Heup Haters

[GetYouSomeofThat]

lack of creativity in run game. UF showed more creativity. I really don't understand the first down (you know it's coming hand off up the middle on first down. Second down run the ball up the middle for 2 yards...put Nico in danger of sack for low percentage behind the sticks...or throw it 50 yards down the field. I think SEC coaches have figured out JH...

Lets go ahead and fire him.

The carousel gears are gonna get rusty if we dont do it this year.

 

[FBtime]

Heupel's best seasons as a head coach, at two different schools, were both with teams made up of players that he and his staff didn't recruit or significantly develop.

Why does he not get credit for developing Hooker was was significantly better in year 2 with Heupel than at any point in his career? Same For Hyatt.

 

[BeardedVol]

Why does he not get credit for developing Hooker was was significantly better in year 2 with Heupel than at any point in his career? Same For Hyatt.

If he's going to take credit for developing Hooker, then he's going to have to eat the criticism for not having Nico ready to play in 2024; you can't have it both ways.

 

[FBtime]

If he's going to take credit for developing Hooker, then he's going to have to eat the criticism for not having Nico ready to play in 2024; you can't have it both ways.

So ALL players develop at the same rate? Hooker played much better his second full year of playing. I have full confidence, Nico will as well. Despite his missed throws there are elite level throws he is also making.

 

[BeardedVol]

So ALL players develop at the same rate? Hooker played much better his second full year of playing. I have full confidence, Nico will as well. Despite his missed throws there are elite level throws he is also making.

Nico has been in the program since 12/16/2022.

Exactly when should we expect him to actually be ready to play in the SEC?

 

[FBtime]

Nico has been in the program since 12/16/2022.

Exactly when should we expect him to actually be ready to play in the SEC?

Being on campus and sitting behind Joe Milton does not prepare you for playing in the SEC. He's started 7 games...when exactly are you expecting him to play as well as the 5th year Hendon Hooker?

 

[BeardedVol]

Being on campus and sitting behind Joe Milton does not prepare you for playing in the SEC. He's started 7 games...when exactly are you expecting him to play as well as the 5th year Hendon Hooker?

So I ask again, when do you think it's acceptable to expect SEC-starting-QB from him?

 

[UTFanForLife]

So I ask again, when do you think it's acceptable to expect SEC-starting-QB from him?

Probably around the same time we get starting SEC quality line play.

 

[FBtime]

So I ask again, when do you think it's acceptable to expect SEC-starting-QB from him?

I think the more playing time he gets, the better the OL gets, the better he will play. We will see how the remainder of the season unfolds but if he gets protection he will continue to develop and be all SEC next year

 

[BeardedVol]

Probably around the same time we get starting SEC quality line play.

Nico eating a sack after standing in the pocket for 5 seconds and refusing to run or throw it away, is not on the oline, nor is his inaccuracy in passing.

The oline is not great, but he's had plenty of protection on enough snaps in the last two games to do more than he has.

 

[UTFanForLife]

Nico eating a sack after standing in the pocket for 5 seconds and refusing to run or throw it away, is not on the oline, nor is his inaccuracy in passing.

The oline is not great, but he's had plenty of protection on enough snaps in the last two games to do more than he has.

We must be watching different games. The pocket collapses a lot of times in just a couple seconds. When your eyes have to come down to make sure you are not about to get blasted, things tend to get worse for you.

Nico has not been great, but let’s not pretend his supporting cast has not played a roll in that. They all can do a ton better.

 

[BeardedVol]

I think the more playing time he gets, the better the OL gets, the better he will play. We will see how the remainder of the season unfolds but if he gets protection he will continue to develop and be all SEC next year

So just to confirm, freshman year is basically useless from a development standpoint, sophomore year is a write-off as he has to rack up 8 SEC starts before he'll have enough experience, so game 1 of his junior year is where you expect to start seeing consistently competent QB play?

 

[GVF]

Those stats are a little misleading due to a weak non-conference schedule. Here are our SEC rankings through 3 games:

11 of 16 in Scoring Offense 21 pts/gm
12 of 16 in Total Offense 330 yds/gm
4 of 16 in Rushing Offense 156 yds/gm
14 of 16 in Passing Offense 174 yds/gm
14 of 16 in Avg Yards per Offensive Play 4.8 yds/play
3 of 16 Red Zone Offense 8 of 9 scores (5 TDs & 3 FGs)
9 of 16 Red Zone Offense Opportunities

4 of 16 in Scoring Defense 17 pts/gm
6 of 16 in Total Defense 339 yds/gm
2 of 16 in Rushing Defense 104 yds/gm
10 of 16 in Passing Defense 235 yds/gm
2 of 16 in Red Zone Defense 10 of 15 scores (6 TDs & 4 FGs)
2 of 16 in Red Zone Defense Opportunities

These stats show a team struggling on offense as TN ranks in the bottom quartile in key categories. The defense is performing well in most categories with passing being average. The concern are the number of Red Zone Opportunities our D gives up but several of those are related to our offense putting our defense in a bad position.

These stats are a little misleading, as I was listing national rankings. How we rank nationally.

 

[Volnanza]

I think there's more to it than that. Some are comparing this win to 1998...that Gator team was 10-2. While I'm always excited for a rare UF win, I don't see Billy's boys winning more that 6 games.

I actually put Oklahoma in the same category...I could see them potentially squeaking out 7 wins maybe.

I don't think any sane fan wants to fire JH, but there are legitimate concerns with the offense, especially to be in year 4. I think if you asked Josh himself to evaluate the offense and the play calling year to date he'd probably sound like a "negavol." I think if you asked him if he felt good about his two weeks of prep for Arkansas, he'd probably say a lot of the same things we're saying.

Again, it's awesome to beat UF, but we're at mid-season and haven't played a good team yet and we've struggled against 3 mid or lower-tier conference opponents.

As some point a good coach will "scheme up" our defense with a really good game plan and we'll need to rely on the offense for a win. With a line that struggles in pass protection, struggles in run blocking, an inaccurate(and quite honestly an easily rattled ) qb and what appears to be a limited playbook....I don't have a high level of confidence we can pull that off.

We're a long, low percentage completion to Thornton from being 3 straight games without a TD pass.

Yesterday Bru and Thornton combined for 11 yards. If you take out Chatt and Kent St, Nico has 3 passing TDs on the season. The offense goes very long stretches without even being a threat to score and giving the D zero rest. I know we're deep up front, but how long can we keep these guys in the field before they break or before a team hits a couple of lucky long passes.

Again, no sane fan wants to fire Josh, but does anyone think he's done a great job coaching around his teams deficiencies?

I think he has done a great job. PERIOD! If someone told you 3 years ago that we would be in the running for a playoff spot, I doubt you would have believed them.

 

[njvols]

Lets go ahead and fire him.

The carousel gears are gonna get rusty if we dont do it this year.

Just said I didn’t care for play calling creativity when we’ve seen better before. Maybe he had a bad game plan but like JH. Maybe you were happy with the play calling

 

[MurphyVol]

I think he has done a great job. PERIOD! If someone told you 3 years ago that we would be in the running for a playoff spot, I doubt you would have believed them.

I can't disagree with one word of that.

 

[GVol1966]

Just think about these Questions?
1. How many RS Freshmen have won a SEC Championship? or a National Championship? Not that many. Less than a handful in both cases.
2. How many true Freshman have won a SEC Championship? or a National Championship? A few.

When answering those questions use the criteria that they started from Day 1 and played throughout the season.

Realism.

True Freshman: I don't think any have won since the BCS started. Frazier*, Holieway, Leach Lawrence? Maybe? But was not the starter at first of the season. NC based on AP and UPI polls. SEC? 0?

RS Freshman: Winston?

So is it realistic to think Nico is not up to par when realistically looking above? First time for everything, but odds are against this happening.

You’re talking about winning an SEC championship or National Championship ?

I guess a few fools had that as their expectations but the Majority of us that aren’t jumping for joy are more concerned that he’s had more turnover’s than touchdowns he’s responsible for, struggles to pick up first downs and failed to score in a half of football

 

[mpfvol]

Not a hater, in fact love the guy.

However it is clear that this year’s offense has limitations. His stubbornness to run his offense regardless of field position, time, talent, or score is a glaring fault leading to predictability and poor performance.

If your OL sucks, run shorter routes and get your QB to stop holding the ball so long. Not every play has to be a home run, get first downs and eat clock especially with the lead.

I agree and if your back up QB is not pushing the starting QB for the job you are failing to provide viable competition the starter can kinda do as he pleases .

 

[mpfvol]

Def not a heupel hater but his qb evaluations/Development is starting to look funny in the light

Recruited milton and started him over Hendon who was a pruitt stayover, had a very mid start then HAD to start hendon due to injury who instantly looked like an upgrade. then after being in the system 2 years started Milton again and he seem to minimally improve.

Recruited Nico the #1 qb in the country and after a year in the system looks god awful against SEC competition and seems to not be improving week to week.

Say what you want about nico being a freshman and only playing 6 games he looks BAD right now. Theres been plenty of qbs lower rated than him that came in and balled out at atleast looked competent. Right now Nico is a hinderance to the offense along with this OL.

Still plenty of time to turn it around and that starts this week. But right now its looking sus.

Just my 2 cents but i think the same as you . Hooker was better in the system because of his run ability . Not just designed runs but taking off when plays break down and he threw better on the run than MIlton or Nico so far . Milton and Nico both are more of the pocket passers and the O line since CJH has been here is Average at best . In the system he runs needs a better running QB and more designed QB runs . IMO

 

[wmcovol]

Not a hater, but cautious about our future. The last two games have been ugly, and for that matter the second half of OU.

The talent level has increased 100% from just 3 seasons ago. Tennessee may have the best DL & DB units on the field vs Alabama Sat. How long has it been since we could say that? Heupel is now recruiting head to head with Bama, Ga, OSU, Oregon, etc & winning a lot. Not since Fulmer have they done this.

If Nico & OL had been better, they’re undefeated. I’m concerned people are concerned. If you have extreme valid reasons to change coaches ok but you better realize coaching changes today are “poison pills” with players transferring & recruits decommitting once you go there.

 

[utVolFanInVA]

These stats are a little misleading, as I was listing national rankings. How we rank nationally.

When you play 66% of your schedule against conference opponents, it makes more sense to compare conference stats. Conference play makes or breaks a season.

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

Just said I didn’t care for play calling creativity when we’ve seen better before. Maybe he had a bad game plan but like JH. Maybe you were happy with the play calling

Execution is the issue. That many missed blocks means i doesn't matter what is called, your offense is not going to work well.

That is also on this coaching staff to fix.


However, we just beat the damned gators and some of yall couldnt wait until the next loss to start bitching. So you started pissing and moaning after a win.


I swear, i think some of you enjoy the venting you do after a loss more than the celebrating after a win.

 

[DukeDaisySam]

The talent level has increased 100% from just 3 seasons ago. Tennessee may have the best DL & DB units on the field vs Alabama Sat. How long has it been since we could say that? Heupel is now recruiting head to head with Bama, Ga, OSU, Oregon, etc & winning a lot. Not since Fulmer have they done this.

If Nico & OL had been better, they’re undefeated. I’m concerned people are concerned. If you have extreme valid reasons to change coaches ok but you better realize coaching changes today are “poison pills” with players transferring & recruits decommitting once you go there.

Classes rank somewhere between 4th and 8th in the SEC every single year.

 

[molsen81]

This has nothing to do with HFCH. Nico is shook. When he lines up behind Center, he looks like he needs a diaper change

 

[GVF]

When you play 66% of your schedule against conference opponents, it makes more sense to compare conference stats. Conference play makes or breaks a season.

When the talking heads are throwing out national rankings it makes sense to compare national stats. All games make or break a season, and in SEC play you'll catch a break for losing a tough SEC game, but there would have been no forgiveness for a loss to NC State. And who gets in the 12 spots will not be based solely on SEC performance, as it is open to more than the SEC.