NighthawkVol
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We got home last night from spending my birthday weekend in the North Carolina side of the Smokies near Bryson City (hometown of one Heath Shuler), so I haven’t had a chance to rewatch. Therefore, I'm not comfortable stating afew thoughts I have until they're "confirmed" on rewatch. I do know that I did not enjoy this game at all. I got so tense at the end of the game I got a calf cramp. But I gutted it out on the last 3 plays of the game and continued watching while massaging my calf. I gave my all for Tennessee.
The bad:
-We didn’t look focused at all. It felt like another Tennessee road game under Heupel against an inferior opponent in which we just don’t show up mentally. A fumbled punt. Penalties. Dropped passes, including what should have been a long TD. Missed tackles. Giving up the fake punt 1st down. It just felt like they were checked out for much of the game.
-Why can’t we protect the edge in the run game? It's been a problem all year.
-Why did Hood pull the WR’s jersey on that long incomplete pass that was called for PI? Yes, it was uncatchable and shouldn’t have been called, but my God, there was NO NEED to even give the ref an opportunity to make the bad call. Hood could have turned around and started jogging back to the line of scrimmage and he wasn’t catching that pass. Just no need. Lack of focus.
-Gilbert missed another. Yes, he hit one or two after that, but he seems to be in his own head a little. Hope I'm wrong.
-The clock management at the end of the game is concerning. Why Heupel didn’t call TO after Bishop’s 1st down is beyond me. You can’t take the TOs with you. He was coaching like we had no timeouts.
-Telander needs to be a backup. Not a starter or co-starter. Spillman is clearly a better option.
-We continue to see communication breakdowns in the secondary. The long pass that Turrentine gave up on a bust should have been a TD. We were lucky it wasn’t. I really hope they can get that stuff fixed over the bye week.
-Kaleb Beasley got beat deep. He hasn’t been nearly what we hoped he’d be, at least not yet. Farooq missed some tackles too.
The good:
-That’s a game we lose in past years. This team not only showed a collective toughness that we haven’t seen in the past, but also a bunch of individuals showed some mental fortitude. Staley had a terrible game, fumbling a punt, letting another roll to the 1, missing a block on a Matthews reception that could’ve been a TD. But on 3rd and 6 on the game tying drive, there he was, fighting for the first down when he should’ve been stopped. Arion Carter had some missed tackles. But there he was, breaking up the final 4th down pass. Aguilar threw some INTs, but was a steady presence at the end of the game. Dudes kept their heads up and kept fighting after screwing up. That’s a great indicator of a tough team.
-Chris Brazzell. Good Lord, that kid is good. Throw him the ball more. What a turnaround from last year.
-DeSean Bishop is a fantastic pass blocker. That’s why he starts. Glad he got the winning TD because he does the little things.
-Tyre West was a beast. Caleb Herring might be the next James Pearce. We can really rush the passer. Hobbs will give us even more pass rush inside. Now learn to stop the run. Please.
-Ty Redmond is turning into a really good CB. It’s getting harder and harder to pick on him now.
-We continue to see offensive creativity. I loved the single wing look on the tying TD.
-David Sanders is going to improve this Oline. What a great first play for that kid. And he had a crucial block on the tying TD.
-Van Dorsalaer should be the #2 TE, whether Davis is healthy or not. Two HUGE blocks in that game, including on the winning TD. He’s exactly what you want in a TE…a great combination of toughness and athleticism. I hope his PT starts going way up.
Two weeks to get better. There is a lot to improve on, but I’d rather have them do it off a win than a loss. No major injuries that I know of in that game, so we have a chance to go into the Arkansas game healthier than we’ve been all year (including going into Game 1). It’ll be fun to see what they do with this off week. They should be fired up to beat Arkansas after what they did to us last year.
The bad:
-We didn’t look focused at all. It felt like another Tennessee road game under Heupel against an inferior opponent in which we just don’t show up mentally. A fumbled punt. Penalties. Dropped passes, including what should have been a long TD. Missed tackles. Giving up the fake punt 1st down. It just felt like they were checked out for much of the game.
-Why can’t we protect the edge in the run game? It's been a problem all year.
-Why did Hood pull the WR’s jersey on that long incomplete pass that was called for PI? Yes, it was uncatchable and shouldn’t have been called, but my God, there was NO NEED to even give the ref an opportunity to make the bad call. Hood could have turned around and started jogging back to the line of scrimmage and he wasn’t catching that pass. Just no need. Lack of focus.
-Gilbert missed another. Yes, he hit one or two after that, but he seems to be in his own head a little. Hope I'm wrong.
-The clock management at the end of the game is concerning. Why Heupel didn’t call TO after Bishop’s 1st down is beyond me. You can’t take the TOs with you. He was coaching like we had no timeouts.
-Telander needs to be a backup. Not a starter or co-starter. Spillman is clearly a better option.
-We continue to see communication breakdowns in the secondary. The long pass that Turrentine gave up on a bust should have been a TD. We were lucky it wasn’t. I really hope they can get that stuff fixed over the bye week.
-Kaleb Beasley got beat deep. He hasn’t been nearly what we hoped he’d be, at least not yet. Farooq missed some tackles too.
The good:
-That’s a game we lose in past years. This team not only showed a collective toughness that we haven’t seen in the past, but also a bunch of individuals showed some mental fortitude. Staley had a terrible game, fumbling a punt, letting another roll to the 1, missing a block on a Matthews reception that could’ve been a TD. But on 3rd and 6 on the game tying drive, there he was, fighting for the first down when he should’ve been stopped. Arion Carter had some missed tackles. But there he was, breaking up the final 4th down pass. Aguilar threw some INTs, but was a steady presence at the end of the game. Dudes kept their heads up and kept fighting after screwing up. That’s a great indicator of a tough team.
-Chris Brazzell. Good Lord, that kid is good. Throw him the ball more. What a turnaround from last year.
-DeSean Bishop is a fantastic pass blocker. That’s why he starts. Glad he got the winning TD because he does the little things.
-Tyre West was a beast. Caleb Herring might be the next James Pearce. We can really rush the passer. Hobbs will give us even more pass rush inside. Now learn to stop the run. Please.
-Ty Redmond is turning into a really good CB. It’s getting harder and harder to pick on him now.
-We continue to see offensive creativity. I loved the single wing look on the tying TD.
-David Sanders is going to improve this Oline. What a great first play for that kid. And he had a crucial block on the tying TD.
-Van Dorsalaer should be the #2 TE, whether Davis is healthy or not. Two HUGE blocks in that game, including on the winning TD. He’s exactly what you want in a TE…a great combination of toughness and athleticism. I hope his PT starts going way up.
Two weeks to get better. There is a lot to improve on, but I’d rather have them do it off a win than a loss. No major injuries that I know of in that game, so we have a chance to go into the Arkansas game healthier than we’ve been all year (including going into Game 1). It’ll be fun to see what they do with this off week. They should be fired up to beat Arkansas after what they did to us last year.
