Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Oklahoma

#26
#26
I promised myself this would be the only thread on here I would read today. It was worth it. Great job and on target as always.
 
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#27
#27
Aw Hell, I KNOW you are right, but I still can't wait until I am able to pick up the Sunday paper and go right to the sports section without a knot in my stomach.
 
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#29
#29
Fabulous summary OMG... get a grip Vol Nation... this is going to be an exciting season. I believe this team has character and will not stay down, but will get up fighting with more wins coming. Players and coaches learn from every game.

Go Vols!!
 
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#30
#30
Bs. Coaches blew this game .. Prime example : 3rd and 18 inches. And do not run hurd. Then go into shell and kick field goal. Would patton have kicked a field goal ?...would neyland blown 17 point lead ?
 
#32
#32
Our Fans have been heartbroken for over 5 years now and still invest time, money, emotional effort, and live for TN football. We talk all week, get excited only to be let down again and again. We have an extremely high football IQ and know our stuff.
This is on the coaches. Deboard is now in the hot seat. Butch can recruit, that's good, but if we aren't even using our talent (Jumper on D) and not getting the ball in the receivers hands (Pig, North, Pearson), then recruiting means squat.
Now Butch should not be fired, yet. BUT! If we don't beat FL, we need to start looking for better options. Butch needs to prove to us he can make good calls on game day and in making hiring decisions. His loyalty needs to be to the fan base, not to people he knows or is "comfortable with". I don't give a rat's ass if he is comfortable or gets along behind the scenes, you are here to win, not be comfortable. If you want to be comfortable and have good "chemistry" among coaches, you won't be here long. This is a high stress high risk high reward occupation here. You can be the most loved man in the city or the most hated. We don't tolerate piss poor decisions here. Play to win, have the balls to own the loss cause, we need more dynamic play calling. YOu have Space Dobbs. And quit with the Little Jon and cliche statements. I don't want to hear that song or anything else I've already heard 20 times come out of your mouth again. You better beat FL too
I called a 9 win season. Above is exceeding expectations, below at 8 is not meeting expectations. Only 7 wins....see ya! Goal is SEC championship, not a bowl game. You are with the big dogs now, not in Cincy anymore Toto!
 
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#37
#37
Walking out of the stadium Saturday night, I told my wife what some of the thread titles would be after the loss. Unfortunately, I was correct.

This is the only thread that I looked forward to and is the only one that I spent more than a few minutes in. After reading it, I wish I had stopped at OMG's OP.

Thanks, OMG for the perspective and for the reminder of what The Greatest Generation endured for this country. Reading this forum tonight makes me wonder if this country could muster up enough grit to win that war in today's time. Sadly, I don't think we, as a whole, have what it takes. If we didn't win it fast enough, we would give up and quit on our commanders, resulting in getting our asses kicked.

Anyway, thank you OMG. You are an amazingly talented and intelligent person. I always enjoy your write ups. Please keep them coming.

I fully expect to be flamed by some. That's okay. I will get up tomorrow morning and go on with my blessed life doing what I do.
 
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#38
#38
OMG, Insightful writing and apt analogies.

1. :compute: Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): it reminds me of a good Rumsfeld quote. To paraphrase "you don't go to war with the army you WANT. You go to war with the army you HAVE."

2. :zeitung_lesen: The army we have is friggin stocked with talent and it's looking better and better. Indeed, 2016-2018 are already shaping up. And, that environment in Neyland was INCREDIBLE against Oklahoma... What a home field advantage! What warrior/athlete wouldn't want to play in the heart of the SEC in front of 102K+ frenzied checkered fans? But, who's taking the field in large part is still young and not deep enough to absorb key losses without having big impacts. But, they are growing fast!

3. :superman: Our Army needs its leaders to posture it for success. Specifically, to intentionally create more statistically favorable situations for our playmakers by creating the mismatch and letting the talent do the rest. In short, playing to our strengths, mitigating our weaknesses, marginalizing adversary strengths and exploiting their weaknesses. That's easier said than done, but it's why CBJ surrounds himself with wise and capable council.

4. :rock2: To use some more military terminology, CULTURE EATS STRATEGY FOR BREAKFAST. I like the business like approach CBJ is instilling. Long term, I agree it is best to try and not be a team that "just" plays on emotion. But, not at the expense of being risk averse and not exploiting an adversaries weakness or taking/maintaining the momentum. It is okay, and dare I say required, to be BOLD and AGGRESSIVE. You just can't be RECKLESS. It's a fine line, but that is why CBJ gets paid the big bucks ;)

5. :bash: I yearn to see that ORANGE SWARM defense that is in a HURRY to get to the football, is in a BAD MOOD when it gets there, and ISN'T ALONE when they explode through the ball carrier. I'm not saying taking cheap shots. I mean that STUBBORN, HARD NOSED defense that every members knows their space/assignment and OWNS it! That defense that has an unquenchable thirst to RHINO CHOKE SLAM everything in their path, slam it to the ground, watch it take its last breath, and then seek to destroy the next target; then, when that play is over, they rinse/repeat. Not a defense that competes, a defense that DOMINATES by taking everything and giving nothing for 61 Minutes. On Offense, the way Hurd hits people, the way Howard plays.

6. :dance2: I'm friggn stoked about the rest of this season... and the only reason I'm sore about the Oklahoma loss is because of how bad I want our players and fans to experience that type of win! It was hard fought and I'm stoked Neyland is having these games again... Let's get some "W's"!

7. :pirate: Go Vols!
 
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#39
#39
OneManGang said:
You know, I think you may be on to something there. I've been around so long and seen so much Tennessee football: good, bad and downright ugly, that I tend to just step over it and drive on.

The Tennessee fanbase (particularly the youngsters that make up the majority of posters here) have never seen the mountain, let alone the mountain top. Like a spooked herd, they think every setback is a portent of disaster and slam the panic button. When I consider them, I think of Wally Cox's character in "The Bedford Incident."

(Spoiler: at a crucial moment in battle against a submarine enemy, the Captain orders "Do not fire one until I say so!" Cox's character responds. "One fired, SIR!" Disaster ensues.)

I started with Dickey and the early (good) years of Battle and thence was there when Johnny literally came marching home. Maybe it was the Majors era that inoculated me. Johnny's squads one Saturday would look like they could take on Bradshaw and the Steelers or Staubach and the Cowboys and the next Saturday you'd scratch your head wondering if they'd ever played a down together.

The thing was that, particularly during the early Majors era, improvement was gradual and only noticeable over the course of a season or even seasons. Over his first five seasons (1977-81) his aggregate was 39-27-1, hardly overwhelming. Indeed, after the stirring '82 win over Bama, the Vols dropped a 31-21 embarrassment vs Georgia Tech and ended up 6-5-1 finishing with a loss to Iowa in the Peach Bowl.

I DO think Jones is Tennessee's best bet to return to storied greatness, IF AND ONLY IF our shell-shocked fan base will realize that progress in these circumstances cannot be measured or judged by a single game.

There will be disappointments and there will be thrilling wins. I fully expect these Vols to rise up on their hind legs and beat the crap out of someone they are not supposed to this year, but I'm not going to panic if they don't.

To be truthful I did not expect Tennessee to win Saturday. I was delighted they hung in as long as they did. They are learning and there is a price for that learning. They have to unlearn everything from the collective memory of the last ten seasons or so and rediscover that they can consistently win big games.

They just aren't there yet.

But they will be.
Click to expand...

I'm about 10 or 15 yrs behind you, but my first game day memories are of Alatorre, Cockrell then T-Rob with wins over Vandy, Utah, New Mexico, toss-up games vs Ga Tech & losses to the likes of Pitt, Auburn, Florida until we finally turned the corner in '85.

That Auburn game in 1985 and the rest of that season (especially the Sugar Bowl vs Miami) transformed that team and the future trajectory of our program.

Butch needs this type of win and we will be on our way back to greatness. We're not as far away as many around here would lead you to believe.
 
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#41
#41
OneManGang said:
You know, I think you may be on to something there. I've been around so long and seen so much Tennessee football: good, bad and downright ugly, that I tend to just step over it and drive on.

The Tennessee fanbase (particularly the youngsters that make up the majority of posters here) have never seen the mountain, let alone the mountain top. Like a spooked herd, they think every setback is a portent of disaster and slam the panic button. When I consider them, I think of Wally Cox's character in "The Bedford Incident."

(Spoiler: at a crucial moment in battle against a submarine enemy, the Captain orders "Do not fire one until I say so!" Cox's character responds. "One fired, SIR!" Disaster ensues.)

I started with Dickey and the early (good) years of Battle and thence was there when Johnny literally came marching home. Maybe it was the Majors era that inoculated me. Johnny's squads one Saturday would look like they could take on Bradshaw and the Steelers or Staubach and the Cowboys and the next Saturday you'd scratch your head wondering if they'd ever played a down together.

The thing was that, particularly during the early Majors era, improvement was gradual and only noticeable over the course of a season or even seasons. Over his first five seasons (1977-81) his aggregate was 39-27-1, hardly overwhelming. Indeed, after the stirring '82 win over Bama, the Vols dropped a 31-21 embarrassment vs Georgia Tech and ended up 6-5-1 finishing with a loss to Iowa in the Peach Bowl.

I DO think Jones is Tennessee's best bet to return to storied greatness, IF AND ONLY IF our shell-shocked fan base will realize that progress in these circumstances cannot be measured or judged by a single game.

There will be disappointments and there will be thrilling wins. I fully expect these Vols to rise up on their hind legs and beat the crap out of someone they are not supposed to this year, but I'm not going to panic if they don't.

To be truthful I did not expect Tennessee to win Saturday. I was delighted they hung in as long as they did. They are learning and there is a price for that learning. They have to unlearn everything from the collective memory of the last ten seasons or so and rediscover that they can consistently win big games.

They just aren't there yet.

But they will be.
Click to expand...


OneManGang, you and I cut our eye teeth on Big Orange football at precisely the same time. I would offer the following observations in support of your analysis:

(1) With respect to the mental/physical health of many contributors to this forum, anyone who knows a good orthopedist, preferably one with extensive experience in treating hyperextensions of the knee joint induced by repetitive knee-jerk reflex activation, would be doing Vol Nation a service by providing referrals as needed.

(2) Losses like the one that we just sustained hurt so much because you can play the “what if” scenarios ad nauseum and, with respect specifically to the Oklahoma game, because of how superbly how our defense played for three quarters. Unfortunately, far too many contributors to this forum refuse to exercise even a scintilla of perspective and choose instead to focus exclusively on the negativity of the immediate past. Let’s take a very short look back at the magnitude of losses that Tennessee has suffered during the Butch Jones era:

2013.
Oregon (11-2) L 59-14
Florida (4-8) L 31-17
Georgia (8-5) L 34-31
Alabama (11-2) L 45-10
Missouri (12-2) L 31-3
Auburn (12-2) L 55-23
Vanderbilt (9-4) L 14-10

Ave. margin of defeat: 23 points (only because we narrowly lost to GA and VU; we had four absolute blowout losses).

2014.
Oklahoma (8-5) L 34-10
Georgia (10-3) L 35-32
Florida (7-5) L 10-9
Mississippi (9-4) L 34-3
Alabama (12-2) L 34-20
Missouri (11-3) L 29-21

Ave. margin of defeat: 11.6 points (two blowout losses).

2015.
Oklahoma (2-0) L 31-24 (double overtime).

I understand impatience; it is the nature of the beast when it comes to SEC football. However, one simply cannot dismiss the facts that Butch inherited a team that was woefully deficient in talent, as evidenced by an average 23-point margin of defeat in his first year. Through recruiting, he reduced that figure by 50% in year two and now has us at the point where, in terms of talent, if not depth, we can stand toe to toe with virtually anyone on our schedule, other than Alabama. Yes, there probably will be more heartbreakingly close losses; that happens when significant talent discrepancies no longer exist. However, we also will begin to break through with victories in some of those matchups and I would not be surprised to see us emerge with “scalps” that formerly belonged to Gators, Bulldogs or both. Barring significant additional injuries at critical positions, we are finally truly competitive again and that is the first major step to restoring our program to the altitude we all expect of it.
 
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#46
#46
Thanks as always OMG.

Outstanding and consistent every week.

Whiners will always whine.

Haters will always hate.

Kids will always be immature until, hopefully, they grow up and mature.

Negative minded people will always be negative on most everything.

Some of us simply bleed Tennessee orange and love our Vols.

Some of us have been cheering on our beloved Vols for 50 years or longer.

During the great years and the horrid years we never stop loving our Vols.

Most every program has up and down years and the farther down you get the harder it is to claw your way back up and the more years it takes to get back to the top again.

Most all of us are still mad and still hurting from seeing a win we thought was in our hands slip away from us and you can bet that buTch, all our coaches and players are still hurting too.

Difference is everyone in our footVol program have moved on, they're working hard to try to make sure our next game becomes WIN number 2 this season.

It's time we all move on too and remember that we have NOT lost any of our most important goals yet.

We CAN still WIN the SEC East Championship, the SEC Championship and make it to the final 4 in the playoffs.

All of those most important goals are still open to us.

We already lost some good players from our Vol army and now Curt Maggitt will be out for awhile but this is football so it's next man up.

In my Marine Corps when a brother Marine goes down another Marine takes on the challenge and gets the troops moving forward again to WIN that battle.

Our beloved Vols are working hard to WIN their next battle so NOW is the time to put the past behind us and move forward by getting massive support to their next battle at Neyland!

Fill the stadium and show those great kids we still love and believe in them!

Semper Fi my good friend!

#RiseToTheTop...VFL...GBO!!!
 
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#48
#48
Found this last week and enjoyed more than any of the other crap that has been posted here since the game. Not sure I agreed with every maxim point that was made but was a great read. The two to three depth and fresh players is something even the recruiting forum regulars are struggling with the concept.

Thanks for the write up.
 
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#49
#49
nash101 said:
Excellent as always and you also said something inadvertently that explains a lot of the frustrations expressed on the forum:

Lt Thatch adapted new tactics called the Weave! They took advantage of what they had while waiting for the bigger and better models that were on the way. Butch has not adapted and changed tactics. He has been stubborn and stayed the course and we lose the big games. If the U.S. Air Force and Marine pilots had been as stubborn the war could have turned out differently.

"Adapt and overcome" would be a good motto for Jones to borrow from the Marine Recon
Click to expand...

No U.S. Air Force at the time, it was called the Army air corps.
 
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#50
#50
We have a good team. We cannot finish. Players make plays but 1. have to be in the position to make plays (schemes). 2. have to be prepared, trained and coached to make the plays (coaching) We have not shown we can adjust. When we get ahead, we play way too conservative and scared. We do not throw the ball down the field, so they load up in the box and stuff the run. I don't want to hear that Dobbs doesn't have time. Quick release, fades, curls, screens. If they are blitzing like crazy, make them pay for it. North had one reception. Our offensive calls are vanilla and everyone figures us out.

I always take a wait and see approach. Don't blame the fans for being upset. If you aren't upset, you aren't a true fan and don't know jack about football. TN is not a fanbase that is ho hum we will be good next year or the year after. Just a loss. No, don't tell us we are overreacting. This is not just one game. How about the last two FL games? We haven't beat a ranked opponent.

It can still be a good season. I hope we get it together, but I'm no longer optimistic. We need to actually beat someone we aren't supposed to and quit with the lame excuses. Deboard basically said, "they blitzed us and we couldn't handle it" What are you paid for? "work in progress"-no crap, when is it not! " you know, we are young"- We will always have young players on the field.
How bout "we made bad calls as a coaching staff"!
No, it's the fans fault for being too passionate and actually caring about poor management and execution when the game was won in the 4th quarter. "We need the fans to checker Neyland" "We need the fans to be loud"
Well, fans need the coaches to win against someone decent. I could be out wining and dining a hot woman on my Saturdays you know instead of constantly trying to will 20 year olds to victory I have no control over.
As I mentioned this ain't Cincy, you loose we all loose.
 
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