Matchup Against Miss State

#1
FredWhite2

FredWhite2

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#1
This week's game against MS State will be a pivotal game for our team going forward for the rest of the season. Coming off of a bye week, we should be well rested and ready to go take care of business down in Starkville.


OFFENSE:

Bray has got to take better care of the football. It's plain and simple we aren't good enough to have 4 turnovers from our starting qb and win the game against a quality opponent. He's making some good throws, but needs to put an entire game together against a good team and show leadership down the stretch when the going gets tough to really take over this team.


Neal is starting to reach his potential under coach Jay Graham and hopefully can continue to improve going forward as we need to be balanced on offense. Lane shows spurts but just lacks that top end speed needed to compete at this level IMO. He has good vision and can catch the ball well out of the backfield, but he is still too inconsistent and slow to be an every down guy for us. Young needs to stick to special teams as Q. Watson continues to learn the scheme and get better to give us a speed back.


Rivera has played well this year don't get me wrong, but it'd be nice to see him finally have a true breakout game and this one against the bulldogs presents that opportunity with their focus on our outside threats in Hunter and Patterson. Rivera is a solid option as a pass catching TE and needs to show he needs to be accounted for in opposing teams' gameplans.


Our offensive line played their best game of the season against UGA. Tiny, James, and Stone all had their best games as Vols IMO and need to continue to build on that confidence and improvement. Autry and Boyd are their two best D-Linemen and should be accounted for at all times.

Hunter and Patterson will have their work cut out for them this week as they go up against two gifted CB especially Banks, who will play on Sundays in the near future. Hopefully this bye week has allowed Pig Howard to become more acquainted with the playbook and scheme so he can show what he has in practice on Saturdays. Rogers continues to help out in the slot and will need to again on Saturday for a win against the Bulldogs.



DEFENSE:

Our defense needs to keep Russell off balance early and not let him get comfortable back there. Mullen has brought his offense from Florida and they are running it well thus far. #1 (WR) for them just broke Eric Mould's all time school TD receiving record last week and is a favorite target of Russell in the passing game.


Dooley said McCullers will play more no matter the personnel this week. He has shown tremendous athleticism for his size and could be counted on not just to clog the middle in running situations, but to give a push on passing downs in the nickel package as well.

We need someone to step up and provide pressure off the edge this week. We cannot rely on blitzing LB and DB to get pressure on Russell this week. Miller, Sentimore, Maggitt, Smith, or Williams needs to step up and throw off Russell's timing with his WR. Timing is a big concept in Mullen's offense and if we can throw it off early, we could throw a wrench into their scheme.

Russell is a good QB for this system. He is mobile enough to scramble if need be and is a big body to bring down in the pocket as well. MS State uses a spread system to run read option and play action to confuse the defense. They don't really have a big time playmaker on offense, but they spread the ball around enough to keep defenses honest which makes it just as difficult.

I am looking forward to seeing McNeil get his first start and how he responds to the opportunity. Ansley and Conklin are excited about what this kid can do and I hope he shows it out there on Saturday. Also, due to their scheme and packages on offense, I wouldn't be surprised to see Brewer at LB some in dime and nickel packages along with Sapp due to their speed and ability in coverage.

I hope we have gotten all of our bonehead plays out of our system on this side of the ball as I am tired of seeing us give up big plays due to stupid mistakes and guys not doing their assignments in our defense. The first quarter of the UGA game was horrendous and looked like we hadn't practiced all week, which I know was not the case b/c Sunseri is a stickler for detail. We just shat the bed on those plays for some reason.

I think we pull this one out in Starkville which will give us much needed momentum and confidence both on our team and on the recruiting trail going into Alabama.
 
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#5
#5
Excellent post...

I'd add that...on Rivera... we will likely see Matthew Wells matched up on him one on one. He's a specialty coverage/blitz LB for us that is a bit of a tweener, in that he's got LB size with S speed, and some of the best hands on the team. He is a rsSO that locked down Lutzenkirchen earlier this season(looking less and less impressive by the week with Auburn's QB situation).

I know Belichick has been calling around wanting teams to develop a new kind of defender with the ability to go man coverage on the new breed of TE in the NFL. Wells is very much being developed with this specific role in mind. His draft stock will likely soar because of it...
 
#7
#7
Ill add that after having nothing to do at the office today, I watched some Miss State film here's what I saw...


1. Their H-back #32 is a jumbo athlete they love to put in motion and use on the edges either to seal in the run game or to get into the flat and pose a mismatch against a smaller corner in open space. He's fairly athletic for someone his size.

2. Their RB #27 runs hard and is faster than you would give him credit for at first glance. He's not the biggest kid in the world, but runs well both between the tackles and on the edges. He uses his lack of height to his advantage as he's able to both get small and run hard at the same time which allows him to be effective. Our LB will have to read their keys and not get caught up in all the motion that takes place in this offense this Saturday.

3. They run the read option play that has given our defense nightmares this season, so I'd expect to get a heavy dose of that early to see if we have made improvements against it. Russell would rather hand the ball off, but doesn't have bad mobility and is big for a QB.

4. On Defense for them, #10 is their leader on defense. He's not the fastest guy on earth (I'd guess 4.7-4.8) but he is physical and makes all the calls for their defense. I think we match up well with our TE/RB against their LB/S in the passing game and hope we can utilize that on the field on Saturday. Also, they do not play the play action passing game very well as their LB and S tend to bite on the fake if it's a "run heavy" down. I would look for us to run on first and even second down early in the game to try to set up play action as the game progresses against MS State.

5. I mentioned Boyd (DT) in my initial write up, but he's a solid player in both the running and passing game for their defensive front. He has the ability to play on Sundays.
 
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#8
#8
FredWhite2 said:
This week's game against MS State will be a pivotal game for our team going forward for the rest of the season. Coming off of a bye week, we should be well rested and ready to go take care of business down in Starkville.


OFFENSE:

Bray has got to take better care of the football. It's plain and simple we aren't good enough to have 4 turnovers from our starting qb and win the game against a quality opponent. He's making some good throws, but needs to put an entire game together against a good team and show leadership down the stretch when the going gets tough to really take over this team.


Neal is starting to reach his potential under coach Jay Graham and hopefully can continue to improve going forward as we need to be balanced on offense. Lane shows spurts but just lacks that top end speed needed to compete at this level IMO. He has good vision and can catch the ball well out of the backfield, but he is still too inconsistent and slow to be an every down guy for us. Young needs to stick to special teams as Q. Watson continues to learn the scheme and get better to give us a speed back.


Rivera has played well this year don't get me wrong, but it'd be nice to see him finally have a true breakout game and this one against the bulldogs presents that opportunity with their focus on our outside threats in Hunter and Patterson. Rivera is a solid option as a pass catching TE and needs to show he needs to be accounted for in opposing teams' gameplans.


Our offensive line played their best game of the season against UGA. Tiny, James, and Stone all had their best games as Vols IMO and need to continue to build on that confidence and improvement. Autry and Boyd are their two best D-Linemen and should be accounted for at all times.

Hunter and Patterson will have their work cut out for them this week as they go up against two gifted CB especially Banks, who will play on Sundays in the near future. Hopefully this bye week has allowed Pig Howard to become more acquainted with the playbook and scheme so he can show what he has in practice on Saturdays. Rogers continues to help out in the slot and will need to again on Saturday for a win against the Bulldogs.



DEFENSE:

Our defense needs to keep Russell off balance early and not let him get comfortable back there. Mullen has brought his offense from Florida and they are running it well thus far. #1 (WR) for them just broke Eric Mould's all time school TD receiving record last week and is a favorite target of Russell in the passing game.


Dooley said McCullers will play more no matter the personnel this week. He has shown tremendous athleticism for his size and could be counted on not just to clog the middle in running situations, but to give a push on passing downs in the nickel package as well.

We need someone to step up and provide pressure off the edge this week. We cannot rely on blitzing LB and DB to get pressure on Russell this week. Miller, Sentimore, Maggitt, Smith, or Williams needs to step up and throw off Russell's timing with his WR. Timing is a big concept in Mullen's offense and if we can throw it off early, we could throw a wrench into their scheme.

Russell is a good QB for this system. He is mobile enough to scramble if need be and is a big body to bring down in the pocket as well. MS State uses a spread system to run read option and play action to confuse the defense. They don't really have a big time playmaker on offense, but they spread the ball around enough to keep defenses honest which makes it just as difficult.

I am looking forward to seeing McNeil get his first start and how he responds to the opportunity. Ansley and Conklin are excited about what this kid can do and I hope he shows it out there on Saturday. Also, due to their scheme and packages on offense, I wouldn't be surprised to see Brewer at LB some in dime and nickel packages along with Sapp due to their speed and ability in coverage.

I hope we have gotten all of our bonehead plays out of our system on this side of the ball as I am tired of seeing us give up big plays due to stupid mistakes and guys not doing their assignments in our defense. The first quarter of the UGA game was horrendous and looked like we hadn't practiced all week, which I know was not the case b/c Sunseri is a stickler for detail. We just shat the bed on those plays for some reason.

I think we pull this one out in Starkville which will give us much needed momentum and confidence both on our team and on the recruiting trail going into Alabama.
Click to expand...

:cray:
 
#9
#9
Good write up OP,

Besides the obvious MSU players to watch, keep an eye on Dak Prescott, Jameon Lewis, and Malcom Mitchell. Dak is the Tim Tebow of this offense. He has not had a lot of playing time, but he is a quick and strongly built. Jameon could line up in the slot, as a scat back, or a wildcat qb (not likely). He is small, fast, and shifty. He could be dangerous on screens, and be down field in the blink of an eye. Think Dexter McCluster. Malcom is a TE coming off of an injury and is in his 5th or 6th year with the program. He has been dependable this year for the Dogs.

I am a student at MSU and it's been fun hearing guys in class talk about what is "going to" happen in the game. Is anybody on here making the trip to Starkville?
 
#10
#10
Great write up and go Vols!

I wish the coaches would somehow hit CP with a couple of little swing passes and watch what he can do in the open field. He has great wiggle and we need to better use that.
 
#11
#11
Blackmarket803 said:
:cray:
Click to expand...

Oh look,,a grudenite has the sniffles.

On to important things,,nice post OP,,great input. Permit me to add, Bumphis seems to be the checkdown guy. Russell goes to him a lot and his hands are sure. He's not the deep threat but seems to always be there. As you stated, our D needs to pressure Russell early and often.
 
#12
#12
KoachKletus said:
Oh look,,a grudenite has the sniffles.

On to important things,,nice post OP,,great input. Permit me to add, Bumphis seems to be the checkdown guy. Russell goes to him a lot and his hands are sure. He's not the deep threat but seems to always be there. As you stated, our D needs to pressure Russell early and often.
Click to expand...


Never said he was deep threat, but he is their best overall WR... Their deep threat is their tall kid, but he's not very fast IMO and hasn't proved anything against good competition. I'm more worried about their intermediate and quick passing game than their ability to take long shots down the field.
 
#13
#13
KoachKletus said:
He's not the deep threat but seems to always be there. As you stated, our D needs to pressure Russell early and often.
Click to expand...

We have no true deep threat, and that is the singlemost glaring weakness of our team. We have a bunch of slot receivers playing outside. Literally. The guys that get 90% of our snaps are well under 6' tall...

We get back Malcolm Johnson, our rsSO (all SEC fr) TE this week from a torn pec, and he showed flashes last year of being a true deep threat. He was no doubt our most sure-handed receiver and best route runner. Also, rsFR Joe Morrow was expected to step into this role, but he has been virtually nonexistent thusfar in the passing game since he dropped a sure TD pass against Troy.

I don't know what to expect in this game. I do believe that, outside of maybe 5 quarters worth, everything we've shown on film thusfar this year will be pretty worthless to UT. It's been that generic and vanilla, outside of 3 quarters against Auburn and a half against UK. Almost got us beat at Troy too...
 
#14
#14
Against the titans yesterday, the Viking did a little swing out deal to Percy Harvin that allowed him to make moves in open space. I thought of CP doing that for us.
 
#15
#15
We need someone to step up and provide pressure off the edge this week. We cannot rely on blitzing LB and DB to get pressure on Russell this week. Miller, Sentimore, Maggitt, Smith, or Williams needs to step up and throw off Russell's timing with his WR. Timing is a big concept in Mullen's offense and if we can throw it off early, we could throw a wrench into their scheme.

It could be Maggitt if his turf toe was able to heal over the off week. He got in Glennon's face a lot in the opener, but then got the turftoe sometime the week prior to the gators, and has not been able to get much of a rush, and has trouble getting off blocks sometimes. I'd like to see him bringing the pressure again.
 
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#16
#16
I Really believe our offense goes off this week. If Neal can repeat last week's effort our play action will give them fits. Obviously giving up big plays on defense has been our Achilles heel. Hopefully the off week will help.
 
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#17
#17
FredWhite2 said:
This week's game against MS State will be a pivotal game for our team going forward for the rest of the season. Coming off of a bye week, we should be well rested and ready to go take care of business down in Starkville.


OFFENSE:

Bray has got to take better care of the football. It's plain and simple we aren't good enough to have 4 turnovers from our starting qb and win the game against a quality opponent. He's making some good throws, but needs to put an entire game together against a good team and show leadership down the stretch when the going gets tough to really take over this team.


Neal is starting to reach his potential under coach Jay Graham and hopefully can continue to improve going forward as we need to be balanced on offense. Lane shows spurts but just lacks that top end speed needed to compete at this level IMO. He has good vision and can catch the ball well out of the backfield, but he is still too inconsistent and slow to be an every down guy for us. Young needs to stick to special teams as Q. Watson continues to learn the scheme and get better to give us a speed back.


Rivera has played well this year don't get me wrong, but it'd be nice to see him finally have a true breakout game and this one against the bulldogs presents that opportunity with their focus on our outside threats in Hunter and Patterson. Rivera is a solid option as a pass catching TE and needs to show he needs to be accounted for in opposing teams' gameplans.


Our offensive line played their best game of the season against UGA. Tiny, James, and Stone all had their best games as Vols IMO and need to continue to build on that confidence and improvement. Autry and Boyd are their two best D-Linemen and should be accounted for at all times.

Hunter and Patterson will have their work cut out for them this week as they go up against two gifted CB especially Banks, who will play on Sundays in the near future. Hopefully this bye week has allowed Pig Howard to become more acquainted with the playbook and scheme so he can show what he has in practice on Saturdays. Rogers continues to help out in the slot and will need to again on Saturday for a win against the Bulldogs.



DEFENSE:

Our defense needs to keep Russell off balance early and not let him get comfortable back there. Mullen has brought his offense from Florida and they are running it well thus far. #1 (WR) for them just broke Eric Mould's all time school TD receiving record last week and is a favorite target of Russell in the passing game.


Dooley said McCullers will play more no matter the personnel this week. He has shown tremendous athleticism for his size and could be counted on not just to clog the middle in running situations, but to give a push on passing downs in the nickel package as well.

We need someone to step up and provide pressure off the edge this week. We cannot rely on blitzing LB and DB to get pressure on Russell this week. Miller, Sentimore, Maggitt, Smith, or Williams needs to step up and throw off Russell's timing with his WR. Timing is a big concept in Mullen's offense and if we can throw it off early, we could throw a wrench into their scheme.

Russell is a good QB for this system. He is mobile enough to scramble if need be and is a big body to bring down in the pocket as well. MS State uses a spread system to run read option and play action to confuse the defense. They don't really have a big time playmaker on offense, but they spread the ball around enough to keep defenses honest which makes it just as difficult.

I am looking forward to seeing McNeil get his first start and how he responds to the opportunity. Ansley and Conklin are excited about what this kid can do and I hope he shows it out there on Saturday. Also, due to their scheme and packages on offense, I wouldn't be surprised to see Brewer at LB some in dime and nickel packages along with Sapp due to their speed and ability in coverage.

I hope we have gotten all of our bonehead plays out of our system on this side of the ball as I am tired of seeing us give up big plays due to stupid mistakes and guys not doing their assignments in our defense. The first quarter of the UGA game was horrendous and looked like we hadn't practiced all week, which I know was not the case b/c Sunseri is a stickler for detail. We just shat the bed on those plays for some reason.

I think we pull this one out in Starkville which will give us much needed momentum and confidence both on our team and on the recruiting trail going into Alabama.
Click to expand...





Great analysis and i agree with everything. I would like to see McCullers on passing downs as well for no other reason than he's 6'8", so getting his arms up into a passing lane might help bat down some balls. Overall, good work op.
 
#18
#18
FredWhite2 said:
This week's game against MS State will be a pivotal game for our team going forward for the rest of the season. Coming off of a bye week, we should be well rested and ready to go take care of business down in Starkville.


OFFENSE:

Bray has got to take better care of the football. It's plain and simple we aren't good enough to have 4 turnovers from our starting qb and win the game against a quality opponent. He's making some good throws, but needs to put an entire game together against a good team and show leadership down the stretch when the going gets tough to really take over this team.


Neal is starting to reach his potential under coach Jay Graham and hopefully can continue to improve going forward as we need to be balanced on offense. Lane shows spurts but just lacks that top end speed needed to compete at this level IMO. He has good vision and can catch the ball well out of the backfield, but he is still too inconsistent and slow to be an every down guy for us. Young needs to stick to special teams as Q. Watson continues to learn the scheme and get better to give us a speed back.


Rivera has played well this year don't get me wrong, but it'd be nice to see him finally have a true breakout game and this one against the bulldogs presents that opportunity with their focus on our outside threats in Hunter and Patterson. Rivera is a solid option as a pass catching TE and needs to show he needs to be accounted for in opposing teams' gameplans.


Our offensive line played their best game of the season against UGA. Tiny, James, and Stone all had their best games as Vols IMO and need to continue to build on that confidence and improvement. Autry and Boyd are their two best D-Linemen and should be accounted for at all times.

Hunter and Patterson will have their work cut out for them this week as they go up against two gifted CB especially Banks, who will play on Sundays in the near future. Hopefully this bye week has allowed Pig Howard to become more acquainted with the playbook and scheme so he can show what he has in practice on Saturdays. Rogers continues to help out in the slot and will need to again on Saturday for a win against the Bulldogs.



DEFENSE:

Our defense needs to keep Russell off balance early and not let him get comfortable back there. Mullen has brought his offense from Florida and they are running it well thus far. #1 (WR) for them just broke Eric Mould's all time school TD receiving record last week and is a favorite target of Russell in the passing game.


Dooley said McCullers will play more no matter the personnel this week. He has shown tremendous athleticism for his size and could be counted on not just to clog the middle in running situations, but to give a push on passing downs in the nickel package as well.

We need someone to step up and provide pressure off the edge this week. We cannot rely on blitzing LB and DB to get pressure on Russell this week. Miller, Sentimore, Maggitt, Smith, or Williams needs to step up and throw off Russell's timing with his WR. Timing is a big concept in Mullen's offense and if we can throw it off early, we could throw a wrench into their scheme.

Russell is a good QB for this system. He is mobile enough to scramble if need be and is a big body to bring down in the pocket as well. MS State uses a spread system to run read option and play action to confuse the defense. They don't really have a big time playmaker on offense, but they spread the ball around enough to keep defenses honest which makes it just as difficult.

I am looking forward to seeing McNeil get his first start and how he responds to the opportunity. Ansley and Conklin are excited about what this kid can do and I hope he shows it out there on Saturday. Also, due to their scheme and packages on offense, I wouldn't be surprised to see Brewer at LB some in dime and nickel packages along with Sapp due to their speed and ability in coverage.

I hope we have gotten all of our bonehead plays out of our system on this side of the ball as I am tired of seeing us give up big plays due to stupid mistakes and guys not doing their assignments in our defense. The first quarter of the UGA game was horrendous and looked like we hadn't practiced all week, which I know was not the case b/c Sunseri is a stickler for detail. We just shat the bed on those plays for some reason.

I think we pull this one out in Starkville which will give us much needed momentum and confidence both on our team and on the recruiting trail going into Alabama.
Click to expand...

Marlin Lane is not slow....don't know where you are getting that from...he makes Tauren Poole look like a turtle and Poole was an every down back for us. Inconsistent at this point yes, not slow.
 
#19
#19
fade route said:
Great analysis and i agree with everything. I would like to see McCullers on passing downs as well for no other reason than he's 6'8", so getting his arms up into a passing lane might help bat down some balls. Overall, good work op.
Click to expand...

He is our best D lineman, no matter what front we are in. IMO. I think the coaches realize that as well.
 
#20
#20
crunchimusmaximus said:
Marlin Lane is not slow....don't know where you are getting that from...he makes Tauren Poole look like a turtle and Poole was an every down back for us. Inconsistent at this point yes, not slow.
Click to expand...

Lane is the slowest RB we have that plays.. I'd guess he runs in the 4.6 range which isn't slow but it's not what you need to be successful in this league.
 
#23
#23
engie said:
We have no true deep threat, and that is the singlemost glaring weakness of our team. We have a bunch of slot receivers playing outside. Literally. The guys that get 90% of our snaps are well under 6' tall...

We get back Malcolm Johnson, our rsSO (all SEC fr) TE this week from a torn pec, and he showed flashes last year of being a true deep threat. He was no doubt our most sure-handed receiver and best route runner. Also, rsFR Joe Morrow was expected to step into this role, but he has been virtually nonexistent thusfar in the passing game since he dropped a sure TD pass against Troy.

I don't know what to expect in this game. I do believe that, outside of maybe 5 quarters worth, everything we've shown on film thusfar this year will be pretty worthless to UT. It's been that generic and vanilla, outside of 3 quarters against Auburn and a half against UK. Almost got us beat at Troy too...
Click to expand...

what do you think Hunter and Patterson are? Huh, I dont get that statement. We have no true running back- I agree with that, but Hunter and Patterson are both legit deep threats.
 
#24
#24
JACK8254 said:
what do you think Hunter and Patterson are? Huh, I dont get that statement. We have no true running back- I agree with that, but Hunter and Patterson are both legit deep threats.
Click to expand...

I'm a State fan... was adding additional info for the OP and referring to my team.

Versatile deep threats are exactly what Patterson and Hunter are... 2 of the 5 best in all of college football IMO
 
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