Jimmy's and Joe's, X's and O's, and the road. Lessons from Bama

[ptcarter]

The old saying "It's not X's and O's, it's Jimmy's and Joes" came to mind. Last night was revealing.
1) Jimmy's and Joes: I'm not convinced Bama is a team that won this game by play calling. A well rounded team has a balanced run/pass combination and Bama was terrible running the ball. The 5 star talent they have though (and it only takes a handful) is enough to give an advantage. In Tennessee fashion, opposing players with previous mediocre performaces play at heisman levels. Ryan Williams made some sick catches and the passes were accurate.

You can go back to 2022 and we did that to the with Hooker/Hyatt/McCoy etc. Our weakness at Jimmy's and Joes on this team is the secondary. Of course the lopsided run/pass numbers for Bama was because they didn't need the run. They predicted this would be a turkey shoot in our secondary and they weren't wrong. Also it would have been interesting to see a little more of Bishop in the first half. Not knocking Peyton Lewis, but he doesn't have the same horsepower.

2) X's and O's: Goes without saying the last minute of the half was awful. One bad play does not define a team, but this was a backbreaker that could have been avoided. Maybe an earlier timeout to give a chance for another play, and run instead of pass. As bad as it was, if, for some reason it had worked - we'd have cigar breath this morning. But the fact it didn't revealed a pretty big flaw. Similar to the play just before the missed field goal against Georgia. Instead of cool, calm and collected - the offense unnecsarily gets put in panic mode and bad things happen.

3) The Road: I'm still behind Heupel - he's light years ahead of Dooley, Jones and Pruitt. The win at Oklahama last season was a good one, beyond that, it's been frustrating the games we should have won on the road and didn't. Not only didn't but being blown out. Georgia, Florida, Missouri, South Carolina and now this Bama game have been frustrating. We can't win in those stadiums even with talent, and it's a disturbing trend. Starting to wonder about the Swamp this year, yet again.

Synopis: Don't give up on this team. We were still "in it" late in the third quarter. Give back a couple of plays and this game could easily had a momentum shift that takes the crowd out. We aren't as bad as we looked, and honestly - they aren't as good as they looked. And it's sad to think we probably won't make the playoffs, but Vanderbilt will.

 

[TikiVol]

Tackling was amazingly bad. Can’t win big games with that softness. I hope we get our wallet out for portal play. Freshmen won’t close the gap for years. Our recruiting isn’t competitive enough to not work harder in the portal. We need players.

 

[volfan411]

I know no one wants to hear it but the loss last night was on the offense. The defense came into the game giving up an average of 36 PPG in SEC play and last night only gave up 28 points and 7 of those points were after the safety where the offense put them in a tough spot.

The offense came into averaging 38 PPG and basically laid an egg last night and JA gifting them 9 points was really the difference in the game. I know Joey was a little dinged last night but he has to play better going forward if this team has a chance to make playoffs.

 

[uncle chewii]

We gave 9 points to Alabama we should have given and we kill ourselves with dumb penalties. This loss is on all. We have the Jimmie's and Joe's to be a great team. The coaches have to get the penalties cleaned up. We need corners to cover a pass on defense and we would be ok. The pick six was totally on Joey as he should have thrown it over the shoulder and not under. If it wasn't for that and the safety it's pretty much a tie ball game. We just need to clean up the stupid mistakes. As far as Vandy goes they ain't making the playoffs TN will make sure little brother is put in his place.

 

[savannahfan]

The old saying "It's not X's and O's, it's Jimmy's and Joes" came to mind. Last night was revealing.
1) Jimmy's and Joes: I'm not convinced Bama is a team that won this game by play calling. A well rounded team has a balanced run/pass combination and Bama was terrible running the ball. The 5 star talent they have though (and it only takes a handful) is enough to give an advantage. In Tennessee fashion, opposing players with previous mediocre performaces play at heisman levels. Ryan Williams made some sick catches and the passes were accurate.

You can go back to 2022 and we did that to the with Hooker/Hyatt/McCoy etc. Our weakness at Jimmy's and Joes on this team is the secondary. Of course the lopsided run/pass numbers for Bama was because they didn't need the run. They predicted this would be a turkey shoot in our secondary and they weren't wrong. Also it would have been interesting to see a little more of Bishop in the first half. Not knocking Peyton Lewis, but he doesn't have the same horsepower.

2) X's and O's: Goes without saying the last minute of the half was awful. One bad play does not define a team, but this was a backbreaker that could have been avoided. Maybe an earlier timeout to give a chance for another play, and run instead of pass. As bad as it was, if, for some reason it had worked - we'd have cigar breath this morning. But the fact it didn't revealed a pretty big flaw. Similar to the play just before the missed field goal against Georgia. Instead of cool, calm and collected - the offense unnecsarily gets put in panic mode and bad things happen.

3) The Road: I'm still behind Heupel - he's light years ahead of Dooley, Jones and Pruitt. The win at Oklahama last season was a good one, beyond that, it's been frustrating the games we should have won on the road and didn't. Not only didn't but being blown out. Georgia, Florida, Missouri, South Carolina and now this Bama game have been frustrating. We can't win in those stadiums even with talent, and it's a disturbing trend. Starting to wonder about the Swamp this year, yet again.

Synopis: Don't give up on this team. We were still "in it" late in the third quarter. Give back a couple of plays and this game could easily had a momentum shift that takes the crowd out. We aren't as bad as we looked, and honestly - they aren't as good as they looked. And it's sad to think we probably won't make the playoffs, but Vanderbilt will.

Picking out games to worry about, BS. For this team, figure what games they might win for the remainder of this season.

 

[savannahfan]

Tackling was amazingly bad. Can’t win big games with that softness. I hope we get our wallet out for portal play. Freshmen won’t close the gap for years. Our recruiting isn’t competitive enough to not work harder in the portal. We need players.

Yes, we need players. BUT, it looks like we need someone to find them. I don't mean the "standout" I mean the guys who others are finding at other levels.
And for god's sake, find the guys with SPEED!!! I am really tired of year in and year out hearing about how slow our players are.

 

[AdoptedVOL]

Tackling was amazingly bad. Can’t win big games with that softness. I hope we get our wallet out for portal play. Freshmen won’t close the gap for years. Our recruiting isn’t competitive enough to not work harder in the portal. We need players.

I’m not convinced money is the problem at TN.



By some reports, TN is at $20 - $25 million.

 

[TikiVol]

I’m not convinced money is the problem at TN.

View attachment 782797

By some reports, TN is at $20 - $25 million.
View attachment 782798

That might be more concerning!

 

[74charger]

We are as bad as we looked at times. Some of the poor tackling efforts were embarrassing.

The old saying "It's not X's and O's, it's Jimmy's and Joes" came to mind. Last night was revealing.
1) Jimmy's and Joes: I'm not convinced Bama is a team that won this game by play calling. A well rounded team has a balanced run/pass combination and Bama was terrible running the ball. The 5 star talent they have though (and it only takes a handful) is enough to give an advantage. In Tennessee fashion, opposing players with previous mediocre performaces play at heisman levels. Ryan Williams made some sick catches and the passes were accurate.

You can go back to 2022 and we did that to the with Hooker/Hyatt/McCoy etc. Our weakness at Jimmy's and Joes on this team is the secondary. Of course the lopsided run/pass numbers for Bama was because they didn't need the run. They predicted this would be a turkey shoot in our secondary and they weren't wrong. Also it would have been interesting to see a little more of Bishop in the first half. Not knocking Peyton Lewis, but he doesn't have the same horsepower.

2) X's and O's: Goes without saying the last minute of the half was awful. One bad play does not define a team, but this was a backbreaker that could have been avoided. Maybe an earlier timeout to give a chance for another play, and run instead of pass. As bad as it was, if, for some reason it had worked - we'd have cigar breath this morning. But the fact it didn't revealed a pretty big flaw. Similar to the play just before the missed field goal against Georgia. Instead of cool, calm and collected - the offense unnecsarily gets put in panic mode and bad things happen.

3) The Road: I'm still behind Heupel - he's light years ahead of Dooley, Jones and Pruitt. The win at Oklahama last season was a good one, beyond that, it's been frustrating the games we should have won on the road and didn't. Not only didn't but being blown out. Georgia, Florida, Missouri, South Carolina and now this Bama game have been frustrating. We can't win in those stadiums even with talent, and it's a disturbing trend. Starting to wonder about the Swamp this year, yet again.

Synopis: Don't give up on this team. We were still "in it" late in the third quarter. Give back a couple of plays and this game could easily had a momentum shift that takes the crowd out. We aren't as bad as we looked, and honestly - they aren't as good as they looked. And it's sad to think we probably won't make the playoffs, but Vanderbilt will

 

[SicEmSmokey33]

I know no one wants to hear it but the loss last night was on the offense. The defense came into the game giving up an average of 36 PPG in SEC play and last night only gave up 28 points and 7 of those points were after the safety where the offense put them in a tough spot.

The offense came into averaging 38 PPG and basically laid an egg last night and JA gifting them 9 points was really the difference in the game. I know Joey was a little dinged last night but he has to play better going forward if this team has a chance to make playoffs.

Offense didn't play well for sure but the defense gave up touchdowns on drives of 90 and 99 yards, can't happen and beat good teams.

 

[casual-observer]

I also believe that CJH plays to statistics. And while the results are statistically decent seasons, I’m beginning to agree with some other posters that he’s going to have to evolve, or get a killer/creative instinct in order to win big games.

I still wouldn’t trade him for any other coach in the nation. I just want to see him and the staff take that next step.

 

[volfan411]

Offense didn't play well for sure but the defense gave up touchdowns on drives of 90 and 99 yards, can't happen and beat good teams.

But they still held Bama to 8 points below what we have been averaging in SEC play. Had you told me before kickoff the defense would only give up 28 points I would have guaranteed a win.

 

[Orange_Vol1321]

Tackling was amazingly bad. Can’t win big games with that softness. I hope we get our wallet out for portal play. Freshmen won’t close the gap for years. Our recruiting isn’t competitive enough to not work harder in the portal. We need players.

Recruiting is dead, now you need accountants. With increased TV revenue, higher ticket prices there's no excuse for not having a defense a lot better than we saw last night.

Missouri was in Simpsons face all game long last week, we couldn't even hurry him last night.

 

[SicEmSmokey33]

But they still held Bama to 8 points below what we have been averaging in SEC play. Had you told me before kickoff the defense would only give up 28 points I would have guaranteed a win.

I can see that too but when you get them in the hole you gotta stop them and give the offense the ball in good field position. Bama has had trouble protecting the qb all year and we got zero pressure. Still dont understand why in obvious passing situation you have zero WR in the game, made it easy to cover.

 

[Butch s]

The old saying "It's not X's and O's, it's Jimmy's and Joes" came to mind. Last night was revealing.
1) Jimmy's and Joes: I'm not convinced Bama is a team that won this game by play calling. A well rounded team has a balanced run/pass combination and Bama was terrible running the ball. The 5 star talent they have though (and it only takes a handful) is enough to give an advantage. In Tennessee fashion, opposing players with previous mediocre performaces play at heisman levels. Ryan Williams made some sick catches and the passes were accurate.

You can go back to 2022 and we did that to the with Hooker/Hyatt/McCoy etc. Our weakness at Jimmy's and Joes on this team is the secondary. Of course the lopsided run/pass numbers for Bama was because they didn't need the run. They predicted this would be a turkey shoot in our secondary and they weren't wrong. Also it would have been interesting to see a little more of Bishop in the first half. Not knocking Peyton Lewis, but he doesn't have the same horsepower.

2) X's and O's: Goes without saying the last minute of the half was awful. One bad play does not define a team, but this was a backbreaker that could have been avoided. Maybe an earlier timeout to give a chance for another play, and run instead of pass. As bad as it was, if, for some reason it had worked - we'd have cigar breath this morning. But the fact it didn't revealed a pretty big flaw. Similar to the play just before the missed field goal against Georgia. Instead of cool, calm and collected - the offense unnecsarily gets put in panic mode and bad things happen.

3) The Road: I'm still behind Heupel - he's light years ahead of Dooley, Jones and Pruitt. The win at Oklahama last season was a good one, beyond that, it's been frustrating the games we should have won on the road and didn't. Not only didn't but being blown out. Georgia, Florida, Missouri, South Carolina and now this Bama game have been frustrating. We can't win in those stadiums even with talent, and it's a disturbing trend. Starting to wonder about the Swamp this year, yet again.

Synopis: Don't give up on this team. We were still "in it" late in the third quarter. Give back a couple of plays and this game could easily had a momentum shift that takes the crowd out. We aren't as bad as we looked, and honestly - they aren't as good as they looked. And it's sad to think we probably won't make the playoffs, but Vanderbilt will.

Agree except for. On defense we ARE as bad as we look

 

[arkyvol]

How many times were the Vols inside the five and came away with zip? (Not counting that 99 yard pick-6)