One game every season ?

[LittleVol]

Where we lose a game we shouldn't.
Oklahoma came into Neyland with no offensive identity and really an untested defense. And are still in the Playoff hunt.

Defense held OU to 9 points 1st half. Our offense gave them 7 because of terrible play call lack or awareness by Aguilar. Sanders whiffed and plus the dude was off sides etc etc....
Meanwhile the same offense has 250 yards that 1st half . Ironically enough, the oline was better as a unit with Perry at RT.
Yeah we got Ethan Davis back but then he runs the routes wrong or even gets penalties in year 3.

McCoy still looking from the sideline.
Boo in game 9 still looking shaky at anything...

Those head scratching plays that would cause Tennessee to lose a game they shouldn't happened last night. That OU team was not good. A disciplined team would have been up 28-7 in the 2nd qtr.

However, those same "circumstances" have been happening all season. Right?
- clock management before the half. Man refused to call a timeout.
- BANKS NOT RECRUITING DTS OR SAFETY after losing 4 of each in the Off-season.
- Penalties. Undisciplined.
- bad fundamentals (coaching)
- stale team Chemistry.

Ga Tech, Miami, and Vandy lost yesterday. It's feasible that we would be Top 10 today had we just played with discipline.

This team will find a way to lose at every crucial junction though. All across the board. Coaching and Players. Just a scared team.

Nothing to be afraid of now. Heupel and Banks will coach better now with no PRESSURE of the playoffs. Watch.

 

[West Vol]

We are lucky we didn’t blow the Arkansas and MSU games. When you sloppy and undisciplined this stuff will eventually catch up with you. These issues have been around for years now and we’ve done nothing to address them.

 

[Rickyvol77]

Where we lose a game we shouldn't.
Oklahoma came into Neyland with no offensive identity and really an untested defense. And are still in the Playoff hunt.

Defense held OU to 9 points 1st half. Our offense gave them 7 because of terrible play call lack or awareness by Aguilar. Sanders whiffed and plus the dude was off sides etc etc....
Meanwhile the same offense has 250 yards that 1st half . Ironically enough, the oline was better as a unit with Perry at RT.
Yeah we got Ethan Davis back but then he runs the routes wrong or even gets penalties in year 3.

McCoy still looking from the sideline.
Boo in game 9 still looking shaky at anything...

Those head scratching plays that would cause Tennessee to lose a game they shouldn't happened last night. That OU team was not good. A disciplined team would have been up 28-7 in the 2nd qtr.

However, those same "circumstances" have been happening all season. Right?
- clock management before the half. Man refused to call a timeout.
- BANKS NOT RECRUITING DTS OR SAFETY after losing 4 of each in the Off-season.
- Penalties. Undisciplined.
- bad fundamentals (coaching)
- stale team Chemistry.

Ga Tech, Miami, and Vandy lost yesterday. It's feasible that we would be Top 10 today had we just played with discipline.

This team will find a way to lose at every crucial junction though. All across the board. Coaching and Players. Just a scared team.

Nothing to be afraid of now. Heupel and Banks will coach better now with no PRESSURE of the playoffs. Watch.

Oklahoma was our match of a team...it's not the same as getting beat by Arkansas last year

We should've won the game yes, but it's not some doom and gloom end of the world scenario either.

- Oklahoma's defense wasn't untested and they played well
- UT's Defense played well through the game, probably their best performance all year FWIW; the continuing negative of course continues to be missed tackles and angles on a running QB, but overall played well enough for the Vols to win
- Ethan Davis wasn't the issue at TE last night, but Kitselman needs to go, he is awful in every facet of the game. The other TE who dropped the 4th and 1 cost us the game along with Gilbert
- McCoy is injured, can't really do anything about that, you can complain all you want, but you can't blame this on anyone
- Boo is Boo, there is no one else to play there with the injuries and losses
- Oklahoma was a good team, quit acting like they aren't. You are mad about the loss and that is fine but don't exaggerate reality
- We didn't have that many penalties and Oklahoma had tons more
- "Team chemistry" is fine
- I don't think we played scared as a team or coaching staff. Joey got a little two cowboy and cost us points, our TEs cost us more, and our kicker (who is erratic) missed critical field goals that likely would've won it.

 

[CAVPUT]

Not sure much will change from the coaches. My first thought would be to start getting the younger players ready for next year and see what you have. That would give you a clearer picture of what you need from the portal. However, if you do that, you kinda signal that you've quit on the season and that won't go over well with fans and players. Then again, with the playoffs off the board, I wonder how many of our players "check out" on this team? Gonna be interested to see how this plays out. We need to finish well to keep momentum. Missing the playoffs hurt, but going in the tank would be worse on many levels. As for the coaches, I think they're handicapped by the talent they have to work with. You can't take a guy who's averse to contact and turn him into a physical, solid tackler. When I look at what gradtuated/went to the NFL/transferred, I can kinda sympathize with Banks. Not much he can do except keep as much of the action in front of you as possible and hope someone can get a guy down. Problem is it's usually the 6th guy attempting a tackle that gets him 15 yards later.

One thing I do question as you did is the chemistry. There are some guys that stood out to me upon watching replays that just seemed to be going through the motions. #2 just seems intent on avoiding contact as much as humanly possible. His "energy" is just bad....at least to my eye. Another play that disturbed me was the interception of the pass intended for Davis. When he knew the ball wasn't catchable, his "half hearted" effort to tackle the guy just screamed giving up on the play. Zero effort to tackle the guy. I know folks will say he's a TE, but crap, he's a football player. Blocking and tackling are fundamentals every kid is taught...or at least they should be. Then there's the Boo Carter factor. Kinda doubt he's Mr. Popular given how much he plays, how little he produces and what he did this summer. Can't be good feel for guys standing on the sidelines who did put in all that work only to watch him continue getting reps. Long winded way of saying that I agree about chemistry.

There's just something wrong/missing with this years group compared to last year. I can't look at anyone on the defensive side of the ball and see a guy who sets the tone for the defense. Everyone seems soft and going through the motions. No one seems to have that desire/determination/pride about them. Frankly, I see some of that on offense, too. Sometimes I wonder if these kids getting their money has taken the edge off their game? All I can say is that I'm really, REALLY glad we have Rick Barnes and basketball season is here.

 

[Cartervol]

I think you got what you got in this coach. Team will look the same year to year.