First of all, this team is better than I thought they’d be at this point. Josh Heupel and staff have given me plenty of reason to believe that this program will be good again and it will happen sooner than I expected. As in, dare I say it, Tennessee could be a darkhorse East contender in 2022 with a few guys taking advantage of a Covid year and a key acquisition or two in the portal. The following are some thoughts on the season thus far, the state of the program, the Bama game, and how next season is shaping up based on what we’ve seen this season:
-The first priority in taking the next step next season has to the offensive line. We’ve seen it all year, but Alabama really exposed it. It would help if Carvin and Calbert use their Covid years and come back. I’d expect them to. Mays may leave, but if all three of those guys come back, we could be looking at something. A starting five of Wright, Calbert, Carvin, Spraggins, and Mays would be pretty darn good. You’d still need to develop some depth, so hopefully, guys like Crawford, Davis, Perry, Parker, and Robinson develop and you get a transfer or two.
I don’t think Cooper Mays or Ollie Lane are ever going to be good SEC linemen. Both are weak and, frankly, fat. They have no body tone. I don’t know if they don’t work out like they should or if that’s just the their body types, but their lack of strength is a hinderance. We need to be able to depend on others besides them. Hopefully, we pick up a transfer or two here.
-If Cedric Tillman were just a half step faster, he’d be All SEC. He plays well in this offense, runs good routes, plays physical, and catches the ball. I hope he picks up that half step in speed in the offseason.
-Things Vols fans need to stop doing/saying: 1) stop with the Joe Milton attacks. I’ve seen some say they hate him. The kid made a mistake at the end of the OM game by losing track of time. But he was thrown into a ridiculously tough situation and threw what should have been the game winning TD pass…in fact that pass was perfect. Tillman just had no legs and barely got of the ground. If that ball is caught as it should have been, Milton is a hero. And no, Harrison Bailey is not better. Harrison Bailey is Justin Worley, part 2. He can’t move. Given how bad this Oline is, a QB who can’t move is of no value. I hope Bailey is able to redshirt. 2) “They lost cuz bad coachin and bad play callin!” Just stop. The coaching staff has done everything to put this team in position to win. The play calling has been exceptional. If you’re criticizing play calling, you’re showing how little you know about football. Anytime Tennessee loses, fans criticize play calling. It’s the go-to line of the ignorant. All those wide open WRs UT had against Bama (and every other game this year) were the result of great play calling. And no, when Tennessee was stuffed on 2nd and 1 and 3rd and 1, it wasn’t because of bad play calling. It was because Tennessee’s line didn’t execute. You HAVE to be able to run in those situations. Hell, you have to be able to run at all or a defense doesn’t have to respect it. Tennessee simply couldn’t run yesterday, making play calling incredibly difficult. Just stop with the play calling/coaching criticism. It’s just not valid.
-We go into the off week with a chance to get really healthy for Kentucky. Evans and Small both played against Bama, so they should be close to 100% in two weeks. I don’t know the status of Burrell and Jackson, but assume they’ll play. Cade Mays was day-to-day this week, so he should be fine in 2 weeks. And Hooker is obviously healthy. I think Roman Harrison came back in after getting hurt. We should have a very healthy team against UK. That being the case, with a week to prepare, I like Tennessee’s chances. This is the biggest game left on the schedule. This is the difference between 6-6 and 7-5. I can’t wait.
-Theo Jackson and Burrell (anyone know why he didn’t play?) being out really hurt Tennessee, but it gave Slaughter, Hadden, and Turnage some PT and all three had some nice moments and some bad moments. But we’re building depth there.
-22, 1, and 24 had awful nights on defense. They need to bounce back. I’ll leave it at that.
-Byron Young is turning into a really good pass rusher.
-Tennessee’s front 7 stopped Bama’s run better than I imagined they would. They wore down at the end, but, man, Rodney Garner has those guys believing and playing well. If we can get similar improvement on the OLine next year, I’d be thrilled.
-Why can’t Jeremy Banks learn? He’s a good LB, but why does he always have to do something selfish and stupid to hurt the team?
-I thought we’d cured the penalty bug. Then it came back out of nowhere last night. That’s disappointing.
-On the other hand, we had our 2nd blocked punt of the season. We didn’t have one for about 7 years, now 2 this season. Ekeler is doing a great job with STs.
