Before the season began, I told folks that I would be disappointed if the Vols didn't win five games this season.  I thought that anything over that was a step in the right direction. I thought that six wins would be a good year and anything above that would be just icing on the cake. 

I also felt that we needed to see improvement each week, regardless of whether we won or lost.  Players needed to show that they were being coached and that they were accepting that coaching.

I still feel that, with all of the off-season attrition and with the state of the program when CJH and staff moved in, that those W/L numbers hold true - at least for me.  We should now have a six win season.  I'm encouraged by that, especially considering that we could, with just a few breaks, be sitting on a 6-1 record right now.

As for improvement, I think that we are definitely seeing that in most of the athletes on this team.  I offer Davis at right tackle last night as an example.  When he entered the game in Cade's place last night he was abysmal.  Before the game was over he was performing much better and was much more effective.  In my view, the coaches are teaching and the players are buying in and improving.

It hasn't been perfect and it never will be.  It has been better, however, in my opinion.

We can't win the SEC until we can first win the SECE.  We cannot win the SECE until we can first move out of the lower tier of the division.  Our first order of business is to get back to being #2 or #3 in the SECE.  I think the program is headed in that direction and I'm currently excited about what the future could hold for this program under CJH and staff.

I don't like alcohol sales at the games, either. In fact there's a whole lot I could say about that, but that's another topic for another day.

However, while chucking items on the field is certainly unjustifiable, let's also stop pretending that it was representative of the entire crowd inside the stadium. Out of 100k+ people, you had a few dozen students throwing stuff onto the field. I expect ESPN and our rivals to over-react, but I've seen a lot of over-reaction from UT fans tonight, as well. It's okay to call it what it is -- which is completely unnecessary -- without some of the pearl-clutching that we're seeing from some parts of the fan base.

I've spoken to three friends who were in attendance.  All three friends say that this was not just a student issue.  One of them went so far as to say that he witnessed, just in the area of the stadium where he was seated, dozens and dozens of fans (of various ages) throwing items toward the field.  I think that to try and minimize the ridiculousness of this by claiming that it was simply a few dozen students trivializes the absurdity of what we witnessed last night.

The key play was when Cade got hurt
Hurt us for 2-3 series

One interesting thing is we had a RS Soph (who I'm not sure has seen the field other than mopup duty all year) playing corner for the last several series and they didn't test him
Frankly someone I never heard of

Losing Cade was HUGE.  Davis, who played much better after the halftime break, was awful in the first half.  I thought that the Ole Miss defense took advantage of that fact and our offense struggled mightily for the remainder of the half after Cade left the game.

If Hooker is out for a period better hope Bailey gets playing time.....Milton should be done. I'd play a walkon before Milton ever saw the field again.

I'm not a fan of Milton whether he's throwing or running.  When he runs he bows up like a cutworm before he takes a hit.  The last play tonight, when he HAD to get to the endzone, he bowed up and stepped out of bounds to try to avoid taking the contact.  If he's playing, we are most likely screwed.  **I would be very happy to have to eat crow on that statement, btw.

Oh okay.  The way it was worded I thought you were implying I didn't think the negative attention was deserved.  I wasn't angry just wanted to clarify what I meant (which obviously didn't need to)

Its all good.  Messages sometimes come across very differently than the way they were intended.  I certainly didn't want you to think I was being disrespectful.

I actually can't disagree with either of you about Hooker missing the Bama game.

Pretty sure that's when we scored our first TD. If so, it didn't cost us anything.

I'm fairly certain that our first TD came on the drive after the free kick after the safety.

It didn't look good, but I sincerely hope that he will be OK.  This team could be in big trouble offensively if he is out for any length of time.

You're barking up the wrong tree.  You may be thinking of memes posted on twitter or whatever. I am saying that SECN, ESPN, etc on the MSM are going endlessly pontificate on how UT fans endangered players, coaches, and even their cheerleaders.

Of course it's deserved!  What in my post would possibly suggest it's not?

I'm saying this is the price we have to pay for a bunch of drunk morons showing their arses. In short, I am very pissed that my University and by definition any Vol fan including me has to be associated with the ridiculous show they put on.

Barking up the wrong tree?  Why did you get triggered?  I wasn't attacking you or your post in any way - in fact I was agreeing with it.

I highly doubt that he wasn’t fully briefed on the situation.  I think he just had a massive brain fart under the pressure of the moment and I feel for him.  If you can’t handle that pressure, you shouldn’t be playing QB.  I think the kid has tons of potential at QB, but obviously he has issues.  If Hook is seriously hurt, we need to hire a QB whisperer ASAP he he needs to start working 24/7 with Milton on how to throw.   Start the crash course on passing fizzleing now, dammit.

Ole Miss called a timeout before our last play.  If the coaches didn't inform him that he had to let the ball go, that is major malpractice on their part (I don't believe that is the case, btw).  He had to know that you MUST throw the ball into the endzone on this play.  He had to know that there were only 3 seconds on the clock.  He ran out of bounds after scrambling around in the pocket!!!!!!

Bad...bad running by the TE there.....You get to the sticks there. Period

Twice tonight we were short of first downs because receivers went down without contact, iirc.

Now we are going to have to listen to it repeatedly the whole weekend, probably into the week and maybe into the season. 

Regretful, but the ridicule is warranted.  No excuse for it.  None.

No amount of bad officiating justifies this behavior. It isn't life or death. And the key word in your post might have been: "drunk". I've never thought that alcohol sales at college sporting events was a good idea.

I agree with this completely.

I don’t condone it and I’m certainly not participating but what do you expect? This bullshizzle can only go on for so long before people snap.

The video showed that the officials got the call right.  It may have been a half yard short instead of a full yard, but video showed that it was not a first down.

That said, regardless of whether the call was correct or not, that behavior is never warranted imo.  No excuse can be made for endangering people - be it coaches, players, or other fans.  You know that there had to be some fans in the stands who were injured in that atrocity.

.....even if the call was wrong. And I don't think it was.

This is the worst of human behavior and is not justifiable.

I completely agree.  I told my friends watching the game with me that they should have called the game.  If the roles had been reversed, that's what we would have all been saying.

That was beyond stupid.

Hooker has to make a throw on that third down, imo.  You have to give a receiver a chance to make a play or get a PI call.  Running it out of bounds and having 4th and 27 was not the correct play, imo.

Nobody wanted the first down more than me, but I don't think he made the first down.  Irregardless, they can't overturn that call on the video available.

Hooker missed (I think Payton) open deeper, past the marker

The one thing our passing attack is deficient in is stretching the field, I think.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see Hooker throwing a lot of passes down the field.

They are going to need all of the IV's in Knox County!!!!

Great response!

No quit in this team.  I like the attitude of this team and the coaching that they seem to be getting.

at least the drive

It's an easy fix.  You are out for the rest of the possession.  The TV broadcasters talked about that earlier.

It feels like we MUST answer right here.

TV said Cade is out for the rest of the game.

counting Carvin at center we are running g 3 backups now

In fairness, the D only gave up 17 if you take out points from the muffed punt.

Yes and we were limited on the OL when the season started.  Its an uphill battle for sure.

That muffed punt was disastrous.