Recruiting Forum: Football Talk II

[SCvol333]

I posted this in the ff but wanted to see what you guys here think about this.

Just saw where UT's defense ranks dead last in the sec in scoring defense (42.2ppg), rushing defense (226.2 ypg), pass defense (296.4 ypg), & total defense (566.2 ypg).

UT is also 13th in the league in time of possession (26:13).

After seeing the time of possession stat along with the defensive stats I couldn't help but wonder if maybe the coaches should've slowed down the hurry up offense to help the defense out a little bit.

What do you guys think about this?

Should we have slowed things down on offense (at least in certain situations or vs certain teams) to keep the defense on the sideline a little longer?

OR

Did we do the right thing by staying with the hurry up & trying to out score every opponent?

I remember Dooley talking about how he put a lot of thought into offensive philosophy in the off season. Should he have adjusted to slow things down after seeing the defense get shredded week
after week?

I think if we werent last in at least one of those categories you may have a point

but when you are completely ineffective in every category on defense hard to think that a change in offensive strategy is the problem

 

[volstopfan14]

Didn't see this posted here. Omari Phillips has been suspended indefinately for a violation of team rules.

Govols247: Derek Dooley suspends Omari Phillips indefinitely » GoVolsXtra

 

[vol2002]

I think if we werent last in at least one of those categories you may have a point

but when you are completely ineffective in every category on defense hard to think that a change in offensive strategy is the problem

I've personally given up any hope that we will see substantial improvements on defense this year. We're 7 games in and there's no tangible signs of improvement.

I think our focus on offense should be to score as many points as we can. And I think the hurry up offense gives us the best chance of doing that. It seemed to work well at times in the Georgia, USC, Florida and MSU games. There were stretches where we moved the ball almost at will. And nobody left on our schedule has a defense anywhere close to those guys.

 

[vol2002]

Was just reading Mr. SEC's power rankings. Saw where they have Tennessee in "bottom dwellers" and outside of the bowl contender category. Like many commentators, part of the reason they said this was the meme that Tennessee is a bunch of quitters that will fold down the stretch, like last year.

I still have trouble understanding why people continue to have that perception of this team. Outside of the last quarter of the Florida game (and possibly the Bama, although we were just outmatched there), I haven't seen this team as a bunch of quitters. Far from it. Now, they have a terrible defense and are mistake-prone on offense. But quitters? Hardly.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Was just reading Mr. SEC's power rankings. Saw where they have Tennessee in "bottom dwellers" and outside of the bowl contender category. Like many commentators, part of the reason they said this was the meme that Tennessee is a bunch of quitters that will fold down the stretch, like last year.

I still have trouble understanding why people continue to have that perception of this team. Outside of the last quarter of the Florida game (and possibly the Bama, although we were just outmatched there), I haven't seen this team as a bunch of quitters. Far from it. Now, they have a terrible defense and are mistake-prone on offense. But quitters? Hardly.

Excellent points. Some of the talking heads on ESPN continue to describe our offense as one-dimensional and incapable of running the ball. It makes you wonder whether they have actually watched us play this year. Our defense is, unquestionably, painful to watch, but our offensive line has traversed light years from where they were two years ago, and it shows in both their pass protection and run blocking.

 

[NMVol]

Excellent points. Some of the talking heads on ESPN continue to describe our offense as one-dimensional and incapable of running the ball. It makes you wonder whether they have actually watched us play this year. Our defense is, unquestionably, painful to watch, but our offensive line has traversed light years from where they were two years ago, and it shows in both their pass protection and run blocking.

This from a thread in the FF. Of the 14 times we have been in a position to tie or take a lead going down the stretch in SEC games the Vols "have run the ball a total of 19 times during those drives. They have passed the ball 37 times during those drive."

Doesn't sound too balanced in the clutch.

 

[jjay2518]

This from a thread in the FF. Of the 14 times we have been in a position to tie or take a lead going down the stretch in SEC games the Vols "have run the ball a total of 19 times during those drives. They have passed the ball 37 times during those drive."

Doesn't sound too balanced in the clutch.

I'm assuming "down the stretch" means drives at the end of a game to tie or win. In that situation teams always pass more than run to conserve the clock. I know at one point within the past couple weeks, our total run/pass split was exactly 50/50. This team has made great strides running the ball. The circumstances behind that stat skew it. That's like saying a team is too run heavy and using run/pass numbers from drives at the end of games when leading to run the clock out as proof.

 

[UTMark]

This from a thread in the FF. Of the 14 times we have been in a position to tie or take a lead going down the stretch in SEC games the Vols "have run the ball a total of 19 times during those drives. They have passed the ball 37 times during those drive."

Doesn't sound too balanced in the clutch.

That is skewed. Depending on time and timeouts is a huge dictator of how many times you can run the ball.

Now, you can easily question why we don't have a full slate of timeouts.

 

[Vols4us]

The correct answer of the time of possession has nothing to do with a hurry up offense. It is not a hurry up offense. They use nearly as much time as a team that huddles on each play. They use the no huddle look to keep the opposing D's from substituting as much. It gives the appearance and capability of a hurry up without necessarily having to be one. The play call comes in from the sideline and then Chaney can see the D alignment after the team lines up. He then audibles the play or gives the OK to run the first call, which gets signaled in from the sideline. He does this because Bray can't and refuses to spend enough time learning how to do it himself.

The time of possession relates to the quick strike nature of the offense. They hit it for big plays or the plays are busts. Score quickly or have more 3 and outs. The TOP also relates to the D not being able to get 3 and outs. They stop 2 plays then blow a 3rd and long regularly. The D's stats you quote back it up.

This doesn't address if the quick strike O is the way to go or not. In reality it probably wouldn't matter much with our D. Hiring a proven DC and assistants (other than D-line coach) would have changed that. But Dools didn't. So this is the result and why he is on the way out.

 

[pinfish09]

I think if we werent last in at least one of those categories you may have a point

but when you are completely ineffective in every category on defense hard to think that a change in offensive strategy is the problem

I'd also like to add that outside of Florida, the majority of big plays given up by this defense have happened early and often so it's not like the other team took advantage of them when they were gassed. SCar, MSU and UGA all put up 28+ in the first half. Even Akron put up 23 in the first half. That all points to lack of defenisve preparedness to me, not any fault with the offensive philosophy.

 

[amazingGRACE]

The correct answer of the time of possession has nothing to do with a hurry up offense. It is not a hurry up offense. They use nearly as much time as a team that huddles on each play. They use the no huddle look to keep the opposing D's from substituting as much. It gives the appearance and capability of a hurry up without necessarily having to be one. The play call comes in from the sideline and then Chaney can see the D alignment after the team lines up. He then audibles the play or gives the OK to run the first call, which gets signaled in from the sideline. He does this because Bray can't and refuses to spend enough time learning how to do it himself.

The time of possession relates to the quick strike nature of the offense. They hit it for big plays or the plays are busts. Score quickly or have more 3 and outs. The TOP also relates to the D not being able to get 3 and outs. They stop 2 plays then blow a 3rd and long regularly. The D's stats you quote back it up.

This doesn't address if the quick strike O is the way to go or not. In reality it probably wouldn't matter much with our D. Hiring a proven DC and assistants (other than D-line coach) would have changed that. But Dools didn't. So this is the result and why he is on the way out.

 

[NMVol]

I'm assuming "down the stretch" means drives at the end of a game to tie or win. In that situation teams always pass more than run to conserve the clock. I know at one point within the past couple weeks, our total run/pass split was exactly 50/50. This team has made great strides running the ball. The circumstances behind that stat skew it. That's like saying a team is too run heavy and using run/pass numbers from drives at the end of games when leading to run the clock out as proof.

Teams don't always pass more to score in critical drives. Seems like to me T. Henry ran the ball right down Arkansas throat to score after the fumble. I appreciate that the running game has improved. Maybe the trend recently is toward the run in these situations but the stat seems telling to me.

 

[Ned Ray McWorkher]

I think Bama will get a good taste of what Oregon can be when they face TAM shortly.

If Oregon can not win on the line of scrimmage then that speed wont matter.

 

[SpringBokVol]

Aside from occasional terrible play calling, there is nothing wrong with UT's offense.

 

[VolFromNashville]

Aside from occasional terrible play calling, there is nothing wrong with UT's offense.

Not at all, especially when you look at the scores we've put up against the other teams. With the exception of Bama, we put up enough to win IMO

 

[AbarVolfan15]

Was just reading Mr. SEC's power rankings. Saw where they have Tennessee in "bottom dwellers" and outside of the bowl contender category. Like many commentators, part of the reason they said this was the meme that Tennessee is a bunch of quitters that will fold down the stretch, like last year.

MrSEC.com Power Rankings – 10/30/12
Thats absolute B.S.

The only way the VOLS wouldn't be bowl eligible is if they lost to Vandy and Mizzou. I think there is a slim chance that UT will lose either of those. It just shows who ever wrote that article doesn't watch espn on Saturday's. TN has been contenders in every game but Bama and a quarter of FL which is common for every team who has played these two.

Being in the stands for the USC game gave me a lot of hope for the "second season". Honestly many fans thought UT wouldn't be as motivated after the crushing loss to Bama, but they came fired up and fought until the end. It's clear that the VOLS have better leadership and they are staying focused compared to the last 2 years.

 

[Tha Don]

Aside from occasional terrible play calling, there is nothing wrong with UT's offense.

+1

 

[jjay2518]

Teams don't always pass more to score in critical drives. Seems like to me T. Henry ran the ball right down Arkansas throat to score after the fumble. I appreciate that the running game has improved. Maybe the trend recently is toward the run in these situations but the stat seems telling to me.

One that one particular drive, we recovered a fumble in Arkkansas territory with plenty of time on the clock. Go back and watch our late game drives this year. We had further to go and not much time.

 

[skeeter33418]

Aside from occasional terrible play calling, there is nothing wrong with UT's offense.

We have a good offense despite the play calling.

 

[98vol]

We have a good offense despite the play calling.

Skeeter any coach news?:salute:

 

[AbarVolfan15]

four of TN's five losses are to opponents in the top10 and MSU is in the top20

 

[vol2002]

Being in the stands for the USC game gave me a lot of hope for the "second season". Honestly many fans thought UT wouldn't be as motivated after the crushing loss to Bama, but they came fired up and fought until the end. It's clear that the VOLS have better leadership and they are staying focused compared to the last 2 years.

I agree - they played hard.

I'll be honest. I'm probably the only person on here who thinks this, but this team generally has exceeded my expectations.

When I looked at our schedule at the start of the year, I thought we'd be 4-4 right now, with the only difference being a win over Florida. (Florida is obviously much better than we all thought).

Outside of that game, I thought we may get blown out by Georgia and South Carolina, in addition to Bama. Instead, we played very competitively in those games and I'm proud of the team for that.

Dooley did a great job with team building this offseason and deserves a lot of credit for it.

 

[NMVol]

One that one particular drive, we recovered a fumble in Arkkansas territory with plenty of time on the clock. Go back and watch our late game drives this year. We had further to go and not much time.

This is not quite right. The fumble occurred with 1:43 left in the game on the Tennessee 43.

 

[theutvolunteers]

four of TN's five losses are to opponents in the top10 and MSU is in the top20

It would be nice to have a plan to get us in that top ten rather than use it to defend terrible performances against good teams.

 

[TriCitiesVol]

A poster on VQ asked Hubbs if Bray, JH, and CP would all leave for the NFL.

I think Patterson and Hunter are the most likely to leave. Now I don't think they will get the draft grade they thought they would get back a couple of months ago, but I think they have played on leaving since before the season started.

Another poster asked Hubbs about the Cheek-Hart fighting.

I don't know that fighting is the right word, but I don't think Hart feels like Cheek is moving fast enough in doing things. There's admission issues that Fulmer talked about when he was coach. Those issues still exist. There are financial things and things like who will get to use the land where Stokley is at when that building is empty.

Hubbs also mentioned that there is a "legit" chance that Darrr transfers after the season.