http://www.espn.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/119167/tennessee-volunteers-still-motivated-by-25-points
Tennessee Volunteers still motivated by '25 points'
Every time Tennessee's football team trots out onto its practice field, it's reminded by the painted letters in front of it.
Passing posters and coach-made PowerPoint presentation's carry it.
Two words define the Vols' recent shortcomings and stand as a primary motivator for "Team 120."
Twenty-five points.
“It’s been our emphasis to find those points throughout our training throughout the offseson," quarterback Joshua Dobbs said.
What is innocuous on paper serves as a reminder of the point differential in Tennessee's last five losses. Over the last 18 games, the Vols are 13-5. But inside those five losses is the pain of having eventual national champion Alabama on the ropes last October, only to lose by five points. Inside 25 points are three squandered double-digit leads last year. Inside 25 points is the 11th straight loss to Florida, despite a 13-point lead with less than five minutes left.
Inside 25 points is a meaningless 17-point lead over Oklahoma and three home losses.
Inside 25 points is anger, anguish and redemption.
“You always have to learn from the previous experiences and past experiences," coach Butch Jones said. "It's something we spoke about ever since we started that offseason program and just what does it take in pointing defining moments out in the game."
Jones and his coaches brought up the idea of "25 points" shortly after Tennessee's 45-6 thrashing of No. 13 Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. For all the jubilation from that game, there was so much wasted in 2015.
With the coaches pounding those points into their players' heads, linebackerJalen Reeves-Maybin approached Jones with his own 25-point video. The senior presented the video to his teammates, highlighting critical plays on offense, defense, and special teams that hurt them last season.
"A football [game] can come down to two to three plays that mean the difference between winning and losing, and you never know which play it's going to be," Jones said.
And so the Vols continue their search for those 25 points. They find them with the little things, the extra film work. They are in the minute details used in a safety's hip rotation. They are in the split second it takes Dobbs to find his secondary option. They are in the coaches' adjustments in and out of practices to find that next, crucial step.
Twenty-five points are in the extra hustle to the ball or the quickness in a defensive lineman's arm swipes. Twenty-five points comes when a receiver hits his mark before that critical cut on a route.
Twenty-five points is the extra work and concentration it takes to make a good team elite.
"Why is LeBron James LeBron James? We all saw Game 7. The great players step it up and they take it over," Jones said. "That's what we've been talking about. Sometimes you have an opportunity to end the game. It may be a sack, it may be a first down, it may be one or two extra yards to keep the clock running, so we really try to point those out.”
But focusing on those 25 points also means harping on the mistakes that brought the Vols to 9-4 and watching the SEC championship game on TV. Dobbs said it's constant subject matter in practices and in the weight room. Every dropped pass or false start.
“That’s 25 points, right there," Dobbs said.
Every mistake or lack of concentration.
Twenty-five points, right there.
Every missed tackle, missed communication, missed fundamental in coverage or missed block.
Twenty-five points, right there.
With the season only weeks away, the Vols, the overwhelming favorites to win the SEC East, are fixated on those 25 points. As the hype builds and the exceptions expand, Tennessee retreats to its bubble, surrounded by 25 points that could make or break what many feel will be a special season in Knoxville.
"It motivates you every day," Dobbs said. "It hurts when you go back and watch those games that we lost last year and how we lost them. That’s our motivation every day. We don’t want to have that feeling at all. We want to come out and execute, take care of business beforehand so we’re not in any of those situations at the end of a game.
Tennessee Volunteers still motivated by '25 points'
Every time Tennessee's football team trots out onto its practice field, it's reminded by the painted letters in front of it.
Passing posters and coach-made PowerPoint presentation's carry it.
Two words define the Vols' recent shortcomings and stand as a primary motivator for "Team 120."
Twenty-five points.
“It’s been our emphasis to find those points throughout our training throughout the offseson," quarterback Joshua Dobbs said.
What is innocuous on paper serves as a reminder of the point differential in Tennessee's last five losses. Over the last 18 games, the Vols are 13-5. But inside those five losses is the pain of having eventual national champion Alabama on the ropes last October, only to lose by five points. Inside 25 points are three squandered double-digit leads last year. Inside 25 points is the 11th straight loss to Florida, despite a 13-point lead with less than five minutes left.
Inside 25 points is a meaningless 17-point lead over Oklahoma and three home losses.
Inside 25 points is anger, anguish and redemption.
“You always have to learn from the previous experiences and past experiences," coach Butch Jones said. "It's something we spoke about ever since we started that offseason program and just what does it take in pointing defining moments out in the game."
Jones and his coaches brought up the idea of "25 points" shortly after Tennessee's 45-6 thrashing of No. 13 Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. For all the jubilation from that game, there was so much wasted in 2015.
With the coaches pounding those points into their players' heads, linebackerJalen Reeves-Maybin approached Jones with his own 25-point video. The senior presented the video to his teammates, highlighting critical plays on offense, defense, and special teams that hurt them last season.
"A football [game] can come down to two to three plays that mean the difference between winning and losing, and you never know which play it's going to be," Jones said.
And so the Vols continue their search for those 25 points. They find them with the little things, the extra film work. They are in the minute details used in a safety's hip rotation. They are in the split second it takes Dobbs to find his secondary option. They are in the coaches' adjustments in and out of practices to find that next, crucial step.
Twenty-five points are in the extra hustle to the ball or the quickness in a defensive lineman's arm swipes. Twenty-five points comes when a receiver hits his mark before that critical cut on a route.
Twenty-five points is the extra work and concentration it takes to make a good team elite.
"Why is LeBron James LeBron James? We all saw Game 7. The great players step it up and they take it over," Jones said. "That's what we've been talking about. Sometimes you have an opportunity to end the game. It may be a sack, it may be a first down, it may be one or two extra yards to keep the clock running, so we really try to point those out.”
But focusing on those 25 points also means harping on the mistakes that brought the Vols to 9-4 and watching the SEC championship game on TV. Dobbs said it's constant subject matter in practices and in the weight room. Every dropped pass or false start.
“That’s 25 points, right there," Dobbs said.
Every mistake or lack of concentration.
Twenty-five points, right there.
Every missed tackle, missed communication, missed fundamental in coverage or missed block.
Twenty-five points, right there.
With the season only weeks away, the Vols, the overwhelming favorites to win the SEC East, are fixated on those 25 points. As the hype builds and the exceptions expand, Tennessee retreats to its bubble, surrounded by 25 points that could make or break what many feel will be a special season in Knoxville.
"It motivates you every day," Dobbs said. "It hurts when you go back and watch those games that we lost last year and how we lost them. That’s our motivation every day. We don’t want to have that feeling at all. We want to come out and execute, take care of business beforehand so we’re not in any of those situations at the end of a game.
