DiderotsGhost
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I realize a lot of Vols fans are probably down after the 31-17 loss to Florida. Even though I'm disappointed that we lost, I am strangely optimistic after this game. As bizarre as it sounds, that was our best game of the year. The reason why: we may have made a lot of careless errors, but we played TOUGH! Our guys looked like they could win.
A few weeks ago, I created a thread on Jim Harbaugh and the Blueprint for Building a Program. Harbaugh went 4-8 and 5-7 during his first two years at Stanford. His teams were terrible on paper, but they were tough and played like they could win every game that season. Harbaugh's first team was the best 4-8 team I've ever seen. Even if Harbaugh's first two teams were poor, Stanford dramatically improved as more talent came in, eventually culminating in a 12-1 season with an Orange Bowl win.
Conversely, there was Derek Dooley. No one expected Derek Dooley to win the big games in Year 1 ("Year 0" on the Dooley calendar), but it was how we were losing that was disheartening. Our guys would frequently quit in the second half; even when the games were relatively close. Young men need leadership; they need someone who can pick them up, and Derek Dooley couldn't do it. With the exception of Tyler Bray, our guys would almost always play like they were beat the moment adversity struck. That's why in three years under Dooley, I never felt good about our team. I gave Dooley a shot, but there was never a moment where I thought, "this team can be good eventually."
What encourages me after watching the Florida game is just how mentally tough our guys were. Yes, we made a ton of mistakes (especially on offense), but I saw a very tough team out there that never gave up. That Florida team clearly had more talent than us, but we made a game out of it.
My thoughts on the game:
1. People second-guess the Peterman decision, but the truth is that we have no great options at QB. Butch needed to try out Peterman in a real game environment and it didn't work. While Worley would've made fewer errors, I don't think this is the primary thing that beat us.
2. Our defense looked good for much of the game, but our big weaknesses were once again exposed. Florida had more speed than us and was able to get to the outside too often. We also had difficulty containing a dual-threat QB. (In fact, we were much better off with Driskel in there, whose motion was limited by injury).
3. Other than the speed issue, our defense looked excellent. I'm very impressed with our guys' improvements in tackling in the past few games. Our secondary also did a much better job of covering receivers; in fact, that's why Martin was forced to run so often. Unfortunately, we had no answer for that.
4. Worley "won" the QB job yesterday, but I'm still not convinced he gives us the best chance to win. Worley is a ball-control, game-management QB. Whereas, Butch Jones does not run a ball-control, game-management type of system. In spite of his frequent errors, Peterman is a much better fit for Jones' system. He can run more and he can throw the deep ball, which opens up the offense. But it's also clear that Worley is the better overall quarterback right now and Peterman is going to turn the ball over A LOT! In other words, we have no great options here; we are simply picking our poison.
5. I'm thinking Georgia is going to be really tough for us. I can't see our offense keeping up with Aaron Murray and Todd Gurley. This would actually be a good game to play Peterman, because I can't see Worley keeping up with UGA.
6. South Carolina and strangely, Alabama, might be our best shots at upsets. No, I don't think we'll beat Bama, but they do at least seem like a better match-up for us. Our major weakness is obvious: we can't stop speed. That's not as big of an issue with Bama. We might be able to hang in on a 'ball-control' type of game with Worley at QB.
7. We have a legit shot at beating Mizzou, Auburn, and Vandy, but all three are going to be tough. I'd be particularly concerned about Auburn, given our weaknesses defending dynamic offenses. This is to say, unfortunately that we will probably be 6-6 or 5-7 this year.
What's obvious to me after watching this Florida game: we are really struggling on the talent front. We have a weak secondary and too little speed on defense. We have no good options at QB. Our WR corps is rapidly improving, but still very young and inexperienced.
I'm still hopeful for a big upset, but more importantly, I want to see continued progress. I think Butch has us on the right track. We're going to get better, but it will take time.
A few weeks ago, I created a thread on Jim Harbaugh and the Blueprint for Building a Program. Harbaugh went 4-8 and 5-7 during his first two years at Stanford. His teams were terrible on paper, but they were tough and played like they could win every game that season. Harbaugh's first team was the best 4-8 team I've ever seen. Even if Harbaugh's first two teams were poor, Stanford dramatically improved as more talent came in, eventually culminating in a 12-1 season with an Orange Bowl win.
Conversely, there was Derek Dooley. No one expected Derek Dooley to win the big games in Year 1 ("Year 0" on the Dooley calendar), but it was how we were losing that was disheartening. Our guys would frequently quit in the second half; even when the games were relatively close. Young men need leadership; they need someone who can pick them up, and Derek Dooley couldn't do it. With the exception of Tyler Bray, our guys would almost always play like they were beat the moment adversity struck. That's why in three years under Dooley, I never felt good about our team. I gave Dooley a shot, but there was never a moment where I thought, "this team can be good eventually."
What encourages me after watching the Florida game is just how mentally tough our guys were. Yes, we made a ton of mistakes (especially on offense), but I saw a very tough team out there that never gave up. That Florida team clearly had more talent than us, but we made a game out of it.
My thoughts on the game:
1. People second-guess the Peterman decision, but the truth is that we have no great options at QB. Butch needed to try out Peterman in a real game environment and it didn't work. While Worley would've made fewer errors, I don't think this is the primary thing that beat us.
2. Our defense looked good for much of the game, but our big weaknesses were once again exposed. Florida had more speed than us and was able to get to the outside too often. We also had difficulty containing a dual-threat QB. (In fact, we were much better off with Driskel in there, whose motion was limited by injury).
3. Other than the speed issue, our defense looked excellent. I'm very impressed with our guys' improvements in tackling in the past few games. Our secondary also did a much better job of covering receivers; in fact, that's why Martin was forced to run so often. Unfortunately, we had no answer for that.
4. Worley "won" the QB job yesterday, but I'm still not convinced he gives us the best chance to win. Worley is a ball-control, game-management QB. Whereas, Butch Jones does not run a ball-control, game-management type of system. In spite of his frequent errors, Peterman is a much better fit for Jones' system. He can run more and he can throw the deep ball, which opens up the offense. But it's also clear that Worley is the better overall quarterback right now and Peterman is going to turn the ball over A LOT! In other words, we have no great options here; we are simply picking our poison.
5. I'm thinking Georgia is going to be really tough for us. I can't see our offense keeping up with Aaron Murray and Todd Gurley. This would actually be a good game to play Peterman, because I can't see Worley keeping up with UGA.
6. South Carolina and strangely, Alabama, might be our best shots at upsets. No, I don't think we'll beat Bama, but they do at least seem like a better match-up for us. Our major weakness is obvious: we can't stop speed. That's not as big of an issue with Bama. We might be able to hang in on a 'ball-control' type of game with Worley at QB.
7. We have a legit shot at beating Mizzou, Auburn, and Vandy, but all three are going to be tough. I'd be particularly concerned about Auburn, given our weaknesses defending dynamic offenses. This is to say, unfortunately that we will probably be 6-6 or 5-7 this year.
What's obvious to me after watching this Florida game: we are really struggling on the talent front. We have a weak secondary and too little speed on defense. We have no good options at QB. Our WR corps is rapidly improving, but still very young and inexperienced.
I'm still hopeful for a big upset, but more importantly, I want to see continued progress. I think Butch has us on the right track. We're going to get better, but it will take time.
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