VTTW Board Index

country. It has to be true, Finebaum said it on his show. This team just needs to learn or be taught to win. I am coming around to be a fan of Jones. Can he teach this group to win. They have to win these games. I just want an SEC championship. The rest will take care of itself. An SEC title almost guarantees a spot in the playoff.

Good night.  That's one of the stupidest cliches in sports - almost as stupid as the "we are X plays away from being undefeated". 

Best 4 loss team in America.  Do they give participation trophies for that?   :frown:

Almost as stupid as if we had a kicker who could kick, it may have made a difference in the gaytor and bama game????

Have you ever been on a football field to see what a 50 yard FG looks like from the kickers point of view?

If that's what your job is, it doesn't matter what a 50 yard FG looks like....Coach Jones has watched our
kicker warm up from beyond the 50 as has other members of this board. Coach has confidence in the kicker that he can make it so, it's performance based and our kicker is not performing worth  a shizzle right now!

Butch says he makes those kicks in practice....That's the main reason he puts him out there. If he can do it in practice he needs to hit some in games.

He generally has the distance but lacks accuracy, which is a dam shame

Medley has the yips. He has the leg strength but it has now become mental.

In losses as close as ours, there are probably several things in each game that could have turned it our favor. But a missed field goal (or field goals) usually stands out as the reason we lost. Hopefully we won't need him to make any more 50 yarders and he can clear his mind.

The first thing he needs to do is stop trying to over kick every kick. He's got the leg but he's trying to kill his kicks. His balance is off....if your balance is off it's a wing and a prayer if you make it.

love the MORONS on VQ who say put Bullock in, not realizing, since they NEVER go to games, that if he were the kicker we would not of attempted the two 51 yard FGs as he has nowhere near the range that Medley has.  Even the 43 yard attempt would be iffy

I think this sentiment is better expressed by saying this team competes. They've been in every game. While the losses have been painful they've certainly not been embarrassing.

 I expect us to win out. That being said, I expected us to only lose to Ok, UGa and Bama  and maybe Mizzou.I said 8-4. Now we should get an W at Mizzou. What if we don't win out, does that change anything about your perception in Jones as a coach. We will be favored in all of these games? After the Arky game, 7-5 looked probable though.

Saw a stat of ESPN college football show yesterday that said we have a 51% chance of winning the rest of our games.

That's what their FPI says. If you use Massey's numbers it's about 46%. Either way that's actually a very high number, and it shows how front-loaded our schedule was (toughest in the country by many measures).

The only other teams that have such a strong chance of winning out are Boise and Appy State. Most teams are under 20%.

I don't see a discussion about where this team ranks among 4-loss teams as being a cliche so much as being a fair assessment of what this team's potential is and where the rebuilding effort stands in the grand scheme of things. There are no participation trophies for being close, but it's still a fair and valid discussion. In 2014 we were 3-4 at this same point and we knew it was going to be a challenge to get to 6-6 and bowl eligibility; we knew we would have to upset someone somewhere along the way. In 2013 we were actually 4-3 at this point and, again, we knew we would have to upset someone for bowl eligibility. This year, we know we just have to take care of business and we'll not only achieve bowl eligibility but potentially qualify for a bowl game that carries a bit more luster. Part of that is because of the SOS in the final half of the season, sure. But it's also a valid discussion in terms of where we rank among the rest of the SEC. In 2013 and 2014 we weren't close to being on the same page with top-tier SEC teams. This year we've had fourth quarter leads in three of the four games we've lost and led by two touchdowns in the first half of the other game. That bodes very well for 2015, provided our coaching staff continues to progress. The fact that this is the best 3-4 team I've ever seen means that while we aren't going to achieve many of our goals this year, our reasonable expectations for next season can be much higher than they were going into last season and even this season.

I feel talent wise and on field wise we should be 6-1 right now. Coaching wise, sadly we are about where we should be. Coaching cost us those three games no matter how you spin it. If we lose any of these last five games, what will be the reason, and how will it be explained? Somebody convince me that the 3 teams besides Bama that we lost to, are better than us. Same thing last year, what would have been the result if Dobbs played from game one. From what I have seen, his worst game has been better than any of the QB's that played last years best game. He can recruit. Belicheck he is not. I am good with that though. But how many more free passes is he going to get? Would a better game-day coach have won some of these games this year? He is what we have so I am gonna try to believe in him. Kiffin lost to Bama because of FG's too. How ironic?

This Vols team works hard and plays hard. They don't know the word quit like we've seen in the past under other coaches. I do believe that this team really should be undefeated at this point and I do believe the reason for the losses to Oklahoma and Florida are due to poor decisions by that coaching staff. They to must learn to close out games just as the players do. I also agree that the Vols should win out and there is no reason for them not too. Next year the Vols will be an even bigger load to handle.