I feel like this offense can and at one point will start to click

[CAVPUT]

If you buy into Heard still just not being in game shape, our WRs being banged up, and Nico just a little behind schedule on his vision/timing…. There is hope that we can get at least an above average SEC offense this year. And that should be enough to compete since we have an elite defense.

If he's out of shape, don't change your entire offense for/because of him. Do what you do and when he's gassed sub him out. Amazing that we have zero credible options/depth in year 4 for Heupel. That's most certainly on him. Can't blame only Elarbee. Heupel hired the guy.

 

[tricky13]

If he's out of shape, don't change your entire offense for/because of him. Do what you do and when he's gassed sub him out. Amazing that we have zero credible options/depth in year 4 for Heupel. That's most certainly on him. Can't blame only Elarbee. Heupel hired the guy.

Yea I’m surprised Dayne Davis and Larry Johnson haven’t seen more action considering the tackle play we’ve seen. I guess they’re just hoping the PT will help things improve faster

 

[GVF]

Need to keep the TE on the left side to help Heard. Can't hurt anything.

I was thinking similar, but need to get that TE out after the block and use him in the pass attack. No one can be another Brock Bower, but Kits could make his own name legit if they uitlized him more.

 

[jcvol87]

Some outside zone to Sampson, a screen pass here and there, option plays, short throws to get Nico in rhythm could really help get things going for the entire offense unit.

 

[Flipdaddy]

The offensive line is not just going to “click”. They are what they are. They’re not just going to be all of sudden talented. We’ve got to scheme around their weakness that’s unfortunately BLOCKING!

 

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

I was thinking similar, but need to get that TE out after the block and use him in the pass attack. No one can be another Brock Bower, but Kits could make his own name legit if they uitlized him more.

We saw those looks against NC State. I am wondering why they are gone now.

 

[AdoptedVOL]

I am confident in Heupel and the staff. They are building on the Tennessee tradition to deliver a culture that I believe will deliver sustained success.

 

[Vol_in_NC_1999]

We saw those looks against NC State. I am wondering why they are gone now.

Have you seen NC State's record this year?

 

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

The offensive line is not just going to “click”. They are what they are. They’re not just going to be all of sudden talented. We’ve got to scheme around their weakness that’s unfortunately BLOCKING!

There are fixes but the challenge is that the fixes directly scheme against how Heupel wants to spread the field. Adding additional blockers, targeting the flat for throws, wheel routes to RB, sweeps, even rollouts all require a major scheme change away from wide splits and full field coverage by the O. We attack the middle of the field way more often then other teams because we spread the D out. We fail when defenses have the athletes to cover the run with light boxes because that takes away the main advantage and allows them to comfortably spread their defensive backfield out.

Heupel said it himself: the reason we do not do a lot of off tackle plays is because the wide splits cause more defenders to play outside instead of in. The Film Guy on Youtube had a good breakdown on this as well. Heupel runs what he calls a "pace and space" scheme to open up green grass to exploit.

We would have to really change a lot of what Heupel wants to do in order to scheme around our weaknesses. We saw some of that last year with Milton, so I would expect Heupel to keep implementing changes because our normal scheme is just not working with the pieces we have.

 

[Coachmike17]

Josh Pate saying same thing on game preview. Crazy if this thing turns into shoot out like it has the last few years.

I'm not sure we have enough bullets for a shootout. Bama is going to blitz every down and expose our weakness (our OL). Hopefully we have a game plan to counter that if it happens.

 

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

Have you seen NC State's record this year?

Record aside, I mean we haven't really even tried TE plays since then. 12 man went out the window as well.

 

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

I'm not sure we have enough bullets for a shootout. Bama is going to blitz every down and expose our weakness (our OL). Hopefully we have a game plan to counter that if it happens.

I would be scared for Bama if they decide to Blitz a lot because they do not have the defensive backfield to win 1:1s against even our WRs. We have struggled against the blitz though so you are probably right. Need some quick designed throws because the opportunity will be there for our WRs to make a play.

 

[Coachmike17]

There are fixes but the challenge is that the fixes directly scheme against how Heupel wants to spread the field. Adding additional blockers, targeting the flat for throws, wheel routes to RB, sweeps, even rollouts all require a major scheme change away from wide splits and full field coverage by the O. We attack the middle of the field way more often then other teams because we spread the D out. We fail when defenses have the athletes to cover the run with light boxes because that takes away the main advantage and allows them to comfortably spread their defensive backfield out.

Heupel said it himself: the reason we do not do a lot of off tackle plays is because the wide splits cause more defenders to play outside instead of in. The Film Guy on Youtube had a good breakdown on this as well. Heupel runs what he calls a "pace and space" scheme to open up green grass to exploit.

We would have to really change a lot of what Heupel wants to do in order to scheme around our weaknesses. We saw some of that last year with Milton, so I would expect Heupel to keep implementing changes because our normal scheme is just not working with the pieces we have.

Next man up!

 

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

Next man up!

It may be next men up after this game.

This Bama D is not a stonewall. They can be beat.

 

[the_great_pumpkin]

The legions of the misserable will always be vocal. Maybe we should just go to Kmart.

Are there any Kmarts left?

 

[volbound1700]

Have you seen NC State's record this year?

I think he is asking why we haven't called them.

 

[Coachmike17]

Need to keep the TE on the left side to help Heard. Can't hurt anything.

You're talking about helping the guy we paid $$$$ to transfer here, right? Who vetted that guy?

 

[volbound1700]

There are fixes but the challenge is that the fixes directly scheme against how Heupel wants to spread the field. Adding additional blockers, targeting the flat for throws, wheel routes to RB, sweeps, even rollouts all require a major scheme change away from wide splits and full field coverage by the O. We attack the middle of the field way more often then other teams because we spread the D out. We fail when defenses have the athletes to cover the run with light boxes because that takes away the main advantage and allows them to comfortably spread their defensive backfield out.

Heupel said it himself: the reason we do not do a lot of off tackle plays is because the wide splits cause more defenders to play outside instead of in. The Film Guy on Youtube had a good breakdown on this as well. Heupel runs what he calls a "pace and space" scheme to open up green grass to exploit.

We would have to really change a lot of what Heupel wants to do in order to scheme around our weaknesses. We saw some of that last year with Milton, so I would expect Heupel to keep implementing changes because our normal scheme is just not working with the pieces we have.

Good post, one thing that fans don't understand is that you have to practice the plays (often in the off season) to make them work. My thought is that you can perhaps add 1-2 (maybe 3) plays in the interim week to the play book.

Fans play the EA Sports games with these massive playbooks that have the AI players instantly know the play and run it and think every offense can just do that.

I do think we need to adjust some. I thought the play calling was better against Florida, the execution just wasn't there. Arkansas was poor coaching IMO. Heupel and his staff tend to have a dud game every year and that was clear with Arkansas. I am not sure why that is the case.

Interestingly, we still almost won the Arkansas game. Our defense has come a long way.

I think Tennessee has grown from where the program was at from 2009-2021 to being roughly where we were at from 2000-2008. We are a top 15-20 team nearly every year but we are still not at the 1990s level quite yet where we can compete year-in and year-out. Some of that is because our competition is far tougher now than back then making it harder to get to that level and another reason is that Heupel and his staff are still building our program. We had sanctions and other items that hurt the early recruiting. Kirby Smart took over Georgia in 2016 but didn't win the title until 2021. He was also in a far better spot with Georgia starting out than Heupel was with Tennessee.

 

[superdave1984]

Good post, one thing that fans don't understand is that you have to practice the plays (often in the off season) to make them work. My thought is that you can perhaps add 1-2 (maybe 3) plays in the interim week to the play book.

Fans play the EA Sports games with these massive playbooks that have the AI players instantly know the play and run it and think every offense can just do that.

I do think we need to adjust some. I thought the play calling was better against Florida, the execution just wasn't there. Arkansas was poor coaching IMO. Heupel and his staff tend to have a dud game every year and that was clear with Arkansas. I am not sure why that is the case.

Interestingly, we still almost won the Arkansas game. Our defense has come a long way.

I think Tennessee has grown from where the program was at from 2009-2021 to being roughly where we were at from 2000-2008. We are a top 15-20 team nearly every year but we are still not at the 1990s level quite yet where we can compete year-in and year-out. Some of that is because our competition is far tougher now than back then making it harder to get to that level and another reason is that Heupel and his staff are still building our program. We had sanctions and other items that hurt the early recruiting. Kirby Smart took over Georgia in 2016 but didn't win the title until 2021. He was also in a far better spot with Georgia starting out than Heupel was with Tennessee.

They fired Mark Richt for that.

 

[DaddyChad]

Heup has said it best, we are really close. Watch the Florida game as bad as it pains you to do so. The mistakes were self inflicted penalties, its fixable. Watching the Florida game, we are closer to that 2022 offense than many think IMO

Game of inches. Protect Nico better and maybe those misses by inches are completions. If we want to win against Bama we have to protect better.

 

[volbound1700]

They fired Mark Richt for that.

It worked for them but IMO, it was a questionable move. Auburn and LSU have done similar recently with Auburn firing Tommy Tubberville and Gus Malzahn and their program has now sank. LSU fired Les Miles and Ed Odgeron. Brian Kelley was a big grab but he still hasn't got them to that next level.

You can fire coaches and whiff on the rehire causing things to backfire. Auburn and Florida are in that spot and Tennessee fell off hard with Fulmer.
Georgia, IMO, got very luck that Smart worked out (especially so well). They could have had a Tennessee-like fall after firing Mark Richt. Georgia really struggled prior to Mark Richt and he really put them back on the map.

 

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

It worked for them but IMO, it was a questionable move. Auburn and LSU have done similar recently with Auburn firing Tommy Tubberville and Gus Malzahn and their program has now sank. LSU fired Les Miles and Ed Odgeron. Brian Kelley was a big grab but he still hasn't got them to that next level.

You can fire coaches and whiff on the rehire causing things to backfire. Auburn and Florida are in that spot and Tennessee fell off hard with Fulmer.
Georgia, IMO, got very luck that Smart worked out (especially so well). They could have had a Tennessee-like fall after firing Mark Richt. Georgia really struggled prior to Mark Richt and he really put them back on the map.

That Kirby hire may be the best fit for a coach that we have seen in modern CFB. Legacy player, certified Gator hater, tutored under Saban, and inherited a full cabinet of toys to play with.

 

[volbound1700]

That Kirby hire may be the best fit for a coach that we have seen in modern CFB. Legacy player, certified Gator hater, tutored under Saban, and inherited a full cabinet of toys to play with.

True but when they were struggling in 2016, Georgia fans were very down on him. He has had his fair share of critics at times.

 

[Flipdaddy]

There are fixes but the challenge is that the fixes directly scheme against how Heupel wants to spread the field. Adding additional blockers, targeting the flat for throws, wheel routes to RB, sweeps, even rollouts all require a major scheme change away from wide splits and full field coverage by the O. We attack the middle of the field way more often then other teams because we spread the D out. We fail when defenses have the athletes to cover the run with light boxes because that takes away the main advantage and allows them to comfortably spread their defensive backfield out.

Heupel said it himself: the reason we do not do a lot of off tackle plays is because the wide splits cause more defenders to play outside instead of in. The Film Guy on Youtube had a good breakdown on this as well. Heupel runs what he calls a "pace and space" scheme to open up green grass to exploit.

We would have to really change a lot of what Heupel wants to do in order to scheme around our weaknesses. We saw some of that last year with Milton, so I would expect Heupel to keep implementing changes because our normal scheme is just not working with the pieces we have.

They better do something or we are headed for the Birmingham bowl.

 

[GameTime]

I would like to see Nico take off if his first and second read is covered....Hooker didn't often stick around for his 3rd read; it helped make him great.

We're all hoping this is the week....