As I state below, no one, including our coaches, really had a clue what Dobbs would do this year until he actually played.  Well we found out, and it's good news.  Our QB problems are not solved, but Dobbs play is definitely a big positive.

Agree it was their worst performance...but I thought they did a good job recovering after the first 20 minutes.  For about the last 20 minutes of the game, we held them to 7.  Yes, bammer was definitely trying to run clock from the middle of the third on, but there were plenty of good plays by our D also, including a bunch of hurries on Sims, one sack, a couple good deflections and so forth.

Maryville has one of the best coaching staffs in America. Never seen a coaching staff that gets the most out of kids. I saw Maryville win titles with 170lbs linemen.i saw Maryville win with 3 starting linebackers 5'7 and 150lbs. Every now and then Maryville will have a Aaron Douglas,PattonRobinette or Dylan Jackson but The Program is built on hard working overachieving kids who take to coaching.

An MSU grad told me that those are the kids Mullen recruits at MSU.  Hard working 3 stars with a good attitude.  He realizes he can't get too many 5 stars to Starkvegas.  Has paid off for him, I guess.

Agreed

The motion carries.  But he looked better last night than at any point last season, by a considerable margin IMHO.

What I thought last night, and still think, is that no one, not even Butch Jones, knows what is going to happen until Dobbs actually goes in last night.  I seem to recall raving practice reviews of Jonathan Crompton in 2008, but then he was one of the biggest busts I can recall. 

Also the points that we are breaking in a new OL above by a couple posters are well taken.  Why not start the season with an experienced guy while you are breaking in a new OL?  Why put the pressure on Dobbs from day 1?  Let Worley take the slings this year, let Dobbs continue to prepare for the future.

Finally, I also agree that while I was excited by Dobbs last year based on the bammer game, he kind of disappointed the rest of the year.  He did give us another option with his legs, but his passing was anemic to say the least.  Given that track record, I am not surprised Worley got the nod.  I am surprised Peterman was ahead of Dobbs, but since Butch announced on Thursday that they both would play, I am wondering if having Peterman ahead of Dobbs wasn't a bit of a subterfuge.  Who knows...

Having said all that, Dobbs clearly gave us a big spark and was much more effective than the post uga-injury Worley and Peterman.  I am excited to see how he plays against USCe.

I thought he looked better last night than at any point last season, and I hope that continues this coming week.

On paper, I think USC should win. But, on paper, you're right - we match up better with the chickens than with any SEC team we've faced thus far. What a freakin' relief to play an average defense and a team that isn't ranked in the Top 10 in the nation.

Yep...about time we get a schedule break.

OK then it was still a good call. The situation was with around 35 seconds to go in the half we had the ball with fourth and about 2-3 yds to get a first down. We are in field goal range and we let the clock run down to 3 secs then we kick the field goal. If we run a play quickly and don't make it then they get he ball with nearly half a minute to go some 80 yards with two time outs. Now before anyone says how unlikely they could do that remember how long their first possession lasted. There is considerable difference between being theee TDs down and two tds and a field goal. I defended his decision when it happened and I still do.

I kind of wondered about the call.  Heck, I had a friend who was really upset we didn't go for it at the 50 in the second quarter on 4th and 1 against Ole Miss, and I texted him during the game "okay this time we should go for it".

At the same time, it wasn't an awful call. We had a whole half left, and in fact we did close the gap to 27-17, which, by my math is two scores.  Heck, we held them to just 7 points in the entire second half in fact.  In retrospect it wasn't a terrible call at all.

Now why we didn't double cover Cooper in the first quarter...that one still mystifies me.  

Spam?

How did yall miss that slow boat?

ESPN: Alex, write an article that will rile Vol fans and get as many hits as possible. It doesn't need to really illustrate truth or anything, just pretend like they still really care about the Kiffin nonsense.

Alex: But they seem to be over it, Butch Jones is a recruting BEAST!

ESPN: Screw that, make it up and post it right before gameday.

I didn't read it. 

I could've sworn that my original post was something positive about it.  BTW, our class currently ranks #5, and that will probably improve.  Our class last year was  better than theirs, too.  You DO realize that they had been recruiting circles around us up until Butch arrived, right?

zigzactly

Yeah, I'm going.  Bringing a bammer with me though.  DOT!   

You could have gone on much longer on 4.  Was the media "excoriating" us?  I sure didn't notice if they were. 

Lane deserves all the flak (verbal!  ) that he gets.  Period, dot.  I could give a shizzle what anyone else thinks about it.

Nm

Ahahahahha, no seriously.   

I am just saying he deserves more of a chance is all.  Haven't seen enough to make up my mind for sure.  This will be a stiff test, make no mistake. 

My expectations are that he can be a game manager type and keep us competitive.  Not expecting him to tear it up, but I hope he can be competent.  Having more running ability will help.

I also think the red shirt will come off Dobbs if he stinks it up, but IDK.

Peterman will kill it and be the QB of the future.  Folks will look back on this as a key moment in Tennessee history.   

Just ask yourself one question: When Peterman fumbled at Ole Miss, were you surprised? Was anyone surprised? The entire football-watching western world knew that was coming.

When Peterman entered the game, I turned to my father and said, "I will bet you money RIGHT NOW that he fumbles or throws an interception on this series." It's just who he is.

Well you got me on that one, because I didn't even realize he fumbled.  I am just tired of all the "football geniuses" who see a player go a few downs and automatically decide he sucks for life.  It takes time to really tell.

If Peterman does play most of the first half against bammer, we will see how he does against what is likely the second best D we play after Ole Miss.  Like I said, he completed three consecutive passes on the first series against uga, which whistled over the head of many observers. 

But not everyone is as astute as me, so....

Yeah, and/or maybe their doddering coach will check himself into a place that regularly changes his Depends and the new guy will be in over his head and we will smoke them.

One thing is certain...by 2016 the younger guys playing now will be juniors and seniors and we will have two top five recruiting classes and hopefully 3 in the system.  Hopefully we will have a good proven QB as well.

It will be a very different Tennessee...trust me. 

I expected we would beat Florida and get 6 wins after the first 3 games this season...The Offense from coaches to players is just killing us.

 

I will go back to Mizzou only scoring 13 on offense...other than bammer, UF D has played well and even in the bammer game it was close late in the third until a turnover switched the mo and UF folded like a cheap card table.  Unfortunately we just....barely...didn't do enough to make them fold, IMO.

I am not excusing the loss...we should have won.  I am saying it's not a complete disaster for me as I expected to to be close and hinge on a few plays, and it did.  Yes we should have beaten them, no we should not have dominated them.  IMO....

I would give my left jewel for Bama to have a disastrous game and for all the breaks to go in our favor.

star

Sad thing is...we never beat MustardChump and I'm sure they'll upgrade with the next hire. We might not ever beat the bastards.   

The next guy might also not be any good, and even if is, will need at least a year to turn it around IMO.  Even Satan struggled his first year with the red team.

Further, I have faith that Butch will have a better product on the field next season (even with a new QB), and that we will be VERY competitive in 2016.

I am not going to predict that Butch will lead us back to being a premier program or even win the SEC, but I guarantee you we will present a much tougher nut to crack in 2016.   

Another thing...Dobbs hasn't played all year and Peterman has.  Simply makes no sense to stick Dobbs in their cold.

If Worley is unable to go, then to me the best thing is let Peterman start and if he totally blows it put Dobbs in.  I would give Peterman at least the first quarter, maybe a bit more. 

That's just my $ 0.02.

And let me add...even Peyton would probably look awful behind this line.  Shuler might be better since he was a heck of a runner.   

How about we just put AJ/Pig/EvB/whomever back there and run some version of the Wildcat on every play?  Probably have more success doing that than with either Peterman or Dobbs at QB. 

I see no reason we can't try some of that anyway, even if Worley starts.

I've seen nothing that makes me think Peterman can lead a scoring drive before turning the ball over, much less win an SEC game of any kind. Dobbs is at least a threat with his legs. It's been suggested that the same is true for Peterman but we have never seen much evidence suggesting that this is the case: 14 career carries for 15 career yards. He's also had two fumbled handoffs (each credited to the RB), a fumble of his own, two more fumbles that UT managed to recover, and an interception-- five turnovers either partly or fully his and two more balls on the ground-- in less than two halves of football. That's equal to the number of passes he has completed, FWIW.

Dobbs was no world-beater last year and by all accounts has struggled with accuracy in practice this year, but he's clearly our best option after Worley IMO.

And again, one cluster fizzle half in the Swamp on the road as a true frosh and 3 series between the hedges as a sophomore do not a large sample make.  I need more evidence before I sign off on whether Peterman is hopeless or even that Dobbs is better.  Dobbs had six full games last year, and although he wasn't terrible, he was very mediocre, could not seem to throw long and generally the offense had trouble moving the ball.

~24 quarters vs. 5 quarters...I want to see more of Peterman before I arbitrarily decide he's hopeless.

Yes, he has been a turnover machine, but I don't think the uga fumble was his fault, and almost all the other turnovers were against Florida.

Who cares what Auburn fans think.  I like it.