Feeling Delusionally Optimistic

[murfvol]

I'm expecting 9 wins, not greatness, but speak now if I should lower expectations. Aside from obvious concerns with QB depth, LB and RB are the only places an injury could cause a sizeable dropoff.

[LouisVOL]

Pitt-Fla-LSU-Ky. I would like to say I have confidence we can go 3-1, but I have got to see the defense on the field first.

[Tnphil]

Unless there is major improvement from the defense....IMO, I see 7-5 with maybe 8-4. That was one of the worst defenses I've ever witnessed....on any division level. Our quick paced offense....quick score or quick 3 and out doesn't help....We might outscore the KYs....USCs....Mizzous....but it's not going to beat the big boys....Again, IMO.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Unless there is major improvement from the defense....IMO, I see 7-5 with maybe 8-4. That was one of the worst defenses I've ever witnessed....on any division level. Our quick paced offense....quick score or quick 3 and out doesn't help....We might outscore the KYs....USCs....Mizzous....but it's not going to beat the big boys....Again, IMO.

Under CJH, we’re never going to have a bammer type defense that produces a bunch of 3&outs and gets off the field. They’re going to give up points and yardage. What they need to be is more opportunistic. Turnovers and TFLs. I think the why you’re seeing a renewed recruiting emphasis on DBs and edge rushers. We couldn’t even sniff the QB without selling out on blitzes last year. We have to get more pressure out of our base defense. That’s the key to the season, IMO.

[volsboy]

Defense, Defense, Defense. If we can play any this year we can maybe beat any team not named Georgia or Alabama. They are just better at every position than we are for all intents and purposes. Plus depth is always an issue.

[VinnieVOL]

I’m low key really optimistic and excited, too. 

Reasons being, staff continuity and almost everyone of our offensive weapons back..most notably there is no debate of who the QB is.

Our D isn’t there yet, sure… but I’m hoping it’s good enough to beat ALL the teams we “should” beat and maybe more than one that we shouldn’t.

  

[VinnieVOL]

Under CJH, we’re never going to have a bammer type defense that produces a bunch of 3&outs and gets off the field. They’re going to give up points and yardage. What they need to be is more opportunistic. Turnovers and TFLs. I think the why you’re seeing a renewed recruiting emphasis on DBs and edge rushers. We couldn’t even sniff the QB without selling out on blitzes last year. We have to get more pressure out of our base defense. That’s the key to the season, IMO.

We also need more talent on D too, obviously.  Which is coming.

[SmokeyJoe]

Under CJH, we’re never going to have a bammer type defense that produces a bunch of 3&outs and gets off the field. They’re going to give up points and yardage. What they need to be is more opportunistic. Turnovers and TFLs. I think the why you’re seeing a renewed recruiting emphasis on DBs and edge rushers. We couldn’t even sniff the QB without selling out on blitzes last year. We have to get more pressure out of our base defense. That’s the key to the season, IMO.

Respectfully disagree. Why can't they have a 3 and out defense? I don't see the correlation to Heupel & his offense. Need better players and quality depth. Im hoping for 8-4  or 9-3 this year. 7-5 wouldn't shock me, but would be disappointing

[Black Diamond Vol]

Respectfully disagree. Why can't they have a 3 and out defense? I don't see the correlation to Heupel & his offense. Need better players and quality depth. Im hoping for 8-4  or 9-3 this year. 7-5 wouldn't shock me, but would be disappointing

Even if they start recruiting 5*s at every position, they’re still going to be on the field a lot. And with scholarship limits, they’ll never have enough depth to withstand the TOP deficit we’re going to see against most SEC teams. But if they can steal 3-4 possessions a game, either by turnover or extreme down/distance, I like our chances. Give our offense 10 possessions to our opponents’ 6, and they’ll win more times than not.

[tshadow]

I've not only seen us field worse defenses than last year... I've seen a lot of schools last year that would love to have had our defense. I'm not saying it was stellar. I'm not even saying it was good... But let's not over state our situation. Let's not forget that the reason for our current recruiting push is that we didn't lay down and play dead.

[BanditVol]

I've not only seen us field worse defenses than last year... I've seen a lot of schools last year that would love to have had our defense. I'm not saying it was stellar. I'm not even saying it was good... But let's not over state our situation. Let's not forget that the reason for our current recruiting push is that we didn't lay down and play dead.

I'm with you on this, our D was bad last year, but hardly historic.  Actually they finished bad but looked decent at times early on.

Historically bad would be the defense in 2012.  OMG that was bad.  I never want to see that again. 

[BanditVol]

so the obvious wins are Ball State, Akron, UT-Martin and Vandy.  These are games we dam better win.

We should be favored vs. Mizzou and likely USC.  Those are games we "should" win.

On paper, we should be favored vs Pittsburgh.  They lost the no. 1 drafted QB and the Biletnikoff winner at WR (!) entered the portal. I think we all know the only reason they won last year was their offense, and it's largely gone, at least on the passing side.  Supposedly their run game will be much better, but run game ain't gonna cut it vs our offense.

Kentucky will be good, but it's in Neyland and we almost always beat them.

This gets us to 8 wins.

LSU...we can beat them but it's down there and will be tough.

Uga and Bammer...forget it, we aren't in their league yet.

Florida...we....HAVE...to beat them.  (and will!)

That's nine wins.

If we drop to 8, it will be (preseason guess) Kentucky, USC, or Mizzou in that order (well, maybe swap UF for Mizzou but I don't even want to give them that much credict.

If we start 4-0, and we SHOULD, I feel good about our chances to get at least 8 wins, with 9 not being unreasonable.

 

[Tnphil]

When your defense is out there 85-90 snaps a game it's damn awful....When you can't stop Ole Miss and their QB sets his all time record running QB draws up the middle and their center was blocking our LBer's asses off for 4 complete quarters it's plain awful....When Purdue made us look like a Jr high defense it's damn awful...No pass rush...weak DL play...bad linebacker play for the most part and DB's that couldn't cover a one legged grandmother.....I coached 30 years and if you looked up piss poor defense in the dictionary there would be photos of this UT defense.....Yes 2012 was bad...really bad. But our dumb ass coach allowed a defensive cord in his first year with his butt on the line to switch to a 3-4 defense....That was dumber than than the defense was bad.....Dooley had a wish to get fired and he got it.

[BanditVol]

When your defense is out there 85-90 snaps a game it's damn awful....When you can't stop Ole Miss and their QB sets his all time record running QB draws up the middle and their center was blocking our LBer's asses off for 4 complete quarters it's plain awful....When Purdue made us look like a Jr high defense it's damn awful...No pass rush...weak DL play...bad linebacker play for the most part and DB's that couldn't cover a one legged grandmother.....I coached 30 years and if you looked up piss poor defense in the dictionary there would be photos of this UT defense.....Yes 2012 was bad...really bad. But our dumb ass coach allowed a defensive cord in his first year with his butt on the line to switch to a 3-4 defense....That was dumber than than the defense was bad.....Dooley had a wish to get fired and he got it.

I think Dooley was already fired, and likely knew it.  Recall that 8/9 assistants left voluntarily after 2011.  They saw the hand-writing on the wall. Only Chaney stayed.

I agree that Ole Miss and Purdue were bad, particularly Purdue.  But at times the D did pretty well in other games.  In 2012 they were uniformly bad in every game.  That makes a difference to me.

[Tnphil]

2021 Defense....Some of you folks had to be drunk watching that crap to think it was OK defense. We have to improve 100% to be a average SEC defense right now. We have some guys with experience now over last year but we are a few injuries away from being bad again....Getting some speed but still lacking in that department...Some edge pass rushers will help the back end.........................A lot
  
103rd in the nation in 3rd-down defense (42.1% — 52.6 in SEC games).
120th in red-zone defense (92% of opportunities converted into points).
90th in scoring defense (29.1 ppg. — 33.6 in SEC games).
99th in total defense (421.7 ypg. — 471.9 in SEC games).
122nd in pass defense (273.2 ypg.).


Enough said...

[Tnphil]

GoVols247: Copy and pasted from TOS

*We’ve made a ton of progress to this point in learning the system compared to a year ago. We’ve obviously got some new guys in the program. But we’re definitely ahead of where we were a year ago.

*I think Tyler Baron has had a good camp for us. Tamarion McDonald has done a good job, along with Jaylen McCollough and Trevon Flowers. Byron Young has taken another step. We’re excited to see all of those guys.

*Banks on #Vols’ DB starters: Obviously, we have some veterans in the secondary who have played a lot. But all of those guys have been interchangeable throughout the fall. We feel pretty good that McDonald, Flowers and McCollough will be out there.

*I think Tamarion McDonald has always been a talented kid. Every snap he took last year was an investment, and now he’s starting to see the fruit from that. We’re excited about him. He’s a big-bodied kid who can run. We think he has a chance to be a good player for us.

*Kamal Hadden has really worked hard. We’re excited to see him play next week. Christian Charles has been a warrior. His overall grasp of the package has improved greatly. Both of those guys are going to contribute.

*Banks on DB rotation: We’re going to play guys. Like I told them in the first meeting, you get what you deserve. We feel like we’ve made some strides in that area to develop some depth, but we’ll see next Thursday night who’s ready to go.

*We’re excited about Joshua Josephs and James Pearce. Those guys have been as good as advertised in terms of their athleticism and length. We anticipate them playing. I think they’ll contribute. How much? We’ll see. But we’re counting on those guys.

*I feel a ton better about the LB depth, to be honest. Juwan Mitchell has a better grasp of the defense. He’s been good. I think he’s in a good place. But with Jeremy Banks, Beasley, “Pakk” Garland and Page, we have enough guys to keep guys fresh.

*We like Wesley Walker a ton. Andre Turrentine is a bit younger, so he’s working his way through it, like most freshmen. Walker has a little bit more of a veteran mentality. We expect him to contribute, really have a chance to help this defense.

[tshadow]

The position in dispute is that last years defense was one of the worst defenses ever fielded. I disagree with that statement. You cannot then say I'm wrong because I said the team defense was good... which I did not. WHATEVER!

[BanditVol]

The position in dispute is that last years defense was one of the worst defenses ever fielded. I disagree with that statement. You cannot then say I'm wrong because I said the team defense was good... which I did not. WHATEVER!

Same here. I never said it was good. I did say they looked okay in some early games and I stick by that and can back it up with stats.

Having said that, the final stats were worse than I thought, but sadly we have "achieved" similar results multiple times in the last 12 years.  And that can be backed up also.

So to be clear, it wasn't the worst D ever, and by a pretty significant margin.

It absolutely was bad though!

Hope that clears this up.

And for the record I haven't been drunk in a long long time.    

I did get really buzzed a few weeks ago at a party with a bunch of 20-somethings.  They kept insisting that I do shots with them.  I am well past that stage.  Not really drunk though, just tipsy.