What happened?

#1
milohimself

milohimself

RIP CITY
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#1
Okay... I'll be honest. I didn't watch the Tennessee-Air Force game. I couldn't, I couldn't get the pay-per-view. I was kinda split on watching that versus watching Texas-Ohio State anyhow. Seems Comcast made the decision for me...

So I kept up with the scoring updates for a while. Getting close. Tennessee pulls away later. Gets later on, I have a party to go to. I just get back a little bit ago (quarter after 3AM :) ) to see that USAFA lost by one point because of a failed two point conversion?!?!

Heavily influenced by laziness right now... I don't want to wade through a page and a half of threads. What happened tonight?
 
#3
#3
Milo-

What happened, 1: The Attitude

Basically, the consensus, from Fulmer to UT fans, seems to be that if you take military cadets ("the best, brightest and most dedicated of American kds") and teach them a triple-option, then all other factors (football experience, football-specific talent, quality of facilities & program, scholarships, etc., etc.) are irrelevent. Any team the Air Force played tonight- OSU, TX, you name it- would not have performed significantly better, because a weird O-plan run by military cadets trumps everything. Why, I bet they'd give the NFL's best a run for their money. After all, what do NFL teams have except more of what major BCS-contender NCAA programs have? Do they face triple options?- No. Are they all military cadets?- No.

What happened 2, the Behavior:

Defending the option 101 is that it's all about dsicipline, keeping your head, and just doing your job and relying on teamwork. TN's D explored other options.

Though our O shone, the fact that everybody from CPF on down is now making excuses about why our D allowed AF to literally run rampant pretty much tells you the attitude our D played with. The fact that AF had all that success while only throwing 5 passes before the late 4th quarter shows just how rattled- and willing to make excuses for being rattled- our D was.
 
#4
#4
That's a pretty opinionated way to look at it.

It wouldn't have been that way if not for just one or two plays.

Tennessee was up 14 with 5:00 to play, inside the 15 yardline when they were penalized twice, backed up to around the 27, and then Ainge threw an Intereception. Had Tennessee gone up three scores there, we wouldn't be talking about a one point win.

Yes, Air Force played hard, and yes the Defense didn't do a good enough job stopping the option, but Fulmer has said he won't even watch the tape of this game. The fact you had to prepare for and play an offense like Air Force won't help you against any other team, so basicly, GREAT to have the win, now lets move on to Florida week.
 
#5
#5
Well. . . .as usual. . . .I kind of stand in the middle of those two views.

Memphis is right -- that attitude that WON the Cal game for us was certainly just not there last night. The D looked flat, was getting pushed off the line, could hardly apply any pressure on the couple of late passing plays, and had NO. . . .spell it "N. O.". . .answer for the option pitch. AF was getting 5-12 yards a pop with ease. We got absolutely MARCHED on all night long. MARCHED ON. The most amazing thing that happened in the game was that AF failed on the 2-point conversion. Milo, they seriously were getting at least 5 every time they ran the dang option. The crowd was as surprisingly silent as they were loud last week.

As for the late INT, OrangeSquare is right. Had we scored there, the game would've been over. BUT. . . .that was the first, and you can't blame a one point win over a military school on a single turnover. Overall, don't anyone DARE blame this one on our offense, which scored on 5 of 6 meaningful possessions. (nice stat there). Ainge looked very poised and Hardesty continues to impress.

Overall, I guess you take a "W" any way you can get it. I certainly wasn't planning on getting it that way, but. . . .guess what?

WERE 2-0 AND IT'S FLORIDA WEEK!!!
 
#6
#6
kiddiedoc said:
Well. . . .as usual. . . .I kind of stand in the middle of those two views.

Memphis is right -- that attitude that WON the Cal game for us was certainly just not there last night. The D looked flat, was getting pushed off the line, could hardly apply any pressure on the couple of late passing plays, and had NO. . . .spell it "N. O.". . .answer for the option pitch. AF was getting 5-12 yards a pop with ease. We got absolutely MARCHED on all night long. MARCHED ON. The most amazing thing that happened in the game was that AF failed on the 2-point conversion. Milo, they seriously were getting at least 5 every time they ran the dang option. The crowd was as surprisingly silent as they were loud last week.

As for the late INT, OrangeSquare is right. Had we scored there, the game would've been over. BUT. . . .that was the first, and you can't blame a one point win over a military school on a single turnover. Overall, don't anyone DARE blame this one on our offense, which scored on 5 of 6 meaningful possessions. (nice stat there). Ainge looked very poised and Hardesty continues to impress.

Overall, I guess you take a "W" any way you can get it. I certainly wasn't planning on getting it that way, but. . . .guess what?

WERE 2-0 AND IT'S FLORIDA WEEK!!!
Click to expand...


The crowd was ANYTHING but silent. They were not as loud all game long obviously, but when Air Force had the ball in key situations, that place was rocking again.
 
#7
#7
OrangeSquare said:
The crowd was ANYTHING but silent. They were not as loud all game long obviously, but when Air Force had the ball in key situations, that place was rocking again.
Click to expand...

"That place was rocking" for about 2 minutes during AF's last possession. I can assure you that there were a grand total of 5 people standing and yelling in the front half of my entire section for the remainder of the game (the 4 of us + an Elvis impersonator). The rest of the "audience" was seated, largely quiet, and totally unmotivated (except of course during the wave. . . .don't get me started). People were neither up NOR loud, even during 3rd downs.
 
#8
#8
I don't even want to watch the replay of this game. 31-30 never looked better. Lets get back to modern era football. I was waiting to see an AF player come out with a leather helmet.
 
#9
#9
I don't know where YOU sat, but in W, where the fogies usually rule, it was LOUD and the ball wasn't even on that side of the field. I watched the North End Zone, and people were up and loud over there.

Again, it was obviously not as consistant as last week, but it AS loud, a few times.

Sucks you were in a bad section. Oh, and don't worry, during the wave (when we were of course on offense) I was yelling loudly, instructing my section to sit down and shut up.

I HATE that thing!!!!
 
#10
#10
:mf_surrender: They had this cheap y formation and they did it to perfection. What they did was they would run this one play over and over again. The QB would hand it off to the FB and if the FB was about to get tackled the QB would pull it out of the FB's hands and either pitch it to the HB or run it himself. No matter what they would pretty much always get at least 5 yards. We DID NOT HAVE A CLUE OF WHAT TO DO.:realmad: Which was realy frustrating. I realy dont know if there are many teams that could stop it. I think mabye some teams could stop it if there QB and HB were not so fast. andone more thing that fake that the QB had was out standing. I watched replays over and over and over again play after play and i still could not follow the ball.:swoon3:
 
#12
#12
No one has mentioned yet that AirForce showed amazing dicipline in the tirple option, and had 0 turnovers or bad pitches. Our offence was exciting to watch. Plenty of times Ainge was put into 3rd and long, and everytime he converted. I feel better that it was our D that was flat rather than our offence which was close to perfect. If that was last years offence, this would have been a blow out by Air Force in Neyland. I think Chavis will get the D ready for next week, and if the O keeps going the way it's been going we've got a shot next week at the upset.
 
#13
#13
cibai said:
No one has mentioned yet that AirForce showed amazing dicipline in the tirple option, and had 0 turnovers or bad pitches. Our offence was exciting to watch. Plenty of times Ainge was put into 3rd and long, and everytime he converted. I feel better that it was our D that was flat rather than our offence which was close to perfect. If that was last years offence, this would have been a blow out by Air Force in Neyland. I think Chavis will get the D ready for next week, and if the O keeps going the way it's been going we've got a shot next week at the upset.
Click to expand...
I was impressed by Air Force, after last night its hard not to be....They ran that complicated offense to a "T" as they call it.....Our offense tonight was almost unstoppable, Ainge had an amazing night last night....He had crazy numbers and after last night he has more TD passes than he did all of last year.....Like most have said, we're 2-0 now lets go beat Florida
 
#14
#14
MemphisVol said:
Milo-

Though our O shone, the fact that everybody from CPF on down is now making excuses about why our D allowed AF to literally run rampant pretty much tells you the attitude our D played with. The fact that AF had all that success while only throwing 5 passes before the late 4th quarter shows just how rattled- and willing to make excuses for being rattled- our D was.
Click to expand...

It was maddening that we had no answer for the triple option, but I'm not as quick to rip the Defense as some seem to be. It's not making excuses. It's just what happens when fast defenses face the triple option. I keep going back to what happened to Georgia a couple of years ago when they played 1AA Ga Southern and got 250 yards rushing hung on them . . . It just happens sometimes.

Yes, the defense looked bad, but as many good nights as the Defense has had the last couple of years, I'm more inclined to give credit to Air Force.
 
#15
#15
GAVol said:
It was maddening that we had no answer for the triple option, but I'm not as quick to rip the Defense as some seem to be. It's not making excuses. It's just what happens when fast defenses face the triple option. I keep going back to what happened to Georgia a couple of years ago when they played 1AA Ga Southern and got 250 yards rushing hung on them . . . It just happens sometimes.

Yes, the defense looked bad, but as many good nights as the Defense has had the last couple of years, I'm more inclined to give credit to Air Force.
Click to expand...

That's an excellent example GA. One thing that usually hurts the option teams is turnovers and poor decisions. AF had neither last night.

Also, KD, it was loud in my student section of D. I'm not sure where you sit, but I felt it was fairly loud last night, we did force AF to take a TO early, as well as one false start.
 
#16
#16
No discipline then, I guess that was the reason. :lol:

You're right though, GAVol. The option as a main form of attack on offense just isn't prevalent on a major level anymore. An old-school running game like that could take any team by suprise.

And like KD said, we're 2-0 and that's what counts. I'm a little schocked but things could always be worse. Let's get pumped for Florida.
 
#17
#17
milohimself said:
No discipline then, I guess that was the reason. :lol:

You're right though, GAVol. The option as a main form of attack on offense just isn't prevalent on a major level anymore. An old-school running game like that could take any team by suprise.

And like KD said, we're 2-0 and that's what counts. I'm a little schocked but things could always be worse. Let's get pumped for Florida.
Click to expand...

Your boy EA had the game of his LIFE! Let's all hope he looks that good or better against the gators!!! :) :peace2:
 
#22
#22
Man their QB was awsome at faking where he was going with the ball. I don't know how the camera ever figured out where the ball was. I was screwed all night. Of course they executed everything to perfection. Their AF cadets . What do you expect.
 
#23
#23
rwemyss said:
Also, KD, it was loud in my student section of D.
Click to expand...

If Section D is ever NOT loud, I'm resigning my patronage to my Alma Mater.

As was previously acknowledged, AF did play a near-perfect game of option offense. No fumbles against a hot-pursuit defense such as ours running that kind of gameplan is sick.

Again, fellas, give credit where credit is due. The cadet offense played a great game, our offense played a great game, and thank the stars that we came away with one more than they did. You know who I give huge props to? Their coach. What a ballsy call going for two. They hadn't stopped us all night, and he knew that was their chance to steal a signature win on the road.
 
#24
#24
as I posted on another thread: this is a SOLID Air Force team. It's not like we beat Louisiana-Monroe 31-30. They played a terrific game, they were disciplined, they were prepared, they were completely unfazed by the hostile environment. Fisher DeBerry is a damned good football coach.
 
#25
#25
DowntownVol said:
as I posted on another thread: this is a SOLID Air Force team. It's not like we beat Louisiana-Monroe 31-30. They played a terrific game, they were disciplined, they were prepared, they were completely unfazed by the hostile environment. Fisher DeBerry is a damned good football coach.
Click to expand...
I heard somewhere that Air Force is picked to finish 7th in their conference. Wrong!!!
 
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