Teams Live and Die by Tempo (see vs FL or just ask Kiffin)

#26
#26
Yes, more than likely. You just can’t have your defense on the field for 75% or more of the game and expect them to perform. I believe that was the same issue at UCF. Probably just a condition that comes with the up tempo offense.
 
#27
#27
Kiffin is a gambler, and took chances trying to keep bama's offense off the field. I kind of admire his willingness to give it a shot, but unless it's late in the game and you are within 3-10 points, it isn't smart football. Punt and show some confidence in your defense to stop them. JMO.
 
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#28
#28
Carp said:
UK won in typical UK fashion under Stoops. Play good defense. Establish the run. Force TOs. If they can't do at least 2 of these things, they lose 9/10 times. They almost never win in a shootout.

So far, we've proven pretty good at stopping the run outside of the UF game. And the vast majority of those yards came in the 2nd half after that failed 4th down conversion when the wheels fell off. We weren't doing a great job at stopping the run before that play, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
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I think UF's strengths fit where UT was still developing. IMHO, I think the match up favors UT vs UK. I don't think they like being spread out on D. They do like to bring up safety help in the run game.

Not stopping yourself is key vs UK. MU played them close and committed 7 penalties for 65 yds. USCe who to me looks terrible played them to a one score win with 5 penalties for 45 yds. UF had 15 penalties for 115 yds.

To the OP, I think the power of this system to win is in running tempo and putting opponents on their heels. But they can effectively run the O slowing down. I do wonder however if a lot of UT's penalties in that game were because they slowed down with all the noise. Maybe if they had run faster like they're more attuned to it would have gone better on penalties.
 
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#30
#30
sjt18 said:
I think UF's strengths fit where UT was still developing. IMHO, I think the match up favors UT vs UK. I don't think they like being spread out on D. They do like to bring up safety help in the run game.

Not stopping yourself is key vs UK. MU played them close and committed 7 penalties for 65 yds. USCe who to me looks terrible played them to a one score win with 5 penalties for 45 yds. UF had 15 penalties for 115 yds.

To the OP, I think the power of this system to win is in running tempo and putting opponents on their heels. But they can effectively run the O slowing down. I do wonder however if a lot of UT's penalties in that game were because they slowed down with all the noise. Maybe if they had run faster like they're more attuned to it would have gone better on penalties.
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Watching the Kentucky-Florida game this morning. A few things strike me:

(a) Kentucky's run defense is legit. Any running success we have against them will be thanks to a healthy air attack loosening them up first. In other words, Hooker is going to have to come out slinging the ball. (I do like the point you make about us spreading the field to offset their box presence; that will help).

(b) Their fan base has learned how to make a difference in the stadium. Sure, it's a smaller stadium and a smaller crowd, but they still generated enough noise vs the Gators to necessitate silent counts (which Florida was not ready for). Since we're going to their house, we will have to be ready for that. It's funny, this is normally part of OUR bag of tricks vs Kentucky, not part of theirs against us.

(c) Their offense is not scary, not at all. The stat line looks not-good-but-ok: QB Jones went 23 of 31 for 203 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, and was also their top rusher for 63 yds on 13 carries (4.8 ypc). The "23 of 31" part sounds like the best bit, but I swear watching the game it looks like they miss passes one after the other. Maybe because all the important ones are the ones they missed. On the worst (for them)/best (for us) side of the UK ledger, they're apparently turning the ball over repeatedly this season...think one of the announcers said their turnover margin is already -9 and grew more during this match? Yikes.

(d) Kinda glad our off week comes just before the Ky game. Think we'll want our OL in particular to be as healthy as it can be.

More than anything, I'm confident in Josh Heupel and our coaching staff's ability to take advantage of what Kentucky will give us. They're not elite. Their run D is pretty darn good, maybe the third-best we'll face this season after Bama and UGa, but otherwise they are a middle-of-the-road Power 5 team.

Which is a huge step up for Kentucky, they've made progress under Stoops. But we should be able to beat them. And will, if we show up with the same intensity and discipline we had vs Mizzou.

Go Vols!


p.s. Interestingly, this seems to be a very fair description of how we'll want to take on South Carolina this weekend, as well, though the Gamecock's run defense is not nearly as stout and we have USCe at home. The two teams (Ky & USCe) are similar in personality this year, with UK being the stronger of the two.
 
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#33
#33
VFL-82-JP said:
Watching the Kentucky-Florida game this morning. A few things strike me:

(a) Kentucky's run defense is legit. Any running success we have against them will be thanks to a healthy air attack loosening them up first. In other words, Hooker is going to have to come out slinging the ball. (I do like the point you make about us spreading the field to offset their box presence; that will help).

(b) Their fan base has learned how to make a difference in the stadium. Sure, it's a smaller stadium and a smaller crowd, but they still generated enough noise vs the Gators to necessitate silent counts (which Florida was not ready for). Since we're going to their house, we will have to be ready for that. It's funny, this is normally part of OUR bag of tricks vs Kentucky, not part of theirs against us.

(c) Their offense is not scary, not at all. The stat line looks not-good-but-ok: QB Jones went 23 of 31 for 203 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, and was also their top rusher for 63 yds on 13 carries (4.8 ypc). The "23 of 31" part sounds like the best bit, but I swear watching the game it looks like they miss passes one after the other. Maybe because all the important ones are the ones they missed. On the worst (for them)/best (for us) side of the UK ledger, they're apparently turning the ball over repeatedly this season...think one of the announcers said their turnover margin is already -9 and grew more during this match? Yikes.

(d) Kinda glad our off week comes just before the Ky game. Think we'll want our OL in particular to be as healthy as it can be.

More than anything, I'm confident in Josh Heupel and our coaching staff's ability to take advantage of what Kentucky will give us. They're not elite. Their run D is pretty darn good, maybe the third-best we'll face this season after Bama and UGa, but otherwise they are a middle-of-the-road Power 5 team.

Which is a huge step up for Kentucky, they've made progress under Stoops. But we should be able to beat them. And will, if we show up with the same intensity and discipline we had vs Mizzou.

Go Vols!


p.s. Interestingly, this seems to be a very fair description of how we'll want to take on South Carolina this weekend, as well, though the Gamecock's run defense is not nearly as stout and we have USCe at home. The two teams (Ky & USCe) are similar in personality this year, with UK being the stronger of the two.
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Point of contention here, it seemed like Florida rushed the ball pretty well. 171 yards on 39 rush attempts. That's a 4.4 ypc. If anything, it seems like UF should have leaned more heavily on the rush. But the penalties probably prevented that, as they had several 3rd downs forced into passing situations due to penalties.

Play calling was also a problem for UF. 2nd and 2 and the UK 11, you just gashed their defense 36 yards of rushing that drive, and you get too cute and try and throw a pass. Just dumb. Run the rock and get the 1st down. Similarly bad play calling on that last drive inside the 10. Why are you throwing it behind the LOS or just barely to the LOS when you're inside the 10? The defense is already playing up, so they're going to react to pretty quick to that sort of play. I realize guys in the endzone may be covered up and you don't want to force anything, but damn, give your guys better than a 4th and goal pass attempt.
 
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#34
#34
Carp said:
Point of contention here, it seemed like Florida rushed the ball pretty well. 171 yards on 39 rush attempts. That's a 4.4 ypc. If anything, it seems like UF should have leaned more heavily on the rush. But the penalties probably prevented that, as they had several 3rd downs forced into passing situations due to penalties.

Play calling was also a problem for UF. 2nd and 2 and the UK 11, you just gashed their defense 36 yards of rushing that drive, and you get too cute and try and throw a pass. Just dumb. Run the rock and get the 1st down. Similarly bad play calling on that last drive inside the 10. Why are you throwing it behind theLOS or just barely to the LOS when you're inside the 10? The defense is already playing up, so they're going to react to pretty quick to that sort of play. I realize guys in the endzone may be covered up and you don't want to force anything, but damn, give your guys better than a 4 and goal pass attempt.
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Yeah, that's another of the ways the stats don't seem to match what you see when you watch the game.

Kentucky's defense wasn't a brick wall, but they were pretty darn competent against the run. Watch, you'll see what I mean.
 
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#35
#35
VFL-82-JP said:
Watching the Kentucky-Florida game this morning. A few things strike me:

(a) Kentucky's run defense is legit. Any running success we have against them will be thanks to a healthy air attack loosening them up first. In other words, Hooker is going to have to come out slinging the ball. (I do like the point you make about us spreading the field to offset their box presence; that will help).

(b) Their fan base has learned how to make a difference in the stadium. Sure, it's a smaller stadium and a smaller crowd, but they still generated enough noise vs the Gators to necessitate silent counts (which Florida was not ready for). Since we're going to their house, we will have to be ready for that. It's funny, this is normally part of OUR bag of tricks vs Kentucky, not part of theirs against us.

(c) Their offense is not scary, not at all. The stat line looks not-good-but-ok: QB Jones went 23 of 31 for 203 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, and was also their top rusher for 63 yds on 13 carries (4.8 ypc). The "23 of 31" part sounds like the best bit, but I swear watching the game it looks like they miss passes one after the other. Maybe because all the important ones are the ones they missed. On the worst (for them)/best (for us) side of the UK ledger, they're apparently turning the ball over repeatedly this season...think one of the announcers said their turnover margin is already -9 and grew more during this match? Yikes.

(d) Kinda glad our off week comes just before the Ky game. Think we'll want our OL in particular to be as healthy as it can be.

More than anything, I'm confident in Josh Heupel and our coaching staff's ability to take advantage of what Kentucky will give us. They're not elite. Their run D is pretty darn good, maybe the third-best we'll face this season after Bama and UGa, but otherwise they are a middle-of-the-road Power 5 team.

Which is a huge step up for Kentucky, they've made progress under Stoops. But we should be able to beat them. And will, if we show up with the same intensity and discipline we had vs Mizzou.

Go Vols!


p.s. Interestingly, this seems to be a very fair description of how we'll want to take on South Carolina this weekend, as well, though the Gamecock's run defense is not nearly as stout and we have USCe at home. The two teams (Ky & USCe) are similar in personality this year, with UK being the stronger of the two.
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Good post.

Someone else made a comment earlier that caused me to wonder why UT didn't run tempo very much vs UF. I'm still not sure. Could have been because they were still getting Hooker comfortable. Could have been the anticipated noise. Could have been to protect UT's D.

I fully expect UT to run the same tempo vs UK that they ran vs MU. Like you mentioned, their O outside of Rodriguez is anemic. Maybe it all falls in place for Levis between now and then but currently he leads the SEC... in INT's. He and Bazelak are essentially the same guy except he's less accurate and a better runner. According to ESPN's QBR, he's 10th in the SEC. Hooker is third. According to the cfbstats calculation, he's 6th and Hooker is 2nd... not far behind Brice Young.


I'm not writing this in as a win. UT will have to keep developing and play a clean game. The injury situation on the OL cannot get worse and preferably needs to get better. But these guys who've been writing UK off as a sure loss are nuts.
 
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#36
#36
VFL-82-JP said:
Watching the Kentucky-Florida game this morning. A few things strike me:

(b) Their fan base has learned how to make a difference in the stadium. Sure, it's a smaller stadium and a smaller crowd, but they still generated enough noise vs the Gators to necessitate silent counts (which Florida was not ready for). Since we're going to their house, we will have to be ready for that. It's funny, this is normally part of OUR bag of tricks vs Kentucky, not part of theirs against us.
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I missed this when watching the game but I second this observation.

Up until the covids hit us last year, I've been on a tour of SEC stadiums with my son. We have not hit them all yet but so far, a night game in Lexington has got it going on. We were there in '19 for the FL-KY game (when Trask took over for the injured Franks) and let me share - it was electric and a fun party. Upper decks of the stadium shaking like South Carolina, thumping music, students were loud and invested (and not drunk and belligerant like a certain school in Alabama that wins a lot of games). Best in the SEC (like I said, "so far"...I have not made it to the far west yet in Texas and Missouri).
 
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#37
#37
KingtUT said:
See what? If Kiffin wins it means nothing as far as who the better coach is. Totally different situations. Kiffin should win, if he does, oh well. If he doesnt, it will absolutely be because he was out coached
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Oh Ok. I guess, just because Saban won, doesn't mean he is the better coach. After all he has the best talent in the land. He should have won:cool:
 
#39
#39
I am confused. So it’s been said on here that defense doesn’t matter much in today’s college football. Last year, Kiffins first at OM, he put up nearly 700 yards and 48 points on Bama and he loses. This year, with a much better OM team, Kiffin only puts up 291 yards and 21 points and they lose.

UGA’s offense hasn’t don’t much of anything really. Their defense is easily the best in college football and they are either #1 or #2. And there are TN fans that think nobody will beat UGA. But my question is why? Especially when defense is so overrated and meaningless?
 
#40
#40
KingtUT said:
See what? If Kiffin wins it means nothing as far as who the better coach is. Totally different situations. Kiffin should win, if he does, oh well. If he doesnt, it will absolutely be because he was out coached
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Eh not necessarily. While you may think if Kiffin loses it would be because he was out coached, that’s not entirely true. Many things can happen that are not coaches fault.
 
#41
#41
IluvdoubleD's said:
I would say teams live or die by your offensive line, but the tempo does have an advantage. it means your guys should be in shape enough in the third quarter, when the game starts.

...that's if you are not a medical ward by then.
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Another advantage is on the line. It wears down the D line and often sees the ball snapped before the D (line) is set.
 
#43
#43
VFL-82-JP said:
Watching the Kentucky-Florida game this morning. A few things strike me:

(a) Kentucky's run defense is legit. Any running success we have against them will be thanks to a healthy air attack loosening them up first. In other words, Hooker is going to have to come out slinging the ball. (I do like the point you make about us spreading the field to offset their box presence; that will help).

(b) Their fan base has learned how to make a difference in the stadium. Sure, it's a smaller stadium and a smaller crowd, but they still generated enough noise vs the Gators to necessitate silent counts (which Florida was not ready for). Since we're going to their house, we will have to be ready for that. It's funny, this is normally part of OUR bag of tricks vs Kentucky, not part of theirs against us.

(c) Their offense is not scary, not at all. The stat line looks not-good-but-ok: QB Jones went 23 of 31 for 203 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, and was also their top rusher for 63 yds on 13 carries (4.8 ypc). The "23 of 31" part sounds like the best bit, but I swear watching the game it looks like they miss passes one after the other. Maybe because all the important ones are the ones they missed. On the worst (for them)/best (for us) side of the UK ledger, they're apparently turning the ball over repeatedly this season...think one of the announcers said their turnover margin is already -9 and grew more during this match? Yikes.

(d) Kinda glad our off week comes just before the Ky game. Think we'll want our OL in particular to be as healthy as it can be.

More than anything, I'm confident in Josh Heupel and our coaching staff's ability to take advantage of what Kentucky will give us. They're not elite. Their run D is pretty darn good, maybe the third-best we'll face this season after Bama and UGa, but otherwise they are a middle-of-the-road Power 5 team.

Which is a huge step up for Kentucky, they've made progress under Stoops. But we should be able to beat them. And will, if we show up with the same intensity and discipline we had vs Mizzou.

Go Vols!


p.s. Interestingly, this seems to be a very fair description of how we'll want to take on South Carolina this weekend, as well, though the Gamecock's run defense is not nearly as stout and we have USCe at home. The two teams (Ky & USCe) are similar in personality this year, with UK being the stronger of the two.
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If sjt is correct that they favor bringing the safety up to aid in that strong run defense, we'll feast on them in the passing game. Our spread is a "pick your poison". You put your secondary in 1x1, and they are on islands.
 
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#45
#45
I don't think I understand the point. Tempo means less rest for your D if you don't execute well, but gives several more scoring opportunities. We lost 3 drives on terrible execution from C and a WR drop. That's 21 points of opportunity wasted. We missed a FG, right? We also had 85 yards of penalties.

Execution, not tempo, was the culprit here.
 
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#46
#46
Ehhh I’d rather play to win than not to lose bad personally. Kiffins plan backfired in his face but at least he was going for it to win. At the end of the day, teams that are much better than you will likely score either way. Might as well take your chances.
 
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#47
#47
I think the discussion is a bit different and I will explain.

I assert the modern game of football seeks to get an insurmountable lead as quickly as possible. (Same theory as Jeopardy James Holzhauer used.). The game has changed enough between rules and coaches williness to go bold. We can discuss the concept in more detail if people disagree.

For this discussion the strategy can be implemented in multiple ways including tempo that CJH uses. A quick strike capability is essential one way or another. I also assert the ability to control the line of scrimmage is required and must be a priority. (Something Butch Jones didn't believe in.).

I think Saban has also subscribed to this strategy. We can see multiple coaches using this strategy in various ways.
 
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