Recruiting Football Talk VIII

[PlanetVolunteer]

I want to see Squirrel take a couple to the house. It's been there, but so far he's fallen down making the catch most every time. If he can keep those wheels turning after the catch this Saturday I believe there will be a opportunities for him to burn those DBs inside and out.

And Thornton in the Chatt game kinda just ran out of bounds on that one deep shot when we know he's faster than those guys. Maybe wasn't quite 100%.

If OK loads the box like they like to do then it'll be there.

 

[DD4ME]

I’m watching the replay of the A&M gator game.
In the 4th quarter, gators started to move the ball and scored a touchdown against the A&M backups.

I seriously want CJH to keep the starters in until the clock hits zero.
I want them to hang 50 in the first half and then another 50 in the second.
I want it to be the all time high score shutout game in Tennessee football history.

Who’s with me?

You been hyping me up since preseason.

 

[jakez4ut]

Read my mind, jake. Why I don’t think we hang 40 like everybody here expects is I don’t see a WR outside of Squirrel on the boundary on go routes that can just get separation. And Nico has been flirting with a pick on a comeback route. Heupel can scheme up someone open consistently but I do wonder if Nico has enough experience to process it.

i have some confidence in the WR group, but they haven't "had to" do much so far this year. this weekend, i think they will have to, they'll have to compete to get the ball, and i'd imagine the windows may be a little tighter. we all know last year the big thing missing from the passing game was the middle of the field. we've shown to be better at it this year, but i do wonder how we do against a defense that can match up better.

i keep going back to the Bama game 2 years ago. the stacks on the boundaries worked so well, especially when we were able to get the defense caught with tempo. make no mistake, Venebles has his work cut out for him too....i expect us to move fast, early and often. and i expect OU to do whatever they can, defensively, on early downs to keep us from using tempo in favorable down and distance.

i'm excited, and so nervous, for this game. good news...i know we can win this game. and CJH has had his teams ready for games like this so far.

 

[DD4ME]

Just like every huge game in conference. The turnover differential will be a big factor in the outcome of the game.

Need to win Field position battle as well.

Yeah they need short yardage against this D. Oddly though short fields are when this secondary shines.

 

[Buddy’s Bandit]

Bill O’Brien is a name my Florida buddies are hearing.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

The thing about UT’s offense isn’t that the WRs are track-speed faster. They may be, but it’s not the point. As soon as somebody takes a slow step to think and process, he’s cooked and he’s so far out in space that help is not nearby. Defending this offense requires instant and insane commitment to doing your job.

If OK goes heavy in the box, it’s trying to make Nico beat them with his arm. I think he passes that test pretty comfortably. If OK goes light in the box—3 down and 2 LB, say—it will be daring UT to run and win blocks. I still think UT wins that matchup, but it might be closer. If I were OK, I’d be trying to force run reads and then get Nico to pull the ball and run. Is he willing to keep running on the road and take take hits? Or will UT’s coaches start pre-determining reads? I’ve seen Nico pass in the face of what look to me like run reads, and that means that he’s not really deciding or sometimes forcing passes.

That's 100% him being frustrated, so he is wanting to cut loose and he is just throwing it anyway...we've played 3 games and they all sat back 80-90% of the time.

I could tell he was really aggravated at Kent St in the 2nd quarter especially, because they were dropping everybody even though we were running all over them and he was obviously wanting to throw it down the field.

 

[therickbol]

@85SugarVol you only have to hit the button once.

Some women say differently

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Which AJ are you talking about?

Cause AJ Johnson I'm referencing had his last year in 2014 cut short by false allegations and is 2nd all time in tackles at UT for a career.

4 years, 46 games, 424 total tackles, 32 TFLs, 3 sacks, 5 INTs, 3 FFs & FRs

I'm not gonna do it...I've got good reasons, and if you want to know them, then go watch any of those games you can find and see why.

I will say it this way..and I'm not going to argue about it because I do not want to disparage a VFL for doing the best he could early when he probably wasn't really ready for SEC ball, plus I do think he became the beast we all wanted him to ne later in his career, and I hate what happened to him...

So here it is...He made a lot of tackles his first two years...as he got older more physically ready he was making a lot of great hard hitting tackles in the hole..and not 7-10 yards down field.

 

[Glitch]

I heard Gruden only buys meth from Gainesville, Florida

 

[screenthis]

Oh my word. So sorry to hear you had another amputation. Prayers you are on the mend.

One amputation. Missing a toe now. Could have been much worse. Good news? I'll be easily identifiable if I go missing.

 

[Glitch]

@85SugarVol you only have to hit the button once.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I'm not gonna do it...I've got good reasons, and if you want to know them, then go watch any of those games you can find and see why.

I will say it this way..and I'm not going to argue about it because I do not want to disparage a VFL for doing the best he could early when he probably wasn't really ready for SEC ball, plus I do think he became the beast we all wanted him to ne later in his career, and I hate what happened to him...

So here it is...He made a lot of tackles his first two years...as he got older more physically ready he was making a lot of great hard hitting tackles in the hole..and not 7-10 yards down field.

I felt like most of his issues were coaching related. He seemed to be playing on all instinct while here, at least under Butch he developed physically.

But 80 tackles as a true freshman, 138 as a sophomore, 105 and then 101 (missing 3 games) is pretty impressive consistency for a guy that had next to no coaching while here.

I would have loved to see him in the defense we play now though, would be an even better version of what Pili is I think.

 

[Jackcrevol]

That would be Culiacan, slightly south, down the penisinsula. to the left

 

[gordonr24]

And Thornton in the Chatt game kinda just ran out of bounds on that one deep shot when we know he's faster than those guys. Maybe wasn't quite 100%.

If OK loads the box like they like to do then it'll be there.

I’m somewhat excited to see how Nico performs, if OU loads the box in attempts to contain our running game, as a lot are assuming that will be Venables’ gameplan.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

I felt like most of his issues were coaching related. He seemed to be playing on all instinct while here, at least under Butch he developed physically.

But 80 tackles as a true freshman, 138 as a sophomore, 105 and then 101 (missing 3 games) is pretty impressive consistency for a guy that had next to no coaching while here.

I would have loved to see him in the defense we play now though, would be an even better version of what Pili is I think.

Was listening to Kevin Simon in the offseason at somepoint and he thought AJ was just average. Thought he was slow and only showed out because everyone else was bad.

Don't really agree, but who am I to argue with him?

Pili could be better though. That dude looks like an NFL player to me right now. I think as we play better teams we will see more evidence of that. Everyone on our defense has just been decimating all in its path so kinda hard to tell how good everyone actually is.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

If I were Oklahoma I'd try and stop us with a light box and drop ppl in coverage like everyone else has tried. They'd stop us better than what we've seen, but the question is their offense.

 

[Enki_Amenra]

He was seen in Jorts the other day. Deal is already done.

I saw him at the Applebee's eating with Tim Tebow & Spurrier last night

Only saw the back of his head, but it was definitely him.

 

[VolNRaleighNC]

If I were Oklahoma I'd try and stop us with a light box and drop ppl in coverage like everyone else has tried. They'd stop us better than what we've seen, but the question is their offense.

They hope to keep it low scoring and force Nico to make some mistakes to give them short field drives and pray their OL can hold up to allow Burks or Anderson to find the end zone.

 

[DD4ME]

For those that prefer soundbites this is part 2 of the film study I posted prior.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Was listening to Kevin Simon in the offseason at somepoint and he thought AJ was just average. Thought he was slow and only showed out because everyone else was bad.

Don't really agree, but who am I to argue with him?

Pili could be better though. That dude looks like an NFL player to me right now. I think as we play better teams we will see more evidence of that. Everyone on our defense has just been decimating all in its path so kinda hard to tell how good everyone actually is.

AJ was never a speed demon, but he looked way quicker as a Jr and Sr because he was in the right place more often...he also started really mauling fools instead of grabbing and riding them down like when he was younger...also I think because he was more often in the right place to keep people instead of chasing them.

I think he got in much better shape as he got older and became stronger and quicker.

He truly was a great LB by the end.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Was listening to Kevin Simon in the offseason at somepoint and he thought AJ was just average. Thought he was slow and only showed out because everyone else was bad.

Don't really agree, but who am I to argue with him?

Pili could be better though. That dude looks like an NFL player to me right now. I think as we play better teams we will see more evidence of that. Everyone on our defense has just been decimating all in its path so kinda hard to tell how good everyone actually is.

I mean AJ had a 4 year NFL career, and his first 2 years he was a stud for Denver. Getting hurt pretty much did him in.

He wasn't an elite speed guy though ran 4.79 at his pro day but he was dismissed from the team and UT cut ties with him so who knows how/where he trained in the weeks leading up to that.

Dude was a baller and either he had epic IQ or some sort of physical talent... he was top 10 in the SEC in tackles his last 3 years here.

Also not sure I'd agree with the "everyone else was bad" narrative either, he was playing beside Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Ladarrell McNeil, & Curt Maggitt. But like most UT players from that era the ones that got better did so in the NFL with real coaching to support them

 

[MoCo_Vol]

If I were Oklahoma I'd try and stop us with a light box and drop ppl in coverage like everyone else has tried. They'd stop us better than what we've seen, but the question is their offense.

Yeah, but the issue there is the amount of pressure it puts on your offense. Letting our offense eat clock and march (we're the best rushing team in the SEC, by nearly 100 yards a game too) all game means your offense can't have empty possessions or turnovers. And OU is 14th in the SEC in first downs, only Kentucky and South Carolina are worse at getting them.

 

[Volnut]

 

[MoCo_Vol]

AJ was never a speed demon, but he looked way quicker as a Jr and Sr because he was in the right place more often...he also started really mauling fools instead of grabbing and riding them down like when he was younger...also I think because he was more often in the right place to keep people instead of chasing them.

I think he got in much better shape as he got older and became stronger and quicker.

He truly was a great LB by the end.

Yep, he's really a what-if story but he's also a guy you gotta give props because he was consistent and played 4 years here. Al Wilson was obviously a superior LB. Kevin Burnett, Raynoch Thompson, Jerod Mayo, Andy Spiva, Keith DeLong, and Jamie Rotella obviously are all guys you could easily put ahead of AJ with little fuss. But I hope eventually with enough time people will give flowers to the guys that were here playing their asses off for the dark years of Kiffin/Dooley/Butch/Pruitt because we had some studs on those teams too.

 

[Weezer]

Don't any of you even hint at it. Ever

Lives in Tampa. Two jobs in Florida could potentially open up. The gators may land our former white whale.

But that's okay because we found our unicorn.