Conservative Playcalling (merged)

[Clad in Big Orange]

I am astonished that people are complaining about a win on the road in Norman, Oklahoma. The way the game unfolded, it was clear that the only way Tennessee could lose the game was offensive turnovers. Our defense was unbelievable and was playing an offense that wasn’t particularly good. Why give them an opportunity on a short field to pick up a couple of easy scores?

A great SEC win on the road. Enjoy it

You could see it coming all week with ridiculous predictions of a massive blowout. I think it's the world of trash-talking we live in. For a whole week people post about how TN is going to humiliate the opponent then they get disappointed when that doesn't exactly happen. Emotional unintelligence at its' worst.

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

We have lived the past 20 years without seeing complimentary football in all 3 phases. Last nights win was just that. Offense did what it needed to get us ahead and the defense was suffocating until the end. Yes, late in that game the O sputtered and also yes, the D gave up some scores to a backup QB. However, even with these scores, OU had to earn every inch (literally). Fought hard until the end and came out with a well earned road win.

Double digit road wins against ranked SEC teams on the road at night are hard. Sometimes you have to win in ways you don’t usually see.

 

[Godfatha]

We won! In hindsight, I think Heupel did the right thing and it shows a lot of growth and maturity as a football coach. Oklahoma's defense was stout, and we had OL issues. Would I have liked for us to get one more TD and completely ice the game, yes, but the only way OK was getting back in the game was through turnovers. And the last thing we need is for Nico to get blindsided and hurt.

 

[Sivad]

Not looking good for our games against Alabama and Georgia. We held on to win against the 15th ranked team and, we really don’t know just how good they are/were.

excatley

Our defense dominated against the 15th ranked team and our offense played good enough to win. Fixed it for you
How many times have we seen Georgia and bama do that over the past 15 years?
CJH showed how he has matured as a coach and I like it. Prove me wrong

 

[GetEmVols]

We got conservative because that grass was going to wipe out our team.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Nico still has a ways to go to become elite. Yeah I said it. Unless he improves tremendously, I don’t see us as a playoff team.

What? Utter BS

 

[tango]

Did we win? Is Nico still uninjured? For the gamblers....did we cover? I was confused by the conservative play calling as well, but I agree with the majority of posters that this was a time that CJH just leaned on the run game and defense. Old school smash mouth football. Field was horrible. The reason to not run Nico was shown on the one scramble where he went wide to the left and his feet went flying out from under him the minute he tried to cut upheld. The slow motion replay looked like the field was covered with black sleet from the amount of rubber pellets that he kicked up in the air. Would you rather have a 10 point win with a healthy QB, or a 30 point win with an injured QB?

Then why keep Nico in the game at all?

 

[Sarms58]

Games like this one really make me miss Darnell Wright…hopefully Heard‘s issues will get resolved and he’ll get back into the rotation…

 

[tango]

Score one more TD to make it 29-3 in the 4th quarter and OU would have absolutely quit at that point.
25-15 is very, very respectable for a night game on the road against a #15 team called Oklahoma (whose name is nice and sparkly for historical reasons), and I'm very pleased with this win, BUT....

If you think the reason for the conservative playcalling was:
1. the field sucked
2. OU defense was really good
3. our OL was injured and couldn't pass block
4. our defense was in total control of the game anyway
5. no sense risking further injury to Nico or the OL...

.... then why leave Nico in the game at all? especially if you can put this game away for real after only one TD either in the 3rd or early 4th to make it 29-3?
You don't need Nico to run a conservative offense.
You don't need Nico to hand off the ball.

So why did Nico even stay in the game?

 

[VolJarhead]

Can we at least spell Heupel's name right?

Autocorrect is probably getting people

 

[Golfprovol]

Dude, I am not being biased. Unlike some, I don't live and die on one game. The conditions called for a conservative approach. I was confused bybit as well at first, but it turned out the best for the TEAM. The announcers were still touting Nico's play at the end of the game. 1st real road game for a REDSHIRT FRESHMAN playing in a hostile stadium. Whether he does or doesn't win the Heisman is moot. Back handed jabs are just passive/aggressive BS. Something in some "fans" just drive them to complain about anything. We are 4-0. Still 8 games to play. Stop looking for the black cloud behind the silver lining. WE WON!

I think you should go back and read the thread again, I don't think I have enough crayons to explain it to you.

It was not negative at all, actually was a positive thing....less pressure without all the heisman crap being said.

 

[BigALWiLson]

But Nico has demonstrated he is good at getting down without getting hit when he runs and our offense is struggling mightily

No he really isn't

 

[USMC-TNVOL]

I think the field was intentional. With our wide receiver speed and depth at running backs it would hurt us more than them. And they probably practiced all week on that type of practice field.

Explains all their injuries

 

[BearCat204]

I promised myself about 2 years ago that I would never question CJH about his decisions, whether that was personnel, play calling, or whatever it was. He has earned my trust to do whatever he feels is the right thing to do.

 

[hillbilly]

Nico is good and has room to improve. Better off passing downfield than Milton. He might not have the strongest arm for the long flat passes. The biggest weakness is the O-line. CGE has not developed an offensive lineman. Too dependent on the transfer portal. I would love to have the Rodney Garner equivalent for OL. If we aren’t going to recruit a develop them, change to hanging out in Madison, WI and Boston and throw money at those guys that have prolific lineman

 

[calban]

Score one more TD to make it 29-3 in the 4th quarter and OU would have absolutely quit at that point.
25-15 is very, very respectable for a night game on the road against a #15 team called Oklahoma (whose name is nice and sparkly for historical reasons), and I'm very pleased with this win, BUT....

If you think the reason for the conservative playcalling was:
1. the field sucked
2. OU defense was really good
3. our OL was injured and couldn't pass block
4. our defense was in total control of the game anyway
5. no sense risking further injury to Nico or the OL...

.... then why leave Nico in the game at all? especially if you can put this game away for real after only one TD either in the 3rd or early 4th to make it 29-3?
You don't need Nico to run a conservative offense.
You don't need Nico to hand off the ball.

So why did Nico even stay in the game?

Step back. Let this sink in.
"OU has lost only four games by double digits at home this century........... "
We WON!!

 

[Hydro556]

I know and I shouldn't feel that way after the hell we've been through to have a team like this thanks to CJH and company..but tge Hendon /Hyatt show in '22 spoiled me. Big win guys

That 22 team was fun, but lacked the defense of this unit.

By seasons end, I think this will be a significantly better football team than 22.

If we have reasonable health, I think 11-1 is possible.

 

[tango]

Step back. Let this sink in.
"OU has lost only four games by double digits at home this century........... "
We WON!!

Yeah, ok.... So what about trying to answer the question I asked?
If you don't know the answer, then just say you don't know.... and then you can wait with me to see if anybody else can actually give it a go instead of trying to distract from the question...

 

[volbound1700]

Nico is good and has room to improve. Better off passing downfield than Milton. He might not have the strongest arm for the long flat passes. The biggest weakness is the O-line. CGE has not developed an offensive lineman. Too dependent on the transfer portal. I would love to have the Rodney Garner equivalent for OL. If we aren’t going to recruit a develop them, change to hanging out in Madison, WI and Boston and throw money at those guys that have prolific lineman

Great O-lines are very hard to develop IMO. Very few programs can do it and even they struggle at times (see Georgia vs Kentucky for example).

 

[calban]

Yeah, ok.... So what about trying to answer the question I asked?

Maybe having played and excelled at the position himself, Heup might have a little more insight on the subject of QB building and the value of finishing a game like this one. Trust this Coach. He'll deliver a NC in the next 4 seasons. Book it!

 

[volbound1700]

Step back. Let this sink in.
"OU has lost only four games by double digits at home this century........... "
We WON!!

Too many Uncle Lou style takes were people overreact: "OU sucks because they barely beat Houston" type of fans.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Becuase we now gotta eat crow after talking s*** about the Vols winning by fiddy..

"We" my ass. Many of us knew it was going to be a tough game. You know, those with a clue

 

[NCFisher]

Score one more TD to make it 29-3 in the 4th quarter and OU would have absolutely quit at that point.
25-15 is very, very respectable for a night game on the road against a #15 team called Oklahoma (whose name is nice and sparkly for historical reasons), and I'm very pleased with this win, BUT....

If you think the reason for the conservative playcalling was:
1. the field sucked
2. OU defense was really good
3. our OL was injured and couldn't pass block
4. our defense was in total control of the game anyway
5. no sense risking further injury to Nico or the OL...

.... then why leave Nico in the game at all? especially if you can put this game away for real after only one TD either in the 3rd or early 4th to make it 29-3?
You don't need Nico to run a conservative offense.
You don't need Nico to hand off the ball.

So why did Nico even stay in the game?

You actually do need Nico to hand off the ball; he gets all the reps with first team. Might well ask why we don't put 2nd team offense in.

 

[SaltyBro]

I don’t understand why some of you even watch football.

 

[VOLtaism]

I was surprised he kicked the field goal on 4th and 1 in the red zone. A TD would have ended the game. Missing would leave them in terrible field position with the defense having its way with them on passing downs. It worked on the road so it was the correct call I guess.