Similarities between 2018 and 2019 so far

#1

boomvol

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#1
As we near the end of this season, I can't help but look back at Pruitt's almost two seasons here and noticed how similar they have been to this point.

Bad starts - I can remember watching the WVU game last year and thinking that this team was in trouble. I felt like we were multiple seasons away from having a competitive roster. And I was okay with the idea of that, because Butch left our cupboard pretty bare. This season's start... oh boy. It felt like we had taken a step back from the opener of 2018 somehow. Our roster wasn't near ready to win meaningful SEC games. That's the only way I could view us

Florida - Yikes. Definitely the low point of 2018 for me. We got annihilated and didn't even look like we belonged on the field. 2019 wasn't much different. My hopelessness was at a high point for both seasons after the Gators were done with us.

Georgia - Against UGA, however, the 2018 Vols showed life. The Vols were in the game until late and gave the Dawgs all they wanted. The 2019 Vols also handled Georgia throughout much of the first half and seemed like a team that could be competitive in most games moving forward. This was the first real glimpse of optimism in both seasons that we could win an SEC game or two.

SEC West win – 2018 gave us Auburn, 2019 gave us MSU, just when we needed them. A win in conference against the West helped both seasons feel like we could get on a run and compete in the last half of the year.

Kentucky – In both 2018 and 2019, the 4-5 Vols had a win over Kentucky that brought us within 1 win of bowl eligibility. I will say the 2018 win felt better because of UK’s ranking and how bad we beat them, but a comeback win in Lexington at night isn’t anything to complain about.

While I know there are some obvious differences between 2018 and 2019 (competing with Bama, beating SCAR, etc.), my point is this: We find ourselves in an almost identical spot as last year. We have just beaten Kentucky, needing to beat Mizzou or Vandy to get to a bowl. We all know what happened last year…

So for this years team, these last two games will be my measuring stick. Are we going to be a team/program that folds late in the year, or are we a team that can take control of November and give us momentum to build on in the offseason? Have we truly taken a step forward as a program this year, or will we be starting from square 1 in 2020 just like we did this year? I can’t wait for these last few games, and I’m hoping our boys can rise to the occasion.
 
#6
#6
Lot of differences, too.

Last year, we were wildly inconsistent. This year, our defense has gotten better every single week. Offense has generally improved, as well, albeit it's been less of a straight-line improvement than the defense.

Last year, we had a team that quit in a few games when adversity hit. This year, I've seen no quit in this team beyond Week 1. Feels like Pruitt has cleaned the roster of all the quitters.

Last year, Mizzou was extremely good; they were very underrated nationally. They were robbed of a win versus Kentucky by bad officiating, and I think they were a legitimate top 15 team. This year, this Mizzou team has gotten worse as the year has gone on. I think this is a more one-dimensional team that can only win with Kelly Bryant playing well, whereas last year's team had a monster O-line, an NFL-caliber QB, and a great run game.

Last year, Vandy was not world beaters, but they did have the 2nd best QB in school history and a very well balanced offense. This year, Vandy doesn't have much of an offense at all.

I thought the Vandy game was our worst game last season, so that part worries me, but I think we're better at this point this year than we were last year. And I also think our opponents are worse. Hopefully, we turn the narrative this year and make a bowl. 6-6 or even better 7-5. That would give us some more momentum moving forward.
 
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#7
#7
2018———>
tenor.gif
<———2019
 
#10
#10
You'll have to se how the game plays out to find that out. No way you can predict that. Just sayin'.
If we lose to a Vandy team that is easily the worst in over a decade and is currently 2-7, considering we have three SEC wins already, it will absolutely, unequivocally be a coaching failure. There is no such thing as coaching failure if that loss doesn't qualify.
 
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#11
#11
If we lose to a Vandy team that is easily the worst in over a decade and is currently 2-7, considering we have three SEC wins already, it will absolutely, unequivocally be a coaching failure. There is no such thing as coaching failure if that loss doesn't qualify.
Best I can figure then is that the coaching staff better play that game. A player may do something stupid.
 
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#14
#14
Best I can figure then is that the coaching staff better play that game. A player may do something stupid.
Sup Hawk? Hope you're doing good. I don't think we lose to Vandy, I absolutely believe Pruitt lost his one and only to Vanderbilt last year. But if I'm wrong, I have to agree with the others even though it chaps my ass, Lol. He really can't lose to Vandy this year, there's no excuse.

Jmo though.
 
#15
#15
As we near the end of this season, I can't help but look back at Pruitt's almost two seasons here and noticed how similar they have been to this point.

Bad starts - I can remember watching the WVU game last year and thinking that this team was in trouble. I felt like we were multiple seasons away from having a competitive roster. And I was okay with the idea of that, because Butch left our cupboard pretty bare. This season's start... oh boy. It felt like we had taken a step back from the opener of 2018 somehow. Our roster wasn't near ready to win meaningful SEC games. That's the only way I could view us

Florida - Yikes. Definitely the low point of 2018 for me. We got annihilated and didn't even look like we belonged on the field. 2019 wasn't much different. My hopelessness was at a high point for both seasons after the Gators were done with us.

Georgia - Against UGA, however, the 2018 Vols showed life. The Vols were in the game until late and gave the Dawgs all they wanted. The 2019 Vols also handled Georgia throughout much of the first half and seemed like a team that could be competitive in most games moving forward. This was the first real glimpse of optimism in both seasons that we could win an SEC game or two.

SEC West win – 2018 gave us Auburn, 2019 gave us MSU, just when we needed them. A win in conference against the West helped both seasons feel like we could get on a run and compete in the last half of the year.

Kentucky – In both 2018 and 2019, the 4-5 Vols had a win over Kentucky that brought us within 1 win of bowl eligibility. I will say the 2018 win felt better because of UK’s ranking and how bad we beat them, but a comeback win in Lexington at night isn’t anything to complain about.

While I know there are some obvious differences between 2018 and 2019 (competing with Bama, beating SCAR, etc.), my point is this: We find ourselves in an almost identical spot as last year. We have just beaten Kentucky, needing to beat Mizzou or Vandy to get to a bowl. We all know what happened last year…

So for this years team, these last two games will be my measuring stick. Are we going to be a team/program that folds late in the year, or are we a team that can take control of November and give us momentum to build on in the offseason? Have we truly taken a step forward as a program this year, or will we be starting from square 1 in 2020 just like we did this year? I can’t wait for these last few games, and I’m hoping our boys can rise to the occasion.
Our roster was and is better than everyone besides UF, UGA, Bama on our schedule. Not even remotely bare
 
#16
#16
Sup Hawk? Hope you're doing good. I don't think we lose to Vandy, I absolutely believe Pruitt lost his one and only to Vanderbilt last year. But if I'm wrong, I have to agree with the others even though it chaps my ass, Lol. He really can't lose to Vandy this year, there's no excuse.

Jmo though.
Hey. Same ole,same ole. I just can't put it solely on the coaches or players. BYU and bammer come to mind in particular. Gotta see the game and then I'll know who did what. I just can't blame someone in advance.
 
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#17
#17
If we lose to Vandy this year, I wouldn't begrudge anyone for saying they're done with Pruitt. You'd have an even better case for doing so than after the Georgia St loss. Losing to them would be worse than Dooley's loss to Kentucky in his second season.

Vandy is absolutely terrible - much worse than their team last year, and worse than us this year. They already have played themselves out of a bowl (max wins they can end up with is 5) so they don't have bowl motivation, which I think had something to do with their victories in 2016 and 2018. We're playing them at home. Even if we lose to Mizzou, we lock up a 6th win with a victory over them, so there's a bowl for us to play for. There is no excuse whatsoever to lose to them this year.
 
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#18
#18
They are definitely showing progress but we need to finish strong and sign some recruits I’m starting to get tired of every offer being described by writers as ”a diamond in the rough“ or fast rising star that is rated 1500+. We are missing on too many recruits.
 
#20
#20
At this point, losing to both Missouri and Vandy to miss out on bowl eligibility would put Pruitt right back in the hot seat talk. We can’t afford to lose them both.
 
#21
#21
As we near the end of this season, I can't help but look back at Pruitt's almost two seasons here and noticed how similar they have been to this point.

Bad starts - I can remember watching the WVU game last year and thinking that this team was in trouble. I felt like we were multiple seasons away from having a competitive roster. And I was okay with the idea of that, because Butch left our cupboard pretty bare. This season's start... oh boy. It felt like we had taken a step back from the opener of 2018 somehow. Our roster wasn't near ready to win meaningful SEC games. That's the only way I could view us

SEC West win – 2018 gave us Auburn, 2019 gave us MSU, just when we needed them. A win in conference against the West helped both seasons feel like we could get on a run and compete in the last half of the year.

Kentucky – In both 2018 and 2019, the 4-5 Vols had a win over Kentucky that brought us within 1 win of bowl eligibility. I will say the 2018 win felt better because of UK’s ranking and how bad we beat them, but a comeback win in Lexington at night isn’t anything to complain about.

While I know there are some obvious differences between 2018 and 2019 (competing with Bama, beating SCAR, etc.), my point is this: We find ourselves in an almost identical spot as last year. We have just beaten Kentucky, needing to beat Mizzou or Vandy to get to a bowl. We all know what happened last year…

So for this years team, these last two games will be my measuring stick. Are we going to be a team/program that folds late in the year, or are we a team that can take control of November and give us momentum to build on in the offseason? Have we truly taken a step forward as a program this year, or will we be starting from square 1 in 2020 just like we did this year? I can’t wait for these last few games, and I’m hoping our boys can rise to the occasion.

I'm sure glad we got the bye week going into those two teams this season.

Also, Vandy and Mizzou were playing good football last season when we played them. They are both floundering now and desperately trying to right the ship.
 
#23
#23
You'll have to se how the game plays out to find that out. No way you can predict that. Just sayin'.
Nope. Vandy is so bad that even the third stringers should beat them so there are zero excuses outside of acts of god preventing the game from finishing out.
 

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