Problem winning road games, is it an isssue?-poll

How big of an issue is the questionable road losses

  • Total voters
    181
#26
#26
vols 30 said:
Slight issue. Road games are hard


Before CJH, we had trouble just winning home games.
Click to expand...
Exactly a point that I thought shouldn’t be overlooked. We’ve lost 4 games in 4 years under Heupel. 3 in the first season, 2 of those under questionable circumstances and the other was to the National Champs. We have finally made Neyland one of the most difficult venues to go into and win.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc and vols 30
#27
#27
vols 30 said:
Slight issue. Road games are hard


Before CJH, we had trouble just winning home games.
Click to expand...
I agree, it’s just that each year there’s 1-2 road games that it looks like we were completely unprepared for
 
#29
#29
JCVol00 said:
Each year under Heupel, it seems we absolutely lose a game or two on the road that we have no business losing- ‘21 Florida (sorta), ‘22 SC, ‘23 UF, ‘23 Mizzou, ‘24 Arkansas.

My question is, how big of an issue is this? Discuss…
Click to expand...
Basically never loses at home other than to Georgia. How big an issue is that? I think this is more an issue of how damn hard it is to win in the sec on the road.
 
  • Like
Reactions: swampfoxfan, Big Al Orange, ENGRVOL and 3 others
#30
#30
I think it is par the course and to be expected. We are having to play tough road games at night against conference opponents. That in itself is about a 7 point swing.

Sure the crowd noise throws off the offense and messes with our tempo. In the same way, how many home games have we squeaked by due to our home field advantage. Bama 2022, Texas A&M, Bama and Florida 2024,

I think the bigger issue was having two, average at best, passers at QB in Milton and Nico. On the road, against adrenaline pumping defenses their weaknesses were amplified. At times it caused us to be a one dimensional rushing offense. If we got in a hole we couldn't overcome it. That wasn,t the case with Hooker. I think with a more experienced and proven QB operating the offense we win more on the road.
 
#31
#31
RDU VOL#14 said:
I can excuse the 21 loss a Florida bc that was year 1, and 2023 to a Mizzou team that went 11-2. The 2022 USCjr loss is still one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen and the 24 Arkansas loss is completely unacceptable. To Heupel’s credit we won at Pitt and blew out LSU in 2022. I also think that we’ve played pretty well in Tuscaloosa every season that he’s been here, but we weren’t ready to win that type of game in 21 and if Milton is more accurate we’re potentially up 28-7 or 28-0 in 2023. This season has to be a year where we take another step by winning in Tuscaloosa or Gainesville or by getting UGA at home. 1 of those 3 things needs to happen
Click to expand...
Losing to Mizzou in 2023 was not the end of the world.

Being utterly dominated in all phases by Mizzou in 2023 was alarming.
 
#32
#32
DaddyChad said:
Basically never loses at home other than to Georgia. How big an issue is that? I think this is more an issue of how damn hard it is to win in the sec on the road.
Click to expand...
He missed out on a 4 team playoff in 2022 because he lost as a 3 TD favorite against a South Carolina team that was only 6-4 at the time and had just suffered a horrible loss. He missed out on a SEC Championship game and home playoff game in 2024 because he lost to an eventual 6 win Arkansas team as a 2 TD favorite. Other teams didn’t have such a huge problem winning in those stadiums, so the “hard to win on the road in the SEC” argument doesn’t hold much water.

If you don’t think that’s a problem, then does anything constitute a problem in your book?
 
#33
#33
GetYouSomeofThat said:
It seems under Heupel we have improved our lot every season.
However, if i try, i can find stuff to bitch about.
Click to expand...
That’s just not true. 2023 was a big downgrade from 2022.

You don’t have to try hard to find things to like about Heupel, but it’s also pretty easy to find things to bitch about if the goal is championships.
 
#34
#34
VFL9798 said:
It’s definitely noteworthy, but can be fixed. I think the highs of Heupels tenure (i.e. beating Bama and Florida twice, making the playoffs) have most people overlooking this issue. Last years loss to Arkansas is unacceptable and we CANNOT keep losing in the swamp.. feel like we’re cursed there. Anyways, he still has my trust but this is a recurring problem each year and the GREAT teams do not lose road games to average opponents like a Florida or Arkansas.. there’s still plenty of opportunities for improvement. With that being said, I doubt we win in Gainesville this year and don’t feel at comfortable about winning the other SEC road games..
Click to expand...

I am cautiously optimistic about Gainesville for two reasons. 1. It's a later season game and won't be 95 degrees with 100% humidity and 2. Their schedule is absolutely brutal. By November they should be pretty beaten up and limping to the finish line. I'm also cautiously optimistic about getting Georgia early in the year and putting their new QB into the meat grinder that is Neyland---but the crowd HAS to be into it. We will see.
 
#37
#37
I think the big issue for road losses is in basketball. As for football, I think the problem is mind set. Some teams thrive on adverse fan actively. We and others don't. If we are a two touchdown better team going in, then we should not lose. I know fan support can jack up an opponent, but if we are the better team, the we should play like it and not be adversely effected by outside influences.
 
#39
#39
To give context to the discussion, here are some stats on road woes in the SEC, supplied by the intra-nets and ay-aye:

Playing on the road in the SEC is notoriously difficult, and statistics confirm this challenge:
Overall Road Game Winning Percentage (Last Five Seasons):
  • SEC teams have a road winning percentage of 42.4% in SEC vs. SEC games.
Teams with the Lowest Road Winning Percentage (2018-2022):
  • Vanderbilt: 10%
  • Arkansas: 16.7%
Road Game Winning Percentage Excluding Top Teams:
  • Excluding Georgia and Alabama, the road winning average for the other 12 teams drops to 35.4%.
  • Removing the other two teams with a winning road record (LSU and Florida), the average success rate for the remaining 10 teams is only 31.2%.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc
#40
#40
RockyTopTexas said:
It’s the play calling. Offense gets really stagnant
Click to expand...
Which may be due to crowd noise.

Calling up and successfully communicating a unique play (like, changing one route on an otherwise standard play) in response to what coaches see a defense doing, is more likely to result in miscommunication and a busted play, a penalty--or worse, a turnover.

I think going on the road requires limiting the play list, working on just those plays during the week, and depending on superior execution to win the game.
 
#41
#41
RDU VOL#14 said:
I can excuse the 21 loss a Florida bc that was year 1, and 2023 to a Mizzou team that went 11-2. The 2022 USCjr loss is still one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen and the 24 Arkansas loss is completely unacceptable. To Heupel’s credit we won at Pitt and blew out LSU in 2022. I also think that we’ve played pretty well in Tuscaloosa every season that he’s been here, but we weren’t ready to win that type of game in 21 and if Milton is more accurate we’re potentially up 28-7 or 28-0 in 2023. This season has to be a year where we take another step by winning in Tuscaloosa or Gainesville or by getting UGA at home. 1 of those 3 things needs to happen
Click to expand...
It was an issue for Heupel at UCF too. He only lost 2 home games in 3 seasons.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocky Top T and RDU VOL#14
#42
#42
Road or home, you have to win the games you should win. The new playoff format appears that it will forgive teams for a couple of losses, but they have to be tossups or games you were expected to lose. Playing teams you should beat close or losing to them probably won't get as much forgiveness by the committee.
 
#43
#43
JCVol00 said:
The Arkansas game, something that everyone ignores is the fact we left the game with 1 or 2 timeouts in our pocket…Nico running out of bounds should’ve never happened, because we didnt HAVE to be in that position if when he connected with thornton with 20 seconds left a timeout was called, which it wasnt
Click to expand...
If Nico connects with wide open receivers TN wins the game easily.
 
#45
#45
I've coined the phrase "On the road, at night is Heupel's Kryptonite".
He's average on the road at around 45 to 50 %, but factor out daytime / early games and that drops quickly to about 15%.
 
#46
#46
JCVol00 said:
Drinkwitz coached circles around the staff that game. Im convinced we had the better roster but they out coached us
Click to expand...
Meh, maybe. They had one guy we could not stop period. Game could’ve been played again and we still would’ve lost; we had no one that could stop their rb in space, LBer play was atrocious.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc
#47
#47
How many seasons since 1980 have the VOLS not lost 1 or 2 on the road we should have won?

Things went way downhill when Mark Richt was hired. UGA went from probably win to probably lose to very probably lose. Wins became more precious when all 3 of UGA, UF, and Bama were dominant in the East and SEC at-large. Our talent advantage dried up and success followed the same trajectory.

CJH is closing the gaps. When he can get Aguilar or Merk, or GMac to execute like McKenzie Milton, Dillon Gabriel, or Hooker, then we are in business, and will be much more difficult to defend with the rushing offense at 2500+yds and 3200+yds passing. I am optimistic because Heupel has a history of finding a QB's strengths and shoving it down defenses' throats.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc
#48
#48
::: Insert obligatory: 'Heupel inherited a $%^& roster, NCAA, Slingblade hangover, offensive guru, Qb whisperer, have you ever coached a college team?' combination response here':::

::: Include customary "I'll trust coach" statement:::

:: Close with hopeful comments about this season, and 'just as soon as Heup gets 'his guys' in here, things will change' closing remark :::
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpookyAction
#49
#49
Considering the situation CJH inherited, I’m going with a slight issue for now but he needs to get over the hump. My question is does he get a pass this year due to the QB situation. I would love to see JM shine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sudden Impact
#50
#50
Not enough of a sample to really get a true grasp on this but there are three head scratching losses on the road which are driving this narrative: 2022 South Carolina, 2023 Florida, and 2024 Arkansas.

Granted, a lot of teams do this, look at Alabama against Vandy and Oklahoma in 2024 or Georgia against Ole Miss.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BruisedOrange and SpookyAction
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top