Micah Simon, BYU WR who beat us

[DougVol]

You’re missing the OP’s point.

It’s NOT a talent issue that’s causing us to lose games against Georgia St & BYU, it’s coaching.

You’re not getting a new coach this year. GUARANTEED

 

[NEO]

We didn’t get throttled.... we dominated the game..... JG just couldn’t hit the right play and AT lost focus at the wrong time...sh&t happens..... we do have a lot of promise that is starting to show up on the field...... I just wish we had at least somewhat competent upper class men.

We lost to a team that we should have beat by at least 21. I don’t know what exactly the issue is but it’s more than shiz happens.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

UH......NO....it doesn't!!!

It wasn't coaching that led Alontae Taylor to walk up to within 3 yards of the WR on 3rd and 7 with 24 seconds to go in the game and KNOWING that BYU needed at least 50 to get into scoring position!!

That is ALL ON TAYLOR!!!

Even Middle school CBs know that stuff....

Taylor played like a fool who had NEVER played CB before on that play!! It was all on him.

smh......

Good coaches always magically seem to have good players and bad ones always seem to be stuck with bad players. It's strange.

 

[pharmDvol11]

Good coaches always magically seem to have good players and bad ones always seem to be stuck with bad players. It's strange.

Not as strange: good players with good coaching making mistakes. I saw lots of it on Saturday and I watched more than just the UT game

 

[Big Orange Rob]

It's way too early to determine if ultimately these coaches are good or not. However, the blown coverage on the long pass is all on the players. The coaches had the correct coverage called.

 

[MikeVol44]

Good coaches always magically seem to have good players and bad ones always seem to be stuck with bad players. It's strange.

Taylor is NOT a bad player.... He just made a poor and selfish decision on that ONE play...and it cost the ENTIRE TEAM....
It's completely unthinkable that a player of his caliber would do such a stupid thing, but I guess the kid is still 19....

The PROBLEM on the play is that it appears--IMO--that his looking into the backfield signals a ball-hawking intent.....which is pure stupidity walking on the field.

One would hope that these players are learning to THINK and keep SITUATIONAL AWARENESS as they play the game.

Anyway--it appears that CJP jacked him up about it--as he should have.

And I'M CERTAIN that he also did it again in front of the team as they watched the film.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

It's way too early to determine if ultimately these coaches are good or not. However, the blown coverage on the long pass is all on the players. The coaches had the correct coverage called.

If they couldn't get their players up for the very first game of the year to beat Georgia State, I am fairly certain that CJP is not going to make it here as a head coach. That was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable loss, and coupled with Missouri and Vandy last year it is part of a trend of poor, poor coaching against teams who do not have better talent than us. I'd be glad to be wrong about CJP. I'm also not saying he should be fired now, but the writing is on the wall for those of us who choose to see it, I fear we are just now in another cycle where we are waiting on everyone or a sufficient majority of the fanbase/boosters to see it also. I recognize, that the desire to believe we have not invested more time and money in another failed coach is very strong and Pruitt will have that going for him for a time which has not yet passed.

 

[GoVols64]

Actually, here’s the guy who beat us last Saturday.....

View attachment 224416

C’mon KB. That’s low and while he made a bad play you can’t single out one kid for an entire game. Please stop this nonsense.

 

[MikeVol44]

C’mon KB. That’s low and while he made a bad play you can’t single out one kid for an entire game. Please stop this nonsense.

Both offense and defense played well enough for 59 mins and 36 seconds for us to win.
Unfortunately--you most certainly CAN lay the blame for that loss on Taylor.
He's the ONLY DB who let his man get behind him in the last 24 seconds of that game with the opponent trapped back at the 20 yd line!

And it confirms what CJP has said all along--we have some guys playing it right but all it takes is one dude to blow his assignment....

 

[GetEmVols]

We respectully disagree that our underclassmen are contributing more to our team than we are.

Signed,
Ty Chandler, Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway, Trey Smith, Ryan Johnson, Brandon Kennedy, Marcus Tatum, Darrell Taylor, Aubrey Soloman, Joe Doyle, Brent Cimaglia, and others

Nearly all butch recruits

 

[Offset Eye]

For everyone laying 100% of the blame on AT and NW, what do you believe the responsibilities of coaches are? Is their job just to call plays on Saturdays? Is it to convey information and then wash their hands of how the players respond? As a teacher, If my students all fail a test, the first thing in my head is that I failed to teach them, not that they all suck.

Is it possible that blame falls both on players underperforming and on coaches not doing their jobs? Half of us blame JG, AT, NW, the OL, the DL, anyone recruited by Butch, and act like the coaches get a pass, and the other half of us do the opposite and act like we have Bama’s talent being wasted by incompetent coaches. Losing to Ga St and BYU leads me to believe that we both have players underperforming and coaches who have really been incompetent in getting the most out of the players, which is a large part of their job responsibilities.

In a Cover 3, your assignment is simple AF and AT busted it. What should a coach say? "Hey AT, you need to cover this particular part of the field on a Cover 3, BUT only do it 2 out of 3 times, AND on the 3rd time, you can FREELANCE cuz you be a 4-star. Also, Warrior, don't worry about tackling and fundamentals... just act hard and the guy will fall down. It's BYU after all..."

If either one of them do their job on that play, pretty good odds UT wins.

 

[BlinghamptonVol]

In a Cover 3, your assignment is simple AF and AT busted it. What should a coach say? "Hey AT, you need to cover this particular part of the field on a Cover 3, BUT only do it 2 out of 3 times, AND on the 3rd time, you can FREELANCE cuz you be a 4-star. Also, Warrior, don't worry about tackling and fundamentals... just act hard and the guy will fall down. It’s BYU after all...”

If either one of them do their job on that play, pretty good odds UT wins.

I agree that if either one did their jobs, there’s amazing odds that UT wins. And I’m not saying the coaches coached them to not do their job. I’m saying these guys screwing up reflects on the coaches not teaching them the right thing to do well enough and reflects on the players for lacking discipline and situational awareness. Of course, you learn discipline and situational awareness in practice. You learn tackling and fundamentals in practice. You learn simple cover 3 assignments in practice. Obviously they’re not learning it well enough in practice.

It’s tiring to hear the same thing over and over. These coaches are the saviors and can’t be questioned. D can’t line up against Ga State? Players suck, no blame on the coaches. JG can’t look downfield and throw on time? JG sucks, no blame on coaches. OL gets swapped around and can’t block? They suck, no blame on coaches. D quits in OT? D sucks, no blame on coaches. Can’t stop a team a thousand yards from field goal range with seconds left? Players suck, no blame on coaches. This is only in 2! games this year. I’m not saying fire the coaches, I’m saying recognize that they have responsibility in all this, as do the players making the mistakes. If it was one or two isolated mistakes, sure, it’s probably all on the player. When it’s mistakes all over the field by numerous players and position groups, there’s something bigger that’s not working.

One of the reasons the program is at rock bottom is because we’ve made excuses instead of holding people responsible for years. Posters are now talking about how Ga State isn’t the 2-10 team from last year, they’re 2-0 this year. What? People saying we don’t have the talent to beat Ga State and BYU. Yeah, our talent isn’t up to our standards and definitely doesn’t compare with Bama and Ohio State and UGA, but Ga State and BYU? Come on. Be reasonable. These coaches have a lot of work to do and these players need to buy in, but let’s quit being delusional about the performance of either group so far. Other than some standout players like JJ, generally the whole lot of the coaches and players have sucked.

 

[KBVol]

C’mon KB. That’s low and while he made a bad play you can’t single out one kid for an entire game. Please stop this nonsense.

The game was won, it was over, there was virtually no way to lose it.....until Alontae did the inexcusable (in football terms) given the situation. We all know what happened next.

Then, in overtime, he allowed an easy pitch and catch td with his awful technique on a slant route.

So, I’m just following suit with everybody else on VN who puts the loss on one guy when there are 85 scholarship guys on the team. I’m just, rightly, choosing a different guy. And I’m not sure how it’s “nonsense” when I’m simply putting the blame for the loss where it actually belongs. Again, the game was won, the game was over, no how well or poorly the team had played up until that point.....until Alontae’s play/actions directly led to the loss.

 

[MikeVol44]

The game was won, it was over, there was virtually no way to lose it.....until Alontae did the inexcusable (in football terms) given the situation. We all know what happened next.

Then, in overtime, he allowed an easy pitch and catch td with his awful technique on a slant route.

So, I’m just following suit with everybody else on VN who puts the loss on one guy when there are 85 scholarship guys on the team. I’m just, rightly, choosing a different guy. And I’m not sure how it’s “nonsense” when I’m simply putting the blame for the loss where it actually belongs. Again, the game was won, the game was over, no how well or poorly the team had played up until that point.....until Alontae’s play/actions directly led to the loss.

Well, I don't think you're following all of the idiots on here.....BUT,

YOU are definitely correct in saying this game was won, and was over.

24 seconds with the clock ticking and over 50 yards to go...and all things being equal--Taylor's blunder honestly did give the game away.

Truly, Taylor's blunder was as bad as Pisarcik's fumbled handoff against the Eagles.

 

[GVF]

2 star whose only other offers were Air Force, Gambling and Bucknell. Blew by our 2 high 4 stars
like they were nailed to the ground. The story of UT football this decade.

Stars have nothing to do with ability, let alone speed. All about exposure. The guys with the stars are the ones that make the camp and all-star game circuits. And it doesn't take stars to get invited. You folks that hang on every star from rivals need to chill.

I watched a friend of my son at a 3A northeast Ga school go from a nobody to a Notre Dame commitment with 19 D1 offers, and the top 2021 TE in America, DURING his SOPH season. He's good. And fairly fast. But, his dad hustled him around and got him in to camps and what not. Almost went bankrupt getting his kid around. Big break was getting him in some all-star game in Houston after his freshman year. Things picked up over that summer and by the end of his soph football season, had 19 offers. All P5 offers. Plane flights to different schools. His little brother getting to go along and get stuff too. He's had a good time.

My son was talking to him the other day before LSU/Texas game. He recorded it when Coach O called him that Friday and asked if he was going to watch the game Saturday. All this because of exposure. Stars are not generally earned. They are swindled.

Fastest man in GA in 1983 ran the 100 yard in 9.8 secs. The trophy was taller than him. Fantastic receiver. Was faster than Willie Gault, who was his school mate and boke his 1979 record of 9.9 seconds. Never played a down of football after high school. Didn't even have 1 star. I promise you he would have walked away from any of today's 5 star generals in all P5 conferences and made them look stupid.

 

[GoVols64]

The game was won, it was over, there was virtually no way to lose it.....until Alontae did the inexcusable (in football terms) given the situation. We all know what happened next.

Then, in overtime, he allowed an easy pitch and catch td with his awful technique on a slant route.

So, I’m just following suit with everybody else on VN who puts the loss on one guy when there are 85 scholarship guys on the team. I’m just, rightly, choosing a different guy. And I’m not sure how it’s “nonsense” when I’m simply putting the blame for the loss where it actually belongs. Again, the game was won, the game was over, no how well or poorly the team had played up until that point.....until Alontae’s play/actions directly led to the loss.

I agree the game was won and we found a way to lose, no doubt. My point is if the offense had scored more points (which we should have), coaches kick for 3 instead of 4th & short, offense holds the ball longer etc. A lot of what if's, admittedly, but a football game never comes down to one bad play. If that happens at the end of the first half he doesn't shoulder all of the blame. The team lost and he jad a really, really, poorly timed mistake.

 

[GVF]

Both offense and defense played well enough for 59 mins and 36 seconds for us to win.
Unfortunately--you most certainly CAN lay the blame for that loss on Taylor.
He's the ONLY DB who let his man get behind him in the last 24 seconds of that game with the opponent trapped back at the 20 yd line!

And it confirms what CJP has said all along--we have some guys playing it right but all it takes is one dude to blow his assignment....

Strange...At the beginning of that play about 7 yards out I saw 3 defenders pull up and play the run, and let not only the inside receiver go down field unchecked, but also the outside receiver, who ultimately caught the pass. The QB had a choice on that play. And both were wide open. There was busted coverage and confusion all over that play from all defenders on that side from the word Hut1 Hut2. One even shrugging his arms in the air wondering where the receiver went. The correct coverage may have been called, but it wasn't just Taylor.

 

[MikeVol44]

Strange...At the beginning of that play about 7 yards out I saw 3 defenders pull up and play the run, and let not only the inside receiver go down field unchecked, but also the outside receiver, who ultimately caught the pass. The QB had a choice on that play. And both were wide open. There was busted coverage and confusion all over that play from all defenders on that side from the word Hut1 Hut2. One even shrugging his arms in the air wondering where the receiver went. The correct coverage may have been called, but it wasn't just Taylor.

Well.....you see.....it's like this.....It was Cover 3--or it could've been quarters.....(it actually looks like single safety high over quarters underneath)
Nevertheless....Taylor's assignment was to defend the long pass in his section of the field.
The pass was thrown to a receiver who ran straight down the field--he began in Taylor's zone and caught the ball in Taylor's zone.
And you're correct...the TE, #89 was running free behind JACKSON the safety.....but they threw the ball to the WR Taylor should've been covering.

And one thing that I have overlooked is the missed tackle by JANE---Warrior! All he had to do is tackle the dude at the 45 and they have only one more chance to complete a pass.
So, catastrophic failure all around....but TAYLOR was the one burned.

He got there by running by Taylor--who CATASTROPHICALLY FAILED to play his position and perform his assignment.
He failed by stupidly walking up to the LOS and keeping his eyes in the backfield.

I simply can't make it any clearer that that.

 

[VOLnMiami]

His point is you guys can’t use talent as the excuse.

We are getting throttled by players who couldn’t even get offers to UT.

That means it’s coaching.

We have a winner!

 

[MikeVol44]

...but a football game never comes down to one bad play....

This statement is just categorically wrong.

There are PLENTY of examples out there where football games have been decided by one bad play.....

2017 TN vs. Florida..... is just one example....
Stanford vs. Cal.....
Iron Bowl kick 6....
Michigan's punter against Mich. State a few years ago...
Auburn's long bomb against UGA in 2013 on 4th and 18....

Joe Pisarcik's Giants losing to the Eagles changed the VICTORY formation forever.....
Steelers vs. Raiders....Immaculate reception.....
Flutie's Bomb launched him to an entire NFL career....
Colorado vs. Michigan.....Kordell Stewart's bomb.....
Patriots vs Seahawks a few years ago......in the SB

The point being that--when a team has a lead with only a few seconds on the clock and loses the game because of a catastrophic failure of fundamentals....
when a team has the game won and all that remains to be done is line up and prevent the near impossible from happening.....

YOU GET ONE BAD PLAY COSTING THE GAME!

 

[KBVol]

I agree the game was won and we found a way to lose, no doubt. My point is if the offense had scored more points (which we should have), coaches kick for 3 instead of 4th & short, offense holds the ball longer etc. A lot of what if's, admittedly, but a football game never comes down to one bad play. If that happens at the end of the first half he doesn't shoulder all of the blame. The team lost and he jad a really, really, poorly timed mistake.

Listen, I get it. Left a lot of points on the field primarily because of JG’s poor play. So I agree with you there.

But all that is hypothetical. The reality is, as we both mentioned, that the game was won, it was over. No matter how poorly the offense played, enough points were on the board at the time of Alontae’s blown coverage to win the game, and if he plays that correctly, that play doesn’t happen, BYU never gets into field goal range, and Tennessee wins.

The only other thing I would add is that Nigel Warrior also failed on the play, as we all know. If he doesn’t completely whiff on making what should’ve been a pretty routine tackle on the same play, then BYU either isn’t in field goal range or has a much longer try there. So, I supposed he shoulders some of the blame....although if Alontae does his job there, Nigel has no need to make a tackle.

 

[GoVols64]

This statement is just categorically wrong.

There are PLENTY of examples out there where football games have been decided by one bad play.....

2017 TN vs. Florida..... is just one example....
Stanford vs. Cal.....
Iron Bowl kick 6....
Michigan's punter against Mich. State a few years ago...
Auburn's long bomb against UGA in 2013 on 4th and 18....

Joe Pisarcik's Giants losing to the Eagles changed the VICTORY formation forever.....
Steelers vs. Raiders....Immaculate reception.....
Flutie's Bomb launched him to an entire NFL career....
Colorado vs. Michigan.....Kordell Stewart's bomb.....
Patriots vs Seahawks a few years ago......in the SB

The point being that--when a team has a lead with only a few seconds on the clock and loses the game because of a catastrophic failure of fundamentals....
when a team has the game won and all that remains to be done is line up and prevent the near impossible from happening.....

YOU GET ONE BAD PLAY COSTING THE GAME!

Different points of view I suppose. Counter argument is you do your job all game you aren’t in a position to lose on one play.

I’d also point out we didn’t lose because of that play. We went into overtime and lost there. We all agree we should not have been in OT but we still had an opportunity to win.

 

[GoVols64]

Listen, I get it. Left a lot of points on the field primarily because of JG’s poor play. So I agree with you there.

But all that is hypothetical. The reality is, as we both mentioned, that the game was won, it was over. No matter how poorly the offense played, enough points were on the board at the time of Alontae’s blown coverage to win the game, and if he plays that correctly, that play doesn’t happen, BYU never gets into field goal range, and Tennessee wins.

The only other thing I would add is that Nigel Warrior also failed on the play, as we all know. If he doesn’t completely whiff on making what should’ve been a pretty routine tackle on the same play, then BYU either isn’t in field goal range or has a much longer try there. So, I supposed he shoulders some of the blame....although if Alontae does his job there, Nigel has no need to make a tackle.

We are closer to agreement than most; appreciate your rationale and approach to the dialogue. I’ve started coaching my kids team this year and I suppose my point of view is that as you break down a game video you see so many plays left on the field. We all know the reality is you are not going to make every play but it is the goal.

I will agree that it’s hypothetical because we didn’t make those plays but I would offer that we are just pointing out one missed play that happened at a critical time. There were, unfortunately, a lot of others left on the field.

Anyway, appreciate the point of view and we are on to Chattanooga.

 

[MikeVol44]

Different points of view I suppose. Counter argument is you do your job all game you aren’t in a position to lose on one play.

I’d also point out we didn’t lose because of that play. We went into overtime and lost there. We all agree we should not have been in OT but we still had an opportunity to win.

We're closer than you think. And I'm not saying that you're completely wrong when you say that "...no one play is responsible for losing the game..."

However, there are those games where all that remains to be done to preserve a VICTORY is to execute a simple play designed with a single purpose.

Why do you think offenses choose to line up in the victory formation and kneel down to preserve a WIN???
Why do you think DBs are coached to just fall down when they intercept a pass at the end of a game in order to preserve a WIN???

They do those things in order to prevent the impossible and irrational from happening on ONE SINGLE PLAY.

Alontae Taylor FAILED to execute his simple assignment that was designed with a single purpose in order to PRESERVE the Vols' victory.
Your desire to have a continual dialogue/debate about whether that is true or not is just evidence that you won't admit when you're wrong.

You better get over that if you're going to be a coach in any sport.

 

[GoVols64]

We're closer than you think. And I'm not saying that you're completely wrong when you say that "...no one play is responsible for losing the game..."

However, there are those games where all that remains to be done to preserve a VICTORY is to execute a simple play designed with a single purpose.

Why do you think offenses choose to line up in the victory formation and kneel down to preserve a WIN???
Why do you think DBs are coached to just fall down when they intercept a pass at the end of a game in order to preserve a WIN???

They do those things in order to prevent the impossible and irrational from happening on ONE SINGLE PLAY.

Alontae Taylor FAILED to execute his simple assignment that was designed with a single purpose in order to PRESERVE the Vols' victory.
Your desire to have a continual dialogue/debate about whether that is true or not is just evidence that you won't admit when you're wrong.

You better get over that if you're going to be a coach in any sport.

Lol. I almost thought we found common ground then you went there. I never said I was right or wrong, just said I see it differently. You think I’m wrong and that’s your opinion.

You win. You’re so smart how could I ever hope to match your intellect or football IQ. Sorry I had my own opinion it won’t happen again.