happy freakin new year.

#1
jakez4ut

jakez4ut

Patience... It's what's for dinner
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Jul 7, 2005
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#1
Well, just really frustrated about yesterday.

perused many of the threads on here, and it's about what i expected. and rightfully so.

we were out coached.
we were out played.
they were the more physical team.
we were the less disciplined team.

several things stuck out to me yesterday:
1. coaching. a few highlights that left me scratching my head...
-catch a punt on the 6. we're 13 games in to the season, why on earth does anyone need to be reminded to stand on the 10, if it goes over your head, LET IT GO!
-fumble on an end around..shouldn't it be worked out prior to actually running the play whether or not you are going to pitch it or hand it off? why make that decision on the fly?
-3rd and 2 in the 1st half. we call a time out, come out line up, and ainge checks off, and the WR runs the wrong route, inc. pass, punt. are you kdding me? who does that?
2. up front on both sides of the ball........we suck. especially on defense.
3. officiating. while i think for the most part, they did a good job yesterday, i do think there were three plays that were pure crap. the roughing the passer on Morelli in the first half. the p/i on meach (which was at least made up for by a similar phantom p/i call on a PSU WR). and the no call on late hit on coker on our last drive. not that it would have made any difference, but it just pissed me off.
4. ESPN. OK, i've been one all season not to get worked up about comeentators etc....but i got to admit, yesterday seemed like the biggest PSU love fest i've ever seen. and they weren't even hiding it. i think they showed Joe Pa sitting in the booth about 3459 times. as if there would be something different each time they showed him. everything we did that was a postive for us, was not because of anything we did particularly well, it was always because of something PSU did poorly. then you had Todd Blackledge (who i really thought did a pretty good job considering he is PSU alum) calling the game...i really got tired of it.
5. If yesterday didn't convince you, i don't know what will. our most glaring weakness was abused time and time again yesterday. we are so weak up front on both sides of the ball. our front 7 sucks. and our offensive line is just not very good. what PSU did to us on their last two drives was demoralizing.
6. as much as i'd like to bash AF for the fumble, i can't. the defender made a good play. and that isn't what lost the game anyway. it was the 3-4 previous possesions that did. you know the two possesions in a row that we went backwards. the dropped balls by Meach, the over throws by EA, the INT by EA, the other fumble by AF, the continual 3rd down conversions allowed by our defense. our secondary allowing Anthony Morelli to look like a a freaking Heisman candidate. It was a sum of all that, and AF's fumble lost for a TD was simply a culmination of all that poor play. It was also a hefty slap in the face of reality that we aren't that far removed from 2005. In fact, we may be closer to that team than we thought.


as for the direction of the program....well, we discussed it before, there wasn't exactly a whole lot to gain by winning this game.....nice win, 10 win season, momentum heading in to off season and finishing recruiting etc...all positives, but nothing just overwhelmingly GREAT. But losing it, especially the way we lost it.....really sucked. Just another reminder that we aren't that far removed from 2005 afterall.

Just when i think CPF and co. are turning a corner, something like this happens and you are reminded who and what you really have here from a coaching standpoint. I just don't know what to think anymore. I know nothing will change. and that's part of the problem. we have shown improvement. recruiting seems to be headed back in the right direction. but a game like that yesterday has one wondering where are we REALLY heading?

we'll find out next year i'm sure......

just really frustrated, disappointed and just plain mad.:banghead2:
 
#2
#2
jakez4ut said:
Well, just really frustrated about yesterday.

perused many of the threads on here, and it's about what i expected. and rightfully so.

we were out coached.
we were out played.
they were the more physical team.
we were the less disciplined team.

several things stuck out to me yesterday:
1. coaching. a few highlights that left me scratching my head...
-catch a punt on the 6. we're 13 games in to the season, why on earth does anyone need to be reminded to stand on the 10, if it goes over your head, LET IT GO!
-fumble on an end around..shouldn't it be worked out prior to actually running the play whether or not you are going to pitch it or hand it off? why make that decision on the fly?
-3rd and 2 in the 1st half. we call a time out, come out line up, and ainge checks off, and the WR runs the wrong route, inc. pass, punt. are you kdding me? who does that?
2. up front on both sides of the ball........we suck. especially on defense.
3. officiating. while i think for the most part, they did a good job yesterday, i do think there were three plays that were pure crap. the roughing the passer on Morelli in the first half. the p/i on meach (which was at least made up for by a similar phantom p/i call on a PSU WR). and the no call on late hit on coker on our last drive. not that it would have made any difference, but it just pissed me off.
4. ESPN. OK, i've been one all season not to get worked up about comeentators etc....but i got to admit, yesterday seemed like the biggest PSU love fest i've ever seen. and they weren't even hiding it. i think they showed Joe Pa sitting in the booth about 3459 times. as if there would be something different each time they showed him. everything we did that was a postive for us, was not because of anything we did particularly well, it was always because of something PSU did poorly. then you had Todd Blackledge (who i really thought did a pretty good job considering he is PSU alum) calling the game...i really got tired of it.
5. If yesterday didn't convince you, i don't know what will. our most glaring weakness was abused time and time again yesterday. we are so weak up front on both sides of the ball. our front 7 sucks. and our offensive line is just not very good. what PSU did to us on their last two drives was demoralizing.
6. as much as i'd like to bash AF for the fumble, i can't. the defender made a good play. and that isn't what lost the game anyway. it was the 3-4 previous possesions that did. you know the two possesions in a row that we went backwards. the dropped balls by Meach, the over throws by EA, the INT by EA, the other fumble by AF, the continual 3rd down conversions allowed by our defense. our secondary allowing Anthony Morelli to look like a a freaking Heisman candidate. It was a sum of all that, and AF's fumble lost for a TD was simply a culmination of all that poor play. It was also a hefty slap in the face of reality that we aren't that far removed from 2005. In fact, we may be closer to that team than we thought.


as for the direction of the program....well, we discussed it before, there wasn't exactly a whole lot to gain by winning this game.....nice win, 10 win season, momentum heading in to off season and finishing recruiting etc...all positives, but nothing just overwhelmingly GREAT. But losing it, especially the way we lost it.....really sucked. Just another reminder that we aren't that far removed from 2005 afterall.

Just when i think CPF and co. are turning a corner, something like this happens and you are reminded who and what you really have here from a coaching standpoint. I just don't know what to think anymore. I know nothing will change. and that's part of the problem. we have shown improvement. recruiting seems to be headed back in the right direction. but a game like that yesterday has one wondering where are we REALLY heading?

we'll find out next year i'm sure......

just really frustrated, disappointed and just plain mad.:banghead2:
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me too, but this is tennessee football what do we expect. average is the norm.
 
#3
#3
Great post.

We definitely need some kind of awakening related to our strength training on the lines - similar to what happened after the Nebraska orange bowl game.

Somebody needs to give our program a big kick in the rear end, wake up the staff to the realization that we are only somewhat above average, and certainly not among the nation's elite. This should start with no raise for Fulmer - he got a reward for making a bowl game anyway, right?

I applaud brining Cutcliffe back this year, no doubt the offense improved, although maybe not by as much as we had thought early in the year... But I shudder to think what would have happened this year if our offense hadn't picked it up - we literally could have been 2-10 or 3-9. Same as if our defense hadn't been so outstanding last year. We are treading on thin ice, this year the defense, last year the offense, both years the special teams...

We were definitely outcoached and out-disciplined yesterday. I'm particularly concerned given the faith I've had in Cutcliffe and Chavis, I really expected more out of them. General Neyland has to be rolling over in his grave.
 
#4
#4
jakez4ut said:
Just when i think CPF and co. are turning a corner, something like this happens and you are reminded who and what you really have here from a coaching standpoint. I just don't know what to think anymore. I know nothing will change. and that's part of the problem. we have shown improvement. recruiting seems to be headed back in the right direction. but a game like that yesterday has one wondering where are we REALLY heading?
Click to expand...

I'm reminded today of the overwhelming sentiment around here of two weeks ago. The bowl game means nothing...


unless you lose it.


I'm not going to say this over and over this week, but this rebuild needs the recruiting class, and another spring and August practice. This is not news, one can see what remains to be done just by watching/cringing through yesterday's game. I'm one of those, though, that thinks we must wait to see how the '07 season transpires. I simply can't fathom the idea of Chavis putting anything similar to this defense on the field next season, and I know the offense will benefit from another offseason with Cutcliffe.

Where are we really heading? To either the top or a new regime. There is no longer a middle ground. Next season is Fulmer's whole ballgame.
 
#5
#5
orange+white=heaven said:
I'm reminded today of the overwhelming sentiment around here of two weeks ago. The bowl game means nothing...


unless you lose it.


I'm not going to say this over and over this week, but this rebuild needs the recruiting class, and another spring and August practice. This is not news, one can see what remains to be done just by watching/cringing through yesterday's game. I'm one of those, though, that thinks we must wait to see how the '07 season transpires. I simply can't fathom the idea of Chavis putting anything similar to this defense on the field next season, and I know the offense will benefit from another offseason with Cutcliffe.

Where are we really heading? To either the top or a new regime. There is no longer a middle ground. Next season is Fulmer's whole ballgame.
Click to expand...

get ready for a 8-4 or 7-5 campaign and a raise.
 
#7
#7
orange+white=heaven said:
I'm reminded today of the overwhelming sentiment around here of two weeks ago. The bowl game means nothing...


unless you lose it.


I'm not going to say this over and over this week, but this rebuild needs the recruiting class, and another spring and August practice. This is not news, one can see what remains to be done just by watching/cringing through yesterday's game. I'm one of those, though, that thinks we must wait to see how the '07 season transpires. I simply can't fathom the idea of Chavis putting anything similar to this defense on the field next season, and I know the offense will benefit from another offseason with Cutcliffe.

Where are we really heading? To either the top or a new regime. There is no longer a middle ground. Next season is Fulmer's whole ballgame.
Click to expand...
you are correct about the sentiment...and it was the truth. I know i felt that way.

and you are probably correct about the recruiting...i was very adimant to those that were expecting a lot next season, to really take a look....i think our next best shot at an SEC title will be in 08/09...i think next year will be a lot like this year.

and i think you're right about the direction of the program as well.

either we're going to win the conf. or there's going to be some major changes coming. at this point, we're south carolina. You take a look around the league and you see what else is going on, you can't help but feel, at this point for me anyway, that we aren't doing a whole lot to force the issue. we talk about expectations and such, but we haven't been much on meeting them lately. UGA, USC, UF, all of our divisoinal foes look to be heading in a better direction right now than we do...i mean as bad as UGA was this season, they ended the season on a super high note...win @ top 5 Auburn, Win at ACC divisional champ and rival GT and beat a quality VT team in the bowl. USC will eventually start winning the close games, and it looks like it started with the win over Clemson and the bowl game win. oh, and then their's florida, the defending SEC champ, and playing hte national championship game with pretty much the whole team coming back and a coach that is 2-0 vs. tn and they play is at home next year.

compared to what we did down the stretch...lose two straight, and have to hold on to beat KY and lose the bowl game.

it's just hard right now for me to regain the optimism. over time and as spring starts, i'm sure it'll get better, it always does with each new season.

but the way this season ended is to fresh right now.

i'm just sick and tired of having games like yesterday. they just plain sucked. there's no if's and's or but's about it. they played like crap and resembled nothing of the team that played the previous 12 games. I've been a CPF "defender" more or less on this board. not to the point that i think he can't do any wrong or that he was above being held accountable, including being fired. But certainly to the point that i think he's earned the right to have a chance to fix what was the debacle of 05. that game yesterday though was just a reminder of what we really have here and that this team is not so far away from the 05 team. I think CPF would make a great administrator. but there are definitely better coaches out there.
 
#9
#9
And I'll add a quick thank you to your Steelers. If the Titans had handled their own business Sunday, the Steelers would've wound up being a part of us getting into the playoffs.

Nice word. Playoff.
 
#10
#10
orange+white=heaven said:
And I'll add a quick thank you to your Steelers. If the Titans had handled their own business Sunday, the Steelers would've wound up being a part of us getting into the playoffs.

Nice word. Playoff.
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hey, we do what we can. and as a steeler fan i can go in to post season obscurity knowing that had we simply beaten the Oakland Raiders, we would have been in the playoffs. that's a nice thought.....if we had only beaten the raiders......:blink:
 
#11
#11
jakez4ut said:
hey, we do what we can. and as a steeler fan i can go in to post season obscurity knowing that had we simply beaten the Oakland Raiders, we would have been in the playoffs. that's a nice thought.....if we had only beaten the raiders......:blink:
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:dance2::yahoo::lolabove::pepper::neener:
 
#13
#13
orange+white=heaven said:
I'm reminded today of the overwhelming sentiment around here of two weeks ago. The bowl game means nothing...


unless you lose it.


I'm not going to say this over and over this week, but this rebuild needs the recruiting class, and another spring and August practice. This is not news, one can see what remains to be done just by watching/cringing through yesterday's game. I'm one of those, though, that thinks we must wait to see how the '07 season transpires. I simply can't fathom the idea of Chavis putting anything similar to this defense on the field next season, and I know the offense will benefit from another offseason with Cutcliffe.

Where are we really heading? To either the top or a new regime. There is no longer a middle ground. Next season is Fulmer's whole ballgame.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you said. That's about where I am at this point.

I knew that someone would come along and type something like that so I didn't have to. :)
 
#15
#15
Ditto to what OWB said - about Jake's #1 & #7 posts. About sums it up for me - I'm basically a Fulmer defender & really I wouldn't have minded losing the game yesterday (as much), if we had come out with some energy, some desire, some "pop in the pads." I thought we looked flat & as I, and many others have said before, it's a game of emotion & momentum - but you have to be strong-willed enough to turn it back your way - esp. early on, after some of those dropped balls, etc. Will be interesting to see what next year brings, esp. if we have another year like this one - with some highs & some lows, but basically finishing out of the BCS - I am so sick of seeing us look blah in a bowl game (not that it happened last year, but...). Thanks for listening!
 
#16
#16
Next season is Fulmer's whole ballgame.
Click to expand...

Maybe for the majority of fans on here. But I dont think they fire Fulmer short of a 5-loss season. The last thing UT admin wants is for us to look like we totally overreacted, like Bama or Nebraska.

We're stuck with him, barring a collapse. So do you hope for another 5-6 loss season that would be completely awful, or do you try to enjoy the next 4-loss season? Both choices suck.
 
#17
#17
TravisHenryCBlockedMe said:
Maybe for the majority of fans on here. But I dont think they fire Fulmer short of a 5-loss season. The last thing UT admin wants is for us to look like we totally overreacted, like Bama or Nebraska.

We're stuck with him, barring a collapse. So do you hope for another 5-6 loss season that would be completely awful, or do you try to enjoy the next 4-loss season? Both choices suck.
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never. would an SEC title be devalued because Fulmer was the coach???

bottom line is, regardless of who the coach is, the program is bigger than that person....and you can't honestly root for losing seasons in hopes that it will get someone fired. If he gets fired, he gets fired, and i would have no problem with that if for just cause (and losing seasons is just cause). but you can't root for that to happen imo.
 
#18
#18
Yeah I agree, but Im also not going to be happy with all these 4-loss seasons. So we're just stuck with Fulmer for better or worse.
 
#19
#19
TravisHenryCBlockedMe said:
Yeah I agree, but Im also not going to be happy with all these 4-loss seasons. So we're just stuck with Fulmer for better or worse.
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i'm not happy about it either. but if a four loss season is as bad as it gets from now on, that's not awful.

it's hard to see it right now, even now i have a hard time typing this, but we really aren't that far away from contending for real again for the SEC.

don't think it will be next year mind you...and i've said this a few times in the past already, 08 and 09 have potential.

as bad as we were out coached yesterday, the fact still remains that we don't have the talent up front to compete with the elite teams in the conf.. or the country. that has to be fixed first and foremost.
 
#20
#20
it's hard to see it right now, even now i have a hard time typing this, but we really aren't that far away from contending for real again for the SEC.
Click to expand...

Youre more positive then I am, my friend. Im done saying things like that because when Ive thought that we were close...we havent been close. I thought we had good chances in '02 and '05, we saw what happened there. I'll believe it when I see it.
 
#21
#21
TravisHenryCBlockedMe said:
Youre more positive then I am, my friend. Im done saying things like that because when Ive thought that we were close...we havent been close. I thought we had good chances in '02 and '05, we saw what happened there. I'll believe it when I see it.
Click to expand...
well believe me, im not making any promises to myself or anyone else about what will happen...just looking at who's here, who's coming in and who will be here during that time period. by that time, talent shouldn't be a reason.

nothing is guaranteed, and as improved as i think we may be by then, i'm also not naive enough to think that FL, GA, SC, LSU, Auburn etc...won't be better by then either.

it's going to be a tough road in the SEC the next few years.
 
#22
#22
Fair enough...good to see you're balanced by logic and not blind loyalty. Thats why I like the Vol fans on this site...most of them seem to be like that, moderate and realistic.
 
#23
#23
In Coach Fulmer's second book, The Perfect Season, he discussed how much of an impact losing the Orange Bowl to Nebraska affected the team during offseason workouts, and spring football. I believe the players coming back next year realize that they were outplayed yesterday, and will be more motivated than ever to win a Championship.

I have complete trust that the "Fired Up, Focused, and Prepared" mantra of the summer practices will come back this year to Haslam Field, and Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The preparation that happens in these places clearly carried over to the first game of the year last year against Cal.

After losing to LSU, the football team once again lost their focus and did not show up to play against Arkansas.

When I saw the December scrimmage at Neyland Stadium, I thought that the preseason "Fired Up, Focused, and Prepared" mantra was back. I thought that all the way until yesterday's game, where it appeared nothing went right for the Vols, and they were not "Fired Up, Focused, and Prepared." I have no idea where they lost their focus, but it was lost. Inevitably, Fulmer has to be blamed for that, and I accept it.

As said before, next season is the year for Fulmer to put up or shut up, and I have complete confidence that he will put us into an SEC Championship Game. Tennessee is ready for a championship, and these players have gone through enough to know how to get it done. No one is better fit to lead this talented group of Volunteers than Phillip Fulmer, and I have complete confidence in him to do so.

The Golden Age of Fulmer's reign will be revived again, and this year was a great step towards a new golden age of SEC Championships and BCS Bowl Games again.
 
#24
#24
While I appreciate your analysis, I have to point out that today is January 2, not April 1.

The raise and extension only means the buyout will be prolonged and larger.

After a 5 loss season next year the howling increases, followed by a probational year in which 4 losses cost Fulmer his job.

He is a great man and a great recruiter, but one who the game has passed him by.

This is not a personal attack, but the ever expanding waist line (notwithstanding the minor recent reversal) is a sign of larger (no pun intended) discipline problems as well as physical and emotional impacts on Fulmer and the program as a whole.

I greatly appreciate Fulmer and all that he has done for the university, but the best thing he could do now is decide it is time to retire and to go out as the legend we all want him to be.

Majors missed his windows. I hope Fulmer does not.

Hamilton, in a way hand-picked by Fulmer, will not make any moves this year or next. Fulmer already said he is going to maintain his entire staff.

What comes next? We'll have to wait and see.
 
#25
#25
blackmon said:
This is not a personal attack, but the ever expanding waist line (notwithstanding the minor recent reversal) is a sign of larger (no pun intended) discipline problems as well as physical and emotional impacts on Fulmer and the program as a whole.

.
Click to expand...
that may be the most ridiculous thing i've ever read.
 
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