Report Card (that you don't want to take home your mother, again)

[PirateVOL]

Another game, another loss

QB:     D-     Missing open receivers, throwing late, throwing inaccurately, to the point that the OC was clearly game planning around him.  He has a  tendency for staring down receivers and/or deciding where he is going to throw before the play develops.  Both TDs he was lucking - the fist was thrown BEHIND DWA and only the fact that JJ was in the right position for the tip drill worked in our favor.  The 2nd was late and behind Jennings, who made a nice catch to save him.  JG was at least two (2) seconds late throwing to JJ for what would have been an easy TD.  JG seems to only throw to receivers that are open or that he trusts (JJ) and has no apparent ability to throw to open a receiver.  He does have an innate ability to throw to the receiver behind the LOS on 3rd down.  That doesn't even count the bad, BAD, BAD pick he threw to open the 2nd half.

RB:     B     B after running for over 200 yards you say?  Yes, it is called pass pro and they don't do it well.  Gray is going to be a great one, he has skills you can't teach.  Chandler responded to his bad 1st game with a solid performance, you could clearly see him ensuring ball security in traffic.  His YAH was very good.

WR:    B+     Would have been higher but they failed to have a big red neon light over their heads that said they were OPEN.  Example?  See Calloway.  Best game blocking downfield in a long time.  JJ backed up his rhetoric from Wednesday and continues to show what a (relatively) healthy JJ is capable of.  Palmer came out of the shadows.

OL:     D+     Would have been a C but the MORON(S) coaching them seem to think they are interchangeable parts to plug and play at will, which hurts their ability to  function as a UNIT!  They were significantly improved over week 1.  All to often though there were individual breakdowns (whether physical, mental or lack of communication) that broke down our ability to execute the play.  Run blocking much better, thanks to (a great extent) the scheme but pass pro was hit or miss, often due to the aforementioned plug and play of OL.  2-3 holding penalties is unacceptable and at times it seemed they thought they were bull fighters practicing their red cape maneuvers.

DL/OLB:     D+     At lest their alignment was better than game 1.  There were at least 4 sacks, which is good but most were primed with blitzes - thought the last was by rushing only 3.  If a team wants to run N/S they can't stop them.  The OLB did improve in coming off blocks, limiting yards gained on several occasions.

ILB:     C-      Grade due to the significant improvement by Henry T.  It is said that the greatest improvement is between game 1 and game 2 and he was a poster child for that.  Was he perfect, at an SEC level?  No but you can clearly see the skill set will enable him to get to that level sooner rather than later.  He was much more controlled last night.  Also, I saw more than once a safety help him get the front 6 aligned correctly.  We need Bituli in the worse way.

DB:     F-     We started 1 Sr, 1 Jr, 2 So and 1 FR.  All acted like FR more often than not. 

Kicking Game:    A+
Returns:        C     Callaway lets the ball hit the ground far too often

Coaching:  The team was much better prepared.  I thought Chaney had an excellent game plan, only limited by his QB's ability to execute it.  The continuing P&P of OL baffles me - pick 5 (2) and practice/play them!
The defensive game plan was decent but I thought that Pruitt's play calls (you think the DC is calling plays?) was inconsistent.  We were very aggressive early and much more passive late.  I do think the end of game play calls were correct, just (very) poorly executed once. 

One fans (not so) brave prediction:  We are NOT going bowling, AGAIN!

[BanditVol]

Agree about Calloway, he often seems scared to catch the ball.  Beats fumbling, but would prefer more of a gamer for a return guy.  Also doesn't do much with it when he does return it.  I think we could do better there.

I do like Calloway, just not as a returner.   

Also think your grade on OL should be the C-, maybe even C.  Don't blame them for coaching stupidity.

[Tnphil]

For 2 seasons now our kickoff and punt returns are pitiful. It's catch it (when we do catch it) and run directly into the traffic.

[PirateVOL]

For 2 seasons now our kickoff and punt returns are pitiful. It's catch it (when we do catch it) and run directly into the traffic.

The one good thing I can say about the carney man is his STs were good

[Creek Walker]

Also think your grade on OL should be the C-, maybe even C.  Don't blame them for coaching stupidity.

UT rushed for 240+ yards, but running between the tackles was still a chore. The OL got no push in run blocking. And when Tennessee needed the tough yards, they just weren't there. Two failed 4th and 1 plays were both on the OL, and Tennessee's RBs had zero room to run late in the fourth quarter and in the OTs. I thought OL play was much improved from the Georgia State game, but still a loooooong way to go.

[PirateVOL]

UT rushed for 240+ yards, but running between the tackles was still a chore. The OL got no push in run blocking. And when Tennessee needed the tough yards, they just weren't there. Two failed 4th and 1 plays were both on the OL, and Tennessee's RBs had zero room to run late in the fourth quarter and in the OTs. I thought OL play was much improved from the Georgia State game, but still a loooooong way to go.

A lot of the running success was due to formation and double tight ends (not to mention BYU stupidity for 3 quarters to change - when  they changed our outside tackle running dried up), plus our tackles played decent.  As you said, interior running was scant.  Tie that to the numerous breakdowns in pass pro and you get the grade I gave.

[BanditVol]

UT rushed for 240+ yards, but running between the tackles was still a chore. The OL got no push in run blocking. And when Tennessee needed the tough yards, they just weren't there. Two failed 4th and 1 plays were both on the OL, and Tennessee's RBs had zero room to run late in the fourth quarter and in the OTs. I thought OL play was much improved from the Georgia State game, but still a loooooong way to go.

Yeah they do have a long way to go, but like you said, much better than G State, against a better opponent, and IMO better than anything from last year outside a couple of games.  So progress at least.

But you know, a C isn't that much better than a C-