NighthawkVol
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I haven’t had a chance to post my thoughts yet, as I went to the game, then left town to see our daughter. But we got back last night and I had a chance to watch Freak’s posted video of the game on YouTube. Thoughts:
-This was a solid start to the season. The offense was pretty vanilla in terms of play calling, but handled business for the most part. Given what Virginia is (or what we think Virginia is), it’s hard to take much from this game, BUT we do know that they had a solid front 7 last year and return most of them, so the Oline’s performance is very encouraging. And it’s hard not to get excited about the defense, especially the front 7, regardless of opponent.
-Regarding the defense, the speed and athleticism jump out. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Tennessee team fly around the field like that against ANY opponent. They didn’t look that fast and physical against Ball State or Bowling Green the last 2 years. And Virgina is better than either. But what was really impressive was that they weren’t just athletic…they were disciplined. Watch Pili. He came out of a blitz on a couple of plays to track a RB out of the backfield. Beasley and the safeties were disciplined when UVA countered blitzes with underneath screens…they sniffed it out. Walker replacing Pearce on UVA’s 4th down zone read so neither the QB or RB had anywhere to go…these were all heads ups plays and reflected outstanding coaching. The D has clearly taken a step forward…maybe 2. This might actually be a good defense.
-The secondary played pretty well. There were only about 3 passing plays of significant yardage…I think 2 of those came when UVA found a spot in the zone and 1 was when Jeudy-Lally got beat on his first play and the UVA WR made a diving catch (GJL wasn’t beat terribly, but he was beat). Virginia was 11/24 for 106 yards passing….this is spite of being down big. Yes, the fron 7 was a huge help, but given that UVA was playing from behind all day, to only give up stats like that…that’s a very good performance by the secondary. The only downside is no INTs….they came close on two that could have been caught, but would have been great plays.
-Watch Keenan Pili and Aaron Beasley specifically if you watch the replay. Those guys are studs. Pili is much faster and more athletic than I anticipated he would be.
-James Pearce, Tyler Baron, and Tyre West are gonna have big years on the DLine. Baron finally looks like he player he was supposed to be.
-On offense, it’s been discussed how the RBs played. They ran hard, hey ran with patience, vision, and they punished tacklers. They played really well. Dylan Sampson is very much a part of this rotation and probably the starter in 2024.
-As mentioned before, the Oline looked good against a good front 7. This was my biggest concern and I feel a lot better about it. I was watching the interior line and Karic/Lane both played well. Mays coming back will obviously help, but Lane is solid in his place. I think Karic probably solidified the LG spot. I think/hope Mincey can nail down the RT spot. He can be elite there. John Campbell was awesome at LT. Best LT we’ve had in years.
-There were three really bad plays by the line…the 4th down stop, he sack on Milton, and a holding call that brought back a nice completion to McCoy. The 4th down stop was largely the fault of Castles missing a block, but the line really got not push. The hold was on Campbell because he got lost on a stunt and by the time he recovered, was in bad position. The sack on Milton was the result of Crawford getting beat on a stunt. Obviously, there is some teachable film regarding stunt recognition.
-I really hope Heupel is correct about Ross being nervous his first game and getting better. I’m really not a fan of the rugby style kicking, but maybe the fact he can use both feet will make him a weapon after he figures it out. We heard all offseason that he can boom it. I wanna see that Saturday.
-The passing game between the first drive of the game and about mid 2nd quarter (Milton’s “Mini-slump”) is the closest thing to a disappointment in this game. The drop by Keyton still bugs me because Milton threw an absolute beauty. He HAS to catch that. Milton seemed to be off after that before settling back in and playing really well the rest of the game. I was hoping to see more from Thornton. Not that he played poorly, just that I was hoping to see him make some big plays. But again, we were vanilla.
-A few thoughts on Milton and that mini slump: 1) After the series when he had 3 straight incompletions, he seemed frustrated with himself. He came to the sideline and I LOVED Heupel’s handling of it. CJH was just calm. No emphatic words or Spurrieresque visor throwing…just a chat about what to do different. Milton settled down. THIS is the thing I love most about Heupel. His calmness and confidence bleeds into his team. They play like he acts. It’s why perceived “curses” don’t matter anymore. There is no pucker factor with CJH; 2) Milton made all the right reads and was very quick in his decision-making. Even during his mini slump, He was going through progressions quickly, getting the ball out quickly, and making the right reads. This isn’t a small thing. In fact, it was one of the big concerns Milton needed to address. He looks like he’s in complete command of this offense and knows where he’s going with the ball; 3) before anyone makes too much of the inaccurate throws during the little mini-slump, remember this…it was the first game. He settled in and displayed great accuracy after the nini-slump. And most imnportanly, every QB will miss throws. Hooker kept missing high in the first 2 games last year and at times in 2021. I remember typing in my thoughts after the Pitt game how that was a concern for me. But Hooker settled in, got used to his WRs, and had an historic season. Joe having a little mini slump in the first game is nothing to be concerned about, especially given the way he recovered.
-Man, we TOOK OVER Nissan Stadium. I know some hate neutral site games and say we shouldn’t play in Nashville, but I just don't agree. That’s a fun way to open the season and remind folks that Nashville IS Big Orange Country. Even though it wasn’t on campus, that’s the best environment UVA will play in all year. Also, get used to it. Once the new stadium is built in Nashville, they’re gonna put the Vols in there every few years. No doubt. And that stadium will be more fun, with all that’s going to be put around it, so you don’t have to cross the pedestrian bridge to downtown to do things. But hopefully, no more 11:00 kicks.
On to Austin Peay and the Condredge Holloway smokey grey game…
-This was a solid start to the season. The offense was pretty vanilla in terms of play calling, but handled business for the most part. Given what Virginia is (or what we think Virginia is), it’s hard to take much from this game, BUT we do know that they had a solid front 7 last year and return most of them, so the Oline’s performance is very encouraging. And it’s hard not to get excited about the defense, especially the front 7, regardless of opponent.
-Regarding the defense, the speed and athleticism jump out. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Tennessee team fly around the field like that against ANY opponent. They didn’t look that fast and physical against Ball State or Bowling Green the last 2 years. And Virgina is better than either. But what was really impressive was that they weren’t just athletic…they were disciplined. Watch Pili. He came out of a blitz on a couple of plays to track a RB out of the backfield. Beasley and the safeties were disciplined when UVA countered blitzes with underneath screens…they sniffed it out. Walker replacing Pearce on UVA’s 4th down zone read so neither the QB or RB had anywhere to go…these were all heads ups plays and reflected outstanding coaching. The D has clearly taken a step forward…maybe 2. This might actually be a good defense.
-The secondary played pretty well. There were only about 3 passing plays of significant yardage…I think 2 of those came when UVA found a spot in the zone and 1 was when Jeudy-Lally got beat on his first play and the UVA WR made a diving catch (GJL wasn’t beat terribly, but he was beat). Virginia was 11/24 for 106 yards passing….this is spite of being down big. Yes, the fron 7 was a huge help, but given that UVA was playing from behind all day, to only give up stats like that…that’s a very good performance by the secondary. The only downside is no INTs….they came close on two that could have been caught, but would have been great plays.
-Watch Keenan Pili and Aaron Beasley specifically if you watch the replay. Those guys are studs. Pili is much faster and more athletic than I anticipated he would be.
-James Pearce, Tyler Baron, and Tyre West are gonna have big years on the DLine. Baron finally looks like he player he was supposed to be.
-On offense, it’s been discussed how the RBs played. They ran hard, hey ran with patience, vision, and they punished tacklers. They played really well. Dylan Sampson is very much a part of this rotation and probably the starter in 2024.
-As mentioned before, the Oline looked good against a good front 7. This was my biggest concern and I feel a lot better about it. I was watching the interior line and Karic/Lane both played well. Mays coming back will obviously help, but Lane is solid in his place. I think Karic probably solidified the LG spot. I think/hope Mincey can nail down the RT spot. He can be elite there. John Campbell was awesome at LT. Best LT we’ve had in years.
-There were three really bad plays by the line…the 4th down stop, he sack on Milton, and a holding call that brought back a nice completion to McCoy. The 4th down stop was largely the fault of Castles missing a block, but the line really got not push. The hold was on Campbell because he got lost on a stunt and by the time he recovered, was in bad position. The sack on Milton was the result of Crawford getting beat on a stunt. Obviously, there is some teachable film regarding stunt recognition.
-I really hope Heupel is correct about Ross being nervous his first game and getting better. I’m really not a fan of the rugby style kicking, but maybe the fact he can use both feet will make him a weapon after he figures it out. We heard all offseason that he can boom it. I wanna see that Saturday.
-The passing game between the first drive of the game and about mid 2nd quarter (Milton’s “Mini-slump”) is the closest thing to a disappointment in this game. The drop by Keyton still bugs me because Milton threw an absolute beauty. He HAS to catch that. Milton seemed to be off after that before settling back in and playing really well the rest of the game. I was hoping to see more from Thornton. Not that he played poorly, just that I was hoping to see him make some big plays. But again, we were vanilla.
-A few thoughts on Milton and that mini slump: 1) After the series when he had 3 straight incompletions, he seemed frustrated with himself. He came to the sideline and I LOVED Heupel’s handling of it. CJH was just calm. No emphatic words or Spurrieresque visor throwing…just a chat about what to do different. Milton settled down. THIS is the thing I love most about Heupel. His calmness and confidence bleeds into his team. They play like he acts. It’s why perceived “curses” don’t matter anymore. There is no pucker factor with CJH; 2) Milton made all the right reads and was very quick in his decision-making. Even during his mini slump, He was going through progressions quickly, getting the ball out quickly, and making the right reads. This isn’t a small thing. In fact, it was one of the big concerns Milton needed to address. He looks like he’s in complete command of this offense and knows where he’s going with the ball; 3) before anyone makes too much of the inaccurate throws during the little mini-slump, remember this…it was the first game. He settled in and displayed great accuracy after the nini-slump. And most imnportanly, every QB will miss throws. Hooker kept missing high in the first 2 games last year and at times in 2021. I remember typing in my thoughts after the Pitt game how that was a concern for me. But Hooker settled in, got used to his WRs, and had an historic season. Joe having a little mini slump in the first game is nothing to be concerned about, especially given the way he recovered.
-Man, we TOOK OVER Nissan Stadium. I know some hate neutral site games and say we shouldn’t play in Nashville, but I just don't agree. That’s a fun way to open the season and remind folks that Nashville IS Big Orange Country. Even though it wasn’t on campus, that’s the best environment UVA will play in all year. Also, get used to it. Once the new stadium is built in Nashville, they’re gonna put the Vols in there every few years. No doubt. And that stadium will be more fun, with all that’s going to be put around it, so you don’t have to cross the pedestrian bridge to downtown to do things. But hopefully, no more 11:00 kicks.
On to Austin Peay and the Condredge Holloway smokey grey game…
