If you followed my GIVE HIM SIX series at all last year, it’s good to have you back. And If you’re new then I’m glad you’re here, too. As always, I welcome any comments or suggestions on this page, or you can hit me up on twitter (@_nicosuave_).
Worley Manages the Game, and the WRs Throw a Block Party
I’ve touched on this before, and I know i’m not alone, but i think the negative connotation that comes with the “game manager,” label is bogus. Management — to oversee and be responsible for — is typically a good thing. Yet, in football it imparts thoughts of Trent Dilfer and A.J. McCarron; Lesser talent guys that do well because of the talent surrounding them and the coaches directing them. But you know some other game managers? Peyton Manning. Tom Brady. They dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge the label because they put up prolific numbers.
Worley’s not going to put up Manning-esque numbers because he’s not as physically talented. So while he’ll carry the game manager label, that doesn’t mean he can’t lead the Tennessee’s offense effectively. Tee Martin completed 57 percent of his passes and threw only 19 touchdowns in ’98 as he managed games to the tune of a 13-and-0 championship season. Point being: If Worley can continue to operate efficiently within the overall frame of the offense, Tennessee can hang.
Worley completed 27-38 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns against Utah State, and while that 6.8 yards-per-attempt average isn’t great, it is an improvement from last season’s average of less than six yards per throw. The 273-mark through air is just a little misleading because a lot of those yards didn’t actually travel through they air — they came on the run after the receiver made the catch. Worley made primarily short throws, and a few of them turned into long gains.
To feature a passing attack of short throws, and have some of them turn into big plays, your wide receivers have to block. But that’s not always easy to make happen since most of those guys don’t really like to mix it up physically. They play on the perimeter of the field for a reason — they like to jump up, catch the ball and get down. And there’s nothing wrong with it; it just kinda is what it is.
I typically take it as a good sign that your team is pretty “tough,” when the WRs will get their hands dirty and do some blocking. Against Utah State, Tennessee’s blocking outside of the hash marks was pretty good. Here’s a couple examples.
It’s Tennessee’s second drive, and the Vols line up with one TE, one RB and three WRs — one at the top of the screen and two at the bottom. Utah State counters with five DBs that are giving the UT WRs a pretty sizable cushion.
On the previous play, Jalen Hurd converted a 3rd-and-five with a tough inside run, so when the ball is snapped the LBs and nickel back bite on the fake hand off. The bottom WR is not pictured, but he’s there and so is the corner guarding him. Since the nickel bit on the fake, there’s now two Tennessee players at the bottom of the field and only one Utah State defender to account for them.
Worley throws the ball out to Smith, and then we see the key to the play — Pig’s block. He gets a good jump off the snap and lays a square hit on his man. The safety then takes the inside angle, and the combination of those two factors allowed Smith to get around the corner and to the sideline for a 38-yard gain.
On the next play, we see more good blocking on the outside, but this time it didn’t come from just the WRs. You see a similar formation to the one we saw in the previous play, but it’s rearranged a bit. One TE, one RB and three WRs again — 11 personnel (1 RB + 1 TE = 11) — but this time the two WRS are on top of the screen, while the RB is lined up on the strong side behind the TE, or H-back. Before the ball is snapped, Pig motions from the bottom of the screen to the top, and you gotta feel like you have a decent idea to which side this play is going. Again, there’s no press coverage from the DBs.
As Pig takes the hand off and gets to the edge of the line, you’ll see the first key block of the play materialize. It’s Tennessee’s TE, Ethan Wolf, on a Utah State Linebacker. Wolf became the first freshman EVER to start a season opener at UT, and this kind of play is the reason why the coaches are comfortable playing him. Wolf squares up but leads with his inside shoulder to seal the defender and execute what I believe is called a log block. Like, rolling or turning the guy over. . . like he’s spinning a log. Also, notice MarQuez North at the top of the screen engaging his man and taking him out of position to make a play on the ball carrier.
Now we see Wolf finishing his block, with his man turned all the way around to the inside, and Hurd cut blocking the DB which really opens up the edge for Howard. We also see North continuing his block, but we also see Josh Smith blocking the DB at the goaline. That DB, and No. 41 coming from the backside, are really the only two players left that have a chance to keep Pig from rolling in pay dirt.
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So there’s No. 41 — he just wasn’t quick enough to overcome the poor angle he had on the much faster Howard. And Smith’s man has disengaged him, but not quickly enough as to get a solid shot on Howard and the momentum he had toward the end zone. Smith held his block long enough, did his job well enough, to allow Howard to shrug off the arm tackle and sneak in for the touchdown.
Dominating D stifles Keeton and Aggies
Coming into the game, Chuckie Keeton was the primary concern for Tennessee. He can run, he can throw, he’s got the brains. But he’s also coming off major knee surgery, and Sunday he didn’t look entirely recovered. Keeton completed 18 of his 35 pass attempts en route to 145-yard and two-interception effort, while he also scampered for 23 yards on eight carries. The former Heisman hopeful couldn’t get comfortable in the pocket and never found a rhythm thanks to a young and rejuvenated Tennessee defense.
Four defensive linemen, two linebackers and seven defensive backs lost their training wheels against Utah State and took their first snaps of college football. Barnett was the star of the young’uns recording three tackles and one tackle for loss, but it was the play of the entire front seven that set the tone for the Vols defensively.
Penetration from the line was an issue last season, as it didn’t really happen. . . Ever. But that wasn’t the case against the Aggies. LaTroy Lewis recorded Tennessee’s only sack, but four others registered quarterback hits, and the Vols combined to make six tackles behind the line of scrimmage. That’s very encouraging for a unit that struggled so mightily during the last couple seasons.
Tennessee held a potent Utah State offense scoreless through three quarters and damn near pitched a shut out. It limited the Aggies to a 3-14 night on third-down conversion attempts and held them to just 11 first downs. The Vols also didn’t allow the Aggies to cross into the red zone once. While I didn’t get an exact count, I saw very few missed tackles from the Tennessee defense that was swarming to the ball.
However, we do have to stay with the big picture and keep in mind that yes, Utah State plays in the Mountain West Conference, and yes it was breaking in an almost entirely new unit along the offensive front. So while the performance was refreshing, it may not be a precedent for the rest of the season.
Tennessee gets Arkansas State this week in a noon game at Neyland. Butch is asking for 102,455 again, but I’m not so sure he gets it this week. Nobody likes the midday start. Either way, I think it’s a closer game, but the Vols will still take care of business and remain undefeated.
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