O-Line

[NMVol]

I wish Neal would have chosen to take on the closing safety on that play where the left side of the O-Line sealed the Oregon D.

 

[Rifleman]

The OL was great. Diminished pass threat hurt us, but . . .

Nichols St. yards per rush vs Oregon

2.4

Virginia yards per rush vs Oregon

3.2

Tennessee yards per rush vs Oregon

4.7

Imagine what would have happened if Devrin, Pig, Johnson, Ayres and were not injured. Our WRs and TEs did not play physical football. Isn't Justin Meredith hurt too?

I think some of the guys who did play are gimpy too. Blanc played like a ghost. This was the first road game ever against a quality opponent for Croom, North and Smith. Those guys showed a lot of heart early, but as the game wore on they could not get open and Worley is not good enough to hit guys who aren't open.

We became one-dimensional so the run game suffered too.

 

[supersmo18]

Well at least say why you put the face on there if you're going to put it there. Please

Because your opinion is wrong? :dunno:

But seriously, our OL is so much better this year. They have done a great job protecting the QB so far; he's not Tyler Bray, and therefore isn't going to make the plays that TB made, so you can't let that mask how well they're doing in pass protection.

And the running game, well, we'll let that speak for itself. It's light years better this year than it was last year, even with mediocre backs.

 

[photovol]

The OL was coached more as a pass blocking unit for 3 years, thus they are still trying to fine tune their run blocking. This unit is indeed one of the few strengths that the Vols have and will get better as the year goes on. I'm hoping what they learned at Oregon will help with Florida, because I do think the Gators defense will be even more athletic than Oregon's.

 

[DC Vol]

The OL got abused by Oregon's DL. Oregon wasn't rushing with 7... they were rushing with 4. Just the DL.

I saw Oregon's DEs doing stunts and getting constant pressure up the middle. Worley has cement shoes, doesn't move and panicks.

 

[SCowlsVOL]

Because your opinion is wrong? :dunno:

But seriously, our OL is so much better this year. They have done a great job protecting the QB so far; he's not Tyler Bray, and therefore isn't going to make the plays that TB made, so you can't let that mask how well they're doing in pass protection.

And the running game, well, we'll let that speak for itself. It's light years better this year than it was last year, even with mediocre backs.

Yeh they can't help the qb sucks. I guess there were times in the first half of the western game. I just wasn't blown away by them. They are good though.

 

[Reverend Bubba Flavel]

The OLine is fine. The RB just needs to hit the hole fast. They reverted to the tip-toeing and running backwards. Old habits die hard. This is due to the poor coaching under Dooley.

Its not just that, though.
Most of our running plays take far too long to develop. That appears to be by design.

 

[crunchimusmaximus]

Problem is 2 fold... Worely isn't any threat throwing the bal and Nea s just horrendousat following bockers and going through holes...not sure why Neal is still getting any handoffsat this point...he should be only used recieving out of the backfield and as an extra blocker...things tha he is actually good at...let Lane and Summerhill take all of the carries...at least they know how to run straight ahead...

 

[vtvol98]

The offensive line got tired from holding a ten minute edge in time of possession Saturday.

 

[supersmo18]

Yeh they can't help the qb sucks. I guess there were times in the first half of the western game. I just wasn't blown away by them. They are good though.

I mean, I see what you're saying. It's just hard to look at Saturday's results and be objective. Here on VN, when you're objective, you're a pessimist negavol.

 

[SCowlsVOL]

I mean, I see what you're saying. It's just hard to look at Saturday's results and be objective. Here on VN, when you're objective, you're a pessimist negavol.

Ha! I def don't put the game on the OL. They are basically the best part of the team. I think the worst part of the team is the qb position.

 

[TheBigOne10]

They're dead to rights so long as there isn't a real pass threat.

We did average nearly 5 yards a carry last week and still ran for over 170 yards as a team.

How many of those yards were from Summerhill during mop up duty against their 2rd team D? At least we know our 2nd team O-line was better than their backup DL.

 

[GahLee]

When the 1s were still in the game we had barely over 100; we only had about 220 yards total offense with the 1s in. The 2s got nearly as much in the 4th quarter when it really was already over.

They abandoned the run and they started throwing the ball. We could have gotten 4 yards nearly every single time. Pretty impressive considering the bum we've got at QB.

 

[RonBnTennessee]

One thing i don't get is how everyone talks about how good the O line is. If they are so good then why can't we run the ball up the middle? We always run side to side and still get brought down. Are they just over rated or do our backs stink that bad? I mean 4th and 1 and you punt the ball? That shows lack of confidence in the line.

Until we have some sense of a passing game, teams are going to load the box and limit our running game! You can't blame a whole lot on the O Line!!

PLEASE GIVE COACH JONES A CHANCE!!!!

 

[LaagerVol]

I beg to differ if you have a good line then there are holes big enough to drive trucks through and plainly you can see we have no holes at all.

I saw some holes like that on the edges.... then inexplicably the RB would cut back into the darkness.

I few times during the game my 11 years old son yelled out QUIT DANCING AND HIT THE HOLE!!

I don't think our line is nearly as good as the hype, but with better QB and RB play it would look much better than it has.

 

[LaagerVol]

They abandoned the run and they started throwing the ball. We could have gotten 4 yards nearly every single time. Pretty impressive considering the bum we've got at QB.

Worley had what, 25 passes?? That does sound like we were slinging it around all over the place I guess....