London Vol
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GAME 9 – UCONN 4 NOV 2023
So, 9 games are now in the book (where is the season going?) and after last night’s impressive 59-3 drubbing of UCONN Tennessee find themselves at a healthy 7-2 as the Vols took care of business quickly and efficiently. Joe Milton built on his two good performances with another sharp outing, we finally saw some of last year’s fireworks with 83, 82 and 60 yard TDs, there was another 275 yards rushing and a secondary who scored 3 TDs after looking porous early on. Impressive seemed a suitable word to sum last night’s game up.
Before the game I decided that there were two things I was hoping for 1) no injuries especially to the starters and this seems to be the case as I have not read of any major concerns. 2) This game was probably the last game of the season to stage a beauty pageant for next season, so I was watching carefully if anybody stood out, particularly Nico Iamaleava, Cameron Seldon, Dont’e Thornton, Arion Carter and Rickey Gibson to name a few. So, I am grading each unit on these fringe players only.
QUARTERBACKS B +
No prizes for which player all eyes were on last night. Iamaleava has been sighted less often that the Loch Ness Monster this season, but the water parted and suddenly he appeared for all too short a time. The sample size, as mentioned, was short but my personal observations were that, on the plus side, he was accurate “over the middle” something that big Joe isn’t, and he is mobile enough to throw “well on the run” which will allow the game planning to be more open next season. On the minus side he still looks so thin to absorb the rough and tumble of an SEC season and I quite expected him to have bulked up a bit having been in the S & C program for nearly a year. He also still looks a bit like Bambi on ice. These are two harsh criticisms and I hope and believe the coaches will rectify these for next season. Overall, he does look to have the potential to be a star, but it did show, to me anyway, that Milton is the right choice this season.
RUNNING BACKS B
With Jaylen Wight and Jabari Small likely gone in 2024, Dylan Sampson will justifiably become the No 1 running back, but as we know Coach Heupel likes a stable of backs and last light I was particularly interested in Cameron Seldon. He contributed 35 yards from 6 carries and looked good enough to already be the back up to Sampson next year. I also like that he has a different skillset being the larger type of back.
WIDE RECEIVERS C
We could easily have Bru McCoy, Squirrel White and next year’s 5 * Freshman Mike Matthews (the highest recruited WR in Tennessee`s history I believe) marauding in the opposing secondary next year, so I was interested to see if Dont’e Thornton could build on last week’s performance and the jury for me is still out. But as mentioned next season will not depend entirely on him.
TIGHT ENDS B+
One I did forget of and was pleased with, was Ethan Davis. He snared 2 catches for 33 yards. But it was his movement which was smother than both Warren and Castles that caught my attention. I don’t know his blocking capabilities which is important in the Huepel system, but I predict he will be our most productive receiving TE for the last decade or more.
OFFENSIVE LINE N/A
There was no one to look for apart from Addison Nichols, whom I am disappointed hasn’t managed to break into the O`line already. If we lose Cooper Mays and Javontez Spraggins and although we have some real talent in the 2024 class, it is hard to impress in the SEC as a Freshman lineman we do look thin here next season. Therefore, I think we might be hitting the Transfer Portal very hard here.
DEFENSIVE LINE B
Most of next year’s O`Line is this years O’Line so not much here to observe although I am intrigued by what Daevin Hobbs will be able to do in his time at Knoxville. Last night he was solid with 2 Assists and ½ a TFL.
LINEBACKERS A -
I was disappointed that Carter was a non-starter but my dark horse at the beginning of the season Jeremiah Telander shone again with 5 Tackles and 1 TFL. I still believe Carter will be a big star but Telander is going to be a serious part of our rotation for the next few years
DEFENSIVE BACKS A +
The last member on my watch list also turned out to be the most impressive and that is Rickey Gibson III. 4 Tackles and 1 TFL is good, but it was the tight coverage he displayed on a number of other plays that got my attention, something our DB`s have often struggled to do. Now I know he is incredibly inexperienced to be manning “an island” in the next two games, but if he takes his lumps and comes through it, then we just might have sorted one half of the Cornerback situation, which is an area that seems to plague Tennessee year after year.
If you bank the game against Vanderbilt, then the worst-case scenario this season is 8-4 and that should be regarded as a successful year. Remember Shane Beamer at USC (who said they were better than Tennessee) just held off Jacksonville St to record their 3rd victory of the season, that is 4 games, I will spell that “four games behind the Vols” and Florida has to win a game against LSU, Ole Miss or Florida St just to gain bowl eligibility. Yet the feel is Tennessee, and particularly Joe Milton are getting stronger each week so all bets are off regarding the next two games and that this season could become very very good.
Please feel free to discuss the above after all its just my thoughts.
GO VOLS
So, 9 games are now in the book (where is the season going?) and after last night’s impressive 59-3 drubbing of UCONN Tennessee find themselves at a healthy 7-2 as the Vols took care of business quickly and efficiently. Joe Milton built on his two good performances with another sharp outing, we finally saw some of last year’s fireworks with 83, 82 and 60 yard TDs, there was another 275 yards rushing and a secondary who scored 3 TDs after looking porous early on. Impressive seemed a suitable word to sum last night’s game up.
Before the game I decided that there were two things I was hoping for 1) no injuries especially to the starters and this seems to be the case as I have not read of any major concerns. 2) This game was probably the last game of the season to stage a beauty pageant for next season, so I was watching carefully if anybody stood out, particularly Nico Iamaleava, Cameron Seldon, Dont’e Thornton, Arion Carter and Rickey Gibson to name a few. So, I am grading each unit on these fringe players only.
QUARTERBACKS B +
No prizes for which player all eyes were on last night. Iamaleava has been sighted less often that the Loch Ness Monster this season, but the water parted and suddenly he appeared for all too short a time. The sample size, as mentioned, was short but my personal observations were that, on the plus side, he was accurate “over the middle” something that big Joe isn’t, and he is mobile enough to throw “well on the run” which will allow the game planning to be more open next season. On the minus side he still looks so thin to absorb the rough and tumble of an SEC season and I quite expected him to have bulked up a bit having been in the S & C program for nearly a year. He also still looks a bit like Bambi on ice. These are two harsh criticisms and I hope and believe the coaches will rectify these for next season. Overall, he does look to have the potential to be a star, but it did show, to me anyway, that Milton is the right choice this season.
RUNNING BACKS B
With Jaylen Wight and Jabari Small likely gone in 2024, Dylan Sampson will justifiably become the No 1 running back, but as we know Coach Heupel likes a stable of backs and last light I was particularly interested in Cameron Seldon. He contributed 35 yards from 6 carries and looked good enough to already be the back up to Sampson next year. I also like that he has a different skillset being the larger type of back.
WIDE RECEIVERS C
We could easily have Bru McCoy, Squirrel White and next year’s 5 * Freshman Mike Matthews (the highest recruited WR in Tennessee`s history I believe) marauding in the opposing secondary next year, so I was interested to see if Dont’e Thornton could build on last week’s performance and the jury for me is still out. But as mentioned next season will not depend entirely on him.
TIGHT ENDS B+
One I did forget of and was pleased with, was Ethan Davis. He snared 2 catches for 33 yards. But it was his movement which was smother than both Warren and Castles that caught my attention. I don’t know his blocking capabilities which is important in the Huepel system, but I predict he will be our most productive receiving TE for the last decade or more.
OFFENSIVE LINE N/A
There was no one to look for apart from Addison Nichols, whom I am disappointed hasn’t managed to break into the O`line already. If we lose Cooper Mays and Javontez Spraggins and although we have some real talent in the 2024 class, it is hard to impress in the SEC as a Freshman lineman we do look thin here next season. Therefore, I think we might be hitting the Transfer Portal very hard here.
DEFENSIVE LINE B
Most of next year’s O`Line is this years O’Line so not much here to observe although I am intrigued by what Daevin Hobbs will be able to do in his time at Knoxville. Last night he was solid with 2 Assists and ½ a TFL.
LINEBACKERS A -
I was disappointed that Carter was a non-starter but my dark horse at the beginning of the season Jeremiah Telander shone again with 5 Tackles and 1 TFL. I still believe Carter will be a big star but Telander is going to be a serious part of our rotation for the next few years
DEFENSIVE BACKS A +
The last member on my watch list also turned out to be the most impressive and that is Rickey Gibson III. 4 Tackles and 1 TFL is good, but it was the tight coverage he displayed on a number of other plays that got my attention, something our DB`s have often struggled to do. Now I know he is incredibly inexperienced to be manning “an island” in the next two games, but if he takes his lumps and comes through it, then we just might have sorted one half of the Cornerback situation, which is an area that seems to plague Tennessee year after year.
If you bank the game against Vanderbilt, then the worst-case scenario this season is 8-4 and that should be regarded as a successful year. Remember Shane Beamer at USC (who said they were better than Tennessee) just held off Jacksonville St to record their 3rd victory of the season, that is 4 games, I will spell that “four games behind the Vols” and Florida has to win a game against LSU, Ole Miss or Florida St just to gain bowl eligibility. Yet the feel is Tennessee, and particularly Joe Milton are getting stronger each week so all bets are off regarding the next two games and that this season could become very very good.
Please feel free to discuss the above after all its just my thoughts.
GO VOLS
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