My Thoughts on the Orange Bowl, After Sleeping on it

[VolPack22]

2019 LSU
2021 Georgia

Those are the only teams to beat Alabama and Clemson in the same season recently. Georgia required two chances to beat Alabama though.

 

[vegasvolfan]

It just occurred to me this morning that that was the biggest postseason win for Tennessee since the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, both in terms of bowl prestige and quality of opponent. Second place would be the 2002 Citrus Bowl following the 01 season, but the Citrus isn't the Orange and that Michigan teams wasn't this Clemson team.

My thoughts on the game:

-Someone posted a couple of weeks ago that an Orange Bowl win that results from Joe Milton playing well would provide the most optimism going into next year. I replied that an Orange Bowl win because the defense played well would make me even more optimistic for next year. We got both. That defense bent, but didn't break. They applied tremendous pressure. There are still back end concerns, but they're much better than last year and I think they'll be even better next season. Also...Banks called a really good game, based on down, distance, and game situation.

-Milton wasn't elite, but he was pretty darn good. The worst throw he made (IMO) was the 3rd down slant-in to an open Keyton that nosedived. And he had a few batted down, but other than that, he was spot on. Loved seeing him accurate on deep throws. Even the incomplete deep ball to Keyton was accurate and he gave his WR a chance. Remember, Hooker had some accuracy issues at the beginning of this year and I think Milton was actually more accurate last night than early-season (pre-Florida) Hooker. On top of that, he was doing it against one of the 3-4 best defenses Tennessee played all year (from a sheer personnel standpoint, I'd put them 2nd only to UGA) and he was doing it with the worst OLine protection this year, other than the Georgia game. That Clemson front is elite and they were really making life hell for our Oline.

-Not only did Milton do what he did with enormous pressure from the Clemson front, he did it without Hyatt and Tillman. That's impressive.

-Jaylen Wright looked like he took it to another level last night. I think he's decidedly better than Small now, especially since he's stopped fumbling. Wright runs with speed and power and he gets to the 2nd level quickly. He had a short run (maybe 4 yards) on which he got the edge, but when the play began, I thought it was a loss. Clemson had it defended to be a loss and his speed made something out of nothing.

-What else can you say about Aaron Beasley? He's gone from a subpar LB to a star. The most encouraging thing is, he's now playing pass defense well. He's always been a see-ball/find-ball missile, but he's rounding his game now. I think we're seeing that BJM is a very good LB coach, given the improvement of Beasley, Banks, and even Herring's growth this year.

-Kamal Hadden needs to be on the sidelines. He's not only a total liability in coverage, but his mouth and stupidity are also a liability. His selfish actions last night cost UT a point. It didn't end up mattering, but if the offense hadn't responded, Clemson would have gotten the ball down 7 with a chance to tie with just a TD and PAT in the 4th quarter. I also hope McCollough is not a starter next year, unless he can improve. He wasn't good last night. I'm not sure Tennessee beats Alabama if he hadn't been suspended.

-On the other hand, I really like Doneiko Slaughter. He struggled in Athens, but he's been really solid otherwise. I'm not sure what position he should play in the secondary, but he plays the ball, he seems to have more awareness than other DBs, and he'll knock the snot out of people. With another year, he might be a good CB. I know some question if he has the hips, but the same concern exists for Ringo at UGA and he's pretty darn good. If not, he could be a good Star or S, but I think he needs to be on the field. Wesley Walker looks much better at S than Flowers did. He'll be good back there next year. He did misread the WR on a deep ball that should've been picked, though.

-Those refs sucked. I really think there is an anti-SEC bias from other conference refs. Too many examples of refs from other conferences screwing SEC teams in bowls.

-Fitting that Chase McGrath sealed it. He beat Bama with the winning FG, then sealed the win over Clemson. Speaking of which, I can only think of one team (2019 LSU) that has beaten Saban and Dabo in the same season besides 2022 Tennessee. Not only that, we beat Saban, Kelly, and Dabo in the same year. Those are probably the 3 most disliked coaches in America. We should be America's Team.

-Byron Young showed out. Hope that bumps his draft stock because he's a great kid with a great story. Tyler Baron also played really well, but he should stay for another year. He stands to really improve his stock in 2023 with a 2nd year at SDE, his more natural position. I also noticed Bryson Eason involved a lot. That's encouraging to see. Those DTs (Thomas, Terry, Eason, and Simmons) will be among the best DT group in the SEC in 2023.

Looking forward:

-Joe Milton has a spring practice, summer, and fall practice to build off of that performance. He'll build more chemistry with his WRs and get more and more reps. He should be a very solid QB in 2023. The WR corps should also be very good, in spite of the losses of Tillman and Hyatt. For starters, Tillman really didn't play much this year, so we're not losing much there. Keyton got a lot of experience and played pretty well. Bru is Bru. Squirrel got some great experience (especially last night) and seems to have a real connection with Milton. Also, I think we get Thornton and Webb/Nimrod look like great prospects, by all accounts. I do hope that Keyton can improve on catching contested deep balls. He has struggled in that regard, and did so on one deep ball last night.

-I think the 2023 offense will rely more on the run than the 2022 one did and I think that's largely because they'll be better at it. Wright should be the #1 RB in 2023. Not that the 2022 rushing offense was bad. I believe it was top 15 in America. But Wright and Sampson will take it to another level in 2023. That will only make Milton's job easier.

-Beasley and Pili will make the starting LB corps a strength. Which is crazy to think about, given where we've been at that position. An improved Herring, Perry, and the freshmen will provide quality depth. The DLine should be good again. We'll have to see what happens on the back end, but I would expect them to be better next year. If nothing else, a year of experience and health (they were all hurt during spring practice and didn't develop) will make them better. Turnage and Slaughter can be good. Maybe Charles too. Adding the freshmen will help too. I like Walker at one Safety, but we need to improve over McCollough at the other.

-The biggest reason for optimism isn't personnel and depth charts, though. It's that this program has a winning culture now. We saw that last night. They win in different ways. They beat Pitt and Clemson in different ways than they beat Bama and Florida, which was different than the way they beat LSU and Kentucky. This program has a belief now and expects to win. It doesn't matter how or who the heroes are. That's what great program culture looks like.

-I think this team can go 10-2 again. In fact, I expect 10 wins. But, call me crazy, I think this team can do better than 10-2. I expect to beat every team not named Alabama and Georgia. I think everyone in this program does too. But we also have a great chance against both of those teams. Alabama without Young and Anderson? Is their culture slipping? Heupel seems to have that defense figured out, that's for sure. Is Jalen Milroe going to beat Tennessee? Ty Simpson? Georgia loses Bennett, Carter, etc. and comes to Knoxville. Yes, both teams have talent waiting in the wings and will reload. Maybe they still beat Tennessee. But it's not a given. Regardless, those are the two swing games. It's nice to say that now, because 2 years ago, our swing games were Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina. I can't wait to avenge SC next year, kick Florida's butt in the swamp, and beat Jimbo in Knoxville. Because we will do all three of those things. Book it.


What a fun season. This wasn't a championship year. But I've been following Tennessee since 1985 and this is my favorite non-championship team. This is the team that set the stage for future championships. They got the Florida monkey of our backs. They beat Pitt in a fashion in which Tennessee always lost games before, evidencing a culture shift. They dominated LSU like no one else did this season. The offense was electric. They broke the Bama streak and gave me (us) the most enjoyable sporting event (and post-event) I've attended in my life. And they topped it off with Tennessee's best bowl win this century. They did it all in just Heupel's 2nd season after the program was burnt to the ground. If you can't be happy and optimistic right now, then fanhood just isn't for you.

More to come, ladies and gentlemen...more to come...

OL?

 

[MrBiggles]

Very good analysis. You must have slept at a Holiday Inn last night.

The Refs bias is a problem for me as well. How many holding calls on Clemson last night 0 or 1?

How many did they commit 8+ I saw at least 3 that were blatant take downs.

The most telling part of the story last night was that we beat 3 of the 4 previous National Champions this year. That is a strong indicator that we have boarded the train.

There was one hold in the endzone where their tackle actually tackled the defender that would have made a WWE wrestler proud. Not a single flag. They got a completion out of it too.

 

[Stonewall83]

Hadden n`eeds to be removed from this team. He can't cover or tackle. He is a classless thug.

Is he?? He seemed like a nice dude after the Akron game

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

Great post OP. A few random thoughts by me...

• Not to diminish what this team accomplished, but I think we were lucky to play an inexperienced freshman at QB last night. Klublick seemed to get happy feet and bail early, whereas a more experienced QB who could see the whole field might have made a lot more plays. For example - on the run and tackle to end the half, watching live (I haven't seen the game replay) there appeared to be a receiver open in the middle of the field breaking into the endzone.
• It's weird how in the beginning of the year, we all felt like Hadden was our best corner. Now he's not good. He has definitely regressed and definitely talks too much.
• Beasley is a stud. I can't wait to see him and the new transfer together next year. I'm excited for LB to finally be a strength again.
• Slaughter... idk. Still not sold on him at corner. Maybe once he gets more experience there. He is very susceptible to the out and up. Got smoked at UGA on that play and got smoked last night. A late pass by Klubnick saved him.
• I really enjoyed seeing Wesley Walker at safety. I wish Flowers nothing but the best but damn it felt good to have new blood back there. Now we just got to do something about McCoullough.
• Milton... idk. I get it he can throw the ball a mile. I'm not hating on the guy at all. It's just weird to me how I'm not entirely sure he has whatever mystical intangible that elite QB's have. Moxie, or whatever. He just seems heavy footed in the pocket and doesn't have near the mobility this offense seems to thrive with a QB having. I mean, he looks like a QB you'd build in Madden. He has everything. But idk. I was honestly surprised his stat line was as good as it was last night. I'm hoping by next year - year three in the system, and an entire offseason basically working towards his strengths, that he truly emerges. We'll see.
• Wright is our best back. Sampson is second best. No clue why DS didn't get any snaps last night. I appreciate Small, but he's just an average back. As good as JW and DS are, I'm still hoping beyond hope we add Marshawn Lloyd to the RB room.
• Squirrel White is going to be a problem for opponents for years. It seems like there have been so many countless times where our opponents have had that lightening in the bottle receiver that kills us. Now we have one. I love it.
• Bru is a man and Keyton is what I thought he'd be when we signed him out of HS. I know the staff wants to add a receiver but truthfully I like our receiver room and think we can win with them, a lot.
• Princeton Fant is going to be missed. What a unique player he turned out to be for us this year. From a virtual after thought (by me, at least) to a stud swiss army knife who made countless big time plays this year.

I'd love to really re-watch the game. I feel like there's a lot I missed, especially on defense.

Excited for our future, even if I do think we take a slight step back in 2023.

 

[Fullfillmer]

It just occurred to me this morning that that was the biggest postseason win for Tennessee since the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, both in terms of bowl prestige and quality of opponent. Second place would be the 2002 Citrus Bowl following the 01 season, but the Citrus isn't the Orange and that Michigan teams wasn't this Clemson team.

My thoughts on the game:

-Someone posted a couple of weeks ago that an Orange Bowl win that results from Joe Milton playing well would provide the most optimism going into next year. I replied that an Orange Bowl win because the defense played well would make me even more optimistic for next year. We got both. That defense bent, but didn't break. They applied tremendous pressure. There are still back end concerns, but they're much better than last year and I think they'll be even better next season. Also...Banks called a really good game, based on down, distance, and game situation.

-Milton wasn't elite, but he was pretty darn good. The worst throw he made (IMO) was the 3rd down slant-in to an open Keyton that nosedived. And he had a few batted down, but other than that, he was spot on. Loved seeing him accurate on deep throws. Even the incomplete deep ball to Keyton was accurate and he gave his WR a chance. Remember, Hooker had some accuracy issues at the beginning of this year and I think Milton was actually more accurate last night than early-season (pre-Florida) Hooker. On top of that, he was doing it against one of the 3-4 best defenses Tennessee played all year (from a sheer personnel standpoint, I'd put them 2nd only to UGA) and he was doing it with the worst OLine protection this year, other than the Georgia game. That Clemson front is elite and they were really making life hell for our Oline.

-Not only did Milton do what he did with enormous pressure from the Clemson front, he did it without Hyatt and Tillman. That's impressive.

-Jaylen Wright looked like he took it to another level last night. I think he's decidedly better than Small now, especially since he's stopped fumbling. Wright runs with speed and power and he gets to the 2nd level quickly. He had a short run (maybe 4 yards) on which he got the edge, but when the play began, I thought it was a loss. Clemson had it defended to be a loss and his speed made something out of nothing.

-What else can you say about Aaron Beasley? He's gone from a subpar LB to a star. The most encouraging thing is, he's now playing pass defense well. He's always been a see-ball/find-ball missile, but he's rounding his game now. I think we're seeing that BJM is a very good LB coach, given the improvement of Beasley, Banks, and even Herring's growth this year.

-Kamal Hadden needs to be on the sidelines. He's not only a total liability in coverage, but his mouth and stupidity are also a liability. His selfish actions last night cost UT a point. It didn't end up mattering, but if the offense hadn't responded, Clemson would have gotten the ball down 7 with a chance to tie with just a TD and PAT in the 4th quarter. I also hope McCollough is not a starter next year, unless he can improve. He wasn't good last night. I'm not sure Tennessee beats Alabama if he hadn't been suspended.

-On the other hand, I really like Doneiko Slaughter. He struggled in Athens, but he's been really solid otherwise. I'm not sure what position he should play in the secondary, but he plays the ball, he seems to have more awareness than other DBs, and he'll knock the snot out of people. With another year, he might be a good CB. I know some question if he has the hips, but the same concern exists for Ringo at UGA and he's pretty darn good. If not, he could be a good Star or S, but I think he needs to be on the field. Wesley Walker looks much better at S than Flowers did. He'll be good back there next year. He did misread the WR on a deep ball that should've been picked, though.

-Those refs sucked. I really think there is an anti-SEC bias from other conference refs. Too many examples of refs from other conferences screwing SEC teams in bowls.

-Fitting that Chase McGrath sealed it. He beat Bama with the winning FG, then sealed the win over Clemson. Speaking of which, I can only think of one team (2019 LSU) that has beaten Saban and Dabo in the same season besides 2022 Tennessee. Not only that, we beat Saban, Kelly, and Dabo in the same year. Those are probably the 3 most disliked coaches in America. We should be America's Team.

-Byron Young showed out. Hope that bumps his draft stock because he's a great kid with a great story. Tyler Baron also played really well, but he should stay for another year. He stands to really improve his stock in 2023 with a 2nd year at SDE, his more natural position. I also noticed Bryson Eason involved a lot. That's encouraging to see. Those DTs (Thomas, Terry, Eason, and Simmons) will be among the best DT group in the SEC in 2023.

Looking forward:

-Joe Milton has a spring practice, summer, and fall practice to build off of that performance. He'll build more chemistry with his WRs and get more and more reps. He should be a very solid QB in 2023. The WR corps should also be very good, in spite of the losses of Tillman and Hyatt. For starters, Tillman really didn't play much this year, so we're not losing much there. Keyton got a lot of experience and played pretty well. Bru is Bru. Squirrel got some great experience (especially last night) and seems to have a real connection with Milton. Also, I think we get Thornton and Webb/Nimrod look like great prospects, by all accounts. I do hope that Keyton can improve on catching contested deep balls. He has struggled in that regard, and did so on one deep ball last night.

-I think the 2023 offense will rely more on the run than the 2022 one did and I think that's largely because they'll be better at it. Wright should be the #1 RB in 2023. Not that the 2022 rushing offense was bad. I believe it was top 15 in America. But Wright and Sampson will take it to another level in 2023. That will only make Milton's job easier.

-Beasley and Pili will make the starting LB corps a strength. Which is crazy to think about, given where we've been at that position. An improved Herring, Perry, and the freshmen will provide quality depth. The DLine should be good again. We'll have to see what happens on the back end, but I would expect them to be better next year. If nothing else, a year of experience and health (they were all hurt during spring practice and didn't develop) will make them better. Turnage and Slaughter can be good. Maybe Charles too. Adding the freshmen will help too. I like Walker at one Safety, but we need to improve over McCollough at the other.

-The biggest reason for optimism isn't personnel and depth charts, though. It's that this program has a winning culture now. We saw that last night. They win in different ways. They beat Pitt and Clemson in different ways than they beat Bama and Florida, which was different than the way they beat LSU and Kentucky. This program has a belief now and expects to win. It doesn't matter how or who the heroes are. That's what great program culture looks like.

-I think this team can go 10-2 again. In fact, I expect 10 wins. But, call me crazy, I think this team can do better than 10-2. I expect to beat every team not named Alabama and Georgia. I think everyone in this program does too. But we also have a great chance against both of those teams. Alabama without Young and Anderson? Is their culture slipping? Heupel seems to have that defense figured out, that's for sure. Is Jalen Milroe going to beat Tennessee? Ty Simpson? Georgia loses Bennett, Carter, etc. and comes to Knoxville. Yes, both teams have talent waiting in the wings and will reload. Maybe they still beat Tennessee. But it's not a given. Regardless, those are the two swing games. It's nice to say that now, because 2 years ago, our swing games were Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina. I can't wait to avenge SC next year, kick Florida's butt in the swamp, and beat Jimbo in Knoxville. Because we will do all three of those things. Book it.


What a fun season. This wasn't a championship year. But I've been following Tennessee since 1985 and this is my favorite non-championship team. This is the team that set the stage for future championships. They got the Florida monkey of our backs. They beat Pitt in a fashion in which Tennessee always lost games before, evidencing a culture shift. They dominated LSU like no one else did this season. The offense was electric. They broke the Bama streak and gave me (us) the most enjoyable sporting event (and post-event) I've attended in my life. And they topped it off with Tennessee's best bowl win this century. They did it all in just Heupel's 2nd season after the program was burnt to the ground. If you can't be happy and optimistic right now, then fanhood just isn't for you.

More to come, ladies and gentlemen...more to come...

Very good write up. I would however take exception to a couple of items - mostly revolving around the play of the offensive line. Joe is very adept about side stepping the first rusher, but he had way more time and was under duress much, much less than Clemson's poor freshman qb. I think we had 26 qb pressures which is crazy and set a record against Clemson, vs only a handful. We didn't torch them for 55 points but our offense wasn't as cohesive without HH, without an OC, running max tempo, etc. etc.
So I was plenty happy with our OL against on paper, one of the best 3 defenses we faced.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

Great write-up, GA!

Milton impressed me. And Clemson's D is very good, so playing well against them is a bigger statement than the Vanderbilt game. I've been a Milton skeptic since we've recruited him, but he has improved immensely under Heupel, and I also suspect that being Hendon's backup for much of the past 2 years was a blessing in disguise for him. Think he likely learned a lot from Hooker.

 

[NighthawkVol]

my only problem I see with Milton (this past game) that I hope he fixes in the off-season is the ability to take off for a first down when rolling out of the pocket. Too many times I see him try to sling it in to the nearest receiver on the sideline. It’s dangerous instead of picking up the free yardage with his feet.

that being said, I hope he continues to improve and impress me!

Agree. I think the tendency to hold the ball too long might also be what happens in this offense when a QB is inexperienced. It was a criticism of Hooker last year and even early this year. It's almost like the QB isn't instructed to throw the ball away in this offense. I'm not sure what it is. But Hooker got it fixed this year, probably around the Florida game. He still didn't really throw it away much, but he figured out when to go ahead and take off running. Or maybe he found the open guys more efficiently. I expect Milton will get this figured out with experience, as Hooker did.

 

[tone357]

On the deep misses to Keyton, it's easy to say that Keyton should have been better on contested balls. But if you study those two plays closely, you will see that Keyton was behind the DB, and had to slow down to adjust to the ball, which was under thrown, and put him in the worst position to try an catch it. I think Joe was a bit self conscious about overthrowing receivers with all of the talk being about that since last year. All in all, this game is going to work wonders for his confidence going forward.

 

[turbovol]

How many of our starting offensive linemen return next year? I know we're losing Wright.

 

[BornAVol1963]

The best thing ask about Slaughter is that he doesn't just want to tackle you, he wants to make sure you come no where near him again.

I love it when they get up blowing snot bubbles! Football is a violent sport, meant to help boys and young men have a way to deal with their aggression. Slaughter has gotten very good at dealing out aggression!

 

[VOL_Lyfe]

I agree 100% with most of this.

"60% of the time......."

 

[lukeneyland]

It just occurred to me this morning that that was the biggest postseason win for Tennessee since the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, both in terms of bowl prestige and quality of opponent. Second place would be the 2002 Citrus Bowl following the 01 season, but the Citrus isn't the Orange and that Michigan team wasn't this Clemson team.

My thoughts on the game:

-Someone posted a couple of weeks ago that an Orange Bowl win that results from Joe Milton playing well would provide the most optimism going into next year. I replied that an Orange Bowl win because the defense played well would make me even more optimistic for next year. We got both. That defense bent, but didn't break. They applied tremendous pressure. There are still back end concerns, but they're much better than last year and I think they'll be even better next season. Also...Banks called a really good game, based on down, distance, and game situation.

-Milton wasn't elite, but he was pretty darn good. The worst throw he made (IMO) was the 3rd down slant-in to an open Keyton that nosedived. And he had a few batted down, but other than that, he was spot on. Loved seeing him accurate on deep throws. Even the incomplete deep ball to Keyton was accurate and he gave his WR a chance. Remember, Hooker had some accuracy issues at the beginning of this year and I think Milton was actually more accurate last night than early-season (pre-Florida) Hooker. On top of that, he was doing it against one of the 3-4 best defenses Tennessee played all year (from a sheer personnel standpoint, I'd put them 2nd only to UGA) and he was doing it with the worst OLine protection this year, other than the Georgia game. That Clemson front is elite and they were really making life hell for our Oline.

-Not only did Milton do what he did with enormous pressure from the Clemson front, he did it without Hyatt and Tillman. That's impressive.

-Jaylen Wright looked like he took it to another level last night. I think he's decidedly better than Small now, especially since he's stopped fumbling. Wright runs with speed and power and he gets to the 2nd level quickly. He had a short run (maybe 4 yards) on which he got the edge, but when the play began, I thought it was a loss. Clemson had it defended to be a loss and his speed made something out of nothing.

-What else can you say about Aaron Beasley? He's gone from a subpar LB to a star. The most encouraging thing is, he's now playing pass defense well. He's always been a see-ball/find-ball missile, but he's rounding his game now. I think we're seeing that BJM is a very good LB coach, given the improvement of Beasley, Banks, and even Herring's growth this year.

-Kamal Hadden needs to be on the sidelines. He's not only a total liability in coverage, but his mouth and stupidity are also a liability. His selfish actions last night cost UT a point. It didn't end up mattering, but if the offense hadn't responded, Clemson would have gotten the ball down 7 with a chance to tie with just a TD and PAT in the 4th quarter. I also hope McCollough is not a starter next year, unless he can improve. He wasn't good last night. I'm not sure Tennessee beats Alabama if he hadn't been suspended.

-On the other hand, I really like Doneiko Slaughter. He struggled in Athens, but he's been really solid otherwise. I'm not sure what position he should play in the secondary, but he plays the ball, he seems to have more awareness than other DBs, and he'll knock the snot out of people. With another year, he might be a good CB. I know some question if he has the hips, but the same concern exists for Ringo at UGA and he's pretty darn good. If not, he could be a good Star or S, but I think he needs to be on the field. Wesley Walker looks much better at S than Flowers did. He'll be good back there next year. He did misread the WR on a deep ball that should've been picked, though.

-Those refs sucked. I really think there is an anti-SEC bias from other conference refs. Too many examples of refs from other conferences screwing SEC teams in bowls.

-Fitting that Chase McGrath sealed it. He beat Bama with the winning FG, then sealed the win over Clemson. Speaking of which, I can only think of one team (2019 LSU) that has beaten Saban and Dabo in the same season besides 2022 Tennessee. Not only that, we beat Saban, Kelly, and Dabo in the same year. Those are probably the 3 most disliked coaches in America. We should be America's Team.

-Byron Young showed out. Hope that bumps his draft stock because he's a great kid with a great story. Tyler Baron also played really well, but he should stay for another year. He stands to really improve his stock in 2023 with a 2nd year at SDE, his more natural position. I also noticed Bryson Eason involved a lot. That's encouraging to see. Those DTs (Thomas, Terry, Eason, and Simmons) will be among the best DT group in the SEC in 2023.

Looking forward:

-Joe Milton has a spring practice, summer, and fall practice to build off of that performance. He'll build more chemistry with his WRs and get more and more reps. He should be a very solid QB in 2023. The WR corps should also be very good, in spite of the losses of Tillman and Hyatt. For starters, Tillman really didn't play much this year, so we're not losing much there. Keyton got a lot of experience and played pretty well. Bru is Bru. Squirrel got some great experience (especially last night) and seems to have a real connection with Milton. Also, I think we get Thornton and Webb/Nimrod look like great prospects, by all accounts. I do hope that Keyton can improve on catching contested deep balls. He has struggled in that regard, and did so on one deep ball last night.

-I think the 2023 offense will rely more on the run than the 2022 one did and I think that's largely because they'll be better at it. Wright should be the #1 RB in 2023. Not that the 2022 rushing offense was bad. I believe it was top 15 in America. But Wright and Sampson will take it to another level in 2023. That will only make Milton's job easier.

-Beasley and Pili will make the starting LB corps a strength. Which is crazy to think about, given where we've been at that position. An improved Herring, Perry, and the freshmen will provide quality depth. The DLine should be good again. We'll have to see what happens on the back end, but I would expect them to be better next year. If nothing else, a year of experience and health (they were all hurt during spring practice and didn't develop) will make them better. Turnage and Slaughter can be good. Maybe Charles too. Adding the freshmen will help too. I like Walker at one Safety, but we need to improve over McCollough at the other.

-The biggest reason for optimism isn't personnel and depth charts, though. It's that this program has a winning culture now. We saw that last night. They win in different ways. They beat Pitt and Clemson in different ways than they beat Bama and Florida, which was different than the way they beat LSU and Kentucky. This program has a belief now and expects to win. It doesn't matter how or who the heroes are. That's what great program culture looks like.

-I think this team can go 10-2 again. In fact, I expect 10 wins. But, call me crazy, I think this team can do better than 10-2. I expect to beat every team not named Alabama and Georgia. I think everyone in this program does too. But we also have a great chance against both of those teams. Alabama without Young and Anderson? Is their culture slipping? Heupel seems to have that defense figured out, that's for sure. Is Jalen Milroe going to beat Tennessee? Ty Simpson? Georgia loses Bennett, Carter, etc. and comes to Knoxville. Yes, both teams have talent waiting in the wings and will reload. Maybe they still beat Tennessee. But it's not a given. Regardless, those are the two swing games. It's nice to say that now, because 2 years ago, our swing games were Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina. I can't wait to avenge SC next year, kick Florida's butt in the swamp, and beat Jimbo in Knoxville. Because we will do all three of those things. Book it.


What a fun season. This wasn't a championship year. But I've been following Tennessee since 1985 and this is my favorite non-championship team. This is the team that set the stage for future championships. They got the Florida monkey of our backs. They beat Pitt in a fashion in which Tennessee always lost games before, evidencing a culture shift. They dominated LSU like no one else did this season. The offense was electric. They broke the Bama streak and gave me (us) the most enjoyable sporting event (and post-event) I've attended in my life. And they topped it off with Tennessee's best bowl win this century. They did it all in just Heupel's 2nd season after the program was burnt to the ground. If you can't be happy and optimistic right now, then fanhood just isn't for you.

More to come, ladies and gentlemen...more to come...

I thought McCollough did a good job. Other than that I agree

 

[strkr]

The biggest thing to me was Milton taking ownership of his mistakes and correcting them. Maybe I missed them but he didn’t seem to make the same mistake over and over again in the same series.

The point after:

Towards the end of the game I don’t know if it was designed that way or Milton was starting to realize his running ability but if he has every DC in the country should worry.

He has to realize when to tuck it and run. He will have another option that defense has to defend. Will open up other opportunities. Hopefully it comes with more experience.

 

[NighthawkVol]

How many of our starting offensive linemen return next year? I know we're losing Wright.

We lose Wright and Carvin. At the moment, I'd expect Crawford to move to RT (where he's more natural anyway) and starts there, and I'd expect the Texas transfer Karic to start at LG. But I think Tennessee is also swinging for John Campbell, the Miami transfer at OT. That could shake up the competition some. But Mincey is the LT, Mays is the C, and Spraggins is the RG.

 

[OldVolMan]

Mr Amsler, you nailed it in my opinion, you and I saw the same game. I really like your “After the game” evaluations.
Couple comments;
1) I know Sampson was the kickoff return guy, but why did he not get any carries do you think?
2) totally agree Keaton has to “catch contested deep balls,” he impresses me with his athletic ability to put himself in position to make a great catch but does not always finish it with the catch, but think he will get there, he is just too talented. And he did make some catches during the year that not every WR could make.
3) Hooker is going be difficult to replace but have confidence in JH to make the offense around Milton his style more. Plus, I think we will see quite a bit of Nico next year to get experience as I don’t think he will redshirt.
4) I’m 72 and had almost given up ever enjoying the Vol glory that I did in my younger years, so what a blessing it is to have it back!!! I’m blessed in many ways in my life, this is just icing on the cake.

 

[VOLED]

"60% of the time......."

I have a little Yogi Berra in me

 

[Redleg68]

He has to realize when to tuck it and run. He will have another option that defense has to defend. Will open up other opportunities. Hopefully it comes with more experience.

Coaching can only go so far. Real game snaps then becomes the great teacher, if one is so inclined to learn from it. Milton is already a good quarterback with unreal athletic ability, if his learning curve catches up to his athletic ability, then he will be the best quarterback in the SEC next year. (some orange tinted glasses going on here)

 

[volmoon]

Outstanding post