Ten Things to Take From This Debacle

#1
StunnA N' Orange

StunnA N' Orange

He's still running...
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Feb 18, 2007
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#1
1. Special teams continue to be a problem. Why Phil ever thought of kicking it to DeSean Jackson is beyond me. The kickoff team was equally atrocious.

2. I thought we were supposed to be more physical this year (according to the coaches)? Well, it looks like they fooled us once again. Not being able to punch it in from the 3 yard line is simply unacceptable. We completely went away from the running game after the third quarter. It showed anyone that was watching that game the kind of confidence they have running the football.

3. My complaints don't lie with Ainge. They lie with Cutcliffe and our wide receiver core. It's utterly obvious that we don't have a deep threat when Lucas Taylor and Josh Briscoe are on the field. There was no way we were gonna make a comeback throwing slants and quick outs the entire second half (albeit two passes intended for O'Neal and Vinson).

4. Defensive schemes and assignments. I was left scratching my head at what the hell Chavis was doing tonight. Our spacing and discipline looked awful. They spreaded us out and ripped us all game long with sweeps and a few end arounds/reverses. Which helped set up the play action as early as the second quarter.

5. Lack of pressure. With the exception of a few possessions, we struggled to get any kind of pressure on Longshore. He had all day to sit back in the pocket and pick us apart. Losing Xavier Mitchell can only worsen the situation. Reynolds was completely worthless on the right side.

6. We had some major problems stopping the run (again). I don't even want to think about facing the more physical teams on our schedule this year. If tonight was any indication, Georgia and Arkansas could easily dismantle us with just the running game. Demonte and J.T. Mapu have got to step up.

7. Tackling. There is no excuse for missing so many tackles over the course of a game. I must have counted at least 25 missed tackles tonight. Yet another reason we should be calling for the dismissal of Chavis and his entire staff as soon as possible (excluding Dan Brooks).

8. The secondary. Larry Slade has got to go. I can't think of one legitimate reason for this guy to be coaching our defensive backs. Gaines should have never started over Berry in the first place. Cal's skill positions burned us repeatedly. Guys like Best, Hawkins, Forsett, and Jackson made them look silly all game long. They seem to think arm tackling will get the job done (excluding Berry and Hefney).

9. If we don't 10 games or win the East this year (highly unlikely based on tonight's performance), it's time to cut ties with Phillip Fulmer. You've had 9 years to win a conference championship. We're now in the middle of pack of the SEC (5th in wins over the last 5 years). With the additions of Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, you could easily make the argument that Fulmer isn't in the top 5 of the league anymore. As much as it pains me to say, it's time to put an end to the Phillip Fulmer era.

10. Basketball season begins on November 7th. Thank God for Bruce Pearl.
 
#2
#2
Austin Rogers is supposed to be our fastest returning wide receiver. He was burned by a Cal linebacker on the fumble return in the opening drive.
 
#3
#3
You made several good points.

Hard to NOT get away from the run after the 3rd quarter though when down 10 isn't it? Granted out defense stiffened up for a few series but still....

1. Kickoffs are going to continue to be terrible because Lincoln is a bad kicker and until Colquitt can get healthy and actually kick it into the endzone or at least close, everyone will start with good field position, thus making it that much harder to play defense.

2. This talk about "playing freshmen/newcomers" is stupid. The only way they were going to insert any of those guys with any sort of regularity is if we were up big. I'm not sure why they don't give them the opportunity to catch 5 yard outpatterns and see what THEY can do with it. If they can't catch those passes, then they don't need to be on the team.

3. Larry Slade-----most accurate statement I've seen towards a coach tonight.

4. Lack of pressure....I don't think there were any blitzes at all until we tried to mount a comeback was there? Isn't it easier to stop the run when the linebackers are near the line of scrimmage instead of dropping into coverage?

5. Defensive line doesn't have what it takes to hold up, nor the depth. Haven't had that since Henderson and Haynesworth departed.
 
#4
#4
kptvol said:
Austin Rogers is supposed to be our fastest returning wide receiver. He was burned by a Cal linebacker on the fumble return in the opening drive.
Click to expand...

What happened on that play anyway? Seemed like the entire left side of the line was super slow on that one.
 
#5
#5
That linebacker looked like he was lined up on a wide receiver he came from so far out. No one even saw him I don't think. That's why it looked like they were standing there blocking no one. haha
 
#6
#6
NationofVols said:
That's why it looked like they were standing there blocking no one. haha
Click to expand...

It didn't look like they were standing there blocking air, that's exactly what they were doing.

I also didn't like the way that LB stuck his helmet in Ainge's back.
 
#8
#8
OWB said:
It didn't look like they were standing there blocking air, that's exactly what they were doing.

I also didn't like the way that LB stuck his helmet in Ainge's back.
Click to expand...


I'm assuming "spearing" isn't a personal foul in college? You could see the guy lower his head as he got close. It appeared intentional, but you never know.
 
#9
#9
I don't know if Slade is the problem.

I've heard enough people say that Chavis is to blame for the way our secondary looks(last year, not just this game against Cal). Something about his defensive schemes and the way the players are taught to play.
 
#10
#10
It was a nasty hit. Ainge showed a lot of toughness tonight amongst other things.
 
#11
#11
TheDeeble said:
I don't know if Slade is the problem.

I've heard enough people say that Chavis is to blame for the way our secondary looks(last year, not just this game against Cal). Something about his defensive schemes and the way the players are taught to play.
Click to expand...

Slade is bad. Outside of Jason Allen, the only really good DBs we've had lately have been JUCO transfers. Those guys learned their trade from someone else.
 
#12
#12
OWB said:
What happened on that play anyway? Seemed like the entire left side of the line was super slow on that one.
Click to expand...

It looked like an O-lineman (the guard I think) missed a block that A. Foster had to pick up. This led him (A. Foster) to miss the left side LB blitz...or so it seemed to me...I remember the guard (Ramon Foster, I think) standing around while A. Foster picked up the right-side attack.
 
#13
#13
I agree the hit on Ainge was plain dirty. Too bad they didnt have to cart the Cal player off the field for that one like X's spear.
 
#16
#16
If UT had average kick coverage, kicking to Desean wouldn't have been such a bad idea. How is it they were all there ready for him, and didn't do anything about it. He just waited for us to miss before he started running.
 
#17
#17
When you are replacing three starters, your best player is hurt (Hefney) and the most talented guy left was playing high school less then a year ago...well yeah of course you are going to struggle defending the pass. It wasnt that difficult to predict.
 
#18
#18
Offensively we looked pretty good. We had to get away from the running game bc the clock was a factor. Still need a deep threat but they played a lot of two deep zone.

Defensively the tackling was poor overall. We don't matchup with their speed at wr. Our dline has to get better. They really didn't run it on us that much until the second half and much of that was win the game was already over.

Two plays killed us. punt and fumble returns. take these out and this game is very close.
 
#19
#19
That was most pathetic defensive display I've seen since I can't remember. We had ZERO pressure on qb all night so secondary was shredded. All their skill p[ositions were faster, more physical (#1,2,4,7). O-line could not stop run either. That Desmond whateverhisnameis was just dancing around on punt return while wwe looked like Keystone Kops chasing after him. When we got through all falling down, he just trotted into endzone. They start every after kickoffs at 35-40 + because our kicker can barely get it to 20 yard line. I can't wait to see what Gators will do to us. 70 is not out of question. We looked like Pop Warner league team last night.


(Sorry, just had to get that off my chest so the healing can start.)
 
#20
#20
The bad thing about our secondary is that a freshman outplayed our so-called veterans last night. If Berry doesn't start the rest of the games over the rest of his career here at Tennessee then our coaching staff is clueless.
 
#21
#21
StunnA N' Orange said:
1. Special teams continue to be a problem. Why Phil ever thought of kicking it to DeSean Jackson is beyond me. The kickoff team was equally atrocious.

2. I thought we were supposed to be more physical this year (according to the coaches)? Well, it looks like they fooled us once again. Not being able to punch it in from the 3 yard line is simply unacceptable. We completely went away from the running game after the third quarter. It showed anyone that was watching that game the kind of confidence they have running the football.

3. My complaints don't lie with Ainge. They lie with Cutcliffe and our wide receiver core. It's utterly obvious that we don't have a deep threat when Lucas Taylor and Josh Briscoe are on the field. There was no way we were gonna make a comeback throwing slants and quick outs the entire second half (albeit two passes intended for O'Neal and Vinson).

4. Defensive schemes and assignments. I was left scratching my head at what the hell Chavis was doing tonight. Our spacing and discipline looked awful. They spreaded us out and ripped us all game long with sweeps and a few end arounds/reverses. Which helped set up the play action as early as the second quarter.

5. Lack of pressure. With the exception of a few possessions, we struggled to get any kind of pressure on Longshore. He had all day to sit back in the pocket and pick us apart. Losing Xavier Mitchell can only worsen the situation. Reynolds was completely worthless on the right side.

6. We had some major problems stopping the run (again). I don't even want to think about facing the more physical teams on our schedule this year. If tonight was any indication, Georgia and Arkansas could easily dismantle us with just the running game. Demonte and J.T. Mapu have got to step up.

7. Tackling. There is no excuse for missing so many tackles over the course of a game. I must have counted at least 25 missed tackles tonight. Yet another reason we should be calling for the dismissal of Chavis and his entire staff as soon as possible (excluding Dan Brooks).

8. The secondary. Larry Slade has got to go. I can't think of one legitimate reason for this guy to be coaching our defensive backs. Gaines should have never started over Berry in the first place. Cal's skill positions burned us repeatedly. Guys like Best, Hawkins, Forsett, and Jackson made them look silly all game long. They seem to think arm tackling will get the job done (excluding Berry and Hefney).

9. If we don't 10 games or win the East this year (highly unlikely based on tonight's performance), it's time to cut ties with Phillip Fulmer. You've had 9 years to win a conference championship. We're now in the middle of pack of the SEC (5th in wins over the last 5 years). With the additions of Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, you could easily make the argument that Fulmer isn't in the top 5 of the league anymore. As much as it pains me to say, it's time to put an end to the Phillip Fulmer era.

10. Basketball season begins on November 7th. Thank God for Bruce Pearl.
Click to expand...

1. Do we have a coach specifically to take care the special team. Also do you see how short our kick off is? Around 15-20 yards line, are you kidding me?

2. We still totally abandon the run at the critical point. That's not the way to kill a close opponent.

3. I remember a few deep throws that the receivers are not even close to the zone, one is on O'Neal.

4.5.6.7.8. We obviously have huge problems there in D.

9. I don't think Fulmer is going if we can win 8 games.

10. I am not a big basketball person, which means video game time comes 4 months earlier then usual?
 
#23
#23
Colquitt was supposed to punt the first out of bounds. That is on him, not Fulmer. That is why so many of his other punts went so far out of bounds. Fulmer told him to make sure they were out.

I think the sack by Follett was Young's fault and not Foster. Young doubled down on the DE after his shot in and didn't see Zach come through. Had he stayed in position, it would have been an easy pickup.
 
#24
#24
I got a question and I don't know if it has been addressed that much. But I think most of us agree that punting the ball with less than 2 minutes left down by 14 was pretty much throwing in the towel. But my question is why did we punt on the possession before that when we were also down by 14 with less than 7 minutes left. At most we would have had to pray to get the ball twice in the last 6 1/2 minutes and we would have had to assume that we would make 2 successfull 3 and out stops.

Am I missing the logic behind this? Please, someone give me an explanation why we punted on out last 2 possessions of the game...
 
#25
#25
I question alot of the playcalling in the 4th quarter. Why on two possessions in a row do we throw a 1-2 yard pass on 3rd and long? Why punt in those situations?
 
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