Prediction about UT's offense

#1
FenianVolunteer

FenianVolunteer

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#1
Okay this is what I see going down, a lighter more mobile offensive line will struggle through the Cal game but will quickly gain experience and gel enough to handle USAF and for Arian Foster to run at Florida. I think the Vols will need Foster and the D to carry them against Cal, they dont want a shootout with Cal and Tedford. Im looking for a lot of 2 TE sets and lots of snaps for Corey Anderson and Foster, Coker etc.

Look for Tennessee to drive the ball old school style against Cal, their pass coverage is too good for Ainge to be unsure with and if they have a weakness it is their run defense this year. I am predicting and hoping for Tenn 17 Cal 14
 
#2
#2
I think the "lighter" o-line will be very effective. They'll trap and screen Cal crazy.

If I am not mistaken, most of the preseason pieces predict Cal's secondary to be their weakest point. For that reason, I'd be surprised if Cut doesn't spread them out and run several WR screens. UT's WR's are bigger, stronger, and faster than Cal's db's.

The big question mark to me is UT's QB. Will Ainge improve enough? Will he stop making dumb mistakes? Will Crompton overtake him before the opening game?

I hope these things are resolved after Saturday's scrimmage.

I think the question mark is Ainge.
 
#3
#3
sjt18 said:
I think the "lighter" o-line will be very effective. They'll trap and screen Cal crazy.

If I am not mistaken, most of the preseason pieces predict Cal's secondary to be their weakest point. For that reason, I'd be surprised if Cut doesn't spread them out and run several WR screens. UT's WR's are bigger, stronger, and faster than Cal's db's.

The big question mark to me is UT's QB. Will Ainge improve enough? Will he stop making dumb mistakes? Will Crompton overtake him before the opening game?

I hope these things are resolved after Saturday's scrimmage.

I think the question mark is Ainge.
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I could have swore it was their pass rush that was not good and that the secondary unit was supposed to be strong. Oh well we shall find out!
 
#5
#5
The strength of their d is supposed to be the big LB's. That might cause Cut to use alot of 3 WR sets to make them go to 5 db's.
 
#7
#7
Our Offense comes down to Ainge. I hope beyond all hope that he will get his act together and play like we seen him do in the past.
 
#8
#8
sjt18 said:
The strength of their d is supposed to be the big LB's. That might cause Cut to use alot of 3 WR sets to make them go to 5 db's.
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What are you talking about? I have no clue, because you're dead wrong. Cal's defensive strength is their very talented, balanced, and deep defensive line. They have an AA candidate in Brandon Mebane, and if we give him a double team, Tafisi, Malele, Ma'afala and the rest of the gang are going to eat us up, Alex Brown style. Their secondary is half good, half inexperienced. Their 2 starting CBs would start here most likely. Mixon and Hughes are very very talented. However, Cal's safeties are new starters which will open things up for our slot receivers and TEs if they find some deep crosses and slants.

Their LBs? Widely considered Cal's biggest defensive WEAKNESS.
 
#9
#9
VolinArizona said:
What are you talking about? I have no clue, because you're dead wrong. Cal's defensive strength is their very talented, balanced, and deep defensive line.
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Check the link. They're pretty much in agreement with all of the pre-season mags.

CFN rates their line an 8 like UT. Their LB's got a 10.
Their LBs? Widely considered Cal's biggest defensive WEAKNESS.
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I hope you are right. If so, UT can absolutely kill them with screens and like you said TE patterns in the middle.

Don't kill the messenger. I'm just going off what I've read.
 
#10
#10
sjt18 said:
Check the link. They're pretty much in agreement with all of the pre-season mags.

CFN rates their line an 8 like UT. Their LB's got a 10. I hope you are right. If so, UT can absolutely kill them with screens and like you said TE patterns in the middle.

Don't kill the messenger. I'm just going off what I've read.
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Not to be a terd, but you haven't read enough, then. I'm obsessed with these kinds of things and I bought every preseason magazine so I could read differing opinions. Cal has a stud at LB named Desmond Bishop, but the other 2 starters are new.
 
#11
#11
sjt18 said:
Check the link. They're pretty much in agreement with all of the pre-season mags.

CFN rates their line an 8 like UT. Their LB's got a 10. I hope you are right. If so, UT can absolutely kill them with screens and like you said TE patterns in the middle.

Don't kill the messenger. I'm just going off what I've read.
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Ok, I see the problem. It's not you. :) They rate the CAL LB corps a 10, but then say this, "[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-1]The key to the unit: Hoping all the potential and hype turns into production." I personally cannot give ANY unit anything higher than a 6 or 7 when they have to live up to potential. Every year, UT would have 10s across the board because of talent. Cal's LB corps COULD *mature* into their strong suit, but with some inexperience and a "need" to live up to potential, they can't be rated a 10. [/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
 
#12
#12
Until recently my only concern for the offense was the O-line. I figured the line's ability to protect EA and open holes for AF would be the key to victory. Now that everyone has seen that EA is still pretty much the same as last season (actually I guess he's worse because at leastlast year he looked good in practice and the scrimmages) it pretty much tells every defensive coordinator UT will face that they can play man coverage agasint the receivers and load up agasint the run. I hope I'm wrong but IMO the offense will be just as bad as last year, maybe worse.
 
#13
#13
VolunteerHillbilly said:
Until recently my only concern for the offense was the O-line. I figured the line's ability to protect EA and open holes for AF would be the key to victory. Now that everyone has seen that EA is still pretty much the same as last season (actually I guess he's worse because at leastlast year he looked good in practice and the scrimmages) it pretty much tells every defensive coordinator UT will face that they can play man coverage agasint the receivers and load up agasint the run. I hope I'm wrong but IMO the offense will be just as bad as last year, maybe worse.
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i just can't see them being as bad or worse....no way. i refuse to. I have to remind myself that the majority of the issues on offense last year were things that can be corrected. Ball control. catch the ball. reduce penalties. just minimize the mistakes, and make the plays you are supposed to and this team gets 3-4 games better.

it'd be different for me if we had a bunch of scrubs out there that you knew weren't any good. what we had out there last year was 11 guys that had way too many brain farts at too many times.

recievers make the catches they should make. RB's don't fumble in the red zone. O lineman cut out the false starts and holding penalties. and qb's quit throwing int's in the red zone. do those things, and there's no way they're worse.

don't get me wrong, they're not going to go out and score 450 points this season or anything, but i just can't believe that they will be worse than last year. if they are....jeez....:censored: :realmad: that would suck.
 
#14
#14
lazy4163 said:
Our Offense comes down to Ainge. I hope beyond all hope that he will get his act together and play like we seen him do in the past.
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I personally think it comes down to a timely decision about Ainge. That decision may be that he comes out smoking Saturday and quells all doubts about his confidence and readiness. That decision could be that he stinks it up again Saturday and should be replaced before he does damage.

Either way, I don't think you can go past this Saturday with Ainge not performing without basically writing the Cal game off.
 
#16
#16
sjt18 said:
I personally think it comes down to a timely decision about Ainge. That decision may be that he comes out smoking Saturday and quells all doubts about his confidence and readiness. That decision could be that he stinks it up again Saturday and should be replaced before he does damage.

Either way, I don't think you can go past this Saturday with Ainge not performing without basically writing the Cal game off.
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I pretty much agree with all of this. If Ainge stuggles terribly on Saturday, the questions have to be serious about replacing him. How can a QUARTERBACK be scared of being hit? You have to overcome that.
 
#18
#18
I've been following the Vols fairly closely since the early 90's. I got interested when Heath Shuler committed there. He and I grew up in the same town and my dad coached him in LL baseball.

IMO, this is potentially the best group of offensive skill players the Vols have had in that time. Taylor appears to be getting the WR's right and they are absolutely loaded with NFL prototype talent. The backfield could be legitimately 4 deep if Hardesty gets back with guys who run with power and speed. They have 3 or 4 guys who can catch and block at TE. The only question to me is what kind of performance they are going to get at QB.

I agree with the earlier comment. The QB has to at least do enough to keep DC's from putting 8 in the box on every play.
 
#19
#19
I know it is also hard for me to imagine that the O could be any worse than last season. I do think the receivers are playing better and I credit Coach TT for that. Unfortunately, if EA is hurrying passes and making bad decisions it won't matter if UT has 3 Michael Irvin clones on the field. If the D does not respect the passer the middle LB and/or SS is going to blitz just about every down which further exacerbates the poor QB play leading to even worse decision making, which leads in turn to turnovers and loss of yardage (sacks). Similarly, I doubt that even Herschel Walker could average better than 3 YPC against most current SEC defenses when said units have the luxury of dedicating 2-3 men from the backfield to stopping the run. Really, all I'm saying is you have to have a balanced attack and right now it does not look like UT will have a passing game.
 
#20
#20
sjt18 said:
The strength of their d is supposed to be the big LB's. That might cause Cut to use alot of 3 WR sets to make them go to 5 db's.
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Nobody is going to use 5 DB's against 3 WR's and Eric Ainge. They will use 3 DB's and everyone else will focus on stopping the run.
 
#21
#21
VolunteerHillbilly said:
I know it is also hard for me to imagine that the O could be any worse than last season. I do think the receivers are playing better and I credit Coach TT for that. Unfortunately, if EA is hurrying passes and making bad decisions it won't matter if UT has 3 Michael Irvin clones on the field. If the D does not respect the passer the middle LB and/or SS is going to blitz just about every down which further exacerbates the poor QB play leading to even worse decision making, which leads in turn to turnovers and loss of yardage (sacks). Similarly, I doubt that even Herschel Walker could average better than 3 YPC against most current SEC defenses when said units have the luxury of dedicating 2-3 men from the backfield to stopping the run. Really, all I'm saying is you have to have a balanced attack and right now it does not look like UT will have a passing game.
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agree about having to have a balanced attack...and i know if i were a DC going up against TN, i would make them throw....no way i'd let 'em run at all. And until we can prove that we can throw with any efficiency, down the feild, then we will struggle. This will be one of those years, where the pass will or won't set up the run...on that we agree completely...i'm just not ready to say we have no chance at getting better in the passing game...the first scrimmage gives me no confidence, but it was the first scrimmage...let's see how the rest of fall camp goes..you never know.
 
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