The UT offensive game plan

#1
Lexvol

Lexvol

I'm Your Huckleberry
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#1
OE and I were discussing this in another thread, and I wanted to ask this question of the Volnation. Would Vol fans give the coaches a pass if they would have come out throwing the ball late in the second half of the Florida game and Ainge had thrown an interception?

I for one have been critical of this coaching staff, but would be willing to give a pass for aggresive mistakes, much like the interception on the first play of the game. When Ainge threw that ball I was not pleased with the result, but I was elated that this staff was sending such a strong message to UF. The defense also responded.

So, if the coaches were to unapologetically come out and say UT is going to try to put the ball in the endzone on every possession would you give them more grace for mistakes made?
 
#2
#2
Lex they did throw the ball more in the second half than they ran. they threw 19 of 35 plays in the second half. One series is all that they tried to run more than throw and that was the second series of the second half (I think). The fact is we could not run the ball and that made for quick exits for the Offense and kept our Defense on the field and UF offense on the field.
 
#3
#3
VolBeef88 said:
Lex they did throw the ball more in the second half than they ran. they threw 19 of 35 plays in the second half. One series is all that they tried to run more than throw and that was the second series of the second half (I think). The fact is we could not run the ball and that made for quick exits for the Offense and kept our Defense on the field and UF offense on the field.
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I think they threw the ball on first down 7 out of 9 times in the first half, and reversed that trend in the second half. You don't think the play calling got conservative in the second half?
 
#4
#4
When you throw more in the second than you ran and when you throw more in the second than in the first half? No I don't. I think our O line got their butts kicked. We had the ball on the UF 39 yard line with a first down. What did they do? They threw on 1st. All we needed was 10 more yards and we win the game. Our O line got whipped. Pure and simple. I don't like it but that is exactly what happened. Our O line and Defensive line is what cost us the game. I am more suspect of the defensive game plan than I am the Ofensive game plan.
 
#5
#5
VolBeef88 said:
When you throw more in the second than you ran and when you throw more in the second than in the first half? No I don't. I think our O line got their butts kicked. We had the ball on the UF 39 yard line with a first down. What did they do? They threw on 1st. All we needed was 10 more yards and we win the game. Our O line got whipped. Pure and simple. I don't like it but that is exactly what happened. Our O line and Defensive line is what cost us the game. I am more suspect of the defensive game plan than I am the Ofensive game plan.
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I would say that you are in the minority. It looked to me like UT was sitting on the lead. That being said, back to my original question. Do you think the Volnation would give this team a pass on mistakes made if they thought the offense was becoming more aggressive?
 
#6
#6
VolBeef88 said:
Lex they did throw the ball more in the second half than they ran. they threw 19 of 35 plays in the second half. One series is all that they tried to run more than throw and that was the second series of the second half (I think). The fact is we could not run the ball and that made for quick exits for the Offense and kept our Defense on the field and UF offense on the field.
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19 pass plays out of 35 in the second half?! That means 16, only 3 less, were runs. Not very agressive. more of a balanced attack with one flank of that attack being completely ineffective. basically, you ran 45% of your offense in the scond half on plays that did not work, nor never devloped, in this game whatsoever. That is my friend going conservative, with a handicap. I'll take going for the kill and making mistakes over laying down and trying not to lose any day of the week. They will not get to where they need to be until the coaches let the players know they will be agressive and expect the same from them for 4 quarters.
 
#7
#7
GVF said:
19 pass plays out of 35 in the second half?! That means 16, only 3 less, were runs. Not very agressive. more of a balanced attack with one flank of that attack being completely ineffective. basically, you ran 45% of your offense in the scond half on plays that did not work, nor never devloped, in this game whatsoever. That is my friend going conservative, with a handicap. I'll take going for the kill and making mistakes over laying down and trying not to lose any day of the week. They will not get to where they need to be until the coaches let the players know they will be agressive and expect the same from them for 4 quarters.
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That is where I stand as well.
 
#8
#8
GVF said:
19 pass plays out of 35 in the second half?! That means 16, only 3 less, were runs. Not very agressive. more of a balanced attack with one flank of that attack being completely ineffective. basically, you ran 45% of your offense in the scond half on plays that did not work, nor never devloped, in this game whatsoever. That is my friend going conservative, with a handicap. I'll take going for the kill and making mistakes over laying down and trying not to lose any day of the week. They will not get to where they need to be until the coaches let the players know they will be agressive and expect the same from them for 4 quarters.
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So you are saying that we were more aggressive in the 1st half?
 
#9
#9
We ran a total of 56 plays in the game. 33 pass and 23 runs. We threw more in the second than we did the first half.

As much as you guys want to call it, the reason we lost is because we got beat on the lines, Period.
 
#10
#10
I think our coaches called the game as well as anyone could have. Our running game just lacked execution all the way through, while the passing game kept us in it. It's either, get an okay chunk of possession time with nothing to show for it, or move the ball but keep Florida's offense on the field. I'd rather have done the latter, at least it scores you points, and I've always said... Defense (ball control?) wins championships, but you win a football game by putting more points on the board than the other guys.
 
#12
#12
Considering I was screaming "THROW IT!" on every first and second down in the late third and early fourth quarters... yes, I could've lived with some INTs deep in Florida territory. It would've been as effective as a three and out followed by a punt.
 
#13
#13
tidwell said:
Considering I was screaming "THROW IT!" on every first and second down in the late third and early fourth quarters... yes, I could've lived with some INTs deep in Florida territory. It would've been as effective as a three and out followed by a punt.
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...more effective than letting them run punts back for touchdowns. I would like to have seen more passes on 1st down in the second half. I thought I was watching JM ball again...protect our 1 pt lead at all costs!!!
 
#14
#14
UT had a 10 point lead. If the coaches played a higher-risk deep passing game and gave up a couple of picks that led to UF scores, fans would've been crawling all over the coaches saying that they should've let the clock become the 12th man.

No matter how your team gives up a lead, fans are going to complain, after the fact, that the coaching staff should've played it differently. I should know...I do it all the time :)
 
#15
#15
I don't think anything is going to change the fact that when you lose, you as a coach are going to hear about it. Period. Doesn't matter what you were thinking or how you tried to prevent the loss, you lost and are going to get an ear full. However, I was perplexed as to how many times we tried to run the ball without any yardage being gained. Though when we did try to throw the ball in the fourth, Ainge was running for his life. Frustrating.
 
#16
#16
Lexvol said:
OE and I were discussing this in another thread, and I wanted to ask this question of the Volnation. Would Vol fans give the coaches a pass if they would have come out throwing the ball late in the second half of the Florida game and Ainge had thrown an interception?

I for one have been critical of this coaching staff, but would be willing to give a pass for aggresive mistakes, much like the interception on the first play of the game. When Ainge threw that ball I was not pleased with the result, but I was elated that this staff was sending such a strong message to UF. The defense also responded.

So, if the coaches were to unapologetically come out and say UT is going to try to put the ball in the endzone on every possession would you give them more grace for mistakes made?
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Lex, i hear what you're saying and i for one would give them a pass. one of the complaints we have always had about this coaching staff is playing not to lose. i think it was evident in the 1st half and even in the 3rd qtr, we were aggresive in the play calling, but once it got in to the 4th, i think we did sit on it. those last two possesions, with runs on 1st and 2nd down were the ones that really got me. put us in 3rd and long both times and made us predictable.

having said all of that, i have to think that if we had given up a pick late in the game with a lead, the natives would not look at it as "aggressive" but "stupid".

i don't think the coaches could win if we had turned it over while still in the lead, regardless of their intentions.

and most any other year, spot us a 10 point lead late in the game, we usually have the running game to protect it....i don't disagree with the overall philosophy of why they did it, but i do think that given the eb and flow of that game, everyone knew we couldn't run the ball...what we needed were first downs, and our best shot at that was throwing on 1st down...

this is the preverbial double edged sword imo.
 
#18
#18
VolBeef88 said:
Guys no matter how you slice it. We lost because UF whipped us on both lines!
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i don't think anyone disagrees with that....it's just that even with that being true, we were winning late, and it seemed we went away from our game plan late to protect the lead, which in merit, i have no probelm with, but given how the game was played to that point, it begs the question, why change now when what you were doing was working?

Even Cut said that he probably talked himself out of some plays to protect the lead, a decision he probably won't make again.

but you are right, in the end, that's what was the difference, and it showed since we weren't able to run the ball, not only the entire game, but those last two possesions. the game was won up front. no disagreements there.
 
#19
#19
How can it be merit when we threw more in the 2nd half than we did in the 1st half?

We had a 1 down on the UF 39 and called a pass in the second half. What happend? Hurried and EA got called for grounding.
 
#20
#20
VolBeef88 said:
How can it be merit when we threw more in the 2nd half than we did in the 1st half?

We had a 1 down on the UF 39 and called a pass in the second half. What happend? Hurried and EA got called for grounding.
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we only threw 3 more times in the 2nd half, and i don't think anyone can argue that the running game thru 3qtrs was ineffective. that last drive you are speaking of, we were down, and had to throw the ball to get in to FG range, the issue i believe is the play calling while we had the lead....
 
#21
#21
The Vols threw more in the second half because the whole last drive was passing plays. Before that it was run, run, punt after they got up 17-7.
 
#22
#22
jakez4ut said:
we only threw 3 more times in the 2nd half, and i don't think anyone can argue that the running game thru 3qtrs was ineffective. that last drive you are speaking of, we were down, and had to throw the ball to get in to FG range, the issue i believe is the play calling while we had the lead....
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I don't have a problem with the play calling. I don't think it was sitting on a lead. I think they were trying to do a couple of things and apparently thought they could do them.
1. They were trying to get into a position to score.
2. They were trying to keep our D off the field and UF O off the field.
3. Run some clock off.

That is not bad play calling. How many times have we seen a team not run and in the 4th qtr get that run they needed? It happens every Saturday.
 
#23
#23
VolBeef88 said:
I don't have a problem with the play calling. I don't think it was sitting on a lead. I think they were trying to do a couple of things and apparently thought they could do them.
1. They were trying to get into a position to score.
2. They were trying to keep our D off the field and UF O off the field.
3. Run some clock off.

That is not bad play calling. How many times have we seen a team not run and in the 4th qtr get that run they needed? It happens every Saturday.
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like i said, i don't disagree, especially with points 2 and 3. but the play you are talking about was our last possesion, we were down one, and we had to throw the ball to get down the feild to attempt a game winning FG...the issue is the play calling on the two possesions prior when we had the lead....and it is an issue...the running game was ineffective all night, and when we had the lead, we needed 1st downs and were unable to do so by running the ball, which does beg the question, why stop doing what was working? the answers are your points 2 and 3, which again, i don't have a problem with, in merit--meaning in agree with and understand the philosphy of the decision as it relates to football strategy--but given how this game was played to that point, our running game was not working, so we should have, imo, done what had been working, and that meant throwing the ball on 1st down...

i'm not bashing the coaches or anything here, by all rights they did the "right" thing, but maybe not the "right" thing for this game...that's all.
 
#25
#25
The play calling sucked in the second half. How many times do you need to see your running back stuffed before you quit running on first down? It was very unoriginal and pathetic. I didn't see him running any on the last drive when we were behind, why did he wait until then to give up on it. He should have been calling plays to win, not calling plays trying to avoid losing.
 
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