Just my opinions, feel free to post and disagree:
QB: A+
Ainge made one bad throw, hitting Lucas Taylor in the trail hand on a crossing pattern. Other than that, he was spot on all night. Crompton also played well. Throwing a strike and putting his head down to run through a Cal LB on a QB draw.
RBs: B+
Maybe my expectations were a little too high. Other than Hardesty's 'mission run,' I think our backs collected a lot of their yards by going through the man that was tackling them for another 2 or 3 yards. The late fumble was unfortunate and it led to a Cal score. I look forward to seeing 27, 2, and 22 run over AF next saturday.
WRs: A+
Other than Meachem's 42 yd TD and 80 yd TD, and Swains 50 yarder, I was most impressed when I saw Austin Rogers fighting to keep his block for Arian Foster about 12 yards downfield. Rogers was getting his tail handed to him by about 4 Cal defenders, however, he kept with it, allowing Foster 4 or 5 extra yards.
TEs: A
Brown had too amazing catches. One for a TD the other to keep the drive alive.
OL: A+
Did Ainge get sacked? If he did, I do not remember it. That and over 200 yards rushing, says a lot for an OL that was a big question mark heading into the season.
DL: A+
Other than holding Heisman Lynch to 76 yards, our DL kept both Cal QBs from getting comfortable in the pocket. That discomfort led to a handful of awful passes, which should have been picked.
LBs: A
I think our backers did great applying pressure and stopping the run. However, we will have some work to do on coverage before the Florida game.
DBs: B-
This grade might be a little harsh, however, as a DB you have few opportunities to turn games around. I think we dropped 3 or 4 passes that were right in our DBs hands, including one that Inky Johnson should have taken for about a 90 yard TD. Get these guys catching bricks and we should sufficiently ruin Chris Leak's senior season.
Overall: A
Brilliant Game, Vols
QB: A+
Ainge made one bad throw, hitting Lucas Taylor in the trail hand on a crossing pattern. Other than that, he was spot on all night. Crompton also played well. Throwing a strike and putting his head down to run through a Cal LB on a QB draw.
RBs: B+
Maybe my expectations were a little too high. Other than Hardesty's 'mission run,' I think our backs collected a lot of their yards by going through the man that was tackling them for another 2 or 3 yards. The late fumble was unfortunate and it led to a Cal score. I look forward to seeing 27, 2, and 22 run over AF next saturday.
WRs: A+
Other than Meachem's 42 yd TD and 80 yd TD, and Swains 50 yarder, I was most impressed when I saw Austin Rogers fighting to keep his block for Arian Foster about 12 yards downfield. Rogers was getting his tail handed to him by about 4 Cal defenders, however, he kept with it, allowing Foster 4 or 5 extra yards.
TEs: A
Brown had too amazing catches. One for a TD the other to keep the drive alive.
OL: A+
Did Ainge get sacked? If he did, I do not remember it. That and over 200 yards rushing, says a lot for an OL that was a big question mark heading into the season.
DL: A+
Other than holding Heisman Lynch to 76 yards, our DL kept both Cal QBs from getting comfortable in the pocket. That discomfort led to a handful of awful passes, which should have been picked.
LBs: A
I think our backers did great applying pressure and stopping the run. However, we will have some work to do on coverage before the Florida game.
DBs: B-
This grade might be a little harsh, however, as a DB you have few opportunities to turn games around. I think we dropped 3 or 4 passes that were right in our DBs hands, including one that Inky Johnson should have taken for about a 90 yard TD. Get these guys catching bricks and we should sufficiently ruin Chris Leak's senior season.
Overall: A
Brilliant Game, Vols
