VERY VANILLA, everyone relax!!! =)

[vol75]

It is concerning, especially because we outweighed them by an average of about 50 lbs a person. The sky isn't falling, but there is also no evidence yet that this line is better at run blocking than last year.
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Our OL may have outweighed them, but their DL was quick with pretty decent technique. They maybe FCS team, but they are being coached.

 

[tri_vol]

It is concerning, especially because we outweighed them by an average of about 50 lbs a person. The sky isn't falling, but there is also no evidence yet that this line is better at run blocking than last year.
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This. The o-line failed to win the majority of the battles last night. Vanilla play calling is one thing but not being able to line up and get a 4 yd push late in the 3rd quarter is concerning. Add to that Poole's desire to dance in the backfield is going to cause trouble. These problems can be fixed but if they aren't its going to be a long year.
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[dgcarter43]

I made the point on GoVolsXtra that the coaching staff weren't showing everything and was made fun of. I don't believe the staff would have been as positive about this team unless they knew what they were talking about. I will be surprised if they don't look better against Cincy and even better against the Gators.

 

[Orngeblood]

Our OL may have outweighed them, but their DL was quick with pretty decent technique. They maybe FCS team, but they are being coached.

They are a program with a history of winning and as such, I'd expect them to be well coached (and that appeared to be the case). But I guarantee that almost every dine we will face from now on will be bigger and ar least as quick. Defensive linemen are nearly universally quicker that o linemen. Hence the reason they are on the d line. If our line can't take that weight advantage and, at least by the end of the third quarter, start moving some guys out, that indicates they will have real problems against SEC d linemen.
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[OrangeLovinJoe]

This... We got ahead and then got some tape for the lineman to study.. We maybe showed a fourth of our play book.. We could have won by 50 if we just wanted to run up the score
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Exactly. We raced out to a 28-0 lead, then Dooley basically turned it into a glorified situational scrimmage, and worked on things in areas where the team isn't that strong yet. Not the least bit worried about how we looked the last 2 and 1/2 quarters.

 

[Orngeblood]

I made the point on GoVolsXtra that the coaching staff weren't showing everything and was made fun of. I don't believe the staff would have been as positive about this team unless they knew what they were talking about. I will be surprised if they don't look better against Cincy and even better against the Gators.

I think most people recognize that we could have thrown for 600 yds if we wanted to. There isn't much on an argument that we could have produced much better numbers, but chose to work on the running game. The concern is that we will have many critical situations over the course of the season that will require that we pick up yardage when everyone knows we are going to run. And last night, against one of the weakest teams we will face this year, we could not do this.

I know Chaney will call a good game with some nice planning, I don't question that. I do question whether we can the yards we need when it is crunch time.
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[FootVolintheFall]

I'll buy this in some regard. After all, when Ainge was a senior, Fulmer opened up the first three games with the same deep ball play. FL had studied up enough to walk away with an early INT. However, I still expected our line to make better lanes than they did against MT no matter how plain the playcalling was
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[vol75]

Game reps will provide more continuity. Practice reps can not simulate game speed. It is easy for a DL to play his gaps, but an OL responsibility is not that simple.

 

[tim]

Kent st. didnt get a first down til 6:00 in second qtr.

Nor have they been tp a bowl since Saban played there. Very bad team.
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[DD4ME]

Vanilla or not, you'd still expect Montana to be picking themselves up after being pancaked repeatedly. The fact that didn't happen raises my eyebrows. You can be vanilla and play with some nastiness, i didn't see that going on last night.

Those Grizzly d lineman weighed 318 avg and their linebackers are AL sized. For our young and smaller line I was just glad to see the line usually stay where it started. To me that was improvement over last year. I could be darn wrong but outside of AL and maybe SC I don't think we'll face another line that big and with that many seniors.
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[Orngeblood]

Those Grizzly d lineman weighed 318 avg and their linebackers are AL sized. For our young and smaller line I was just glad to see the line usually stay where it started. To me that was improvement over last year. I could be darn wrong but outside of AL and maybe SC I don't think we'll face another line that big and with that many seniors.
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I'm pretty sure their o line averaged 300, not their d line. Our o line out weighed their d line by50 lbs a man...
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[UTProf]

Montana has size and experience on their lInes, they are probably a little better than we give them credit for. That being said I did expect us to run a bit more effectively last night. I think we will do better this week.
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I think they're a lot better than we give them credit for. Those kids came to play and they never quit even when it was clear the game was out of reach and things had drug on forever due to time plus the rain delay. I can't say the same for a lot of teams --even ranked SEC teams-- when the game starts going bad. That alone deserves some big time respect.

 

[volsgrad89]

The O-line is still making dumb mistakes on pass protection, which keeps Chaney from opening it up fully. Even with that they were not going to open it fully against Montana anyway. Poole has poor vision in the running lanes and dances too much. I agree they did not show it all last night and the O-line has not started running traps, counters, etc. That will do wonders for the running game production. When teams put 8 in the box and everyone within 10 yards of the line; a kick-out block on a trap or counter will enable the RB to take it to the house.[/QUOTE]

Great response, you explain the game performance very well. The OL lined up and tried to have their way with Montana with their DL in the gaps. Yes, I would like for UT to have manhandled Montana. But, the traps, counters, and opening up the offense a lot more will make our OL look much better.

Poole will run better once the Neal and the freshmen start pushing to take his job which is coming. He will hit the hole harder and make better decisions. This game will be a good eye opening experience for him. If not, the freshman and Neal can carry the load. I am not worried about the RB position.