General Feelings On Game Two

#76
#76
I don't understand why all of the Chicken Littles want to play the whole season at once? We don't have to be good enough to beat Bama today. We just have to be good enough on September 24.

I think a great number of the concerns that have been voiced are real, but I am not going to panic. A football season is a very dynamic thing. Guys are getting better. Others are getting hurt. Every week, coaches discover strengths that they can exploit and weaknesses that they can either correct or work around. Those coaching against us are doing the same thing.

The truth is, the team could have steam-rolled App. State and VTech and it wouldn't mean a lot to the Florida game. On any given game day, a team can come out hot or flat. It happens all the time. Does anyone really think Georgia is only two points better than Nicholls State?

This isn't X-Box football.
 
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#78
#78
Vols Oline remains a work in progress, but will probably never be an above average Oline, but when Dobbs runs, the whole complexity of the offense changes and the Oline is not such an eyesore:thumbsup:
 
#79
#79
MustafaRasta said:
The only positive so far for me over last season is that the team fights hard throughout and find ways to get it done.

I've not been overly impressed with the D, I'd rank it as slightly disappointing.

Until we can block 3 man pressures this offense is handicapped.

It's criminal the lack of touches Kamara gets.

Debord's play calling has looked disjointed, but again, if your QB is running for his life when 3 rush and 8 drop you're going to be limited.
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The defense allowed 3 points after the first quarter. I'm not counting the touchdown that Tech got in the fourth quarter after the reserves were sent in. I am pretty impressed with out D. Considering that we have a new coordinator and everything. Virginia Tech has an offensive minded head coach. It's not like they have no talent. We can get better and will. But I think overall the defense is looking much better than last year.
 
#81
#81
Not sure why Va Tech didnt pick up on it, but it seemed that every time we had 4 WR, with 2 on each side in a bunch, it was a designed Dobbs run.
 
#82
#82
OFFENSIVELY:
OL issues will improve when Hall gets back...if he is 100%
#55 Thomas appears to be injured and not up to par...
#66 Jack Jones needs to be on the field...
Whatever has happened to big Charles Mosely?

Dobbs still doesn't look good throwing the ball. For a young man with his extreme intelligence--it just hasn't translated into reading defenses and finding the open receiver. His play at throwing the ball is sporadic at best...

They have experimented with the offset-I formation with Dobbs under center, especially in the Bowl game against NW...and I think/HOPE we will see a bunch of that formation with plenty of TRADITIONAL bootlegs and rollouts to get Dobbs out of the pocket and in the open field. Dobbs in the open field with run-pass option is his STRENGTH...

DEFENSIVELY:

I have seen very poor execution and some basic fundamental mistakes across the board so far....We haven't looked impressive...even though we haven't given up many points....we have given up a HUGE amount of yardage on the ground....

Tuttle is without doubt our best DL....Vickers and O'Brien have played well...still waiting for Big Mac to show up..

The long TD run from VT actually CAUGHT us in what appears to be a stunt with Latroy Lewis crashing his inside GAP that took him out of the play--that happens some times.....but where was the LB and Safety support....If that VT back can house one that easily...what will Fla, UGA, and Bama do?

Nothing on the field makes me personally feel good about this team being able to compete for the SEC title....YET.....Except HURD is a true BEAST!
 
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#83
#83
JCHateSteve said:
The fact that we came out flat is disconcerting to say the least. How could the team not be up for THIS GAME? Still...The Vols responded big in the 2nd qrt. The whole team made sure VT didn't get back into it from there. Hopefully UT brings the intensity against Ohio and it carries over to UF.
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If you were running a marathon, would you think it would be best to start out in a sprint, or to pace yourself conserving energy for the long haul?

What I saw wasn't an issue with UT coming out flat, but of VT coming out too high-strung. Sports fans love to see their team "get hype", but there can be a real penalty for severe emotional swings on physical output. If you come out at an unsustainable high, the swing back to normal can be emotionally devastating. And, it can be irrecoverable if you hit some real adversity.

Give me a team of quiet professionals, athletes who can keep their emotions within a narrow range. They will likely perform complex tasks much better for much longer than those given to over-reaction. Military pilots, Spec Ops guys, astronauts, and similar, are culled rather early on for emotional over-reaction as it adversely effects their ability to function well under high stress conditions. Athletes are no different.
 
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#84
#84
QuickSmurf said:
The defense allowed 3 points after the first quarter. I'm not counting the touchdown that Tech got in the fourth quarter after the reserves were sent in. I am pretty impressed with out D. Considering that we have a new coordinator and everything. Virginia Tech has an offensive minded head coach. It's not like they have no talent. We can get better and will. But I think overall the defense is looking much better than last year.
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It's not like they have no talent, but I wouldn't call them a talented team either. They are certainly more talented than App State or Ohio, but pale in comparison to UGA, aTm, Florida, and Bama.

In fact, if Virginia Tech was in the SEC, they would be the least talented team looking at a trailing 4 year average of Rivals recruiting numbers.

For comparison, Vanderbilt is the 45th most talented team in the country, Va Tech is ranked 47th, App State would be 60th, and Ohio is bottom 10.

Conversely Alabama is 1, UGA is 9 (Clemson 10), aTm is 12, UT is 13, UF is 14, Ole Miss is 16, SCAR is 19, and on and on.

Interestingly, ignoring the rankings and only looking at the actual strength of the rosters reveals that Virginia Tech compares to UT in roughly the same way way that Vanderbilt compares to Alabama.
 
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#85
#85
JCHateSteve said:
The fact that we came out flat is disconcerting to say the least. How could the team not be up for THIS GAME? Still...The Vols responded big in the 2nd qrt. The whole team made sure VT didn't get back into it from there. Hopefully UT brings the intensity against Ohio and it carries over to UF.
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Who said they weren't up? "Flat" can be the result of a lot of things.

Personally, I think all of the pre-season hoopla has them very, very tight. Tight leads to overthinking which translates to playing slow. That sure can look like "flat."
 
#86
#86
SaintLouisVol said:
Who said they weren't up? "Flat" can be the result of a lot of things.

Personally, I think all of the pre-season hoopla has them very, very tight. Tight leads to overthinking which translates to playing slow. That sure can look like "flat."
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Mature competitors have the right balance of confidence, emotion, and discipline.

However anyone wants to describe it....we haven't grown up as a legitimate SEC title contender YET....or our play on the field on both offense and defense hasn't demonstrated any maturity.
 
#87
#87
Glad to be on here fellow Vols! I've followed the board for years but never jumped in. Just like any other team's boards in any other sport... you have your 25% clear homers who freak if you dare say anything negative, your 25% who over-react to any and everything in a negative way, and then the rest who are all at varying places in between. I TRY to keep it in the middle but admittedly with age I think optimism is slowly replaced with skepticism. I tend to be more of a glass half empty guy while trying to convince myself that I'm just more "realistic". LOL
I think everyone's made a lot of good points. While very happy with the wins I too come away with a bitter taste in my mouth about this team. Something just doesn't taste right. This team really seems to lack an identity or clear purpose. And when you see the Freshman 4th string QB of all people having to rally the troops, I think that speaks volumes. Intangibles play a big role on successful teams and something about the leadership of this team is just way off. It seems to trickle from the Coaches all the way down. Not sure what it is but this teams certainly seems to lack a swagger.
Now the good news is that this team is talented enough to overcome that in a lot of circumstances but if it is not fixed soon, there is a limited ceiling this team can rise to.
As far as specifics I put most of the blame back on the coaching. While Dobbs is obviously a very intelligent guy off the field, his on-field IQ is average at best from results we've seen over the past couple of seasons. I'd suggest he's even regressed some this season. Heck, there were even a handful of times Saturday night that he made terrible decisions in the read-option. That's supposed to be pretty elementary stuff. But how much of that is on him and how much of that is poor coaching. He clearly looks like a guy who's thinking too much out there. That's on coaching in my opinion. Instead of trying to force a round peg in a square hole, simplify things for him. He has plenty of talent around him that can help him out. The offense is clearly built with too much burden on his shoulders right now. And if you want to complain about OL play, again that's on coaching. Where are the quick slants and screens to counter the pressure? And how about some designed roll-outs? You can't cover everything with coaching. Dobbs has been his own worst enemy on several occasions by not stepping up into the pocket but 2 games in and we've seen very few adjustments.
Defensively I'll allow for some growth since this a new system. I haven't really been overly impressed at all but at the same time they are clearly improved on paper. You have to believe that they'll only get better. I am curious to see how opponents attack them now that there is game film out there. Inconsistent at best.
Is it time to panic? Hell no! We are 2-0 and control our own destiny. This is exactly where we were supposed to be at this point. We'll know what this team is really made of come Sept 24th. Until then, we are all just guessing and hoping!
GO VOLS!!
 
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#88
#88
VOLINHTOWN said:
Glad to be on here fellow Vols! I've followed the board for years but never jumped in. Just like any other team's boards in any other sport... you have your 25% clear homers who freak if you dare say anything negative, your 25% who over-react to any and everything in a negative way, and then the rest who are all at varying places in between. I TRY to keep it in the middle but admittedly with age I think optimism is slowly replaced with skepticism. I tend to be more of a glass half empty guy while trying to convince myself that I'm just more "realistic". LOL
I think everyone's made a lot of good points. While very happy with the wins I too come away with a bitter taste in my mouth about this team. Something just doesn't taste right. This team really seems to lack an identity or clear purpose. And when you see the Freshman 4th string QB of all people having to rally the troops, I think that speaks volumes. Intangibles play a big role on successful teams and something about the leadership of this team is just way off. It seems to trickle from the Coaches all the way down. Not sure what it is but this teams certainly seems to lack a swagger.
Now the good news is that this team is talented enough to overcome that in a lot of circumstances but if it is not fixed soon, there is a limited ceiling this team can rise to.
As far as specifics I put most of the blame back on the coaching. While Dobbs is obviously a very intelligent guy off the field, his on-field IQ is average at best from results we've seen over the past couple of seasons. I'd suggest he's even regressed some this season. Heck, there were even a handful of times Saturday night that he made terrible decisions in the read-option. That's supposed to be pretty elementary stuff. But how much of that is on him and how much of that is poor coaching. He clearly looks like a guy who's thinking too much out there. That's on coaching in my opinion. Instead of trying to force a round peg in a square hole, simplify things for him. He has plenty of talent around him that can help him out. The offense is clearly built with too much burden on his shoulders right now. And if you want to complain about OL play, again that's on coaching. Where are the quick slants and screens to counter the pressure? And how about some designed roll-outs? You can't cover everything with coaching. Dobbs has been his own worst enemy on several occasions by not stepping up into the pocket but 2 games in and we've seen very few adjustments.
Defensively I'll allow for some growth since this a new system. I haven't really been overly impressed at all but at the same time they are clearly improved on paper. You have to believe that they'll only get better. I am curious to see how opponents attack them now that there is game film out there. Inconsistent at best.
Is it time to panic? Hell no! We are 2-0 and control our own destiny. This is exactly where we were supposed to be at this point. We'll know what this team is really made of come Sept 24th. Until then, we are all just guessing and hoping!
GO VOLS!!
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Solid 1st post.
 
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#89
#89
SPRINGHILLVOL said:
Great game to win but may be fools gold...great running by Dobbs.. Take away Hail Mary receptions (2 to Malone.. great catches..67 and 38 yds) and the passing game to wide receivers nonexistent... After first half of first game (Williams 45 yds), Williams 0, Smith 3, Jennings 7. Where are the wide receivers ? Kirkland may be lost for season. how good is Colton Jumper .. NOT ...Watch out !!! Fla., Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama will only need to stop Dobbs and Hurd running.. Remember Virg Tech had 5 fumbles, 108 yds in key penalties.
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Those weren't hail Mary passes. He threw to Malone when he had a favorable matchup against single coverage and time to throw deep. We could do more of those deep throws, but of course he needs time in the pocket, which has been hard to come by.

He hasn't read well over the middle of the field so far this year. Not sure how to go about that.
 
#90
#90
The only thing I am sure of at this point is our offensive line needs more work. I get the feeling we won't really know what we have until after Florida or maybe Georgia. Though I don't know that may depend on how you feel about Kentucky vs Nicholls.
 
#91
#91
Sgt_Nick_Fury said:
The only thing I am sure of at this point is our offensive line needs more work. I get the feeling we won't really know what we have until after Florida or maybe Georgia. Though I don't know that may depend on how you feel about Kentucky vs Nicholls.
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I'm feeling the same way. We won't know what we've really got until we play Florida.
 
#92
#92
After 50+ years of Tennessee Football, I have avoided insanity by adopting the adage that "Ugly Wins > Pretty Losses (aka, Moral Victory). While the rantings of some of our Legions of the Miserable can be depressing to some, at least they are bemoaning the details of the win rather than a loss. And that in some convoluted way can be viewed as a good thing.
 
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