Interior Defense Weakness

#102
#102
sammy80 said:
Didn’t do either one of those teams any good first week-both lost!
I don’t think our size is the issue with our DL….it really is the health.
With Hobbs and Moi out we have a much smaller rotation…Eason playing 62 plays is a concern….I think we will see some of our younger players sooner than planned…I think we will love Utley and Campbell…,,I just what to see them when they have the bodies built to handle the sec schedule!!
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They can go hand in hand. Getting banged on and being small can take its toll and injuries can occur due to it....As the season wears on and the competition gets tougher it can really show. In boxing the lightweights don't compete against the heavy weights for the same reasons.

Unless I've missed it since Heupel has been here.....I never hear about our S&C program. I did see us with our shirts off pregame of the OSU game....It wasn't pretty for the most part. Lol
 
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#103
#103
Brave Volunteer said:
You're kidding, right? Texas' D-Line is absolutely stacked! Also go back and watch the Clemson/LSU game again. Their D-lines are on a completely different level to ours. I dont expect Henderson and Haynesworth every year, but we should be getting enough size for that position group to not have to be dealing with this issue everytime we graduate players or they go pro.
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They signed the DL from Syracuse late in the spring cause they saw they were short handed there after spring. Tennessee tried to get him but Texas outbid us I guess.

You should get in recruiting if you think getting DTs is easy. You’d make millions.
 
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#104
#104
TMvol10 said:
Our DLine, specifically DTs, are small. They just are. This can’t be disputed. No one is saying that means they suck. Will it come back to hurt us? That remains to be seen. I do feel like a number of our SEC opponents this year will probably take advantage of it though. I hope I’m wrong. Just really need the guys we do have to get healthy (Moi and Hobbs).
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Not sure what the staff wants size wise at DT or LB for that matter, but when I watched that Syracuse RB pound us between the tackles, it made me long for a thick, "thumper" type LB in the middle of the field. A guy like Pili would be most welcome in situations like that I suspect? Then again those types might be a liability in coverage? Dunno. I'm no coach, but I like to pretend I could have been.
 
#105
#105
Tnphil said:
They can go hand in hand. Getting banged on and being small can take its toll and injuries can occur do to it....As the season wears on and the competition gets tougher it can really show. In boxing the lightweights don't compete against the heavy weights for the same reasons.

Unless I've missed it since Heupel has been here.....I never hear about our S&C program. I did see us with our shirts off pregame of the OSU game....It wasn't pretty for the most part. Lol
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Is there testing these days? I can recall some team photos during Fulmer's time and those dudes were jacked. Clearly had some mainlining of deer antler spray going on....among other chemicals I suspect.
 
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#106
#106
volfanstuckinga said:
2 observations....

1. I felt like we had a WAY too many injuries. And it seems to happen often. That bothers me....

2. Some people on this thread would be a lot of fun at parties.....
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I wasn't able to catch the game love, but I read the game thread. Expected us to look like garbage when I watched the replay. We had a few glitches here and there, but we weren't nearly as bad as some posts indicated. Heck, even the refs weren't all that bad either. The injuries are a concern/problem, but this staff chose not to dig deep into the portal so they will sink or swim with these recruits they've hung their hats on...for better or worse.
 
#108
#108
CAVPUT said:
Is there testing these days? I can recall some team photos during Fulmer's time and those dudes were jacked. Clearly had some mainlining of deer antler spray going on....among other chemicals I suspect.
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There was testing several years ago when my son played D1 baseball. Pre season & again when post season started.
 
#110
#110
madbamahater said:
Syracuse did a great job of exploiting the interior defensive line. I'm afraid this is going to rear its ugly head against really good competition. I'm trying to figure out why Tennessee is so thin there and appear to be way undersized. If you cannot win the interior line of scrimmage you have absolutely no chance in the SEC.
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Not just the interior of the defensive line, but it's alarming how open the middle of the field is too.
 
#114
#114
VawlIn said:
That would be an excuse if we had just hit the portal for a bunch of guys in our front 6. These are guys that have played for the same staff their entire college career though. Not sure if it was laziness or lack of S&C but they have to lock on QUICKLY. Because Georgia comes to town in 2 weeks and their rushing attack is going to be lethal this year
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What makes you think UGAs running game will be any better than ours?
 
#116
#116
I left this thread for 24 hours and it went full crazy. Just to summarize all previous posts...
1. Statistically we kicked ass on the the DL.
2. We have injuries on the Defensive Front.
3. Not sure why we played every single defensive lineman on the roster Saturday. It looked like open tryouts. Some guys played good, others not so much.
4. Trust Rodney Garner, he has proven that he can do more with less.

Is that a pretty good summary? Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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#117
#117
madbamahater said:
Syracuse did a great job of exploiting the interior defensive line. I'm afraid this is going to rear its ugly head against really good competition. I'm trying to figure out why Tennessee is so thin there and appear to be way undersized. If you cannot win the interior line of scrimmage you have absolutely no chance in the SEC.
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Not worried at all at this point. Syracuse had minimal yards on the ground at halftime. One we got the big second half lead we did have a letdown. But we also had a few get dinged up and we went pretty deep into the rotation. Hobbs will be back soon on the inside as well. Couple that with Syracuse having good strong runner at tailback and it being the first game is no reason to panic on the D. Also with a big lead them running wasn’t going get them back into the game. And I will add we have 2 freshman at DT that are also going to add a little depth inside as the year goes. I maintain the DL will still be strong. What I am impressed by is our O-Line while having to move personnel around looked like a well oiled machine most of the time. If we take all games seriously and nothing for granted this could be a very exciting year. Got to stay focused and not get caught up in social media hype and hoopla. Stay focused and on a mission every week. GBO
 
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#118
#118
Orange Navy said:
I left this thread for 24 hours and it went full crazy. Just to summarize all previous posts...
1. Statistically we kicked ass on the the DL.
2. We have injuries on the Defensive Front.
3. Not sure why we played every single defensive lineman on the roster Saturday. It looked like open tryouts. Some guys played good, others not so much.
4. Trust Rodney Garner, he has proven that he can do more with less.

Is that a pretty good summary? Correct me if I'm wrong.
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On number 3 you answered it with number 2 because some got dinged up. And getting the others experience when we had the game in control was a smart thing to do. And finally your overall summary is pretty good for sure. This D will win or aid us in some victories this fall. I like our offense as well. This O-Line has potential to be very good if they keep working hard. GBO
 
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#119
#119
Woodlawn VOL said:
On number 3 you answered it with number 2 because some got dinged up. And getting the others experience when we had the game in control was a smart thing to do. And finally your overall summary is pretty good for sure. This D will win or aid us in some victories this fall. I like our offense as well. This O-Line has potential to be very good if they keep working hard. GBO
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Thanks for the affirmation, but...
Was the game ever in control? I was nervous the whole time. Hopefully, we will have shorter DL rotation before we play Georgia.
 
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#120
#120
Orange Navy said:
Thanks for the affirmation, but...
Was the game ever in control? I was nervous the whole time. Hopefully, we will have shorter DL rotation before we play Georgia.
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The way our offense was moving the ball and we were up 12-18 points at least the entire second half. Syracuse wasn’t going to score fast enough to score enough running the ball. We didn’t play our best D I agree but it’s the first game of the season and most coaches just want to get the win without many injuries and get out. I am actually glad we were able to let so many play up front it will only help down the road. The second half I get it, but some of it was going deep into the rotation in the second half. And they never did stop our offense, we stopped ourselves a time or 2. And really while they moved the ball some especially on the ground they were never within a score of catching us nor were we ever in danger of it happening. I am not worried about this D, as long as we don’t have severe injuries across this front. This front has big time talent and I stand by that. GBO
 
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#121
#121
Brave Volunteer said:
Well, based on the games I watched this weekend, Texas, OSU, Georgia, Miami, Clemson, FSU, Alabama, etc hasn't seemed to have trouble getting big uglies on the D-Line.

And you say its not a north and south game but thats exactly how Michigan won a natty in 2023. And we HAD the big beefy guys just last year in Lott, Simmons, and Thomas. We arent that far removed from the Henderson/Haynesworth era. If we face a team with an elite downhill running offense this year, we are screwed.
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Lott weighed 291. Henderson and Hayneworth played here almost 25 years ago.

And I disagree with the notion entirely that we are struggling to recruit defensive linemen
 
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#122
#122
Brave Volunteer said:
You're kidding, right? Texas' D-Line is absolutely stacked! Also go back and watch the Clemson/LSU game again. Their D-lines are on a completely different level to ours. I dont expect Henderson and Haynesworth every year, but we should be getting enough size for that position group to not have to be dealing with this issue everytime we graduate players or they go pro.
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We have enough size.
 
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