POINTS of Optimism For 2009

#26
#26
All I'm saying is that the game should have been much closer. We gave up 21 points, 14 from red zone turnovers, and 7 on a punt. That's a 21 point swing that solid play would not have allowed. I'm not trying to make myself feel better, I'm just stating facts. Go ahead and disagree with me. Tell me what I'm saying is incorrect, and I'll retract it.

Ridiculous that Florida woulda came out and put 50 + if UT had challenged ..blah blah blah . Florida relished running the score up on anyone and everyone ...even The Citadel . Not a problem to me , teams should run it up if they can with the BCS garbage. Point is , if they coulda , they woulda. Tebow could not complete a pass beyond the first quarter . UT committed to stopping the pass after that to slow the game . Say what you will , but with Berry and D Mo that was an excellent secondary . Florida's output of 30 points against top tier defenses was consistant all year . They put up the big points against second tier defenses or with the benefit of +3 turnovers. That is where I would hand it to the Lizards ...their +22 turnovers . If they coulda put up the points ...they woulda regardless of if they were winning .

Again , UT stops the bleeding when they stop the turnovers. They shore up special teams , get a ball control O and remain dominant on D , they are in the game . If UT's D is ranked in the top 10 ...florida will score 30 or less. The stats don's lie.


Don't get me wrong, I give UT's defense a solid and well-earned C+ for that game.

I give your offense an F, and your special teams an F-.
 
#27
#27
Fla won't put up more than 30 offensively against us. The game will be won by special teams and turnovers IMO. Our defense will hold them pretty well without Harvin. That guy really killed us whenever he touched the ball. I just pray their defense doesn't feast on one of our QBs.

I think we will run at least 75 percent of the time next year to set up play action to ease confidence into one of our guys at QB. We will look a good bit like Bama did last year only with less talented lines.
 
#28
#28
I have to agree with the OP. Lawgator, so we average a B and beat the GATORs. Not sure about that. Offense will be much improved and the Defense will be solid. I look for Monte to throw schemes at TBone that will test his true abilities. It will be back to the days of P. Manning and Woody. I think the defense will possibility win this game for Tennessee at the swamp. I see the offense holding their own and outwitting Myer at the Swamp. It will be more physical than the last two years and the confidence factor has been restored in the players of old.

First test for both teams and new staff with different philosophy at the helm fuels the upset. Add to the media frenzy and hype plus the fact that the Gator faithful will be trying to guess if they should try and break 100 points spells disaster for Gatorland.

With CPF we were better off playing FL at the end of the year and with CLK we are better off playing at the first of the season. Expect the unexpected because Kiffin is going to have fun now that he is back at the college level.
 
#32
#32
IDK about you guys, but I love the fact that they are getting the playbook easily. heck they have already accomplished something clawson couldnt even do.
 
#33
#33
IDK about you guys, but I love the fact that they are getting the playbook easily. heck they have already accomplished something clawson couldnt even do.

Thanks another great point . The Kiffin offense is simple compared to others ..and the D is simple compared as well . I have heard several of the coaches say that they want players playing fast and if the are spending to much time thinking they wont play fast enough , and things like , we want to do a few things really well before we do more stuff . This is a theme with the staff and I think it is great .
 
#34
#34
cant really predict the future accurately enough to be confident in a guess of the outcome of any game. But I would venture to guess that those vols will be in every game they play. they may lose but it will not be by the end of the 1st quarter. There wont be players quitting, and wont be like watching a glorified scrimmage. and those florida boys will be reminded of reality much like ole miss woke them up last season, maybe not with an upset but definitely with a game they will actually have to play to win rather than excepting the gifts CPF seemed happy to hand out.
 
#35
#35
There's no reason not to be optimistic, sure we had an off year, but we're rebuilding and have enough potential to make a serious bowl game run
 
#38
#38
We have every reason to be optimistic here. Here is why. Watching Clawful run our offense last year showed inexperience as a OC. People can say it takes awhile to learn a system was the problem but it went much deeper then that. For instance in the UCLA game. We were running all over them but Clawful wants to throw it 40 times. Shows inexperience. Here is another one. The Florida game. We're on the freakin goal line twice and I am screaming do a qb sneak and not once did he do it and yes turn over. And the TD we did score, yes it was by a QB sneak. So with experienced OC and coaches all I see is more wins.

Plus I don't buy into all the rebuilding crap I see. Are we NC talented? NO, but we are just 2 years removed from the SEC Champ which we lost in last minutes against NC LSU. UT is loaded enough to pull out some upsets IMO. I predict 8-9 wins this season.
 
#39
#39
I think we have an As long as the D stays strong and they eliminate turnovers ...the Vols are in that game .

And make sure that we don't get inside Florida's 5 yard line 15 times and come away with ZERO points...:mega_shok:
 
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#40
#40
Good Post. I still say 8 wins this year. I think we are competitive even in the losses though. I don't expect this team to roll over as in recent years.
 
#41
#41
Good Post. I still say 8 wins this year. I think we are competitive even in the losses though. I don't expect this team to roll over as in recent years.

I agree with you and that was the whole point of this post . I will go one step further ..I expect 8 wins with the chance of 1 or 2 suprises above and beyond . 'Chance' means that we will be competative in games that we have not competed in in the past and may pull one or two out .

Turnovers have been huge for UT ...and everyone else . UT is fine in the takeaways , but neutalizes that with their givaways . They ended up +3 . Florida ran about the same with takeaways , but were much better with giveaways and ended +22 . That was huge in all of the BIG scores they put up this season . When you look year to year , the best teams in the country have the best turnover margin . Lane knows this and will correct this . It is a controlable problem and I know it will be fixed giving us a chance to compete and win .

Also ...turnovers were the tale of the tape in 2005 . Seems to have been an issue for Fulmer offenses .
 
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