VTTW Board Index

I almost gave up on the Vols and Derek Dooley. My fanship this season has had more ups and downs than the stock market. I firmly believed that Tennessee would lose to Vandy this past Saturday and I had already started believing in my mind that Dooley had lost some of the team and that the loss to Vandy would be followed by a "come-apart" at Kentucky.

Amazing how one win over Vandy can change someone's entire perspective on things.

That being said, we still have to show up and play reasonably well to make sure we beat Kentucky. They will come out jacked up as it will be senior day and this is their bowl game.

I know for sure that this win makes it easier to be a mid-stater. I love it when you force a team to say "What are you proud of? We suck!" which is basically what I'm hearing today.

My fanship this season has had more ups and downs than the stock market.

That about nails it for everyone including me. I had my first few doubts after Arkie to be honest thou I keep them very quite since I have one of biggest pro Dooley supporters and very loud about it to anyone that would listen. One week One W and I am all good again. I don't care who was across the field that was a big game feel.

There were some strange play calls and clock mismanagement, but what I liked is that the team was definitely mentally ready, even after the 0-6 SEC record coming in.

I am not convinced that Chaney's style is very effective in real SEC games.

I can see that opinion on Chaney. I would like to see him have a full complement of weapons in a real SEC game before I make that my final judgment. Chaney more than anyone else has been hamstrung with the injuries.

The thing that bothers me and will always bother me until we get it fixed is the constant timeouts on offense because we don't have the play call in on time or we have too many or too few men on the field. It seems like we call 2 or 3 such timeouts per game.

I only had one up cycle and that was early before Hunter got hurt. Since then my optimism and enthusiasm has been on a steady decline except for when Bray got hurt and then it took a nose dive. I feel a little better since we beat Vandy (ain't that sad?) and hope maybe now the monkey is off their back and they will play better against UK.

My enthusiasm will likely not return until next year. I hope we get a bowl because the guys could use the work but we still have so many holes there is no way to fill them all by next year. I have watched every game this year and I still hope we can turn it around some next year but who knows? I sincerely hope the bad luck worm has turned away from us on that last call of the game. I just knew we gonna lose another game on a technicality in the rule book that benefits the other team and screws us. That kinda stuff happens every once in a great while but not to the same freaking team!  :frown:

What a difference Bray makes.

It has been a tough year, but look at what all has happened.  Outside of the three top teams in the country, we have been competitive in every other game...and that is with all the injuries.  I firmly believe we would have beaten the cocks with Bray and UGA with Hunter, maybe even UF with Hunter.  Our schedule was awful this year, not to mention the fact that we have played 21 freshman, 16 of which are True Freshman this year.

I know people are sick of losing, me included, but everyone has to give Dooley some time.  I don't know if he is the right coach or not, but he inherited a mess and our schedule was the toughest it has been in years, not to mention all the other issues, i.e. injuries, etc.  Let's wait and judge him when he has a full complement of players, that aren't true freshman.

The one thing that I noticed Saturday was this team is so much more confident with Bray playing.  The OL played better, the running game was effective, and we can throw down the field.  Rodgers made a hell of a catch and I can't wait to see him, Hunter, and Arnett playing together next year.

Ahem!  You left out "Lyn was right".   :angel:

Were you right when you said that Justin Wilcox should be fired?  :rolleyes: :laugh:

Yes of course I was...at the time...and IMO the jury is still out on that.  I am not a big fan of his.

Agreed. Every SEC game Chaney called they plays did not have either Hunter, Bray, or both in the huddle. Hard to judge without the relied upon weapons on the field. 

The jury is out on the entire staff, for sure.

But, he is no more culpable than any other staff member... they are all battling the same challenges with inexperience and youth. No way Wilcox deserves to be fired. None other than our favorite son says that Wilcox is a superstar in the making.

Wilcox's bend-but-don't-break defensive philosophy drives me nuts when teams are passing up and down the field on us. But at the end of every game I look back and have to say, well, it worked. There are exceptions, of course, but our defense played well enough for us to win 8 games this year.

I saw a lot more aggression on defense Saturday night, something I haven't seen since the Chief was fired. 
We got burned once due to that aggression but we really shut down the candy offense as a result.  Candy lived on our side of the field in the 1st and 3rd quarters and realy got 2 TDs (one 7 yarder after the 1st pick and the other after a 28 yard punt (burned Wilks (Wilks played well otherwise, sometimes when you play as aggressive, as we were, singe marks appear) when we went zero cover on an all out blitz - the corner got to the QB just as he threw)
Yes, when it was 2nd or 3rd and long we kept them in front of us but when they needed a 1st down we were covering tight in the secondary.  Yeah they hit a couple of quick slants but the coverage was very good on both, just good throws.  Also, PWag's pick was on a similar quick slant, he under cut it.

 

That was a very good play by him. He has good instincts he just isn't the most physically gifted person.

Is this the same favorite son that wanted Cut hired as head coach??  I am the first to admit I am reactionary and emotional - I just don't know if he gets SEC football...and we tackle like shizzle. 

Yes same favorite son.

I'm just distracting you from asking me to say those three words you want me to say. ;)

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Joey Matthews? :toothless:

No, Benji Shuler.

Y'all are acting like James Franklin  :wave:

You take that back.  :wtf:

OK  :kiss2:

I agree about beating those teams.  Completely healthy, we are at least 7-5, maybe 8-4 or even 9-3.  I actually think it more likely we beat the gators than the dawgs though.  And write this down...I think we almost certainly beat the gators next year.  IMO, Muschamp is a disaster and we get them at home.

Generally agree with most of the rest of what you say as well.  I watched my DVR last night (I previously watched the game from a distance in a bar and at the home of a friend...could not see details), and IMO the OL played much more focused and with greater aggression.  Both of which IMO are 100% mental.  If they maintain that same mental attitude, they can close the year out strong and go into next year with the potential to be something really special.  It's up them.
The orange dog works!    :thumbup: