Hate to be the bubble burster

[GrizzlyVol]

38-6 vs South Carolina is a blowout curb stomp. 38-6 vs Bowling Green means the season is over. VN mentality.

Yeah it's crazy around here..1 game the 1st game and 38-6 ain't enough for a glorified practice, Jesus these people

 

[chrismc1000]

It's the first game, new coaches, new players, the only thing that concerned me, Milton holding on to that ball too long.

I actually enjoyed the fact that he could hold on the ball that long. What concerned me more was him only looking at one side of the field all night giving away where he wanted to throw the ball. But he has the legs to scramble he just needs more practice to really move to something similar like Josh Dobbs. Also we had two holding penalties that denied two TDs and Milton over threw twice that could of been TDs. We need to work on both but if we can nearly eliminate one or the other then we should be in great shape for a bowl game later this year.

 

[chrismc1000]

Yeah it's crazy around here..1 game the 1st game and 38-6 ain't enough for a glorified practice, Jesus these people

Nah some people are just looking at the issues that we seen in preparation for much harder teams that we will face. Nothing wrong with talking about the clear cut issues hell we all do that ever season all year long...

 

[OrangeTsar]

I just don’t see it. Our running backs are great especially Evans performance. Allowed a 126 ranked out of 127 offense March down the field on us keep it close. Qb position IMO is wide open. I could almost see 2 qbs playing equal time next game.

Don’t worry, you aren’t the bubble burster. They have already been popping all night worse than a giant roll of bubble wrap delivered to a kindergarten class

 

[VolunteerNut]

Well it was a win so as a Vol fan I am pleased. I am scared of what is to come though.

Offensive Line -- A Milton could hold it for 5 seconds on most plays. Really impressive but it was BG
Defensive Line --- B+ Blew up alot of plays in the backfield. Got our hands up when could not penetrate (I have missed that from our recent teams)

WR ---- B would of been an A+ if it weren't for two bad drops. Has potential to be a good core.

RBs --- B
For the game a B but for rest of season most likely a D. Holes were huge and RB had all kinds of room in open field. Unfortunately, this are either small or slow and I doubt we have much success running the ball against most teams this year even with a good OL.

Secondary ---- B- This was BG and they had guys wide open ALOT. Talking was good and they bended but didn't break. Better teams will expose us unfortunately

QB------ D
Milton is who I thought unfortunately. Stares at the primary receiver and either throws it there or tucks and run. I saw 3 plays all night when he scanned the field. I want him to be good I just do not think he has it in him. We will be a league leader in turnovers with him at the helm. Also, every team will just stack the box as its obvious he has poor accuracy down the field. Yes it is game 1 of new coach/system ect but this was him at Michigan as well. We win 4 games this year if Milton is the best we got.


Coaching--- A I am just happy to see something other than run up the middle, run to the outside, pass. run up the middle, run up the middle, pass on every single possession like we have seen since Kiffin left. This year will be rough for the coaches as I think we land on 4 wins. But I was excited to see fast pace up tempo offense with some shots down the field. Also, liked he switched it up to all run since it was working and easy. Will be interested in seeing if we make a switch at QB or coach can "coach him up". Also I remember Hooker being not terrible at VT. Wish we got to see more of him.



What are your grades/thoughts??

I don't think you understand. The season is completely over. I could see it after 2 quarters!

I don't fully agree but Milton isn't the guy. He has wheels as does hooker but he looked slow on his runs and called his number to often. Hooker looked like a deer in the headlights against BG. Place either of these kids in a SEC game and they'll fold like a paper airplane. JMHO

 

[FLVOL_79]

38-6 vs South Carolina is a blowout curb stomp. 38-6 vs Bowling Green means the season is over. VN mentality.

Glad you said it first

 

[majic73]

No touchdowns scored against the defense. I did not study the defense in depth , but noticed a couple of things. They were multiple but played safe in most instances. This is a hallmark of playing vanilla and holding back for future opponents. Put multiple looks on film for your opponents to have to practice for ,but play safe and reveal nothing. This scheme may be a bend but don't break scheme ...play for the takeaway between the 20's and prevent the big play , and play aggressive inside the 20/

In any case , it has been a long time since we have played this efficient on defense. We have a long way to go , but the improvement is welcome

 

[tbones0711]

It could be worse. A LOT worse. If this was a Pruitt team we might lose that game. I shudder to think what this place would be like had we lost. I'd bet BG is nowhere near as bad as guys are saying. Last year was last year. Teams get better and teams get worse. I bet BG challenges for the MAC title...just because.

I agree with what you said. BG's QB is a good one and #18,(receiver), and one tight end are excellent players. They'll be much improved this year compared to last,imo.

 

[Ashevolle]

I just don’t see it. Our running backs are great especially Evans performance. Allowed a 126 ranked out of 127 offense March down the field on us keep it close. Qb position IMO is wide open. I could almost see 2 qbs playing equal time next game.

Why do you think that we believed you would see it? No bubbles bursted here. No one was worried that your analytical skills were tip top.

 

[tbones0711]

WHAT WE LEARNED---From Las Vegas.
Tennessee is not good. They will get rolled by almost every team they play in the SEC. Their Michigan transfer at QB will lead them nowhere. I love Heupel because I am a life long OU fan but he is going to have a rough year or 3 and be out of a job. They ran the ball well but were 7-15 on 3rd down and 1-3 on 4th down. They will not be able to run like this against the SEC.

Arizona st. was not impressive. 13 penalties for 135 yards and 2 TO's vs an FCS team is a bad omen. They did force 4 TO's but they still only won by 27 in a game they should have easily won by 6 TD's. Herm Edwards could have been watering down his offense but even with that the passing numbers are weak.

NC State is who we thought they were. They roll easily and shut out the Bulls. I think this team will mix the ACC up and get double digit wins.

The Ohio St. TT was a tough loss. It took a Defensive scoop and score and scoring plays of 71, 38, 56, 70, and 61 for the buckeyes to bust the TT over 38.5, and thats after only scoring 10 in the first half. I will be looking at Stroud in his next game to see if he looks comftorable and if the Ohio st. defense gets a little more stout.

My thoughts exactly about us being able to run the ball. Here's how that will play out and it's just the same 'ole, same 'ole. If SEC defenses don't respect your passing game, (JG, last 3-4 years), they are going to force you into situations that require you to beat them with the pass. They will load the box, bring their safeties up closer to the LOS, LBers filling gaps, and lots of blitzes to put pressure on our QB.

That's just the way it is and the way it has been for UT for quite sometime now. Sure it's a gamble to start any game that way but it's been panning out in favor of opposing defenses for far too long. They are not gonna quit doing it until UT develops a passing game that forces them to play pass 1st defense.

 

[GAVol]

Did you go to MU game last night? Something was wrong with my espn+ account but I got it sorted out in time to stream D. Fromm playing QB. Would have been cool to score 70 but I am glad they took the knee at the end.

I went for the 1st qtr and that’s it. Pretty funny; the Mercer kicker was trending on Twitter last night for shanking a kick to keep the score 69-0.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

How do you know Heupel didn’t call a vanilla game so as not to show Pitt much? Looked like we only ran basic plays all night. Based on his history at Oklahoma and UCF, his playbook is a whole lot thicker than what was shown last night. Sure there’s plenty of room for improvement but to expect them to look in mid season form is foolish. Expect steady improvement and hopefully get a win or two we don’t expect. That will be a successful first season.

If he called a vanilla game, the ice cream melted in his hands. The offensive passing game after the first quarter was no where near good. It definitely did not meet pregame expectations or advertisements. Overthrowing wide open receivers is not by design. Stopping You run and turning your back to tackler is not by design. That is just plain poor playing. Expectations of a QB at any level needs to exceed the performance seen in the last three quarters last night. If Milton really believes he played well last night, we are in a heap of trouble. If he sees that He has to clean up his game and do it by next Saturday, he may be OK. I surely hope to see a different display of his talent against Pitt.

 

[Frozevol]

We were holding back. No need to beat the very worst team in football any worse. Can’t show BAMA what we got yet.

Lol

 

[2k15]

He was the back up qb and filled in for a total one and a half games at ISU before transferring out. He has never been the starting qb in his 5 year career until now. Milton was the starter at Michigan for several games until he got hurt. Why is this difficult for you?

Here's a dose of reality for you. SC's grad assistant QB played in 9 games at Iowa State, where he was the starter in 1 against Oklahoma and threw for 360 yards and 2 TD's. When he transferred to North Dakota State, he started in 7 games last season. Acting like Milton is all that much better, experienced, or qualified is wishful thinking. At least SC's grad transfer QB isn't even their true starter.

 

[Frozevol]

You underestimate the lengths VN will go to undercut a W my friend. This is how this exact win would go against SCAR:

“well SCAR doesn’t really have SEC talent”
“We’re gonna get reamed by KY/Bama/UGA!!”
Variations on “It was just luck”

Well we did get reamed by KY/Bama/uga. And yes a fan is allowed to make a negative statement on how the team is playing… esp if it is a correct assessment.

 

[GrizzlyVol]

Nah some people are just looking at the issues that we seen in preparation for much harder teams that we will face. Nothing wrong with talking about the clear cut issues hell we all do that ever season all year long...

I get that, but I prefer a larger sample size before I make a judgment on a player or a team, there's plenty to work on but there was some good

 

[OrangeTsar]

No touchdowns scored against the defense. I did not study the defense in depth , but noticed a couple of things. They were multiple but played safe in most instances. This is a hallmark of playing vanilla and holding back for future opponents. Put multiple looks on film for your opponents to have to practice for ,but play safe and reveal nothing. This scheme may be a bend but don't break scheme ...play for the takeaway between the 20's and prevent the big play , and play aggressive inside the 20/

In any case , it has been a long time since we have played this efficient on defense. We have a long way to go , but the improvement is welcome

Main thing is they played clean, with no major busts. Players seemed to know where to be and what their role was for each play. Solid and competent. Good tackling for the most part. This squad looked better coached in the first game than any “defensive guru Pruitt” defense in his entire tenure.

 

[OrangeTsar]

I don’t think the defense had any offsides the whole game. And I only remember the one pass interference call that was later overturned. Is my recollection correct?
And even on the completed passes in that second quarter by Bowling Green, the defender never let the receiver turn it into a long gain. They recovered quickly and made the tackle. No one got behind them deep. Just looked like young men who are learning the fundamentals and learning them well

 

[Vol Main]

There were a lot of positives in the game.

 

[RobertPellitt]

I just don’t see it. Our running backs are great especially Evans performance. Allowed a 126 ranked out of 127 offense March down the field on us keep it close. Qb position IMO is wide open. I could almost see 2 qbs playing equal time next game.

So which is it? The Quarterback play or the defense? I don't think the defense let anyone march down the filed at all, there was 2 drives in the second quarter and that is when the second team defense was in. Modern day football is a bend but don't break. They held them to two (2) very long field goal attempts. And because of the style of defense they were playing (meaning the coaches were experimenting with things, especially the second team) BG used up cloak. That meant that our QB only got 2 possessions in the second quarter.

One of those resulted in a 3rd down conversion that was dropped by his wide receiver that would have led to a score?

Would that one catch and ultimate TD rather than a punt have changed the perception? Add in the second drop by the same receiver in the 3rd quarter that would have led to a TD rather than a FG and I bet the feeling would be considerably different.

The QB always gets too much credit and too much blame.

We had much better QB than we have in many years, and I think it will get better as the season progresses.

Chill out and relax, it was a win.

 

[kell7517]

But ye

I just don’t see it. Our running backs are great especially Evans performance. Allowed a 126 ranked out of 127 offense March down the field on us keep it close. Qb position IMO is wide open. I could almost see 2 qbs playing equal time next game.

But yet here you are. Probably was even smiling while typing the gloom and doom. Everyone knows it’s gonna be a tough season with new everything. But one game in and some fans want Heupel gone or at least Milton. SMH

 

[JohnnyJava]

I just don’t see it. Our running backs are great especially Evans performance. Allowed a 126 ranked out of 127 offense March down the field on us keep it close. Qb position IMO is wide open. I could almost see 2 qbs playing equal time next game.

There are no rankings to start the season. Using last year's numbers to come to conclusions about this year is foolhardy. Do you think opposing defenses feared Tee Martin's passing ability in 1998 because UT and Manning lit it up in 1997?

 

[Remy]

All those "we're going to lay 70 on 'em" and "we're EXPLOSIVE" sort of melted away once that 14-6 half time score setlled in agianst one of the worst teams playing college football.

 

[chrismc1000]

I get that, but I prefer a larger sample size before I make a judgment on a player or a team, there's plenty to work on but there was some good

I agree their was some good but their was also some bad. Anyways nothing we say will effect the players or coaches so all we are as fans is irrelevant coaches.

 

[BigOrangeFanatic]

Yeah it's crazy around here..1 game the 1st game and 38-6 ain't enough for a glorified practice, Jesus these people

I don't think most people are focusing on the score. It's the fact that we yet again do not have a QB. You can't be weak at that position and expect to do well in the SEC. There's enough talent on this team to win 7-8 games with good QB play. Without it, it's gonna be another losing season.