The 2nd quarter drive:

[Orange defense]

TOUCHDOWN: Guarantano 1-yard pass to Dominick Wood-Anderson (6:13) WVU leads 10-7
The Vols drained more than half of the second quarter and capitalized on a gutsy fourth-and-goal decision by Jeremy Pruitt. After being stoned on three running plays, Tennessee had the football sitting on the 2-yard line when Pruitt called timeout and kept his offense on the field. A play-action fake let the tight end slip unnoticed into the back of the end zone. Guarantano worked the short game by going 5-for-6 for 40 yards. (Drive: 17 plays, 78 yards in 8:47)
I think we are going to see more of this as we go. If we can get these drives off to a good start, when we get the football, then we can be successful. We have seen this for 10 years, when teams has came out, either at the beginning of the game, or at the half putting us away. I think Pruitt knows this, and will correct it as we go. It is time for us to start getting off to a fast start, and keeping it up.That drive was a winner, and these type of drives is Alabama style drives.

 

[volfannbama]

Uhm.....

 

[Orange defense]

Uhm.....

Uhmmm what??

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

West Virginia’s defense isn’t good and we managed a whopping 14 points. 3-9

 

[camp_steveo]

TOUCHDOWN: Guarantano 1-yard pass to Dominick Wood-Anderson (6:13) WVU leads 10-7
The Vols drained more than half of the second quarter and capitalized on a gutsy fourth-and-goal decision by Jeremy Pruitt. After being stoned on three running plays, Tennessee had the football sitting on the 2-yard line when Pruitt called timeout and kept his offense on the field. A play-action fake let the tight end slip unnoticed into the back of the end zone. Guarantano worked the short game by going 5-for-6 for 40 yards. (Drive: 17 plays, 78 yards in 8:47)
I think we are going to see more of this as we go. If we can get these drives off to a good start, when we get the football, then we can be successful. We have seen this for 10 years, when teams has came out, either at the beginning of the game, or at the half putting us away. I think Pruitt knows this, and will correct it as we go. It is time for us to start getting off to a fast start, and keeping it up.That drive was a winner, and these type of drives is Alabama style drives.

no, they are Tennessee style drives. buck fama

 

[JohnWardForever]

IF Helton calls the right Play(s) on UT's Last drive of the first half; this thing looks different. We go up 14-13 at the half; having dominated TOP by 23 min to 7 (appx) . Then IF there is no delay; we answer them score for score in the second half. That said; we have big problems with pass coverage; and playing/calling a perfect game every time out is just a fantasy. BUT; Tenn is not as bad as the final score would indicate. FIRST YEAR COACHES Rarely do very well. FLORIDA STATE looked awful.

 

[ATLVols]

West Virginia’s defense isn’t good and we managed a whopping 14 points. 3-9

That was the report from last year. We’ll see how they keep playing this season. Their new D-Line transfers made it a much different defense on Saturday.

 

[FranklinVFL]

IF Helton calls the right Play(s) on UT's Last drive of the first half; this thing looks different. We go up 14-13 at the half; having dominated TOP by 23 min to 7 (appx) . Then IF there is no delay; we answer them score for score in the second half. That said; we have big problems with pass coverage; and playing/calling a perfect game every time out is just a fantasy. BUT; Tenn is not as bad as the final score would indicate. FIRST YEAR COACHES Rarely do very well. FLORIDA STATE looked awful.

I go by the adage, you are what your record (or scoreboard) says you are. And we got pistol-whipped. I do think we will get better as our freshmen learn and are actually coached for an entire year; however, we really are not an all-around solid team. I was impressed with Jordan and JG. WRs also impressed me. OL settles down a bit and improved through the game. We did have Jordan rush for around 120 yards.

My concern is DL. We HAVE to get pressure on QB or our DNs will get burnt all day. They cannot cover all WRs for 5 seconds/play. There are very few DBs that can cover for that long.

That being said, FSU looked about like we did against a similarly ranked opponent (if not worse) and LSU shocked me. They have a QB now.

 

[Boca Vol]

It's pretty sad when you can say "The Drive" or "UT's Drive" and everyone knows what you're referring to.

Also, it wasn't that gutsy of a call on 4th down. 3 points wasn't going to mean squat vs. WVU. If you don't make it, it still shows you have the stones to go for it plus they get the ball on the 1.

 

[bpalmer28]

It's pretty sad when you can say "The Drive" or "UT's Drive" and everyone knows what you're referring to.

Also, it wasn't that gutsy of a call on 4th down. 3 points wasn't going to mean squat vs. WVU. If you don't make it, it still shows you have the stones to go for it plus they get the ball on the 1.

A field goal would've been our first points of the season and made it a one score game. Don't convert and you give it back to Heisman candidate down 10-0. Spin it any way you'd like. It was a gutsy call.

 

[Boca Vol]

A field goal would've been our first points of the season and made it a one score game. Don't convert and you give it back to Heisman candidate down 10-0. Spin it any way you'd like. It was a gutsy call.

It was the correct call.

Giving the ball back to Grier down 10-0 on the 1 is far worse than giving the ball back to Grier down 10-3 on the 25? OK.

 

[VolInDayton]

Would like to see our TE more involved in the passing attack. Oline needs to get better so we are more confident calling deeper passes to stretch out the D.

 

[bpalmer28]

It was the correct call.

Giving the ball back to Grier down 10-0 on the 1 is far worse than giving the ball back to Grier down 10-3 on the 25? OK.

Yeah I think it was the correct call but doesn't mean it wasn't gutsy. Why do you have such a problem with people giving a coach credit for making a gutsy call?

 

[Boca Vol]

Yeah I think it was the correct call but doesn't mean it wasn't gutsy. Why do you have such a problem with people giving a coach credit for making a gutsy call?

I give the coach credit for making the correct call. I give even more credit to the play call/ design. It was a beautiful play.

Going for it on 4th and 27 from your own 15 is a gutsy call. That doesn't necessarily make it the correct call.

 

[vol-un-tear]

That was a very nice drive!

 

[EZE]

That was the report from last year. We’ll see how they keep playing this season. Their new D-Line transfers made it a much different defense on Saturday.

Why is it that other programs can bring in DLine transfers who make an immediate impact...but UT brings in bust after bust?

 

[tennesseepride84]

It's pretty sad when you can say "The Drive" or "UT's Drive" and everyone knows what you're referring to.

Also, it wasn't that gutsy of a call on 4th down. 3 points wasn't going to mean squat vs. WVU. If you don't make it, it still shows you have the stones to go for it plus they get the ball on the 1.

In all you are spot on in what you said, however the reasoned it is viewed as a gutsy call is because thats what we got accustomed to getting inside the 5, (field goals). So basically, as sad as it is to say we (the fans) may have to reprogramed as well, and expect a 4th down call will be coming in these situations.

 

[bpalmer28]

I give the coach credit for making the correct call. I give even more credit to the play call/ design. It was a beautiful play.

Going for it on 4th and 27 from your own 15 is a gutsy call. That doesn't necessarily make it the correct call.

I think our definitions of "gutsy" may be a little different, but that's okay. It was certainly a well-designed play.

My apologies to @Orange defense for derailing the thread... On the drive, it seemed like an ideal drive for a west coast offense and it was beautiful to watch but I'd like to see us take a few more shots downfield because I doubt how consistently we'll be able to execute 12+ play drive. IIRC, we threw one vertical during the game and it resulted in an incomplete pass to Palmer out of bounds. I'd like to see us take a couple shots per half until we can be more consistent on offense.

 

[jerrync]

Why is it that other programs can bring in DLine transfers who make an immediate impact...but UT brings in bust after bust?

Not many "GOOD" DL are willing to transfer to a 4-8 (no conference win ) team. Look at what WV record and their QB did last year. Maybe next year we'll be able to pick up a 5* or 4* transfer, that will help until we get our current DL up to par.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

While the drive was nice, I'm concerned we couldn't pound the ball in on 3 attempts while starting at the 1 against one of the worst Power 5 rush defenses......

 

[EZE]

Not many "GOOD" DL are willing to transfer to a 4-8 (no conference win ) team. Look at what WV record and their QB did last year. Maybe next year we'll be able to pick up a 5* or 4* transfer, that will help until we get our current DL up to par.

I hear you, but we have brought in those 4 and 5-Star transfers (see Kongbo, etc.) and they never make a huge impact.

 

[cncchris33]

I mean, this is the kind of drive we will have to have to stay in games against good teams with our defense. We have to be able to keep the other teams offense off the field because our defense doesn’t look like they will be able to. Clock-eating drives like that shorten the game and are what it will take for us to hang with half the teams on our schedule.

 

[volintheham]

TOUCHDOWN: Guarantano 1-yard pass to Dominick Wood-Anderson (6:13) WVU leads 10-7
The Vols drained more than half of the second quarter and capitalized on a gutsy fourth-and-goal decision by Jeremy Pruitt. After being stoned on three running plays, Tennessee had the football sitting on the 2-yard line when Pruitt called timeout and kept his offense on the field. A play-action fake let the tight end slip unnoticed into the back of the end zone. Guarantano worked the short game by going 5-for-6 for 40 yards. (Drive: 17 plays, 78 yards in 8:47)
I think we are going to see more of this as we go. If we can get these drives off to a good start, when we get the football, then we can be successful. We have seen this for 10 years, when teams has came out, either at the beginning of the game, or at the half putting us away. I think Pruitt knows this, and will correct it as we go. It is time for us to start getting off to a fast start, and keeping it up.That drive was a winner, and these type of drives is Alabama style drives.

We didn’t run the ball three times. Ran the ball twice , losing yards, and called pass on 3rd but they had us blanketed resulting in a qb scramble to the 1-2 making a 4th down play an option really. Play call was nice on 4th but really would have liked it on 3rd

 

[piratelifeforme]

The game went exactly as the rational fans thought it would go. We do not have the kind of O-Line that can sustain long drives and eat clock drive after drive. We do not have the QB who can make big plays happen in the passing game, again because the O-Line cannot keep pressure out of the backfield. Our D-Line cannot take over a game the way we watch Bama and Auburn D-Lines do. Therefore each possession is critical to score and no one can score every time they get the ball. We are not going to come back from 20+ points down too many times this year and probably wont be up by 20+ to many times either. We will be prepared and will win the games we should (unless turnovers become a problem) and we will lose the games we are suppose to. 6-6 should be our end record and a bowl game. As the O-line and D-line get bigger and better you will start to see more of the old school UT football again.

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

Not sure why anyone honestly expects 6-6. Other than 3 cupcakes who are the 3 other wins? I see 3-9. 5-7 at best.