Positives Take Away Thread ...

[livefaith]

We've got an all new staff, a lotta of new players, and a new season. Yesterday we got the same old results.

I'll let the other 297 threads cover the train wreck we saw and give place for hand wringing. In this one, I want to point out the POSITIVES that I saw yesterday in Charlotte.

#1 Our QB looked very good IMO. That was the #1 question coming in.

#2 Our wideouts played very well. We expected them to be good and they did not disappoint. We're talented here.

#3 Number 58 on the OL. I haven't rewatched the game. But daaaang. About 1/2 the plays I caught a glimpse of him pancaking someone or driving someone into the ground. Johnson's not the biggest guy, and he may get a penalty or two this year. But talk about playing with a mean streak!

#4 Black shoes. Dang that was refresshing for some reason.

#5 The two FR corners look the part. I know we got raked by an elite passing game. But, 6 and 20 both pass the physical eye test IMO. These two leapfrogged our vets. And CJP is playing them for the future. They'll get toasted more, especially through the mid season gauntlet. But, come the stretch of this year, we'll have some athletes on the edges. They'll both start over 28 once the FR fog clears.

#6 As expected our RBs are strong. Hope #8 is back next week. But, again like in practice vids, Jeremy Banks looks fo real from a physical standpoint. He was playing during real time and looks like the big back CJP wants. Watch this guy.

#7 Our new FR punter played way too much and very well. Losing our best player from last year doesn't look like much of a loss.

#8 Our "defensive minded" head coach got embarrassed, humiliated, stomped, and exposed by a pretty good Big8 team and ... wait for it ... TOOK RESPONSIBILITY for the loss and even said it was on him to improve this group.

That's the +s I got for the otherwise ugly opener.

 

[Wrangler95]

We've got an all new staff, a lotta of new players, and a new season. Yesterday we got the same old results.

I'll let the other 297 threads cover the train wreck we saw and give place for hand wringing. In this one, I want to point out the POSITIVES that I saw yesterday in Charlotte.

#1 Our QB looked very good IMO. That was the #1 question coming in.

#2 Our wideouts played very well. We expected them to be good and they did not disappoint. We're talented here.

#3 Number 58 on the OL. I haven't rewatched the game. But daaaang. About 1/2 the plays I caught a glimpse of him pancaking someone or driving someone into the ground. Johnson's not the biggest guy, and he may get a penalty or two this year. But talk about playing with a mean streak!

#4 Black shoes. Dang that was refresshing for some reason.

#5 The two FR corners look the part. I know we got raked by an elite passing game. But, 6 and 20 both pass the physical eye test IMO. These two leapfrogged our vets. And CJP is playing them for the future. They'll get toasted more, especially through the mid season gauntlet. But, come the stretch of this year, we'll have some athletes on the edges. They'll both start over 28 once the FR fog clears.

#6 As expected our RBs are strong. Hope #8 is back next week. But, again like in practice vids, Jeremy Banks looks fo real from a physical standpoint. He was playing during real time and looks like the big back CJP wants. Watch this guy.

#7 Our new FR punter played way too much and very well. Losing our best player from last year doesn't look like much of a loss.

#8 Our "defensive minded" head coach got embarrassed, humiliated, stomped, and exposed by a pretty good Big8 team and ... wait for it ... TOOK RESPONSIBILITY for the loss and even said it was on him to improve this group.

That's the +s I got for the otherwise ugly opener.

I agree,weak link was defensive backs but WVA has best passing attack in the nation,we should go into the Florida game with two wins!!Gauartano looked good I thought!

 

[MSrivervol]

The last 10 years, we've all been waiting and waiting for a good team. Common theme seems to always be to wait 2-3 more years until we have a "real" football team. I guess I'll just buckle up for a few year ride on the Pruitt train.... better than being strapped into the car seat in Jones' Prius or Dooley's Fiat.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

I didnt see a lot of those positives but heres one.

No turnovers..

 

[AustinMem]

I kind of wonder if the long delay took away some momentum. Our defense had actually started to make some plays (and got gifted some bad passes or missed catches by WV) in the second quarter. It was like they lost all of that at half.

 

[G8rh8r]

Offense is much better. It has life again. JG looked much better than I anticipated.

I held out hope we might be a miracle team this year. Then the first possession happened and I dialed back to reality.

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

I think overall, after we got past the first two series, the OL did a pretty solid job in pass protection. Run blocking is still a work in progress, but we've got two weeks to work on it

 

[HokieVol]

Overall I’m happy with the effort. The OLine worries me, we did however improve when Carvin came in the interior. I knew we would get toasted with freshmen starting in the defensive backfield, however Taylor and Thompson both showed flashes, Flowers did as well. Gotta remember Rome wasn’t built in a day it’s going to take time but we are getting better.

 

[VolEngineer]

-I was impressed by the adjustments the offense and defense had in the first half. This wasnt a Butch team where the gameplan was going to be the same no matter how it was working. We forced a lot of punts, and a couple field goals and controlled possession. I think if the weather delay didnt happen it would have beem much closer. For one it gave time for the defense to rest and for two it allowed wesr virginia to really adjust their offense and smoke us.
- JG was very good, made some good passes, got rid of the ball, and made good decisions.
-When we were in rhythm, we used the run to open the pass and vice versa which is something we havent seen in a while.
-They were the more talented team, and they were going to be no matter what, but we were able to out coach them for a while. They just beat us talent wise and were more experienced. We can work on that and get better and i am optimistic about our coaching staff.
-No turnovers, smart playcalling, and while conservative at times, didnt dig us a deeper hole than we were already in.
-Offensive line was rough, but i admire the constant rotation to find a group that worked well together, which we did find on that long drive in the first half.
-Strategy was good in the first half, with the controlling of TOP and slowed down their offense. Their playcalling just was too much too fast in the second half for us to adjust.

 

[munsterlander]

-I was impressed by the adjustments the offense and defense had in the first half. This wasnt a Butch team where the gameplan was going to be the same no matter how it was working. We forced a lot of punts, and a couple field goals and controlled possession. I think if the weather delay didnt happen it would have beem much closer. For one it gave time for the defense to rest and for two it allowed wesr virginia to really adjust their offense and smoke us.
- JG was very good, made some good passes, got rid of the ball, and made good decisions.
-When we were in rhythm, we used the run to open the pass and vice versa which is something we havent seen in a while.
-They were the more talented team, and they were going to be no matter what, but we were able to out coach them for a while. They just beat us talent wise and were more experienced. We can work on that and get better and i am optimistic about our coaching staff.
-No turnovers, smart playcalling, and while conservative at times, didnt dig us a deeper hole than we were already in.
-Offensive line was rough, but i admire the constant rotation to find a group that worked well together, which we did find on that long drive in the first half.
-Strategy was good in the first half, with the controlling of TOP and slowed down their offense. Their playcalling just was too much too fast in the second half for us to adjust.

Most rational comments I’ve seen, especially the 1st one. No shotgun RPOs from the 1 yard line, we actually made an effective adjustment in the first half and “won” time of possession by a lot. (Which was absolutely the right strategy against their explosive offense and those of you advocating for pass-happy Fun and Gun completely ignore).

Won’t be a great year, we flat out just don’t have the personnel despite supposedly good recruiting (and I was wrong on this - exceptions of course, but too much slow, small, and some really bad instincts) - and CJP is in a rough spot because of it. Couple guys out there hopefully within 2 or 3 weeks don’t see the field again - killing us. But this feels different to me in comparison to CDD and CBJ - like we’re finally going to dig out of our 10-year purgatory.

 

[firestorm]

This is why the glass is logically half full for me for the 2018 Bright Orange Vols after the frustrating common growing pains 1st game vs a formidable adversary which includes a talented QB.

The defense was great for 1 Half, while they didn't play with the same intensity in the 2nd half which was outright said after the game I don't doubt that wasn't some fools gold or just a 1 game special in the 1st game.
This defense can be effective and keep the Vols in games by mostly executing and containing teams to field goals.
While they did give up backbreaker plays the whole make contact and not wrapping up, and busted coverage are fixable awful mistakes.

The defense proved to be like a rock, valiant, and headstrong because it was a awful game including most of the 2nd half except they didn't back the hell down, lay the hell down an give the hell up because the game was frustrating and challenging. They fought, and gave the Vols offense another chance to make a great comeback by finally breaking through with a impressive fumble created and recovery of the ball.
Even when it's obvious the Vols couldn't come back because of the amount along with a low amount of minutes the defense never used the easy action of quit and stop playing full effort.

Vols Offense: Guarantano grew up in this game because he was able to lead the Vols down the field for the attempts to comeback including after the fumble recovery, showed he can be great when given time with terrific throws, and with a tough start showed he has the heart of a champion, like a rock, tenacious, resilient, and is valiant.
Tim Jordan also proved to be like a rock with the heart of a Champion, resilient, tenacious, and is valiant because he finally was able to run for high gains in the 2nd half, and is a threat for long distance runs won't be astounded if he runs for a 60 yards td or higher. A talented RB possibly great and a tough man to bring down when he runs forward including open areas.
The Vols had a opportunity to comeback in the 4th quarter after that fumble and had momentum except unable to finish since Mountaineers defended when needed most, and it took the Mountaineers more than 48 game minutes to make this the expected worst situation that is the Mountaineers steamroll the Vols.

The Vols have the ability to outplay better teams including by winning top the issue they have to get removed execute and score more than single digits for 1 half, or better both halfs.
I won't be astounded at all if this team gels before game 3 or 4 with both defense and offense playing great with Vols playing great as a team for a full game. They are a talented team that will have the expected growing pains as shown vs WV except still can have a great season with 11 games left, or a good season.
Playing great as a team meaning both offense and defense is effective instead of offense is effective except the defense fails, or defense was effective except offense wasn't effective because didn't finish a drive shine they didn't score a td when needed most.

Adversity Reveals character and the Vols in what became a embarrassment never used the easy action of quit and give the hell up. The 2018 Football Vols are tenacious, resilient, like a rock, and valiant champions with the heart of a Lion or the heart of a Champion.

I'm optimistic the Vols learn from this awful game that had the expected growing pains, play better in game 2, and continue to improve with each game.

 

[firestorm]

I kind of wonder if the long delay took away some momentum. Our defense had actually started to make some plays (and got gifted some bad passes or missed catches by WV) in the second quarter. It was like they lost all of that at half.

A similar situation was shown long delays 49ers vs Ravens in the Super Bowl which the Ravens won,, and 49ers were able to get back in the game but couldn't finish the comeback so I'm saying yes.