My Thoughts on the Florida Game, After Sleeping on It

#26
#26
I would just add to your “Napier is stupid” point that we would have won by 20-30 points if Florida played conventionally (punted on 4th downs, kicked field goals, went for extra points). Him playing so risky and having a lot of those calls pay off (5-6 on 4th downs where most coaches would only have gone for it on one or two of them) gave them like 14 or more points extra versus the average team. Teams that think they can beat us probably won’t go for risks like that.
Why punt on fourth down when our defense looked like they were defending the US southern border?
 
#27
#27
Napier's little outburst/tantrum was stupid, but other than that, I liked his aggression. When you're the underdog team on the road, you have to take chances. Not too many other coaches would have gone for it on 4th and 1 from their own 30 or 35 or whatever it was earlier in the game. His aggressive calls kept them in it, and gave them a chance for a miracle comeback. I still don't get the decision to go for to to try to cut it to 9, though. Best I can figure, he's thinking you're gonna need 2 scores anyway, being down by 9 means a FG and TD win it outright instead of sending it to OT (where you would feel you're be less than 50/50 to win being on the road with the lesser team).
 
#28
#28
The going for 2 thing Napier did is an analytics thing that we’ve seen NFL teams do the past few years. It comes down to percentages. Those percentages say that given 2 chances, you’re likely to convert at least one 2-pt try. So if you convert the 1st one it puts you in a position to win instead of tie with a TD and FG. If you miss the 1st attempt you’ll have another chance to get back to par so to speak.
given how successful Florida was on 4th downs, I’m not convinced it was a bad strategy, but yeah I’d say it probably ended up costing them the game yesterday, so he looks really dumb.
 
#29
#29
To reiterate others previously, the ball was brought back to the 47. but it begs the question, when does the clock start, with the kick or the recovery. Seems to me that it took more than one second for the ball to be touched by either side. Just nitpicking I guess.
Clock always starts with the catch on kickoffs.

That's why teams with the lead squib kick it when there's only a few seconds left on the clock. No fair catch after a bounce forces them to return it and burn clock.
 
#30
#30
And what was the deal with the onside kick that Florida recovered only taking 1 second? The guy ran 20 yards! They should've run at least 5 seconds off the clock. That's something that, even if you miss it, you can fix it.

They can't advance the ball, so the play is dead as soon as they recover. So they got the ball at the spot of recovery, not the spot where he was tackled.
 
#31
#31
I can usually tell the folks who don't know much about football...

And what was the deal with the onside kick that Florida recovered only taking 1 second? The guy ran 20 yards! They should've run at least 5 seconds off the clock. That's something that, even if you miss it, you can fix it. These officials didn't have a clue.

Sorry, but this was just funny.
 
#32
#32
Banks didn't stay aggressive with the d like he did 1st 3 games. I think if he had, ar would of made more mistakes. Go Vols!!
Completely agree and I do think that was the game plan.
Since AR picked us apart in the first half, I would have liked to seen some adjustments at halftime to find a way to get more pressure. He might have made a few big plays with his feet, but I also believe he would have made a few mistakes also. Regardless, we won and are 4-0. Watch film, get healthy, and game plan for LSU.

Go Vols!!
 
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#33
#33
Fair point. Going for it on 4th was smart (especially since they made most of them). Going for 2 when they cut it to 11 was stupid.
Going for 2 was about as dumb as it gets. But going for it on the 4th downs was the only reason Florida was in the game. They knew they couldn’t stop whether that be a 99 yard drive or a 35 yard drive. If they punt on half of those 6 4th down attempts, it’s a blowout and Florida gets embarrassed to the tune of 52-14 or worse.
 
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#34
#34
I disagree about man vs zone defense. Richardson has terrible accuracy and having to make more difficult throws vs man vs just having to throw to a wide open receiver sitting in the zone killed us yesterday, his guys had time to run down 15 yards, turn and go to their knees to wait for him to make a simple toss to them. Richardson was basically nearing career game levels in the first half. I'd rather risk getting burned by an occasional big play than knowing I'm going to get burned all game long on intermediate routes.
 
#39
#39
Can someone explain to me how there was not a flag thrown on the left side of the OL on the 2nd and 10 with 52 seconds left in the game? Maybe I’m wrong but from my view, it looked like it should’ve been 10 yards from the spot plus a 10 second runoff.
 
#40
#40
-I love that effort is never an issue with this team. They play hard for this staff. That hasn't always been the case in the last decade, but they clearly care about playing hard for this staff.

Great post, and I agree with all of it.

But, I wanted to highlight the quote above. When was the last time a Vol fan could say that? Years? Decades? Win or lose, these kids leave it all on the field, which makes it a joy to root for them. I honestly wasn't sure if that was ever going to be the case again.

For that alone, Heupel and staff deserve all our thanks.

And, since FL football = KY basketball, yesterday was very, very sweet indeed. This may or may not be the year we get AL and/or GA, but it's coming. And, that will be sweet, too.
 
#41
#41
Great post, and I agree with all of it.

But, I wanted to highlight the quote above. When was the last time a Vol fan could say that? Years? Decades? Win or lose, these kids leave it all on the field, which makes it a joy to root for them. I honestly wasn't sure if that was ever going to be the case again.

For that alone, Heupel and staff deserve all our thanks.

And, since FL football = KY basketball, yesterday was very, very sweet indeed. This may or may not be the year we get AL and/or GA, but it's coming. And, that will be sweet, too.

Barnes has given us this in mens basketball. Harper has given us this womens basketball. Vitello has given us this in baseball. And now Heupel has given us this in football.

Win or lose, I know when I watch Tennessee play in any of the big 4 sports, they’re going to make me proud of the effort.
 
#42
#42
Great post.

I am going to throw this out and then duck...I think we missed Burrell today. I know he gets a lot of criticism on VN, but he is our most experienced corner and a good tackler. I don't think it is a coincidence that our secondary had its worst performance of the year on a day he was out. Some of the other guys have a bright future, but they are still learning.
 
#43
#43
Great post.

I am going to throw this out and then duck...I think we missed Burrell today. I know he gets a lot of criticism on VN, but he is our most experienced corner and a good tackler. I don't think it is a coincidence that our secondary had its worst performance of the year on a day he was out. Some of the other guys have a bright future, but they are still learning.

We may have seen why he starts.
 
#44
#44
Great post.

I am going to throw this out and then duck...I think we missed Burrell today. I know he gets a lot of criticism on VN, but he is our most experienced corner and a good tackler. I don't think it is a coincidence that our secondary had its worst performance of the year on a day he was out. Some of the other guys have a bright future, but they are still learning.


I am very surprised at how badly Hadden played, considering his experience. We lose 7 or 8 starters on defense after this
season, hope we can coach up some better LB and DB players for next season.
 
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#45
#45
To reiterate others previously, the ball was brought back to the 47. but it begs the question, when does the clock start, with the kick or the recovery. Seems to me that it took more than one second for the ball to be touched by either side. Just nitpicking I guess.
Starts on the catch. That’s why touchbacks and fair catches take no time on kickoffs.
 
#46
#46
Why punt on fourth down when our defense looked like they were defending the US southern border?
Because it’s conventional. We stopped him on the first one too which would usually make coaches gunshy, but Napier obviously felt like Florida needed to take risks. I think if he had gone for it less a lot of our fans would think our defense played well.
 
#48
#48
I usually divide these thoughts up into positive and negative. But we beat Florida. Doesn't matter that I expected to win or that Florida isn't great. I would rather beat Florida than anything. So I'm not making a negative column. This win was HUGE. Thoughts:

-Great environment. I'm still hoarse. Crowd was loud and the place was packed 40 minutes before kickoff. Great Vol Walk. I have to think recruits were blown away.
-Hendon Hooker should be a top Heisman candidate. He was incredible.
-I saw some folks on this board complaining about play-calling. Folks, Josh Heupel is in the conversation of best play-caller in America. I can usually tell the folks who don't know much about football because the first thing they criticize is play-calling, not knowing what all goes into it or that execution is more important than the actual call. However, I can't think of a coach who has called more plays that result in wide open receivers as often as Heupel does since Steve Spurrier. Those look like blown coverages to the average fan. To an extent, they are. But an offense can find a pressure point on a defense that causes blown coverages. It's not a coincidence that it's happened so often to our opponents in the last 2 years. It happened 3 or 4 times down the field yesterday. He also generates some great opportunities in the run game, one of which led to Small's long run (which would have been a TD for a really good RB).
-Proud of the way the WRs, especially Keyton, stepped up. Since we got out with a win, it might end up being a good thing that Tillman missed a game because we generated a little depth with Keyton. Oh, and he made one of the greatest catches in UT history.
-The offensive line protected well. They've improved since last year. They gave up the one sack early, but other than that, Hooker had a lot of time to scan the field on most plays.
-I hope Sampson can get up to speed during the off week. Small just doesn't have game-breaking ability (although I respect his short yardage toughness). Sampson looks like the only RB we have right now who can become a star.
-The defensive line played better than 600+ yards would indicate. They generated some pressure, but Richardson is tough to catch. They aren't Bama or Georgia level, but they're MILES ahead of where they were last year. And they're good against the run. Omari Thomas is a star. What a game he played.
-But the secondary is bad. They're especially bad at CB, but the Safeties weren't great either. I think Hadden, McDonald, and Charles will be good players, but they're not there yet. I hope that's an area that we see improve as the year goes on. Hopefully, again, the bye week does some good here. They HAVE to tackle better. Have to.
-I like the way Princeton Fant kept fighting. But I think Warren should be the starting TE and get most of the PT.
-Awful officiating. Florida got away with obvious holds the whole game. They got away with delay of game penalties. Obvious ones. Small's TD that wasn't called a TD didn't hurt us, but still. And what was the deal with the onside kick that Florida recovered only taking 1 second? The guy ran 20 yards! They should've run at least 5 seconds off the clock. That's something that, even if you miss it, you can fix it. These officials didn't have a clue.
-Billy Napier is stupid.
-I've been adamant all week that there is no curse. Florida beats Tennessee because they outplay us. But man, I'll admit, when they got that onside, I started thinking, "Oh God...are we cursed? Is it going to happen again?" If Florida had won in that fashion with this Florida team against this Tennessee team, I would've started believing in a curse. And I would've started to wonder if we're ever going to beat them. It was as if the "curse" tried to rear its head and we stomped it down. Consider the demons exorcised.
-Florida played as well as it can play. Of course. Richardson made throws that he hasn't made all year. I think Tennessee's plan was sound...they held down the run game and made him throw. And he made us pay. But again...awful secondary. Nonetheless, we closed it out.
-Speaking of closing it out, I know some folks are dogging Banks...I'm not. With that secondary, I don't know what you do from a play-calling standpoint. They don't play well in the zone and playing man opens up even more options for Richardson to run. But Banks' decision to bring pressure on the last play was great. Most DCs sit back on that play and only rush 3. I hate that approach, but it's the one most choose. Banks brought pressure knowing AR would have to stand in the pocket awhile, and it caused the bad throw and INT. Ballgame.
-I love that effort is never an issue with this team. They play hard for this staff. That hasn't always been the case in the last decade, but they clearly care about playing hard for this staff.

Bye week. A week to heal up, get better, and get ready to beat LSU. 4-0 feels nice. But beating Florida to get there feels much better.

Officiating - also missed not 1 but 2 horse collars by the same lb on hooker.

also, completely agree with you about people digging Banks, I think given what Florida’s strength has been, running more zone (which we don’t do near as much as we did this game) was the absolute right call… Richardson was just finding the pockets within the zone.
 
#49
#49
Good summary. Maybe you should forward a copy to the announcers since they never made the connection between Heupel’s formations and shifts and the busted coverage. Multiple (weird) formations, last second shifts and uptempo play work together to create the defensive errors and our guys are ready for it to happen on every play. It’s why coaches like Saban and Smart hate it because they like to change personnel and reset the D each play. If coach Heupel catches the other team with the wrong defensive personnel he’ll exploit it until they take a time out, fake an injury or we score.
 
#50
#50
To reiterate others previously, the ball was brought back to the 47. but it begs the question, when does the clock start, with the kick or the recovery. Seems to me that it took more than one second for the ball to be touched by either side. Just nitpicking I guess.
With the first touch, with any kickoff.
 

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