The Morning After – Sober Reflections Week 11

#26
#26
TeacherVol007 said:
Agreed. Mizzou is embarrassing because of the lopsided loss. UF is more embarrassing because of how bad they are.
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Agree.

I don't think people realize how thin we are at key positions and we got even more decimated by injuries during that game. Mizzou looked like the better team and they won. It sucks, but our lack of depth really hurt us and Mizzou is a very good team this year.

The Florida loss was embarrassing because we looked like the better team, yet still managed to get blown out. And the rest of the season has only affirmed this. We shot ourselves in the foot repeatedly in that game with stupid penalties that forced us into bad situations.
 
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#27
#27
DeadByDaylightFan said:
Heupel's play calling has sucked. We abandoned trying to run the ball with our best players.... Jaylen Wright and Sampson combined for 10 carries
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It would've been a good post if you had stopped half way through at the word "ball".

Your slight at Small who has had big run after big run at UT is obvious. I personally think he's a better pure runner than Sampson because of his balance. Sampson is just the most versatile of the group.
 
#28
#28
volgr said:
2025 will be make or break year for Heupel. I dont see next year being much different than this year unless Nico is a really special QB as a Soph or we get some really good talent from the portal.

I dont coach worship and to admit my bias I was against the hire of Heupel. However, he has shown he can make his system work in the SEC but can he replicate it? Can he continually find the right players to execute it?

Time will tell and 2025 will likely be the litmus test for Heupel at TN. Shown a lot of good, shown some weaknesses too. Coaching at the highest levels in the SEC isnt for the faint of heart and there are only a handful of coaches who can do it.
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It's the long term prognosis of the defense against good teams or in tough environments is what worries me. We are about as thin at LB this year as we were last year with quality, experienced depth. I am surprised we aren't exponentially better in the secondary.
 
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#32
#32
Fair post. The road game problem probably has to do with the noise. It affects our offense and doesn’t affect theirs. Exact opposite as Neyland.

LSU and Vandy last year were examples of us jumping on them early and taking their crowd out of it.
 
#33
#33
My frustration comes from the glimpses of getting it right on offense only to fumble it away. I’m disappointed in the defense, allowing first down scramble time and again. The scramble from the half yard line to our 15 was a heartbreaker.

Milton looked like he was pissed during the 4th quarter, firing bullets that only a superhero could have handled. Until then, he had played ok. I’m not sure if he was to blame for the fake handoff that either he forgot to make or Sampson should have known better than to throw his elbow up high. That was such an easily avoidable error.
 
#34
#34
You can make a case that Vols were lucky to beat UK on the road which likely sealed an 8 win season which is not bad for this squad. You could trade quarterbacks with 10 other SEC teams and come out even or ahead. That will not be true next season with Nico and improving depth and 8 or so portal transfers. You have to have winning qb play or an incredible defense or both to compete. The relatively easy schedule this year certainly helped also but 8 wins is nothing to sneeze at. The Florida game was a surprise perhaps but the Vols at that time were not very good and played like it. Most SEC teams on the road would have beaten them that day. Anyway the future is significantly brighter than this season and Heupel in the past has faced adversity and come out swinging - he is a super competitor so let's see what he does moving forward.
 
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#37
#37
volgr said:
2025 will be make or break year for Heupel. I don't see next year being much different than this year unless Nico is a really special QB as a Soph or we get some really good talent from the portal.

I dont coach worship and to admit my bias I was against the hire of Heupel. However, he has shown he can make his system work in the SEC but can he replicate it? Can he continually find the right players to execute it?

Time will tell and 2025 will likely be the litmus test for Heupel at TN. Shown a lot of good, shown some weaknesses too. Coaching at the highest levels in the SEC isn't for the faint of heart and there are only a handful of coaches who can do it.
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Yep - Been my thinking as well.

We lost some special players that created a magical season last year (kinda reminded me of the Sugar Vols). We lose a lot of seniors of mediocre ability after this season.
Not sure what we have done recruiting-wise to replace them, especially the line of scrimmage. Next year may be a young team with good talent that is a year away from real contention.
The one area that bothers me most about Heupel is the lack of discipline of his teams - just way too many penalties, busted assignments and a general lack of mental and physical toughness.
Apparently his UCF teams suffered from similar problems and their record declined during his 3 years as head coach.
It may sound trivial, but the guy could tighten up his appearance a bit. I think he wants to be the sloppy genius, but I swear it carries over some to the team's performance.
I don't think a lot of Vols fans liked the Heupel hire, but then last year happened and it looked like we had stumbled into the right coach, finally.
I was for hiring Hugh Freeze, though the NCAA may have come down harder with their sanctions if we had brought him in. Just think in the long run, we would have been better off.

Very good points by the OP for this thread. I am not at all giving up on Heupel, a down year was not totally unexpected. And it's nice to have 8 wins as the worst of seasons again instead of 3-6 wins.
Make sure to not take Vandy for granted and go win a bowl game and recruit your ass off and we can return to being an annual Top 10 program where Tennessee football belongs after all.
 
#38
#38
volfan_89 said:
And he only has one win when trailing at halftime. I don’t want him fired or even on the hot seat but we’ve seen enough things to give us pause.
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and we still have posters here ready to raise banners and grant Heupel a second extension. Sheeesh!! If he goes down to our big 3, UF, Bama, and UGA next year, his seat starts in flames the 2025 season. Book it.
 
#40
#40
BigOrangeTrain said:
Yeah I know. There are going to be quite a few big time prospects at that game. They will more than likely see us get killed again.
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Or they're sold on the prospect of early playing time. Easier to sell when everyone you start will be graduating. Wait, that's it! Heupel is hiding all our talent on the bench so we can sign a better recruiting class. How did I not see this before?! Heupel is a GENIUS!!
 
#41
#41
This team just lacks a toughness that the really good teams have.. It's weak leadership.. I saw some Jeremy Pruitt quit in that team Saturday night. The honeymoon with Heupel is over. I will say Pruitt had some good Olinemen Heupel benefitted from.. It's a LOS league and the Vols just aren't good enough there right now to challenge the top teams in this conference.
 
#42
#42
UTFranklinVol said:
My first thought: Music City Bowl, here we come! I really hate to say it, but I told you so. After week 6 I posted here explaining how the first half of the schedule was a cake walk full of weak opponents and home games and how the second half of the season would be much harder because of tougher opponents and ROAD GAMES. I remember the names of the posters who thought it was “asinine” to think that UT was going to lose to Mizzou and they were easier that Florida or Texas A&M. Well all of that garbage was FALSE. This is a completely different team on the road.

On second thought:
  1. Joe Milton, not the leader we wanted, but the leader we have. His yardage and completions were decent and our one TD came on another circus catch by a WR that made Milton’s stats look that much better. However, the “other Joe” also made appearances in this game. An interception, a fumble deep in Mizzou territory, both of which lead directly to Mizzou TDs that pretty much ended any hope of a UT comeback.
  2. It’s now apparent we are a one-dimensional team. If we cannot run for 200+ yards we are not capable of winning on Milton’s passing game or running skills. Our running game had its worst performance of the year SO FAR. Unfortunately, we still have to play Georgia and if Mizzou was able to do this to our running game, we may have negative rushing yards against UGA.
  3. WTF happened to our defense? I thought we were “the best rushing defense”? Somebody forgot to tell Cody Schrader I guess because he SHREDDED us. We couldn’t stop him or anyone especially on 3rd and long, MY GAWD.
  4. Heupel has a road game PROBLEM. Going back a little over 1 year with 2 different caliber teams Heupel has lost 5 of 7 SEC road games and he only seems to be able to beat Vandy and UK (barely)
2022 UGA L
2022 USC L
2022 Vandy W
2023 UF L
2023 Bama L
2023 UK W
2023 Mizz L

Looking ahead:
I hate to even look ahead. Prior to yesterday I was VERY optimistic that this team could go get UGA and beat them at home. But after what I just saw and how easy it is to beat UT if you just focus on stopping the run, I can’t make the math work out in favor of UT. So, unfortunately back to my original point at the top, the second half of the season is shaping up to be exactly what I thought it would be. UT is on the verge of losing HALF its games in the second half of the season. We aren’t going to beat any of the tough opponents on the schedule, no signature wins in year 3. Utterly forgettable season.
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LSWho?
 
#43
#43
DaddyChad said:
More than that this team has second half problems on the road. Game was in reach vs Missouri and we were in control vs Bama. Consistently inconsistent on the road.
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Truth. I don't know what happened between last year and this year. We used to be a second half team and now we take the second half off.
 
#45
#45
DaddyChad said:
Here’s the fact Missouri is a good team this year. It was an embarrassing loss but honestly the loss to Florida was worse. Bama and Georgia are two of the most talented teams in the land; we’re just not on that level yet.
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This. Mizzou is legit this year, despite the fact that they traditionally aren't real good. The Florida loss is the one that is embarrassing. UF is NOT good at all this year, in fact, they suck, despite the fact that they traditionally are pretty good. You can't always rely on program reputation, which is what a lot of our fanbase is hung up on. Sometimes you have to use your eyes to assess opponents. Any serious football fan who had seen Mizzou play should have known that we were up for a real challenge in playing Mizzou in Columbia and were going to have to play our best ball to have a chance to leave there with the dub.
 
#46
#46
if Josh doesn’t win 10 next year I’ll start to really question him as THE guy. Portal era, 3 recruiting classes, it doesn’t take 5 years to build a contender anymore. And Tennessee should lose to Missouri about once or twice a decade max.
 
#48
#48
FLVOL_79 said:
Heupel has a road game problem. 100% true.
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I’m not anywhere near the ridiculous “fire CJH” crowd, but it is entirely fair to acknowledge this truth. It is something he needs to devote a lot of attention to going into next season. The road struggles cannot be ignored.
 
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