Why count our losses beforehand/Believe! (Merged)

#51
#51
bleedorange0037 said:
You are correct that we managed to play those teams close, but are ignoring the fact that we basically return the same god-awful defense but lost all the offensive weapons that kept us in games in spite of the defense. It would make sense to think we had a decent shot if it were a legit rematch of the same players, but that's not the case.
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In my opinion , this new coaching staff covers the loss of those offensive "weapons" you mention. The defense will be better , no doubt. So in my opinion we are already a better team than we were last year. I see no reason why we cant upset a team or two this season. I make no predictions but I do hope we win every damn game and I will go into every game KNOWING that we have a chance for an upset. Now if I was to put money on it..........well, lets just say, I wouldnt bet very often.
 
#52
#52
Weee'rre Baaccckk said:
Dude, you're living in the clouds on this one
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If I'm living in the clouds on this one, then that means you are living in the gutter. Which is better? I'm not predicting a win in all those games. I'm simply saying we played them so close last year under Dooley, that it's a toss up this year. New coach...more talent and depth on defense. One of the best OL's and the largest group of WR's we're ever had in UT history. And we have talent at QB. Just need to see which one steps up.

I'm merely taking a "wait and see" approach, rather than try to count our losses before the games are hatched. I know that's so unrealistic....pffft. :loco:
 
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#53
#53
VOLorNuttin said:
Why do so many "supposed" Vol fans make predictions that we will lose games to UF, UGA, USCjr and Missouri? I'm not one to make predictions, because frankly speaking, non of us have a crystal ball and there are so many things that could happen. Injuries, a win or a loss based on a referee's call, etc.

But when you consider that even with Dooley in charge and the Cluster-Funk defense Sal Sunseri was running, we still managed to be in the UF, UGA, USCjr, Miss St. and Missou games right until the end. We led Florida until the 4th Qtr. That's 5 games we could easily have won if we simply had not switched to a 3-4 defense. Instead of 5-7, we could have had a 11-1 or 10-2 regular season.

If all you can do is look at the last year's results and predict the same outcome, then why even both making a prediction in the first place. It doesn't take any special insight or football acumen to do that. It's also kind of cowardly, IMHO. Why? Cause you are afraid you'll be scorned and laughed at for doing otherwise.

We had less depth the year before, under Wilcox and yet had much better defensive stats. This year, going back to a 4-3, we have more talent and more depth than we've had in years....yet so many of you want to sell this team short and claim we'll lose all those games this year. WTF, over?

This is like telling your kid they'll be stupid and never amount to anything, just because they brought home a bad report card. Damn, folks. Don't talk down your team like this. The best thing you can say is that you simply don't know....cause that is the reality of it.
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Dude, I liked this post so much that I took you off my ignore list. Go Vols! :rock:
 
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#54
#54
Weezer said:
Hunter, Patterson, Rivera, and Bray are all gone. In are players with limited game experience. Any given Saturday an upset can be pulled, but odds are not in our favor.
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And so is Bray's lack of leadership. A QB's attitude can be very catchy as illustrated by the number of wins Tyler Bray had while at UT. Love his talent, but when he left early it was probably the best thing for this team.
 
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#55
#55
Let's talk reality for a moment. I know this will be hard as it is not a place you frequent, but hear me out. With the exception of our o-line, our offense does not look great on paper right now. Our d last year was horrible. We enter the year with a new coach that has yet to coach an SEC game. The odds are not stacked in our favor. Pointing that out is not negative, it's realistic. It doesn't mean anyone wants to see us lose, but not everyone is willing to bury their head in the sand like you. I want to see upsets galore this season(all in our favor) but they're called upsets for a reason. I want wins and I want them bad, but I'm not going to declare a victory before it happens. I'm also not gonna declare a loss. I'm not really predicting anything, but those that do are just as much fans as you and I. They have their discussions and they look at what we face realistically. If you don't like prediction threads, ignore them. It seems as if you are just looking for something to get IG about.
 
#56
#56
Weezer said:
Let's talk reality for a moment. I know this will be hard as it is not a place you frequent, but hear me out. With the exception of our o-line, our offense does not look great on paper right now. Our d last year was horrible. We enter the year with a new coach that has yet to coach an SEC game. The odds are not stacked in our favor. Pointing that out is not negative, it's realistic. It doesn't mean anyone wants to see us lose, but not everyone is willing to bury their head in the sand like you. I want to see upsets galore this season(all in our favor) but they're called upsets for a reason. I want wins and I want them bad, but I'm not going to declare a victory before it happens. I'm also not gonna declare a loss. I'm not really predicting anything, but those that do are just as much fans as you and I. They have their discussions and they look at what we face realistically. If you don't like prediction threads, ignore them. It seems as if you are just looking for something to get IG about.
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I stopped reading when you referenced last years d because obliviously you are not talking reality. How many of these guys did we lose from that 2011 team which was a 4-3 and the ones who did leave who are there replacements. Maybe we can spark up an intelligent conversation
 
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#57
#57
My predictions are:
1. This thread will be way too long
2. There will be at least 6 more unreasonably long posts
3. Half of those posts will be quoted making each page more ridiculous
4. The only way to end this is to agree to disagree
5. I will Butch slap someone this year to prove I'm a VFL!
 
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#58
#58
OrangeWayOfLife said:
I stopped reading when you referenced last years d because obliviously you are not talking reality. How many of these guys did we lose from that 2011 team which was a 4-3 and the ones who did leave who are there replacements. Maybe we can spark up an intelligent conversation
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Unless you can jump your IQ into the triple digits, then doubtful.
 
#59
#59
OrangeWayOfLife said:
I stopped reading when you referenced last years d because obliviously you are not talking reality. How many of these guys did we lose from that 2011 team which was a 4-3 and the ones who did leave who are there replacements. Maybe we can spark up an intelligent conversation
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There's a little truth to that, but there's not a quick cure for how slow we were on defense last year. If we simply don't bust and make teams drive the field, we'll be better. Not sure it will be enough though.

Do I get to still be a fan even though I pointed out people were slow?
 
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#60
#60
KingtUT said:
And so is Bray's lack of leadership. A QB's attitude can be very catchy as illustrated by the number of wins Tyler Bray had while at UT. Love his talent, but when he left early it was probably the best thing for this team.
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Good point, last year was all Bray's fault. That slow, worthless defense last year had nothing to do with his record. Against Georgia, South Carolina and Mizzou Bray and the offense put up 44, 35 and 48 points respectively. That's more than good enough when your defense isn't pure trash.
 
#61
#61
bleedorange0037 said:
Good point, last year was all Bray's fault. That slow, worthless defense last year had nothing to do with his record. Against Georgia, South Carolina and Mizzou Bray and the offense put up 44, 35 and 48 points respectively. That's more than good enough when your defense isn't pure trash.
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Stop using facts
 
#63
#63
GAVol said:
There's a little truth to that, but there's not a quick cure for how slow we were on defense last year. If we simply don't bust and make teams drive the field, we'll be better. Not sure it will be enough though.
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They can't possibly help but improve. When you smash face first into bedrock there's simply nowhere to go but up. But like you said, there was bad coaching last year, but it wasn't the reason that they were slower than molasses on a January morning. Being in the right place will cover that up some, but can only do so much.
 
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#65
#65
Im not as worried about the offense nearly as much as some of you are and here's why.

#1. Bray was a head case and he is gone. (thats a good thing)
#2. As a freshman Justin Hunter was as good as any WR I had ever seen. As a junior, after his injury, he was just better than average. JMO
#3. Rivera will not be hard to replace. Good TE's are a dime a dozen.
#4. Our strength is our o-line! We didnt run the ball nearly as well as we should have because we (Dooley and Cheney) played the game like Bray was the strength of our team. This staff will be much more balanced.
#5. Our RB's return and Alden Hill will emerge as a short yardage threat.

Without a doubt, the biggest and probably the only thing we wont have the likes of this year is CP.

So basically, I see our offense as only really losing one player that matters. Again, just my opinion.
 
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#66
#66
No offense but Vanderbilt fans had been saying the same thing for the past 40yrs.

Last yr was their first winning season since......



That is why the game has 60 minutes and the only score that matters is when the final whistle blows.
 
#67
#67
OrangeWayOfLife said:
A lot of blame is being put on the players but how can you stop a 3rd and 20 with a single safety? We got burnt deep all year by this absurd style of play calling
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How much would it have mattered? When Trey Burton can take a direct snap from center and simply run past your whole defense without ever breaking a single tackle because they're so slow, you're kind of behind the 8-ball from a playcalling standpoint. At times it did kind of make more sense to just sell out to try for sacks as opposed to having the secondary try to actually cover receivers, which was nothing more than a fool's errand.
 
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#68
#68
OrangeWayOfLife said:
A lot of blame is being put on the players but how can you stop a 3rd and 20 with a single safety? We got burnt deep all year by this absurd style of play calling
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He was blaming losses on Bray. When you score that many points and lose its not on the QB
 
#69
#69
bleedorange0037 said:
How much would it have mattered? When Trey Burton can take a direct snap from center and simply run past your whole defense without ever breaking a single tackle because they're so slow, you're kind of behind the 8-ball from a playcalling standpoint. At times it did kind of make more sense to just sell out to try for sacks as opposed to having the secondary try to actually cover receivers, which was nothing more than a fool's errand.
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Which also brings up how terrible our contain was. We never once stopped somebody from getting around the end and I believe that was systematic flaw as well
 
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#71
#71
OrangeWayOfLife said:
Well we know your knowledge of the game is in the elementary level
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I have enough knowledge to tell me that we have to face 5 teams currently ranked in the top 9 in the 7/15/13 AP pre-season poll this year without the qb who accounted for 3,612 of our 3,787 passing yards, and 34 of our 35 passing TD's. Pig Howard threw the other and he will be back.

We also lose the top 4 receivers who accounted for 2,914 of our 3,787 yards receiving, and 26 of the 35 TD's through the air. So, I surely don't know as much as you, but I do try to be realistic and temper expectations. It makes for less disappointment, in case we don't run the table, like you expect.

As of right now, I would expect us to be favored over Austin Peay, Western Kentucky, So. Alabama, and Kentucky. I would expect us to be substantial underdogs to Alabama , Oregon, and Florida(all away), and smaller underdogs to Georgia, and So. Carolina(both at home).

Having Georgia and So. Carolina at home gives me SOME hope for a victory, maybe 2. I would expect us to be about even with Missouri, Vandy, and Auburn. I believe that is everybody on the schedule. Can we win more than a few games? I sure hope so, but watching Tennessee play for over 50 years, I have had my heart broken enough that I am now a realist. I will wait for the season to play out before I get my hopes up.
 
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#72
#72
VOLorNuttin said:
Why do so many "supposed" Vol fans make predictions that we will lose games to UF, UGA, USCjr and Missouri? I'm not one to make predictions, because frankly speaking, non of us have a crystal ball and there are so many things that could happen. Injuries, a win or a loss based on a referee's call, etc.

But when you consider that even with Dooley in charge and the Cluster-Funk defense Sal Sunseri was running, we still managed to be in the UF, UGA, USCjr, Miss St. and Missou games right until the end. We led Florida until the 4th Qtr. That's 5 games we could easily have won if we simply had not switched to a 3-4 defense. Instead of 5-7, we could have had a 11-1 or 10-2 regular season.

If all you can do is look at the last year's results and predict the same outcome, then why even both making a prediction in the first place. It doesn't take any special insight or football acumen to do that. It's also kind of cowardly, IMHO. Why? Cause you are afraid you'll be scorned and laughed at for doing otherwise.

We had less depth the year before, under Wilcox and yet had much better defensive stats. This year, going back to a 4-3, we have more talent and more depth than we've had in years....yet so many of you want to sell this team short and claim we'll lose all those games this year. WTF, over?

This is like telling your kid they'll be stupid and never amount to anything, just because they brought home a bad report card. Damn, folks. Don't talk down your team like this. The best thing you can say is that you simply don't know....cause that is the reality of it.
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I agree with you 100%, we haven't played a single game yet. If the fan base doesn't believe , should they expect the players to? We should expect our team to win every game, no excuses. A defeatist attitude is a cancer on any program. Leave the predictions to the suits, so that they may be proven wrong. :twocents:
 
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#74
#74
bleedorange0037 said:
Good point, last year was all Bray's fault. That slow, worthless defense last year had nothing to do with his record. Against Georgia, South Carolina and Mizzou Bray and the offense put up 44, 35 and 48 points respectively. That's more than good enough when your defense isn't pure trash.
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Not blaming it all on Bray. The defense sucked, no doubt. I will have to go back and see where I said it was all Bray's fault, dont recall saying that.
 
#75
#75
1972 Grad said:
I have enough knowledge to tell me that we have to face 5 teams currently ranked in the top 9 in the 7/15/13 AP pre-season poll this year without the qb who accounted for 3,612 of our 3,787 passing yards, and 34 of our 35 passing TD's. Pig Howard threw the other and he will be back.

We also lose the top 4 receivers who accounted for 2,914 of our 3,787 yards receiving, and 26 of the 35 TD's through the air. So, I surely don't know as much as you, but I do try to be realistic and temper expectations. It makes for less disappointment, in case we don't run the table, like you expect.

As of right now, I would expect us to be favored over Austin Peay, Western Kentucky, So. Alabama, and Kentucky. I would expect us to be substantial underdogs to Alabama , Oregon, and Florida(all away), and smaller underdogs to Georgia, and So. Carolina(both at home).

Having Georgia and So. Carolina at home gives me SOME hope for a victory, maybe 2. I would expect us to be about even with Missouri, Vandy, and Auburn. I believe that is everybody on the schedule. Can we win more than a few games? I sure hope so, but watching Tennessee play for over 50 years, I have had my heart broken enough that I am now a realist. I will wait for the season to play out before I get my hopes up.
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That's the same shizznit that gets recycled threw here and the media constantly so no, you don't have to be knowledgable to see where a team is ranked and base wins and losses by that. I was pointing out the fact you said Dooley and sunseri were never on the field in support of your argument that our players suck.
 
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