Seth Price's Vols Film Study: Problems on Defense

[McDad]

Much more to it than that. Vickers at 295 was a two year starter. Had OBrien and KMac until games 6 and 7, Tuttle for 7 games as well. Picou is a DT as well and Kongbo is much closer to being a DT than a DE at 6'6" 285. We did slide some bigger DEs like Phillips down out of necessity..... but recall that both Jones and Shoop assured us in the preseason there would be some exotic packages where using those guys inside would be to our advantage...well before any injuries to the DT position occurred.

And missing one starter and 2 backup at DTs doesn't explain why nobody on our defense could get off a block, tackle somebody when they actually got their hands on them, cover anybody in pass coverage and lineup correctly....for all 12 games.

Yes, injuries hurt this team. But as guys like Brent Hubbs, Chris Low and Daniel Lewis (among others) have correctly stated, there was much more wrong with this defense than just injuries and to just blame their deficiencies on injuries alone is "cop out".

The other question to ask is why, after 4 full recruiting classes, was there such a huge drop off from our starters to our second string guys? Hell, even our 3rd stringers in some cases. Many of those guys were 3 and 4 star guys who were too good, too talented to go also ran schools like SCar and Vandy....yet, they couldn't compete with those schools who were "beneath them".

Coming into the season, Doug Mathews on Big Orange Sunday said we were very thin at LB. We lost 2 starters very early. I am surprised we weren't simply thin...we were nonexistent in LB depth.

 

[GaTnLineVol]

Another insightful article by Seth. Thanks for posting, Ace.

Discouraging to read how the defensive play started off well with Mixon stunting inside to take on two blockers (one of which was the pulling guard) only to have the play fall apart with Bynum and Jumper in the same gap (D). The question is: did Bynum screw up by taking on the block with his outside shoulder preventing him from controlling the E gap, or did Jumper get confused with his assignment by scrapping to the D when he was supposed to scrap to the E? I know which way I am leaning. Based on the concept to avoid getting blocked to the inside and Jumper's reported intelligence with the play calls, I'm thinking it's Bynum. It has been a problem all year which suggests the coaches arent on the same page or are not communicating understandably to the players.

Unless Jumper was stunting and coming over the top of Bynum, this was on Bynum, but that is not a surprise based on his slow development during his time here. Based on watching the play of the other linebackers and safety, this was straight up gap defense, and Bynum failed to have eye discipline and stay in his lane.

I have defended the coaches before, but this is a definitive problem with coaching and player development. No question.

 

[landscapingvol]

Looks like Bynum & Jumper were beat mentally; not physically.

Knowing how to do an assignment and being able to do it quickly enough are two different things. It is very obvious Jumper does not have the speed to many of the things he is asked to do.

 

[GaTnLineVol]

Coming into the season, Doug Mathews on Big Orange Sunday said we were very thin at LB. We lost 2 starters very early. I am surprised we weren't simply thin...we were nonexistent in LB depth.

Seth was right in his article; this instance was not a matter of injuries and the result being based on whose number 1 was better. Our number 1 (Bynum), regardless of whether he was 57th on the depth chart or not, made an egregious and inexcusable error which put him out of position. Without a miraculous play from somebody on our defense, we had no chance to stop the play. It has happened multiple times every game. That is why Vandy, Kentucky, and Mizzou looked like world beaters on offense.

 

[beneVOLence]

Vols Film Study: Problems on Defense - FOX Sports Radio Knoxville

Watching at the end of the play and Jumper jumps up and throws his head up, which makes me believe he may have been at fought. It could just mean that he was disgusted at DE incorrectly crashing down in the D gap or that he was disgusted at the defense giving up a touchdown. Either way, you would hope that Jumper would have seen that the D gap was taken and scraped off to the E gap.

 

[McDad]

This thread is fascinating to me. The author of the article linked in the OP did not assign blame to either Bynum or Jumper. I speculated what my gut told me. Others are saying that Bynum was the issue on this failed play based on the call, positioning, etc. The ones blaming Jumper are calling out his athletic ability. Correct me here, but it doesnt appear the play suffered from a lack of athleticism. So why is that an indictment on Jumper on this specific play? FTR, you get no argument that Jumper's athletic limitations have been a factor on other plays.

 

[BruisedOrange]

This is an over-generalization, but I think it summarizes the season:

We got a new DC with a proven, albeit cerebral, scheme for shutting down modern, read-option offenses by its ability to stop the run (beginning with gap control) and then pressuring the QB on subsequent -and-long downs.

At the start of the season our starters (many of whom missed practicing the spring installment because they were recovering from surgery or injury) didn't look effective, because they were still thinking instead of reacting. Frequently we had blown assignments, resulting in big plays.

Then we began losing starters to injuries, putting guys who had even less practice time on the field, inevitably bringing the same issues to the field, since they were back in the learning curve.

As our starting roster worked its way down the depth chart through the season, we effectively remained in the same part of the learning curve of this new system. The "younger" we got on D, the more weekly coaching time had to be spent correcting fundamentals instead of practicing the scheme, slowing progress even more. Once we began moving DE's to DT, we lost any athletic advantage we might have had over most opponents. At that point, any coaching scheme that covered our obvious deficiency left something else exposed, the key to which Vandy figured out before halftime.

If we'd had continuity through the season, there's no reason not to believe by mid-season our D would have known what they were doing and been operating at reaction-speed. Our D would have been formidable.

 

[lexkyvol]

Watching at the end of the play and Jumper jumps up and throws his head up, which makes me believe he may have been at fought. It could just mean that he was disgusted at DE incorrectly crashing down in the D gap or that he was disgusted at the defense giving up a touchdown. Either way, you would hope that Jumper would have seen that the D gap was taken and scraped off to the E gap.

Exactly! The rb is still running and the mlb is unblocked between the tackles. The mlb's job is to scrap, fill, and tackle. He doesn't even fill the gap bynum is in. He doesn't really do anything!

 

[lexkyvol]

Jumper made #39 for candy look like a blocking specialist

 

[Headed For Home]

This is an over-generalization, but I think it summarizes the season:

We got a new DC with a proven, albeit cerebral, scheme for shutting down modern, read-option offenses by its ability to stop the run (beginning with gap control) and then pressuring the QB on subsequent -and-long downs.

At the start of the season our starters (many of whom missed practicing the spring installment because they were recovering from surgery or injury) didn't look effective, because they were still thinking instead of reacting. Frequently we had blown assignments, resulting in big plays.

Then we began losing starters to injuries, putting guys who had even less practice time on the field, inevitably bringing the same issues to the field, since they were back in the learning curve.

As our starting roster worked its way down the depth chart through the season, we effectively remained in the same part of the learning curve of this new system. The "younger" we got on D, the more weekly coaching time had to be spent correcting fundamentals instead of practicing the scheme, slowing progress even more. Once we began moving DE's to DT, we lost any athletic advantage we might have had over most opponents. At that point, any coaching scheme that covered our obvious deficiency left something else exposed, the key to which Vandy figured out before halftime.

If we'd had continuity through the season, there's no reason not to believe by mid-season our D would have known what they were doing and been operating at reaction-speed. Our D would have been formidable.

This was easy to see throughout the season, especially with the backup linebackers. They looked as though they had to stop and think rather than react which often left them trailing a step behind plays instead of cutting them off.

 

[photovol]

You can communicate all you want but if a player simply isn't able to perform on the field then it falls back to the player and the coaches who evaluated the player during recruiting. Bates is in the same boat, he simply has no clue what to do when he gets on the field. Linebacker is a very difficult position to play at the next level and Tennessee has not recruited very well there the past several years outside of Maybin, and Johnson.

This ^^^^^^^ all day long, good summary

 

[TNnative]

Looks like Bynum & Jumper were beat mentally; not physically.

Hard to say that Bynum was beaten without knowing what Shoop called.

Jumper, as the trailing Mike backer, should have reacted better. He was behind Bynum and should have reacted to cover the area Bynum left open. Watch the clip again, and notice how he reacted after Webb crosses the goal line.

But the blame I assign to his coaches on that, Shoop and Thigpen. So much of how your Mike backers reacts on running plays determines whether it is stuffed, a gain or a score.

Also, I was wondering why they had Barnett beside Phillips. That meant Mixon was, for all intents and purposes, playing end. I get some DCs like to mix up alignments, but with depleted depth comes less rotation and greater fatigue. Not the best situation for mixing things up.

 

[TNnative]

This is an over-generalization, but I think it summarizes the season:

We got a new DC with a proven, albeit cerebral, scheme for shutting down modern, read-option offenses by its ability to stop the run (beginning with gap control) and then pressuring the QB on subsequent -and-long downs.

At the start of the season our starters (many of whom missed practicing the spring installment because they were recovering from surgery or injury) didn't look effective, because they were still thinking instead of reacting. Frequently we had blown assignments, resulting in big plays.

Then we began losing starters to injuries, putting guys who had even less practice time on the field, inevitably bringing the same issues to the field, since they were back in the learning curve.

As our starting roster worked its way down the depth chart through the season, we effectively remained in the same part of the learning curve of this new system. The "younger" we got on D, the more weekly coaching time had to be spent correcting fundamentals instead of practicing the scheme, slowing progress even more. Once we began moving DE's to DT, we lost any athletic advantage we might have had over most opponents. At that point, any coaching scheme that covered our obvious deficiency left something else exposed, the key to which Vandy figured out before halftime.

If we'd had continuity through the season, there's no reason not to believe by mid-season our D would have known what they were doing and been operating at reaction-speed. Our D would have been formidable.

Post of the year, IMO. Well said.

 

[Ace]

This is an over-generalization, but I think it summarizes the season:

We got a new DC with a proven, albeit cerebral, scheme for shutting down modern, read-option offenses by its ability to stop the run (beginning with gap control) and then pressuring the QB on subsequent -and-long downs.

At the start of the season our starters (many of whom missed practicing the spring installment because they were recovering from surgery or injury) didn't look effective, because they were still thinking instead of reacting. Frequently we had blown assignments, resulting in big plays.

Then we began losing starters to injuries, putting guys who had even less practice time on the field, inevitably bringing the same issues to the field, since they were back in the learning curve.

As our starting roster worked its way down the depth chart through the season, we effectively remained in the same part of the learning curve of this new system. The "younger" we got on D, the more weekly coaching time had to be spent correcting fundamentals instead of practicing the scheme, slowing progress even more. Once we began moving DE's to DT, we lost any athletic advantage we might have had over most opponents. At that point, any coaching scheme that covered our obvious deficiency left something else exposed, the key to which Vandy figured out before halftime.

If we'd had continuity through the season, there's no reason not to believe by mid-season our D would have known what they were doing and been operating at reaction-speed. Our D would have been formidable.

good post

 

[Vol8188]

These things (poor fits) happen from time to time to all defenses, even the best NFL and college teams. I do think they happened too often for us, but we had a lot of backups playing for the majority of the season who have less experience than a guy like JRM.

I prefer Bynum spill and keep the ball going outside, but who knows what the actual scheme was. Perhaps Bynum was supposed to spill like he did. Perhaps he was supposed to contain.

 

[KBVol]

Coming into the season, Doug Mathews on Big Orange Sunday said we were very thin at LB. We lost 2 starters very early. I am surprised we weren't simply thin...we were nonexistent in LB depth.

Indeed. The question is, why were we thin? It wasn't because of numbers/bodies, it was because of the perceived ability/production, or rather lack thereof, of the guys behind the starters. Mathews was referring to linebackers with the ability be productive players the coaches felt they could trust to put out there. Sure looks like to me that that group hasn't been very well developed on the whole. Either that or they were misevaluated during the recruiting process.

DKJr, McDowell, Bryant, Bynum, Smith, Bituli, Sapp, JRM, Bates, Jumper, Blakely, Berry. That's a fair amount of pretty highly rated guys coming in, yet most don't appear to be top notch SEC guys after 2,3 and even 4 years in the program.

 

[Sarms58]

That's what happens when you have backup DEs starting at DT.

But I think the writer correctly points out it was linebacker Play that was the problem. We can only imagine what a season with s healthy JRM and Kirkland would have been like.
I love Jumper's heart but he took himself out of plays often this year. The DTs occupy the linemen so the LBs can read and react.
Of course losing 4 of our top 5 DTs hurt but as shown in this play, LB play hurt more.

 

[Sarms58]

Indeed. The question is, why were we thin? It wasn't because of numbers/bodies, it was because of the perceived ability/production, or rather lack thereof, of the guys behind the starters. Mathews was referring to linebackers with the ability be productive players the coaches felt they could trust to put out there. Sure looks like to me that that group hasn't been very well developed on the whole. Either that or they were misevaluated during the recruiting process.

DKJr, McDowell, Bryant, Bynum, Smith, Bituli, Sapp, JRM, Bates, Jumper, Blakely, Berry. That's a fair amount of pretty highly rated guys coming in, yet most don't appear to be top notch SEC guys after 2,3 and even 4 years in the program.

JRM and Sapp pretty much missed the entire season. I suspect JRM never fully recovered from off-season surgery. Blakely and Bituli are both true freshmen (and we are trying to redshirt Blakely) so I wouldn't include them in the "after 2. 3 and even 4 year" comment. Kirkland missed five or six games and was still not 100% against vandy. McDowell and Berry missed a game or two which shouldn't be a big deal except it was at the same time. I think McDowell has shown some skill but should be backing up JRM (along with Sapp).
Bates I would have call a bust. He's another legacy who was rated as s 4 star when was st best s 3 star. Unfortunately we have several in that category. . Jumper was a walk on and has over achieved but should br a backup player st best. Berry is s 3 star and has potential. The others appear to be st best average players.

As I said earlier, it would have been great to have a healthy JRM and Kirkland all season. Their back ups played like backups

 

[VOLINVONORE]

That's what happens when you have backup DEs starting at DT.

Not as big a problem as players not playing as they have been taught. Execution of plays were the problems on both the defense and the offense. However the offense seem to h[execute better as the year progress, but the defense did not. Some of that could have been like of experience because of injuries or bad reads by the front seven.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Nope....this is bad, bad lb play on jumper's part. why in the world would you try a gap already covered?

There is NO way you know if it was Jumper's fault or not. It may have been but it may not have been Jumper’s mistake.

 

[Kelley_VFL]

What do backup DE's playing tackle have to do with LB's and DB's out of position, busted coverages, or PI penalties?

Backup DE's playing DT, backup backup LB's starting, backup True FR DB's, and backup safety's playing with 1's....hmmm why on earth would we have problems? Thats just insane!

And the inability for our defense to apply pressure without blitzing corner/safety is why we have PI calls. They have to blitz corners and safetys which leaves DB's in single coverage or safety playing corner and thus results in many more PI calls. You don't get many PI calls when you have the QB running for their life because you apply pressure up the middle with the DT or on the edge with DE without blitzing. It ALL starts and ends up front.

If we had 4 INT's in a game it would be because the D-Line applied pressure. If we have no INT and 5 PI calls its because the DLINE did NOT apply pressure.

Yes I know we have had the XX recruiting class in the nation the past few years! We have good 2's and 3's. BUT they were not 1's all spring/summer/fall camp so don't expect them to play like 1's now. Our D is terrible because we have too many people that are playing that are not ready to play or they are playing position they are not supposed to be playing. That's why it hasn't been fixed. They can't fix it until they get more pieces back to work with.