Similarities between 2018 and 2019 so far

[VolforFootball]

CJP is coach of the year. Impossible.

Lol

 

[ptclaus98]

Maybe it's because I didn't watch the whole game, but from what I've seen of the 2018 UGA game, we were never really close. Why does everyone say that was a close game. Even at 24-12 it didn't really feel close.

 

[lukeneyland]

This years team is much better at protecting the passer. Run blocking isn't there yet though but at least we're seeing progress

 

[Roustabout]

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.

Agreed. Everyone was pretty upbeat when UT beat two quality SEC teams. Then they **** the bed.
I don’t think this team is having the internal division that last years had.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

The difference with the team is that the 2019 team is playing much better at the line of scrimmage than the 2018 team...physically and fundamentally better. The defense as a unit is better than in 2018 and still improving.

Now...looking at the difference between the 2019 and 2018 versions of Missouri and Vanderbilt...well, both are noticeably worse.

The end of the 2019 season is set up better with the bye week and then two teams that are struggling. Add in that Tennessee is a better team right now than at any point in 2018 and the defense is playing well enough that the game should never get out of hand even if the offense struggles. It would be a disappointment to lose one of the last two games and inexcusable to lose both.

 

[VAVol85]

I am ready for the kind of Black and Gold "bloodletting" that would have made Coach Cafego proud. I strongly suspect that this year's team will be ready to oblige that request,

Whenever I think of Cafego and Vandy, I recall Vandy’s cheap shot on Fuad Reviez on a kickoff. I believe Cafego was special teams coach at the time. Cafego hated Vandy with a passion.

 

[USMC-TNVOL]

There’s difference though if you look at ESPN efficiencies for offense and defense. Both are higher than last year. Plus I doubt our defense had given up as little points as they did last year in the second half. We didn’t have multiple weeks in a row of SEC defensive players of the week. We’ve had some SEC offensive players of the week as well. Also, they didn’t have two bye weeks last year. They get a bye week before our schedule ends and at a good time before they head to Missouri.

 

[photovol]

6-6 would definitely be a disappointment, 7-5 would be an improvement over last year, the Vols must win the last 2 games to be considered heading in the right direction

 

[photovol]

If the Vols can go on the road and win at Mizzou, I'll have more confidence in Pruitt and this coaching staff, if not, will it be another year before we know if Pruitt can cut the mustard?

 

[EZE]

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.

This is a very fair outlook IMO. Especially when you look at the biggest difference. Mizzou and Vandy have both taken huge steps back. No excuse to lose both of these games.

 

[EZE]

6-6 would definitely be a disappointment, 7-5 would be an improvement over last year, the Vols must win the last 2 games to be considered heading in the right direction

I wouldn’t go that far. I think a 7-6 finish or better gives reason for optimism, especially given the struggles at QB throughout the season.

Anything less than that, and I think we are still in the wait-and-see approach for next season.

 

[Tarkus]

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.

Another difference is that we were pretty beat up and tired going into those two games last year and this year we have the bye. We truly needed it too. There's no good reason we shouldn't get at least one more win and get bowl eligible.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

This year's team has better Sr leadership and playmakers are making more plays at key moments. Last year we had about 40 guys on the roster that were not SEC material. This team plays with much more emotion and toughness than last year. Last year Mizz and Vandy had quality Sr leaders playing QB, Bryant for Mizz is quality but he's all they have on offense. Our D should feast on both of these teams. I don't see either one scoring much more than 20 vs our improving D as we've got more playmakers than they do.

 

[photovol]

Same record 10 games into the year of 5-5, the next two games will define this years team