Tough to Say

#27
#27
I don't think heard has been that bad the last weeks. The guy who has been sneaky awful is Spraggins. He just destroyed multiple times last night again.
 
#29
#29
vegasvolfan said:
So has Army by your standards. I never said our defense was bad. In fact I said we are better every year. I said we aren’t putting enough pressure on QBs. That is a fact.
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You're putting enough pressure on QBs to have been a can't miss playoff team if your O had put up 24 at Arky. They are putting enough pressure on the QB to win at home vs UF even though you only put up 17 in regulation. All you can ask of a unit is they play championship level football.

The Tennessee defense has played at a championship level all yr and yes, that includes running into a buzz saw on the road. If Tenn makes the playoffs this yr it will because of your defense. If you miss the playoffs, it will be because the other side of the ball laid too many eggs.
 
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#33
#33
Visiting Dawg said:
Good lord man, the Tenn D has given up over 20 one time this season. I know any fan base can nitpick any team to death but the 24 Tenn D is about as stout as it gets. They may not be the best D in the modern era of college football but it's been playing at a championship level.
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Yes but keeping Alabama under 20 is no accomplishment to brag on.
 
#34
#34
I remember vividly 2009-2020. Hoping for miracles every week, and mostly being disappointed. I'll gladly take where we are now, and not be hoping we might somehow sneak out with a win.

Heupel has the #1 offensive tackle for the 2025? class committed, another high 4* offensive tackle also committed. The level of talent he is bringing in the next 2 classes get us ever closer to the talent level of Alabama and Georgia.

Our defense has been playing at an elite level all year. Georgia just wore them down last night. As stated above, I know when Tennessee takes the field now, odds are we will leave with another game in the left hand column.
 
#35
#35
I don’t want anybody fired:
but I think Tenn got badly out coached last night. The motion Ga used on offense kept Tenn’s defense out of position and the moving of Ga‘s DL kept the Vols offensive line confused. I think Tenn may have had the talent advantages last night but X &Os went to the dogs
 
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#37
#37
bigorangepoppa said:
I remember vividly 2009-2020. Hoping for miracles every week, and mostly being disappointed. I'll gladly take where we are now, and not be hoping we might somehow sneak out with a win.

Heupel has the #1 offensive tackle for the 2025? class committed, another high 4* offensive tackle also committed. The level of talent he is bringing in the next 2 classes get us ever closer to the talent level of Alabama and Georgia.

Our defense has been playing at an elite level all year. Georgia just wore them down last night. As stated above, I know when Tennessee takes the field now, odds are we will leave with another game in the left hand column.
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Heupel has already had two teams better than any other since 2001
 
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#39
#39
Visiting Dawg said:
You're putting enough pressure on QBs to have been a can't miss playoff team if your O had put up 24 at Arky. They are putting enough pressure on the QB to win at home vs UF even though you only put up 17 in regulation. All you can ask of a unit is they play championship level football.

The Tennessee defense has played at a championship level all yr and yes, that includes running into a buzz saw on the road. If Tenn makes the playoffs this yr it will because of your defense. If you miss the playoffs, it will be because the other side of the ball laid too many eggs.
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I understand our defense got us there, but against inferior competition compared to most other teams. The merit to my post is clear in the game against Georgia. Same as the merit in people wanting to blame Nico for our woes vs the OL and WRs.

Georgia played Bama, TX, Ole Miss, TN and SC. We played two teams as good as any of them. One played a horrible game against us, but yes our defense had a role in that. The other as you put it, shut our defense down.

Georgia on the other hand took Bama down to the wire away by shutting them out the second half for the most part, destroyed TX on the road and shut their offense down, their offense sputtered against Kiffin’s D,

People can argue all they want but all the proof in what I am saying just occurred in that game. If our defense is that good, we don’t allow 347 yards passing and we don’t post 2 TFLs and 0 sacks.

People can make excuses and cheer about beating a bunch of nobodies and squeezing out a win against a sputtering Bama that hadn’t found its way with their new coach, or we can become an actual elite defense vs. calling ourselves one.

As far as our offense goes, did you find any place at all in my post that gave kudos to our offense? I just said keep our D guys, but our offense is where the serious problems lie.

We can go back and forth all day long, but Facts are in that game.
 
#40
#40
GVol1966 said:
Exactly what has he done?
Lost to LSU and Kentucky
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It’s right there in print. LSU is better than every team we played sans Georgia and Bama, even though we got Bama’s worst. On the other hand, he beat the snot out of the team we just got beat by, and he didn’t lose to Arkansas—> worse than Kentucky who also took us into the 4th Q also at our house only down by 3. And he did it with no better than a #17 recruiting class over the past 4 years.
 
#41
#41
BernardKingGOAT said:
It's pretty elite, "genius". I think you're making a poor attempt to sound informed
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Some people can’t handle the truth, and you are one of them. It’s pretty simple, we just saw how elite we are against Georgia. 0 sacks. 2 TFLs. Ole Miss put up 5 sacks and 9 TFLs agains the SAME TEAM a week ago. I think you are making an excellent attempt at being uninformed.
 
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#43
#43
theFallGuy said:
Pretty good company IMo

3rd best red zone and 3rd down defense. Not in top 10 pass defense though

2024 College Football Defense Rankings: Team Pass and Rush Stats | FOX Sports

Find out where top college football teams rank on defense following Week 17 of the 2024 season.
www.foxsports.com www.foxsports.com
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Yesh those are team stats and against lesser competition than a lot of teams have played. That’s my point. We saw how good we are against Georgia. If we want to beat Georgia, we have to accept the truth.
 
#44
#44
EZE said:
The sad thing is that we get equal dumbassery after wins now, too.
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Dumbasseru I guess is arguing that still, getting 0 sacks, 2 TFLs and 347 yards thrown on us after Ole Miss got 9 TFLs, 5 sacks and 186 yards passing allowed against the same team, wanting to argue we are elite on defense.

We had not played anyone good or playing well all year! Heck, Mississippi State ran 180 yards on us.
 
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#45
#45
BernardKingGOAT said:
We were still very much in the game almost the entire 4th qtr
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This I will agree with. The game was close for the most part. We just weren’t as elite on defense as many thought. And we were as bad as I thought at OL and WR.

And still, after getting 0 sacks, 2 TFLs and 347 yards thrown on us after Ole Miss got 9 TFLs, 5 sacks and 186 yards passing allowed against the same team, we have people wanting to argue we are elite on defense.

We had not played anyone good or playing well all year! Heck, Mississippi State ran 180 yards on us.
 
#46
#46
vegasvolfan said:
All I know is we are not good enough in the trenches and at wide receiver. You can’t be good in the backfield or at QB, RB if you aren’t pressuring the QB or your QB is running for his life and doesn’t have time to throw.

1 sack against Chattanooga, no sacks against Kent St. and some other lack luster performances including this one had me questioning the elite label our defense was getting all year. They are good, but not elite. And all of the dropped balls, OLs penalties and sacks had me questioning all the blame Nico has taken.

What’s worse is we lose every starting lineman next year on both sides of the ball sans Heard who is our worst OL. Add two more 2nd string OL and include Mays who has no one behind him with any experience.

I think we reup on DL, but reup with more guys who can’t pressure the QB?

On OL, oh no… we were already bad enough the last two years and we’re worse this year.

Sampson will be gone too.

Our wide receivers have gotten worse over the last two years and we lose two starters there as well.

Meanwhile we return everyone in the mid and mid and backfield on D that is currently stating on D except for our walk on.

All that said, we have been recruiting well… but have too few blue chippers—especially in the trenches.

Banks’ defenses get better in stats every year. So, I’m not with those that blame him.

If we need coaching changes, which I’m not a fan of calling for jobs, but I guess it makes sense to start with the positions trending in the wrong direction.

WR and OL

Not sure that’s the right move though either.

What do we do about recruiting? Guess we keep on swinging there with what we have.

All this said, we could still end up with a 11-2 season, or perhaps sneak our way into the playoffs if a bunch of things happen. Regardless of the playoffs, this season is NOT a failure if we finish 10-2/11-2.

In defense of the staff, when Heupel was hired, most of us were reluctant in thinking that he was the guy. Let alone the idea that he would have us staring at the top 4 spots in a playoff by the last Q of the season TWICE within his first 4 years.

What he has done here needs to be savored, and that’s MUCH easier when you stay realistic throughout the season. So, if you did that, then you would have noticed the above and probably don’t feel as let down as others at this point.

Regardless of how anyone FEELS or what could have been, Heupel and company are on schedule. Heupel was given 5 years to get us to the playoffs. So, next year is the year that he was expected to get us back to the promised land. When we fell just short in 2022, I think expectations became unrealistic for many—even during that very season. I think those same unrealistic expectations spilled over into early expectations of Nico and now this team.

But boy there are some issues facing us.

I have no answers, so good thing I’m just a fan. One that is going to hope for the best the rest of the season and enjoy a 10-2 record as I have enjoyed our wins throughout the year without unrealistic expectations.

BYU lost… A&M loses and our chances get better.
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Biggest bunch of Debbie downer bs I've ever seen. You're like the bizarro world D4H.
 
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#47
#47
vegasvolfan said:
Some people can’t handle the truth, and you are one of them. It’s pretty simple, we just saw how elite we are against Georgia. 0 sacks. 2 TFLs. Ole Miss put up 5 sacks and 9 TFLs agains the SAME TEAM a week ago. I think you are making an excellent attempt at being uninformed.
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Your opinion isn't "truth". Using another game in a completely different environment and crappy weather conditions in a comparative analysis is intellectually lazy and lacks credibility
 
#48
#48
After watching Heupel completely flip the roster in our secondary from really bad to pretty great, I have full confidence he will flip this offensive line to being elite next year. Use HS recruiting and the portal.
 
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#49
#49
BernardKingGOAT said:
It's pretty elite, "genius". I think you're making a poor attempt to sound informed
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BernardKingGOAT said:
Your opinion isn't "truth". Using another game in a completely different environment and crappy weather conditions in a comparative analysis is intellectually lazy and lacks credibility
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Ok Einstein. Screw the comparison. 0 sacks, 2 TFLs and 347 passing yards allowed in good weather is not elite by any stretch of the imagination. Neither is 187 yards rushing the previous week by the worst team in the SEC.
 
#50
#50
vegasvolfan said:
Ok Einstein. Screw the comparison. 0 sacks, 2 TFLs and 347 passing yards allowed in good weather is not elite by any stretch of the imagination. Neither is 187 yards rushing the previous week by the worst team in the SEC.
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No, it wasn't elite LAST NIGHT. Maybe we can agree on that. Other teams have great players too.
 
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