Pearce Situation

[MontyPython]

Not understanding what's going on with Pearce. Josephs started in front of him at LEO last night, yet Pearce played on special teams and made a nice stop on kick off D. Is he injured / knicked up? Discliplinary action? Not discounting Josephs is a solid player, but Pearce has been built up all preseason as a potential top 10 draft pick.

 

[UT97Vol]

Not understanding what's going on with Pearce. Josephs started in front of him at LEO last night, yet Pearce played on special teams and made a nice stop on kick off D. Is he injured / knicked up? Discliplinary action? Not discounting Josephs is a solid player, but Pearce has been built up all preseason as a potential top 10 draft pick.

JP started last night. Though I don’t believe he got a sack he made a couple of good plays on first series and throughout the night that disrupted NC State that allowed others to get tackles on the stat line.

 

[CNCVol88]

Not understanding what's going on with Pearce. Josephs started in front of him at LEO last night, yet Pearce played on special teams and made a nice stop on kick off D. Is he injured / knicked up? Discliplinary action? Not discounting Josephs is a solid player, but Pearce has been built up all preseason as a potential top 10 draft pick.

JP was in often last night. He was schemed against a lot. It's going to happen all season. We have a deep line. He will be ok.

 

[KnoxToTheBoro93]

Not understanding what's going on with Pearce. Josephs started in front of him at LEO last night, yet Pearce played on special teams and made a nice stop on kick off D. Is he injured / knicked up? Discliplinary action? Not discounting Josephs is a solid player, but Pearce has been built up all preseason as a potential top 10 draft pick.

I wonder do yall watch the games sometimes… Pearce didn’t “start” games last year but he played alot and he played alot last night as well… as much depth as we have idc who starts… Pearce was in the back field alot and I’m noticing they drop him in coverage a good bit more this year so far… I think they are trying to help him create even more value for the draft… but the DL is the last thing you should have any concerns with…

 

[Casual Mustard Yeeter]

Having the depth to not have to play Pearce for 40+ snaps is a very, very good thing. That means late in the season he will still be fresh.

 

[Volnukem]

Not understanding what's going on with Pearce. Josephs started in front of him at LEO last night, yet Pearce played on special teams and made a nice stop on kick off D. Is he injured / knicked up? Discliplinary action? Not discounting Josephs is a solid player, but Pearce has been built up all preseason as a potential top 10 draft pick.

Pearce started and had a TFL on the second play. The first play of the game they threw a screen behind him. Other teams are going to game plan to keep him from beating them, which is why the rest of our DL feasted last night.

 

[VolKnight9]

If you noticed, Pearce seems to have gotten better at stopping the run as well. He is a pass rusher but last night he made a lot of plays on the run.

 

[rocketskates]

JP was in often last night. He was schemed against a lot. It's going to happen all season. We have a deep line. He will be ok.

Yep. He’s one of those players that will benefit the defense as a whole this season because offensive linemen are zeroed in on him. He may not put up huge numbers, but his presence is felt.

 

[FlyFishnVol]

Not understanding what's going on with Pearce. Josephs started in front of him at LEO last night, yet Pearce played on special teams and made a nice stop on kick off D. Is he injured / knicked up? Discliplinary action? Not discounting Josephs is a solid player, but Pearce has been built up all preseason as a potential top 10 draft pick.

Teams will play away from him; it's the badge you get for being a beast.

 

[rdk4121]

Both Josephs and Pearce started last night, in fact Pearce got an early TFL on a run on the first drive. He might not have gotten a sack, but clearly he affected McCall several times causing him to step up. His pressure lead to that strip sack/ recovery by Bailey. Also had another one near the goal line.

If you noticed State was pretty much always running away from the side Pearce was on as well (which as it turns out trying to run on West or Josephs is also a mistake).

That's also not him on special teams, that's Peyton Lewis, who is also a very big guy at 6'1" 210. Both of them are #27.

 

[butchna]

 

[Hacksaw]

I really want to see Pearce start racking up some sacks, too. But last night we saw a very experienced QB who has been coached to do everything in his power to avoid being sacked. We kept him busy with that task well enough that he wasn't able to do much of anything else.

 

[walkenvol]

I’m encouraged by the potential of this Defense after last night’s performance without Pearce stuffing his stat line. He has all-American talent and over the course of the season is likely to make a ton of splash plays. Imagine how high our defensive ceiling is once he hits his stride!

 

[Oldvoldad]

Not understanding what's going on with Pearce. Josephs started in front of him at LEO last night, yet Pearce played on special teams and made a nice stop on kick off D. Is he injured / knicked up? Discliplinary action? Not discounting Josephs is a solid player, but Pearce has been built up all preseason as a potential top 10 draft pick.

Were you already drunk before the game started? He wears #27, just for reference.

 

[LittleVol]

Pearce showed up in the run game.
He showed up in PASS COVERAGE too.

His draft stock is just fine.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Enough already with the "Where was _____" and "What happened to ______" and "The _____ situation" threads.

Your guy didn't get in the stat sheets. He may not even have played. Okay, fine. We don't need you mouth breathing over it every time one of our 125 lads doesn't go monster in the box score. Get over it, sit quietly and watch a little longer, and as the season plays out, you'll get a feel for how they're really doing.

No need to freak out on specific individuals every single game, fellas. They're fine.

Go Vols!

 

[Volnanza]

Both Josephs and Pearce started last night, in fact Pearce got an early TFL on a run on the first drive. He might not have gotten a sack, but clearly he affected McCall several times causing him to step up. His pressure lead to that strip sack/ recovery by Bailey. Also had another one near the goal line.

If you noticed State was pretty much always running away from the side Pearce was on as well (which as it turns out trying to run on West or Josephs is also a mistake).

That's also not him on special teams, that's Peyton Lewis, who is also a very big guy at 6'1" 210. Both of them are #27.

I was wondering about that. I saw #27 as one of the first ones down on a kickoff and it had me scratching my head. I can't imagine 6'5" 245 Lbs running 23 MPH straight at you. Yikes!!

 

[jhen713]

Herby gave him praise at halftime. May not have the stats, but said his impact was being felt.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Pearce is the guy that’s going to make everyone around him better . He might not have the same #s as last year bc everyone is going to game plan around him. Bailey, Josephs and some of the interior are going to get theirs bc so much attention will be payed to Pearce.

 

[KoachKrab127]

I care much more about team success than Pearce’s individual stats. We had 13 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, held them to under 150 total yards, had 3 takeaways, a defensive TD, and stopped them on 4th down multiple times. That’s complete domination. We also won the time of possession after NC State had a 7 minute opening drive.

When you have a team full of guys capable of making plays, the stars’ stats are not going to show out as much. That’s a good thing, because other guys are making plays when we need them to, instead of relying on Pearce to clean up other players’ miscues.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Here's what I think. The Heup is an orange devil in disguise. Opponent coaches presume they have the Vols figured out. Heup & Co, will scheme, not plays, but games to throw them off. Last night's two TE offense was an example. In short, he is/will force opposing coaches to scheme the wrong schemes for games. Then during games at whatever point he deems the right time, earthquake them.

 

[bigorangepoppa]

Opposing teams will scheme to keep Pearce from being an impact player, which will make him an impact player because they are scheming to keep him from making an impact. That just opens the door for other defensive players to get to the QB or RB in the backfield.

 

[MemphisVol77]

That just opens the door for other defensive players to get to the QB or RB in the backfield.

Jakobe Thomas's sack off a safety blitz is a perfect example.

The RT & TE double teamed Pearce and Jakobe was able to sneak around the edge.

 

[chuck0303]

Having the depth to not have to play Pearce for 40+ snaps is a very, very good thing. That means late in the season he will still be fresh.

Good to get others the experience where they can't always double or triple team Pearce. If dropping back gives Pearce even more experience it's all good.

 

[farmdogvol]

He showed last night that he is becoming a complete player. He put pressure on the QB, dropped back in coverage a few times, and played very well against the run. He didn't have any flashy sacks, but if you were paying attention he greatly affected the game.