Can we now agree that Arkansas is a must-win?

[Creek Walker]

Some disagreed that Florida was a must-win game for Butch but I would hope that most of us agree that Arkansas is a must-win game. This team is so freaking close to being a major contender in college football, the obvious issues on the offensive side of the ball not withstanding. We've dominated two Top 25 teams for the first half and we're two plays away from being undefeated and being ranked among the top 15 teams in the nation. Yet, because of repeated coaching blunders, the state of the Big Orange Nation is a complete cluster. I consider myself to be pretty rational, as fans go, but I'm sick to death of "brick-by-brick" and "Team 119" and all the other isms. Go ahead and add "trust the process" to that list. I'll start trusting the process when my coach stops blowing smoke up my arse by talking about "standard" charts and blaming the situation instead of taking a little blame himself.

If Arkansas walks out of Neyland Stadium with a win this week, go ahead and put out some behind-the-scenes feelers, because Butch Jones is going to be a dead man walking.

I can understand why some people are still in full support of Jones. On many levels, I still very much want him to be successful at Tennessee — partly because we can't afford another coaching search for a few years and partly because he's a genuinely likable coach. But if Tennessee were to miss bowl eligibility — don't laugh; it's very possible — I don't see how anyone can say "trust the process" or "he needs more time" with a straight face. You don't take a step backwards with a roster that is more talented and more experienced, with an easier schedule. That isn't a process; that's disaster. And if Tennessee can't beat Arkansas, we're going to have to start facing up to the reality that this season could very well go down as a disaster.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Yes, it is.  And Arky looked at lot better (albeit in another loss) on Saturday, so this may not be the layup we thought it would be last week.

But for Butch, this is an "everything to lose, nothing to gain" game.  A win over Arkansas isn't going to help his standing with the fans.  He can only begin to repair that relationship by winning at least one of the NEXT two games.

[VOLMAN]

lack is a passing game and declaring it a "must win" isn't going to transform Dobbs into a passer and until we get one we will see more of the OU and UF defensive schemes and unfortunately probably much more disappointment. Being one dimensional makes it too easy on the opponents D and much too difficult for our O. Hurd was working like he did last year for 3 measly yards far too often because the opponent doesn't have to respect the passing threat.     

[Volznut]

Honestly FL was a must win. Now we have basically no room for error or we're starting at 6-6 or 7-5, which would be a major disappointment for this team and really hurt recruiting. Recruiting has already been hurt now as Butch Jones is being destroyed in the national media - can't say he doesn't deserve it after blowing 2 leads like he has done against Oklahoma and Florida.

Arkansas is a must win for CBJ to hold on to some fans. If he loses that game he'd lose about 80-90% of the fans, including me.

[Volznut]

Yes, it is.  And Arky looked at lot better (albeit in another loss) on Saturday, so this may not be the layup we thought it would be last week.

But for Butch, this is an "everything to lose, nothing to gain" game.  A win over Arkansas isn't going to help his standing with the fans.  He can only begin to repair that relationship by winning at least one of the NEXT two games.

Not a layup at all, Arkansas brings a much better offense into Neyland, but their defense has not played very well this year.

[Creek Walker]

Honestly FL was a must win. Now we have basically no room for error or we're starting at 6-6 or 7-5, which would be a major disappointment for this team and really hurt recruiting. Recruiting has already been hurt now as Butch Jones is being destroyed in the national media - can't say he doesn't deserve it after blowing 2 leads like he has done against Oklahoma and Florida.

Arkansas is a must win for CBJ to hold on to some fans. If he loses that game he'd lose about 80-90% of the fans, including me.

Agree with all that.

[BanditVol]

I agree that it's time to stop sloganeering and start winning, and that we should start this weekend.

One point I'll push back on is Jones not taking responsibility.  After the OU loss, he straight up said it was his fault:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/college/story/2015/sep/15/butch-jones-i-take-responsibility-tennessees/325152/

"As the head football coach, I am responsible for the losses. I take responsibility," he said. "

I would be surprised if he doesn't say something similar today.  What puzzles me is that you and others seem to think he is dodging responsibility.   

I am going to guess that it's because instead of, for instance, in the case of the two point conversion, just saying "I wish I had that one back", he instead tried to explain and/or rationalize it in the post game presser?

If so I understand fan's frustration with that.  I would say that Jones needs to consider his post-game remarks more carefully, no matter how gut-wrenching the loss or how unprepared he might be, because fans do notice these things.  When you have made several questionable calls in a game you had won, be careful what you say, right?

He should address this in the media and say he'd do something different there if given the chance, and also offer some mea culpa's for the other questionable decisions.  Otherwise fans will stay pissed (well they will stay pissed no matter what, but at least he won't fan the flames.   )

As for the Arkansas game...we had better win!  Period, dot.

[VinnieVOL]

I, like most others, thought UF was a must win.  I knew it was a very real possibility we would lose but I never would've imagined the complete coaching disaster that occurred in the 4th qtr. 

Even with all the heartbreakers we've had over the past several years, none have hurt this bad since the 2001 SECC game.

This Ark game I think will tell us which way our season will go.  How will they respond?  We'll find out if 9-4 (or better) is still reachable or if the season is going in the gutter.  I think Butch gets next year either way, but boy this fanbase is at a fever pitch right now (rightfully so).  Is beating UGA or Bama the only thing he could do to quieten the roar at this point?  Because even at 9-4 we'll still say what we've been saying, "no signature wins, he can't win big games".

[Creek Walker]

I, like most others, thought UF was a must win.  I knew it was a very real possibility we would lose but I never would've imagined the complete coaching disaster that occurred in the 4th qtr. 

Even with all the heartbreakers we've had over the past several years, none have hurt this bad since the 2001 SECC game.

This Ark game I think will tell us which way our season will go.  How will they respond?  We'll find out if 9-4 (or better) is still reachable or if the season is going in the gutter.  I think Butch gets next year either way, but boy this fanbase is at a fever pitch right now (rightfully so).  Is beating UGA or Bama the only thing he could do to quieten the roar at this point?  Because even at 9-4 we'll still say what we've been saying, "no signature wins, he can't win big games".

I said last week that a loss over UF would cause Butch to lose a significant portion of the fanbase and only a win over UGA or Bama would rope them back in, and I still think that. Like BDV said, this is a nothing-to-gain, everything-to-lose game for Butch.

[VOLMAN]

he represents the university well and he's a likable guy....but after this week I have serious doubts about his coaching ability. It appears to me that he learned absolutely nothing from OU, everyone knew UF would watch that game and dare Dobbs to throw and yet he did nothing to implement passes that could help Dobbs be productive and relieve pressure on the run game. Throw in the total clock/game management at the end I really wonder if he has the understanding and know-how to coach at this level.     

[Tnphil]

he represents the university well and he's a likable guy....but after this week I have serious doubts about his coaching ability. It appears to me that he learned absolutely nothing from OU, everyone knew UF would watch that game and dare Dobbs to throw and yet he did nothing to implement passes that could help Dobbs be productive and relieve pressure on the run game. Throw in the total clock/game management at the end I really wonder if he has the understanding and know-how to coach at this level.     

I think 90% of the fan base shares your thoughts.

[PirateVOL]

he represents the university well and he's a likable guy....but after this week I have serious doubts about his coaching ability. It appears to me that he learned absolutely nothing from OU, everyone knew UF would watch that game and dare Dobbs to throw and yet he did nothing to implement passes that could help Dobbs be productive and relieve pressure on the run game. Throw in the total clock/game management at the end I really wonder if he has the understanding and know-how to coach at this level.     

the first pass was a quick flare pass, bad throw,'incomplete
The 1st sack was supposed to be a quick pass (I haven't seen the replay,'based on observation at the game) based upon OL blocking scheme
2nd pass was to be a long pass but a) the OL broke down (as above but I believe I know where the breakdown was but will not name names here) and b) the receivers weren't open in any case
At least two other times in the first half there were receivers open but poor OL play

In the 2nd half the 0L pass blocked better over all but Dobbs again had issues with accuracy.' One play in front of me was a good example: Josh was lined up wide with a slot inside him. Mthey ran a very nice cmbination route against the zone and Josh is wide open in the open area of the zone for an easy first down and maybe more (just a safety behind him) but the pass was badly overthrown.

Inthink the entire offensive game plan was well thought out and gave Dobbs every opportunity but a combination of factors prevented "apparent"'success though I would submit that the yards and points we racked up are evidence f success. Mcould we second guess specific calls?  Why yes but the offense nor the offensive caching lost the game IMO.

One nit I have is that we had to use Wolf too much in pass protection.  He is a weapon, as we observed in the 4th quarter. Ngoni need good tackle play for slants and we were not getting that from either side Saturday.

IMO there are three things holding back the passing game: 1) poor OL play, 2) poor WR play and 3)Dobbs lack of accuracy.' Play calling around all three is a challenge

Hurd ran better than the OL blocked

Two things holding back

[BanditVol]

the first pass was a quick flare pass, bad throw,'incomplete
The 1st sack was supposed to be a quick pass (I haven't seen the replay,'based on observation at the game) based upon OL blocking scheme
2nd pass was to be a long pass but a) the OL broke down (as above but I believe I know where the breakdown was but will not name names here) and b) the receivers weren't open in any case
At least two other times in the first half there were receivers open but poor OL play

In the 2nd half the 0L pass blocked better over all but Dobbs again had issues with accuracy.' One play in front of me was a good example: Josh was lined up wide with a slot inside him. Mthey ran a very nice cmbination route against the zone and Josh is wide open in the open area of the zone for an easy first down and maybe more (just a safety behind him) but the pass was badly overthrown.

Inthink the entire offensive game plan was well thought out and gave Dobbs every opportunity but a combination of factors prevented "apparent"'success though I would submit that the yards and points we racked up are evidence f success. Mcould we second guess specific calls?  Why yes but the offense nor the offensive caching lost the game IMO.

One nit I have is that we had to use Wolf too much in pass protection.  He is a weapon, as we observed in the 4th quarter. Ngoni need good tackle play for slants and we were not getting that from either side Saturday.

IMO there are three things holding back the passing game: 1) poor OL play, 2) poor WR play and 3)Dobbs lack of accuracy.' Play calling around all three is a challenge

Hurd ran better than the OL blocked

Two things holding back

Piling up 254 rush yards against this D was impressive, even if a lot of them were Dobbs scrambles on broken plays (though some of his long runs were called also).  It's just a dam shame that we wasted it  

[PirateVOL]

It didn't help that, IMO, our best receiver didn't play

[BanditVol]

It didn't help that, IMO, our best receiver didn't play

Agree.  He seems to be the only one Dobbs has any chemistry with at all. I hope he comes back.

With a name like "Pig" he'd better be available for Arkansas.   

Heard on another board that he's "day to day".  Ankle injuries are tough for WRs though.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

I agree that it's time to stop sloganeering and start winning, and that we should start this weekend.

One point I'll push back on is Jones not taking responsibility.  After the OU loss, he straight up said it was his fault:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/college/story/2015/sep/15/butch-jones-i-take-responsibility-tennessees/325152/

"As the head football coach, I am responsible for the losses. I take responsibility," he said. "

I would be surprised if he doesn't say something similar today.  What puzzles me is that you and others seem to think he is dodging responsibility.   

I am going to guess that it's because instead of, for instance, in the case of the two point conversion, just saying "I wish I had that one back", he instead tried to explain and/or rationalize it in the post game presser?

If so I understand fan's frustration with that.  I would say that Jones needs to consider his post-game remarks more carefully, no matter how gut-wrenching the loss or how unprepared he might be, because fans do notice these things.  When you have made several questionable calls in a game you had won, be careful what you say, right?

He should address this in the media and say he'd do something different there if given the chance, and also offer some mea culpa's for the other questionable decisions.  Otherwise fans will stay pissed (well they will stay pissed no matter what, but at least he won't fan the flames.   )

As for the Arkansas game...we had better win!  Period, dot.

I would suggest that Jones took responsibility only after being questioned about taking responsibility.  During the OU press conference, as I remember, he took no such stance.   If I am wrong on that, I will readily accept that I am mistaken.

I saw the same thing happen this Saturday.  In the press conference, instead of owning the mistakes, he offered explanations as to why the coaching decisions that were made were correct.  He suggested that the problems were simply with players not making plays (indeed, there were ample opportunities for our athletes to put the game away - the players are also responsible for executing when the opportunity is presented).

I want him to accept the mistakes, take responsibility for them, and correct them.  If people do not 'own' their mistakes, they will not make a move to correct them. 

I don't want him to try to pull the wool over my eyes and tell me why the problem was simply with players not making plays.  Coaches need to put players in the best positions to make those plays. too.

[BanditVol]

I would suggest that Jones took responsibility only after being questioned about taking responsibility.  During the OU press conference, as I remember, he took no such stance.   If I am wrong on that, I will readily accept that I am mistaken.

I saw the same thing happen this Saturday.  In the press conference, instead of owning the mistakes, he offered explanations as to why the coaching decisions that were made were correct.  He suggested that the problems were simply with players not making plays (indeed, there were ample opportunities for our athletes to put the game away - the players are also responsible for executing when the opportunity is presented).

I want him to accept the mistakes, take responsibility for them, and correct them.  If people do not 'own' their mistakes, they will not make a move to correct them. 

I don't want him to try to pull the wool over my eyes and tell me why the problem was simply with players not making plays.  Coaches need to put players in the best positions to make those plays. too.

He made a very similar statement after OU.

He does need to quit sounding like he thinks he always made the right decision, if in fact that's how it comes across.  I wouldn't know I have not heard his post game pressers.

[Hog Mike]

Not a layup at all, Arkansas brings a much better offense into Neyland, but their defense has not played very well this year.

Nope. And we're killing ourselves with penalties at the worst possible time. aTm will attest to that after we assumed to have them on their heels