Recruiting Forum Football Talk XXIX

[Smokey123]

I think there is 0% chance that just by changing the USC outcome that we would be in the playoff hunt.

Even changing both USC and A&M I think it's pretty unlikely.

The reason: we were, rightfully, punished in the polls for looking like a talented but undisciplined and therefore inconsistent team for the first 6 weeks and then getting the brakes beat off of us in week 7.

Instead, I'd suggest that you revisionists go back and demote Hurd to third string at the beginning of the season. Not saying that to pile on Jalen at all, I honestly believe it after the 6 weeks.

I remember one specific run against ASU where Hurd broke into the open field and ran right up Jashon's back 8 yards down the field. Either Kelly or Kamara breaks that and goes 77 or whatever yards for the score and that's a totally different game. Even a 30 yarder possibly envigorates the team, IMO. Instead we don't get a big play until Malone's catch in the 4th(?).

Playoff rankings and AP poll is completely different. Look how high they had A&M after losing to MSU and bama by double digits! They had UF at #11, Colorado top 15, OKState ranked.

We would definitely be around #7 if we had beat Socar. Top 5 of we beat Socar and A&M. There's no question about it

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

Kirby smart has a top 10 win year one. Butch jones hasn't beaten a top 10 team in 4 years. God *****

I'm a little late to the party here...but I think that USCe team Butch beat in 2013 was much better than Auburn this year and our team had much less talent than UGA this year.


Meaningless now, I know. But I really think both of those things are true.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

Also I'm sure there's been discussion somewhere else here, but did anyone else notice kongbo getting completely flushed out of his gap on the Kemp TD?


Between his play and the drama he's been a pet of since he got here, it wouldn't surprise me if he's not around much longer.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

An unranked Pitt beats the #4 team in the country. Unranked PSU beats #2 OSU. Unranked Iowa beats Michigan. And we cannot even beat a terrible South Carolina team. I am getting the sinking suspicion that we will not have a win over a top 10 team for quite some time.

 

[nicksjuzunk]

Playoff talk is not really relevant because as optimistic as I am, the chances of us beating Bama if we get to ATL is about 3%

I've considered the position of not winning the East being a better outcome than another Bama thrashing, but I'm full in for ATL. Winning the East was the reasonable goal. I mistakenly thought we could win the SEC, but I've seen enough. Bama is brutal

Let our boys in, and give them a chance to fight. Who knows? They could catch fire

 

[KnoxVillain]

I'd like to see how a healthy UT team would fare against this Bama team. In our current state we are no match for them at all.

If we make it to the title game this will be the first time we'll ever have matched up with Bama, right?

 

[JCP201]

I'm sure this has been already posted a thousand times, but --the upsets in the rankings!

2- Clemson
3. Michigan
4. Washington
8. Texas AM
9. Auburn
14/ Virginia Tech
17. North Carolina
25. Arkansas

It will be interesting if we are ranked this week.

I have watched most all the teams in the top 25. IMO, there is Alabama and then there is the rest of us.

 

[omghulkhands]

An unranked Pitt beats the #4 team in the country. Unranked PSU beats #2 OSU. Unranked Iowa beats Michigan. And we cannot even beat a terrible South Carolina team. I am getting the sinking suspicion that we will not have a win over a top 10 team for quite some time.

Just flip that around


Clemson and Michigan, better teams than us, lost to unranked opponents they had no business losing to...just like we did to USCe

It happens to almost everyone almost every year. We've been mostly luckily to avoid that type of thing last couple years. Caught up to us this year

 

[Z06VolinWV]

I'd like to see how a healthy UT team would fare against this Bama team. In our current state we are no match for them at all.

If we make it to the title game this will be the first time we'll ever have matched up with Bama, right?

I can't imagine how well Bama would run on us with the current state of our d line! Would be another KY type game with their defense holding us in check. Dobbs would be running for his life rather than for tds!

 

[Outofmyvolcanmind]

And Ohio State will walk into the playoffs without having to play Wisconsin in title game.

They did however already beat them.

 

[JCP201]

I think Butch had Spurrier's number and so far Muschamp owns Butch.

 

[nicksjuzunk]

I can't imagine how well Bama would run on us with the current state of our d line! Would be another KY type game with their defense holding us in check. Dobbs would be running for his life rather than for tds!

Exactly right, which is why I have very mixed feelings about making ATL

I've chosen to hope we get there, and accept it for what it is

We certainly can't afford to not go based on a loss to Vandy or Mizzou

 

[JCP201]

Also I'm sure there's been discussion somewhere else here, but did anyone else notice kongbo getting completely flushed out of his gap on the Kemp TD?


Between his play and the drama he's been a pet of since he got here, it wouldn't surprise me if he's not around much longer.

I'm convinced now that "behind the scenes" Hurd was causing a major rift that showed up all season in games until he was released. After his release, Butch started talking about the drains and the fountains again.

 

[nicksjuzunk]

I think Butch had Spurrier's number and so far Muschamp owns Butch.

The team never even showed up

 

[nicksjuzunk]

I'm convinced now that "behind the scenes" Hurd was causing a major rift that showed up all season in games until he was released. After his release, Butch started talking about the drains and the fountains again.

Clear mistake in pandering to his arrogance

Averaging 52 points per game since he bailed out

Did you see the stats on Hurd in the read option vs traditional formations?

That cat thinks the world of himself, but he was gaining like an extra 25% YPC in the formation he hated

My dearest Felicia, I bid you farewell

 

[nicksjuzunk]

Criticism when deserved, credit when due

1. DeBord: time to retire, but thanks for the last two weeks. Finish strong and go play golf.

2. Kyle Phillips: got a lot of PT and was disruptive

3. Ethan Wolf: caught stuff

4. Dobbs: a joy to watch this week. Curse the inconsistency

 

[Z06VolinWV]

Exactly right, which is why I have very mixed feelings about making ATL

I've chosen to hope we get there, and accept it for what it is

We certainly can't afford to not go based on a loss to Vandy or Mizzou

Same here!
Which scenario would yield us a better bowl, finishing 9-3 with no trip to ATL, or being 9-4 with most likely a bad loss to Bama in the SEC championship game?

 

[OGbabyaviVol]

I'm curious how others feel about Alabama. I was having a discussion with my brother and he thinks Alabama is on the up and up. I think they're huge cheaters. I think it's a culture at Bama. Don't think Saban personally gets involved but players are payed, I think PEDS are rampant. I think.they get away with pretty much anything. I realize no team is squeaky clean but I think they take it to a different level. Am I just a conspiracy theorist?

I feel the exact same way. They control everyone...Tuscaloosa police, university, SEC, NCAA, everyone. Saban wanted complete control to go there, and he has it. The boosters probably pay off everyone...players, administration, refs, etc. You would think an unhappy player that leaves or is processed would eventually spill the beans, but I'm guessing they get a large amount of money and are told to stay quiet or bad things may happen to family members.

All of this brings me to this...I really want to see us in ATL. Do I think we have a chance to upset them? Probably about 1%. Why? Injuries, especially at DT, would be brutal to try and overcome against them and probably impossible. But, the bigger reason is that there is absolutely no way the SEC refs will let us win that game. I still would prefer to lose and be 9-4 and say we went, especially for the seniors who came here for this very reason to bring us back, than to be 9-3 and Florida go.

 

[GoBigOrangeVols]

Same here!
Which scenario would yield us a better bowl, finishing 9-3 with no trip to ATL, or being 9-4 with most likely a bad loss to Bama in the SEC championship game?

With A&M and Auburn losing, the Sugar bowl is very much back in play for us. Not much difference in resume for LSU, Auburn, A&M, Florida and Tennessee

 

[GoBigOrangeVols]

Thoughts on the game:

1. Our offense is worlds better now than it was with Hurd. Kamara and Kelly are a great combo. Enjoy these next few games.

2. Good Dobbs is really really good. A season full of Kentucky games and he's a Heisman finalist, at minimum.

3. OL played really good ball. Their best game all year.

4. Our defense is held together by spit and glue right now. However, one thing I don't like is all the rotations of LB. Kirkland should be on the field the whole game. For whatever reason, we were rotating Kirkland, Jumper, McDowell and Berry on a per series basis. Makes no sense to me.

5. Phillips and Vickers played well, but we have absolutely nothing else at DT. We should consider going to a 3-3 look if we make it to ATL. Put Phillips and Barnett at DE and Vickers in the middle. Jumper at MLB, Kirkland at SLB, and Berry st WLB. Vereen on passing downs for Phillips. McDowell or Bynum for Gaulden on running downs and they slide inside next to Jumper. Jmo.

6. Stephen Griffin played well in relief of TKjr

7. We need to find a kickoff returner

8. Calloway needs to be returning punts.

9. Great crowd for a Nooner! 2 more Vol fans!

 

[nicksjuzunk]

Same here!
Which scenario would yield us a better bowl, finishing 9-3 with no trip to ATL, or being 9-4 with most likely a bad loss to Bama in the SEC championship game?

I think 9-3 gets the better bowl, but Division champs is chalked down as progress

Winning 4 straight with large margins of victory is nice, if Florida happens to beat LSU. A national audience throttling helps us not one bit

NONETHELESS... Gimme an outside shot at Bama anyways. They would become legends if they could avenge that loss... And the USC loss, indirectly

 

[Ron Swanson]

Criticism when deserved, credit when due

1. DeBord: time to retire, but thanks for the last two weeks. Finish strong and go play golf.

2. Kyle Phillips: got a lot of PT and was disruptive

3. Ethan Wolf: caught stuff

4. Dobbs: a joy to watch this week. Curse the inconsistency

Good points. Phillips showed some flashes, could be a starter next year? Dobbs is so fun to watch when he's running like that. Malone looked really good too. And I enjoyed #15 catching that Hail Mary interception. Good for him.

And boy are Alvin and JK good RB's. JK and Chandler next fall should be a helluva combo. I loved when the announcer said yesterday "why wouldn't you want to come to Tennessee if you're a running back?!" Hopefully Cam Akers was listening.

 

[RikidyBones]

Here's the thing. No one talks about the score difference after the season. Make the SECCG and talk of repeating dominates the east discussion not "but they got blown out". Be the division Champs. We don't want florida to be able to use back to back on the crootin trail against us.

 

[therickbol]

Thoughts on the game:

1. Our offense is worlds better now than it was with Hurd. Kamara and Kelly are a great combo. Enjoy these next few games.

2. Good Dobbs is really really good. A season full of Kentucky games and he's a Heisman finalist, at minimum.

3. OL played really good ball. Their best game all year.

4. Our defense is held together by spit and glue right now. However, one thing I don't like is all the rotations of LB. Kirkland should be on the field the whole game. For whatever reason, we were rotating Kirkland, Jumper, McDowell and Berry on a per series basis. Makes no sense to me.

5. Phillips and Vickers played well, but we have absolutely nothing else at DT. We should consider going to a 3-3 look if we make it to ATL. Put Phillips and Barnett at DE and Vickers in the middle. Jumper at MLB, Kirkland at SLB, and Berry st WLB. Vereen on passing downs for Phillips. McDowell or Bynum for Gaulden on running downs and they slide inside next to Jumper. Jmo.

6. Stephen Griffin played well in relief of TKjr

7. We need to find a kickoff returner

8. Calloway needs to be returning punts.

9. Great crowd for a Nooner! 2 more Vol fans!

Not saying Calloway shouldn't return punts over Smith. But it was a diservice to him the way his punt returns happened against a vastly inferior opp. The blocking on those punts is what we would like to see in other games, which is harder to do when not playing TTU. Calloway did nothing special on either punt return. Literally ran in a straight line through a hole the size of the grand canyon. In fact, if you want to be completely honest it should be mentioned on the 1st return he was 1on1 with only the punter to beat and couldn't beat the punter. The great blocking and terrible opp has now created this idea that we have some AA punt returner just standing on sidelines.

 

[GoBigOrangeVols]

I think that LSU will stomp a mud hole on Florida. I think we will do the same to Mizzou.

LSU 31 UF 6

Tenn 44 Mizzou 16