My thoughts on Jeremy Pruitt...

[Hollerboy]

My analysis of Jeremy Pruitt...
He reminds me of Fulmer in a way...When we hired him, I wondered why nobody else was offering him a head coaching job. When Fulmer left, nobody significant offered him a job. What I see in Pruitt is this: he was a good defensive coach in places where he had great talent. I don't think he is particularly gifted intellectually as a brilliant defensive mind. Fulmer wasn't an intellectually gifted individual either, but he had really good offensive and defensive coordinators and was a relentless recruiter. It worked...until it didn't. Pruitt has a good offensive coordinator now... And we scored enough points to win, but without superior defensive talent, he can't coach them up or develop any sort of innovative game plan to compensate for the lower level of talent. He just doesn't have the capacity to overcome mediocre to poor talent  with innovation, game planning or creativity. It's not his fault. The worst part of the equation is that Fulmer hired him and will not fire him for about four years, no matter how poorly he does. I don't expect Chaney to stay more than a year. Maybe we regroup and win a bunch of games this season and I will be eating crow.... But does anyone here want to make a bet? I doubt there is a UT fan one who will bet against me. So, we will likely go 5-7 and miss the bowl season. Recruiting momentum will crash, Chaney may leave, and the nightmare will continue.  We are talking about a loss to Georgia State. I don't think I am overstating how horrible this loss was. Is the sky falling? Every indication is... Yes.

[Black Diamond Vol]

I’d take 5-7 and run with it at this point.

We should beat UTC (but no guarantees), and UAB looks 50/50 at best. But find me another win. We’ll be underdogs against everyone else on the schedule.

[Cobbvol]

Pruitt needs to take over defensive calls during the game. Derrick Ansley is not ready for that responsibility and this program is not in a position to allow him to learn on the job.

[VinnieVOL]

I guess the question is... Which way does the season go from here?  Is it really that bad and are we gonna be lucky to win 3 games all year?

Or did we just overlook them and get caught with our pants down?

Both are inexcusable, for sure... But imo there's just no way we're truly that bad.  Surely not.

[Cobbvol]

Surprisingly and to be honest, I think we win this weekend.

[FLVOL]

Surprisingly and to be honest, I think we win this weekend.

Same. Good to see you again Cobb

[murfvol]

I think we have an o.k. roster, a proven OC, and proven DC (Pruitt). Surely that combination is good for a few wins.

Gonna be tough with atrocious DL and OL play though.

[BanditVol]

I guess the question is... Which way does the season go from here?  Is it really that bad and are we gonna be lucky to win 3 games all year?

Or did we just overlook them and get caught with our pants down?

Both are inexcusable, for sure... But imo there's just no way we're truly that bad.  Surely not.

I was driving to Knoxville right before the game, not to attend, but to go to a family reunion, and I heard Troy Fleming and eric Ainge on the pregame show repeatedly talk about the beat down that was about to occur, how the Vols really could just show up and win this one, etc.  I myself, as you know, called it a scrimmage, so I am just as guilty.

But thinking about it in retrospect, 2-10 or no, Georgia State has been FBS for 6 years, thus they are a cut above FCS teams, which we can just show up and beat.

And before a certain long-time poster on here can once again accuse me of "polishing the turd", I am not in any way excusing this loss or trying to make G State something they are not, which is a very bad FBS team, or at any rate they were last year (they may well make a bowl this year, they are sure to get momentum from this win  ).  So maybe expectations of 50-7 were overblown, but we should still have solidly defeated them.

What I AM saying is that a part, and probably a big part of the problem was that our staff and players had the same attitude, and underestimated them, and in fact thought all they had to do was show up.  Georgia State is not in fact UT-Martin, they are a cut above, and if you don't show up respecting them, well anything can happen, and did.

Mizzou lost to Wyoming, MSU survived a scare against Louisiana, and the cocks lost to UNC, so it wasn't just us.  Having said that, our game was definitely  the worst of any of those.   

[Coupe De VOL]

I was driving to Knoxville right before the game, not to attend, but to go to a family reunion, and I heard Troy Fleming and eric Ainge on the pregame show repeatedly talk about the beat down that was about to occur, how the Vols really could just show up and win this one, etc.  I myself, as you know, called it a scrimmage, so I am just as guilty.

But thinking about it in retrospect, 2-10 or no, Georgia State has been FBS for 6 years, thus they are a cut above FCS teams, which we can just show up and beat.

And before a certain long-time poster on here can once again accuse me of "polishing the turd", I am not in any way excusing this loss or trying to make G State something they are not, which is a very bad FBS team, or at any rate they were last year (they may well make a bowl this year, they are sure to get momentum from this win  ).  So maybe expectations of 50-7 were overblown, but we should still have solidly defeated them.

What I AM saying is that a part, and probably a big part of the problem was that our staff and players had the same attitude, and underestimated them, and in fact thought all they had to do was show up.  Georgia State is not in fact UT-Martin, they are a cut above, and if you don't show up respecting them, well anything can happen, and did.

Mizzou lost to Wyoming, MSU survived a scare against Louisiana, and the cocks lost to UNC, so it wasn't just us.  Having said that, our game was definitely  the worst of any of those.   

Ga St was ranked 122 last year by the Massey composite rankings...I think that is just Div I - If you add IAA (F the new terminology), they rank like 166.  They were absolutely routed by Memphis last year.  I thought we could definitely struggle against them, b/c they were a lot better 2 years ago, but I never thought we would lose this one until they scored that 2nd TD.  This was the worst Vol upset since beyond the N Texas St debacle, IMO.  This was worse than losing to Wyoming in 2008 (Massey comp ranked the Cowboys #99 that year, we were 61.)  It remains to be seen if Ga St is a whole lot better than last year, but Jeez.

What other upsets compare?

Memphis in 96...
Duke in '82....
N. Texas was a decent team.

I'm not counting any SEC game, but maybe you have to go all the way back to 1958 when we lost to FSU, who only beat one team with a winning record that year:  5-4-1 VPI.

[volsboy]

Is it too early to declare Pruitt is in over his head more than Jones was? At least Jones did have respectable recruiting classes. Our next class will be a struggle for Pruitt.

[volsboy]

According to some UGa fans Chaney is overrated as well. He was a good coordinator at UGa with some of the most talented offensive players they've had there ever. I don't disagree too much.

[Tnphil]

Chaney was a good OC at Purdue and he was a good OC here under Kiffin and Dooley with not much talent under Dooley and a good OC at UGA. Every school that has a coach leave to go somewhere else says....Hell he wasn't that good anyway. A great QB can also make OC's look good...we don't have a great QB or even a above average QB. If you can't make the defense respect your QB you are in trouble. Hell, we have a QB that wasn't smart enough on a QB sneak with 4 over the center and 9 crowding the LOS to check out of it or call a TO....That's something you teach a high school QB. That was a huge turning point in the game.

[Creek Walker]

According to some UGa fans Chaney is overrated as well. He was a good coordinator at UGa with some of the most talented offensive players they've had there ever. I don't disagree too much.

Clearly, you have forgotten our 2012 offense, which was one of our most prolific of the last 20 years.

[volsboy]

Clearly, you have forgotten our 2012 offense, which was one of our most prolific of the last 20 years.

Yep...at least they did beat Ga State in 2012. Also lost 7 games.

[volsboy]

Yep...at least they did beat Ga State in 2012. Also lost 7 games.

If the 2012 team had any defense at all they would have been very tough to beat.