Finishing 8-4, 2nd in East (season reflection)

[knox73]

Vols have put together a nice season overcoming a number of key injuries and youthful roster. The years both the Florida and Bama games are on the road are definitely tougher. Butch and his staff have done as well as anyone in the nation with progress in a total rebuilding job - rolling over a pathetic roster with massive talent upgrades.

With so many key players returning, I see the Vols as no worse than 3rd overall in the conference next season.

Bama will slip a notch. Still a force but may not reload as easily.

LSU has fallen apart.

Gators will not match fortunate breaks of 2015 - likely to lose 3 straight to end this season. Vols would beat UF right now by 2 touchdowns.

Ole Miss loses much talent. Texas A &M may be better as will Georgia. If Mullen changes jobs - Miss. state will be toast. Dan had better take this opportunity to get out of cowtown. Auburn could surprise but Gus needs a top talent at qb which he may simply not have.

 

[ajvol01]

And yet we have rushed for more yards than any Tennessee team since 2004.....with 2 games to play. You can keep saying our OL sucks and that we have zero depth til you're blue in the face....and it still won't be true. Could this OL be in better shape had we signed 2 or 3 OLs in 2012? Sure. But again, the OL is neither a major liability like last year, nor is it the reason we lost to both OKlahoma and Florida this year.

Why does Jalen spend so much time fighting to make it back to the line of scrimmage?

Why do defenders so often make initial contact in the backfield?

A dominant OL could have run the clock out vs both Oklahoma and Florida.

 

[Creeker]

This "well shucks, we thought we'd be 8-4 anyway" thinking is garbage. That was under the assumption that several of the teams we played were going to be much better than they actually turned out to be.

Oklahoma could make the playoff, Florida only has 1 loss, if they hadn't lost Grier they would look a little better still, Alabama will be in the playoffs, Arkansas looks like how they were expected too look before the season. Those 4 losses aren't that bad.

 

[ajvol01]

Oklahoma could make the playoff, Florida only has 1 loss, if they hadn't lost Grier they would look a little better still, Alabama will be in the playoffs, Arkansas looks like how they were expected too look before the season. Those 4 losses aren't that bad.

17 points

 

[Vato]

Considering we only lost by a small margin to Oklahoma, Florida, and Alabama...I will take it all day long. No blowouts this year!

 

[Oracle69]

season could have been great. instead it has been a average year. major problem debord being the OC. don't think we will get over the hump with such a bad play caller. look for 8-4 or 7-5 again next year with much of the same.

There's a glass half full attitude! kick any puppies today?

 

[KBVol]

Why does Jalen spend so much time fighting to make it back to the line of scrimmage?

Why do defenders so often make initial contact in the backfield?

A dominant OL could have run the clock out vs both Oklahoma and Florida.

And why have we just run for more yards than any other Tennessee team in more than a decade? And how on earth are we 5th in the SEC by averaging nearly 33 points per game. Again, our OL is not yet optimal, but it's much improved....and it is not to blame for the Oklahoma and Florida losses.

 

[BigBadVol]

UGA is currently in second place in the east behind UF with a 5-3 SEC record. Tennessee is in third place with a 4-3 SEC record and a likely win against Vandy next week. Since UGA has finished their SEC play, if we beat Vandy we will be 5-3 in the SEC with the tiebreaker over the Bulldogs.

So how do we feel about finishing the season 8-4 and second in the east? I think there were obviously some frustrating losses...in fact all of them were a little frustrating considering we had a 4th quarter lead in all of them. Buy as a whole I do see progress. If we win our bowl game that would be a two-win improvement on last season. And finishing 9-4 could put us just inside the top 25 to end the year if we beat a good team in yhe bowl.

I think injuries have been hurtful, especially Maggitt. Considering the depth we have at a few positions right now I can't complain too much about an 8-4 season and second in the east though.

What say you Vol Nation?

I say you are too logical, the vast majority will reject your post.

 

[ajvol01]

And why have we just run for more yards than any other Tennessee team in more than a decade? And how on earth are we 5th in the SEC by averaging nearly 33 points per game. Again, our OL is not yet optimal, but it's much improved....and it is not to blame for the Oklahoma and Florida losses.

If your offense/OL can't control the clock then it also cannot close out games in the 4th quarter.

Did you notice that Jalen's fumble vs Oklahoma was after Crowder went in after Robertson went out with an injury?

That was a complete breakdown - missed blocks with defenders in the backfield- and stalled that drive.

Or am I making that up?

 

[livefaith]

do you think it will change our passing problems that much, or debord stepping on the breaks when we get a lead. just once I would love for us to have a young aggressive OC. I think it would make a huge difference.

I personally think it's Butch's philosophy to play it this way. The DC takes the strategy from his boss.

Amiwrong here?

It worked last night and burnt us early.

 

[LA vol7]

By winning out, CBJ will have increased the number of wins by 2 every year he has been here. No one should complain about that. When he was hired, if someone had told you by year 3,UT would be sitting at 9 wins, everyone on this board would've taken that in a heartbeat considering what we looked like as a team when he took over... Sure this year could've been a lot better,and hopefully the coaches and players have learned from their mistakes to make next year a special one. We have found we can play with anyone, and more importantly, the team knows it

Exactly! Does anyone remember the beat downs we took at the hands of Alabama, Oregon, Ole Miss (for goodness sakes). This year we were in every game. Sure we lost three we sure would've liked to win, but that's football! Just ask the aforementioned Ole Miss, LSU, etc.

 

[Orange_Crush]

It seems as though, of the three choices concerning quality opponents, only one is acceptable:

Get blown out...

Compete...

WIN THEM ALL.

Seems rational.

 

[Ace]

season could have been great. instead it has been a average year. major problem debord being the OC. don't think we will get over the hump with such a bad play caller. look for 8-4 or 7-5 again next year with much of the same.

DeBord is not the problem you think he is. His head coach is very conservative and that handcuffs him. He also worked wonders with a makeshift offensive line. His qb is limited in his down field throwing accuracy. Multiple injuries to his top receivers plus no Pig. Yet we averaged 32 pts per game and were more than competitive in every game we played.

Better rethink your analysis of DeBord as a play caller. Is he perfect? no Did we miss opportunities? yes But eventually players have to make plays and in every game we lost, the players made mistakes that cost us games.

 

[FLVOL_79]

Might finish the season ranked with a strong performance next weekend.

 

[wesleydmartin]

Man I am happy with the season, the way it started the wheels could have come off completely, these guys fought through and got tough and it was a pleasure being able to see them the last 11-12 weeks. I am just sad it went so fast, now we need to beat Vandy and get a great bowl here in south florida for the wife and I to go enjoy on the first day of 2016.......

 

[VolNMO]

well lets see can't throw the ball. same QB next year, same OC. same results seem about right.

Is that any way to talk about the 2016 SEC champions? k::rock:

 

[jakez4ut]

And why have we just run for more yards than any other Tennessee team in more than a decade? And how on earth are we 5th in the SEC by averaging nearly 33 points per game. Again, our OL is not yet optimal, but it's much improved....and it is not to blame for the Oklahoma and Florida losses.

If your offense/OL can't control the clock then it also cannot close out games in the 4th quarter.

Did you notice that Jalen's fumble vs Oklahoma was after Crowder went in after Robertson went out with an injury?

That was a complete breakdown - missed blocks with defenders in the backfield- and stalled that drive.

Or am I making that up?

i think you really just chock it up to the o line went thru some adversity this season with the injuries and having to rotate new players in from time to time, and in the end....i think the O line had games where it looked pretty darn good and others that it didn't.

overall, i am very pleased with the progress they made...both from last year to this year, and i think they got better as this year went on.

they are not, however, an elite SEC offensive line. they can be....and maybe they will be next year....

 

[jakez4ut]

Man I am happy with the season, the way it started the wheels could have come off completely, these guys fought through and got tough and it was a pleasure being able to see them the last 11-12 weeks. I am just sad it went so fast, now we need to beat Vandy and get a great bowl here in south florida for the wife and I to go enjoy on the first day of 2016.......

that's a good point. there were plenty of reasons to quit. imagine had they lost their fight against GA down 24-3....how different would this season be?

agree, one thing you can't take away from this team or CBJ is that they play their butts off.

 

[emzeeee]

sounds average to me. a year that the sec east is down we go 8-4. no big wins and 2 big games flushed down the toilet by our great OC. sounds like Tennessee football to me. average, sounds right. a win more I would have said it was a good season. 2 wins more would have made it great. the way we lost the games make it just a average year.

I enjoy the continued refusal of fans to accept how BAD we were. 5-7 3 years in a row. We haven't had a winning SEC record since 2007. We haven't won more than 7 games in a season since 2007. Hadn't beaten UGA since 2010. Got embarrassed by Mizzou every year, etc. etc.

During the off-season, it was 8-4 predictions or "just win baby". Now every single thread is "well they were ugly wins" or "well the SEC is down this year", blah blah blah.

The positive fans won't change their minds and the negative ones won't change their minds. Move on.

 

[theFallGuy]

the UF and OU games were on debord and jones. we should have won both. went conservative and hoped our D could hold on. you did watch the games didn't you. that was my take. run, run, run, punt.

clearly you didn't even watch the game since you didn't mention the lack of defense down the stretch

 

[wesleydmartin]

that's a good point. there were plenty of reasons to quit. imagine had they lost their fight against GA down 24-3....how different would this season be?

agree, one thing you can't take away from this team or CBJ is that they play their butts off.

so true, coulda have been a sure disaster, but credit to the coaches and players......big things are coming for our vols down the line....

 

[JC61]

Like he did against Georgia? He is not a consistently accurate passer, but when actually given opportunities to throw more than horizontal bubble screens, he has shown that he can be effective throwing the ball, especially to the middle of the field.

Also, you're clearly a negavol with this very negative post. Go pull for Florida.

that's just it KB...he's not accurate...even in the UGA game it took quite the acrobatic effort by Josh Smith, at least once, and Pearson, at least twice, to make critical completions that changed the game. Credit goes to the receivers more so than the QB in this game.

More often than not, his vertical passing is not good at all; however, I will admit there have been a few well placed balls that were dropped.

I think the OL has been a little better than serviceable and is improving...but, without the threat of a legitimate vertical passing game...teams can sell out for the run or short routes.

 

[Ace]

that's just it KB...he's not accurate...even in the UGA game it took quite the acrobatic effort by Josh Smith, at least once, and Pearson, at least twice, to make critical completions that changed the game. Credit goes to the receivers more so than the QB in this game.

More often than not, his vertical passing is not good at all; however, I will admit there have been a few well placed balls that were dropped.

I think the OL has been a little better than serviceable and is improving...but, without the threat of a legitimate vertical passing game...teams can sell out for the run or short routes.

I have watched Josh Smith's catch several times. I believe Josh Dobbs was not throwing to Smith. I believe he was throwing to Malone behind Josh Smith and the pass would have been incomplete. Josh Smith saved the day on what might have been a very inaccurate throw.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

If we do beat Vandy this week and finish 8-4 and 2nd in the East, that's about what I predicted at the beginning of the season. Some of the W's and L's aren't quite what I thought they would be and I predicted finishing 3rd in the East instead of 2nd. However overall our team has performed pretty much how I thought it would this year.

 

[checkerboards09]

2012 recruits would be true seniors and RS juniors this year. 3-4 yrs of strength & conditioning matters, but apparently not to you.

Probably wouldn't have mattered anyway with the caliber of OLs recruited by Dooley.

Our OL depth is ridiculously bad.

But those would be Dooley players.....and all of Dooley players suck no matter how many offers they had.......