Volosaurus rex
Doctorate in Volology
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I havent seen anyone comment on Coach Doug Mathews remarks from the post-South Carolina game version of Big Orange Sunday, so I have taken the liberty of encapsulating his main points. If you would like to listen to the broadcast in its entirety, click on the appropriate link from the podcast menu at 104-5 The Zone: THE Sports Station - Podcasts.
(1) He will provide an indepth position-by-position critique of where the program currently is and recruitment needs, as he sees them, on the bye week broadcast (11/9/14).
(2) He gives offensive line coach Don Mahoney a lot of credit; this is a poor offensive line talent-wise for Southeastern Conference play. . . he has this offensive line playing about as well as they can play right now.
(3) He emphasized the fact that Tennessee recorded five sacks and all five of them were by defensive ends.
(4) There cant be a better freshman player in the Southeastern Conference than Derek Barnett.
(5) "There wasnt a lot of [defensive pressure from South Carolinas front four.] I attribute a lot of that to the fact that we are running the football well now, we are coming off the ball, were being aggressive . . .
(6) The biggest thing that Josh Dobbs brings now is this: No. 1. He brings hope. You see a guy out there that can lead a football team. . . . It doesnt make any difference why he hasnt been playing [earlier] . . . This football team is going to go into next season in a really good position because of the talent we have built up. We arent seeing some of it because we are so young. . . . What Josh Dobbs allows us to do next year is he allows us to go into next season without having to count on a freshman quarterback. Ive never seen a true freshman quarterback come in and lead a team to a really good season. . . . Peyton Manning probably would be the closest.
(7) The conditioning of this Vol football team was very apparent late in the fourth quarter and overtime. I think that we wore South Carolina out, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. . . . The conditioning was excellent in this ball game and I believe that it was a big reason that we won.
(8) This [win] was a big boost for recruiting. Make no doubt about that. . . . The first thing Tennessee needs to get as a football program from a competitive standpoint is where they are competitive in the Eastern Division. . . . [Those are the teams you are going to play every year.] . . . You can make a very strong argument that we are [as good as or better than South Carolina and Florida even though we lost to Florida.] . . . Georgia, for two years in a row, weve been right there with an opportunity to where we could beat Georgia. . . . We are very close to being competitive with another good recruiting year, another good spring practice, with a good weight program, with a little bit of luck, I think that we will be up there playing for the championship of the Eastern Division next year.
(9) [With respect to why Josh Dobbs hasnt played earlier,] I was up there four or five days during spring practice, I was up there in preseason probably three or four times watching practice and I will say this: Dobbs did not look particularly good. . . . All I know is that from this point going forward, we are in pretty good shape at the quarterback position.
(10) We are having a really good recruiting year. I honestly believe we will have a better recruiting class (2015 signees) [than last year's]. . . . Two of the reasons are because we have two big-time defensive tackles and weve got two quarterbacks. . . . Those are two key positions. We are also doing better in the secondary.
(11) Our [kick] coverage [against South Carolina] was excellent. We are getting better and better on that. Thats some of those younger guys I was talking about.
(12) We are becoming a nastier football team [i.e. physically dominating and aggressive]. . . . When you see the opposing quarterback complaining to the referee about getting hit too late, you know that youve got that guy about where you want him. . . . Our offensive line is coming off the ball and hitting some folks now. While we arent the biggest or most talented up there, we are becoming a more nasty football team and I believe that we are going to continue doing that.
(1) He will provide an indepth position-by-position critique of where the program currently is and recruitment needs, as he sees them, on the bye week broadcast (11/9/14).
(2) He gives offensive line coach Don Mahoney a lot of credit; this is a poor offensive line talent-wise for Southeastern Conference play. . . he has this offensive line playing about as well as they can play right now.
(3) He emphasized the fact that Tennessee recorded five sacks and all five of them were by defensive ends.
(4) There cant be a better freshman player in the Southeastern Conference than Derek Barnett.
(5) "There wasnt a lot of [defensive pressure from South Carolinas front four.] I attribute a lot of that to the fact that we are running the football well now, we are coming off the ball, were being aggressive . . .
(6) The biggest thing that Josh Dobbs brings now is this: No. 1. He brings hope. You see a guy out there that can lead a football team. . . . It doesnt make any difference why he hasnt been playing [earlier] . . . This football team is going to go into next season in a really good position because of the talent we have built up. We arent seeing some of it because we are so young. . . . What Josh Dobbs allows us to do next year is he allows us to go into next season without having to count on a freshman quarterback. Ive never seen a true freshman quarterback come in and lead a team to a really good season. . . . Peyton Manning probably would be the closest.
(7) The conditioning of this Vol football team was very apparent late in the fourth quarter and overtime. I think that we wore South Carolina out, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. . . . The conditioning was excellent in this ball game and I believe that it was a big reason that we won.
(8) This [win] was a big boost for recruiting. Make no doubt about that. . . . The first thing Tennessee needs to get as a football program from a competitive standpoint is where they are competitive in the Eastern Division. . . . [Those are the teams you are going to play every year.] . . . You can make a very strong argument that we are [as good as or better than South Carolina and Florida even though we lost to Florida.] . . . Georgia, for two years in a row, weve been right there with an opportunity to where we could beat Georgia. . . . We are very close to being competitive with another good recruiting year, another good spring practice, with a good weight program, with a little bit of luck, I think that we will be up there playing for the championship of the Eastern Division next year.
(9) [With respect to why Josh Dobbs hasnt played earlier,] I was up there four or five days during spring practice, I was up there in preseason probably three or four times watching practice and I will say this: Dobbs did not look particularly good. . . . All I know is that from this point going forward, we are in pretty good shape at the quarterback position.
(10) We are having a really good recruiting year. I honestly believe we will have a better recruiting class (2015 signees) [than last year's]. . . . Two of the reasons are because we have two big-time defensive tackles and weve got two quarterbacks. . . . Those are two key positions. We are also doing better in the secondary.
(11) Our [kick] coverage [against South Carolina] was excellent. We are getting better and better on that. Thats some of those younger guys I was talking about.
(12) We are becoming a nastier football team [i.e. physically dominating and aggressive]. . . . When you see the opposing quarterback complaining to the referee about getting hit too late, you know that youve got that guy about where you want him. . . . Our offensive line is coming off the ball and hitting some folks now. While we arent the biggest or most talented up there, we are becoming a more nasty football team and I believe that we are going to continue doing that.
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