Why this hurts so bad.......Heupel's kryptonite

#26
#26
Orangeslice13 said:
We’re not good on defense.
We were without the guy in the middle that holds it all together.
We’ve made average teams look awesome at times all year.
Their QB is a mental case with a crapload of talent. He played lights out and we played bad.
We really could have had 3 additional loses before last night. We have won by playing above our abilities and that all came crashing down last night. Beamer has been pissed about us “running up the score “ last year so he had this one circled. I don’t have a problem with final score. They just need to remember this when Hypel hangs 100 on them.
It sucks but there’s absolutely a logical explanation for it.
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there’s more to it than “we’re not good on defense”. We aren’t as bad as whatever that was last night.
 
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#32
#32
I'll never agree that any Pruitt coached team would have done better, that's selective amnesia. We'd have lost 63-3 because Pruitt would kick a garbage time field goal just to avoid the humiliation of a shutout.
 
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#34
#34
With all that we just pissed away it’s got to rival the 96 Memphis loss for worst loss in school history. Cakewalk to playoffs and in one night out of it.
 
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#35
#35
McDad said:
It's a bad game. It happens. It sux. It isn't sinister or conspiratorial.

Keep your wits.
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Statistically, this was a historically bad loss. From a perspective of what was at stake, this loss will also be remembered for many years to come. Opportunities to potentially have a shot at a National Title don't come around very often for this program, and that was blown last night.

I get the program is still moving in the right direction regardless, but there is no need to downplay how bad the product on the field was last night.
 
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#36
#36
UTK said:
there’s more to it than “we’re not good on defense”. We aren’t as bad as whatever that was last night.
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Ya. We really are. Before last night we were among the worst in all of football in pass D. Now we’re likely dead last. And their QB played the game of his life. He’s got elite talent with a 10 cent head. It sucks but it’s not like this happened to the Vols with late 90s talent
 
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#37
#37
BlinghamptonVol said:
Word is there was a locker room tiff between Banks and an offensive player and coaches sat Banks, but just extra running for the offensive player. Lots of D players felt like it could have been handled with Banks also running extra, no need to sit him. No talk that they intentionally played poorly, just demoralized with their leader sitting, while the O player started. Confused about the message from coaches mostly.
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I honestly believe this is true. It explains the performance perfectly.
 
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#38
#38
KureVol said:
Maybe defense is Coach Heupel's kryptonite.
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There is definitely precedent for this, look no further than Dan Mullen. His lack of attention to defense and his unwillingness to make coordinator/coach changes led to one of the most confounding collapses in modern history and cost him his job.

Consider this; Mullen started 29-6 at FL, had won consecutive NY6 Bowl games, had a 10-win season, had an 11-win season, won the SECeast after blowing out Georgia, and had Florida firmly in playoff consideration late in year 3, with an all-world offense. For comparison purposes, we all universally think Huepel has done a phenomenal job at TN, he’s off to a 16-8 start. Mullen was 29-6!

But Mullen wouldn’t address a horrific defense, he just wouldn’t. That was the main cause for his demise, along with lackluster recruiting.

Huepel would be well-advised to learn from the Dan Mullen lesson.
 
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#39
#39
Matt2496 said:
Statistically, this was a historically bad loss. From a perspective of what was at stake, this loss will also be remembered for many years to come. Opportunities to potentially have a shot at a National Title don't come around very often for this program, and that was blown last night.

I get the program is still moving in the right direction regardless, but there is no need to downplay how bad the product on the field was last night.
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Who is downplaying?
I see a lot of up-playing.
 
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#41
#41
Also, it hurts really bad because if you look at SC’s message boards even they thought that the game would be over after the first quarter. Completely laid an egg to an inferior team. No putting lipstick on that pig. 21 point favorite and lost by 25.
 
#49
#49
South Carolina looks like they've got talent on offense. They confused us with their wildcat scheme at times, and Rattler and his receivers played very well. Rattler ran and made 2/3 key first downs on 3rd down--something Hooker didn't do. They certainly looked like a much better team than they've been all year.

And, then, yea, our defense just wasn't ready to play, and our DBs were either getting beat or giving them too much cushion. There'd be a 3rd and 6 and Hadden is playing at least 10 yards off the receiver. Our DBs were bad, LBs not very good, and no Banks certainly hurt. It was embarrassing.

I also think our offense looks pretty predictable for an offense that has scored as much as we have. We didn't run the ball enough or very well--probably because we were behind all night. Except for that TD pass to Fant, our receivers were pretty well covered all night. Hyatt's strength is the deep ball and they took that away. Tillman is a possession receiver who made some good catches but doesn't get any separation. Keyton made a couple of catches on one drive but don't think he played that much and I think that's been a mistake--he's a good receiver. Also, running a hurry-up offense when you're defense is getting gashed isn't ideal.

I think this offense needs a running back or two with some quickness and pass-catching ability--a playmaking back.
 
#50
#50
Matt2496 said:
Now that I think of it, I agree there's more up-playing going on than down-playing.

Personally, I'm just in the middle of the road. I'm upset about the loss but happy with the overall direction of the football program.
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That's me in a nutshell.

Last night shouldn't have happened. But it did. One aspect I think is in play here is we aren't quite ready to be the opponent everybody is hyped for. That should come with experience though.
 
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