Reflections on a Bad, Bad Saturday

#1
duckman398686

duckman398686

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#1
1. I really don't know what to say about the qb issue. My optimistic side wanted to say that Crompton had made great strides in the offseason....but after yesterday that's obviously not the case. Bad reads, miscommunication, and overthrown balls were prominent. There were several times where Crompton had receivers wide open and he either a) didn't see them or b) made a horrible pass. It should be a red flag that Crompton was quoted after the game saying he thought he saw the field well......

2. Pass blocking is horrible. Hat was right.....their "improvement" can be labeled as minimal at best. Crompton was bad enough on his own yesterday without being under pressure.

3. Defense continues to look very good and well coached. They have the ability to hang with Tebow and company come Saturday.

4. Crowd noise is still not up to standards. It got really loud late in the 4th and that was about it.

5. After being at the game Saturday, there's definitely a change in atmosphere from the last 15-16 years. Intensity has been brought to the hill and I love it.

6. Benching Crompton is easier said than done. Crompton has been established as one of the leaders on this team, and putting him on the bench after only the second game of the season not only sends a bad message, but can also throw a wrench in the overall team chemistry as well. I'm not saying we should stick with him for the rest of the season by any means, but it's not as simple as alot of people make it out to be.

7. It's easy to blame any loss on coaching, but Saturday's defeat was a unique one. The quarterback is one of the most important things in a team's success. And ours was attributed to a fumbled snap, and 3 back to back interceptions yersterday. It's hard for any coach to overcome those numbers.
 
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#2
#2
duckman398686 said:
1. I really don't know what to say about the qb issue. My optimistic side wanted to say that Crompton had made great strides in the offseason....but after yesterday that's obviously not the case. Bad reads, miscommunication, and overthrown balls were prominent. There were several times where Crompton had receivers wide open and he either a) didn't see them or b) made a horrible pass. It should be a red flag that Crompton was quoted after the game saying he thought he saw the field well......

2. Pass blocking is horrible. Hat was right.....their "improvement" can be labeled as minimal at best. Crompton was bad enough on his own yesterday without being under pressure.

3. Defense continues to look very good and well coached. They have the ability to hang with Tebow and company come Saturday.

4. Crowd noise is still not up to standards. It got really loud late in the 4th and that was about it.

5. After being at the game Saturday, there's definitely a change in atmosphere from the last 15-16 years. Intensity has been brought to the hill and I love it.

6. Benching Crompton is easier said than done. Crompton has been established as one of the leaders on this team, and putting him on the bench after only the second game of the season not only sends a bad message, but can also throw a wrench in the overall team chemistry as well. I'm not sayin we should stick with him for the rest of the season by any means, but it's not as simple as alot of people make it out to be.

7. It's easy to blame any loss on coaching, but Saturday's defeat was a unique one. The quarterback is one of the most important things in a team's success. And ours was attributed to a fumbled snap, and 3 back to back interceptions yersterday. It's hard for any coach to overcome those numbers.
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:good!:
 
#4
#4
I will blame the coaching for the bad play calling on the goal line at the end of the game. Can I get a rollout or play action? Just one would have been nice.
 
#5
#5
rbell said:
I will blame the coaching for the bad play calling on the goal line at the end of the game. Can I get a rollout or play action? Just one would have been nice.
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I thought it would be the perfect time to put in the Nuke package since they had not seen it all game...
 
#6
#6
rbell said:
I will blame the coaching for the bad play calling on the goal line at the end of the game. Can I get a rollout or play action? Just one would have been nice.
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that was actually about the only thing i questioned all game from coaching. the consecutive dive plays up the middle were only going to get them so far. i thought they would have at least ran a counter or variation of a pitch or something.

kiffin said after the game though that he thought the players were of the mindset that they could get a yard when they needed it most....so i'm guessing it all goes back to that.
 
#8
#8
Well they needed two yards and only got one. If they bootleg there crompton walks in.
 
#9
#9
i didn't see any bad play calling at the end of the game. the run got us all the way down the field on that final drive. it was our only chance. their d just stepped it up more than our offensive line did. we needed more yards on that 3rd down to make the 4th more manageable, but as a coach, kiffin could not and should not have called any sort of pass in the red zone. crompton couldn't even handle the first pass of the 2nd half. there's no way he could have made a good throw on the last pass of the 2nd half.
 
#10
#10
Has anyone noticed that extremely late game drives for TD's have been a theme this year in major CFB games?

Michigan v ND
USC v OSU
Utenn v UCLA
UGA v SC
FSU v Miami
 
#13
#13
duckman398686 said:
6. Benching Crompton is easier said than done. Crompton has been established as one of the leaders on this team, and putting him on the bench after only the second game of the season not only sends a bad message, but can also throw a wrench in the overall team chemistry as well. I'm not sayin we should stick with him for the rest of the season by any means, but it's not as simple as alot of people make it out to be.
Click to expand...

Not according to all these fans who now want to change qbs, say that clk isn't the answer, and basically chalk up this season as a lost cause. Some people need to get a clue. Good post!
 
#14
#14
Tennessee put a poor product on the field Saturday. Again I say poor product.

1. Our opening kick off landed out of bounds. Not bounced or rolled out of bounds LANDED out of bounds. Can no one on the team put the season opening kick off in the field of play?

2. Our defense played a decent game, but let ucla march (although it was only 60 yards, see #1) downfield for a score, when we should have been knocking a freshman QB on his butt in front of 102,000 sceaming fans. He had all the confidence he needed from that point forward.

3. Where was Teague?? Kiffin said he didn't play like a freshman last week. Well this week he basically didn't play.

4. Back to Back illegal proceedure calls before our FG attempt. How can these guys handle the swamp?

5. Our punt coverage stinks, we only averaged about 21 yards per KR, so much for special teams improving.

6. Kiffin admitted losing confidence in Crompton, but is the only call left near the goaline to run off tackle on the left side.

7. QB - If Kiffin brings NS in will we lose 1 more game than if Crompton stays 1st string? I say no. NS will not cost 1 game compared to JC. So bring NS in after the Fla game and let NS gain more experience for next year. Even if he is Bray's back up, at least he'll have experience.

All in all it looked a lot like a Fulmer recruited, coached, and called game.
 
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#15
#15
rbell said:
I will blame the coaching for the bad play calling on the goal line at the end of the game. Can I get a rollout or play action? Just one would have been nice.
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To set up JCs 4th pick? or another poor decision by JC? I'll take Hardesty every time
 
#17
#17
VolsByNature said:
To set up JCs 4th pick? or another poor decision by JC? I'll take Hardesty every time
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They expected the run and that's all they played for. If we had run at least one play action, it would have made them question what was coming next. It's about keeping the D guessing.
 
#18
#18
rbell said:
They expected the run and that's all they played for. If we had run at least one play action, it would have made them question what was coming next. It's about keeping the D guessing.
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They expeted the run because Crapton was playing like Crapton. You can't trust a QB like him when you are in a position to win the game.
 
#19
#19
D'burg vol fan said:
Tennessee put a poor product on the field Saturday. Again I say poor product.

1. Our opening kick off landed out of bounds. Not bounced or rolled out of bounds LANDED out of bounds. Can no one on the team put the season opening kick off in the field of play?

Agreed.

2. Our defense played a decent game, but let ucla march (although it was only 60 yards, see #1) downfield for a score, when we should have been knocking a freshman QB on his butt in front of 102,000 sceaming fans. He had all the confidence he needed from that point forward.

Decent? Our D played a great game. Crompton gave UCLA a short field 3 times (13 gift wrapped points). What do you expect? A shutout and 0 yards of offense for all of our opponents?

3. Where was Teague?? Kiffin said he didn't play like a freshman last week. Well this week he basically didn't play.

We all would've liked to see more of the freshmen, but it's a moot point. Crompton couldn't get the ball to anyone.

4. Back to Back illegal proceedure calls before our FG attempt. How can these guys handle the swamp?

These were our only two penalites of the game and we still got the 3 points. This is a drastic improvement over last year.

5. Our punt coverage stinks, we are only averaged about 21 yards per KR, so much for special teams improving.

Compared to last year, our special teams are night and day. Whether you want to admit it or not, our coverage has greatly improved under Gran.

6. Kiffin admitted losing confidence in Crompton, but is the only call left near the goaline to run off tackle on the left side.

Yes.

7. QB - If Kiffin brings NS in will we lose 1 more game than if Crompton stays 1st string? I say no. NS will not cost 1 game compared to JC. So bring NS in after the Fla game and let NS gain more experience for next year. Even if he is Bray's back up, at least he'll have experience.

Agreed.

All in all it looked a lot like a Fulmer recruited, coached, and called game.
Click to expand...

This was much better compared to Failmer. Your hands are tied as a coach when your quarterback play is as woeful as Crompton. We could be a very good team if we had adequate QB play. This team is more prepared, more physical, and far more aggressive than the Failmer regime of '08.
 
#20
#20
Gannon Goodson said:
This was much better compared to Failmer. Your hands are tied as a coach when your quarterback play is as woeful as Crompton. We could be a very good team if we had adequate QB play. This team is more prepared, more physical, and far more aggressive than the Failmer regime of '08.
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I agree the staff is limited in what they can accomplish with the personnel they have to work with on offense, but it isn't just hte quaterback. The pocket was crushed like a paper cup every time he dropped back. The line should have just lined up with their butts facing forward so it would save them the trouble of having to turn around to find the man they were supposed to block.
 
#21
#21
I hope the Vol defense punishes Tebow like they did Prince......

Crompton would have probably tripped on a bootleg......Even during the WKU game I cringed every time Crompton touched the ball....He just isn't any good....

Florida will have him in the fetal position sucking his thumb and mumbling to himself by the 2nd quarter.....
 
#23
#23
Gannon, I am not defending Fulmer. I wanted him gone, and want him to stay gone. But, at the same time I want improvement. You can say things have improved, but last year we travelled across the country and took them to OT. This year they travelled to us, in front of 102k, and had a freshman QB, and we didn't even get to OT. Things MAY be better, but they clearly were not better Sat. It was a poor performance, equal to or worse than last year's ucla game. Totally unacceptable.
 
#24
#24
bbrown11 said:
play action would have won the game
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there's no way i pass down there that close to the endzone at that point in the game. crompton was obviously rattled. either way, kiffin running it 4 straight plays spoke volumes about the faith he had in him.
 
#25
#25
2. Pass blocking is horrible. Hat was right.....their "improvement" can be labeled as minimal at best. Crompton was bad enough on his own yesterday without being under pressure.



UCLA has a future NFL first rounder at DT. That pass rush may be better than all our OL faces except for against UF and Alabama.

Losing McNeil is really hurting us. Sullins was abused on several plays and the fumbled snap was at least half his fault.

Our pass blocking is better than it was last year.

It is still not very good but last year our pass and run blocking honestly could not have been worse.
 
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