Somewhere there's a silver lining

#26
#26
Bumpndnite said:
Looking at team stats for the 2017 season, UT ranked 79th nationally in defense (11th in the SEC). However I think the Vols were much better on the defensive side of the ball, than the numbers show. One key factor in the defensive statistics was the overall ineptness of the Vol's offense (turnover margin, sustained drives, etc.); the Vols were dead last in the SEC. UT has seven starters returning on "D", and there is enough talent to be the core of a solid defensive unit.

WVU ranked 109th in defense last year, and their best wins were against Iowa State, and Kansas State; both were pretty good teams, but not world beaters. The Vols can beat this team, if the offense can at least hold serve.
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You can't be serious about the team being much better than 79th. They looked lost nearly every play
 
#28
#28
Volfan76 said:
Butch Jones was a football cancer. By the time that most realized it, like a lot of cancers...it was too late. His cancer had spread down to all aspects of the football program. He's gone....cancer cured. What UT couldn't do when it had cancer has no effect on what it can do without cancer. Time to forget about 2017 and move on cancer free.
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So you're saying we had a lumpectomy.... cool we should be a lot better now.
 
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#29
#29
BigOrangeMojo said:
The only reason we were 79th is because we did not play a lot of great offenses. We were run over by GT, Mizzou, and Vandy. UK had a ton of yards against us and UF had an offensive explosion by their standards. I'm concerned that we may be over-estimating our Pass D stats from last year since teams knew they could run all over our Front 7.
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Of all the bad things last year, poor cornerback and safety play was the worst. Out of position, bad tackling, bad angles , lack of common sense ( that Gator game , I will never get over letting the guy get behind you on the last play of the game) Mother of God - how does that happen?
 
#30
#30
Honestly guys, I think this all comes down to Pruitt and his staff's ability to remotely coach the insanely talented roster we have. That may seem like a duh thing but look at this --

Even during the Lyle era from 2015 to 2018 our classes, nationally, were #4, #14, and #22 in 2018 when Pruitt had 3 months to put together an entire class.
WVU's ranks from 2015 to 2018 were #35, #39 and #35. There is no reason we lose to WVU on talent, it all comes down to tapping into the potential that Pruitt is KNOWN for doing. Lets go boys 9/1 is OUR day.
 
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#31
#31
InstrumentalVol said:
Honestly guys, I think this all comes down to Pruitt and his staff's ability to remotely coach the insanely talented roster we have. That may seem like a duh thing but look at this --

Even during the Lyle era from 2015 to 2018 our classes, nationally, were #4, #14, and #22 in 2018 when Pruitt had 3 months to put together an entire class.
WVU's ranks from 2015 to 2018 were #35, #39 and #35. There is no reason we lose to WVU on talent, it all comes down to tapping into the potential that Pruitt is KNOWN for doing. Lets go boys 9/1 is OUR day.
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I'm in this camp, too. The question is whether CJP can coach them up past the atrophy that they developed. Watching the youtube videos of these guys (Warrior, Phillips, etc.)' I am convinced they are bright enough to come up to speed quickly.
It's a new day in Knoxville. And you can quote me. Go Vols!
 
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#32
#32
Shoop was a big part of the problem in my mind. The defense was way better under Jancek, who was also under butch. Somehow the players just did not know what to do and played like it. They played very slow and looked like they were trying to figure out what to do instead of just doing it. To me, that is a defensive coaching problem. I think we have enough talent to improve significantly this year on defense, which still won't yield an elite squad, but much improved. Just need a coach that can tailor the scheme to the team that he has instead of the team he wants.
 
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#33
#33
OP has a fair point. Per footballoutsiders.com (the college football equivalent of fangraphs or baseball-reference) our defense was ranked 68th and offense was ranked 118.

The rankings are adjusted for opponent strength, field position, garbage time, etc. It does not adjust for time of possession, the effects of which are not really quantifiable.

JFYI WVU was 96th in defense and 26th in offense.
 
#34
#34
Bumpndnite said:
Looking at team stats for the 2017 season, UT ranked 79th nationally in defense (11th in the SEC). However I think the Vols were much better on the defensive side of the ball, than the numbers show. One key factor in the defensive statistics was the overall ineptness of the Vol's offense (turnover margin, sustained drives, etc.); the Vols were dead last in the SEC. UT has seven starters returning on "D", and there is enough talent to be the core of a solid defensive unit.

WVU ranked 109th in defense last year, and their best wins were against Iowa State, and Kansas State; both were pretty good teams, but not world beaters. The Vols can beat this team, if the offense can at least hold serve.
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You sir may need to see an opthamologist, to help with with your blindness:)
That's better than seeing a proctologist, don't you think?
1535056757544.gif
 
#35
#35
Volfan76 said:
There isn't a person on this board who hasn't lost a person to cancer...that's why it's a common analogy. Do you just go around all day looking for something to be offended by? If you are that easily offended, cupcake, maybe a message board isn't for you.
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Offended? lol, nope not offended just taken aback by people who have absolutely no sensitivity to a real life problem as to label a man you have so much disdain for and loathe his very existence with a term like that. Sorry, it's MO and mine only, so be it.
 
#36
#36
photovol said:
Unfortunately there's no sugar coating the worst Vol defense in program history, turning this defense around won't happen this year, improvement yes, but with the new 3-4 scheme, no turn around for the D
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No worries, remember last time a Bama coach came in and installed a 3-4? That went great.
 
#37
#37
Bumpndnite said:
I can only go by what I saw. I watched the Bama-UT game in Bryant-Denny, and thought the Vol's front seven played a decent game....until midway of the 4th quarter....by which time they were totally gassed. It is almost impossible for a defense to sustain maximum effort game after game, when there is little or no chance of winning the dang game. Bob Shoops is a well respected coordinator, so am not sure last year's defensive problems were entirely due to coaching.

The good news is: it's preseason, and everyone is undefeated. Pruitt has a clean slate, and I expect him to make the most of it.
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The score was 31-0 after the 3rd quarter when Alabama had already racked up nearly 450 yards, or nearly 75% of their 604 totals yards for the game. Bama went 63 yards on 12 plays on their first drive of the game for a touchdown in the first quarter. Our DL was dominated well before the middle of the 4th quarter.
 
#39
#39
sechamp2012 said:
I hope CJP can make this D better but the same thing was said about Shoop who at the time was lauded as one of the best D coordinator in the country
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My argument to that would be he is one of the few coaches who have went to Alabama during Saban tenure and made them better. That doesn’t happen often.
 
#40
#40
Statistics are a correlation to balance which we had zero last year. That 79 number is a reflection of the zero offense that we had. If we had an upper 50s model offense the balance statistacly would probably would have put us top 20. Tifwiw
 
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#41
#41
Giveem6 said:
Statistics are a correlation to balance which we had zero last year. That 79 number is a reflection of the zero offense that we had. If we had an upper 50s model offense the balance statistacly would probably would have put us top 20. Tifwiw
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I doubt T 20 but definitely T 35.
 
#43
#43
Volfan76 said:
There isn't a person on this board who hasn't lost a person to cancer...that's why it's a common analogy. Do you just go around all day looking for something to be offended by? If you are that easily offended, cupcake, maybe a message board isn't for you.
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Agreed. My mother died from cancer just this March. It was sudden, 3 weeks from diagnosis to death, and she wasn’t even 60. I wasn’t offended one bit. Nice movie reference though!
 
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#44
#44
ReasonableUTfan said:
Cancer? Really? Sorry but I've had family members that died from this dreaded disease as I'm sure other's have as well but the 2017 season and CBJ's losses to Vandy caused his firing. Please don't throw a term like cancer on a coach that had a bad season and just wasn't cut out to be our HC by demeaning those in our society who are dying from this incurable disease.
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I'm a cancer survivor. Have lost beloved friends to the nasty disease as well.

Got no problem with his post. Don't be a sensitive snowflake. The world needs less of that.

Carry on young man.
 
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#47
#47
ReasonableUTfan said:
Cancer? Really? Sorry but I've had family members that died from this dreaded disease as I'm sure other's have as well but the 2017 season and CBJ's losses to Vandy caused his firing. Please don't throw a term like cancer on a coach that had a bad season and just wasn't cut out to be our HC by demeaning those in our society who are dying from this incurable disease.
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I've had 3 family members die from cancer. Stop taking life too seriously. Take the sand out of your vagina
 
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#48
#48
photovol said:
Unfortunately there's no sugar coating the worst Vol defense in program history, turning this defense around won't happen this year, improvement yes, but with the new 3-4 scheme, no turn around for the D
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As CJP has mentioned, we'll be running a multiple D, not a 3-4. Not to mention, our style of 3-4 isn't much different than a traditional 4-3.
 
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#49
#49
ReasonableUTfan said:
Offended? lol, nope not offended just taken aback by people who have absolutely no sensitivity to a real life problem as to label a man you have so much disdain for and loathe his very existence with a term like that. Sorry, it's MO and mine only, so be it.
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You were right it is an insensitive reference for some that might be fighting that battle to the death right now.

Due to my birthday I’ve been labeled “Cancer”. Ain’t that a kick in the nuts. Of all the labels to be given at birth, mine just had to be “Cancer”.

Way back in the day the expression was being a bad egg or apple.

The silver lining is that Butch is gone.

He proved the UT will give you a fair chance to be as great as you can be. His limits were his own doing.

As far as I know he isn’t as bad as the guy hiding spouse abuse or the guys that turned a blind eye for the child molester. Ohio St is really stacking up some quality coaches.
 
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