I'm with GBOV on this one..and I'm not with him. Allow me to explain.
(1) It doesn't take Dick Tracy to figure out that Tyler Bray is the future of the UT offense.
(2) But Matt Simms has the edge in experience. Talent level being close, you've gotta go with that, or risk getting your future ruined by a bad frosh year. Problem is, Simms is a junior. No later than next April, that's going to be an issue.
(3) The coaching staff, we must assume, despite their inability to count to 11, is well aware of (1) and (2). So, what to do? Start Simms...see what he can do...and work on bringing Bray up to speed as fast as possible. By all indications, this is what UT did.
(4) Choosing the USCe game to put Bray in was probably more a result of Bray's improvement than it was Simm's decline. On the "Simms scale", that game was not a bad one for him, to that point. But the staff had to be looking at the scoreboard...and the fact that UT is a 20 point offense with Simms at the helm...and said "might as well make the switch now". No other logic connects all the dots.
(5) It's probably Bray the rest of the way. And that's probably the right decision to make. But you must understand that this kid is a true freshman...and next year he will be a true sophomore...much like the balance of the UT roster...and it will likely be late 2011, and finally 2012...before we see just how good Tyler Bray might be, can be, and is.
Finally...lastly...and rightfully so, Derek Dooley might have proven, by a very tough and somewhat questionable decision, that he knows how to win, and what it takes to do it. If not today, certainly tomorrow.
Go Vols.
Go Vols.