some guady numbers this year, lots of points I predict.

 

[thebjd]

Bray is really going to open the running game up because the opposing D will be running all over the field trying to tackle the recievers. With some good blocking which I believe we will have this year there will be holes for the backs to get plenty of yards. The O will be putting up some guady numbers this year, lots of points I predict.

I think this will be true as well. Poole is a serviceable back but when those receivers are on the field with a confident QB I think he will be way more successful.

 

[volspartans]

Was the lack of a decent rushing attack more inexperienced lineman that didn't open many holes or explosive running backs? I'm hoping its the inexperience of the lineman which should greatly improve this season. Also, is Rajun Neal a better back than T. Poole?

 

[sjt18]

We played 13 games. 1000 yards is not much.

Really? Only 4 other SEC RB's achieved it. Sounds like "much" to me.

If Poole could have performed consistently he would have gotten more carries.

Really? His 100 games came in games 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, and 10 with 99 yards in game 11. The truth seems to be closer to he would have been even more consistent had he gotten more carries and more holes to run through.

It helped the team but not necessarily Poole that UT became so pass oriented with Bray.

Most schools use multiple backs but Neal and Oku weren't good either.

Not accurate. You need to drop the "either". Poole completely outclassed both of those guys in spite of the OL weaknesses and inexperience.

Poole is good for a 6-6 team I suppose.

Yeah. I guess better teams do not need RB's who can get yardage behind an under performing OL.

The WR running the ball seemed more productive than our backs.

Seemed to be? I would rather look at real things like stats than what "seems to be".

Look at the size of our line in 2009 vs 2010 when you sell short what Hardesty did.

Not necessary. Both of the Sullins bros beat out the "anchor" of UT's OL this year. They beat out Pope who would have started every game if not for injury. In fact, they beat out ALL of this year's OL's except for the true Freshmen.

The other 3 guys... two are in the NFL and one was a Fr AA. UT's 6th man last year would have been the star of this OL.

Even if you considered the OL's equal, which they weren't, Poole still performed better against the better competition.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

not so sure why tauren is so scrutinized. he is a solid back I dont think anyone is pretending the kid is all world. He works hard does very good with the tools he has and honestly ran behind a terrible oline last year.

Thank goodness someone here has a sense of regard and appreciation for Tauren. The graciousless negavols who put down our players just sicken me. I believe this team is already a seething, bubbling, primed to explode offensively and Poole is going to be a serious part of that. We got a QB, we got receiver threats, that OL is coming along. Pretty soon bout mid season 2011 I believe Tauren, Bray and the offense will be able to step on the field and shout BOO! and scare the excretion out of opponents.

 

[thebjd]

can't do the quote thing so I deleted.