ksushalovesthevols
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Defeat is never easy to swallow, especially when it's unexpected. I went to California this weekend fully expecting a Tennessee win. Not a blow-out by any means -- as both teams had pressing questions on both sides of the ball -- but a win. My Saturday night ended in Volun-tears.
I cried for a number of reasons, pride not being the least of those. But I also cried because, despite all our tradition, our six national championships and one of the best coaching staffs in the country, we lost to only the second best team in a vastly overrated conference. I won't make excuses for this loss, though. We were beaten solidly.
Watching the Vols struggle defensively is a novelty for those of us who have followed the team in the Fulmer-Chavis era. If anything, our shortcomings have always been offensive. This game, however, was very different. The offensive was explosive, despite and admittedly ruckus crowd in Cal's modest little stadium. I like the new no huddle offensive scheme; it works well in such environments and Angie remained poised and, for the most part, accurate. The holes in the defense were gaping. It appeared from my vantage point that the size on the line has decreased substantially this year, as has the speed. Not once did I see any pressure on Longshore. The rush defense was virtually non-existent and the secondary lacked the speed to defend against deep passes. All in all, despite our surprisingly good offense (I didn't expect such efficiency with our losses at WR and on the offensive line) our offense appeared as though it had been borrowed from a D-II school, and a bad one at that.
Special teams were equally horrendous. The punting, returning and kickoffs speak for themselves. This is an area that needs to be addressed immediately.
Cal shouldn't be so proud of this loss. They manhandled a very second-rate defense. I suspect that if we play that sort of D in the SEC, we can expect 45 points scored against us by halftime. I certainly wouldn't try this against the likes of Florida and LSU. No doubt Cal's offense is efficient, but I don't believe it's nearly as good as it appeared last night. Sadly, the next time they play a defense worth noting is again USC, which I fully expect to blow them out, as Cal's defense is nearly as horrendous as ours.
The whole game was like a comedy or errors, on both sides. While the D lines were falling all over themselves, missing tackles and generally being useless, both Longshore and Ainge had ample time to pass without any pressure. Receivers had too many breakaway plays that were complete gimmes. Too few runs got stopped when they should have been. After a while, it was almost funny to watch these two defenses struggle to complete basic defensive plays in elementary defensive schemes.
What didn't make me laugh was the insufferable disrespect and apathy displayed by the Cal student section and the Cal band when Xavier Mitchell was injured late in the fourth quarter. As he was lying motionless on the ground and the medical techs were preparing to stap him to a stretcher and take him for emergency treatment to the nearest hospital, the Cal fans gloated in their impending victory by yelling out coordinated cheers such as "Roll on you bears!," "Go Bears." This was not just general chatter in the student section -- this was outright, coordinated gleeful cheering. And to make it worse, the Cal Band joined in by playing their fight song, all while our player remained injured and on the field. Now I don't know much about Pac-10 football and this was the first game I ever attended at Cal, but having been to my share of games in the SEC, I know that Volunteer fans would never sing Rocky Top or cheer out "V-O-L-S, V-O-L-S, V-O-L-S, Go, Vols, Go!" when another team's player is injured on the field, especially when he appears completely imobile. As an alum of both Cal and Tennessee, I was thoroughly embarassed by my late alma mater's behavior at this game.
We Vols might need to adjust our defense, but Cal has more than their defense to tweak; this arrogant and disrespectful program needs a serious attitude adjustment.
I cried for a number of reasons, pride not being the least of those. But I also cried because, despite all our tradition, our six national championships and one of the best coaching staffs in the country, we lost to only the second best team in a vastly overrated conference. I won't make excuses for this loss, though. We were beaten solidly.
Watching the Vols struggle defensively is a novelty for those of us who have followed the team in the Fulmer-Chavis era. If anything, our shortcomings have always been offensive. This game, however, was very different. The offensive was explosive, despite and admittedly ruckus crowd in Cal's modest little stadium. I like the new no huddle offensive scheme; it works well in such environments and Angie remained poised and, for the most part, accurate. The holes in the defense were gaping. It appeared from my vantage point that the size on the line has decreased substantially this year, as has the speed. Not once did I see any pressure on Longshore. The rush defense was virtually non-existent and the secondary lacked the speed to defend against deep passes. All in all, despite our surprisingly good offense (I didn't expect such efficiency with our losses at WR and on the offensive line) our offense appeared as though it had been borrowed from a D-II school, and a bad one at that.
Special teams were equally horrendous. The punting, returning and kickoffs speak for themselves. This is an area that needs to be addressed immediately.
Cal shouldn't be so proud of this loss. They manhandled a very second-rate defense. I suspect that if we play that sort of D in the SEC, we can expect 45 points scored against us by halftime. I certainly wouldn't try this against the likes of Florida and LSU. No doubt Cal's offense is efficient, but I don't believe it's nearly as good as it appeared last night. Sadly, the next time they play a defense worth noting is again USC, which I fully expect to blow them out, as Cal's defense is nearly as horrendous as ours.
The whole game was like a comedy or errors, on both sides. While the D lines were falling all over themselves, missing tackles and generally being useless, both Longshore and Ainge had ample time to pass without any pressure. Receivers had too many breakaway plays that were complete gimmes. Too few runs got stopped when they should have been. After a while, it was almost funny to watch these two defenses struggle to complete basic defensive plays in elementary defensive schemes.
What didn't make me laugh was the insufferable disrespect and apathy displayed by the Cal student section and the Cal band when Xavier Mitchell was injured late in the fourth quarter. As he was lying motionless on the ground and the medical techs were preparing to stap him to a stretcher and take him for emergency treatment to the nearest hospital, the Cal fans gloated in their impending victory by yelling out coordinated cheers such as "Roll on you bears!," "Go Bears." This was not just general chatter in the student section -- this was outright, coordinated gleeful cheering. And to make it worse, the Cal Band joined in by playing their fight song, all while our player remained injured and on the field. Now I don't know much about Pac-10 football and this was the first game I ever attended at Cal, but having been to my share of games in the SEC, I know that Volunteer fans would never sing Rocky Top or cheer out "V-O-L-S, V-O-L-S, V-O-L-S, Go, Vols, Go!" when another team's player is injured on the field, especially when he appears completely imobile. As an alum of both Cal and Tennessee, I was thoroughly embarassed by my late alma mater's behavior at this game.
We Vols might need to adjust our defense, but Cal has more than their defense to tweak; this arrogant and disrespectful program needs a serious attitude adjustment.
