Recruiting effects of Saturday

#1
therickbol

therickbol

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#1
I think two players who play defense saw Notre Dame get toasted all game on defense. They were then AT the UT game in which they played poorly, short-handed due to injuries, were one-dimensional on offense, and also shut down the Florida offense really well through most of the game. Florida is now the #5 team in the country and with no rushing attack and a very depleted defense we were leading most of the game and one big defensive stop away from winning (not to mention one ridiculous love tap to Leaks' helmet away from winning). Is that me being "satisfied" no. But, it is at least encouraging that we are showing no signs of being the team we were last season. Will that be the deciding factor in the recruitment of Harrison Smith and Chris Donald. Doubtful. But, will it at least plant a seed of doubt about traveling out of state to a school with absolutely no defensive reputation? And, with UT looking like they are on their way back. I didnt say they are back, or that I am satisfied playing Florida close. But, after last season, UT at least looks like they no longer resemble the 5-6 team of last season and they are headed back in the right direction. Eric Berry was also at the game. I want to read something about his reaction to the game, anybody got anything on that?
 
#2
#2
they played with more confidence that's for sure, and for a recruit, considering TN, i think the atmosphere, the crowd, prime time and big plays had to be a huge selling point...both teams had big momentum swings, and both responded to them...it swung both ways, in what was really an entertaining game to watch to an objective observer...

can't see how this would negatively affect recruiting...
 
#3
#3
not to mention Big Sweet was out there giving his all for Tennessee with one arm. That to me, as a recruit, is impressive and honorable to say the least.
 
#4
#4
With Mayo, McCoy, Heffney, and Morley I am not too terribly concerned with our defensive recruiting. Give Cutcliffe two years to get the kind of bodies he needs on his offensive line (man blockers, not zone blockers) and I think UT football will be a perennial top 5 team again.
 
#5
#5
therealUT said:
With Mayo, McCoy, Heffney, and Morley I am not too terribly concerned with our defensive recruiting. Give Cutcliffe two years to get the kind of bodies he needs on his offensive line (man blockers, not zone blockers) and I think UT football will be a perennial top 5 team again.
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yeah, and if there is any good news, we will be (hopefully) returning a ton of folks this year in to 07...this year will be huge in their development....plus by all rights we should be in another bowl this year, and we'll get that extra practice we didn't get last year...

big thing now is stay healthy and realize we still hae A LOT to play for...
 
#6
#6
jakez4ut said:
yeah, and if there is any good news, we will be (hopefully) returning a ton of folks this year in to 07...this year will be huge in their development....plus by all rights we should be in another bowl this year, and we'll get that extra practice we didn't get last year...

big thing now is stay healthy and realize we still hae A LOT to play for...
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I am not writing this year off, as I still believe we will win the SEC East (lose in Atlanta though.) However, looking to next year in the SEC, we should be licking our chops! LSU rotates off, and our west opponents are MSU, Bama, and Ark. Ainge and Meachem will be seniors, Hardesty and Foster will be back, our defense will be experienced and deep. I think we play for the SECCG this year and win it next year.

Add to that, Florida still has to face Auburn and LSU next season, and UGA has Auburn.
 
#7
#7
therealUT said:
I am not writing this year off, as I still believe we will win the SEC East (lose in Atlanta though.) However, looking to next year in the SEC, we should be licking our chops! LSU rotates off, and our west opponents are MSU, Bama, and Ark. Ainge and Meachem will be seniors, Hardesty and Foster will be back, our defense will be experienced and deep. I think we play for the SECCG this year and win it next year.

Add to that, Florida still has to face Auburn and LSU next season, and UGA has Auburn.
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don't get me wrong, i don't think the season is lost or anything, but realistically, we now need UF to lose 3 conference games...don't know that's going to happen...maybe they lose two to LSU and Auburn...but i think they get past all others and win the East.

i just don't see us winning out...i can see us beating UGA and losing to LSU...which would put is 2nd in the East...

but still a long way to go...we beat UGA and UGA beat UF...who knows?

i agree about next year...could be a great year.
 
#8
#8
therealUT said:
With Mayo, McCoy, Heffney, and Morley I am not too terribly concerned with our defensive recruiting. Give Cutcliffe two years to get the kind of bodies he needs on his offensive line (man blockers, not zone blockers) and I think UT football will be a perennial top 5 team again.
Click to expand...

We need some defensive lineman. That is the most average D-line I can remember UT putting on the field in a long time.
 
#9
#9
therickbol said:
I think two players who play defense saw Notre Dame get toasted all game on defense. They were then AT the UT game in which they played poorly, short-handed due to injuries, were one-dimensional on offense, and also shut down the Florida offense really well through most of the game. Florida is now the #5 team in the country and with no rushing attack and a very depleted defense we were leading most of the game and one big defensive stop away from winning (not to mention one ridiculous love tap to Leaks' helmet away from winning). Is that me being "satisfied" no. But, it is at least encouraging that we are showing no signs of being the team we were last season. Will that be the deciding factor in the recruitment of Harrison Smith and Chris Donald. Doubtful. But, will it at least plant a seed of doubt about traveling out of state to a school with absolutely no defensive reputation? And, with UT looking like they are on their way back. I didnt say they are back, or that I am satisfied playing Florida close. But, after last season, UT at least looks like they no longer resemble the 5-6 team of last season and they are headed back in the right direction. Eric Berry was also at the game. I want to read something about his reaction to the game, anybody got anything on that?
Click to expand...

Just a quick point of contention........ how can you truly say that the Vols are on the way back? They are 2 and 1 with wins against a highly overated Cal team and of all teams AirForce. But they lost to a pretty good team. I am not saying that the Vols have not improved in some areas however it is a little early to say they are on the way back.
 
#10
#10
patrick said:
Just a quick point of contention........ how can you truly say that the Vols are on the way back? They are 2 and 1 with wins against a highly overated Cal team and of all teams AirForce. But they lost to a pretty good team. I am not saying that the Vols have not improved in some areas however it is a little early to say they are on the way back.
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if i'm just looking at box scores and stats i would agree with you....but in watching this team i see things in it that i didn't see last year. for one, the offense is playing with much more confidence. the running game is a disappointment, but, it wasn't like we were great at it last year either. the WR's and qb have done a complete 180, which is what really killed us last year.

the defense is not as good as last year's, but i can't believe that wasn't expected losing who we did in the front seven. But even still, minus the AF game, they have been OK.

you can tell by watching this team that the are better than last year's team, which by default has to be going in the right direction. we aren't there yet, trust me, i know, but we are better.
 
#11
#11
try to remember to that we just didn't play all that good. we played good, not great, and we needed to play great to win. we played averaged, lost by one, and could have easily won the game. we still havn't played our best football
 
#12
#12
patrick said:
Just a quick point of contention........ how can you truly say that the Vols are on the way back? They are 2 and 1 with wins against a highly overated Cal team and of all teams AirForce. But they lost to a pretty good team. I am not saying that the Vols have not improved in some areas however it is a little early to say they are on the way back.
Click to expand...

Wow, I hope you did not say that with a straight face. If you watched the team last season and you have watched the 3 games so far this season you see a HUGE difference in every aspect of the game. If you do not then I am not sure what you are watching. The athletes were always there. That was not the question. This year they are playing with a purpose, they are much more disciplined, basically everything that we sucked at from an effort and technique standpoint is improving. Its not "there" yet, but it is getting better, much better. With the losses we suffered on defense to graduation plus the loss of 2 of the 3 best remaining players on defense and you think our defense should be better than it has been? Or offense, maybe you think it should be better? Go back and review last year's tapes. Last year we would have lost to Cal and AF, and Florida would not have been close.

And, I am tired of hearing this Cal wins means nothing because of how overrated they were. Thats poppycock. Cal is a good team. Not great, not Top 10. So, yes they were overrated. But, not by the amount that some of you suggest. After losing to us, Cal has scored 40+ points each game and won both easily. The first one was against a good Minnesotta team, not like they are a Sun Belt team. Minn is a good team and Cal crushed them, so Cal is not as bad as the negavols would like to make them out to be. Plain and simple truth is UT is vastly improved on the areas that made last season so horrific. They still have a long ways to go, but now they are doing things right and moving in the right direction.
 
#13
#13
You have to take things in steps. It doesn't happen overnight, and we are now taking those steps. How long will it take? Who knows, but at least we are headed in the right direction. As Coach Cutt said when he first got here, our guys had developed some bad habits as far as practicing and their preparation was concerned. It's going to take some time to break all of those bad habits, but it will get done. I have no doubt about that.
 
#14
#14
what worries me is that last year was almost a recruiting pass. I mean did any of our recruits even make it in? We pretty much just lost a year and that will hurt us down the road.
 
#15
#15
therealUT said:
I am not writing this year off, as I still believe we will win the SEC East (lose in Atlanta though.) However, looking to next year in the SEC, we should be licking our chops! LSU rotates off, and our west opponents are MSU, Bama, and Ark. Ainge and Meachem will be seniors, Hardesty and Foster will be back, our defense will be experienced and deep. I think we play for the SECCG this year and win it next year.

Add to that, Florida still has to face Auburn and LSU next season, and UGA has Auburn.
Click to expand...

I felt the same way I see next year as the year we can take it all should be a good thought for class of 07.
 
#16
#16
rexvol said:
what worries me is that last year was almost a recruiting pass. I mean did any of our recruits even make it in? We pretty much just lost a year and that will hurt us down the road.
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So far looks like a pretty average group of early comitts this year. Hopefully things will pick up. If we have another recruiting year like last, were in for some hard times down the road.
 
#17
#17
this class will come down to barksdale, austin, berry, smith, and donald. If by some miracle we get all of those guys, Fulmer may be able to retire as the coach of the Vols.
 
#18
#18
o line and d line have to be a major concern we are running out
of steam in the 4th quarter. depth is a issue.
 
#19
#19
on the recruiting front for Tennessee. Obviously, a win would have been better but every recruit has come away very impressed from the weekend. The biggest news of the weekend (and biggest surprise) to me was Berry. He had very much implied that Tennessee is up there with him, if not in the lead. He is also planning on going to the Marshall game as well as the Georgia game. From his comments, it looks like UT may be the team to beat. Donald is also clearly very close to committing to the Vols. I for one think this is going to be an outstanding class, especially if the Vols continue to improve as the year progresses. GBO!!!
 
#20
#20
therickbol said:
Wow, I hope you did not say that with a straight face. If you watched the team last season and you have watched the 3 games so far this season you see a HUGE difference in every aspect of the game. If you do not then I am not sure what you are watching. The athletes were always there. That was not the question. This year they are playing with a purpose, they are much more disciplined, basically everything that we sucked at from an effort and technique standpoint is improving. Its not "there" yet, but it is getting better, much better. With the losses we suffered on defense to graduation plus the loss of 2 of the 3 best remaining players on defense and you think our defense should be better than it has been? Or offense, maybe you think it should be better? Go back and review last year's tapes. Last year we would have lost to Cal and AF, and Florida would not have been close.

And, I am tired of hearing this Cal wins means nothing because of how overrated they were. Thats poppycock. Cal is a good team. Not great, not Top 10. So, yes they were overrated. But, not by the amount that some of you suggest. After losing to us, Cal has scored 40+ points each game and won both easily. The first one was against a good Minnesotta team, not like they are a Sun Belt team. Minn is a good team and Cal crushed them, so Cal is not as bad as the negavols would like to make them out to be. Plain and simple truth is UT is vastly improved on the areas that made last season so horrific. They still have a long ways to go, but now they are doing things right and moving in the right direction.
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The other team was Portland State, not exactly a power house. Are they D-I?
 
#21
#21
What does the Portland State comment mean? I believe Cal just played #21 Arizona State and it was a slaughter.
 
#22
#22
Cal beat a decent Minnesota team and a very good ASU team. They are improving the quality of UT's win every week. They could easily go 10-2 and maybe even catch SC off guard. They are the only team in the Pac10 with enough talent to beat SC without SC having a complete meltdown.
 
#23
#23
ASU is not very good. They have a tough game with Oregon this weekend and I look for Longshore, Jackson, Hawkins, and Heisman to have a field day. They may beat USC but it won't be easy.
 
#25
#25
Obviously, Cal has another solid win now.

Every time they win, they help the Vol's strength of schedule. We should be pulling for them every game as well as UGA.
 
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