VTTW Board Index

Yes, like everyone else, I want to be "back" this year.  We are still just too young.  I have said since Kiffin was coach that 2012 would be the year we compete again. 

And one thing, though it has been mentioned somewhat, Hunter's injury this year could make us that more dangerous in 2012.  Other receivers are going to have to step up this year and get more playing time.  We are not just going to have 2 big play receivers, we are going to have 3 - 4 in 2012. 

Until we get a stud runningback, our O line toughens up and we get some playmakers on D line, we are not going to contend for the SEC ring. Dooley had better land some recruits and fast.

CW

Next year will not be the year either. We will be better than this year but still not all the way back.

We are in the midst of a MAJOR rebuilding job. It will be 2013 or 14 for us to get all the way back at a min. It is hard to play catch up when your roster has been gutted. Right now Dooley is trying to recruit a base of good players while trying to fill the holes in the dike as well. What does that mean? It means we recruit a lot of good db's one year but our lb's suck and we are still short on the d-line. Next year we will get more lb's and dl's but they will be young and it will take two or three years for them to mature enough to hold up.

It is just a vicious cycle we are in and it will take time, more time than we hoped it would. People will point to Stoops at OU, and Saban at UAT, but neither one of them inherited a roster like Dooley did. He walked into a complete mess. Heck Dooley may not ever win but it is gonna take 4 or 5 years at least to recover from the damage that was done.

Hm, well I don't think we are all the way back or even close to it, but I see significant progress from last year.  Or do any of you want Simms to play again?   :dielaughing:

I am encourage by how our young D responded at times, and still hopeful our OL will figure out the run game.  There is a lot of time left in this season.  So long as the players work hard and continue to improve, I see no reason we can't compete next year.

But fizzle that...I am still interested in this year.   :toothless:

I think we are better. I think we will be better next year, but it will be 2013 or 14  before we can realistically compete for the SECC IMHO.  I'll be glad to eat crow next year though.  :thumbup:

I think we have enough at RB now because I think Lane is going to be really good, it's the OL that must toughen up as you say. Going into the game I wondered about OL and front 7 on defense... the thing that really stinks that I never considered is that we don't have enough speed at DB.

But... I don't think we are that far away. The OL is very skilled athletically, they are just young. At least that's my hope. Either we need more time to jell or they need better coaching.

I also saw a lot of promise from the frosh LBs, although they didn't tackle well and AJ made a mental error on Rainey's TD. Those two things come with time. Their athletic ability is the kind that we need to compete.

Right now I just think playing 17 freshmen and sophomores is too much to overcome. I expect a big leap next year. But UF is really young too, so we aren't the only team who should improve.

I think the only change I'd like to see on the OL is trade a Jr for a true FR at LG.

The Jr plays at LT... Thomas is the only JR. All the others are sophs. I'm assuming you're talking about trading Bullard for Marcus Jackson, which I would support. I think Bullard is the weak link. Stone has to fix the snaps though.

My bad, I thought Bullard was a Jr, he is a RS SO.

Even with Stone's bowling for $$ Saturday I think he is better than the alternative from a blocking perspective.

Agree 100%. They don't need to replace Stone, they need to fix him. He was just rattled. That doesn't excite me, but they can fix it.

When you say "compete for the SECC" that could cover a lot of ground.  It could mean we make the the SECC or that we are mentioned as preseason faves, or are on the short list of teams expected to win it.  It could simply mean that as the season plays out, we are in the mix of teams that have a shot of winning the EAST.

I think we have a realistic shot at the last one.   Given how weak the East is this year, I would say we still have a shot but we play the worst slate of Western teams of anyone in the division, unfortunately.

I think Tennessee will be 9-3 or 10-2 in 2012,the talent gets deeper and the improvement continues