Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and are somewhat recovering from Tennessee's Music City Bowl loss to Purdue.
Just finished rewatching the game and for the last time this season, wanted to share my thoughts and notes from going back and watching the TV copy.
Let's start with Hendon Hooker's night — which I thought he himself summarized well after the game when he assessed his play as "average." That's probably a little too harsh, but there were definitely some plays left on the field. But not just him. The entire offense.
Felt like for the first time all season drops were an issue. Princeton Fant was the main culprit with three, but JaVonta Payton and Velus Jones also dropped a pass. Tennessee's passing attack just seemed a little bit off all evening. Whether it be spacing on routes, drops, Hooker not being accurate or Hooker and a receiver not being on the same page. I was surprised by that especially considering that Purdue was missing some key players in the secondary. Kind of felt like the Pittsburgh game with all of the opportunities left on the field.
On third down, Hooker was 4-of-12 passing for 41 yards and picked up just 2 first downs on those attempts.
Against pressure, it was a mixed bag of results for Hooker. He was just 4-of-9 passing, but for 152 yards and three touchdowns. There was also a drop.
On true deep balls, Hooker was 2-for-10 for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Again, the passing game seemed off.
Purdue brought a 4-man rush just over 60% of the time and when they did, Hooker was 16-of-27 for 184 yards. Hooker was good when Purdue brought 5, 6 and 7. Against a 5-man rush, Hooker was 4-of-5 for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns. Against 6, he was 1-of-3 for 61 yards and a touchdown, while a drop was one of the incompletions and he also drew a defensive pass interference. Against 7, Hooker was 3-for-4 for 20 yards and 2 TDs. Purdue brought an extra rusher just around 30% of the time.
As for Tennessee running the ball, I thought it was a good afternoon. Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright both ran the ball with extreme toughness, particularly Small who is dealing with two banged up shoulders and seemed to suffer a leg or ankle injury during the game. Wright had some tough runs in short yardage situations on third down to pick up the first down and ran better than his stats indicate. I considered 67% of Tennessee's runs to be successful.
I counted 7 tackles Hooker broke on the day. Small broke three and Wright broke two.
I thought O'Connell left more plays on the field than Hooker on the field. Tennessee didn't generate much pressure with just a four-man rush, yet O'Connell still just completed 11 of his 20 passes when facing 4. He did throw for 212 yards and 2 TDs, however.
Tennessee brought a 4-man rush 45% of the time and struggled to get pressure. They struggled to get pressure with any rush, but when they brought extra rushers, O'Connell was more effective. Against a 5-man rush (30%), he was 9-of-14 for 266 yards for 2 TDs and against a 7-man rush, he was 3-of-3 for 21 yards and 2 TDs mostly around the goal line.
And when Tennessee brought three (13%), he was 3-of-6 for 37 yards and a converted 2-point conversion. Kamal Hadden and Byron Young's pick was on a 4-man rush, while Trevon Flowers' pick was against a 5-man rush.
Although O'Connell was more effective statistically when Tennessee brought extra rushers, I still felt like Tennessee should have done it more often. The Vols just aren't good enough to get home with four. And when they brought more, it led to some costly mistakes for Purdue.
On third down, O'Connell was 5-of-11 for 155 yards, three touchdowns and five first downs. Against pressure, he was 0-of-4 with an interception (Flowers).
Purdue ran the ball much better than I anticipated and much better than they should have. I was really impressed by Purdue's backs Zander Horvath and King Doerue. They run HARD, but... Purdue was last in the country in yards per carry (2.8) entering the game. And for too often Tennessee got blown off the ball or got punished at the end of runs. I considered 60% of Purdue's runs successful as Horvath and Doerue combined to average nearly 4 yards per carry.
And then there were the missed tackles.......... Tennessee missed 14 by my count. McCollough missed 5...
Just finished rewatching the game and for the last time this season, wanted to share my thoughts and notes from going back and watching the TV copy.
Let's start with Hendon Hooker's night — which I thought he himself summarized well after the game when he assessed his play as "average." That's probably a little too harsh, but there were definitely some plays left on the field. But not just him. The entire offense.
| Hendon Hooker Passing Chart vs. Purdue | ||
|---|---|---|
| Left 20+: 0/4 | Middle 20+: 0/1 | Right 20+: 4/8, 191 yards, 2 TD |
| Left 11-19: 3/5, 48 yards, Fant drop, DPI | Middle 11-19: 0/1 (Fant drop) | Right 11-19: 1/1, 12 yards |
| Left 0-10: 3/6, 22 yards, TD (Payton drop) | Middle 0-10: 2/2, 8 yards, DPI | Right 0-10: 8/9, 86 yards, 2 TD (Fant drop) |
| Left BLOS: 1/2, 2 yards (Velus drop) | Middle BLOS: N/A | Right BLOS: 1/1, 6 yards |
Felt like for the first time all season drops were an issue. Princeton Fant was the main culprit with three, but JaVonta Payton and Velus Jones also dropped a pass. Tennessee's passing attack just seemed a little bit off all evening. Whether it be spacing on routes, drops, Hooker not being accurate or Hooker and a receiver not being on the same page. I was surprised by that especially considering that Purdue was missing some key players in the secondary. Kind of felt like the Pittsburgh game with all of the opportunities left on the field.
On third down, Hooker was 4-of-12 passing for 41 yards and picked up just 2 first downs on those attempts.
Against pressure, it was a mixed bag of results for Hooker. He was just 4-of-9 passing, but for 152 yards and three touchdowns. There was also a drop.
On true deep balls, Hooker was 2-for-10 for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Again, the passing game seemed off.
Purdue brought a 4-man rush just over 60% of the time and when they did, Hooker was 16-of-27 for 184 yards. Hooker was good when Purdue brought 5, 6 and 7. Against a 5-man rush, Hooker was 4-of-5 for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns. Against 6, he was 1-of-3 for 61 yards and a touchdown, while a drop was one of the incompletions and he also drew a defensive pass interference. Against 7, Hooker was 3-for-4 for 20 yards and 2 TDs. Purdue brought an extra rusher just around 30% of the time.
As for Tennessee running the ball, I thought it was a good afternoon. Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright both ran the ball with extreme toughness, particularly Small who is dealing with two banged up shoulders and seemed to suffer a leg or ankle injury during the game. Wright had some tough runs in short yardage situations on third down to pick up the first down and ran better than his stats indicate. I considered 67% of Tennessee's runs to be successful.
I counted 7 tackles Hooker broke on the day. Small broke three and Wright broke two.
| Aiden O'Connell Passing Chart vs. Tennessee | ||
|---|---|---|
| Left 20+: 2/5, 111 yards, TD, DPI, Flowers INT | Middle 20+: 3/4, 129 yards, TD, Hadden INT | Right 20+: 2/2, 64 yards, defensive holding |
| Left 11-19: 1/2, 13 yards, 3 DPI's | Middle 11-19: 0/2 | Right 11-19: 4/7, 119 yards, 2 TD |
| Left 0-10: 3/8, 37 yards, Young INT | Middle 0-10: 4/6, 25 yards, 2-pt, DPI | Right 0-10: 4/6, 17 yards, TD |
| Left BLOS: 1/1, 3 yards | Middle BLOS: 1/2, 26 yards | Right BLOS: 2/2, -8 yards |
I thought O'Connell left more plays on the field than Hooker on the field. Tennessee didn't generate much pressure with just a four-man rush, yet O'Connell still just completed 11 of his 20 passes when facing 4. He did throw for 212 yards and 2 TDs, however.
Tennessee brought a 4-man rush 45% of the time and struggled to get pressure. They struggled to get pressure with any rush, but when they brought extra rushers, O'Connell was more effective. Against a 5-man rush (30%), he was 9-of-14 for 266 yards for 2 TDs and against a 7-man rush, he was 3-of-3 for 21 yards and 2 TDs mostly around the goal line.
And when Tennessee brought three (13%), he was 3-of-6 for 37 yards and a converted 2-point conversion. Kamal Hadden and Byron Young's pick was on a 4-man rush, while Trevon Flowers' pick was against a 5-man rush.
Although O'Connell was more effective statistically when Tennessee brought extra rushers, I still felt like Tennessee should have done it more often. The Vols just aren't good enough to get home with four. And when they brought more, it led to some costly mistakes for Purdue.
On third down, O'Connell was 5-of-11 for 155 yards, three touchdowns and five first downs. Against pressure, he was 0-of-4 with an interception (Flowers).
Purdue ran the ball much better than I anticipated and much better than they should have. I was really impressed by Purdue's backs Zander Horvath and King Doerue. They run HARD, but... Purdue was last in the country in yards per carry (2.8) entering the game. And for too often Tennessee got blown off the ball or got punished at the end of runs. I considered 60% of Purdue's runs successful as Horvath and Doerue combined to average nearly 4 yards per carry.
And then there were the missed tackles.......... Tennessee missed 14 by my count. McCollough missed 5...
