Recruiting Forum Football Talk XXIX

[jspvol76]

The majority of us are so upset over this loss, but the reality is good teams lose games they shouldn't every year; OSU losing to Penn St for example. The 90's Vols lost some games where they had a much greater talent gap than team 120 vs USCe.

I hate that we lost to an inferior team, but there are 4 games left and I hope CBJ and crew can get their heads on straight and finish strong. It is very possible UF drops 2 more. We only get 3-4 months a year to watch Tennessee football, I'm going to try to enjoy it.

Championship teams do not.

 

[Ericvol2096]

Need to win we one we shouldn't to make up for USCjr for season to be a success. Not sure we get the opportunity though unless Gators lose two of their next 3.

How much better would people feel if one of the Gators losses is to that same USCe team and if they actually continue to win and upset Clemson as well?

Samual, their freshman RB, Bentley, ect all didn't really start playing till a couple weeks ago.

They are a much better team then our fans gave them credit for and I for one thought it would be a tough matchup.

 

[Bassmaster_Vol]

Championship teams do not.

Oh State/VT ring a bell?

 

[Dust10]

Oh State/VT ring a bell?

The difference being OSU did that and didn't lose again. We added a bad loss on top of other losses.

 

[jave36]

Oh State/VT ring a bell?

You could argue thats the exception that proves the rule. I can't think of many other championship teams who lost to a bottom dweller.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Championship teams do not.

OSU lost to VT. Just one of many examples of your utter wrongness.

 

[Ericvol2096]

Championship teams do not.

In our conference, we were never a realistic championship team this year, especially with our rash of injuries.

Best case scenario for this team was 10-2, when you have that much injuries you are going to drop a game you shouldn't.

In 2013 when UGA suffered injuries like this, they went 7-5 or so with Aaron Murray at QB.

Same with UF the year they had their injuries, they went 4-8 and lost to Georgia Southern.

Major injuries make a HUGE difference.

 

[Lovesomebigorange]

That's a good point Eric about SC. They were better than I was expecting with their QB. He wasn't playing in those earlier losses they had. I would give anything if FL would lose to them too- wouldn't make up for us losing (unacceptable) but it would help perception just a tad.

 

[WriterVol]

A battered defense still did a good job at USCjr, you'll never make me believe otherwise that the Hurd situation wasn't a huge distraction for the O and cost us the game!!

Kelly averaged 6.7 yards a carry. We should've won by 3 TDs. 😎😎😎😎😎

At a certain point Kelly was doing it by himself. You add a healthy Kamara, and Carlin doesn't go in when Kelly is winded. Still, I more Kelly in stretches would have helped Dobbs. Heck, tell him to check down on that last pick, and Kelly's got a first and maybe more.

 

[GoBigOrangeVols]

How much better would people feel if one of the Gators losses is to that same USCe team and if they actually continue to win and upset Clemson as well?

Samual, their freshman RB, Bentley, ect all didn't really start playing till a couple weeks ago.

They are a much better team then our fans gave them credit for and I for one thought it would be a tough matchup.

I do think they will roll Mizzou this weekend. Kind of reminds me of the new life we had in 2010 when Bray started the last four games down the stretch and we looked like a different team

 

[Ericvol2096]

That's a good point Eric about SC. They were better than I was expecting with their QB. He wasn't playing in those earlier losses they had. I would give anything if FL would lose to them too- wouldn't make up for us losing (unacceptable) but it would help perception just a tad.

How much better would people feel about our season if it plays out like this? I would feel much better.

Tennessee
Tennessee Tech - W - 52-10
Kentucky - W - 38-20
Missouri - W - 41-14
@Vandy - W - 27-10
SEC Title game - L 24-27
Capital One Bowl - W - 31-20

Kentucky
UGA - W - 28-20
TN - L
Louisville - W 31-30

SC
Missouri - W - 28-7
@UF - W - 21-17
Western - W
Clemson - W - 28-27

UF
@Ark - W - 24-20
SC - L - 17-21
@LSU - L - 30-20
FSU - W 24-20

Point is this season still has TONS of time left and perception can change GREATLY.

 

[WriterVol]

In our conference, we were never a realistic championship team this year, especially with our rash of injuries.

Best case scenario for this team was 10-2, when you have that much injuries you are going to drop a game you shouldn't.

In 2013 when UGA suffered injuries like this, they went 7-5 or so with Aaron Murray at QB.

Same with UF the year they had their injuries, they went 4-8 and lost to Georgia Southern.

Major injuries make a HUGE difference.

It's an important point that many of those 10-2 predictions came in with the caveat of not having significant injuries. This team has had injuries galore from very early on. The weird thing is you'd expect that to cause a loss to somebody like Florida or Georgia. You wouldn't expect USC to do it.

 

[Rishvol]

How much better would people feel about our season if it plays out like this? I would feel much better.

Tennessee
Tennessee Tech - W - 52-10
Kentucky - W - 38-20
Missouri - W - 41-14
@Vandy - W - 27-10
SEC Title game - L 24-27
Capital One Bowl - W - 31-20

Kentucky
UGA - W - 28-20
TN - L
Louisville - W 31-30

SC
Missouri - W - 28-7
@UF - W - 21-17
Western - W
Clemson - W - 28-27

UF
@Ark - W - 24-20
SC - L - 17-21
@LSU - L - 30-20
FSU - W 24-20

Point is this season still has TONS of time left and perception can change GREATLY.

If South Carolina does win out I'll feel better about the season (not the lose)

 

[WriterVol]

You could argue thats the exception that proves the rule. I can't think of many other championship teams who lost to a bottom dweller.

2008 Florida lost to Ole Miss that just lost to Vanderbilt. While not really a bottom dweller, it's still a bad loss for an eventual national champion.

In fact, only 3 of the last 10 champions have been undefeated.

I really don't think this says much about the SC loss, but good teams do lose to inferior opponents. It's football. By most any metric, Saban shouldn't lose a game ever outside of maybe the playoffs.

 

[Lovesomebigorange]

Someone said it here and now the FF is echoing the same- they feel like if the heat continues to pile up on Butch, he will eventually leave on his own. He bristles at being asked any tough questions, doesn't come across as understanding these questions deserve to be asked when you lose 3 damn games in a row. He's so image conscious his ego couldn't take being fired. I could definately see that happening IF he doesn't turn this ship around quick.

 

[WriterVol]

Also, I'm sure you guys talked about it previously, but what the heck was McDowell doing on the punt play where he slid into the ball?

 

[Rishvol]

Also, I'm sure you guys talked about it previously, but what the heck was McDowell doing on the punt play where he slid into the ball?

It was just a stupid play on his part. I think he thought the South Carolina guy touched it. That's the only thing I could think of

 

[jave36]

2008 Florida lost to Ole Miss that just lost to Vanderbilt. While not really a bottom dweller, it's still a bad loss for an eventual national champion.

In fact, only 3 of the last 10 champions have been undefeated.

I really don't think this says much about the SC loss, but good teams do lose to inferior opponents. It's football. By most any metric, Saban shouldn't lose a game ever outside of maybe the playoffs.

Losing is OK, but losing to a horrific team is the outlier here. Ole miss went 9-4 that year, that's a respectable loss. OSU/VT is a good example, but I can't think of any others.

 

[unioncityvol]

In our conference, we were never a realistic championship team this year, especially with our rash of injuries.

Best case scenario for this team was 10-2, when you have that much injuries you are going to drop a game you shouldn't.

In 2013 when UGA suffered injuries like this, they went 7-5 or so with Aaron Murray at QB.

Same with UF the year they had their injuries, they went 4-8 and lost to Georgia Southern.

Major injuries make a HUGE difference.

so much this. thank you eric. the only beauty coming out of the injury front is with the leadership guys that we lose to the draft and graduation, we have built some quality experienced depth this season while likely scrapping out 9 wins.

 

[GamblerVol]

Apologies for the random question, but does anybody know if there are any family restrooms in Neyland? And if so, where are they?
I'm planning on taking my 4 year old daughter on Saturday, and I'd prefer not to take her to the men's room. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Dust10]

Also, I'm sure you guys talked about it previously, but what the heck was McDowell doing on the punt play where he slid into the ball?

This happens all the time in the NFL too. I just think the instinct is to down the ball in the best possible position, so guys can't control themselves.

It was a bad call not to overturn though. The gamecock clearly kicked it into the endzone.

 

[ATC_VOL]

Apologies for the random question, but does anybody know if there are any family restrooms in Neyland? And if so, where are they?
I'm planning on taking my 4 year old daughter on Saturday, and I'd prefer not to take her to the men's room. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I've seen some I think around the X5/Y6 sections once you enter Gate 21. They're on the same side of the concourse as the field, while the normal restrooms are on the far wall.

 

[LA Vol]

The negative perception isn't about losing to SCAR, it's about losing 2 out of 3 very winnable games in a 3-game stretch, having a record-setting loss against Bama in Neyland and looking sloppy, unprepared and undisciplined all season. The fanbase was mostly positive and tolerant until the SCAR loss. That was just the final straw.

A real sticking point is that both the aTm and SCAR losses weren't due to injuries. Key players were back for SCAR and JKelly was having a good game. Many veteran players-- JJ, Malone, Wolf, Smith, Croom-- as well as talented FR like Byrd were available to help move the ball. We certainly had more talent on the field than SCAR did.

 

[Vols4us]

I am very happy that Team 120 beat UF, UGA, and Va Tech despite sleepwalking through the first half of each game due to the brilliance of Debored. Those are the positive points of the season without a doubt. Their performances against Appy and Ohio were ridiculous, again strongly influenced by the brilliance of Debored. But they won. In the past they could not always say that.

Then the brilliance of Debored and the continuing lack of valuing the football by the offense and Dobbs in particular started the downward slide for the next 3 games. The injuries have sucked the life out of the team as well as the futility on offense, again thanks to the brilliance of Debored. Team disunity becomes worse, players leave and/or get kicked off. Two are big time starters and one of those is at a position that is decimated with injuries.

What happens from here will reveal much about the program and Butch Jones. This has been another Tale of Two Cities type season that have become commonplace on the hill. It needs to end. The program and Vol fans deserve better.

 

[Nashvegas31]

How much better would people feel if one of the Gators losses is to that same USCe team and if they actually continue to win and upset Clemson as well?

Samual, their freshman RB, Bentley, ect all didn't really start playing till a couple weeks ago.

They are a much better team then our fans gave them credit for and I for one thought it would be a tough matchup.

It would help for sure if they beat FL. Bentley definitely changes that teams dynamic. Kid showed that IT factor in our game with some of those plays under pressure