Why is everyone on the QB for the issues?

[volbound1700]

Yes the defense needs to be fixed. But scoring 16 points is pathetic. Especially when we had more yards than them. We couldn’t finish. Play calling sure points to not trusting him to throw it. If we score just 30 points we win this game. Yes the defense needs to be fixed but 16 points is awful. Following only putting up 30 against AP.

So yes the defense needs to be fixed but that doesn’t change the fact so does the offense. It’s never been smooth with Milton and it won’t be. He will make great throws time to time but we need someone to run it smoothly. We will see Nico at some point this season.

Look at Time of Possession, we didn't have a lot of opportunities to be on the field. That is probably the secret sauce to beating Tennessee. Take the ball first (why you would defer against TN is beyond me). String together a long drive that takes up 1/3 to 1/2 of the 1st quarter and keep Tennessee's offense off the field. It puts pressure on the offense which makes mistakes, etc.

What scares me, this could beyond Joe Milton or Tennessee being bad but rather people figuring out Heupel's offense. I always thought we would need to slow down the offense at some point and start playing defense. Defense still wins championships, see Georgia.

 

[Volhoops]

This offense requires a QB that is mobile and can run the football. Look back at last year and see how much Hookers running opened up the game and was major in our third down conversions. Joe hurts our running game because he never fakes the handoff and goes around the DE crashing in. Hooker did. His decision making is bad and his football IQ is low. Joe is not a warrior or win at all cost person. He has twice now carried the ball out of bounds on plays instead of trying to make a throw. He did it at the end of a game last year and on the two point play Saturday. An interception or no completion in either case would have been preferable rather than just running out of bounds with the ball. That to me shows who he is as a football player and leader. In my opinion he is neither.

 

[TheVolsFrog]

Bench Hadden then maybe we can discuss Joe

 

[volbound1700]

Because if you look at the pace we play this year as opposed to last year it’s night and day, we aren’t playing with the same sense of urgency and that is lack of leadership. 6th year guy who has to look to the sidelines every play. Yes defense was an issue but was an issue last year that was covered up because when you score 45 pts it doesn’t matter as much .

One item you are forgetting about last year was that Tennessee did have a good Rushing Defense. That did not appear yesterday. Tennessee gave up early runs. It was 7-0 Tennessee with all of the momentum and all of a sudden, we let Florida bust a 60 yard run. Following drive, we get the ball, FALSE START. Those two critical mistakes started a disasterous turn around that put Milton and the offense in a hole.

You want a comparison last year, look at South Carolina. The defense put pressure on Hooker and offense because they could not stop South Carolina and eventually offense folded as well.

 

[OrangeTsar]

If Milton is the issue and Coach Heupel does want Nico to get ready, thoughts and prayers for the training/nutrition staff and Nico.

They're going to be working their butts off to get some serious muscle on the young man.

And before you guys say he's big enough, he's not big enough to stand behind the 2023 Tennessee Volunteers offensive line.

Before you start pointing at Tua or someone, the guys who were true freshmen and had success in the SEC were behind quite a few guys who work on Sunday now. Look at our offensive line and tell me who is "for sure" NFL quality lineman.

Yeah, hate to see the future of the program get pancaked and suffer a severe early in his freshman year because an OL couldn’t pick up a simple pass rush. This OL has issues

 

[Vols1313]

One item you are forgetting about last year was that Tennessee did have a good Rushing Defense. That did not appear yesterday. Tennessee gave up early runs. It was 7-0 Tennessee with all of the momentum and all of a sudden, we let Florida bust a 60 yard run. Following drive, we get the ball, FALSE START. Those two critical mistakes started a disasterous turn around that put Milton and the offense in a hole.

You want a comparison last year, look at South Carolina. The defense put pressure on Hooker and offense because they could not stop South Carolina and eventually offense folded as well.

Buddy if Hooker was out there we have more than 16 pts , even against SC he scored 30+ before he got injured . It’s the QB period if you don’t think it is I’ve got some swamp land to sell you .

 

[whodeycin85]

Poor O-line play, WR not getting separation, WR drops, poor play calling because of those issues....Milton is fine....I don't even think that one was bad other then looking bad.... Three WR had a step and Joe was damn near gaming down still trying to make that throw...

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I'm going to have to go back and watch that interception by Milton again. If I remember correctly, he had a receiver downfield, but unfortunately, he was wearing a 400 lb defensive lineman when he let the pass go,

The mechanics of that throw, which is indefensible, are pretty interesting. However, if you're going to throw a duck, throw it into section AA, row 4.

He did have a massive defensive lineman on his chest and seemed to be falling backward but still put the ball really high and about 35-40 yards.

His arm strength to make that throw must be incredible.

Unfortunately, his mental acuity to make that throw to the middle of the field is not.

 

[EZE]

If Milton is the issue and Coach Heupel does want Nico to get ready, thoughts and prayers for the training/nutrition staff and Nico.

They're going to be working their butts off to get some serious muscle on the young man.

And before you guys say he's big enough, he's not big enough to stand behind the 2023 Tennessee Volunteers offensive line.

Before you start pointing at Tua or someone, the guys who were true freshmen and had success in the SEC were behind quite a few guys who work on Sunday now. Look at our offensive line and tell me who is "for sure" NFL quality lineman.

100% correct.

 

[BeardedVol]

This offense requires a QB that is mobile and can run the football. Look back at last year and see how much Hookers running opened up the game and was major in our third down conversions. Joe hurts our running game because he never fakes the handoff and goes around the DE crashing in. Hooker did. His decision making is bad and his football IQ is low. Joe is not a warrior or win at all cost person. He has twice now carried the ball out of bounds on plays instead of trying to make a throw. He did it at the end of a game last year and on the two point play Saturday. An interception or no completion in either case would have been preferable rather than just running out of bounds with the ball. That to me shows who he is as a football player and leader. In my opinion he is neither.

After watching him stare at the sideline for 10 seconds every down, I'm starting to wonder if he knows the sideline signals well enough to determine exactly which play is being called.

 

[EZE]

Yeah, hate to see the future of the program get pancaked and suffer a severe early in his freshman year because an OL couldn’t pick up a simple pass rush. This OL has issues

We can’t sacrifice the future IMO. I’d rather take our lumps this season and then have a bulked-up, healthy sophomore to start next season…as opposed to a sophomore coming back from an ACL.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Look at Time of Possession, we didn't have a lot of opportunities to be on the field. That is probably the secret sauce to beating Tennessee. Take the ball first (why you would defer against TN is beyond me). String together a long drive that takes up 1/3 to 1/2 of the 1st quarter and keep Tennessee's offense off the field. It puts pressure on the offense which makes mistakes, etc.

What scares me, this could beyond Joe Milton or Tennessee being bad but rather people figuring out Heupel's offense. I always thought we would need to slow down the offense at some point and start playing defense. Defense still wins championships, see Georgia.

It's not time of possession. Last year we were near the bottom in time of possession but the offense was so fast and explosive it wasn't a factor.

College Football Stats - College FB Team Opponent Time of Possession Percentage (Excluding OT) | TeamRankings.com

College Football opponent time of possession percentage (excluding ot), by team.

www.teamrankings.com

 

[EastTNVol423]

True but we were already in a 2 TD hole before the INT was thrown.

Also the FALSE STARTS really didn't help the situation.

Perhaps a QB change may improve some items but the defense was the real culprit that cost Tennessee the game. They gave up a lot of easy, early runs by Florida. I don't even think it was totally on the defenders, I think it was poor play calling on defense that cost us. We didn't have players in the right spots or lined up properly when Florida was hiking the ball.

Our Offensive line kept digging Milton and offense into holes with false starts and poor blocking. Milton isn't Hooker, I get that. However, Milton isn't the only problem nor is he the MOST GLARING problem.

If I had anything that I could pick to change, it would be our defense right now.

The most glaring alarm behind all of these errors on offense and defense was that the team wasn't coached properly for the noise. This happened last year in Athens as well.

Milton had Keyton wide open on a busted coverage before he got hit and threw the INT. There were a ton of issues besides Joe but he obviously struggles to manage and make decisions in this offense.

 

[BradstarVols]

Totally agree

 

[Godfatha]

OL is the issue. Hard to look good when your line can't run or pass block, or is getting penalties. It is inexcusable to be in year 3 and have line issues like this. Either we aren't recruiting well enough, or developing what we recruit.

Likewise, if in year 3 we cannot find someone better than Hadden to get on the field, we haven't recruited well enough or developed what we recruited. I do know one thing, Martinez has to go. He brings nothing to the table and is a glaring weakness on this coaching staff.

 

[gobigorange91]

Look at Time of Possession, we didn't have a lot of opportunities to be on the field. That is probably the secret sauce to beating Tennessee. Take the ball first (why you would defer against TN is beyond me). String together a long drive that takes up 1/3 to 1/2 of the 1st quarter and keep Tennessee's offense off the field. It puts pressure on the offense which makes mistakes, etc.

What scares me, this could beyond Joe Milton or Tennessee being bad but rather people figuring out Heupel's offense. I always thought we would need to slow down the offense at some point and start playing defense. Defense still wins championships, see Georgia.

I agree it puts pressure when that happens and we have never seen Joe preform well under pressure. I don’t think it’s the system. It’s like every other offense. You need a great qb to win at a high level.

 

[sechamp2012]

With fans, the backup quarterback is always the most popular player.

Big Man on Campus
Like Harrison Bailey was, then they played him

 

[barrylee]

Milton has earned a share of the blame, without a doubt. However, it seems most fans are focused solely on him, as if a change at QB(even slightly improved play) would solve the problems this team. Focus just on Milton is shortsighted.

If you have a qb who makes plays, all of a sudden others are more inspired and start making plays!

I’ve seen it, it can change things dramatically..

 

[BowlBrother85]

Look at Time of Possession, we didn't have a lot of opportunities to be on the field. That is probably the secret sauce to beating Tennessee. Take the ball first (why you would defer against TN is beyond me). String together a long drive that takes up 1/3 to 1/2 of the 1st quarter and keep Tennessee's offense off the field. It puts pressure on the offense which makes mistakes, etc.

What scares me, this could beyond Joe Milton or Tennessee being bad but rather people figuring out Heupel's offense. I always thought we would need to slow down the offense at some point and start playing defense. Defense still wins championships, see Georgia.

Tennessee has a lot of issues to deal with. It's certainly not all on Milton. However, much of Tennessee's passing game is predicated on forcing safeties to play closer to the line of scrimmage. Since Milton isn't a threat to run, defenses can play their safeties deep on us. I think this is why we are seeing so many bubble screens and short passes ... Heupel is desperately trying to draw the safeties up. He isn't getting much help, but it also looks like Milton just isn't a good fit for this scheme.

 

[JRich]

The defense was bad last year and they won 11 games. They have no chance of winning 11 this year. The issues are on offense, and it starts at the QB. You can cover for poor offensive line play with rollouts and scrambles but Milton is a statue that holds the ball too long.

Losing the OC appears to be huge as well.

 

[volbound1700]

Tennessee has a lot of issues to deal with. It's certainly not all on Milton. However, much of Tennessee's passing game is predicated on forcing safeties to play closer to the line of scrimmage. Since Milton isn't a threat to run, defenses can play their safeties deep on us. I think this is why we are seeing so many bubble screens and short passes ... Heupel is desperately trying to draw the safeties up. He isn't getting much help, but it also looks like Milton just isn't a good fit for this scheme.

This might be the secret. I haven't seen Milton throw that many bad passes but Milton isn't a threat to run it seems. He is slow in that aspect. Defenses are probably not screening for QB run and our O-line is not talented enough to give him time.

 

[JRich]

I'm going to have to go back and watch that interception by Milton again. If I remember correctly, he had a receiver downfield, but unfortunately, he was wearing a 400 lb defensive lineman when he let the pass go,

He did! It was Keyton wide open going across the middle but he was focused on White who had double coverage. If he would have felt the pressure he could have moved to his left and bought some time, but he just stood there and got hit.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

OP, to directly answer your question: folks complain about the QB first and foremost because they don't understand the game in any of its real complexity.

Fact is, most football fans follow the ball with their eyes, almost uniquely. It is the only way they can keep up with the action. And human vision is suprisingly narrow. Where one focuses, that spot is sharp and clear; but even 10 degrees off to either side, up or down, it gets blurry, quick. So when a person follows the ball, to keep up, they hardly see, and rarely notice, how the line are doing; what the guys on the periphery are up to.

In short, they watch the QB. A LOT. And so, they see his imperfections far more than those of the rest of the team.

I'm not defending Joe; his performance was poor this week. But the OL was also not good, and nor were the DL and the DBs. All those position groups were off their game this week. As well as individuals from the other groups, too (WR, LB, RB). The Special Teams were the only group I don't remember seeing a significant number of miscues.

We just gotta execute and communicate better, across the board. Trading QBs will not cure our ills. It's going to take the entire team getting their heads outta their butts. And maybe sending Hadden packing would help, too.

Go Vols!

 

[CAVPUT]

It doesn’t matter what we think.

Do the other players believe in the QB? This is vital, and we have a quote from McCoy that is concerning.

Do the coaches believe in the QB? We are seeing very basic play calls that resemble nothing from CJH’s first two seasons. Also concerning.

Indeed. Heupels game revolves around the offense. It's always been said that we don't need great defense because we score so much. When the QB position is a suspect deal and the points aren't coming, the play from others and their confidence can suffer. Like it or not, in this system, the QB is more of a key than with more traditional offenses.

 

[BenGrimm]

QB is physically gifted but the mental game is lacking.

The OL did him ZERO favors this week and the running game vanished. He made several really good plays.