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Sports => VTTW Message Board => Topic started by: ReVOLver on September 04, 2011, 02:03:46 EDT



Title: Some thoughts
Post by: ReVOLver on September 04, 2011, 02:03:46 EDT
I think I gave some people the impression on Facebook last night that I was really negative about last night. I wasn't negative, just honest about the fact that we did not run the ball well against a team from the FCS. Anything else that went wrong last night ... Blown coverages, fumbles, misalignments, punts, kickoffs... Can be chalked up to first game issues that they can clean up this week.

The running game stunk, plain and simple. And we need to run the ball well this year.

With that out of the way, obviously Bray looked very sharp and we have great playmakers at WR. Defensively I thought the first unit tackled pretty well.

Had we played someone else besides Montana we would've struggled to win. That being said, we DID play Montana last night and we have time to fine tune this week.


Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: Clockwork Orange on September 04, 2011, 02:34:50 EDT
I agree that the run game was awful, but I'm trying to sneak a little optimism in with two thoughts: (1) We ran a very vanilla run game from what I could tell, and (2) Montana stacked the box. Perhaps against a better opponent we would have thrown it 40 times for 400 yards with the looks they were giving us but I think trying to run no matter what was part of the plan for the opener.

So while our inability to push them around is discouraging I'll wait another week to declare the run game dead (not that you have done this either). Like everyone else, I was impressed with the timing between Bray and his receivers and felt that the pass game overall looked pretty polished for an opener.


Title: Re: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: ReVOLver on September 04, 2011, 03:57:05 EDT
One thing I did notice was that we ran better on the more traditional iso and counter trey plays where the line was blocking man on man. On the zone blocking plays they were getting too much penetration.

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Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: Volznut on September 05, 2011, 02:24:10 EDT
We ran very vanilla on offense, mainly cause it was Montana, and Dooley wanted to see what we could do with a very basic offense. We did not run much counter stuff, not much play action, no reverses, nothing to really slow them down in the second half as they just stacked the line. Now... the OL did not get a good push, and that goal line play and safety were terrible. However, I think we will see a lot more offensively vs Cincy. The defense also was a little hard to gauge because of the hurry up misdirection that Montana runs, I don't think our defense is built for it, Dooley is building a defense that will do well vs SEC type of offenses.



Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: tnflower on September 05, 2011, 05:47:35 EDT
Quote
The running game stunk, plain and simple. And we need to run the ball well this year.

They interviewed Poole right after the game and he more or less said the same thing. Well, he didn't say "we stunk", but he admitted the run game needed to be a lot better.


Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: Inspector Vol on September 05, 2011, 07:15:51 EDT
Quote
The defense also was a little hard to gauge because of the hurry up misdirection that Montana runs, I don't think our defense is built for it, Dooley is building a defense that will do well vs SEC type of offenses.

I think that is a painting it a little too rosy.  If we had a real SEC defense it would not matter so much what scheme a team runs. Familiarity with a scheme does matter but we just dont have the horses period. We are adding pieces every class the only problem is we have to rebuild the whole roster. I think we will see improvement over last year but I dont know if the record will show it. Again we wont know much until after next sat.


Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: BigOrange Maniac on September 05, 2011, 07:19:51 EDT
I think that is a painting it a little too rosy.  If we had a real SEC defense it would not matter so much what scheme a team runs. Familiarity with a scheme does matter but we just dont have the horses period. We are adding pieces every class the only problem is we have to rebuild the whole roster. I think we will see improvement over last year but I dont know if the record will show it. Again we wont know much until after next sat.

Holy negativity after one game against an FCS school!

I don't think defense was an issue yesterday. There were a few mistakes, especially in pass coverage (the touchdown pass being the most glaring one, obviously). But overall the D played well. The line got pressure on the QB, they did a pretty decent job against the run, there were no glaring issues with missed tackles. Take away the 80-yard TD pass and a meaningless TD tacked on at the end and Montana doesn't even sniff the end zone. IMO, there are bigger concerns than the defense right now.


Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: Inspector Vol on September 05, 2011, 08:01:43 EDT
Not my intent so much as just trying to temper my expectations with a little reality. I hope to have reason to abandon all this realism in the next 2 weeks.

The biggest thing that has got me down was the lack of push the o-line got. They didnt all get whipped on every play but somebody did get whipped on nearly every play. I had big hopes for the o-line and if they dont improve drastically any shot we had at 9-3 or 8-4 may be gone.

I am pulling for 14-0 but.............

Holy negativity after one game against an FCS school!

I don't think defense was an issue yesterday. There were a few mistakes, especially in pass coverage (the touchdown pass being the most glaring one, obviously). But overall the D played well. The line got pressure on the QB, they did a pretty decent job against the run, there were no glaring issues with missed tackles. Take away the 80-yard TD pass and a meaningless TD tacked on at the end and Montana doesn't even sniff the end zone. IMO, there are bigger concerns than the defense right now.


Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: Volznut on September 05, 2011, 03:38:03 EDT
I think that is a painting it a little too rosy.  If we had a real SEC defense it would not matter so much what scheme a team runs. Familiarity with a scheme does matter but we just dont have the horses period. We are adding pieces every class the only problem is we have to rebuild the whole roster. I think we will see improvement over last year but I dont know if the record will show it. Again we wont know much until after next sat.

we will know a little more, but Cincy wasn't that good last year. They will throw the ball a lot, and scored a lot vs Austin Peay....but doubt if that tells us much.



Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: Clockwork Orange on September 05, 2011, 04:44:23 EDT
we will know a little more, but Cincy wasn't that good last year. They will throw the ball a lot, and scored a lot vs Austin Peay....but doubt if that tells us much.



I don't know if they're well coached but they have good players-- players that have played in a BCS bowl as well. Zach Collaros is a good QB. I feel about the same now as I did before Saturday's games, which is that this will be a tough one and a bit of a barometer.



Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: CobbWebb on September 05, 2011, 05:08:31 EDT
The soonest we will know anything about the Vols is either after we lose to Cincy or after the Florida game. Losing to Cincy will tell us all we need to know. I think we will win the game but who knows.

CW


Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: Ridge Runner on September 05, 2011, 05:20:37 EDT
I don't know if they're well coached but they have good players-- players that have played in a BCS bowl as well. Zach Collaros is a good QB. I feel about the same now as I did before Saturday's games, which is that this will be a tough one and a bit of a barometer.



I think this is going to be a tougher game than we think. Sure Cincy wasn't very good last year, but the year before they were undefeated in the regular season, then went through a coaching change. They have a pretty good QB in Collaros and a good RB in Isiah Pead. This is a big-time trap game for us, with Florida coming up next week. The players better not be looking ahead. It wouldn't shock me if we lost this one.


Title: Re: Some thoughts
Post by: VinnieVOL on September 05, 2011, 07:23:18 EDT
I'll go on record to say I'm pretty worried about Cincy.  No matter how vanilla we were vs Montana, we shouldve been able to push them around and impose our will.