My Thoughts on the UT-Martin Game, After Sleeping on it

[NighthawkVol]

-I thought we came out flat on defense. We also finished flat on defense. Part of that could be the Alabama hangover or the opponent, or the fact that sitting so many guys to rest up sends a message to the team that we're not taking this game very seriously. Regardless, I'm glad we got a cupcake game before playing Kentucky. They got a bye, which helps them, but I'm not sure this game wasn't better than a bye, since it gave the injured guys a chance to sit out and heal up, but still a game environment to keep others sharp. I'm sure we've been game-planning Kentucky for 2 weeks, as if we had a bye.

-UT Martin is a really good FCS team. Those weren't bad players they have on offense, especially at QB and WR.

-I like seeing William Wright get a pick. Despite being a walk-on, he's a 4.3 guy from Ensworth who, by all accounts, works hard and shows up well in practice. Just a sophomore, he could develop into a solid depth guy.

-There was a poster last week who acted as if the notion that Vol fans have been hyper-critical of Joe Milton was contrived. Well he can check out some of the Milton posts following the game. Milton came in during a blowout, operated an ultra-vanilla offense that was simply designed to run the game clock down and get us out of the game as soon as possible, did just fine doing so (hitting a long TD pass), and you'd think by reading some post-game responses, he'd played like Nathan Peterman in the Swamp in 2013. Some of y'all need to chill out on the Milton hate. There was nothing at all to take from his play in this game. He may or may not be the starter next year. I suspect he will be and he'll be good. If not, Jackson or Iamaleava will have to be good to beat him out...and they very well may be. Regardless, Josh Heupel is our coach, so we'll have a good QB.

-Speaking of QBs, and this doesn't have much to do with the game, other than Jason Simpson being UTM's coach...but I wonder if Ty Simpson transfers to UT this offseason. He's behind Milroe at Bama and he's just a sophomore. They're bringing in 2 more highly rated QBs and I wouldn't be surprised if Holstein is higher on the depth chart than Simpson pretty quickly. Simpson grew up a UT fan, has now seen what Heupel can do with a QB, sees a starter opening at UT next year...so maybe. After he committed to Bama, some posters said he'll end up transferring to UT anyway. Maybe they were right. Anyway, just a thought I had.

-Jalen Wright is our best RB. Glad to see him holding on to the football. He has more burst, speed, vision, and more wiggle than Small. He'd be the starter if he hadn't had the fumble issues. Hope the ball security continues so we can use him more.

-Liked seeing Squirrel get in there. He should've had 2 long TDs, but Hooker really under-threw him on one ball. Milton's TD was a little underthrown too, just not as badly as Hooker's, so White could still make a play and score. Someone said he reminds of some of those little Spurrier WRs who used to kill Tennessee. I can see that...a Jacquez Green or Reidel Anthony type.

-Hope Jackson is okay. We likely won't need him this year, but I want him to continue developing in practice. The QB competition next year will be intense.

-Congrats to Princeton Fant on a great game. That's a guy with a unique skill set who languishes under most coaches. Heupel is so good at finding roles for players and utilizing their strengths. I think maybe Whitehead plays that FB role next year. Fant may find a Swiss army knife role with an NFL team.

I'm pumped for the Kentucky game. Night game at Neyland. They hate us. They think they can beat us. They're ranked. They could ruin our season. This crowd needs to be amped up. I'll be there, losing my voice as usual.

Go Big Orange.

 

[OneManGang]

Re: the defense

If DC Banks had called a more vanilla version the girls from Cruze Farms could have done just as well.

Locals will get the reference.

 

[VolMarine1371]

-I thought we came out flat on defense. We also finished flat on defense. Part of that could be the Alabama hangover or the opponent, or the fact that sitting so many guys to rest up sends a message to the team that we're not taking this game very seriously. Regardless, I'm glad we got a cupcake game before playing Kentucky. They got a bye, which helps them, but I'm not sure this game wasn't better than a bye, since it gave the injured guys a chance to sit out and heal up, but still a game environment to keep others sharp. I'm sure we've been game-planning Kentucky for 2 weeks, as if we had a bye.

-UT Martin is a really good FCS team. Those weren't bad players they have on offense, especially at QB and WR.

-I like seeing William Wright get a pick. Despite being a walk-on, he's a 4.3 guy from Ensworth who, by all accounts, works hard and shows up well in practice. Just a sophomore, he could develop into a solid depth guy.

-There was a poster last week who acted as if the notion that Vol fans have been hyper-critical of Joe Milton was contrived. Well he can check out some of the Milton posts following the game. Milton came in during a blowout, operated an ultra-vanilla offense that was simply designed to run the game clock down and get us out of the game as soon as possible, did just fine doing so (hitting a long TD pass), and you'd think by reading some post-game responses, he'd played like Nathan Peterman in the Swamp in 2013. Some of y'all need to chill out on the Milton hate. There was nothing at all to take from his play in this game. He may or may not be the starter next year. I suspect he will be and he'll be good. If not, Jackson or Iamaleava will have to be good to beat him out...and they very well may be. Regardless, Josh Heupel is our coach, so we'll have a good QB.

-Speaking of QBs, and this doesn't have much to do with the game, other than Jason Simpson being UTM's coach...but I wonder if Ty Simpson transfers to UT this offseason. He's behind Milroe at Bama and he's just a sophomore. They're bringing in 2 more highly rated QBs and I wouldn't be surprised if Holstein is higher on the depth chart than Simpson pretty quickly. Simpson grew up a UT fan, has now seen what Heupel can do with a QB, sees a starter opening at UT next year...so maybe. After he committed to Bama, some posters said he'll end up transferring to UT anyway. Maybe they were right. Anyway, just a thought I had.

-Jalen Wright is our best RB. Glad to see him holding on to the football. He has more burst, speed, vision, and more wiggle than Small. He'd be the starter if he hadn't had the fumble issues. Hope the ball security continues so we can use him more.

-Liked seeing Squirrel get in there. He should've had 2 long TDs, but Hooker really under-threw him on one ball. Milton's TD was a little underthrown too, just not as badly as Hooker's, so White could still make a play and score. Someone said he reminds of some of those little Spurrier WRs who used to kill Tennessee. I can see that...a Jacquez Green or Reidel Anthony type.

-Hope Jackson is okay. We likely won't need him this year, but I want him to continue developing in practice. The QB competition next year will be intense.

-Congrats to Princeton Fant on a great game. That's a guy with a unique skill set who languishes under most coaches. Heupel is so good at finding roles for players and utilizing their strengths. I think maybe Whitehead plays that FB role next year. Fant may find a Swiss army knife role with an NFL team.

I'm pumped for the Kentucky game. Night game at Neyland. They hate us. They think they can beat us. They're ranked. They could ruin our season. This crowd needs to be amped up. I'll be there, losing my voice as usual.

Go Big Orange.

It was 52-7 when the starters went out. We started the game with 7 starters out and lost an 8th in the 1st quarter. By time the game was over with we had walkons playing most of the 4th quarter. Nothing to see here.

 

[Gandalf]

We were on cruise control for most of the game really, even when the starters were there. Thus I don't think we were showing much of anything.

I am very grateful this game came when it did because it helps us shake off the Alabama win so that KY is not a trap game. UTM is a good, solid team (for FCS) but it was basically a glorified scrimmage where we had to take care of business to get our stats but there was no real pressure. I mean, I think everyone we had, even the water boys probably got in some play time which is great.

What concerned me more is when Milton came in. He has a friggen bionic arm and I did like that he was lowering his head to smash through on a couple of runs. What I definitely did not like though was that he still seems very slow to have the mental part on the plays. Much slower to get the play going and cannot do the reads very quickly it seemed. Now maybe its just because as backup he has not been getting the snaps so he doesnt know the plays as well but its concerning. Heupel's system relies on knowing exactly where to go and make super fast adjustments to catch you opponent napping. I hope he can get that fixed by next year with more practice as the starter. If so, he will be an ungodly beast. I will say he has improved a LOT from last year and if anyone can turn him around it is the QB whisperer. He is not as slippery as HH but he can smash through - and CJH system DEPENDS on the run threat.

 

[CAVPUT]

The thing that stood out about Wright was that he actually tackled like you're supposed to. He hit, wrapped up and brought a guy down instead of sticking out an arm or throwing yourself at a runners feet hoping to trip him up. Haven't seen much of that from our starting DBs. Refreshing.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

What concerned me more is when Milton came in. He has a friggen bionic arm and I did like that he was lowering his head to smash through on a couple of runs. What I definitely did not like though was that he still seems very slow to have the mental part on the plays. Much slower to get the play going and cannot do the reads very quickly it seemed. Now maybe its just because as backup he has not been getting the snaps so he doesnt know the plays as well but its concerning. Heupel's system relies on knowing exactly where to go and make super fast adjustments to catch you opponent napping. I hope he can get that fixed by next year with more practice as the starter. If so, he will be an ungodly beast. I will say he has improved a LOT from last year and if anyone can turn him around it is the QB whisperer. He is not as slippery as HH but he can smash through - and CJH system DEPENDS on the run threat.

I hate to say it, but I'm not as optimistic about 2023. I was optimistic at the beginning of this year and probably will be again in 2024, but '23 feels like a transition year.

Milton may have the strongest arm in college football, but he's so reminiscent of JG on the mental side of the game. I would not be surprised if he loses the starting job to either Tayven Jackson or Nico. Hope I'm proven 100% wrong, Milton figures things out, balls out, and we have a great season. But as good as Heupel is, it's rare for a slow-processing, inaccurate QB who has been that way for nearly a decade to suddenly fix his issues. If Heupel turns Milton into a top SEC QB, he deserves every penny of his paycheck.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

I am thrilled where we are this season. I am NOT overconfident entering several games in front of us. I don't think our talent level is really any different than when we entered the season, BUT BUT BUT many guys are playing at the upper reaches of their ability in part because of their own effort and in part because of the schemes and gameplans they have been given, believed in and executed. One of the keys has been the the number of drives we have competed, in part because we have not stacked up missed blocks, bad passes and drops back to back. Hope we keep those imperfect plays distributed during the games down the stretch. A long dry stretch due to a string of 3rd down failures not lending themselves to 4th down recoveries could keep some teams in the game with even greater time of possession against our D which is still not at average SEC level at several positions and therefore as a unit. Law of averages could be in play. Could not. Hope not.

 

[EaglesVols91]

Lots of defensive players didn’t play Saturday and we should also get some back that missed a few games. We are going to be fine

 

[Gandalf]

I hate to say it, but I'm not as optimistic about 2023. I was optimistic at the beginning of this year and probably will be again in 2024, but '23 feels like a transition year.

Milton may have the strongest arm in college football, but he's so reminiscent of JG on the mental side of the game. I would not be surprised if he loses the starting job to either Tayven Jackson or Nico. Hope I'm proven 100% wrong, Milton figures things out, balls out, and we have a great season. But as good as Heupel is, it's rare for a slow-processing, inaccurate QB who has been that way for nearly a decade to suddenly fix his issues. If Heupel turns Milton into a top SEC QB, he deserves every penny of his paycheck.

I hear you on transition. One good thing about CJH system is that while technically a LOT of RPOs, I dont think it requires a lot of deciding since, I think a lot of the "option" is called pre-play but it is hard for the defense to know which option they go with. That means if Milton can memorize the plays, he should do better.

 

[Vol_in_NC_1999]

Greg, always appreciate your write-ups. My first thought is: I'm not sure if Simpson would want to compete with Jackson/Iamaleava/Milton for the QB spot if he were to transfer. I don't know how good he is though.

 

[walkenvol]

The thing that stood out about Wright was that he actually tackled like you're supposed to. He hit, wrapped up and brought a guy down instead of sticking out an arm or throwing yourself at a runners feet hoping to trip him up. Haven't seen much of that from our starting DBs. Refreshing.

If the proclaimed 4.3 is correct (even if it’s 4.4) how does a guy like that fall through the cracks and not get a P5 scholarship? Was he hurt in hs or something?

 

[Backwards K]

The thing that stood out about Wright was that he actually tackled like you're supposed to. He hit, wrapped up and brought a guy down instead of sticking out an arm or throwing yourself at a runners feet hoping to trip him up. Haven't seen much of that from our starting DBs. Refreshing.

Also, on Wright's interception, he came off his man and actually broke on the ball......I guess they haven't had time to coach him out of that yet!!

 

[CascadeVolunteer]

I agree with Hype, those young players got to step it up. I know they are developing but parts of Q3/4, we looked like a FCS squad. Glad they got the experience. There is plenty of learning that will come out of that for them.

 

[markus]

Overthinking the entire thing!

 

[Schasz]

It was more or less a practice game and I believe we came out of it OK health wise and should get back the players who did not play against KY. GBO!

 

[farmdogvol]

I agree with you on Fant. If he can continue to improve his blocking skills he will find a spot on a NFL roster. Teams are starting to look for hybrid TE/FB players. He has shown he can play both positions. He is a load in goal line situations and 3rd and short.

 

[perico]

I hate to say it, but I'm not as optimistic about 2023. I was optimistic at the beginning of this year and probably will be again in 2024, but '23 feels like a transition year.

Milton may have the strongest arm in college football, but he's so reminiscent of JG on the mental side of the game. I would not be surprised if he loses the starting job to either Tayven Jackson or Nico. Hope I'm proven 100% wrong, Milton figures things out, balls out, and we have a great season. But as good as Heupel is, it's rare for a slow-processing, inaccurate QB who has been that way for nearly a decade to suddenly fix his issues. If Heupel turns Milton into a top SEC QB, he deserves every penny of his paycheck.

To be fair to Milton, he was playing with a bunch of inexperienced guys. He looked perfectly fine when he was throwing to Keyton and Hyatt, but when he was throwing to the young guys lower on the depth chart, he was slower. That could be on the timing thing and the lack of experience the backups have out there as much as it is on Milton having a hard time reading the defense.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

My understanding of Heupel's system is that the quarterback reads of the defense are easier than other systems. Therefore, Milton should be fine when he gets to work all the time with the first team.

 

[BenGrimm]

Also, on Wright's interception, he came off his man and actually broke on the ball......I guess they haven't had time to coach him out of that yet!!

They said after the game that play call was a “vision play” for him to watch the QB and break in the ball.

 

[UTodd01]

We were as vanilla as you can possibly be on both sides of the ball. There's really nothing to discuss about this game.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

They said after the game that play call was a “vision play” for him to watch the QB and break in the ball.

We do need more of that, though.

 

[YankeeVol]

I hate to say it, but I'm not as optimistic about 2023. I was optimistic at the beginning of this year and probably will be again in 2024, but '23 feels like a transition year.

Milton may have the strongest arm in college football, but he's so reminiscent of JG on the mental side of the game. I would not be surprised if he loses the starting job to either Tayven Jackson or Nico. Hope I'm proven 100% wrong, Milton figures things out, balls out, and we have a great season. But as good as Heupel is, it's rare for a slow-processing, inaccurate QB who has been that way for nearly a decade to suddenly fix his issues. If Heupel turns Milton into a top SEC QB, he deserves every penny of his paycheck.

He turned Hooker into a Heisman candidate after being nothing more than an afterthought (and not being very good at VT)

 

[WoodsmanVol]

To be fair to Milton, he was playing with a bunch of inexperienced guys. He looked perfectly fine when he was throwing to Keyton and Hyatt, but when he was throwing to the young guys lower on the depth chart, he was slower. That could be on the timing thing and the lack of experience the backups have out there as much as it is on Milton having a hard time reading the defense.

SSHHH! Some don't want to hear stuff like this. Now, repent and just state that JoeMil sucks like a big orange. That more palpable to certain folks here.

 

[Boone&Crockett]

I hate to say it, but I'm not as optimistic about 2023. I was optimistic at the beginning of this year and probably will be again in 2024, but '23 feels like a transition year.

Milton may have the strongest arm in college football, but he's so reminiscent of JG on the mental side of the game. I would not be surprised if he loses the starting job to either Tayven Jackson or Nico. Hope I'm proven 100% wrong, Milton figures things out, balls out, and we have a great season. But as good as Heupel is, it's rare for a slow-processing, inaccurate QB who has been that way for nearly a decade to suddenly fix his issues. If Heupel turns Milton into a top SEC QB, he deserves every penny of his paycheck.

I agree, this years team is heavy on upper classmen most every starter is either a Senior or Junior, lots of Seniors and they play like a team loaded with Seniors, I think losing those guys as well as possibly losing one of our best Juniors to the draft will set us back let alone filling Hendons shoes, I hope Nico is all they say he is because I think we struggle early on.

 

[BanditVol]

It was 52-7 when the starters went out. We started the game with 7 starters out and lost an 8th in the 1st quarter. By time the game was over with we had walkons playing most of the 4th quarter. Nothing to see here.

Yep....almost all the UTM scoring was on our xth string players