Skullbone
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It helps to have the Jimmies and Joes on the defensive side, but playing good defense is so much more about overall philosophy and effort. Both have been sub par all year. Our philosophy to shut down the run but play soft coverage has allowed very average QBs to look like Tom Brady and keeps opponents in games late.
As far as effort goes, re watch the SC game and the effort the gamecocks defense gave in covering Hyatt. They played their a$$es off and tackled in space. That’s effort and discipline. Our defense has none and I’m afraid Heupel simply believed he could outscore everyone and just didn’t care what happened in that side of the ball. It’s an issue and he must address it or we will be one of those teams that boat races scrubs and gets our lunch taken by teams that play good D
It helps to have the Jimmies and Joes on the defensive side, but playing good defense is so much more about overall philosophy and effort. Both have been sub par all year. Our philosophy to shut down the run but play soft coverage has allowed very average QBs to look like Tom Brady and keeps opponents in games late.
As far as effort goes, re watch the SC game and the effort the gamecocks defense gave in covering Hyatt. They played their a$$es off and tackled in space. That’s effort and discipline. Our defense has none and I’m afraid Heupel simply believed he could outscore everyone and just didn’t care what happened in that side of the ball. It’s an issue and he must address it or we will be one of those teams that boat races scrubs and gets our lunch taken by teams that play good D
What's your proof? I've seen that accusation floating around.
This isn't the first time Banks has been out prepared and been made a fool of in play calling.
How does Huepel go about fixing our defense? I know a lot of us would say recruiting. We have three 4 star CB's committed at this point. We have several highly ranked d-line commits which will help put pressure on the QB which we know is important. Will 3 highly ranked CB's help us out enough next year? Does it even matter if our defensive coaching staff stays the same? I mean look what our offense has produced with what we have! Most of our offensive guys were not highly ranked in recruiting. Coaching has just brought out the best in them. Defense has not been the same. It seems that Huepel had a hard time getting a defensive coordinator when he was hired. Could he do any better now if he decided to move on from Banks or is the offense we run make d-coordinators just not want to come here? Huepel has done such a good job overall but if he wants to ever take the next step we have to have a top 20-30 defense. I think that would be enough to have us competing for championships if our offense stays towards the top. What do you think Huepel has to do to get our defense fixed? How long should we realistically expect it to take?
I think it is people trying to explain something they don't understand with conjecture about something else they don't understand.I would like ironclad proof of throwing a game as well. I find it really hard to believe that the players would purposely lose a game. I could see locker room nonsense causing them to be distracted, but not actively sabotaging a season going this well. The only time I've ever wondered was that one game with Bray and Rodgers (Kentucky maybe?), and I'm still not sold on that team throwing a game either.
It’s total BS, the players were hurt and mad after the game. Nobody threw the game. Any true Vol fan that really believes that needs to quit following them. I know I would, but I know it isn’t the truth. Did they have things on their mind yes, but they weren’t out there trying to lose. We had them stopped twice in the 3rd quarter and got a few questionable calls that kept drives alive. We played bad, they played great. A few times we had it covered pretty good their quarterback made perfect throws. It was one of them nights that happens now and then. The key is bouncing back, that is the best was to stop the insanity talk. GBOI would like ironclad proof of throwing a game as well. I find it really hard to believe that the players would purposely lose a game. I could see locker room nonsense causing them to be distracted, but not actively sabotaging a season going this well. The only time I've ever wondered was that one game with Bray and Rodgers (Kentucky maybe?), and I'm still not sold on that team throwing a game either.
There was a Southern Cal QB yrs ago that was supposed to be ALL-everything that got hooked on drugs (Todd ?). Played for the Raiders, potential guy. One game he played one of the best games in NFL history, and fell back to Earth> Kind of a Tin Cup ( one of my fav movies) type of thing> I believe our poor defensive play lead to Rattler having one of those. Mark Rypien of the Redskins did the same in a Super Bowl, got a great contract, then returned to his earthly form. This is my way of saying I think you are spot on.I think it is people trying to explain something they don't understand with conjecture about something else they don't understand.
It is a common occurrence in combat that guys who hate each other put aside their differences to fight the enemy. IMO, there is essentially zero chance one player much less a conspiracy of players so completely bought in for over a year threw it all away over one incident... even a bad one.
You are right. Something like that may have distracted their preparation. The only reason players might take that kind of risk is if they're fairly certain they can get someone they hate or distrust fired. I don't believe that either.
USCe found some things. Some things have worked for other teams. But they pieced it together. They played as if they knew the game plan and were in Banks' headset. Shoot. That's more realistic than a player rebellion. Maybe they spied. There's probably more evidence that the officials threw the game than UT's players did.