And the hits keep coming!

This is the no. 1 reason I am not that concerned with Jones.  Dooley and especially kiffin were supposed to be good recruiters.

Kiffin might have been but his only class was 10th and Fulmer had been doing just as well

Anyway whaT I thought when Dooley was hired was that maybe he can't coach but he can buold up the talent base.

WRRROOONNNGGG!!!

His first class shared with kiffin was decent but it was downhill from there with every season worse than the one before.

Well that's not the case with butch. He is recruiting as well as anyone in sec with the exception of the cheating dirt bag satan and he HAS to be a better coach than dools...who isnt!

No matter if he is the long term answer we will be better off if and when he leaves.

And the next coach ...if there is one...can have much quicker success as the base will be there.  See under "malzahn" 

We've had a habit of making teams look way better than they are, for say.....................................The past 14 freaking years.

14 years is way too long....lol.

I know we have been snake bit but our fans have such a losing attitude. Sports fans are always superstious types. I don't go for the "it always happens that way to Tennessee" crap.

Fulmer was complacent and Dooley sucked balls us what happened. Better days ahead. (and forgot to add...Kiffin was a fizzleING PIECE OF shizzle!!!     )

I think we play USC Jr a helluva a game with a great chance to win and we thrash or at least beat mizzou.

Those are my expectations. I reckon we will see.

Mizzou and SC are impossible games to predict.  Both of those teams can look like the '85 Bears one week, and lose to Vandy the next.  I just hope they're "down" when they play us.

Uh.. when has either looked good this season? I think u are stuck in last season.

We have player uga close in their house with Gurley and mizzou losing badly at home.

We SHOULD beat mizzou!

You heard it here first  

Likewise, it's a shame you didn't go into politics.   

That seems funny, but I'm not sure why.  lol

Interesting how in the paragraph about Florida they seem to speak only in terms of potential future coaches Gundy and Mullen.  Lol....

[5. Ohio State - They’ve been recruiting on a high level since Urban Meyer took over. They run a wide open spread option scheme that’s appealing to national dual-threat quarterbacks, wide receivers, local run blockers and stud backs. Urban Meyer is one of the game’s best. His plan is as good as it gets. Look for the Buckeyes to win seven of the next 10 league titles and be a regular fixture first round blowout loss in the final four.]

I fixed this paragraph for them.  

5. Ohio State - They’ve been recruiting on a high level since Urban Meyer took over. They run a wide open spread option scheme that’s appealing to national dual-threat quarterbacks, wide receivers, local run blockers and stud backs. Urban Meyer is one of the game’s best. His plan is as good as it gets. Look for the Buckeyes to win seven of the next 10 league titles and be a regular fixture first round blowout loss in the final four.

"Whoever hires Chad Morris".

I don't know if it's true but the rumor here is that Morris was offered the OC job at Texas but Doobo wouldn't let him out of his contract. There might be some hard feelings there. SMU is the rumored HC job for Morris.

Like I said, I can't confirm the validity.

But that's the scuttlebutt.

I think a coach can always break a contract and pay a penalty, right?  So if Morris wanted the job bad enough...

Yes, I said that it's going to take a while, and I still believe it.

That said, this Florida team is not one of those teams that we were clearly behind to the point where they should come in to Neyland and win.  In "justifying" the loss most UT fans seem to be glossing over the fact that this Florida team was 2-8 in its last 10 games, and they beat us with a true freshman QB and a true freshman RB playing significant roles.  The "we are young" excuse doesn't fly. 

I'm not justifying the loss at all....just not ready to give up on Butch or even this season and I still like the overall progress.  A bad game or two does not upset me that much in terms of hope for  the future.

I hate losing to the gators as much as anyone though, and i am on record as saying we definitely should have won.

What in the world prompted that from him?  If it's still the chant he's still sore about, then he's a bigger baby than I thought.  It was classless, yes... But move on.

Classless but hardly unusual in this day and age.  And given his propensity to drop the f bomb himself, you would think he respected it.   

I can't decide whether I'm glad he's pissed or if I take it as "hey, coaching isn't the problem.. it's the knuckleheads that either can't or won't do what we tell them to do".  .

I don't see that.  If you have a specific quote, list it.  His comments on players were entirely directed at the O Line.  He states that developing an O Line takes "2-3 years" and is one position that cannot be rushed.  This is what I have always read and believed.  Do you believe differently?  And in that context, reporters were also asking why he didn't sub.  His response is that there is no one to sub, what we have is what we have.  That is exactly what I have thought is true for the last year...that we are inexperienced on the O Line and that it will take time to develop.  Last year's "NFL Line" that was heavily criticized was much more highly rated than this years, and they also sucked as frosh!  But to your point, I don't see any criticism of players or blame directed at them at all....if anything he is defending them!  He is explaining to the media that offensive linemen take time to develop...which they should know, but even if they do they are going to ask the question.

Here's my question.  Why did we move the ball so well the 1st four games?  

Because the Florida D is better than OU (on whom we also only scored 10 points, BTW) and much, much better than Uga's D.  Another analogy to OU...we turned the ball over in the red zone in that game too, didn't we?  I think you are actually giving our offense too much credit for the OU game.

We didn't "go for it" at all, instead it was a miserable four quarters of conservative field position football that I still can't believe Butch authorized in the biggest "statement" game to date for him at UT.  It was excruciating to watch.  Butch didn't "go for it".  He and his staff played it safe and they blew it.

I didn't see it that way.  For instance, immediately following the int at about the 20, we threw it in the end zone for an int.  That's not playing it safe!  Further, our run/pass ratio was greatly skewed.  39 passes to 23 runs (which does not include the 6 sacks).  The only thing you can criticize is why we didn't throw vertically more.  Well, the answer is a couple sentences over!  Worley didn't have time!  He was on his back most of the afternoon.  

This doesn't mean I am happy with the result, and I am certainly not letting the coaches completely off the hook.  We had some early success with quick routes like slants and then went away from it.  It may be that Florida tightend up on those routes,  I don't know.  Clearly coaching and execution both could have been better.

But given our 100% new OL and the fact that Hurd was banged up, I don't see this as a complete, program-derailing disaster.

Some of you had best not have a job as a train operator, a pilot, a fireman or any other job that requires steady nerves, or there are going to be some people dead.    

Don't think how long anybody has "been around" has a thing to do with whether or not a game was managed well. 

I've went to my first UT game when Dewey Warren was the QB and I have been following them ever since.  Seen the ups and downs and the ups and downs ...........

What I think a lot of folks are forgetting is that this was a bad Florida team - 2-8 in its last 10 before Saturday.  The ups and downs of previous years has nothing to do with why some of us are concerned. 

It has nothing to do with this past game, which was definitely my point.  It has everything to do with remaining patient as a fan.  Bad games happen.  Maybe it was all on the coaches, maybe it was not.

The fact is, I thought it would be a close game and it was.  Take away a blown call on the FG by the officials or the stupid fumble by Worley and we do win.

Anyone looking at the quality of Florida and expecting a blowout was bound to be disappointed anyway IMO.  A totally rebuilt offensive line does not equate to success.

But back on point...it's going to take a while.  You said so preseason and I agreed...I suspect you are sticking with that.  One bad game should not derail all the progress to date.  Fans today are simply too impatient.

So again...to be 100% clear I am mentioning 1982 because progress in the 80s was at a glacier pace.  Some of that was on Johnny....he was just so danged inconsitent, not only season to season but game to game.  Some of the folks on here that started following the program in the 90s don't have a feel for that.  TRO obviously does as do I, and our views are similar.  The progress that Jones has made so far is much better than anything I recall from Johnny, so overall I still like the direction we are going in. 

Good to meet you IG, enjoyed speaking to you.

So with your background in undercover investigations, it's easy to figure out who paid off the refs.   

I agree.  I didn't expect the Vols to win beforehand, but after seeing the game, clearly they could/should have won.  They made far too many mistakes, and I put a lot of that on the coaches (especially the stupid penalties after being very disciplined previously).  Despite that, I see marked improvement from Dooley's teams, and I expect continued improvement for the next 2-3 years.  I'm as disappointed as anyone; I'm just hardly in panic mode after one bad game.  Unfortunately, I expect some bad games from this team due to the nature of the roster. 

My view and yours are very similar.  One reason that may be is that you and I were around for the buildup to the 90s and realize it didn't happen overnight.  I think you started following the Vols a bit earlier than I, but I have followed them since 1982, when we managed to sneak into a bowl for the first time in a few years.   It took nearly a decade before we were able to win consistently, even though 1981 was the fifth year for Majors.  Of course, he wouldn't get that kind of time now, but I recall clearly that he was on the hot seat when we finally beat bammer in 1985.

These down periods can be tough to recover from, which is why they should be avoided if at all possible. 

I was pretty frustrated with Chavis in 1997, when we rushed 3 on 3rd and 10 three times and once on 4th and 10 and ALL FOUR OF THOSE were TDs!

He turned it around...maybe Bajakian can.

Florida had a great defense in 2012 and a pretty good one last year in spite of the losing record...they are likely the third best D we face this year after Ole Miss and bammer.

Hurd was also beat up.

I can handle one bad game even if it is Florida but I expect us to do better the rest of the season.

Who is this "everyone" you speak of?     Seriously, I don't recall 2015 being eyed by most as the season for challenging for an SEC title.  It seems to me most were hoping for a return to 8-9 wins by 2015 (third season) and being competitive for an SEC championship by 2016.  I think that is still doable, although I wouldn't bet on being a championship contender in 2016.

Yep

We lost the game mainly because of our offensive line.

But apparently the quality of officiating is low. Look at the non-call on facemask grab by the Bama player on the fumble pickup for a TD.

And then there's this: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11640809/iowa-state-cyclones-athletic-director-jamie-pollard-rips-big-12-officiating

Yeah, it seems bammer always gets away with trash like that.  But I noticed that the calls went against bammer in the second half.  Hell, they even got called for holding twice! 

Perhaps a bit of making up for the embarrassing no call....

I think most of Florida's problem started and ended with Driskell.  If the new guy had not gotten in legal trouble, I could see them winning 8-9 games actually, because the rest of the East is also down.  If he is booted permanently then likely they will suck ass and make us look bad.

Keep in mind that even with Muschamp they went 11-1 two years ago, and had tons of injuries last year.  Even Muschamp can win with the talent they have there, provided he doesn't start Driskell anymore.  IMO....

...he's now only 5 short of Brett Fah-vray, so he should break the record in the next week or two.

Of course, when he does, Favre will probably come out of retirement again.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11648301/peyton-manning-denver-broncos-throws-500th-career-td-pass

As long as Favre doesn't send him any pics....

He took up space.  At this point O'Brien is far more effective.  J. Williams was our best DT on the field Sat, by far.

It seemed we stopped the run well when he was in the game, but I was mostly focused on the QBs of both teams.

Funny how it used to be the other way around.

But come on...ESPN obviously has an agenda!  They have completely bought in to the SEC and now it goes to their bottom line.

Just like the "conspiracy theorists" were likely correct about the blatant promotion of Charles Woodson.  After the 1997 season, I read that ABC sports (of course, ABC owns ESPN) that stated they needed the Rose Bowl that year to go into the black as they had been losing money.  The article didn't mention the Heisman, but it was obvious to me that they wanted the Heisman trophy winner in the Rose Bowl so they promoted the crap out of Woodson.

And when ESPN didn't have the SEC contract, the perception that they slighted us was also correct.  Why promote games that are on CBS?

It's simple really...follow the money.

So yes, they are biased towards the SEC in that they now promote the heck out of it. 

Interesting in that group was far more highly rated than the current line.  The highest rated red shirted.  The right side was just as green as this one but by the first game had already been together more than the current line.

How could they have been together more in the first game...? 

You are correct that they were more highly rated...we need a few good recruits and maybe a Juco or two IMO to add depth and maybe new starters.

I thought it was funny.  But I think most bammer fans are funny.   

I just noticed Saulsberry is not mentioned...he played quite a bit.

But they improved year to year, and in 2012 they were something we could be proud of.  Bray and the WRs also developed and we had an offense that was very good.

Which of course was wasted by terrible coaching and not having a D.

I guarantee you this...if this O line improves as much as that one did, it won't be wasted like the last one was.