London Vol
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GAME 10 – MISSOURI 11 NOV 2023
To describe last night game, I wish to recite the catchphrase from Sherrif Roscoe P. Coltrane in the Dukes of Hazzard when talking to his Bassett Hound dog Flash, he would say “you sure is ugly” that best labels Missouri v Tennessee 2023.
I have a policy of never writing about the games until I have slept on it when some of the raw emotion has dispersed and perhaps a more rational view will emerge. On reflection today I think a major issue from last night was the coaching. Now I am a fully paid up supporter of Josh Heupel who has a record on 25-11 in Knoxville which is far better than any of his four predecessors, and 2023 now looks like a 8-4 season which is far from being a failure, but there were a number of concerns that re-surfaced last night and for that reason I will to take a macro view of the game on the coaching against Missouri instead of the micro analysis of the Team Units that I normally write about.
COACHING
This defeat was not on Joe, Not only was he missing McCoy but Thornton and Squirrel were injured before half time, yet he was 14-15 for 245 yards deep into the game. Yes, the pick 6 was bad but that play has been waiting to happen for so long. I also felt he played with passion again. So yes, it wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t the reason for last night’s result. As for Nico, well Joe has 1 pass in the whole of the 1st quarter so how was Nico meant to improve on that? or how can Nico have stopped the 20-play drive, of course he couldn’t. In fact, I am starting to worry about him as some believe that he will win a Natty, The Heisman Trophy, a Nobel Peace prize and cure Cancer all next year. This is not fair on him and if he stutters early in 2024 just image the meltdown.
THE REFS FIX
Yes, like many, I am dismayed at the number of no-calls on holding our pass rushers and it is easy to think the Refs are biased, well if they were, then our TD would have been overturned and Milton would have been ruled that he was over the line of scrimmage on the forward pass. No, they are sadly just often bad.
QUARTERBACKS B Valient effort, but he did get more angst and overthrew towards the end
RUNNING BACKS E- Jaylen Wight fumbles either side of half time were pivotal
WIDE RECEIVERS C despite injuries Webb and Nimrod did OK
TIGHT ENDS C. some good blocks but missing in passing game
OFFENSIVE LINE C- Little penetration but also only giving up one sack was good
DEFENSIVE LINE B The good 3 Sacks and 8 TFLs, the bad overpowered in run game and gap indiscipline.
LINEBACKERS F- Herring and Thomas out of their depth yet they stayed in the game, quite frankly unexplainable.
DEFENSIVE BACKS F Avoided an F- due to one pass break up by Jeudy-Lally and an INT from McCullough (thanks to Barons tip). But other than that, missing in action.
As I said earlier this doesnt mean this is a disastrous season but the 1st half at Florida, the 2nd half at Alabama and the whole game at Missouri there is a pattern that cannot be ignored if we wish to be an elite program.
Sorry to be so negative but please feel free to discuss the above after all its just my thoughts.
GO VOLS
To describe last night game, I wish to recite the catchphrase from Sherrif Roscoe P. Coltrane in the Dukes of Hazzard when talking to his Bassett Hound dog Flash, he would say “you sure is ugly” that best labels Missouri v Tennessee 2023.
I have a policy of never writing about the games until I have slept on it when some of the raw emotion has dispersed and perhaps a more rational view will emerge. On reflection today I think a major issue from last night was the coaching. Now I am a fully paid up supporter of Josh Heupel who has a record on 25-11 in Knoxville which is far better than any of his four predecessors, and 2023 now looks like a 8-4 season which is far from being a failure, but there were a number of concerns that re-surfaced last night and for that reason I will to take a macro view of the game on the coaching against Missouri instead of the micro analysis of the Team Units that I normally write about.
COACHING
- Play calling – repeatedly running up the middle when there was no obvious push from the O`Line was only putting us behind the curve ball time again.
- Dylan Sampson – not unleashing him until the game was over was a repeat of the Florida debacle, how his number is not called before Jabari Small is crazy. I really hope he does not get frustrated to the level of entering the Portal.
- Lack of discipline when rushing the passer - gap discipline was really poor especially when Missouri was on their own 1-yard line and 3rd down, the gap for the quarterback 24 yard scramble was embarrassing
- Kick-off returns – Dee Williams fair catching at the 10 yard line yet returning it from deep within the end zone was indefensible.
- Missed tackles – this one really gets to me. We missed so many tackles sometimes two or three on a particular run. Wrapping up and tackling angles are down to coaching, or more accurately, a lack of.
- Telander and Gibson – I don’t like calling out players but Herring (it felt like a pitcher having conceded 15 runs was still pitching in the 8th innings) was dreadfully slow in pass defence and Slaughter is clearly out of position at CB. Both players should have been pulled way earlier especially as Telander and Gibson have both shown promise this season.
- Long Ball – The one long ball was brilliantly converted into a touchdown by Thornton yet no more attempts downfield. I think this has been a recurring play call issue all season and I do wonder if we miss Alex Golesh more than we realised.
- 20 seconds before half time – how can you allow a 35-yard run untouched from their own 25 yard line. It changed the mood completely. We were totally outplayed in the 1st half and yet should have gone in at half time at least level.
This defeat was not on Joe, Not only was he missing McCoy but Thornton and Squirrel were injured before half time, yet he was 14-15 for 245 yards deep into the game. Yes, the pick 6 was bad but that play has been waiting to happen for so long. I also felt he played with passion again. So yes, it wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t the reason for last night’s result. As for Nico, well Joe has 1 pass in the whole of the 1st quarter so how was Nico meant to improve on that? or how can Nico have stopped the 20-play drive, of course he couldn’t. In fact, I am starting to worry about him as some believe that he will win a Natty, The Heisman Trophy, a Nobel Peace prize and cure Cancer all next year. This is not fair on him and if he stutters early in 2024 just image the meltdown.
THE REFS FIX
Yes, like many, I am dismayed at the number of no-calls on holding our pass rushers and it is easy to think the Refs are biased, well if they were, then our TD would have been overturned and Milton would have been ruled that he was over the line of scrimmage on the forward pass. No, they are sadly just often bad.
QUARTERBACKS B Valient effort, but he did get more angst and overthrew towards the end
RUNNING BACKS E- Jaylen Wight fumbles either side of half time were pivotal
WIDE RECEIVERS C despite injuries Webb and Nimrod did OK
TIGHT ENDS C. some good blocks but missing in passing game
OFFENSIVE LINE C- Little penetration but also only giving up one sack was good
DEFENSIVE LINE B The good 3 Sacks and 8 TFLs, the bad overpowered in run game and gap indiscipline.
LINEBACKERS F- Herring and Thomas out of their depth yet they stayed in the game, quite frankly unexplainable.
DEFENSIVE BACKS F Avoided an F- due to one pass break up by Jeudy-Lally and an INT from McCullough (thanks to Barons tip). But other than that, missing in action.
As I said earlier this doesnt mean this is a disastrous season but the 1st half at Florida, the 2nd half at Alabama and the whole game at Missouri there is a pattern that cannot be ignored if we wish to be an elite program.
Sorry to be so negative but please feel free to discuss the above after all its just my thoughts.
GO VOLS
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