They ate the rat poison

[esarmstrong]

Dylan Sampson alluded to it in his post game comments when he said that everyone has been feeling good about themselves after beating Oklahoma. The biggest area of concern for me is the offensive line. We were unable to consistently run on Arkansas even when the box was light. Nico was hurried and sacked 4 times in the game. It can be argued that Nico's inconsistent play is a direct function of the pressure he is getting on passing plays.

The media is always going to do what they do when a team performs well: feed that rat poison to you. It takes a mature team and coaching staff to realize this and block out the external noise (both good and bad), go out each week and perform. Tennessee failed in that task.

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

The o line is bad but I will say Nico holds onto the ball too long sometimes. Usually I’d say he’s a freshman he’s learning but now that NIL exists I’m a bit more angry than usual

 

[esarmstrong]

The o line is bad but I will say Nico holds onto the ball too long sometimes. Usually I’d say he’s a freshman he’s learning but now that NIL exists I’m a bit more angry than usual

Wide receivers were not getting separation down field either. Another area of concern that I hoped had been cured...

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Prediction, if we falter, and flounder again, Josh just might have this guy fill in:

 

[volbound1700]

Wide receivers were not getting separation down field either. Another area of concern that I hoped had been cured...

My issue is that we shouldn't always be calling down the field plays. Call RB roll-outs, curls, slants, TE roll-outs, etc.

It is PLAY CALLING. When I am getting blitzed a lot on the CFB games, I call slants. WR slants are the perfect work around to blitz. TE roll-outs work as well. The blitzers aren't in the center and it opens up.

 

[DaddyChad]

The o line is bad but I will say Nico holds onto the ball too long sometimes. Usually I’d say he’s a freshman he’s learning but now that NIL exists I’m a bit more angry than usual

You’re not wrong. WRs aren’t getting open. He needs to be worked with on that internal clock. Either take off at a certain point or throw the ball away. He had one improvisational play that was fantastic last night with a whole lot of crap plays as well.

 

[allvols4life]

They never even showed up. Too high on themselves. Now hopefully, they have learned a valuable lesson in humility.

 

[FLVOL_79]

Dylan Sampson alluded to it in his post game comments when he said that everyone has been feeling good about themselves after beating Oklahoma. The biggest area of concern for me is the offensive line. We were unable to consistently run on Arkansas even when the box was light. Nico was hurried and sacked 4 times in the game. It can be argued that Nico's inconsistent play is a direct function of the pressure he is getting on passing plays.

The media is always going to do what they do when a team performs well: feed that rat poison to you. It takes a mature team and coaching staff to realize this and block out the external noise (both good and bad), go out each week and perform. Tennessee failed in that task.

By what the announcers said was a pass rush dead last in CFB... THAT is the shocking part to me.

 

[BigALWiLson]

The o line is bad but I will say Nico holds onto the ball too long sometimes. Usually I’d say he’s a freshman he’s learning but now that NIL exists I’m a bit more angry than usual

Money doesn't change 100 years of development. While super talented the game is just so fast for a young QB. There is a reason most coaches don't want to start guys as Freshmen. He will get there and yes he has growing up to do obviously.

 

[Voltopia]

The o line is bad but I will say Nico holds onto the ball too long sometimes. Usually I’d say he’s a freshman he’s learning but now that NIL exists I’m a bit more angry than usual

The money makes everything more serious and far, far less forgiving. That's the nature of high paying, pressure-filled jobs. When you're a student athlete, it's a totally different conversation, but now that the game's gone professional, the expectations and the pressure are both going to be off the charts.

 

[JBD_Vol]

I'm not a happy alumni, but I figured we would be over confident going into the game. We were. Hopefully, we got that out of the way and can move on.

So....

Get back up, learn that the world can be tough, learn not to be overconfident, play your maxims, and beat the stuffing out of florida (but pull for their hurricane recovery like everyone else's).

Go Vols

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