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Sports => VTTW Message Board => Topic started by: BanditVol on September 11, 2018, 05:07:35 EDT



Title: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: BanditVol on September 11, 2018, 05:07:35 EDT
Since it was basically a scrimmage, I will keep this brief

bright spots...some of the young players made some nice plays, notably Thompson on defense and Banks on offense.  It doesn't matter what the competition is, they showed hunger and made some plays that would be athletic against any competition.  And there were a few others also.  It's early, but Pruitt does seem to be developing the young talent...so far.

Also JUCO DL Gooden had a great game.  This is definitely a function of the low grade competition, but he played well against WVU also so I am cautiously optimistic that we found a legit SEC DL.  Florida will provide more of  a test, but I am hopeful

not so bright spots....OL started terribly against a greatly out-manned FCS squad. I can only hope that was lack of coordination due to injury, which is something that can and will improve over the season.  At the end of the day our RBs only averaged 4.3 ypg, which is great against an SEC team but not so much in this game.  And the other one everyone knows about...their FCS WRs got behind us 2-3 times for what would have been long gains or TDs but their QB missed the throw.  We won't be facing an FCS QB in the SEC (though Franks makes me wonder lol).

General note...I like the way Pruitt talks to his players on the sideline and coaches them up.  Butch never did respond to any momentum shifts in the game and rarely encouraged his players as individuals, though he did occasionally chew them out.   It's early but so far I have some faith in Pruitt's ability to develop talent. He just seems to have the X factor for that.  Way too early to be sure but I am encouraged.


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: Tnphil on September 11, 2018, 05:42:38 EDT
Gooden is going to be special if we they can keep his classwork in order.

After 2 games UT is 13th in the SEC in total offense.....and that's after playing ETSU. Not going to get it done in this league unless it greatly improves.

Total Offense

1 Texas A&M 629.5
2 Mississippi 596.0
3 Missouri 579.5
4 Mississippi State 578.0
5 Alabama 559.0
6 Auburn 493.5
7 Georgia 490.5
8 South Carolina 446.5
9 Kentucky 440.5
10 Arkansas 435.0
11 Vanderbilt 407.0
12 Florida 403.0
13 Tennessee 357.5
14 LSU 315.5


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: BanditVol on September 11, 2018, 03:23:05 EDT
Yeah, that's bad.  Really bad.  The only push back on the ETSU game is that we scored so much off turnovers that the offense didn't have to move the ball as much.  That helps, but not much.  UTEP not much of a test either.  Arguably the worst team in D1


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: volsboy on September 11, 2018, 07:53:37 EDT
I have watched a few games of some of the top 5 teams in the nation. It is incredible the talent teams like Bama, Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma..etc have on their rosters. Even UGa. It is almost unfair when compared to teams like UT. I think the Bucknuts may have more talent than I have seen in a long time from any team. I just don't see how teams like UT, UK and Vandy can ever get their talent built up to those levels. Even with the 85 scholarship rule, it seems like the haves are still way ahead of the have nots. I hope the Vols days of being a have not will be over soon. I just don't know how it will happen. We used to be a have.


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: volsboy on September 12, 2018, 01:14:05 EDT
Does Vandy beat Notre Dame this weekend? I bet they give them a good game.


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: BanditVol on September 12, 2018, 01:33:42 EDT
Does Vandy beat Notre Dame this weekend? I bet they give them a good game.

Absolutely not.  Notre Dame will stomp them.  Come on...better than they used to be, but still vandy.

The only thing that concerns me about them wrt to Tennessee is that Shurmur is back and he is a decent QB.   I had thought he was gone.  But by the time we play them I will predict our DBs are much better with Pruitt coaching them up,and even that our DL will dominate their OL.   We have a really good defensive coach and it will pay off in November.

No way Vandy wins.  Although I know ND is reviled throughout the South and your prediction will be a popular one.  But I say fizzle vandy.   :naughty:


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: HerbTarlekVol on September 12, 2018, 04:42:41 EDT
The ETSU game was completely useless in assessing where we are.  ETSU struggled to beat D2 Mars Hill the week before we played them.  They are flat out awful. 


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: BanditVol on September 12, 2018, 04:28:00 EDT
The ETSU game was completely useless in assessing where we are.  ETSU struggled to beat D2 Mars Hill the week before we played them.  They are flat out awful. 



I led with that by saying it was a scrimmage. 

Scrimmage or not, I liked some of the individual plays by new players, and think those particular players will hold up well in SEC play.


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: Creek Walker on September 12, 2018, 04:36:23 EDT
I saw all the predictions from UT fans of a close game last week, and I knew what they were setting themselves up for: they talked themselves into believing the game would be close because UT looked so bad against WVU, then when it turned into a blowout they would convince themselves that giant strides had been made. Sure enough, I listened to the callers on the Vol Network postgame show on the way home Saturday night and they were almost giddy about how well the Vols had played. The average fan just didn't seem to understand how terrible ETSU is. I did see some encouraging things, but I'm not even allowing myself to dwell on them because ETSU is so flat-out awful. To me, the biggest takeaway wasn't what Tennessee did well; it was what Tennessee did poorly to start the game. To have -1 rushing yard after the first quarter against a team of ETSU's caliber is inexcusable. For the OL to struggle like it did early against a team like that is scary as hell, to be honest. I see no indication that this unit is going to be ready to face Florida next week. I tried to give the OL the benefit of the doubt because a couple of those first quarter snaps were blown up by Player, who may very well be playing on Sundays next year. He's legit. But the rest of that ETSU bunch is not much more than a glorified high school team.

Unfortunately, UTEP will be equally useless when it comes to assessing where this team is at...but if our OL continues to struggle and our offense continues to put up unimpressive numbers against this bunch coming into Neyland Stadium on Saturday, everyone will know to reserve a tee time or something next week because the Florida game will be ugly.


Title: Re: pros and cons of ETSU game
Post by: BanditVol on September 12, 2018, 07:40:31 EDT
I saw all the predictions from UT fans of a close game last week, and I knew what they were setting themselves up for: they talked themselves into believing the game would be close because UT looked so bad against WVU, then when it turned into a blowout they would convince themselves that giant strides had been made. Sure enough, I listened to the callers on the Vol Network postgame show on the way home Saturday night and they were almost giddy about how well the Vols had played. The average fan just didn't seem to understand how terrible ETSU is. I did see some encouraging things, but I'm not even allowing myself to dwell on them because ETSU is so flat-out awful. To me, the biggest takeaway wasn't what Tennessee did well; it was what Tennessee did poorly to start the game. To have -1 rushing yard after the first quarter against a team of ETSU's caliber is inexcusable. For the OL to struggle like it did early against a team like that is scary as hell, to be honest. I see no indication that this unit is going to be ready to face Florida next week. I tried to give the OL the benefit of the doubt because a couple of those first quarter snaps were blown up by Player, who may very well be playing on Sundays next year. He's legit. But the rest of that ETSU bunch is not much more than a glorified high school team.

Unfortunately, UTEP will be equally useless when it comes to assessing where this team is at...but if our OL continues to struggle and our offense continues to put up unimpressive numbers against this bunch coming into Neyland Stadium on Saturday, everyone will know to reserve a tee time or something next week because the Florida game will be ugly.

I agree that the overall game was useless for any insight into the team as a whole, just as Florida's earlier blowout of Charleston South meant nothing, and UTEP also will mean nothing.  I do think UTEP is slightly better than ETSU, but not enough to matter.

In spite of the level of competition, I am encouraged by some of the individual plays by players.  That's all I am saying.  Looking forward to see how they do vs. Florida.   :nod: