I just rewatched the first possession from Auburn

[PressVol]

My 2 cents.
i have heard a lot of complaining about how nuke "wasn't as fast as people said he was" b/c he should have scored on the first play. Rewatch it. Nuke makes a sick cut to get the ball outside. the only reason the safety made the play was b/c the sideline cut it off. if anything credit the safety for taking a perfect angle. otherwise nuke would not have been caught. He was getting past the safety. Also, the play started on the left hash. so he was working with a short field.
i have also heard a lot of complaining about the play calling on the first drive. I do not think it was a bad idea to try to get crompton some early easy passes.
take a look:
first pass, screen to hancock. 2 yard gain. Ok, not great but not horrible.
second pass, perfect pass to hit hancock on the slant. hancock DROPPED the pass. otherwise it would have been a first down.
third pass, it was 3rd and 8. blitzed from the right. this was the worst play of the three, however it was better to dump the ball off (which GJ dropped) than take a sack and give us a better shot at the field goal.
unfortunately, we all know how that turned out.
sorry to beat the dead horse but the play calling and QB execution was GOOD (at least here)

 

[Neyland Law Vol]

It will all come together saturday. VOLS WIN!

 

[Coastypop]

It will all come together saturday. VOLS WIN!

I believe.... I knowto trust any Lawyer k:

 

[andymuffins]

^I hope so cuz I'll be there.

 

[#10_Ainge_#10]

^I hope so cuz I'll be there.

Ditto that!

 

[UT's#1Fan]

My 2 cents.
i have heard a lot of complaining about how nuke "wasn't as fast as people said he was" b/c he should have scored on the first play. Rewatch it. Nuke makes a sick cut to get the ball outside. the only reason the safety made the play was b/c the sideline cut it off. if anything credit the safety for taking a perfect angle. otherwise nuke would not have been caught. He was getting past the safety. Also, the play started on the left hash. so he was working with a short field.
i have also heard a lot of complaining about the play calling on the first drive. I do not think it was a bad idea to try to get crompton some early easy passes.
take a look:
first pass, screen to hancock. 2 yard gain. Ok, not great but not horrible.
second pass, perfect pass to hit hancock on the slant. hancock DROPPED the pass. otherwise it would have been a first down.
third pass, it was 3rd and 8. blitzed from the right. this was the worst play of the three, however it was better to dump the ball off (which GJ dropped) than take a sack and give us a better shot at the field goal.
unfortunately, we all know how that turned out.
sorry to beat the dead horse but the play calling and QB execution was GOOD (at least here)

That pass was thrown infront of QH, too high, and way too fast.

see my previous posts from similar threads about that series...

First possession:
We know about the Nuke's great run.
1st pass play: Complete but ran nowhere, however, GJ totally missed an easy block. I'm not saying that Hancock goes for big gain but he does get 4-5 yards to the outside if GJ makes that block.
2nd pass play: Hancock needs to catch that, was it high and fast, yes but it did go right through his hands.
3rd pass play: GJ needs to make that catch, he doesn't get the first down if he makes it but at least it should be caught, and once he catches it provides mo' and he may slip the tackle. Also if the block was carried out on the first pass all he has to do catch the ball and not think about running and it is a first down.
Missed FG

I've seen lots of posts regarding poor play calling on the first series but none of these plays were a result of poor play calling but of poor execution. You can put players in the correct position but if they don't respond it's on the players. The more obvious "blame" should be on the players not on the play calling. Is execution a result of coaching, obviously; but you can teach a wr to block and if he doesn't do it well then it's still on him. I can't believe the coaches aren't teaching them to catch and block so I feel the conclusion is that our players aren't as talented as we thought or hoped. Coaching can only do so much, talent plays a huge roll on the outcome. Auburn, in general, was just more talented and we don't have the players yet to make up for these kinds of mistakes. Lastly many are looking at just one play and saying that play was called poorly. Well every play builds on each other. Once one play is missed it affects all the following plays. If this should have been a previous thread, E on me. Just MHO...

wow, The only play that was poor execution was the pass on first down, GJ should have made that block.

The 2nd down pass, was out of reach, too high, and too fast. And the 3rd down pass had NO chance to go for a 1st down, even if he caught it.

That series was 100% bad coaching. With the WORST QB in the SEC, why are we PASSING, 3 PLAYS IN A ROW WITH THE LEADING RUSHER IN THE SEC????

A thread I started about the series...

http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-football/81437-game-doomed-after-first-play.html#post2766840

 

[PressVol]

That pass was thrown infront of QH, too high, and way too fast.

it was a slant so it should be in front of him, it was at his head (not over it so not too high), and yea it was a hard throw, but if he had patty caked it to him it would have been picked. it was a perfect throw. in stride, ahead of the defender.

sorry about making a new thread. but i still believe that throw was SEC caliber.

 

[UT's#1Fan]

We agree to disagree. Any other series, that series of play calls might have been fine. But we should have gone with a proven commodity and ran the ball to a TD. Not waste a series on trying to get JC confidence up.

 

[Vision1966]

it was a slant so it should be in front of him, it was at his head (not over it so not too high), and yea it was a hard throw, but if he had patty caked it to him it would have been picked. it was a perfect throw. in stride, ahead of the defender.

sorry about making a new thread. but i still believe that throw was SEC caliber.

You're absolutely right. yes they were 3 passes but everyone of them hit the receiver in the hands. Whenyou are playing against a defense that was stacked to stop the run, and you call 3 passes that hit the receivers, that is not bad playcalling. That is good playcalling , bad execution.

 

[JZVOL]

^I hope so cuz I'll be there.

Ditto that!

Just make sure you stay until UTPD kicks you out.

 

[BradyvilleVol]

Just make sure you stay until UTPD kicks you out.

Amen

 

[tnman2591]

I believe.... I knowto trust any Lawyer k:

gotta ask. WTH is that in your avatar? ha

 

[UT's#1Fan]

You're absolutely right. yes they were 3 passes but everyone of them hit the receiver in the hands. Whenyou are playing against a defense that was stacked to stop the run, and you call 3 passes that hit the receivers, that is not bad playcalling. That is good playcalling , bad execution.

When determining what plays to call, shouldn't the coach consider which plays are more likely to be executed properly? Again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The bottom line is, the plays called resulted in a NO score. Which was a result of poor execution of even poorer play calling IMO.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

 

[sjt18]

it was a slant so it should be in front of him, it was at his head (not over it so not too high), and yea it was a hard throw, but if he had patty caked it to him it would have been picked. it was a perfect throw. in stride, ahead of the defender.

sorry about making a new thread. but i still believe that throw was SEC caliber.

You know... thanks to another poster I got to watch the replay and you are exactly right. That slant to Hancock absolutely could not have been thrown much better. Even if you buy #1's argument that it was high and hard... Hancock got both hands on it and the ball went between them.

I'm sorry, that's a play an SEC caliber WR has to make.

If he catches it he at least has a 1st down and might have split the defenders for a score.

 

[sjt18]

When determining what plays to call, shouldn't the coach consider which plays are more likely to be executed properly? Again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The bottom line is, the plays called resulted in a NO score. Which was a result of poor execution of even poorer play calling IMO.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

You just can't do it can you? You can't bring yourself to admit that JC executed the plays correctly, Kiffin called the right plays... and the WR's failed to get their jobs done.

 

[JOEY'S ALL VOL !!!]

You know... thanks to another poster I got to watch the replay and you are exactly right. That slant to Hancock absolutely could not have been thrown much better. Even if you buy #1's argument that it was high and hard... Hancock got both hands on it and the ball went between them.

I'm sorry, that's a play an SEC caliber WR has to make.

If he catches it he at least has a 1st down and might have split the defenders for a score.

You've got to be joking, that ball was like a Nolan Ryan fastball from 8 yards away, even the DB behind couldn't get his hands on it after the tip it was moving so fast. I'm all for being fair to JC but let's keep it real here, even Kesling and Priest who have bent over backwards to paint JC in a good light said the thing was an uncatchable bullet. Randy Moss might catch that ball 3 times out of 10 on his best day and Hancock ain't no Randy Moss.

 

[sjt18]

The ball was thrown EXACTLY how it needed to be thrown to get it in. It hit Hancock in both hands... in case you don't know, most college QB's throw the slant hard and ALL quality college WR's catch that ball... In fact, Hancock would usually catch that ball. If UT's WR's are only going to be expected to catch the "easy" ones then you should NEVER complain about the passing game again because it ISN'T going to get any better.

In fact after watching the most of the first half again... UT's WR's had dropped at LEAST 4 very catchable passes at the point where Crompton was 2/11.

I've criticized Crompton for specific things he's done wrong... but he DID NOT throw the ball poorly in the Auburn game on the whole. The difference between his early game and late game wasn't anything he did.... The receivers just started catching it better.

 

[JOEY'S ALL VOL !!!]

The ball was thrown EXACTLY how it needed to be thrown to get it in. It hit Hancock in both hands... in case you don't know, most college QB's throw the slant hard and ALL quality college WR's catch that ball... In fact, Hancock would usually catch that ball. If UT's WR's are only going to be expected to catch the "easy" ones then you should NEVER complain about the passing game again because it ISN'T going to get any better.

In fact after watching the most of the first half again... UT's WR's had dropped at LEAST 4 very catchable passes at the point where Crompton was 2/11.

I've criticized Crompton for specific things he's done wrong... but he DID NOT throw the ball poorly in the Auburn game on the whole. The difference between his early game and late game wasn't anything he did.... The receivers just started catching it better.

Nonsense, first of all it was a crossing route and not a slant and second if you believe the slant is thrown hard and high then you need to brush up on your football, the slant is thrown low into the body of the reciever to a A) keep said receiver from having to stretch out and leaving him vulnerable to getting killed and B) to avoid a tipped ball interception, it's designed to be thrown where the receiver and only the receiver can catch it. As a former QB I can assure you there is no pass other than a jump ball corner route that's coached to be thrown high, least of all a crossing route. JC didn't have to throw a high frozen rope to get it in there, Hancock had position and a good hard throw down in the body leading him a little would have done it and it didn't hit him in the hands it went through them before he could grasp the ball. Perhaps we are not watching the same replay ?

I do believe JC had some quality throws late though that he can build on, the 12 yard curl he threw like a heat seeking missle to GJ and the touch throw he hit Hancock with on 4th down were both balls any QB would have been proud of.

 

[mch317]

In case it hasn't been mentioned ... on that first play after the long gain, GJ (I believe) also missed a huge block and the DB slipped right by him to help make the tackle. It was the first thing I noticed. Had he made that block, we could have had a few more yards on that 2 yard screen to Hancock.

Par for the course.

 

[JOEY'S ALL VOL !!!]

The ball was thrown EXACTLY how it needed to be thrown to get it in. It hit Hancock in both hands... in case you don't know, most college QB's throw the slant hard and ALL quality college WR's catch that ball... In fact, Hancock would usually catch that ball. If UT's WR's are only going to be expected to catch the "easy" ones then you should NEVER complain about the passing game again because it ISN'T going to get any better.

In fact after watching the most of the first half again... UT's WR's had dropped at LEAST 4 very catchable passes at the point where Crompton was 2/11.

I've criticized Crompton for specific things he's done wrong... but he DID NOT throw the ball poorly in the Auburn game on the whole. The difference between his early game and late game wasn't anything he did.... The receivers just started catching it better.

That I agree on completely.

 

[jokerama]

My 2 cents.
i have heard a lot of complaining about how nuke "wasn't as fast as people said he was" b/c he should have scored on the first play. Rewatch it. Nuke makes a sick cut to get the ball outside. the only reason the safety made the play was b/c the sideline cut it off. if anything credit the safety for taking a perfect angle. otherwise nuke would not have been caught. He was getting past the safety. Also, the play started on the left hash. so he was working with a short field.
i have also heard a lot of complaining about the play calling on the first drive. I do not think it was a bad idea to try to get crompton some early easy passes.
take a look:
first pass, screen to hancock. 2 yard gain. Ok, not great but not horrible.
second pass, perfect pass to hit hancock on the slant. hancock DROPPED the pass. otherwise it would have been a first down.
third pass, it was 3rd and 8. blitzed from the right. this was the worst play of the three, however it was better to dump the ball off (which GJ dropped) than take a sack and give us a better shot at the field goal.
unfortunately, we all know how that turned out.
sorry to beat the dead horse but the play calling and QB execution was GOOD (at least here)

New coach New season I like your optimism

 

[stlouie52]

Nonsense, first of all it was a crossing route and not a slant and second if you believe the slant is thrown hard and high then you need to brush up on your football, the slant is thrown low into the body of the reciever to a A) keep said receiver from having to stretch out and leaving him vulnerable to getting killed and B) to avoid a tipped ball interception, it's designed to be thrown where the receiver and only the receiver can catch it. As a former QB I can assure you there is no pass other than a jump ball corner route that's coached to be thrown high, least of all a crossing route. JC didn't have to throw a high frozen rope to get it in there, Hancock had position and a good hard throw down in the body leading him a little would have done it and it didn't hit him in the hands it went through them before he could grasp the ball. Perhaps we are not watching the same replay ?

I do believe JC had some quality throws late though that he can build on, the 12 yard curl he threw like a heat seeking missle to GJ and the touch throw he hit Hancock with on 4th down were both balls any QB would have been proud of.

I don't feel like he necessaeily said the slant needs to be thrown hard and high, however, if we are bringing out past playing times, in middle school my coach told me if it hits your hands you catch it, and these are D1 receivers. Crompton played servicable(IMO, 26-43 had drop been caught which wouldve led to keeping Au's offense off field) against AU which may hurt me the worst, we are in the bottom 5 of talent. I still feel like we can win this weekend's game though, if not, I still enjoy being a UT student and feel like I'll have at least one fun year, (I'm a sophmore planning on going to grad school,4-5 more years) someone else give me some optimism eh. This weekend will be wild

 

[sjt18]

Nonsense, first of all it was a crossing route and not a slant

Just watched it last night Joey and I know the difference. If it was a crossing route then he hit him right out of a very, very poor cut.

and second if you believe the slant is thrown hard and high then you need to brush up on your football,

The ball was shoulder high and went between Hancock's hands in heavy traffic. If that's Meachem or Swain... we're sitting here talking about the great TD pass Crompton threw to open the game.

the slant is thrown low into the body of the reciever

Watch it again. The ball wasn't that high. He definitely wasn't extended or exposes.

As a former QB I can assure you there is no pass other than a jump ball corner route that's coached to be thrown high, least of all a crossing route.

as a former QB you should be able to recognize a slant and see when a chest to should high ball goes right between the WR's hands. You can even tell from Hancock's reaction after the play that HE thought he should have caught it.

Perhaps we are not watching the same replay ?

Must not be if you think that's not a catch an SEC caliber WR should make 99% of the time.

I do believe JC had some quality throws late though that he can build on, the 12 yard curl he threw like a heat seeking missle to GJ and the touch throw he hit Hancock with on 4th down were both balls any QB would have been proud of.

As a QB and even presumably one that wanted to throw every ball perfect... would you not agree that any pass that hits a WR in the hands or chest and does not require them to wildly contort their body should be caught?

That slant (or crossing route if you please) was by no means any hotter than passes being thrown by Tebow, Snead, Mallett, the LSU kid, or even Garcia... that THEIR receivers are making plays on.