The 14 Plays That Changed the Oklahoma Game

[VFL-82-JP]

The 14 Plays that Decided the Oklahoma Game

I'm writing this to close a chapter in the 2015 season, to put Oklahoma behind us, or at least behind me. I started really studying the game tape to figure out why we lost, see what we could learn from it.

And what I found was 14 plays that stood out in deciding the OK game. All decisions or actions by our players and coaches that could very realistically have been done differently, and which would likely or certainly have changed the game's outcome from a loss to a win. Any ONE of these plays could have done that.

But before I lay out the 14 plays I found, a bit on what's not included here:

1. No plays that could have gone differently to OK's benefit. There were plenty of these, too. But we're looking for game-changing differences. Since OK already won, we're only looking for the plays that could flip the game to a Vols win.
2. No counting drives that never got going. We punted 9 times; any of those drives could have produced points. But most of them did not have promise; they were never close to scoring. So, I'm not including any plays from drives that didn't approach the red zone.
3. No "X should have been playing instead of Y." We know maybe 5% of what the coaches know about these players and their skillsets. We simply don't have enough info to second guess them (though some of us try). Also, even if player X is better than player Y, that doesn't mean Y wouldn't be in as a substitute during a particular play. Which means there is potentially no change to the outcome anyway. For those two reasons, not getting into any of this kind of complaining and second-guessing; it serves no purpose.
4. No vague "adjustment of scheme" complaints. Any neophyte can say that OK's coaches adjusted their scheme during the game better than the Vols' coaches. But to make this claim, you gotta find the place on the tape where they actually did something different, clear evidence of a scheme change or adjustment that TN did not respond to. Otherwise, this is just blabbing, just mist and clouds.
5. No missed calls or bad calls by the refs (with one exception). Don't get me wrong; there were plenty of these in the game. But they cut both ways. We could have won if some had gone our way. But we could have lost in regulation if others had not. The refs did not cost us this game, we did that ourselves (as you will see below).
6. No depth concerns. Watched the game again looking specifically for guys getting gassed. And saw it equally on both sides. Both sides slowed down. Blocking by both OLines deteriorated over the 2nd half. Both DLines got sloppier. The only discernable difference between OK's team and ours as the game got late was in tackling: our arm tackles got weaker, whlie theirs did not. Something to work on.

Okay, with all those caveats about what this ISN'T out of the way, here are the key 14 plays:

• PLAY #1 -- 1st Qtr -- settled for FG on 4th & Goal from 1/2 yd line -- cost: 4 points -- error: Butch
• PLAY #2 -- 3rd Qtr -- Alex Ellis dropped pass at OK 12 yard line -- cost: 4 points* -- error: Ellis
• PLAY #3 -- 3rd Qtr -- Aaron Medley missed 48 yd FG -- cost: 3 points -- error: Medley
• PLAY #4 -- 3rd Qtr -- Hurd fumble on 1st & 10 at OK 29 ... recovered, but loss of 12 yds, destroyed momentum of TKJr Int -- cost: 7 points -- error: Hurd
• PLAY #5 -- 4th Qtr -- Jumper holding penalty cost an OK 4th & 8; drive ended in TD -- cost: 7 points -- error: Jumper
• PLAY #6 -- 4th Qtr -- 2nd & 14, holding penalty against OK declined by coaches; would've put OK back at 18, 1st & 24 -- questionable call, no sure cost, listing here because it has been mentioned by many; coaches gambled and won with a very similar declined penalty in 1st Half that led to an OK punt -- cost: unknown
• PLAY #7 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 8, Jumper holding penalty #2 of the drive; but he shares blame with four different defenders who each could have sacked a scrambling Mayfield before he ever got the chance to throw; all four whiffed on their tackles -- cost: 7 points -- error: Vereen, Williams, Weatherd, JRM, and Jumper
• PLAY #8 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 4 @ TN 33, Moseley slips and falls, leaving Westbrook free to catch pass for 1st down -- cost: 4th down and possible punt or FG att on TD drive: 4 points* -- error: Moseley
• PLAY #9 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & G from TN 3, JRM has responsibility for Perine, but bites on QB, leaving RB free to catch pass for TD -- cost: 4 points* -- error: JRM
• PLAY #10 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 4 @ TN 40, Barnett and Williams whiff tackles for sack; QB then completes pass for 1st down on TD drive -- cost: 7 points -- error: Barnett, Williams
• PLAY #11 -- 4th Qtr -- 2nd & 14 @ TN 31, Foreman bowls over WR in end zone, pass interference -- cost: 4 points* -- error: Foreman
• PLAY #12 -- 4th Qtr -- Kickoff return called back for holding by Bynum; starting drive @ 20 instead of 45, no chance for score before end of regulation -- cost: 3 points -- error: Bynum
• PLAY #13 -- 2nd OT -- Foreman falls while covering Shepard, who catches pass for TD -- cost: 7 points -- error: Foreman
• PLAY #14 -- 2nd OT -- Dobbs throws int -- cost: 7 points -- error: Dobbs

And that's it. Any one of those 14 plays, if they'd gone differently, could have given us the win. It would only take one of the 14 going differently. Kinda astounding, when you think about it.

What that means: this was a winnable game! That should give every Vols player and fan hope for the rest of the season; we very nearly beat a very good Oklahoma team. And the fact that we didn't isn't Butch's fault, it's not DeBord's, it's not Josh's, or Colton's, or Moseley's, or Foreman's, or any one person's. This is a team game, and the whole team contributed to the outcome with good plays and not-so-good plays. We accept it as a team, as a family, we learn from it, and we move forward.

That's it for me; Oklahoma 2015 chapter is closed. I'm not looking back any more.

Go Vols!



* this is the opportunity cost -- from a likely TD down to a likely FG; net cost is 4 points ... on one of these, Medley's missed FG two plays later would cost the team the other 3 points of the drive.

 

[LWSVOL]

The 14 Plays that Decided the Oklahoma Game

I'm writing this to close a chapter in the 2015 season, to put Oklahoma behind us, or at least behind me. I started really studying the game tape to figure out why we lost, see what we could learn from it.

And what I found was 14 plays that stood out in deciding the OK game. All decisions or actions by our players and coaches that could very realistically have been done differently, and which would likely or certainly have changed the game's outcome from a loss to a win. Any ONE of these plays could have done that.

But before I lay out the 14 plays I found, a bit on what's not included here:

1. No plays that could have gone differently to OK's benefit. There were plenty of these, too. But we're looking for game-changing differences. Since OK already won, we're only looking for the plays that could flip the game to a Vols win.
2. No counting drives that never got going. We punted 9 times; any of those drives could have produced points. But most of them did not have promise; they were never close to scoring. So, I'm not including any plays from drives that didn't approach the red zone.
3. No "X should have been playing instead of Y." We know maybe 5% of what the coaches know about these players and their skillsets. We simply don't have enough info to second guess them (though some of us try). Also, even if player X is better than player Y, that doesn't mean Y wouldn't be in as a substitute during a particular play. Which means there is potentially no change to the outcome anyway. For those two reasons, not getting into any of this kind of complaining and second-guessing; it serves no purpose.
4. No vague "adjustment of scheme" complaints. Any neophyte can say that OK's coaches adjusted their scheme during the game better than the Vols' coaches. But to make this claim, you gotta find the place on the tape where they actually did something different, clear evidence of a scheme change or adjustment that TN did not respond to. Otherwise, this is just blabbing, just mist and clouds.
5. No missed calls or bad calls by the refs (with one exception). Don't get me wrong; there were plenty of these in the game. But they cut both ways. We could have won if some had gone our way. But we could have lost in regulation if others had not. The refs did not cost us this game, we did that ourselves (as you will see below).
6. No depth concerns. Watched the game again looking specifically for guys getting gassed. And saw it equally on both sides. Both sides slowed down. Blocking by both OLines deteriorated over the 2nd half. Both DLines got sloppier. The only discernable difference between OK's team and ours as the game got late was in tackling: our arm tackles got weaker, whlie theirs did not. Something to work on.

Okay, with all those caveats about what this ISN'T out of the way, here are the key 14 plays:

• PLAY #1 -- 1st Qtr -- settled for FG on 4th & Goal from 1/2 yd line -- cost: 4 points -- error: Butch
• PLAY #2 -- 3rd Qtr -- Alex Ellis dropped pass at OK 12 yard line -- cost: 4 points* -- error: Ellis
• PLAY #3 -- 3rd Qtr -- Aaron Medley missed 48 yd FG -- cost: 3 points -- error: Medley
• PLAY #4 -- 3rd Qtr -- Hurd fumble on 1st & 10 at OK 29 ... recovered, but loss of 12 yds, destroyed momentum of TKJr Int -- cost: 7 points -- error: Hurd
• PLAY #5 -- 4th Qtr -- Jumper holding penalty cost an OK 4th & 8; drive ended in TD -- cost: 7 points -- error: Jumper
• PLAY #6 -- 4th Qtr -- 2nd & 14, holding against OK declined; would've put OK back at 18, 1st & 24 -- questionable call, no sure cost, listing here because it has been mentioned by many; coaches gambled and won with a very similar declined penalty in 1st Half that led to an OK punt
• PLAY #7 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 8, Jumper holding penalty #2 of the drive; but he shares blame with four different defenders who each could have sacked a scrambling Mayfield before he ever got the chance to throw; all four whiffed on their tackles -- cost: 7 points -- error: Vereen, Williams, Weatherd, JRM, and Jumper
• PLAY #8 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 4 @ TN 33, Moseley slips and falls, leaving Westbrook free to catch pass for 1st down -- cost: 4th down and possible punt or FG att on TD drive: 4 points* -- error: Moseley
• PLAY #9 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & G from TN 3, JRM has responsibility for Perine, but bites on QB, leaving RB free to catch pass for TD -- cost: 4 points* -- error: JRM
• PLAY #10 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 4 @ TN 40, Barnett and Williams whiff tackles for sack; QB then completes pass for 1st down on TD drive -- cost: 7 points -- error: Barnett, Williams
• PLAY #11 -- 4th Qtr -- 2nd & 14 @ TN 31, Foreman bowls over WR in end zone, pass interference -- cost: 4 points* -- error: Foreman
• PLAY #12 -- 4th Qtr -- Kickoff return called back for holding by Bynum; starting drive @ 20 instead of 45, no chance for score before end of regulation -- cost: 3 points -- error: Bynum
• PLAY #13 -- 2nd OT -- Foreman falls while covering Shepard, who catches pass for TD -- cost: 7 points -- error: Foreman
• PLAY #14 -- 2nd OT -- Dobbs throws int -- cost: 7 points -- error: Dobbs

And that's it. Any one of those 14 plays, if they'd gone differently, could have given us the win. It would only take one of the 14 going differently. Kinda astounding, when you think about it.

What that means: this was a winnable game! That should give every Vols player and fan hope for the rest of the season; we very nearly beat a very good Oklahoma team. And the fact that we didn't isn't Butch's fault, it's not DeBord's, it's not Josh's, or Colton's, or Moseley's, or Foreman's, or any one person's. This is a team game, and the whole team contributed to the outcome with good plays and not-so-good plays. We accept it as a team, as a family, we learn from it, and we move forward.

That's it for me; Oklahoma 2015 chapter is closed. I'm not looking back any more.

Go Vols!



* this is the opportunity cost -- from a likely TD down to a likely FG; net cost is 4 points ... on one of these, Medley's missed FG two plays later would cost the team the other 3 points of the drive.

Championship caliber teams make more than one of those plays. that is the difference in where we are and where we would like to be. Champions make plays and don't just get close to making plays.

Oklahoma won because they know how to win and we just aren't there yet. Including our staff.

JMO

 

[1725gatorhater]

I can be shorter. 4th and 1/2 yard.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Championship caliber teams make more than one of those plays. that is the difference in where we are and where we would like to be. Champions make plays and don't just get close to making plays.

Oklahoma won because they know how to win and we just aren't there yet. Including our staff.

JMO

I disagree. Championship teams make mistakes, too. They just make fewer than their opponent.

Oklahoma made roughly the same number of errors in the game. That's why it ended up in overtime. We simply made one more than them. We were very closely balanced with this team, though we're not getting credit for it, a loss is after all a loss.

 

[Cutty-CobbWebb]

Play # 4 was on Crowder , not Hurd. Crowder missed block

 

[McDad]

I'm surprised you list the FG as an error. I'm also surprised so many agree. I've always thought you take points in a tight (evenly matched) game.
I do think using Kamara as the power back was absolutely the wrong call.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I can be shorter. 4th and 1/2 yard.

You've got it 1/14th right.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I'm surprised you list the FG as an error. I'm also surprised so many agree. I've always thought you take points in a tight (evenly matched) game.
I do think using Kamara as the power back was absolutely the wrong call.

Dad, we do that because Tennessee was driving very efficiently at that point in the game. I think at that point, every single running play we attempted, we got 3+ yards on. It was as close to a sure thing as any run play gets in football. Their D had not yet figured out how to slow down Hurd.

 

[BowlBrother85]

After we came away empty following the Todd Kelly Jr interception it felt like we were just waiting to be beaten in the last minute.

 

[McDad]

Dad, we do that because Tennessee was driving very efficiently at that point in the game. I think at that point, every single running play we attempted, we got 3+ yards on. It was as close to a sure thing as any run play gets in football. Their D had not yet figured out how to slow down Hurd.

It's a fair point. And I can't entirely disagree. It just seems counter to what I think I know (which isn't a lot).

 

[Creeker]

I'm surprised you list the FG as an error. I'm also surprised so many agree. I've always thought you take points in a tight (evenly matched) game.
I do think using Kamara as the power back was absolutely the wrong call.

I agree McDad early in the game you always take the points. I'm much more upset with Running Kamara up the middle on 3rd and leaving Hurd on the bench.

 

[MEDVOL]

Championship caliber teams make more than one of those plays. that is the difference in where we are and where we would like to be. Champions make plays and don't just get close to making plays.

Oklahoma won because they know how to win and we just aren't there yet. Including our staff.

JMO

Yup.

Big time players make big time plays in big time games. (sub coaches for players as well)

 

[fade route]

The 14 Plays that Decided the Oklahoma Game

I'm writing this to close a chapter in the 2015 season, to put Oklahoma behind us, or at least behind me. I started really studying the game tape to figure out why we lost, see what we could learn from it.

And what I found was 14 plays that stood out in deciding the OK game. All decisions or actions by our players and coaches that could very realistically have been done differently, and which would likely or certainly have changed the game's outcome from a loss to a win. Any ONE of these plays could have done that.

But before I lay out the 14 plays I found, a bit on what's not included here:

1. No plays that could have gone differently to OK's benefit. There were plenty of these, too. But we're looking for game-changing differences. Since OK already won, we're only looking for the plays that could flip the game to a Vols win.
2. No counting drives that never got going. We punted 9 times; any of those drives could have produced points. But most of them did not have promise; they were never close to scoring. So, I'm not including any plays from drives that didn't approach the red zone.
3. No "X should have been playing instead of Y." We know maybe 5% of what the coaches know about these players and their skillsets. We simply don't have enough info to second guess them (though some of us try). Also, even if player X is better than player Y, that doesn't mean Y wouldn't be in as a substitute during a particular play. Which means there is potentially no change to the outcome anyway. For those two reasons, not getting into any of this kind of complaining and second-guessing; it serves no purpose.
4. No vague "adjustment of scheme" complaints. Any neophyte can say that OK's coaches adjusted their scheme during the game better than the Vols' coaches. But to make this claim, you gotta find the place on the tape where they actually did something different, clear evidence of a scheme change or adjustment that TN did not respond to. Otherwise, this is just blabbing, just mist and clouds.
5. No missed calls or bad calls by the refs (with one exception). Don't get me wrong; there were plenty of these in the game. But they cut both ways. We could have won if some had gone our way. But we could have lost in regulation if others had not. The refs did not cost us this game, we did that ourselves (as you will see below).
6. No depth concerns. Watched the game again looking specifically for guys getting gassed. And saw it equally on both sides. Both sides slowed down. Blocking by both OLines deteriorated over the 2nd half. Both DLines got sloppier. The only discernable difference between OK's team and ours as the game got late was in tackling: our arm tackles got weaker, whlie theirs did not. Something to work on.

Okay, with all those caveats about what this ISN'T out of the way, here are the key 14 plays:

• PLAY #1 -- 1st Qtr -- settled for FG on 4th & Goal from 1/2 yd line -- cost: 4 points -- error: Butch
• PLAY #2 -- 3rd Qtr -- Alex Ellis dropped pass at OK 12 yard line -- cost: 4 points* -- error: Ellis
• PLAY #3 -- 3rd Qtr -- Aaron Medley missed 48 yd FG -- cost: 3 points -- error: Medley
• PLAY #4 -- 3rd Qtr -- Hurd fumble on 1st & 10 at OK 29 ... recovered, but loss of 12 yds, destroyed momentum of TKJr Int -- cost: 7 points -- error: Hurd
• PLAY #5 -- 4th Qtr -- Jumper holding penalty cost an OK 4th & 8; drive ended in TD -- cost: 7 points -- error: Jumper
• PLAY #6 -- 4th Qtr -- 2nd & 14, holding penalty against OK declined by coaches; would've put OK back at 18, 1st & 24 -- questionable call, no sure cost, listing here because it has been mentioned by many; coaches gambled and won with a very similar declined penalty in 1st Half that led to an OK punt -- cost: unknown
• PLAY #7 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 8, Jumper holding penalty #2 of the drive; but he shares blame with four different defenders who each could have sacked a scrambling Mayfield before he ever got the chance to throw; all four whiffed on their tackles -- cost: 7 points -- error: Vereen, Williams, Weatherd, JRM, and Jumper
• PLAY #8 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 4 @ TN 33, Moseley slips and falls, leaving Westbrook free to catch pass for 1st down -- cost: 4th down and possible punt or FG att on TD drive: 4 points* -- error: Moseley
• PLAY #9 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & G from TN 3, JRM has responsibility for Perine, but bites on QB, leaving RB free to catch pass for TD -- cost: 4 points* -- error: JRM
• PLAY #10 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 4 @ TN 40, Barnett and Williams whiff tackles for sack; QB then completes pass for 1st down on TD drive -- cost: 7 points -- error: Barnett, Williams
• PLAY #11 -- 4th Qtr -- 2nd & 14 @ TN 31, Foreman bowls over WR in end zone, pass interference -- cost: 4 points* -- error: Foreman
• PLAY #12 -- 4th Qtr -- Kickoff return called back for holding by Bynum; starting drive @ 20 instead of 45, no chance for score before end of regulation -- cost: 3 points -- error: Bynum
• PLAY #13 -- 2nd OT -- Foreman falls while covering Shepard, who catches pass for TD -- cost: 7 points -- error: Foreman
• PLAY #14 -- 2nd OT -- Dobbs throws int -- cost: 7 points -- error: Dobbs

And that's it. Any one of those 14 plays, if they'd gone differently, could have given us the win. It would only take one of the 14 going differently. Kinda astounding, when you think about it.

What that means: this was a winnable game! That should give every Vols player and fan hope for the rest of the season; we very nearly beat a very good Oklahoma team. And the fact that we didn't isn't Butch's fault, it's not DeBord's, it's not Josh's, or Colton's, or Moseley's, or Foreman's, or any one person's. This is a team game, and the whole team contributed to the outcome with good plays and not-so-good plays. We accept it as a team, as a family, we learn from it, and we move forward.

That's it for me; Oklahoma 2015 chapter is closed. I'm not looking back any more.

Go Vols!



* this is the opportunity cost -- from a likely TD down to a likely FG; net cost is 4 points ... on one of these, Medley's missed FG two plays later would cost the team the other 3 points of the drive.

Who on earth has this much time on their hands?

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

The 14 Plays that Decided the Oklahoma Game

I'm writing this to close a chapter in the 2015 season, to put Oklahoma behind us, or at least behind me. I started really studying the game tape to figure out why we lost, see what we could learn from it.

And what I found was 14 plays that stood out in deciding the OK game. All decisions or actions by our players and coaches that could very realistically have been done differently, and which would likely or certainly have changed the game's outcome from a loss to a win. Any ONE of these plays could have done that.

But before I lay out the 14 plays I found, a bit on what's not included here:

1. No plays that could have gone differently to OK's benefit. There were plenty of these, too. But we're looking for game-changing differences. Since OK already won, we're only looking for the plays that could flip the game to a Vols win.
2. No counting drives that never got going. We punted 9 times; any of those drives could have produced points. But most of them did not have promise; they were never close to scoring. So, I'm not including any plays from drives that didn't approach the red zone.
3. No "X should have been playing instead of Y." We know maybe 5% of what the coaches know about these players and their skillsets. We simply don't have enough info to second guess them (though some of us try). Also, even if player X is better than player Y, that doesn't mean Y wouldn't be in as a substitute during a particular play. Which means there is potentially no change to the outcome anyway. For those two reasons, not getting into any of this kind of complaining and second-guessing; it serves no purpose.
4. No vague "adjustment of scheme" complaints. Any neophyte can say that OK's coaches adjusted their scheme during the game better than the Vols' coaches. But to make this claim, you gotta find the place on the tape where they actually did something different, clear evidence of a scheme change or adjustment that TN did not respond to. Otherwise, this is just blabbing, just mist and clouds.
5. No missed calls or bad calls by the refs (with one exception). Don't get me wrong; there were plenty of these in the game. But they cut both ways. We could have won if some had gone our way. But we could have lost in regulation if others had not. The refs did not cost us this game, we did that ourselves (as you will see below).
6. No depth concerns. Watched the game again looking specifically for guys getting gassed. And saw it equally on both sides. Both sides slowed down. Blocking by both OLines deteriorated over the 2nd half. Both DLines got sloppier. The only discernable difference between OK's team and ours as the game got late was in tackling: our arm tackles got weaker, whlie theirs did not. Something to work on.

Okay, with all those caveats about what this ISN'T out of the way, here are the key 14 plays:

• PLAY #1 -- 1st Qtr -- settled for FG on 4th & Goal from 1/2 yd line -- cost: 4 points -- error: Butch
• PLAY #2 -- 3rd Qtr -- Alex Ellis dropped pass at OK 12 yard line -- cost: 4 points* -- error: Ellis
• PLAY #3 -- 3rd Qtr -- Aaron Medley missed 48 yd FG -- cost: 3 points -- error: Medley
• PLAY #4 -- 3rd Qtr -- Hurd fumble on 1st & 10 at OK 29 ... recovered, but loss of 12 yds, destroyed momentum of TKJr Int -- cost: 7 points -- error: Hurd
• PLAY #5 -- 4th Qtr -- Jumper holding penalty cost an OK 4th & 8; drive ended in TD -- cost: 7 points -- error: Jumper
• PLAY #6 -- 4th Qtr -- 2nd & 14, holding penalty against OK declined by coaches; would've put OK back at 18, 1st & 24 -- questionable call, no sure cost, listing here because it has been mentioned by many; coaches gambled and won with a very similar declined penalty in 1st Half that led to an OK punt -- cost: unknown
• PLAY #7 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 8, Jumper holding penalty #2 of the drive; but he shares blame with four different defenders who each could have sacked a scrambling Mayfield before he ever got the chance to throw; all four whiffed on their tackles -- cost: 7 points -- error: Vereen, Williams, Weatherd, JRM, and Jumper
• PLAY #8 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 4 @ TN 33, Moseley slips and falls, leaving Westbrook free to catch pass for 1st down -- cost: 4th down and possible punt or FG att on TD drive: 4 points* -- error: Moseley
• PLAY #9 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & G from TN 3, JRM has responsibility for Perine, but bites on QB, leaving RB free to catch pass for TD -- cost: 4 points* -- error: JRM
• PLAY #10 -- 4th Qtr -- 3rd & 4 @ TN 40, Barnett and Williams whiff tackles for sack; QB then completes pass for 1st down on TD drive -- cost: 7 points -- error: Barnett, Williams
• PLAY #11 -- 4th Qtr -- 2nd & 14 @ TN 31, Foreman bowls over WR in end zone, pass interference -- cost: 4 points* -- error: Foreman
• PLAY #12 -- 4th Qtr -- Kickoff return called back for holding by Bynum; starting drive @ 20 instead of 45, no chance for score before end of regulation -- cost: 3 points -- error: Bynum
• PLAY #13 -- 2nd OT -- Foreman falls while covering Shepard, who catches pass for TD -- cost: 7 points -- error: Foreman
• PLAY #14 -- 2nd OT -- Dobbs throws int -- cost: 7 points -- error: Dobbs

And that's it. Any one of those 14 plays, if they'd gone differently, could have given us the win. It would only take one of the 14 going differently. Kinda astounding, when you think about it.

What that means: this was a winnable game! That should give every Vols player and fan hope for the rest of the season; we very nearly beat a very good Oklahoma team. And the fact that we didn't isn't Butch's fault, it's not DeBord's, it's not Josh's, or Colton's, or Moseley's, or Foreman's, or any one person's. This is a team game, and the whole team contributed to the outcome with good plays and not-so-good plays. We accept it as a team, as a family, we learn from it, and we move forward.

That's it for me; Oklahoma 2015 chapter is closed. I'm not looking back any more.

Go Vols!



* this is the opportunity cost -- from a likely TD down to a likely FG; net cost is 4 points ... on one of these, Medley's missed FG two plays later would cost the team the other 3 points of the drive.

Great post once again. You're far and away the best poster on this site. Keep up the good work.

 

[Volz4lif3]

Bob Stoops had some great things to say bout Tennessee football and had a shot or two toward Finebaum and the SEC..

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXSsHuzoJ0&sns=em[/youtube]

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Who on earth has this much time on their hands?

Retired soldiers, maybe? :salute:

Great post once again. You're far and away the best poster on this site. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, D4H! I'm not, but thanks. :hi:

 

[Catbone]

Championship caliber teams make more than one of those plays. that is the difference in where we are and where we would like to be. Champions make plays and don't just get close to making plays.

Oklahoma won because they know how to win and we just aren't there yet. Including our staff.

JMO

Agreed

 

[fade route]

Retired soldiers, maybe? :salute:



Thanks, D4H! I'm not, but thanks. :hi:

I was just messin - thank you for your service. Forever grateful.

 

[VolFan_N_NC]

Great post once again. You're far and away the best poster on this site. Keep up the good work.

I was coming here to post the same thing.

Very logical poster, which is hard to find on this board.

 

[VolFan_N_NC]

Who on earth has this much time on their hands?

Truth is, he probably spent the same amount of time on this post as you have posting the same b*+ching and moaning in every thread.

JP is at least bringing some value to the board!

 

[dbowen]

I too rewatched the game as painful as the results were. Your analysis was quite good. Some marquee games go your way (Ark in 98) and some don't. I know the players and fans are hungry for that signature win and we are so close. We all have to regroup. On to conference play, the East is obtainable. No East team is as improved as we are. SC looks worse. Florida is unproven. GA has QB issues. Mizzou lost a lot of starters. The west us not going to be as dominant this year from what I have seen thus far. Ask Toledo and Jax State

 

[LookinUp]

I thought Hurd's fumble was the fault of Dobbs. The ball was not placed into the stomach area but up high. This made it easy for the defender to punch it out.

 

[Volz4lif3]

I thought Hurd's fumble was the fault of Dobbs. The ball was not placed into the stomach area but up high. This made it easy for the defender to punch it out.

Yes it was the exchange..

 

[McDad]

I thought Hurd's fumble was the fault of Dobbs. The ball was not placed into the stomach area but up high. This made it easy for defender to punch it out.

That's a keen eye, ya got there. I didn't notice it. Good job.

 

[Bryan1]

I didn't necessarily agree with the PI call in the end zone. To me it looked like the ball was thrown so high there was no way anyone could have caught it anyway.