Posts Tagged ‘Gerald Jones’

The 2009 Orange and White game has come and gone and now we have a little bit of an idea of what we should expect from the Tennessee Volunteers this fall.  It was less than exciting—as most scrimmages are—but showed a brief glimpse of the 2009 Vols and what is on the horizon for Tennessee fans and haters alike.

On the whole, it looked pretty good…

I was unable to attend the game in person, but got a chance to catch some of the replay on SportSouth last night.  If you missed it, GVX now has a play-by-lay recap posted (HT: RTT).  On the whole there were some nice things shown, as well as some areas that need a little improvement.

Here are my thoughts in semi-stream of consciousness mode:

First, the running game looks strong.  Montario Hardesty, Toney Williams, and Taurean Poole all looked solid running behind the offensive line.  The run game was quick and crisp and seemed to have far more of a “north-south” orientation than it has in years past.  The addition of incoming freshmen Bryce Brown and David Oku this fall should only improve this squad.  Runningbacks coach Eddie Gran will have a very deep pool of talent with which to work, which is nice for a change.  At this point, it seems likely that Tennessee’s primary offensive attack will come on the ground.  After the 2008 campaign, I’m just glad that there is a primary offensive attack.

Second, the secondary—led by All-world Eric Berry at safety—appeared ready to be Tennessee’s lead squad of playmakers.  While I realize that this was little more than a spring scrimmage, it seems possible that the Vols secondary this fall could be one of the best ever to wear the orange.  That said, it seemed that the backs were playing a little soft either due to the scrimmage environment or due to their being in the process of learning the Full Monte’s new system.

Third, the offensive line looked good at run blocking, but less so when it came time for the pass.  It would be nice to see improvement on pass blocking since our quarterback play is “average” at best at the moment.  The offensive line must find ways to give the quarterbacks a little time to throw, lest the Vols become a one-directional run-only offense.  Still, on the whole, it appears that there is the making of a strong unit.

Fourth, the defensive line—especially when paired with the strength of the secondary—looks tough.  This line has clearly bought-in to a more aggressive style of play.  This is refreshing, and could be extremely impressive if the linemen continue to work on making smart decisions when it comes to attacking.  Still, at this point the d-line—especially Chris Walker and Montori Hughes—looks solid.

Fifth, the receiving corps, seemed more than capable to get open, make the catch, and add yards after the fact.  Gerald Jones and Quintin Hancock looked particularly solid.  The addition of Denarius Moore and Brandon Warren as third and fourth options further bolster this group.  At this early point, Jones appears to be the top receiver, but fortunately there is more than one target.

Sixth, the quarterbacks continue to look fairly erratic.  This does not really surprise me (or anyone else for that matter, I imagine) after the disastrous quarterback play seen in 2008.  It appears that Jonathan Crompton is the likely starter, but that might change considering that Nick Stephens was plagued by wrist problems throughout the spring.  The addition of 23 year-old quarterback Mike Rozier, who has been playing pitcher in the Boston Red Sox for the past several years, might change that dynamic a bit, but considering he will be coming in green (with four years of eligibility), it seems unlikely that he will immediately rocket to the top.  Stranger things, however, have happened.  One way or the other, it seems apparent that the pass game will be as simple and as error-free as possible.  “Keep it simple, keep it clean” seems to be the mantra.  If the quarterbacks can accomplish this, then they might just do okay.

Finally, the special teams, are a bit of a question in my mind.  Punter Chad Cunningham was more than capable, but kicker Daniel Lincoln continued his slide by missing a makeable field goal.  This team is likely to need field goals a fair amount this fall, thus this is quite concerning.  Hopefully, Lincoln will find his range from 2007 again and return to form.  If not, his inconsistency could spell trouble for the Vols in tight games.

In the end, this team is a work in progress.  They are unlikely to be world-beaters this fall, but do appear to be in position to lay a solid foundation on which to build for the future.  Furthermore, as they become more and more familiar with Lane Kiffin’s new system things should become more automatic and more graceful.  More importantly, both the players and the coaches looked as if they were actually enjoying themselves.  As an outsider, it seemed that the team as a whole likes the course that the “Kiffin Chimera” has set.

On the whole, I am encouraged by what I saw and how the Vols performed.  Will this team win the SEC East in 2009?  Not likely, but possible.  Will they finish at the bottom?  Doubtful.  The real question is how they will do in tight games.  If they fold, then the Vols can expect at least three or four losses.  If they rise to the occasion … well … they might just surprise a few people.

Either way, I am already looking forward to the 5 September kickoff…

– So it goes …

Post-Auburn Thoughts: Coming Upon the Unknown

The view from Section 37, Row 62 of Jordan-Hare Stadium

I honestly think a blow out would have been a better way to lose.

Going into this game, I had very low expectations for the Vols. With all the negativity and Auburn coming off a home loss, I wasn’t liking to Vols’ chances Saturday afternoon. A number of really good friends of mine from high school go to Auburn, so I was more or less looking forward to that aspect of my trip down to The Plains, and not-so-much to the game. However…

To be blunt, this loss really really hurt(s).

More than UCLA. Probably even more than Florida to be honest. I can’t really explain why, either. A road win at a place like Auburn – no matter how ugly – could have potentially changed some things. And you can’t tell me Tennessee should NOT have won that game. Matter of fact, the Vols did everything BUT win the damn thing. Maybe that’s why.

A first down would have done it. Hell, eight yards on a couple drives would have gotten Tennessee into Daniel Lincoln’s range. Does Auburn’s defense deserve credit? Sure, but it’s no secret as to why Tennessee lost Saturday.

I’m not the type that likes to single out players, but you almost have to pin Saturday’s loss on Jonathan Crompton. A botched handoff (he’s GOT to put the ball in Arian Foster’s chest). Throws 15 yards out-of-bounds when he’s got time to find somebody open. Missed receivers (hello, Josh Briscoe in the corner of the end zone on the two-point conversion). High throws to guys that are open. Miscommunications with receivers. Utter incompetence.

The offensive struggles for Tennessee are no fault of the dangerous Jones

OK, I’ve criticized Crompton. Now for the only positive I can see that he brings – the guy can take a hit or twenty and he always pops right back up. That run on third-and-long on the TD drive comes to mind. He gets hit a lot, but the guy ain’t afraid of getting the crap knocked out of him. That doesn’t help your team win ballgames though, apparently.

Once again, the offense has enough talent to win games – especially one in which the defense and special teams played out of their minds (more on them coming). Dave Clawson isn’t an idiot. This loss? I’m putting it all on Crompton. I don’t dislike the guy as much as Ghost over at 3SIB, but it’s getting closer.

The “receivers aren’t getting separation” argument is garbage. We know Gerald Jones is a stud. You can’t tell me Lucas Taylor isn’t an SEC receiver. Josh Briscoe is a very good slot-type receiver.

The coaches said afterwards they discussed putting Nick Stephens in – THEY SHOULD HAVE. Average QB play wins that game Saturday – likely by a couple scores as well, to be honest. Stephens now gets his chance, and honestly Coach Fulmer would be continuing to dig his own grave if Crompton starts/gets many snaps Saturday night against Northern Illinois.

The only other offensive change that needs to be made for me? Montario Hardesty and Lennon Creer need to get more touches. I like Arian Foster and he’s had a great career, but I don’t hold my breath that he’s going to break a long one. With #2 and #3, I do, simply because they have that ability. We know about Hardesty’s power, and we saw his speed on the sweep he scored on. Creer doesn’t fear hitting the hole. He don’t dance. On one play in the fourth quarter, he dragged four Auburn players about four yards. GET THESE GUYS THE BALL!

Give Hardesty and Creer more touches PLEASE

One word describes the defensive effort Saturday: swarming. Granted Auburn’s offense is terribly bad and obviously predictable, but the defense dominated. Dan Williams was huge. The young DEs Chris Walker and Ben Martin played very, very well. Ellix Wilson may be the most important player to this defense, including Eric Berry. Wilson’s injury status is still up-in-the-air as far as I know, but the play didn’t look so good on TV when I watched the game replay. We even adjusted to Kodi Burns when Auburn foolishly threw him out there (everyone and their mother knew he wasn’t throwing).

Gerald Williams finally saw the field and made his presence known. I know he had a personal foul penalty, but the guy needs to be out there. You can in no way blame the defense at all for Saturday’s loss. Much like ‘05, you give up 7 points, you should win that game. I know that one last stop on third down would have been ideal, but seriously, they did that all day and the offense blew it over and over again.

No, Adam Myers-White, there is nothing more you and the Tennessee defense could have done for a W...

Even our special teams won the day. Chad Cunningham must have been threatened with death at halftime, because he was ridiculously good in the second half, after a pitiful first half. As I’ve said before, Gerald Jones has big-play ability and almost took one back for six.

Honestly, I’m more optimistic now than I was this time last week, even after this hurtful loss. Tennessee could very, VERY easily be 3-1. For some reason, Nick Stephens gives me hope. I can’t explain why. Maybe it’s because there isn’t any with Jonathan Crompton running this offense. He may not even start, but the unknown he brings and the possibility he even might has me hopeful. Do I think Tennessee beats Georgia and/or Alabama? Not really, but that potential unknown with Stephens/no more Crompton makes me wonder. I don’t expect Stephens to be the next Peyton Manning or anything remotely close, but can anybody really be worse than what Tennessee has had now?

The past two Auburn games I’ve attended have been wins for the Warring TigerEagles (Tennessee in ‘03 and Florida in ‘06), so I’ve seen that campus after a W. No I didn’t go to Toomer’s Corner to see them roll a tree, but you would not have thought the Tigers had won Saturday. The mood was somber (I heard almost no “War Eagle!”s). Whether it was because they knew Tennessee should have won or that they have a plethora of issues themselves (or maybe they had just woken up from getting put to sleep…), I don’t know.

But walking around the campus after the game, I was proud to be a Vol fan Saturday night. Amidst all the negativity around Tennessee football, the players came out and played emotional, inspired football. They left it all out there. They played well enough to win – it just didn’t happen. As they headed to the tunnel to the locker room below me, I applauded them. Why? They deserved it. Hopefully they will be able to put it all together and win a big game or two and finish out the season respectfully. We all may want Coach Fulmer gone, but we certainly don’t want to see Tennessee lose.

Do I still think Tennessee needs a coaching change? Of course. But it wasn’t the coaching staff’s fault Saturday. I know you can say they should have benched Crompton, but honestly, you expect even him to be able to get you a first down when that’s about all you need to win the game. You could have put me at QB and even might have been to go through my progressions and make a throw on target to my receiver to get a first down

I say let the Nick Stephens era BEGIN!!

Images Courtesy of: Butch Dill / AP (Daylife)

Well, it has become abundantly clear that the Tennessee Volunteers are not as good as many hoped.  Given the inherently unpredictable nature of the game of college football, I really suppose that we shouldn’t be all that surprised — in all honesty, I am not.

I offered a few thoughts immediately after the game which began to discuss a few of the problems as I saw them.  As is usually the case with my brand of half-baked analysis, I didn’t want to rush into criticisms based wholly upon my knee-jerk reaction to losing a game that I had down as a “W” in my preseason predictions.

All this goes to show is that I have no business making predictions…

Having now had a more than a week to ruminate on the realities of the game, I feel a little more prepared (and yet equally unqualified) to offer a few more observations and thoughts which have emerged from my slightly out-of-sync head.

Offense

Running Game:

I have to say that I was pretty impressed with Tennessee’s 5.2 yard per carry average (especially considering all of the yards lost due to sacks). What bothers me is that the team essentially gave up on the ground game in favor of throwing the ball away. Obviously, Arian Foster has got to hang on to the ball — just like his mother needs to stay off message boards. Still, the fumble aside, both Hardesty and Foster looked good with their somewhat limited carries (Hardesty: 12 att. / 70 yds., Foster: 13 att. / 100 yds.).

Passing Game:

Can Crompton turn it around?

I knew Jonathan Crompton was not going to put up gaudy numbers in his first game as the regular starting quarterback at Tennessee.  I also expected a few bad decisions — making throws into coverage, etc.  I did not expect him to go 19-42-1 or for the passing game to pretty much collapse.

At times, Crompton seemed utterly bewildered and lost.  At other times, he had open men which — given the altitude of his passes — appeared to Crompton to be 15 feet tall.  Finally, any defensive pass rush at all seemed to get him completely rattled.

I also found his unwillingness to run or roll out when pressured a bit unusual based upon what we saw from him in 2006.  That makes me think either:

1. he is still trying to shake-off the ankle problems he had earlier this year;
2. he is being over-coached into being a pocket-passer; or
3. he is thinking entirely too much.

My guess — which is worth nothing — is that it’s a little bit of all of these.

In the end, Crompton looked extremely uncomfortable in the pocket all night, but by the same token unwilling to leave the pocket.  Thus, the passing game was essentially dead…

In Crompton’s defense, he did do a fine job of managing the final drive of regulation to get the Vols into position to play for overtime.  More importantly, I can completely understand why he seemed uncomfortable in the pocket, because the offensive line’s pass protection just plain sucked.

Offensive Line:

Crompton spent the better part of the night watching Bruin linebackers blitz at him, and right past the offensive line.  Last year, the Vols set an NCAA record by allowing a meager 4 sacks.  A lot of that was due to Erik Ainge’s willingness to heave the ball into the cheerleaders if pressured (although Tee Martin still takes the prize in that regard for actually managing to hit a cheerleader in the side of the head while in a pyramid formation — he must have really not care for the spirit squads).  Still, as one of the more veteran units on this year’s team, with five starting upperclassmen, their hapless play was as uncharacteristic as it was unacceptable — especially considering they were fully aware that the signal-caller was just getting his legs under him.

Simply put, the O-Line must improve…

Offensive Play Calling:

The play calling on offense was unimpressive, but I’m not so sure I’d call bad.  True, it was hardly what I expected as the debut of Dave Clawson and his “Clawfense,” but the reality is that it was pretty much the same sort of white-bread scheming Tennessee had run for over a decade, albeit favoring the pass a bit more than in the past.  The second-half calls were essentially the same as the first — which surprised me a bit since I was led to believe that Clawson excelled as a second-half coach.

Dave Clawson

I will give the Clawfense some credit for using the G-Gun set (I believe) 5 times with some success.  On the flip-side — as much as I have longed for a more wide-open passing game — I cannot understand why the Vols seemed to completely abandon the run despite the relative success it had shown.

All that said — and style points aside — I cannot criticize the offensive play calling too much.  Why, you ask?  The main reason for my reluctance to attack the offensive calls is due to the fact that the gameplan, though unremarkable, was sound.  It was based upon fairly basic fundamental football conventions.

The problem with the offense lay in the execution…

Had Tennessee made the plays as called, then the Vols walk out of the Rose Bowl with a double-digit victory.  I won’t attack an offensive call when the players completely fail to carry it out properly.

Of course, the issue of preparation is a different matter, which I touch on below.

Defense

In my post-game thoughts I suggested that, defensively, the game was a tale of two halves.  That, however, isn’t really accurate.  With the exception of the final two defensive series’, the defense really looked top notch.

The defensive line and secondary were as aggressive and as physical as I’ve seen in years.  Furthermore, the “missed-tackle-itis” which Tennessee defenses have traditionally shown — especially in early season games — never reared its ugly head.  Despite those last two UCLA possessions, I believe the Vols’ secondary may be one of the best in school history.  The blitz schemes were great and the coverage like glue.

This defense did everything it could to win the game — from the four first-half interceptions, the safety that the referees refused to call, the pressure on the quarterback, and the 0 yard net gain by UCLA in overtime — the effort and playmaking ability was outstanding.

This unit could be really special — which is a damn good thing given the offensive woes…

Defensive Play Calling:

The play calling — just like the performance — was strong early and weak late in the game.  I question why during UCLA’s final two drives in regulation, the Chief refused to change up the defense to try and put the Bruins’ second-wind on ice.  UCLA Kevin Craft put on a short-pass exhibition late in the game — using screens as artfully as I’ve seen in a while.  Tennessee, however, stayed with four and five linemen sets and soft over-top zone coverage, rather than switching to a 3-4 (or similar package) with either man or underneath coverage to kill the momentum.

That said, the defense spent entirely too much time on the field  in the second-half due to the anemic performance by the offense.  I suppose it is possible that the coaches did not feel that the defense had enough left in the tank to successfully execute man coverage at that late point in the game.  There is no question that fatigue was working against the defense.  To me, however, it seemed like the defense still had hustle left in them, and I question the refusal to change.

Nonetheless, had the offense taken care of business it wouldn’t have mattered…

Special Teams

Press the kicking game.  Here is where the breaks are made.

Game Maxim Number 6

– Gen. Robert R. Neyland

Well, UCLA made General Neyland look prescient…

Punting:

First, the blocked punt — leading to an immediate touchdown — was simply unacceptable.  Chad Cunningham, in his first start as a Volunteer (courtesy of Britton Colquitt who was probably passed-out in the parking lot) should never have been put in that position.  The block was all the fault of the line, not Cunningham.  In my opinion, that single play decided the game. The punt team must protect the punter better than that — there’s nothing more to say.

Field Goal Unit:

I feel sorry for Daniel Lincoln.  While it is true that either of his first two missed field goals would have won the game, and his third miss handed the victory to UCLA, Daniel Lincoln did not cause the loss.  I question the decision to even attempt two 50+-yard field goals which were both beyond his effective range.  Given the often fragile psyche of kickers, I would not have set Lincoln up to miss two early — I would have punted.  The final miss in overtime was — by all appearances — all Lincoln, but had he not hit an attempt with only seconds in regulation, overtime never even comes into play. Finally, in what is becoming a common theme, had the offense done their job then we would not be talking about this.

Kick Returns:

This was the bright spot of the special teams unit.  This squad actually looked improved and seems primed to add a bit of excitement to things this year.  I look forward to watching Dennis Rogan, Gerald Jones, and Brandon Warren on returns this year.

Coaching (Preparation)

In the interest of full disclosure, I feel it is only fair to first go on the record as being a “Homer” when it comes to Coach Fulmer and the Tennessee staff.  Actually, I would say that I am more appropriately a Homer for all coaches across the landscape of college football who are constantly questioned, rebuked, and derided by tens of thousands of come-lately armchair geniuses.

It is a peculiar characteristic of so many fans that they believe that simply being a follower of a team for a given length of time makes them an expert in how things should be done.  Make no mistake, as a sports blogger, I am as guilty of this offense as anyone — at least to some extent.  There are things that anyone with a brain can assess and analyze based purely upon common sense, life experience, and the fluff that resides between our ears. (Upon further review, considering I do this sort of thing all the time, we’ll lower the standard to “half a brain” and remove the “common sense” requirement.)

Even the dullest of individuals realizes that “scoring more points” is always the key to winning a game — Lou Holtz included.

These sorts of basic truths are fairly and frankly within the grasp of us all, and thus the rightful ability to comment on such profundities resides with each and every person who follows college football.  In much the same vein, I think it is reasonable for many (note, I did not say “all”) long-term fans of the sport to comment on what a given team does, or in most cases, did.

Beyond that, however, it seems to me that trying to profess what the best way to coach a football team — a team which most have no access to except through their televisions — is an endeavor which necessarily makes the speaker feel smart and important, while simultaneously making them look foolish and arrogant.

That said here are my thoughts on the coaching, I’ll start with the good news…

Defensive Unit:

This was the best I’ve seen a Tennessee defensive unit look in the first game of the season in as long as I can remember from the perspective of fundamentals.  Their tackling skills looked solid and their ball awareness outstanding.

Even when UCLA was driving on their final two possessions in regulation, the defense was executing — making hits as soon as the ball was caught.  The open-field tackling by the secondary never let up.  Any criticisms of the fourth-quarter play calling aside, Coach Chavis had the defense ready to play.

Offensive and Special Teams Units:

I don’t know what caused it, but these squads were simply not ready to play — not by a long shot — and at times looked completely clueless.  I don’t have the foggiest idea what went wrong, but if the coaches don’t get it fixed, then Tennessee is going to lose at least four or five more games — badly. .

Things must improve …

Final Thoughts

Tennessee showed their best and their worst against UCLA, and made Rick Neuheisel look like both a goat and a genius.

The offense had three interceptions handed to them in the first-half (Nevin McKenzie went ahead and ran the fourth interception in for a touchdown on his own) and did little with them.  Still, at times, it became apparent that the Vols have what it takes to be great.  Will they realize any of that potential?  I do not know, but I hope so.

Either way, this was but one game and a non-conference game at that.  What’s more, this team deserves a chance to redeem itself — which I imagine it will be dying to do.  It is far too early to write this season off.  Ignoring any issues those in the Orange Nation may have with the coaching staff, the players deserve this, they have earned it through all of the hard work they put in to get to this point, for all of the effort they put in to playing the game that all of us enjoy.

For that reason, I am concerned but remain hopeful — not just for the future of this team’s potential, but also for the Tennessee fanbase.  I hope they will get out and give this team their full support, come what may.

As for me, I’ll have my orange on and my backside will be planted firmly in Section Y7 of Neyland Stadium.  That is, until kickoff, when it’s time to stand and cheer.

View from Y7

Hopefully, I won’t be the only one…

– Go Figure …

Images Courtesy of: UT Sports.com • ESPN.com • Gridscape’s Virtual Neyland

Check out the Roundtable Round-up with Joel’s Thoughts on our efforts (or lack there of) for this week…

This Week’s Roundtable Host: Rocky Top Talk

Onward and Upward!

This week’s Big Orange Roundtable is hosted by Joel over at Rocky Top Talk.

At present the roundtable includes: 3rd Saturday in Blogtober, Fulmer’s Belly, Gate 21, Rocky Top Talk, Loser With Socks, the World According to MoonDog (a/k/a MoonDog Sports), The Power T, Your Mother Slept With Wilt Chamberlain, and the SouthEastern Sports Blog. If you’d like to join, feel free to let us know. If you want more information on how the roundtable works, you can check out Ghost of Neyland’s wonderful introduction over at 3SIB.

Anyway, here are my thoughts for the week:

Week 3

(Questions in Sort-o-Teal-like color)

1) For some inexplicable reason, Phillip Fulmer invites Urban Meyer, Mark Richt, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Tommy Tuberville over to his palatial estate for a dinner party. At 2:00 a.m. the next morning, The Papa discovers that Smokey IX has been murdered. Who did it, with what, and where? Think Clue. You know, Mr. Mustard in the parlor with the candlestick?

After dinner, Fulmer gave Smokey a few hot dogs from his private stash before heading upstairs with his bride, Vicky. After making it to the bedroom, Phillip decided that he wanted to grab a quick doughnut from his other private stash. While heading back toward the kitchen, he was confronted by the ghost of Bear Bryant who warned him that Smokey was in danger.

Shocked and frightened, Fulmer rushed downstairs to find Smokey lying on the floor, a half-eaten hot dog left lying by his side. Fulmer immediately called Lieutenant Columbo to investigate (after he ate the rest of the hot dog).

Once on the scene, Columbo began interviewing the others. Mark Richt claimed to be admiring himself in the mirror in his favorite bright red thong. Tubberville said he was adding another coat of shellac to his hair before retiring for the night. Saban claimed to be counting all the money he had fleeced from Alabama donors in his room. Meyer stated that he was siting with his legs crossed offering a burnt offering before his statue of Tim Tebow.  Les Miles had been carefully placing his hat in its protective case for the night. Finally, Spurrier claimed that he had been on the phone with a local sports-talk show under the pseudonym “Homer from Sequatchie County.“

At first Columbo was stumped considering that all the alibis checked out. Then the case turned. Columbo discovered that Nick Saban had accidentally left his webcam running while counting his money on the bed. It had recorded sounds in the background which, at first seemed unrecognizable, but then when played at 300 times normal speed became understandable as a human speaking.

Columbo rushed downstairs, the others right on his heels, to find Ed Orgeron hiding in the bushes pretending to be a Maple tree. Fulmer grabbed Orgeron while Tubberville tied his hands, and Saban stole his wallet. Columbo put it to him straight.

“So, it looks like we caught you…“

“I say, I say, I say, it war an assidunt. I’s was a jest a’chomin heah to talk to dis heah fine group ah koaches whahn I come up-pon da little puppah. I’s was ah jest a talkin’ to heam and a scrahathin’ heahs eaahs whan alla-da-suddin’ heah just collapsas. I say, I say I dohn’t know whaht heppened!“

All of the sudden, Vicky Fulmer screamed… “Look!“

“Hey now, I wasn’t taking any money from anybody. I mean I was just standing here minding my own business…“

“Not you, Nick, look, Smokey’s back up and walking!” Vicky pointed to a dazed and groggy Smokey staggering from side to side.

“Hallelujah, Tim be praised!  The omnisicent Tebow has looked down on this animal’s plight and blessed him. He has been raised from the dead!” Meyer exclaimed as he fell to his knees.

“I don’t think so sir. Exactly how long were you talking to the dog, sir?” Columbo asked

“Wheall, lessee… I’s ah’suhppose it was abaht fie-to-tenh mannutes. Yehsir.” Orgeron replied.

“I think I’ve solved the case.” Columbo nodded to himself. “Mr. Foghorn … Orgeron here came to see about getting a job with these here coaches, but got distracted by the cute dog, and set upon lamenting his tale to the pooch. At first, Smokey was enjoying the attention, but then things started to get fuzzy and he collapsed. You see, all of the hot-air coming from Orgeron caused Smokey to temporarily lose consciousness from lack of oxygen. He wasn’t actually dead. His body just entered a state of suspended animation to avoid any more damage to his brain from what Ogeron was saying. There was no murder here…“

“Well that’s a relief, I had just assumed it was some of my players, and was trying to think up a lie to tell the media.” Spurrier chimed in.

“Well, how do you explain the ghost of Bear Bryant that I saw upstairs?” Fulmer asked.

“That was no ghost, that was Johnny Majors. He’d polished off a bottle of bourbon and was — well, overcome by a multitude of circumstances — which led him to think he was Bear Bryant. I’ve seen it before. Likely as not, he was just looking for some eggs to throw on your car.” they all nodded to themselves knowing this to be true.

“Well, I suppose that wraps up my business here. You folks have a nice evening.” Columbo said as he shut his notebook.

“Thank you so much Lieutenant, is there anything we can do to repay you?” asked Vicky Fulmer.

“Just one thing ma’am — tell your husband to leave a few in the racks next time he and the coaching staff hit Krispy Kreme. The beat officers would appreciate it…“

Read the rest of this entry »

This Week’s Host: The Power T

Week Zwei

(That’s German for “2″)

This week’s Big Orange Roundtable is hosted by none other than The Power T, who has served up a heapin’ helpin’ of questions for we “Volggers” to consider. Being that I am all about riding the coat-tails of others (and the fact they haven’t kicked me out of the Roundtable … yet) here are Gate 21’s thoughts on all that is this week in the world of Tennessee Football.

(Questions in Sort-o-Teal-like color)

1) A position of strength for the Vols this fall should be wide receivers. Which 2 guys will emerge from the pack to start the opener against UCLA alongside Lucas Taylor? Why?

First of all, I think that Lucas Taylor is going to be a starter — probably from start to finish. He is the most tested and reliable of the receiving corps this year. As for the other spots, well, it gets more difficult there.

The conventional wisdom would be to go with Austin Rogers and Josh Briscoe (not to be confused with Briscoe Darling) — both have had significant playing time and key catches. They were solid down the stretch (especially in the overtime win against Kentucky, where Rogers saved the day with a huge 2-point conversion catch), however, they both had a few key weaknesses which hampered their overall production. Both had some big drops at key moments, and both appeared to have some shortcomings at times when it came to field awareness. That said, both of these upperclassmen now have an additional year of experience under their belt, and will no longer have to live in the shadow of the amazing and talented Robert Meachem.

The “Other” Briscoe

That said, I really like what I saw from Gerald Jones in his limited playing time last season, and something in my gut tells me that this talented sophomore will secure — at a minimum — 50% of one of the remaining starting spots. Based upon what I understand Dave Clawson’s offensive model to be, it seems that Jones would make a perfect fit — especially when it is time to go deep.

I am a huge fan of using the Tight End as an additional passing threat (something that I have a feeling we may see under Dave Clawson’s tricked-out-offense), and I hope that we end up using Jeff Cottam more in that role to complement and build upon the strengths of this year’s receivers — thereby making the Vols less one-dimensional and tougher to defend against. Either way, it seems to me that — despite losing a gamebreaker like Meachem — the receivers will be much stronger as a unit this season on the whole, largely due to experience and having more than just one go-to receiver. I feel this is especially true considering that, with Jonathan Crompton under center, it is fair to assume that opposing defenses will now have to honor the possibility that No. 8 may come running at them “Straight Outta Crompton” as well as throw to one of the wide-outs.

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