Nice win but the defense is still not good...

[vols4evah]

The one thing I saw was that the coverage in the secondary was very good. The problem was no pressure on the QB and he had all day to throw. The linebackers were ok I think they can play better. Overall certainly better than last year not even close.

I disagree.
you are correct for the first half of the game but in the second we got a lot of pressure on the QB, we hurried him and forced him to make fast, bad throws.

this will happen a lot this year, its a result of having big strong offensive and defensive lines. We will be a second half team.
The opponent will have to play extra hard in the first half when they are fresh and by the second half things will start to change and go our way as they get tired.

if we can keep it close at Oregon for the first half we have a good chance to win in the second half.

 

[pianoko]

We forced 7 turnovers and people are saying our D isn't good.... Seriously?!?! Guess we should try going back to last years defense.

Everyone whining all week on how WKU may beat us. We win 52-20 with 7 turnovers forced and fans still want to criticize the team. Makes me sick

I don't think being critical is a bad thing, as long as we recognize the positives as well. Personally, I'm very proud of our team. They go out on the field with a very positive attitude, and they seem to be more disciplined than we have seen since Fulmer. That being said, we have to face reality. We have below par talent for the SEC and a young team. We made plenty of mistakes on the field, and those have to be turned into learning opportunities. I don't think my criticism makes me mean or a bad fan; it just means that I recognize that we have room for improvement. I'm not living in a fantasy world.

 

[barknoxbrawler]

We lead the nation in whining posters.

Fyp

 

[Vol logic]

There is a difference is turnovers and forcing a TO. No question, Sutton's and Sapp forced those.

I thought the biggest dissapointment was line play. Dan "puddin" McCullers needs to be a man. He has the size to collapse the pocket.

With all due respect, he was in the backfield repeatedly despite being doubled consistently by 300+ guys. He did come out on 3rd down but his position is to focus on stopping the run which he had some stops and collapse the pocket if the ends can hold containment. He needs to focus on conditioning but "puddin" is just wrong. Couch was able to make a play due to double on Mac.

 

[82_VOL_83]

Western Kentucky rang up 400 yards of offense, including 200 running the ball. Is that good defense? SEC QBs are not going to help us with 5 INTs.

Unfortunately, from my vantage point in the NW upper deck, I saw too much of last year this year. I actually thought LSU had the day off and Chavis was coaching the D. I was thankful for 3rd and short cause that meant that they "might" run the ball and we had a chance to stop them on 3rd down. 3rd and long yesterday was a DISASTER! Worley looked rattled from the start. Not at all like last week. I wouldn't have started him in the 2nd half. Let him sit for a series and see what Peterman could do in a real situation.

 

[82_VOL_83]

Gotta say I agree with you. They may have done superb in causing turnovers but they were rubber bands ready to snap in every other facet. I was very surprised since this WKU team is nowhere near as fast and physical as the SEC teams we'll face soon.

Our defenders still took bad angles at times and poor tackling. I really liked that Jones actually made some adjustments though and that tells me that he and this staff aren't clowns like their predecessors. Long way to go before we hit the 8&9 win mark, IMO.

^this

This season should be concentrating on winning the 7 we should, playing our asses off the other 5, and keeping that recruiting class together. The 8 - 9 win seasons are coming soon, we just need to "be there" in every game and win the 7 we should.

 

[barknoxbrawler]

Unfortunately, from my vantage point in the NW upper deck, I saw too much of last year this year. I actually thought LSU had the day off and Chavis was coaching the D. I was thankful for 3rd and short cause that meant that they "might" run the ball and we had a chance to stop them on 3rd down. 3rd and long yesterday was a DISASTER! Worley looked rattled from the start. Not at all like last week. I wouldn't have started him in the 2nd half. Let him sit for a series and see what Peterman could do in a real situation.

Sorry Sal, you are not getting your old job back.

 

[VolunteerTitan3]

Unfortunately, from my vantage point in the NW upper deck, I saw too much of last year this year. I actually thought LSU had the day off and Chavis was coaching the D. I was thankful for 3rd and short cause that meant that they "might" run the ball and we had a chance to stop them on 3rd down. 3rd and long yesterday was a DISASTER! Worley looked rattled from the start. Not at all like last week. I wouldn't have started him in the 2nd half. Let him sit for a series and see what Peterman could do in a real situation.

Peterman looked like crap against Austin Peay. Maybe with the first team line he could do better. I would like to see it myself.

 

[82_VOL_83]

We forced 7 turnovers and people are saying our D isn't good.... Seriously?!?! Guess we should try going back to last years defense.

Everyone whining all week on how WKU may beat us. We win 52-20 with 7 turnovers forced and fans still want to criticize the team. Makes me sick

You will wake up next Sunday morning and understand the criticism. If we play against OU like we did Saturday, we in big doo doo. I would say 3 of the turnovers were forced, the first one was a Godsend. The rest were mistakes that OU probably won't make. Take this game for what it was. An eyeopener against a far inferior team. Yeah, we ran the score up, but take 17 points off our total for the gimmes, give them one more TD in the first half that they probably would have gotten had they not given the ball away, and the score is more like 35-27. Not exactly a blow out.


Flame away.

 

[volguy27]

It's simple WE WON n They didn't....to me our d looks hella better than last year...they just didn't know that we know that bUTch gets it...but they found out yesterday!!

 

[barknoxbrawler]

You will wake up next Sunday morning and understand the criticism. If we play against OU like we did Saturday, we in big doo doo. I would say 3 of the turnovers were forced, the first one was a Godsend. The rest were mistakes that OU probably won't make. Take this game for what it was. An eyeopener against a far inferior team. Yeah, we ran the score up, but take 17 points off our total for the gimmes, give them one more TD in the first half that they probably would have gotten had they not given the ball away, and the score is more like 35-27. Not exactly a blow out.


Flame away.

Wah wah wah. We won. All that matters is the W. If our defense gives up 40 an sec game and we score 41, I am happy and so is the rest of volnation. Enjoy it.

 

[82_VOL_83]

I feel slightly better about the "D" than preseason.

- No Home Run Plays or Total Breakdowns
- No Penalties

This essentially requires the offense to methodically move down the field and potentially make their own mistakes.

CBs and outside pressure concern me but look much better than last year. WKU would have put up 45 on last years D.

The 3rd and long conversions wore me out. There were several plays up the middle that went for 10 plus. One for a bunch......50+ maybe. They beat us to the corners on sweeps. I also saw a lot of push up the middle at times too. I totally agree with the 45 with the D from last year. I think we lose this game with that D.

 

[82_VOL_83]

If I had to guess? I'd say 2-3 years minimum. If it happens this year with our schedule it'll be a miracle. Next year we replace our strongest unit, the o-line. I'd say 2015 season we see 8 or 9 wins. I'm not saying we don't see 6-7 this year or next, I just don't see us ending the season in the top 25 before 2015. Again, IMO. I would LOVE to be proven wrong.

I thought our tackling for the most part was very good. Petrino created open plays. Many times the one guy we had to get the guy; got the guy. I remember many years of UT defenses; DB's in particular, throwing a shoulder instead of wrapping up. Today I saw most guys get the tackle.

:good!::good!:

We should beat MO, AU, Candy, KY Jelly, and S. AL. I don't know if we can mature at QB and improve on D enough to beat one of the other 5. We should be a 7 win team this year. I see 7 next year and hopefully after that we are on the way back. Fans are going to have to be patient. All of the sunshine pumpers here that are bagging the peeps looking at yesterdays game honestly need to not go on suicide watch when it crashes down. Stay on an even keel and call the games the way they are.

 

[82_VOL_83]

The defense looks really good. They are getting pretty good pressure and being very disruptive ...which contributed on the turnovers.

The schemes placed the DBs in position to jump routes . Gang tackling and stripping technique caused a turnover.

Not to mention that they took a bend but dont break approach . This is appropriate for the inexperience on the secondary ...not to mention that some of the most successful defenses in the history of the game have used this approach.

Coaches and players should get alot of props for forcing so many turnovers and adjusting in the 2nd half to slow and shut down the O. CBP is viewed as an offensive genius by many , so this was no small task.

When it comes to defense ...the only stat that is important is the scoreboard.

Can't like this enough.

 

[82_VOL_83]

So they get no credit for forcing turnovers? They get no credit for being properly coached then properly applying that coaching? Usually a D that can create turnovers is given respect... you use it to cheapen a good win.

UT dominated the 2nd half. They outscored WKU 21-3 and outgained them roughly 300-140. IOW's, with or without the turnovers, this was a 20 pt Vol win over a Petrino coached team that returned its best players from a bowl season last year.

You don't know that SJ. You don't know that at all. Just because we shut them down in the 2nd half, without those turnovers in the first, no one knows where this game would have been. I am not confident it would have been good.

 

[tm3]

All 7 turnovers were "forced" only if UT somehow was able to do a Vulcan mind meld that caused the WKU QB to go totally brain dead a few times, not to mention the WKU coaching staff that elected to pass on 2nd down from the 1 foot line.

WKU seriously outplayed UT in the 1st half and was very much in the game despite 6 turnovers. Not too long ago unranked UT just about beat a top 5 LSWho team that posted "only" 4 turnovers.

Regardless, football season truly starts this coming Saturday and some of the disillusioned here should probably make sure that no sharp objects are within reach when reality hits.