Something is amiss.

[Volbrando]

Hopefully the rumors of Huepel to the NFL aren’t true, but a performance like this has to make you wonder where his heads at

I don’t think that game was on heupel. The players didn’t perform and the defense was horrendous

 

[landscapingvol]

What a time to have a divided locker room

If that is the case, then that is a pathetic group of players who don’t deserve a winning team and don’t know how to win.

 

[landscapingvol]

This is the worst fan base in the country. We are having an incredible season, well beyond any expectation of this bunch. In fact, the idiots thing for the firing of the coaching staff and kicking all the players off the team were predicting a losing record. I hope the entire coaching staff leaves and you idiots get what you deserve, decades more of obscurity.

I think I will take a break from this site for awhile because I am tired of the so called fans that sit in their parents basement and wait for something to happen so they can jump on their keyboards and spout their venom. This loss hurts very badly, but absolutely NO ONE thought we would even be in the playoff conversation, so so acting like we are ready. We played poorly and lost. Stop acting like we are 2-9 instead of 9-2. It must be horrible to live your life constantly looking for a reason to be unhappy.

Anyone saying that is a moron but Banks does need to go, he is not a coordinator

 

[GregoryHouse]

That team and fans seem so annoying!
And it was plain as day the refs called a terrible game, not giving us any chance.

This post is textbook sour grapes.

 

[P.O.T.S. VOL]

You had it made, everything there for the taking, the whole world ripe like a plum falling into your hands and

Now we will actually have to fight just to win against Vandy. Yes, I realized the refs were completely and utterly corrupt like I have not seen in any game all season against any team but flat out, we could not play and we gave up at the end.

F@#ked by the cocks. What a dissapointment.

10-2 is still a pretty good season. Wont have to worry about CFP anymore though. Team just wasn't capable when it came time to be champions. They cant win on the road. Supprising considering how they did early in the season.

I suppose this means Citrus is in our future.

10-2? Vandy licking their chops...."we're doomed"

 

[BJSforVols]

Hendon Hooker's stats and our win/loss record are no joke. It has been a wonderful season. Tonight was embarrassing and disappointing, but this season will not be remembered as a joke.

It also will not be remember as anything special.

 

[volbound1700]

Dude no offense can come back from behind when the defense is just letting passes go complete all night.

Huepel and the offense will be fine as long as he fixes the atrocious defensive staff not named Rodney Garner.

I felt the same. The defense was so bad that it put pressure on offense.

 

[Cartervol]

I’ve said several times in the various cfb playoff scenario threads that the only thing our guys can control is how they prepare for and play their last couple of games. It’s hard to believe they prepared as adequately for this game as they should have given how poorly we performed.

We are fans so it’s fine to spend our time worrying about whatever we feel like, but if the team starts making assumptions about how easy their game will be and show up having not done their best to be ready, bad things are much more likely to happen.

Again, it is on the team to focus on the right thing, not us, but sometimes we forget these are kids with friends and family who tell them things and they do read what people are saying. It’s on the coaches to make sure they know what they should be focusing on, and until this game I felt Heupel had consistently had them prepared enough to at least be competitive, even in the games we lost last year.

Hopefully this is a fluke and we continue to see good habits consistently. This loss in no way negates the amazing progress made, but it shouldn’t have happened and it hurts. If we learn from this and keep doing good things we should be fine in the big picture.

On the other hand, if we let these things happen with any regularity we risk losing the positive momentum achieved. Once people start questioning if your plan is working or sound you are not far from losing the faith of your team, potential recruits, fans, administrators, and so on. If that happens your chances of getting the program to the level expected here plummet.

You have to continue to pass the eye test even in defeat. These type of losses are bad in a lot of ways.. First time Heupel has really faced adversity..We'll have to see how he handles it..

 

[LittleVol]

look at our secondary, it's a piecemeal defense, lots of freshmen,

What??

Name the freshman playing heavy minutes in our secondary!

We have plenty of older guys there. They just aren't good.

 

[SouthernSmoke]

Ok then there's only one thing to do, turn in your Vol card.

While I wouldn't dare question the long standing VolNation policy of never impeding a TRUE vol fans (like yourself) right to take away a fake fans (like myself) fan card at any moment they deem worthy, I would argue that any fan who has stuck by this program, from 2000-present especially, considering all the dark years endured, just might be entitled to a slight amount of slack regarding the privilege to offer their opinion without being cancelled and having their fan status revoked.

I'm well aware the crime of actually caring about success is a classic sign of a fake fan who should stop crying and go cheer for Bama. Which carries the automatic revoking of their fan card by any of those who behave more like real Vol fans and are much less caring about winning and more concerned with policing true fandom.

I will admit after the excitement of such an epic season, that saw heights few could have predicted, the letdown of losing by 3TDs to a team they were 3TD favorites over, where the biggest fear should have been style points not sufficiently stacked during the win, and the post game conversation should be about Josh having Milton throw 60 yard bombs and run up the score, instead trying to remember the numerous historically bad records the Vols set (most points ever scored on a top 5 team, most points allowed by UT in SEC play ever IIRC) during their inexplicably incomprehensible sabatoging of the all-but-guaranteed playoff spot they had about as easy a path to as could ever be imagined. Instead, platitudes about the season being better than predicted doesn't really help the reality that the program managed to somehow take all that momentum/success and squander it so thoroughly in one night that all they have accomplished now seems like the lesser feat in comparison.


I certainly didn't predict such an amazing season. One thing I would have considered even less likely is after beating Bama, Florida and LSU, heading directly to the playoff with a Heisman frontrunner QB, only needing to defeat two teams that TNs second string should get plenty of garbage time against, the former #1 ranked Vols would not just lose to a bad SC but lose in such historically horrible fashion that it would be spelling doom for a Butch Dooley Pruitt team of the dark times I allowed myself to believe we're actually a thing of the past.

For as good as they have looked, that team played so badly they took me back to Dooley sitting on a stool level Vols mind state. Bc they were that bad. The scary thing is they managed to do it with one game in a season so magical that it was almost impossible to conceive such ruination. Beating two bad teams for the committee to screw them out of the rightful spot they earned is the negative outcome I was already mentally preparing for. Or getting in and getting handled round 1. Either of those would have been fine endings to a season of massive leaps forward. To lose to this SC team at this time in such disgraceful fashion is almost hard to comprehend. Losing the playoff spot that was already earned by the worst performance imaginable .... Even after all the trauma I was not prepared for. But I have committed the sin of caring I confess. I wanted to see my team in the playoffs considering the circumstances. Which is the mark of the fake fairweather fan indeed.

 

[volfeeva]

I'd like to compare us to Georgia when they began to get really good under their current coaching staff. If you remember, they were good on offense, but not as good on defense. But they saw their weakness and went out and got quality players and now they are balanced where they don't depend on the offense to cover for the defense or vice versa. I think we need to follow that road and just get solid DB's .....it may take a while or just good luck in the transfer portal. Maybe get a better defense coordinator as they don't seem prepared today.

 

[ScornedPapaVol]

Can’t rush when your defense is getting lit up with TDs every time they touch the ball and Hooker can’t hit anything beyond 10 yards. Tillman at this point seems like a liability on offense. He’s playing like he’s trying not to get hurt and Hooker is forcing the ball to him. Hyatt didn’t help when he all of a sudden can’t catch anything.

We aren't the team that beat Bama. Our offense is not nearly as devastating without Hyatt as the number one receiver. And our defense feeds off of the O.

 

[BJSforVols]

We aren't the team that beat Bama. Our offense is not nearly as devastating without Hyatt as the number one receiver. And our defense feeds off of the O.

Hyatt does not look like a WR who should be going pro right now.

 

[ScornedPapaVol]

Hahahah. We were never over rated. The exact opposite actually. But keep posting as you will get it right one day.

We had the best "resume" for the inintial CPF rankings, but we haven't been having the best recruiting classes the last 4 years. So yes, we were vastly overrated if you thought we were number 1. But it was a fun ride, and we will be back.

 

[LittleVol]

We aren't the team that beat Bama. Our offense is not nearly as devastating without Hyatt as the number one receiver. And our defense feeds off of the O.

Yeah.

Our offense is just off when Tillman is there. It's so weird.

McCoy, Keyton, and Hyatt have been devastating when they're the 3.

But our defense tonight....there was something else going on.

 

[ScornedPapaVol]

Hyatt does not look like a WR who should be going pro right now.

Different issue entirely.

 

[G8rh8r]

Ever since the Georgia game, something has been off. Hooker looks rattled, Hyatt has been missing catches, and we aren't the same offense confidence wise. As for what happened tonight with the defense, I have no clue. It was a complete failure on every level.

 

[Sandevol]

We’re in the hunt for the playoffs and this is what we do. This loss is on everyone on the coaching staff and every player on the roster. The team seemed disinterested in playing a football game today and this baffles me. Do we have locker room issues or something? I just can’t wrap my mind around this performance against a mediocre South Carolina team with so much on the line.

They simply got out coached and this wasn’t the first time this season. At Georgia no changes to hit quick slants after what seemed like 80 sacks.

 

[BJSforVols]

Different issue entirely.

Agree, it is looking more and more like he was schemed into his big stat games and not a result of him being a pro ready, dominant receiver.

 

[VolRage]

A lot of disappointed fans which is understandable. Our Vols had a shot at making the CFP after beating everyone on our schedule, most of which are far better than USCe, and the team falls apart under the pressure. It was bound to happen. This team isn’t ready for the big lights. They don’t have the talent nor the mindset to play with the big boys. We saw it against GA. The team wilted under the pressure.

Specifically, I don’t know what the problem was last night but it was a culmination of many things. Obviously Hooker was bad off and his hopes of a Heistman are over. Done. The pressure should be gone. The WR’s were off and as we’ve seen throughout the entire season our DB’s are atrocious. Rumors of locker room problems. Whatever. Something happened last night that shouldn’t have happened and as usual against the Vols, the opposing QB had a career best game. For some reason average QB’s appear to be Heistman contenders against the Vols but this time the offense couldn’t save their butts.

In closing, I’m not sold on Tim Banks. I don’t think he’s a SEC quality DC.

 

[volfeeva]

To add that more that, no opponent should ever be taken lightly and each one should be prepared for with them same level of focus and attention.

The problem with Tenn defense all year ( at least at Florida, Georgia, and Bama, USC ) was we got burned by the passing game and NOTHING changed throughout the game. What do they talk about at half time ? We either have really bad players or really bad coaching to not be able to adapt to game conditions time after time.

 

[BJSforVols]

A lot of disappointed fans which is understandable. Our Vols had a shot at making the CFP after beating everyone on our schedule, most of which are far better than USCe, and the team falls apart under the pressure. It was bound to happen. This team isn’t ready for the big lights. They don’t have the talent nor the mindset to play with the big boys. We saw it against GA. The team wilted under the pressure.

Specifically, I don’t know what the problem was last night but it was a culmination of many things. Obviously Hooker was bad off and his hopes of a Heistman are over. Done. The pressure should be gone. The WR’s were off and as we’ve seen throughout the entire season our DB’s are atrocious. Rumors of locker room problems. Whatever. Something happened last night that shouldn’t have happened and as usual against the Vols, the opposing QB had a career best game. For some reason average QB’s appear to be Heistman contenders against the Vols but this time the offense couldn’t save their butts.

In closing, I’m not sold on Tim Banks. I don’t think he’s a SEC quality DC.

I'm sold on Tim Banks! I'm sold on him needing to be dismissed.

 

[Delmar]

We averaged over 5 yards a carry, that's just not true. We got down early and thought we needed to pass the ball a ton, which just wasn't true at all. We went away from what we typically do and it cost us.

Don’t think that’s the case. It was evident early and then in the 3rd quarter that the defense couldn’t stop Slippery Rock and we had to pass even more ran normal. With the defense playing that poorly there was nothing else we could do.

 

[Stephen Gray]

The problem with Tenn defense all year ( at least at Florida, Georgia, and Bama, USC ) was we got burned by the passing game and NOTHING changed throughout the game. What do they talk about at half time ? We either have really bad players or really bad coaching to not be able to adapt to game conditions time after time.

Not true. We have made adjustments at times. In the Georgia game for example they only had 31 passing yards in the second half and scored 3 points.

 

[Delmar]

The problem with Tenn defense all year ( at least at Florida, Georgia, and Bama, USC ) was we got burned by the passing game and NOTHING changed throughout the game. What do they talk about at half time ? We either have really bad players or really bad coaching to not be able to adapt to game conditions time after time.

It’s some of both. There is no question we are short on talent in the secondary and I have tended to blame it mostly on that. But we can’t absolve the coaches from blame after a performance like that. If there has been a worse performance by a Tennessee defense, I can’t remember it. Especially with so much on the line. Just a complete collapse. I also believe that Banks’ absence affected them a great deal as well. Something smells bad about that situation and I hope the rumors aren’t true on the NIL situation.