We're 7-1 despite having played only 1 complete game all year...

#54
#54
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
I know what you mean. It's as if we're saving our best for last. In many ways this team reminds me of 2014 Ohio State. That was a team that didn't really start looking like a dominant national championship caliber team until the end. And once they found a groove they became unstoppable.

I've got a feeling we're about to find our groove these last few weeks of the season and ride it to the end like Ohio State in 2014.
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That's a pretty solid comp. OSU lost an early game to Virginia Tech and played good (but not lights out) until their last two games of the regular season.
The differences are that redshirt freshman JT Barrett was much sharper during the season than Nico (before getting hurt).... and Tennessee's defense has been better so far this season than OSU's was in 2014.
 
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#55
#55
PEPPERJAX said:
You can question the play calling all you want but I just don't see the problem with the offensive calls against KY. The OC or Heupel schemed 3 TDs that weren't caught and 3 makeable FGs that were missed and we still won by 10. It is hard however to fault Kitselman with his drop though because the DB just made a great play knocking the ball out when it hit the TEs hands. I have seen enough bad football over the past 20 years and will not poo poo a 10 point SEC win ever.
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I do find that our offense lacks creativity at times. We don't throw screens, we don't do endarounds, we don't throw to our backs in space, we don't put our WR's in motion, we don't have a lot of designed runs for Nico, etc. Why? I believe it's because Nico doesn't have a huge grasp of the playbook and our staff has had to dumb it down considerably.
 
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#57
#57
Brave Volunteer said:
I do find that our offense lacks creativity at times. We don't throw screens, we don't do endarounds, we don't throw to our backs in space, we don't put our WR's in motion, we don't have a lot of designed runs for Nico, etc. Why? I believe it's because Nico doesn't have a huge grasp of the playbook and our staff has had to dumb it down considerably.
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I believe the offense is lacking creativity because we are struggling to execute our normal plays at times. The offense wasn't very creative with Joe either because of his limitations in the passing game. Hendon was just really awesome. The good news is that Nico is progressing and has a high ceiling like Hendon. Additionally, if we are hitting on a deep ball or two and reaching the endzone, then the majority of fans would be pretty positive about the offense. The plays have been there.
 
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#58
#58
PEPPERJAX said:
I believe the offense is lacking creativity because we are struggling to execute our normal plays at times. The offense wasn't very creative with Joe either because of his limitations in the passing game. Hendon was just really awesome. The good news is that Nico is progressing and has a high ceiling like Hendon. Additionally, if we are hitting on a deep ball or two and reaching the endzone, then the majority of fans would be pretty positive about the offense. The plays have been there.
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Sampson is our most dynamic playmaker on offense and it isn't even close. Would it be such a Herculean task to add a wrinkle thst puts him in space where Nico throws to him out of the backfield?
 
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#59
#59
Brave Volunteer said:
Sampson is our most dynamic playmaker on offense and it isn't even close. Would it be such a Herculean task to add a wrinkle thst puts him in space where Nico throws to him out of the backfield?
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That would be a welcomed for sure.
 
#64
#64
BigOrangeTrain said:
lol. Wow what a stretch to say our offense should look great against MSU. They are literally the worst defensive team in the SEC. And against UGA? lol. Our offense will like like it has every year we have played them, pedestrian. Our WRs are mediocre at best. Nico is average. Our offensive play calling is borderline terrible.

We are a flawed team. Our first half offensive woes proves that. You said Arkansas would be an easy win and that we easily win out. We barely beat a depleted UK team who is literally the worst offensive team in the SEC. Hopefully our defense is getting worn out. They are basically the only reason we have the wins we do.
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Agree....We have been lucky that playing so bad we played teams that aren't what they were....OU...UF.....BAMA. The Ark cluster was in a long line of clusters we've had under this staff. My gosh Ark got killed at home Saturday by OM. Dog whipped.

We have issues on the OL...and WRs....should not be that way in year 4 IMO. Below average at both OL and receiver shouldn't happen in this system.
 
#65
#65
Nico is still upright because they haven't ran him that much. I think going forward he needs to run a little more. Pull that ball one or two more times to make teams respect that a little more. It's been there a lot and he's elected to get rid of the ball. I think they need to simplfy things a little more for him when they get inside the 20 to keep it fast. Although teams start laying on the ground when they go fast. It's annoying.
 
#67
#67
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
If you just look at our games against Power Four competition, we've really only played our A game against one team (NC State). Against every other opponent it's either been our C game or worse. Even our biggest win of the season against Alabama shouldn't have been as close as it was if we don't shoot ourselves in the foot.

Now there are two ways to read this situation. Either we're a flawed team that has been winning despite it's flaws OR we're a super talented team that has underperformed. I believe it's the latter. And not just for wishful thinking. If we were a flawed team we would be struggling offensively with the same things every week. But that's not been the case. Every week it's been a different position group messing up. One week it's Nico struggling with accuracy. Next week it's the receivers dropping easy passes. Another week it's the o-line struggling with pass protection. Then it's our field goal kicker missing easy kicks. It's seems like a different problem each week. This is actually a good sign. It means our offensive struggles are not the result of a deeper structural flaw that can only be addressed in the off-season. We're actually solving our issues from the week before. It's just that new problems arise randomly.

At some point we're gonna stop shooting ourselves in the foot and play a complete game up to our potential. When we do that watch out. Cause it means we can beat anyone. I wouldn't be surprised if we have our best offensive performance since the start of SEC play over the next two weeks.
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A games are rare.

How many A games did the Vols play in 1998?

It's rare so you have to be good to win a lot of C games. Georgia won one of those Saturday and have played several of them this season.

Teams don't play many complete games.
 
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#69
#69
dobre_shunka said:
I mean other than when pass protection breaks down and he has to scramble
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Yes. Many handoffs to the backs could be QB runs. It's his option and that is a set play package. The QB in many instances can decide among 3 variations of the same set play in a specific formation. The QB also can move guys in motion in a variation
 
#70
#70
In watching CFB for more than 50 years, I have seen more "incomplete" teams win the NC than "complete" teams. My memory isn't as good as it used to be, but my recollection is that most championship teams have periods of highs and lows during the season, as well as get just lucky at least once. Sometimes the luck is in getting a really good opponent when their starting QB is out. Other times, it is getting a missed call by the officials go your way.

All 3 phases of the game going great at the same time against a great opponent is a magical thing to see. Even then, it is often as not that the opponent is having their "low" game. Regardless, the trophy still comes home, everyone celebrates the awesomeness of the team, and legends are born.

Go Vols!
 
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