I'm a well-known pumper on here. A Butch guy. A wearer of orange-colored glasses. That said, I am admittedly having a hard time with the plain fact that coaching mistakes (playcalling on both sides of the ball, etc) cost us a game against an inferior team. A team that we needed to beat to put ourselves in prime position to win the East. A team that has dominated us but against whom we had a chance to start a streak of our own and further their descent into mediocrity. I've avoided the board as much as I can since Saturday, and it's Tuesday afternoon and I am still stick about the game. I'd like to say that I am going to take a step back and just be less of a fan because it's not worth the heartache, yada yada. But the bottom line is I'm a f*cking addict and I can't quit. I've got a beautiful family and a great life and all of that puts the Vols into perspective, especially when we lose a gut punch game like that. But the Vols are my favorite thing outside of them, and I can't stay away. I mean, I was on vacation and couldn't get the streaming to work so I listened to play by play from my brother who was watching on TV for the whole game. I literally couldn't watch the game but experienced it in all of it's terribleness anyway.
So the only thing I know how to do is to try and see the potential positives and move forward. And when you take a step back and look at this team and the rest of the season I truly believe that there is reason for some optimism. I will say that I am through thinking about other teams' weaknesses as they relate to our team, because I still believe I was 100% right that UF had no business being in a close game with us let alone winning. But obviously that didn't matter. So just focusing on the Vols, here is where I think we (or at least I) can find some reasons to think we can still have somewhere between a good (8-4) and successful (10-2) season:
1) I think the QB play will continue to improve. Dormady has still only started 3 games in his career, and he's got some obvious tools to work with. JG will likely also get a ton of reps vs UMASS and will give us another option should we need one
2) We have legit playmakers on offense. JK4 is arguably the best offensive player in the conference. Chandler emerged on Saturday as a real weapon in the backfield, too. Callaway the same as our WR1. Wolf, though he's been under-targeted so far, had a big TD and I think we all know he's a good player who helps this offense. And I think we have some other WRs who can step up as the season progresses and they get more real experience, like Johnson, Byrd, Williams, and Murphy.
3) We have a really good OL with a potentially dominant OG in Trey that is only going to get better
4) We shouldn't play another team that will beat us in STs (acknowledging that we have a PK issue) like UF did. In fact, we should have a big advantage in most games
5) Acknowledging that it's due to injury (Sapp for McDowell, and overall injuries likely making way for more Ignot) and Bituli just forcing his way onto the field, our LB corps is going to be much more athletic and playmaking than it has been so far
6) Our run defense on the interior was much improved vs. UF, with Shy's inclusion into the rotation making a big difference. As he continues to knock the rust off he and KMac should give us a bigtime DT tandem
7) The last play aside, I still think we have some dynamic playmakers in the defensive backfield, especially in Nigel and Gaulden. Those two could play for anyone in the country. Now, that still leaves CB, but Moseley has been solid and I'm hopeful that Martin's Lebron/Foreman-esque trackdown (which would have gone down in UT lore had we won the game) will be a jumping off point for him to play the way the coaches thought he would in the preseason. If he can that changes things for sure
Let me acknowledge that for most of the above points there are easy counters. JG should be the starter because QD hasn't played well. We won't give JK4 the ball enough, especially in the red zone. Byrd is being wasted at WR. The OL should be better. Jumper sucks and will still play. But what about the Hail Mary. Shoop sucks. Butch sucks.
So the only thing I know how to do is to try and see the potential positives and move forward. And when you take a step back and look at this team and the rest of the season I truly believe that there is reason for some optimism. I will say that I am through thinking about other teams' weaknesses as they relate to our team, because I still believe I was 100% right that UF had no business being in a close game with us let alone winning. But obviously that didn't matter. So just focusing on the Vols, here is where I think we (or at least I) can find some reasons to think we can still have somewhere between a good (8-4) and successful (10-2) season:
1) I think the QB play will continue to improve. Dormady has still only started 3 games in his career, and he's got some obvious tools to work with. JG will likely also get a ton of reps vs UMASS and will give us another option should we need one
2) We have legit playmakers on offense. JK4 is arguably the best offensive player in the conference. Chandler emerged on Saturday as a real weapon in the backfield, too. Callaway the same as our WR1. Wolf, though he's been under-targeted so far, had a big TD and I think we all know he's a good player who helps this offense. And I think we have some other WRs who can step up as the season progresses and they get more real experience, like Johnson, Byrd, Williams, and Murphy.
3) We have a really good OL with a potentially dominant OG in Trey that is only going to get better
4) We shouldn't play another team that will beat us in STs (acknowledging that we have a PK issue) like UF did. In fact, we should have a big advantage in most games
5) Acknowledging that it's due to injury (Sapp for McDowell, and overall injuries likely making way for more Ignot) and Bituli just forcing his way onto the field, our LB corps is going to be much more athletic and playmaking than it has been so far
6) Our run defense on the interior was much improved vs. UF, with Shy's inclusion into the rotation making a big difference. As he continues to knock the rust off he and KMac should give us a bigtime DT tandem
7) The last play aside, I still think we have some dynamic playmakers in the defensive backfield, especially in Nigel and Gaulden. Those two could play for anyone in the country. Now, that still leaves CB, but Moseley has been solid and I'm hopeful that Martin's Lebron/Foreman-esque trackdown (which would have gone down in UT lore had we won the game) will be a jumping off point for him to play the way the coaches thought he would in the preseason. If he can that changes things for sure
Let me acknowledge that for most of the above points there are easy counters. JG should be the starter because QD hasn't played well. We won't give JK4 the ball enough, especially in the red zone. Byrd is being wasted at WR. The OL should be better. Jumper sucks and will still play. But what about the Hail Mary. Shoop sucks. Butch sucks.
