Posts Tagged ‘Montario Hardesty’

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 …

You know, improvement is a funny thing…

Sometimes you have to take a step or two backwards before you can begin moving forwards.  This weekend we saw a little of both—improvement and stepping backwards.  Either way, it was a win—a really, really, ugly win, but a win nonetheless.

Now that I am finally feeling a bit better physically—having shucked the plague I had for the better part of last week—here are a few random thoughts on the Vols’ play against Northern Illinois.

Nick Stephens:

Stephens looked capable in his first start.

Well, Nick Stephens isn’t going to win All-America or All-SEC honors this year, but what he showed as the starting quarterback this weekend was heartening.  First, he showed focus at all times.  While he did make a few first-start gaffs, on the whole his head was in the game the entire time.  Second, he showed heart and determination.  There was never a moment when he seemed to simply be going through the motions.  In short, this game really mattered to him.

Stephens will only improve as he starts getting all of snaps in practice with the first team.  So long as he does not become complacent, he can really help improve the offense.  Fundamentals are the key to success and it seemed Stephens was focusing on the basics in his play versus the Huskies—nothing flashy, nothing unusual, just clean snaps, clean handoffs, clean passes.  He also showed something that has not been seen since Erik Ainge played his last down in January—a long-ball threat with reliable accuracy.  That could really come in handy down the road.

In summary, Stephens did not wow me with his playmaking abilities—which is good.  He did his job, played his role, played within his abilities, and apparently impressed some of his teammates with his focus and determination.  He smartly decided to save the swagger until he has earned the right to strut.  More importantly, he showed that he deserves to be the one and only quarterback for the foreseeable future.  Nice game, Nick, keep up the good work.

Now why is it again he didn’t come in against Auburn?  Never mind, don’t answer that question…

The Defense:

Well, from a “style” perspective, it was hardly their best game of the season, but it was by no means a poor showing by the Tennessee defensive unit.  In fact, as has been the case in every game this season—the defense did enough to win the game.  While the Northern Illinois receivers did seem to find more room for catches than they should have, and the defensive line was not dominated by the Vols, in the end they did what they had to do.  They did not allow a touchdown—and have only allowed a single touchdown in two games.  They held Northern Illinois to 190 total yards (72 rushing / 118 passing) and they did their job.

Again, Nevin McKenzie, Rico McCoy, and Eric Berry seemed to be everywhere on the field on defense combining for 23 tackles (McKenzie-9, McCoy-8, Berry-6), and Berry made another gamebreaking play with a 48 yard interception return which put the Vols in position to score a field goal in the second quarter.

The defense has proven that it can be depended upon…

The Offense:

The offensive line continues to leave me scratching my head…

The offensive line continues to allow penetration far more often than they should.  I realize that Erik Ainge—who was more than willing to dump the ball into the seats if he felt pressure—is no longer calling the signals, but this offensive line should not be allowing defenders to harass the quarterback the way they do.  This line is too strong, too fast, too talented, and too experienced for this sort play.  I understand that this is not the same team as last year, but the level of play from this squad has been severely lacking this year.  Their poor play allowed the sack and fumble at just under 4:00 mark in the third quarter.

If Nick Stephens is going to have a chance to get the offense going, then the offensive line is going to have to do their jobs and protect the quarterback…

The running game—which looked so promising earlier in the season—apparently did not dress out for this weekend’s game.  Tennessee racked up a net of 69 yards on 32 rushing attempts (2.15 avg per carry).  While Arian Foster managed 76 total yards, neither he nor Montario Hardesty really managed to run the ball effectively.  It was disappointing that Lennon Creer did not get any carries.

The receiving corps did enough to win, but not much more.  Denarius Moore, however, had a nice showing with 3 catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.  As with the running backs, this unit needs to work a little harder to give their new quarterback some bigger more effective targets throughout the game.

More importantly, when the ball gets thrown to them, it would be most helpful if they would catch it…

Coaching:

I’ll give the coaching staff—most notably the Great Punkin and Dave Clawson—a little credit for making the call to give Stephens the start.  I just wish they had reached this decision a little sooner.  To the extent that Mike Hamilton had anything to do with this, I’ll give him credit too.  Still, the offense continues to look ragged, even with the quarterback change.  This unit simply has to improve or the upcoming contests against the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide are going to be long, hateful, and humiliating experiences.

Furthermore, it is high time for every position to be up for grabs…

On the defensive side of the ball, while—like many—I do not always agree with some of the defensive play calling, it is hard to criticize a unit which seems to play together as well as the defensive squad does, especially in the face of such poor performances by the offense.

Final Thoughts:

This game was not pretty.  It was ugly.  It was much closer than it should have been.  It was a nail-biter that never should have been.  That said, it is a win.  It is a step forward toward improvement.  I personally think that the decision to give Stephens the start was what made that happen.  Hopefully, that is not the only change the we on-lookers will see going forward.  While this game is hardly one for the ages, it is a building block which can serve as a step toward salvaging the remainder of the season.

Oh yeah, and in case you didn’t notice, none of the remaining games look the slightest bit easy…

If this team and this coaching staff are going to try and make something of this season, then they are going to have to earn it.  With an undefeated Vanderbilt, a Kentucky team that lost to Alabama by three points, and a South Carolina team which won a tough game versus Ole Miss, there are no sure-thing wins left in this season.  Of course, I am ignoring Georgia and Alabama because … well … I think those sort of speak for themselves.  Unlike some, I am not ready to say this team is doomed, but I will say it will be an uphill battle.  I have no doubt that this team has the skills and the players to win, I simply do not know if they will manage to do it.  I hope so.

All I can say is that, after this weekend and the performance of the new starting quarterback, at least I believe it is possible—probably not likely, but possible—which is an improvement over last week.  It’s not much, but at least it’s something…

» Updated: 6 October 2008 –9:53am

There’s a great piece on the Vols continuing woes by Joel, which is worth looking at, along with a similar piece by Holly at Snarktastic.

Check them out…

– Go Figure …

Images Courtesy of: Go Vols Xtra / Saul Young

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)

General Robert R. Neyland is perhaps the single most important person in the evolution of Tennessee Football.  His legacy is forever intertwined with the university, the teams, and the fans.  In recognition of his immeasurable contribution, I am pleased to introduce a new feature here at the Gate, “Marching Orders From the General.”  Without further adieu, here is the first installment:

Okay, I have had my day to be negative—to brood and stew over the Tennessee Volunteers‘ loss to the Florida Gators.

It’s now time to be constructive, to analyze, and to look ahead. I know that a lot of the members of the Orange Nation are ready to write this season off.  I am not.  Be that as it may, I cannot ignore what  I witnessed at Neyland Stadium this past weekend.  I have a feeling that, as MoonDog noted, General Neyland would have been sick to his stomach over the Vols performance.

The General, however, was accustomed to adversity, and understood that sometimes you have to modify your plan to make sure that you attain your goal.  Complaining accomplishes nothing—the only thing that matters is what you do going forward.

One of the grand traditions of the Tennessee football program is the constant re-commitment of the team to General Neyland’s 7 Game Maxims. These are the foundation upon which the entire ethos of the program are based. Using these fundamental concepts as a lens, let’s look at how the Vols did this weekend, and what they need to do going forward to achieve the level of excellence that the General called for both on the playing field and the battlefield.

Maxim 1: “The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.”

The inability of the Vols to honor this truth is ultimately what led to their defeat…

Ball Protection

Tennessee’s three turnovers—two of which came inside the 3-yard line—absolutely killed the Vols on offense.  One of these came in the form of an interception, the other two in the form of fumbles.

The first fumble (1st Quarter 8:55, on the Tennessee 23), this was credited as a fumble by Montario Hardesty, which is accurate.  Hardesty should have been able to hold onto the 4-yard pass from Crompton, and picked up a gain.  The fact remains, however, that Hardesty was in double-coverage with a safety collapsing quickly.  The pass—which came on 3rd and 15 and would have done little to move the ball toward the 1st Down—was floated to a clearly off-balance Hardesty and effectively left him strung-out.  This pass invited a fumble-jarring hit, which it received.  While I am not exonerating Hardesty, Crompton should have simply thrown the ball away.

The second fumble (3rd Quarter 13:00, on the Florida 2) was simply a bad exchange, but not in the traditional sense.  This was not the tailback failing to get a handle on the ball when receiving the handoff.  This was the ball hitting the fullback in the hip as the quarterback rolled to his right—in other words, the quarterback didn’t have a handle on the ball after the snap, and thus had the ball in an unprotected position, resulting in a fumble.  Those things happen from time to time, but you cannot let them happen at critical turning-point moments in the game.  It is a question of focus, and you must be focused when you are trying to push in a score.

The interception (2nd Quarter 00:02, on the Florida 2) in the endzone  immediately before halftime was simply a bad throw into coverage, there really isn’t anything else to be said.  Jonathan Crompton’s willingness to heave the ball into 2 or 3-man press coverage has become as worrying as it has routine.  Jonathan Compton must start making better decisions, and start looking to other receivers, tuck and run, or throw the ball away.  Crompton cannot continue to to simply throw the ball into the crowd and hope that the receiver makes a play.  I will be the first to admit that there are times when this sort of approach can work—as it did for Crompton versus LSU in 2006, or as it did for Tee Martin versus pretty much anyone when Peerless Price was the receiver—but those are the exception, not the rule.  Crompton must begin to look for other outlets and if none exists, throw the ball away.

Crompton's ill-fated pass into the endzone as seen from Sec. Y7

That said, Tennessee should have scored on one of the preceding three plays (all of which occurred inside the Florida 5-yard line), which would have prevented the pass ever being thrown.

Clock Management

Tennessee’s final three offensive plays of the first half were one of the worst examples of clock management that Tennessee has shown in a very long time.  With 1:13 to go in the half, Tennessee had the ball on the Florida 5-yard line—it was Tennessee’s chance to potentially get itself back in the ballgame.  At that point, the score was 20-0.  20-7 would have given the Vols a chance to enter the locker room with momentum and a chance to comeback in the second half.  What ensued was a play calling disaster. With 30 seconds remaining in the half, Tennessee had the ball on the 2-yard line, and still had one timeout.  Rather than immediately stop the clock, however, the Vols let 14 seconds tick off of the clock before signaling the timeout.  I was sitting approximately 50 feet from this display in Section Y7.  With 29 ticks remaining, I clearly saw Crompton make a time out signal toward the referee, but the referee was screened and could not see Crompton.  No whistle blew, and the clock continued to run.  For the next 14 seconds neither Crompton, one of his teammates, nor the coaching staff called a timeout.  In then end the Vols finally stopped the clock with 16 seconds remaining.  This is unbelievable.

The old adage is that “you play until the whistle is blown.”  That is just as true in timeout-calling as it is in downfield blocking.  Someone, whether player or coach, should have had their wits about them enough to reach out grab the ref and make the timeout signal.  No one did.  With those seconds gone, Tennessee had almost no time left with which to try and punch the ball into the endzone.  When they did get it in the endzone, it was an interception.

With that interception, the game was over…

The mental game is just as important as the physical side of the game.   Tennessee simply did not have their heads in the game on offense.

Maxim 2: “Play for and make the breaks and when one comes your way—SCORE.”

Well, to a large degree, there were few breaks to be had in the game.  The bulk of those breaks came in the form of Florida capitalizing on Tennessee’s errors.  That said, there were several times when key players made big plays which—for the briefest of moments—gave the Orange and White a chance to gain the upper hand.  One good example was Dennis Rogan’s 43 yard runback on the opening kickoff of the second half.  Another was the first quarter defensive stop on the Tennessee 22-yard line which led to a Florida field goal, but prevented a touchdown.  These two breaks—along with numerous other small swings in the game–led to nothing for the Vols.

Though the opportunities were real, the Vols simply never took advantage of them…

Maxim 3: “If at first the game—or the breaks—go against you, don’t let up… put on more steam.”

When it comes to effort, there are actually a few bright spots…

Rico McCoy and Eric Berry both gave a supreme effort.  There is nothing more that this tandem could have done to try and push the Vols to victory.  Even late in the fourth quarter, they were both running at full speed and giving 100% effort on every single play.  I never once saw them let up or slow down.  They had a combined 18 tackles (including a sack for Berry).  In all honesty, I’d have to say that the defensive unit as a whole left everything on the field.  After stumbling on the opening drive by Florida, and allowing a touchdown, I felt that the defense came to play.  They were hardly perfect—especially when it came to penalties—but they tried their hardest and game their all for Tennessee.  There was no quit in this unit.

The offense, while not as marked as the defense, also gave great effort.  In particular, Jonathan Crompton exhibited more drive and grit than I have seen from him this year.  He refused to give up, despite all of the miscues, bobbles, and mistakes.  This was best exemplified by Crompton’s unwillingness to slide late in the game when fronted by a Florida defender.  Rather than make the safe play, Crompton lowered his head and ran straight at him.  It was probably not the smartest decision on his part, given the fact he was completely flat-backed, but his heart was obviously still in it.

The coaching staff obviously wanted this game—for reasons which I will go into in greater detail in a follow-up post to this one.  Their effort during the game was admirable.  I saw more fire on the sidelines from the coaches than I have seen in years past.  That said, coaching is one area where your best effort can sometimes be demonstrated by not needing to be animated or excited.

The fans are also a part of this analysis.  I will give the fans a split-analysis in this area.  At the start of the game, regardless of what they may have thought the likely outcome of the game might be, the fans were ready to go.  When the “T” opened and the players came out on the field it was white-noise and hysteria.  That held true throughout the first quarter.  After Tennessee’s repeated self-destruction on offense, however, the fans went cold; many went home.  I am not going to criticize the fans for their decisions in this regard, though I want to on some level.  I travel a long way to the games, and it costs a great deal of money to do so.  I stayed until the last second and watched the Vols play to the end.  Does that make me a better fan?  Probably not.  Does it give me the right to criticize those who left early?  Probably so.  As a personal matter, I strongly believe that if you don’t have the guts and composure to stay to the end and take the cheers of your opponent, then you don’t have the right to bask in the glory when your team wins.  The fact of the matter is, however, I understand their frustrations.

If, as the scoreboard says, "This is Tennessee Football," then the empty seats in the stands speak of serious problems.

On a more basic level, however, as both HSH and I have said in the last few days, if you are going to boo your own players, then just stay home.  The players on the team do not need your validation to prove that they work hard and make sacrifices to be the best that they can be.  They also don’t need your booing when they fall short of the goal they strive for.  Booing the coaching staff, or the decision to punt rather than go for it on fourth down is one thing, booing the players is another.  I understand your frustrations, but just like the team on the field, if you cannot retain your composure and lose with some integrity and class then do not come to the game.  If you cannot act like a good sport, then there is no place for you in the stadium—no matter what team you follow.  Period.

If you booed the team this past weekend, you should be ashamed of yourself…

Maxim 4: “Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead, and our ball game.”

Well, in this regard the Vols were decent, not outstanding, but decent.  The offensive live really never created much in terms of a push off the line for the running backs, and the penalties for false starts and holding were particularly costly.  Still, the line did a pretty good job of protecting Crompton.  The same would be true for the kick protection.  They were average, but if the teams gels and makes the scores, then it is probably enough to win.

As for protecting the ball game, well there really is not much that can be said there…

Maxim 5: “Ball, oskie, cover, block, cut and slice, pursue, and gang tackle… for this is the WINNING EDGE.”

As I said above under the Third Maxim, I was happy with the defense.  Could they have done some things better?  Absolutely.  Is there room to improve?  You better believe it.

Did the defense do enough to win?  You’re damn right they did, just as they did versus UCLA.

Until the offense finds itself, I am not going to be overly critical of a defense that has fought as hard as any I’ve seen in a while.

Maxim 6: “Press the kicking game.  Here is where the breaks are made.”

Once again, the General’s insight is telling.  Florida’s Brandon James returned the opening kickoff 52 yards.  Last year he ran a kick back for a touchdown only to have it negated by a penalty.  Ignoring this experience, and James’ ability to be a gamebreaker, the Vols kick it back to him on the very next series setting up a 78 yard run back for a touchdown.  You don’t have to be a genius to realize that you can kick it away from him, as Florida did by kicking it to Brandon Warren in the third quarter.

Still, the kick coverage team showed a lack of cohesiveness in over-pursuing, blocking one another, and failing to contain the run backs.

While Dennis Rogan did his best to make things happen on Tennessee’s kick returns, costly penalties killed the momentum he earned with his speed and field awareness.

Maxim 7: “Carry the fight to our opponent and keep it there for 60 minutes.”

As I said under the Third Maxim, both the offense and the defense did everything they could in terms of effort.  The fact of the matter was, however, there was never any real “fight” put to Florida.  In the end, the Vols put on one of the worst displays I have seen in Neyland Stadium in a very long time.  I would put this game in the same class as the 1996 loss to Memphis at the Liberty Bowl and the 1994 loss to the Gators in Knoxville.  The difference is that in 1994, the Vols had a true-freshman quarterback who never expected to be playing that early in the season, whie the ‘94 Gators were absolute terrors.  In 1996, the Vols simply had a bad game versus a motivated opponent—though inexcusable–that team was otherwise solid across the board.

This game was one the Vols were “supposed” to lose.  It was not one where they were supposed to get blown-out.  I realize that there is a new quarterback calling the signals this year, but he is a fourth-year junior who had considerable experience in 2006.  This is not an inexperienced team which lacks a fundamental understanding of what it is supposed to do in game situations.

I will be going into some other thoughts on this game and the big picture for Tennessee in the next day or so, but until then, I will sum up my thoughts with this:

There was no commander to be found on the field this weekend, and the troops had no leader…

My, how we could have used a little help from the General.

– Go Figure …

Images by: lawvol

Look, it was UAB – to me we could have beat them 77-3 and it wouldn’t have meant diddly squat. Well, we didn’t. It was more of what I expected: our defense would shut them down on the scoreboard and the offense would take about a half to get going. There’s no reason to lose sleep over beating a team 35-3. As they say, you’re only as good as your last game, and for us it’s now a win.

As an aside the BYU-UCLA massacre only proves that what happened two weeks ago in the Rose Bowl was a complete and total fluke. Did it still happen? Yes, and that score only makes us look worse. But it was a fluke, and we can all agree on that now, can’t we?

Back to the UAB game, I’m a glass half-full type, so I’ll point out some of the positive things from this game – or reasons logical stretches for hope that Florida won’t run us out of our own stadium. First and foremost, no one got hurt and some of the backups got some game experience, always a good thing for these type of games.

OK, Jonathan Crompton still wasn’t very good, but he was better. He went 19-for-31, and I thought the playcalling – though we still need to run the ball much much MUCH more (like 65-35) – was better in terms of making it easier for JC. Will screens to Lucas Taylor work against Florida? I have no idea.

Of his 12 incompletions, Luke Stocker dropped three and there were about three more. His first INT was simply a great play by the UAB defender (though Crompton probably shouldn’t have forced it). We saw slight improvement, but improvement nonetheless.

Our running backs are awesome. Foster, Hardesty, and Creer need to be fed the ball many, many times. Lawvol and I were talking after the game about how Clawson needs to find a way to get Foster and Hardesty on the field at the same time. The defense would have no clue what to do. If this offense has what you can call a “strength,” it’s pounding the rock. Let’s do that about 50 times against Florida, OK Dave?

Lucas Taylor and Gerald Jones had nice games. Luke Stocker is better than those passes he dropped – he’s just getting those out of the way before Florida. I still just think there are too many good athletes on this offense for it to be as bad as 2005. Hence, I’m hopeful

The only issues on defense I really saw were missed tackles. Once again, just getting them out of the way before Florida. It’s fixable. And if you miss tackles against Florida, what do you get? Well, last year…

The strength of this defense is easily the secondary. I’m all for playing five of those studs with Rico McCoy and Ellix Wilson at LB. One thing that was pointed out to me was the lack of pressure without blitzing. Wilson blitzed quite a bit, thus leaving the middle open. Hello, Percy Harvin on a quick slant. Still, I saw nothing that really discourages the notion of this defense not being pretty solid.

Anyways, stay tuned, because Lawvol will have his thoughts up here soon, and I’ll also be ripping into our sorry excuse for a student section (we’re talking major rant here). And for your enjoyment, here’s some pictures I took from before the game and my seat in Section D, Row 10…

Eric Berry (left) and Demetrice Morley were the last two Vols through the Vol Walk and they also happened to be the best-dressed. That’s just pure freshness right there from our stud safeties…

Lawvol goes to Gate 21, I went into Student Gate 4 Saturday

It has been 10 years since 1998, and Tee Martin was honored pregame, as each home game will honor players from that glorious run. Tee was also on the actual game ticket as well

The UAB mascot was just plain awesome - though I would NOT have wanted to be in that suit in that heat

Big Orange Roundtable: Week 10

It was supposed to be my turn to host the continuing Roundtable over at my old site (The View From The Hill), but obviously I’m no longer there. Nevertheless, I’m sticking to my repsonsibility and I’m just running it from my not-so-new place here at Gate 21.

I’ll try not to complain about not having a bad week – with “mighty” UAB coming up after a bye week…after a loss to a middling Pac-10 team…on national TV… – and just do my job: ask some questions, answer them, and hope the rest of the Roundtable members remember (I have faith they will).

Alright, here’s my trio of questions…

(1) So we’re all still pissed off from losing to a UCLA team we would without a doubt beat at worst eight times out of 10, and now a pretty bad UAB team comes to Knoxville before the epic showdown with Florida and the rest of the SEC gauntlet – the deep breath before the plunge, if you will. What I simply want to know is what do YOU want to see from the Vols this Saturday?

First and foremost, nobody gets hurt. We’re an untimely injury at a couple of different positions away from being in some hot water before getting into the SEC. We’re gonna need to be as healthy as possible to avoid disaster.

Offensively, I just want to see better execution. For example, how about we give the ball to Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty oh, say, about 40+ times, or until we’re up comfortably? Don’t even use the G-Gun – save it for Florida. I wouldn’t care how “vanilla” the playcalling is – Tennessee should be able to just run over, through, and around UAB (For a brief look at UAB, click here and scroll down…to the very bottom)

For Jonathan Crompton, just give Tennessee fans some hope that you’re gonna be able to get it done…as in not one-hopping balls to wide-open receivers and pretending to be throwing to Yao Ming.

Defensively, some adjustments in case UAB starts moving the ball against the Vols (they shouldn’t). UAB shouldn’t score double-digits on offense and a shutout would be nice. Like Crompton, just give the fans some hope that stopping the Gates is possible.

All this said, I expect a boring game where we play around with the Blazers for a little while before finally pulling away. We hardly blow any non-Sun Belt people away anymore, and though UAB lost to a Sun Belt team last week, we’ll probably “take it easy” on them.

(2) Flashback to Saturday night in Gainesville: up 23-3, Florida gets a good punt return by Brandon James inside the Miami 20. With 1:56 left, Urban Meyer sends Tim Tebow back in, and, after a screen pass, a throw into the endzone, and a lost-yardage run, Florida kicks a sand-in-the-face field goal with :25 left, prompting a death stare from Cane coach Randy Shannon and eventually a “handshake” at midfield after the game. Thoughts?

I hope to see some interesting answers for this one (or at least better than mine). Some say he had no other choice. Other use the “BCS Beauty Pageant” argument as if beating Miami 26-3 instead of 23-3 will make that much more of a difference in determining Florida’s postseason fate. Yet others say it was for the south Florida/Miami-area recruits who were in attendance – yeah not sure that is workin’ for ya, Urban. And finally some say he did it for the betting Gators (the kick covered the spread).

Miami coach Randy Shannon clearly wanted to slug Urban Meyer for that late field goal...he should have

I’ll say two things about this: first, say what you want but Urban ran it up on Tennessee last year, though fortunately I was out of the Swamp when he was doing it. That doesn’t really sit well with me and I’m sure our coaches and players remember. I’m not a fan of running it up unnecessarily. Now if you’re scoring with your backups that’s one thing, but when you put your starters in up 20 and try to score, that’s egotistical and annoying.

Secondly, this will backfire on him soon enough – it has to. Someone really important to the Gates will get hurt and people will unleash on him a la Mike Shula with Tyrone Prothro in 2005 (though hopefully nothing that awful happens to anybody).

(3) And finally, a question that I’m not sure has been so directly asked in the course of the Roundtable, but one that needs answering: the “woo” in Rocky Top…do you “woo” and why do/don’t you “woo”?

I pretty much never “woo” simply because I just don’t like it. Me “woo”ing is like an eclipse – it’s just not something I do. As for why, I just don’t like the addition. It takes away from the beautiful song that is Rocky Top. It seems too sorority girl-ish, though I’m all about the sorority girls…well, uh, some of them. I have no idea how or when it started, but whoever thought it was cool probably wasn’t.

I will say this about the “woo”: fans from other SEC schools hate the song, and if the “woo” was originally meant to be even more annoying, then it was good idea. But I sincerely doubt that’s the case…

As the Roundtable goes, as the other Vol blogs respond to my lousy questions, check back and I’ll have them linked:
- Third Saturday in Blogtober
- SESB
- YMSWWC
- MoonDog Sports
- NEW MEMBER!! Curveballs for Jesus
- Losers With Socks

Images Courtesy of: AP / John Raoux

Disbelief and embarrassment. It took a few moments for last night’s loss to UCLA to really sink in. This morning before I left for class I was trying to find a comparable loss that I’ve been a part of, and I’m not sure there is one (maybe Arkansas ‘99?). It’s been awhile since Tennessee can really truly say it was upset like it was last night.

Even my two roommates – neither of whom are the most diehard of fans – were nearly speechless after the game. Most Tennessee fans were expecting a relatively easy win, though I wasn’t totally convinced just based on last year’s West Coast trip. Few people, if any, outside L.A. expected a UCLA win.

After a quick cleanup of the apartment, quickly finishing off some (water), and getting a midnight snack out of anger, I ventured onto VolQuest for some comic relief. I didn’t read much from those message boards, but the meltdown was epic. Some of what I saw from the crazier side of our fanbase:

• “Fire Fulmer!”
• “Chavis and Slade still need to go!”
• “Who’s ready for basketball season?”
• “Clawson sucks” and “Clawson belongs back in the FCS”
• “Crompton sucks” and “I miss Ainge”
• another thread bashing Arian Foster for his fumble
• “Thank God for DEER SEASON!”

The scapegoat on much of Facebook last night was Daniel Lincoln (unfairly). Campus today was more or less ho-hum. I didn’t really hear much talk about the game as I expected, but then again those who cared the most were probably still emotionally, mentally, and most of all physically recovering from it (i.e., skipping class – I sucked it up and went). The team hadn’t arrived back as of an hour ago either.

Me? I’m over it. No use overreacting after just one game, especially after last year’s ups and downs. Admittedly I bailed on the season at least six or seven different times last year and learned my lesson. I would be foolish to do so this early.

As for my thoughts on the game itself, it’s simple: we got outcoached. I don’t want to say we got outplayed, but UCLA wanted it more later in the game. We should have won the game and put UCLA away in the third quarter but gave it away. Why? Coaching.

I liked what I saw with the defense. We shut down UCLA for all but two drives really for the first three quarters, but to Norm Chow’s credit, he adjusted and John Chavis did not. Chow went to quick three-step drops and easy throws to get Kevin Craft into a rhythm and raise his confidence after 4 INTs in the first half. Chavis? He went all ‘07 Bama-soft, letting the best safeties in the country play 25 yards off the ball while UCLA dinked/dunked down the field.

It’s not that Craft was throwing into tight spots against double coverage – dudes were WIDE OPEN. Again, can we not put a whole game together defensively? Chavis failed to make adjustments.

Offensively, it was U-G-L-Y. I’m not as down on the playcalling as much as everybody else, other than obviously we should have pounded the rock ALOT more. Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty were running well and it was working and obviously Dave Clawson should have stuck with it. The passes themselves that were called weren’t terrible – we had guys in spots to make plays.

That falls on Jonathan Crompton. First game jitters I can understand, but Crompton just wasn’t very good. The offensive line didn’t help with a poor game – the group was inconsistent running the ball and Crompton was seemingly hit every other play.

Being a student I’ve become very hesitant to directly blame players for losses (’07 SEC CG and ‘06 Outback Bowl notwithstanding). Foster’s fumble definitely changed momentum but bottom line is that Tennessee should have put them game away by that point and still had opportunities to win afterwards. Crompton was decent when he had time to throw, but that wasn’t often.

UCLA’s gameplan wasn’t rocket science: play strong, physical defense and force Crompton to win the game, keep the game close into the fourth quarter and see what happens. The remnants of the Bruin offense came to life and they even got a special teams score to boot (no pun intended). Our coaches looked lost and confused.

Also, count me as one who now wants to see us playing Directional Schools for the Deaf and Blind to open up. These West Coast trips are good for recruiting and the program – when you win and NOT for openers. Last year and this year are just killing Tennessee’s national perception. I see no reason to risk all that in the season’s first game. Thankfully, we open up with Western Kentucky next year (followed by a revenge-filled visit by UCLA).

Like I said, I’m over the loss and I’m not bailing. Tennessee has LOTS of work to do, but to me the offensive problems are fixable. With a new QB and new offensive system there’s going to be growing pains. We’re just further behind than I think everybody thought.

I’m probably a bit more optimistic (if you couldn’t tell) than some of my fellow Vol bloggers. Beating Florida is possible, but work needs to get done. Beat Florida and this sick feeling will be soon forgotten. Obviously Tennessee will be a bigger underdog for that game with last night’s loss and (though overplayed) it’s worked out in the past. I’m just sayin’…

Well, that is why they play them…

A heavily favored Tennessee squad walked into the Rose Bowl, and will be limping home trying to figure out what went wrong — and make no mistake, something went terribly wrong.

On the whole, it was a tale of two halves — the Vols owned the first-half, the Bruins the second.  Well, at least the Vols should have owned the first-half.  After grabbing 4 first-half interceptions, the Vols had a paltry 14 points at the end of the first half.

In the end, however, UCLA rallied the troops and fought down the stretch and managed to take the lead with only seconds left in the game.  The anemic Tennessee offense seemed down for the count, but Jonathan Crompton managed the team as well as he had all night, leading the Orange down the field for a Daniel Lincoln field goal to tie the game at 24 with 5 seconds on the clock.

Many in Big Orange Country felt they had just dodged a bullet — given Tennessee’s record in overtime games.  They were even more buoyed up with hope after the Tennessee defense — which had flailed about unsuccessfully in the fourth-quarter — allowed no yards in overtime.

But that is why they play them…

After gaining a net of 8 yards, Daniel Lincoln came on to attempt a 34-yard field goal attempt to send the game into a second overtime.  The kick sailed wide left, and with it went the Vols hopes of coming out strong to start the season.

Final Score:  UCLA 27  Tennessee 24

Obviously, once I’ve had a little time to think about the game, I am sure I’ll have more thoughts for everyone out there to ignore.  That said, here are my initial thoughts.

Defense

Until the fourth-quarter, I would have given the defense excellent marks.  They played with more aggressive tenacity than I have seen any Tennessee team play with in the first game of the season in at least a decade.  They looked well prepared and well coached — until late in the game I’d have given them an “A” for the game.

Four interceptions is always a nice statistic, but so was the 2 first downs that UCLA managed in the first-half.  The Vols were hard-hitting and focused.

Once UCLA managed to find its legs in the fourth-quarter, however, they started running roughshod over the Tennessee defense, with a workmanlike drive using short screen passes and a quick tempo.  At many times, the Vol defense seemed poorly schemed late in the game, rushing 4 and 5 on each play rather than trying to stop the screens.  That said, the biggest problem it appeared they were dealing with was fatigue due to the fact they had been on the field far longer than they should have been in the fourth.

Thus, I am not going to mark the squad down too much (since it was the first game and due to the offensive woes) — the fact is that they gave a great effort.  The defense showed that they have what it takes to be a really excellent squad this year — potentially one of the best in the SEC — once they get a chance to gel and play together a little more.

In the end, I’m giving them a C+ / B-.

Offense

I’m not even going to try to breakdown all of the problems that the Vols had on offense…

I realize that Tennessee has a new quarterback and a new offensive scheme.  I expected there to be some growing pains.  I did not expect the Vols to rely upon their defense to win games — by scoring all the points.

It was bad, it was very bad…

I am not ready to decide where I think the problem lies, but the Vols showed a real lack of ability to move the ball consistently.  Crompton had a horrible time throwing the ball when under pressure — to the point of being completely ineffective.  Both Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty showed flashes of brilliance at times in the running game, but at other times were unable to make real gains.

At this early point after the game, all I can say is that there is much work to be done on offense.

At this point, I’m giving the offense a D.

Special Teams

Daniel Lincoln missed three field goal attempts, but only one of which he really should have hit — unfortunately, that one was the one which really mattered.  The punt unit also gave up a block, which led to an immediate touchdown.  The kick return unit, however, showed some real fire and the potential for some big plays down the stretch.

This unit needs to work on some things, but they appear to, at least, be on the right track.

For now, I’m giving them a C-.

Final Thoughts

There is so much more to discuss and think about after this game — which is always the case with a loss.  I am not going to try to do it tonight.

I will however, say one thing:

This is only the first game of the season — don’t give up on the Vols yet.  Despite the problems they had tonight, they never gave up.  They have earned the chance to redeem themselves…

I, along with Home Sweet Home, will have more on this game in the coming days, but in the meantime — though I am disappointed — all I can say is Go Vols!

More tomorrow…

– Go Figure …