Team is too small

#26
#26
I dont remember many times this season when we lined up and physically dominated the line and just pushed them backward. Yes, Bishop found a hole many times but its not like we could just stand him up and push him forward for a few yards. Yet that happened AGAINST our defense many times, even with supposedly inferior teams.
 
#27
#27
carolinaviking said:
Seems the priority on defense is speed, not size. I remember when we had a great season under Fulmer and everyone was so impressed by our speedy defenders, then we got stomped by those slower but monstrously huge Nebraska boys. I don't recall Tennessee ever being known for the size of its players; it's always been about speed. That seems to be the Tennessee way, and I'm not sure it's a winning strategy against the Georgias and Bamas of the world.
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Problem is that UGA and bama have both size and speed. Still say we're a very soft team with very poor fundamentals. This idea of not hitting in spring and fall practice out of fear of injury should change. We need to be physical, tougher and much better tacklers.

Carter was a headache, but the kid would knock the snot out of you. The rest of the defense, our secondary in particular, seems to want to trip a guy or surround him and try to strip the ball instead of hitting and wrapping up. This year was one of the softest defenses in a good while. Reflects coaching evals and development. Very disappointing.
 
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#30
#30
Gandalf said:
I dont remember many times this season when we lined up and physically dominated the line and just pushed them backward. Yes, Bishop found a hole many times but its not like we could just stand him up and push him forward for a few yards. Yet that happened AGAINST our defense many times, even with supposedly inferior teams.
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This team was not physically dominant against any SEC team save UK. Frankly, I question if we were just the beneficiary of facing a UK team that had just quit on the season in that game?

Kinda reminds me of that Tyson quote...think it was Tyson..."everyone has a plan until they're punched in the mouth". Honestly not sure this team and staff have a lot of punch back in them.
 
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#32
#32
barney said:
Daevin Hobbs is listed at 6’4 290


View attachment 794018

There ain’t no way. I’d be surprised if he was a buck over 270.

All night I watched this guy get completely crushed by vandy’s offensive linemen over and over again. I don’t think I saw a single rushing down he was in for where he held up at the line of scrimmage. Vandy’s offensive line was bigger, meaner and stronger than our defensive line.

And frankly I don’t blame the players when they are in a no win situation due to negligent coaching. Our coaches are supposed to identify, recruit and develop players into sec defensive linemen. Hobbs might put it all together at some point, but at this weight he is absolutely should not see the field in sec play. Why isn’t he hitting his goal weight? Is it strength and conditioning? Is it nutrition? Is it a commitment issue?

And I’m not trying to single out a single player. Frankly its a glaring problem all over the teams. Safeties are underweight. Many of our linebackers are underweight. Virtually every interior defensive lineman is underweight. Many of the offensive linemen are underweight.

I agree that you cannot retain Banks after that performance, but I think we are kidding ourselves if we think that there aren’t deeper issues related to commitment, size and strength on this football team.
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I don't think size is the problem, but 10-20 pounds late in a game could make a difference if you don't have enough horses. The one thing I would like to see is more speed, it can overcome many short comings. What is lacking is "want to" and playing mean a tough. Starting with Atkins and on through the years we have had many "tough and mean" players. I don't see much of this over the last few years.
 
#33
#33
LittleVol said:
Alabama is ranked 12th in TOP at 32 mins
Tennessee is ranked 127th in TOP at 26 mins

1) That’s a 6 minute difference not 3

2) That’s over 100 teams difference between us.

That amounts to more times for other teams to score. And our the thinner defense to have to defend longer.
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I meant to put Oklahoma not Alabama. My bad.
 
#34
#34
TartanTurff said:
Too small, too weak, too slow, lacking the speed and agility on defense to be competitive against better schemed offenses,

Tennessee plays in the SEC not the AAC or Conference USA, Heupel should be able to look at his paycheck and figure that out
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The size of the fight in the man matters the most.
 
#35
#35
ThreatLevelOrange said:
No the problem is that we play him at DT as a 3 technique (one gap) player without a true Nose Tackle to take up 2 guys.

In addition to losing Pearce, we lost big boys Thomas and Simmons off last year. Then we played half the year with Hobbs and Moi injured with no true NT. Eason wasn’t the answer. We need a ton of help on the DL.
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Thomas and Simmons were HUGE losses. The interior D line has been subpar all year long
 
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#36
#36
barney said:
Daevin Hobbs is listed at 6’4 290


View attachment 794018

There ain’t no way. I’d be surprised if he was a buck over 270.

All night I watched this guy get completely crushed by vandy’s offensive linemen over and over again. I don’t think I saw a single rushing down he was in for where he held up at the line of scrimmage. Vandy’s offensive line was bigger, meaner and stronger than our defensive line.

And frankly I don’t blame the players when they are in a no win situation due to negligent coaching. Our coaches are supposed to identify, recruit and develop players into sec defensive linemen. Hobbs might put it all together at some point, but at this weight he is absolutely should not see the field in sec play. Why isn’t he hitting his goal weight? Is it strength and conditioning? Is it nutrition? Is it a commitment issue?

And I’m not trying to single out a single player. Frankly its a glaring problem all over the teams. Safeties are underweight. Many of our linebackers are underweight. Virtually every interior defensive lineman is underweight. Many of the offensive linemen are underweight.

I agree that you cannot retain Banks after that performance, but I think we are kidding ourselves if we think that there aren’t deeper issues related to commitment, size and strength on this football team.
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I suspect this whole thread is based on nonsense.

Do you have any hard numbers to back up this claim that we're underweight across all of these positions?
 
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