Clawing back to the top

#26
#26
I think we are better than UGA, and I think we will show that, I also think we are better than LSU, but will we win both of those games? I dont know, we were a better team, IMO, than FU. We are never rebuilding, Louisville, Northwestern, Marshall, UAB, those guys re-build, we re-load, and you take what you have and build on it, and sometimes you get it all together at once, and sometimes you dont. Our Offense is carrying this team right now, but certainly hasn't been that way the past couple of seasons.
 
#27
#27
Lexvol said:
How long will UT fans continue to say "it all happens"? It makes it sound like it happens by accident. What did AU, GA, LSU and Fla all do to turn their programs around?
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They hired coaches worth a damn.
 
#28
#28
jakez4ut said:
1. we could be reloading as soon as 08...lots of sophs and frosh players getting some experience now.
2. that class, i agree needs to step up, and we need to land a good class this year to sustain anything past the next two years.

but it's funny...as we all groan and moan....you think UGA's assention to to the top of the SEC east had anything to do with the TN's and UF's regression the last few years? i do. it will come back around to us again too...in this conference it's cyclical...i don't like it, but it's the truth.
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That's garbage. Georgia's ascension to the top of the SEC East occurred immediately upon them hiring Richt. There's nothing cyclical about it. They hired a great coach, and they've been beating UT on a pretty regular basis ever since.
 
#29
#29
1allvol said:
I think we are better than UGA, and I think we will show that, I also think we are better than LSU, but will we win both of those games? I dont know, we were a better team, IMO, than FU. We are never rebuilding, Louisville, Northwestern, Marshall, UAB, those guys re-build, we re-load, and you take what you have and build on it, and sometimes you get it all together at once, and sometimes you dont. Our Offense is carrying this team right now, but certainly hasn't been that way the past couple of seasons.
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I'm amazed that anyone can look at the stats from the Florida game and come to the conclusion that UT had a better team than Florida. We were lucky to even be in the game. We couldn't run the ball AT ALL, and we couldn't stop Florida from running the ball at will. It is exceptionally rare that you will ever see a team get totally physically dominated on both the offensive and defensive lines and win a game, and UT got absolutely whipped on both lines. Florida absolutely owned the trenches.
 
#31
#31
TennVols423 said:
5th is good but we can beat those teams.........we'll see how the season plays out
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5th is good????? Are you serious??? I'm absolutely speechless. From where do people like you come? If you're happy with 5th, how does 10th strike you? Complacency is the ticket from 1st to 5th to 10th.
 
#32
#32
I there anyway someone can substantiate the idea that UT now has a better program than UGA?
 
#33
#33
Vol423 said:
That's garbage. Georgia's ascension to the top of the SEC East occurred immediately upon them hiring Richt. There's nothing cyclical about it. They hired a great coach, and they've been beating UT on a pretty regular basis ever since.
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well why don't you tell me how you really feel? agree to disagree.
 
#34
#34
I remember being a really young team in 2004. Shouldn't we be a fairly old team now?
 
#35
#35
kptvol said:
I remember being a really young team in 2004. Shouldn't we be a fairly old team now?
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not when you have as many losses on O line and D line and LB's as we had...we're back to the begining up front...Injuries and folks (rob smith in particular) leaving early, we lost experience.

and in 04, we were young at mainly all the skill positions...
 
#36
#36
Lexvol said:
I there anyway someone can substantiate the idea that UT now has a better program than UGA?
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No way. It seems like Georgia has 3 defensive all-americans every single season. They also have about 3 running backs at any given time that can excel. They've been lacking at WR, but I think they've addressed that problem. They seem to have waaaay better defensive backs than us, as well. We always seem to have one good DB that gets avoided. Everybody picks on the rest of our subpar DBs. You can't really do that so much against Georgia. They've had much better OL's, too. Also, they don't totally suck on special teams. Their last two QBs were pretty good. I actually thought Shockley was better than Greene, all along. I'd expect their next QB to be pretty good, eventually. That pretty much covers it.
 
#37
#37
jakez4ut said:
not when you have as many losses on O line and D line and LB's as we had...we're back to the begining up front...Injuries and folks (rob smith in particular) leaving early, we lost experience.

and in 04, we were young at mainly all the skill positions...
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Weird how all those kids excelled in 04 and then blew it in 05. Almost like they got worse with UT's coaching. Maybe their high schools had better coaching. I'm not really being that facetious. I think that some of our position coaches last year were seriously not suited to coach high schoolers.
 
#38
#38
kptvol said:
Weird how all those kids excelled in 04 and then blew it in 05. Almost like they got worse with UT's coaching. Maybe their high schools had better coaching. I'm not really being that facetious. I think that some of our position coaches last year were seriously not suited to coach high schoolers.
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i don't think there's any question that we had some issues with some position coaches, but at the same time, some of those coaches in 04 were highly praised for what they did with such a young team....prognosticators have short memories.
 
#39
#39
jakez4ut said:
i don't think there's any question that we had some issues with some position coaches, but at the same time, some of those coaches in 04 were highly praised for what they did with such a young team....prognosticators have short memories.
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Apparently our offense was simplified int 04. Maybe that allowed them to use their raw athletic ability more rather than a complex scheme. When things got more complicated in 05, they weren't able to handle it. At least, that's what Ainge has said caused a lot of his struggles that season.
 
#40
#40
kptvol said:
Apparently our offense was simplified int 04. Maybe that allowed them to use their raw athletic ability more rather than a complex scheme. When things got more complicated in 05, they weren't able to handle it. At least, that's what Ainge has said caused a lot of his struggles that season.
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i agree, in 04, RAndy Sanders made all the line checks and signaled them in...the qb's didn't have to make the decision, it was done for them...
 
#41
#41
Vol423 said:
I'm amazed that anyone can look at the stats from the Florida game and come to the conclusion that UT had a better team than Florida. We were lucky to even be in the game. We couldn't run the ball AT ALL, and we couldn't stop Florida from running the ball at will. It is exceptionally rare that you will ever see a team get totally physically dominated on both the offensive and defensive lines and win a game, and UT got absolutely whipped on both lines. Florida absolutely owned the trenches.
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you are 100% correct, that game was nowhere nearly as close as the score
 
#42
#42
Let's wait until after we've played Georgia and LSU to annoint the Vols as 5th in the SEC. You guys act like the Gators beat the Vols 35-3.
 
#43
#43
allvol said:
Let's wait until after we've played Georgia and LSU to annoint the Vols as 5th in the SEC. You guys act like the Gators beat the Vols 35-3.
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Just as we are amazed that people can look at the state of the Vols program overall and say that it is ahead of GA, Auburn, LSU, and Florida.
 
#44
#44
OK, here is what I am most concearned with. We were having the same conversation last year except it was the passing game that worried us. This is the team we have. We are 1-6 against the SEC in our last 7 sec games with that one win over KY jelly. Yes we lost by one point. That is better than getting stomped by 40. But, we are ONE dimensional and in the SEC that doesn't work. Right now, we are 5th at best in the SEC and that may be inflated.
 
#45
#45
jakez4ut said:
5th behind...Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Florida...that's about right.

as to what they need to do? we need depth, and that's recruiting. I think our starters are pretty good, and we have a few back ups that are capable. but by and large, we dont' have the depth across the board that separated us in the 90's.
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This is a great post and dead on, in my opinion. The Gators had so much more depth and they did control the trenches and, in the end, the UT defense ran out of gas. You do have solid starters, but you can't rest them like florida can right now. To challenge in the SEC, you have to have four-star guys backing the five-star guys. And right now you just don't have that.

Lexvol said:
How long will UT fans continue to say "it all happens"? It makes it sound like it happens by accident. What did AU, GA, LSU and Fla all do to turn their programs around?
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Recruited a ton of four star guys to back up the five star guys.

ConMan said:
Florida is still up in the air, if we were florida fans we would be saying the same thing. Other than last years "aberration" the two teams are pretty much in the same situation. The only thing Florida is doing better than us right now is recruiting. At least we've had a shot at the SEC championship since the "glory days" that people keep refering to.
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The win, on the road, coming from behind, makes me optimistic for the Gators. That is the kind of thing that has been missing for us for a long time. Agree with the recruiting observation. That is going to tell the tale over the long haul.

Donatello said:
I believe that TN is building depth now. At QB, Ainge is just a junior, but we know the odds on favorite to take his place is Crompton. He will come in as a Junior and take over the team. We have a stable of young backs, Hardesty, Foster, Coker. The O line is very young and we have some talent there. The D line is young and will only get better.
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You have talent, but my impression is you have no depth. I may be wrong, but I didn't see it last Saturday and, in the end, because Florida could substitute and dominate the lines, your guys got tired late and the Gators were able to take advantage of that. Or at least that is the way it appeared to me.
 
#46
#46
lawgator1 said:
You have talent, but my impression is you have no depth. I may be wrong, but I didn't see it last Saturday and, in the end, because Florida could substitute and dominate the lines, your guys got tired late and the Gators were able to take advantage of that. Or at least that is the way it appeared to me.
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Not just an impression or a theory. It is a matter of fact my friend.
 
#48
#48
lawgator1 said:
The good news for you is that it is fixable.
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and i think it will...this year is going to be very important for 07 and 08...and this season isn't in the toilet either....but we should return a bunch of guys next season, and we should play alot of guys this season...we need a signature win or two this year to bolster recruiting...UGA/LSU might provide that opportunity.

but either way, we have gotten better, it's plain to see, and that will help recruiting in and of itself. still a long way to go til February, and i have to think that as loaded for bear that teams like UF, Auburn, LSU, UGA are right now, that might be enough to sway some guys to come to TN because we may have a better opportunity to play sooner, and if we post a 9 or 10 win season this year, you get the chance to play for a legit contender sooner than ride the bench behind all the stars currenlty at the other programs....just one way to look at it...obviously Auburn, UF, LSU, Georgia etc....wont' have "trouble" recruiting. it just may be that we get a few of those guys undecided right now to take another look at UT as their perception may change from last year's 5-6 season as a team on the decline, to a team on the rise.:crossfingers:
 
#49
#49
allvol said:
Let's wait until after we've played Georgia and LSU to annoint the Vols as 5th in the SEC. You guys act like the Gators beat the Vols 35-3.
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I agree. This year's games will determine where the Vols belong this year.

As far as depth and recruiting, UT has over 50 freshmen on the roster and several of those were RS's from the highly ranked 2005 class. They are loaded with young talent especially on both lines. Hopefully, they will get some PT to advance their developments.

UT gave one of the most talented teams in the country all they could handle. Had the ridiculous roughing penalty not been called, who knows? Had UT stuck with the passing game in the 2nd half after the run didn't work, who knows? Had UT substituted on their o-line like Fulmer apparently intends to do from here on out, who knows? Had the Vols gotten one more possession as they should have, who knows?

Exactly why the Chicken Littles of the Vol world are yelling the "sky is falling" after this one is a mystery to me. Look at the roster, look at how far they've progressed over last year's experienced and supposed team of promise... The Vols are on track. They need to play some of those talented young guys to develop them.

They are fully capable of beating both LSU and UGA. If they do, they'll probably win the SEC east.
 
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