Just my observations

#1
MRobVFL

MRobVFL

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#1
After reaching some of the game on the replay...

I'm not as upset as I was in the moment. Yes, this was an ugly game. Nearly dooleyesque at times even.

However some of the things I can live with:

First of all, our montra this year is to find those 25 points that we couldn't last year. We scored 17 unanswered points tonight, from behind... to win. They came late, they came ugly, and against an inferior team... but we faced the adversity and for a change, we found a way to win, instead of finding a way to lose certain victory.

The defense did their part.
No, it wasn't that crushing, outstanding D that we've been locking our chops in anticipation to see, but when it was said and done the d shut them out through the 2nd half and OT. If someone said that Appy ST was gonna score 2 tds in basically 5 quarters... well that sounds about right. Good job D.

Lots of film for the team to look at obviously and I trust that Shop will coach them up on those sweeps and option plays.

I wasnt sure about Abernathy being named starting safety, but he showed up tonight and was probably our most solid player by a long shot.



Our offense is abysmal though. We have the worst, most unimaginative play calling ive ever seen, on any level.

It was like they forgot the identity they carved out last year... I believe Dobbs wanted to prove the naysayers wrong and show that he could be a consistent passer. He can not. He has his moments where he can make some good throws, but he cant do it all night long.

Where was Kamara? Just not enough touches for such an electric player.

Hopefully next week we go back to that deadly 3 man backfield of Hurd the brusier, kamara the elusive change up and the wildcard Dobbs.

Take that, and build on few bright spots on our miniscule pass game... Malone can be a deep threat. We've seen it. P. Williams will be solid. We know what J. Smith is... through end the tight ends and j. Jennings and the talent is there...

It really comes down to the o line. For God's sake, here we go again. I felt like J.Jones proved he needs to be on the field... puzzling. C. Thomas is a basket case...

I think, if we fix the o line, the rest of the o will fall into place.
 
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#2
#2
Really hoping Preston Williams is okay. He didn't look so well after the game. I don't understand why we didn't mix up Hurd and Kamara more. That makes no sense to me. For Kamara to only have 6 carries is rediculous. I really hope debord spends a lot more time watching film and preparing this week. Our offense is going to have to improve or we won't be competitive when sec play comes around.
 
#3
#3
gobraves101035 said:
Really hoping Preston Williams is okay. He didn't look so well after the game. I don't understand why we didn't mix up Hurd and Kamara more. That makes no sense to me. For Kamara to only have 6 carries is rediculous. I really hope debord spends a lot more time watching film and preparing this week. Our offense is going to have to improve or we won't be competitive when sec play comes around.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I hope with Preston it was just the old injury nagging him after a long game.
 
#4
#4
When Dobbs had time to throw, he actually made plays through the air imo. So I'm not going to hate on Dobbs passing yet. O-line just didnt help him out any.
 
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#5
#5
UTK said:
When Dobbs had time to throw, he actually made plays through the air imo. So I'm not going to hate on Dobbs passing yet. O-line just didnt help him out any.
Click to expand...

There were several times when Dobbs had plenty of time to throw and he made horrible decisions. If Dobbs first read isn't there he freaks out. His first read is usually a screen pass or wheel route.
 
#6
#6
gobraves101035 said:
There were several times when Dobbs had plenty of time to throw and he made horrible decisions. If Dobbs first read isn't there he freaks out. His first read is usually a screen pass or wheel route.
Click to expand...

The only times I can recall he made horrible decisions was when he was being chased by 4 or 5 defensive players lmao. but you're probably right. I don't feel like watching the game again. haha
 
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#7
#7
UTK said:
The only times I can recall he made horrible decisions was when he was being chased by 4 or 5 defensive players lmao. but you're probably right. I don't feel like watching the game again. haha
Click to expand...

Either way the whole offense looked horrible lol.
 
#10
#10
Yes we performed less than decent, but no one is talking about how good of a team App State is. 11-2 last year, and the guys are fast on offense and D. I was at the game so I saw firsthand.

Yes we played bad, but our guys didn't put App State in our backfield so they could pressure/hurry/sack Dobbs, did they?

The defense played great even after losing one of their captains and key tacklers in JRM, but even after the whole game of playing like crap we still managed to "find a way to win" as they say.

Looking forward for next week to see the adjustments. We also will have a few extra practices since we just played a Thursday night game
 
#11
#11
The only offensive coaches that deserve to return next year are RB and TE. Line has been subpar under Mahoney every year -- inexperience and youth can no longer be the excuse in year 4. The "DeBoring" offense has outlived its usefulness. We graduate or lose to the pros the entire backfield so it could be a good time to start from scratch with a better offensive scheme (and staff)
 
#14
#14
Maybe it's just me but I thought the passing game looked improved tonight apart from a couple poor throws and Dobbs missing a man wide open down the middle
 
#15
#15
Forgot to mention... a huge thanks to Trevose Daniel for saving a touchdown on that punt where he out kicked the coverage in the 4th.

Game saving tackle.
 
#16
#16
J.Jones and C.Hall need to be on that o-line. I remember the run game improved a lot with the inclusion of Hall to the o-line last year.
 
#18
#18
I'll add a couple (mainly beyotching):

Dobbs is a very average passer with pressure. He's pretty good throwing from the pocket, but the O-Line let him down. Then when he rolls out his accuracy is bad. When on the move he might complete passes for a decent average, but he rarely puts the ball in the best spot for the receivers to pile up YAC. Dobbs' game is running the ball. But QBs in the SEC get destroyed if they run a lot but are average at passing.

App State was pretty bush league with all of the "cramps" stopping play when TN was on offense. They exploited the rule and just might have facilitated the rules committee addressing it.

I blame Butch for App State's other strategy to milk the clock. Butch can not run a fast paced offense effectively while substituting ON EVERY FREAKING PLAY. App State was prepared for this and SLOWLY put in their sub(s) that the rules allow defenses to do to counter when offenses sub. The 40 second clock was constantly run down to 20-25 seconds (and as a result the game clock was milked BY THE APP STATE DEFENSE) before the ref allowed the ball to be snapped on every substitution. A legit hurry up offense snaps the ball at around 35 seconds on the PC. Butch was out coached. When Oregon ran TN and Butch into the ground about 3 years ago, were they subbing while running their fast paced offense?

Really need to be able to go under center with a couple of hosses in the backfield when situations like 1st and goal from the 4 occur.

Survive and advance. TN in 1998 pulled two games out of their butt... Syracuse 4th down pass interference and Stoerner's Arky fumble.

Butch: D minus
Dobbs: C minus/D plus

Come on Butch. You make way too much $$$ to manage games this horribly.

On the plus side, hopefully this is a wake up call. We will find out a week from Saturday.
 
Last edited:
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#20
#20
UTK said:
When Dobbs had time to throw, he actually made plays through the air imo. So I'm not going to hate on Dobbs passing yet. O-line just didnt help him out any.
Click to expand...

Yeah, a lot of those times, App state had guys coming free on a jailbreak. I'm not going to put that all on Dobbs
 
#21
#21
One thing I noticed early and throughout the game is the lack of aggressiveness across the Oline and on the perimeter blocking by the WR's. Last year the WR's and Oline would continue their blocks and pursuit blocking down field until the whistle was blown. Last night I saw many players standing and watching the play unfold in front of them.
I hope this game was an aberration and that aggressiveness returns next week and continues through January.
The other glaring difference I saw was the defense wasn't swarming to the ball carrier. It almost seems as if the players and coaches were not expecting App State to rare back and punch them in the mouth. The Vols better find that aggressiveness this week in practice otherwise we won't be so lucky.
 
#22
#22
MRobVFL said:
After reaching some of the game on the replay...

I'm not as upset as I was in the moment. Yes, this was an ugly game. Nearly dooleyesque at times even.

However some of the things I can live with:

First of all, our montra this year is to find those 25 points that we couldn't last year. We scored 17 unanswered points tonight, from behind... to win. They came late, they came ugly, and against an inferior team... but we faced the adversity and for a change, we found a way to win, instead of finding a way to lose certain victory.

The defense did their part.
No, it wasn't that crushing, outstanding D that we've been locking our chops in anticipation to see, but when it was said and done the d shut them out through the 2nd half and OT. If someone said that Appy ST was gonna score 2 tds in basically 5 quarters... well that sounds about right. Good job D.

Lots of film for the team to look at obviously and I trust that Shop will coach them up on those sweeps and option plays.

I wasnt sure about Abernathy being named starting safety, but he showed up tonight and was probably our most solid player by a long shot.



Our offense is abysmal though. We have the worst, most unimaginative play calling ive ever seen, on any level.

It was like they forgot the identity they carved out last year... I believe Dobbs wanted to prove the naysayers wrong and show that he could be a consistent passer. He can not. He has his moments where he can make some good throws, but he cant do it all night long.

Where was Kamara? Just not enough touches for such an electric player.

Hopefully next week we go back to that deadly 3 man backfield of Hurd the brusier, kamara the elusive change up and the wildcard Dobbs.

Take that, and build on few bright spots on our miniscule pass game... Malone can be a deep threat. We've seen it. P. Williams will be solid. We know what J. Smith is... through end the tight ends and j. Jennings and the talent is there...

It really comes down to the o line. For God's sake, here we go again. I felt like J.Jones proved he needs to be on the field... puzzling. C. Thomas is a basket case...

I think, if we fix the o line, the rest of the o will fall into place.
Click to expand...


Dobbs wanted to prove the naysayers wrong and show he can be a consistent passer?? You realize that Dobbs doesn't call his own plays, especially passing plays downfield, right?
 
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#23
#23
My observations.. We sub out too many people.. Call the same plays over and over again.. Dobbs is still Dobbs. He's going to beat you with his legs 9 out of 10 times. Didn't use him hardly at all last night.. Too many jail break rushes kept him moving all night. (Oline stunk it up pretty good).. This offense still looks mickey mouse.. They won't win the SEC with that stuff. Never have liked the scheme and like it even less after last night. Looked uninterested, ill prepared, and were damn lucky they didn't get beat. Had to have several breaks and some missed field goals and a extra point to win.. They flat outplayed us just about all night.
 
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