'24 AL EDGE Jordan Ross (Tennessee)

[PlanetVolunteer]

Not saying it didnt affect our offense but at the same time our offense just didn't show up . The crowd affected our offense the most. Offensive line couldn't block, wide receivers either dropped passes or couldn't get open, running game couldn't do much because of the push from the defensive line. We lost in pretty much every faze of the game.
But uga threw the ball a whopping 4 times in the 2nd half.
The only toichdown we had happened in garbage time.
Like it or not georgia straight up out played us. They were ready. We were not. The rain just made it to where it stayed within 2 scores.

That's all fair

The issue is UGA's belief that Kirby has solved TN's "gimmick" offense

When it was
Rain
Crowd
Penalties
Them dominating the line of scrimmage
Not some superior scheme.

 

[BleedingOrangeInChatt]

That's all fair

The issue is UGA's belief that Kirby has solved TN's "gimmick" offense

When it was
Rain
Crowd
Penalties
Them dominating the line of scrimmage
Not some superior scheme.

Agree 100%

 

[Dewey]

Kinda getting Tomarrion Parker vibes with Ross. Last year we were consistently in the top ground with TP while he changed out schools before ultimately choosing Clemson

VOLS, Penn St, UGA
VOLS, FL, Clemson

Hopefully the LSU/Auburn chatter isn’t much of anything and this kid looks to make a move to the good guys in the near future.

 

[OGbabyaviVol]

That's all fair

The issue is UGA's belief that Kirby has solved TN's "gimmick" offense

When it was
Rain
Crowd
Penalties
Them dominating the line of scrimmage
Not some superior scheme.

What solved the offense the most was the DBs being allowed to hold the entire game without penalty. Simple as that. Kirby even admitted it.

 

[sjt18]

That's all fair

The issue is UGA's belief that Kirby has solved TN's "gimmick" offense

When it was
Rain
Crowd
Penalties
Them dominating the line of scrimmage
Not some superior scheme.

In addition to @OGbabyaviVol 's addition... there is still a talent/skill gap. There's nothing to be ashamed of there. Kirby had a big head start at the moment he stepped into that job. Heupel is closing it. Contrary to the belief of some... Heupel doesn't have to sign "top 5" classes as rated by the recruiting sites. He needs guys with talent that he has developed... and he needs them with sufficient depth. What he did last year was with the 19th most talented roster as rated by 247 but due to the nature of the attrition that ranking was probably an overestimate.

He is one of the best X's and O's coaches in the country. With due respect, I think Smart is very good at a lot of things... but not particularly that. He has just been able to capitalize on the best recruiting situation in the country to build a grossly talented roster. I think his staff develops well. But on game day... there are a lot of guys better.

You can't miss what Heupel emphasized when talking about the roster when he came in. They were short bodies. Not just guys they want on the roster who are ready to play... but numbers of bodies. It still isn't ideal. The roster is made up of the old and young. The middle aged guys are in shorter supply. After this year, they'll need the portal but UT will also become "younger". Underclassmen with tons of talent will take over. The process won't be complete. Things won't be "normal" yet with the make up of the roster. But it will be much closer and MUCH more dangerous.

 

[KnoxToTheBoro93]

In addition to @OGbabyaviVol 's addition... there is still a talent/skill gap. There's nothing to be ashamed of there. Kirby had a big head start at the moment he stepped into that job. Heupel is closing it. Contrary to the belief of some... Heupel doesn't have to sign "top 5" classes as rated by the recruiting sites. He needs guys with talent that he has developed... and he needs them with sufficient depth. What he did last year was with the 19th most talented roster as rated by 247 but due to the nature of the attrition that ranking was probably an overestimate.

He is one of the best X's and O's coaches in the country. With due respect, I think Smart is very good at a lot of things... but not particularly that. He has just been able to capitalize on the best recruiting situation in the country to build a grossly talented roster. I think his staff develops well. But on game day... there are a lot of guys better.

You can't miss what Heupel emphasized when talking about the roster when he came in. They were short bodies. Not just guys they want on the roster who are ready to play... but numbers of bodies. It still isn't ideal. The roster is made up of the old and young. The middle aged guys are in shorter supply. After this year, they'll need the portal but UT will also become "younger". Underclassmen with tons of talent will take over. The process won't be complete. Things won't be "normal" yet with the make up of the roster. But it will be much closer and MUCH more dangerous.

Kirby ain’t the best X and O guy but boy does he know how to motivate his team… he brainwashes them into believing ppl doubt them lol and almost every big game they have had in the past 3 seasons they come out ready to play… another thing we have to find a way to do is match the physicality they play with on all 3 levels Kirby still let’s his guys tackle to the ground 1 day a week during the season and it’s risky but does show up on game day because they are assignment sound and rarely miss tackles… I think we have a really good shot in neyland but we will have to take it from a physical stand point it won’t be easy. Another advantage they have this season particularly is they can prepare for us a little bit all season without much fear of losing because we seem to be their only tough game this season so they will be the most prepped team for our offense we see all year once again… I’m very excited for that one I know neyland might break a record if we have 1 or fewer losses going into that game.

 

[volbeast33]

That's all fair

The issue is UGA's belief that Kirby has solved TN's "gimmick" offense

When it was
Rain
Crowd
Penalties
Them dominating the line of scrimmage
Not some superior scheme.

They have shut us down for two years in a row…. The only way to change that narrative is to play better this year.

 

[LouderVol]

In addition to sjt18's responses to this post already, our defense also gave up a ton of 4th down conversions last year.

because we faced a ton. We faced the same number of 4th down attempts as did Georgia, and they played two more games than we did, and were number 1 for most of the season.

 

[norrislakevol]

In addition to @OGbabyaviVol 's addition... there is still a talent/skill gap. There's nothing to be ashamed of there. Kirby had a big head start at the moment he stepped into that job. Heupel is closing it. Contrary to the belief of some... Heupel doesn't have to sign "top 5" classes as rated by the recruiting sites. He needs guys with talent that he has developed... and he needs them with sufficient depth. What he did last year was with the 19th most talented roster as rated by 247 but due to the nature of the attrition that ranking was probably an overestimate.

He is one of the best X's and O's coaches in the country. With due respect, I think Smart is very good at a lot of things... but not particularly that. He has just been able to capitalize on the best recruiting situation in the country to build a grossly talented roster. I think his staff develops well. But on game day... there are a lot of guys better.

You can't miss what Heupel emphasized when talking about the roster when he came in. They were short bodies. Not just guys they want on the roster who are ready to play... but numbers of bodies. It still isn't ideal. The roster is made up of the old and young. The middle aged guys are in shorter supply. After this year, they'll need the portal but UT will also become "younger". Underclassmen with tons of talent will take over. The process won't be complete. Things won't be "normal" yet with the make up of the roster. But it will be much closer and MUCH more dangerous.

Good post, and a lot of truth there. I really think we start seeing it all come together in 2025 and 2026. We should have plenty of talent and depth across the board then if things continue as they are. The Vols are already a tough out for anyone right now, in another couple of years they should be dominate.

 

[VolNash17]

That's all fair

The issue is UGA's belief that Kirby has solved TN's "gimmick" offense

When it was
Rain
Crowd
Penalties
Them dominating the line of scrimmage
Not some superior scheme.

That’s what I believe as well. Kirby just currently has a ridiculous talent advantage stacked up on his defense compared to what UT has on their roster. Heupel is changing that though with Nico, Seldon and the guys coming in 24’. Georgia just has more players, a boatload more and that’s just that. Watch the game. Faster, more physical up front in every area. Not really due to scheme. Bama played a similar defense for most of the game vs Tennessee

 

[VolNash17]

We all saw when Georgia has to face top flight first round receivers. They get scorched. (LSU, Ohio State, Alabama etc.) Not downing the previous guys here, they maximized their talent best they could under Heupel and that’s great but we’ll see UT start blowing the doors off the dawgs defense with the new crop of potential first round talent led by a generational talent himself in Nico
Then this scheme narrative will quickly die. Only matter of time.

 

[miket4god]

We all saw when Georgia has to face top flight first round receivers. They get scorched. (LSU, Ohio State, Alabama etc.) Not downing the previous guys here, they maximized their talent best they could under Heupel and that’s great but we’ll see UT start blowing the doors off the dawgs defense with the new crop of potential first round talent led by a generational talent himself in Nico
Then this scheme narrative will quickly die. Only matter of time.

If we can add Wingo to Matthews? woo wee.

 

[sjt18]

They have shut us down for two years in a row…. The only way to change that narrative is to play better this year.

Agree. But I think some of the components of getting there have been a good discussion there.

 

[sjt18]

Good post, and a lot of truth there. I really think we start seeing it all come together in 2025 and 2026. We should have plenty of talent and depth across the board then if things continue as they are. The Vols are already a tough out for anyone right now, in another couple of years they should be dominate.

I think that's the trajectory. I would really like to see another really good season this year. IMHO, there is risk of a slight step back next year. The Vols will lose a ton of experienced guys after this year.

 

[UTvol1fn]

I think that's the trajectory. I would really like to see another really good season this year. IMHO, there is risk of a slight step back next year. The Vols will lose a ton of experienced guys after this year.

Foundation is certainly there. I think any glaring holes in experience can be filled with the portal as needed. Especially on the OL as Heupel continues to do so.

 

[sjt18]

because we faced a ton. We faced the same number of 4th down attempts as did Georgia, and they played two more games than we did, and were number 1 for most of the season.

I think the combination of 1st downs allowed and 3rd down conversion points us toward the D being unable to get off the field as efficiently as they need to. I am definitely still "wait and see" on Banks. The O has performed. STs have performed. The D has performed at times and then been a liability at other times.

The problem isn't that they never do things well... and sometimes extremely well. It is that they also have times when they do things very, very poorly. The deeper we get the less that can be blamed on talent or even position coaches.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

We all saw when Georgia has to face top flight first round receivers. They get scorched. (LSU, Ohio State, Alabama etc.) Not downing the previous guys here, they maximized their talent best they could under Heupel and that’s great but we’ll see UT start blowing the doors off the dawgs defense with the new crop of potential first round talent led by a generational talent himself in Nico
Then this scheme narrative will quickly die. Only matter of time.

Look no further than Bru, Keyton, Squirrel and Dont'e.

We got the horses. We gotta not have a million false starts and we gotta block them and we can win.

I'm on our WR Heup train big time

If you don't get to Joe I don't think anybody is stopping them.

 

[jasonvol18]

The defense was solid last year. South Carolina game withstanding they were pretty good for large portions of the year.

Stopping the run yes, pass defense definitely not. We were ranked 129 out of 130 in passing yards given up per game. Arkansas was the only SEC team worse than us.

 

[volbeast33]

Stopping the run yes, pass defense definitely not. We were ranked 129 out of 130 in passing yards given up per game. Arkansas was the only SEC team worse than us.

We don’t care about passing yards per game.

 

[jasonvol18]

That's all fair

The issue is UGA's belief that Kirby has solved TN's "gimmick" offense

When it was
Rain
Crowd
Penalties
Them dominating the line of scrimmage
Not some superior scheme.

Not to mention it Wasn't Hendon's best day. He missed 3-4 wide open Receiver's that he had been hitting most of the year. If we hit a few of those who knows what happens. Honestly GA did take the foot off the gas in the rain. Regardless, it wasn't our best game offensively because of penalties, rain and missed deep throws. We had Receiver's open on several of those, just wasn't our day.

 

[jasonvol18]

We don’t care about passing yards per game.

You would be 100% wrong, WE care very much about it. Most fans are very concerned about it and should be. Let me remind you what S.Car(438) (Ala 455) (Clemson 320) (Fla 453) ( TN Martin 316) (Ga 280 and hardly threw in the 2nd half) all threw for. I promise you it's a concern for the Coach's and the majority of Vol Nation.

 

[Volfan39]

You would be 100% wrong, WE care very much about it. Most fans are very concerned about it and should be. Let me remind you what S.Car(438) (Ala 455) (Clemson 320) (Fla 453) ( TN Martin 316) (Ga 280 and hardly threw in the 2nd half). I promise you it's a concern for the Coach's and the majority of Vol Nation.

That number is heavily inflated because others teams have no choice but to throw it when they are down 21 in the first quarter, but I agree. The pass defense must be better, but passing yards allowed per game don’t show the full story. Would you say the defense played bad against Clemson? No, anybody with a brain would see how well they played against Clemson. Nobody gives a **** about passing yards when they don’t result in points.

 

[aRmo]

Not to mention it Wasn't Hendon's best day. He missed 3-4 wide open Receiver's that he had been hitting most of the year. If we hit a few of those who knows what happens. Honestly GA did take the foot off the gas in the rain. Regardless, it wasn't our best game offensively because of penalties, rain and missed deep throws. We had Receiver's open on several of those, just wasn't our day.

UGA's DBs did what they were coached to do that week. Jam WRs and hold. That threw timing off and it went downhill from there. You add in the penalties and rain and it was a disaster. I know we only lost by 14 points but it felt alot worse. I really wanted another shot at them on neutral ground.

 

[thunder5]

Just spit balling here…but off the top of my head I feel like opponents 3rd/4th down conversion rate is the most relevant stat for our D (besides the obvious…ppg)…all other stats are just window dressing IMO…are we getting off the field consistently or not is what matters most

 

[volbeast33]

You would be 100% wrong, WE care very much about it. Most fans are very concerned about it and should be. Let me remind you what S.Car(438) (Ala 455) (Clemson 320) (Fla 453) ( TN Martin 316) (Ga 280 and hardly threw in the 2nd half) all threw for. I promise you it's a concern for the Coach's and the majority of Vol Nation.

The coaches said not to judge any of it based on yards giving up bc the style of play will lead to that….We need to play better defense in all of those games mentioned except Clemson….we dominated Clemson on defense the entire game…. That was one of the best teams in the country.