Truth Takes: Tennessee Review 2023

[aka]

Nice write up, Truth. Couple points I took away…

Mertz is exactly what the staff wanted and were hoping he’d be—a leader, a smart veteran and better version of what he was at UW because of better supporting cast. There were a ton of great plays, but one that no one’s really talking about is his 3rd and long scramble in the first half. The pump fake and angle were a perfect illustration of a guy who’s been around the game a lot and is poised. I think we went from one of the most disastrous QB situations to one that should be a fairly smooth transition to Lagway without having to force him in.

STs are still a mess but hopefully we’ve found something with Smack and FGs. Love that we haven’t(to my knowledge) had a single KO returned at all this season. A little worried about what our coverage team will look like if we ever do, but hopefully we just keep kicking it out if the end zone.

There was a lot of talk about Napier’s understanding of this and other rivalries. For all my criticisms of him, that’s one I never subscribed to. In the two tennessee games he’s approached it exactly the way that gave us the best and j my chance to win. Last year, out of sheer necessity due to obviously no faith in his defense, he had to try and make it a shoot out. This year, with a team that’s more of what he envisioned, he approached this game exactly the way you have to to beat them. Impose our will on defense, slow things down, demoralize them with quick 3-and-outs and run the ball to keep them off the field. That was the smart move and it worked.

I believe towards the end of the McNeese game he left one a little short and it was "returned"... wasn't much to speak of. Hey, the guy was tired, he'd smacked a lot of ko's.

 

[GatorTruth133]

I believe towards the end of the McNeese game he left one a little short and it was "returned"... wasn't much to speak of. Hey, the guy was tired, he'd smacked a lot of ko's.

One note, after Smack nailed his first kick against UT the ball on the KO cleared the endzone by like 5 yards. Dude was riding high. Nape says he might be hurt right now though

 

[aka]

One note, after Smack nailed his first kick against UT the ball on the KO cleared the endzone by like 5 yards. Dude was riding high. Nape says he might be hurt right now though

 

[Double Gator Dad]

After Gators beat Vols, can we please stop with the Napier nonsense?

Interesting read from Bianchi at the Slantinel.

I have never seen Nape in practice, but he seems to have a different intensity on the sidelines than his slow talking,, low key interviews during the week.

On another matter, after that horrifying first defensive effort in Game 1 followed by those terrible off-sides and a penalty for 2 #3s on the field, I had my doubts about the season. But the Gators seem to be playing well now. We held the utes to 50 total yards in the second half and rank 10th in the nation on total defense. Until the second half of the vols game the offense seemed to be coming around, part of our problems in the second half may have been Mertz' banged up hands, but I still hope to see steady improvement on offense. It sure makes an old, enthusiastic Gator think something good (like 7-8 wins) may be on the horizon.

Bianchi’s column should have been directed specifically to his peers in the media versus the fanbase.
There are always a few lunatic fans at any program that are mostly ignored. The members of the media escalated the crazy talk about Napier well before the season even started and they encouraged the lunatic fringe to come out into the light.

Instead of truly attacking the clickbait writers that can’t even spell journalism, it’s much more fun to attack and mock a fanbase regardless of the accuracy. Bianchi remains just another gutless worm playing to the crowd.

 

[aka]

Bianchi isn't wrong, though. Time will tell how things go long term. UT is not that great. Even Vols....heard it on Dave Hooker...think their two deep gets at best a C as far as rosters.

 

[GatorTruth133]

UT is not that great. Even Vols....heard it on Dave Hooker...think their two deep gets at best a C as far as rosters.

That definitely is what many Gators said before the game as well that now act like Milton is Hooker and the UT pass D wasn't 127th last year and perhaps about as bad this year.

That said, still a big win. Time will tell about the quality of UT and of our win as well as everything else. That's why, as I say a lot, stay grounded in the objective, measurable metrics. Based on how teams have looked, especially our defensive improvement (they've been good every game outside of a mistake here and there), no reason we can't go into Jax 6-1.

The back half will be interesting as UGA is UGA, Arky has no defense, but a pretty good offense, LSU is in Death Valley, Mizzou looks decent, and well, FSU has been up and down.

UT not following the Vandy protocol against our O (which is what OSU and Utah did) really helped us out. I'm curious to see what our O does if UK stacks the box and forces us to beat them wit the pass.

 

[aka]

That definitely is what many Gators said before the game as well that now act like Milton is Hooker and the UT pass D wasn't 127th last year and perhaps about as bad this year.

That said, still a big win. Time will tell about the quality of UT and of our win as well as everything else. That's why, as I say a lot, stay grounded in the objective, measurable metrics. Based on how teams have looked, especially our defensive improvement (they've been good every game outside of a mistake here and there), no reason we can't go into Jax 6-1.

The back half will be interesting as UGA is UGA, Arky has no defense, but a pretty good offense, LSU is in Death Valley, Mizzou looks decent, and well, FSU has been up and down.

UT not following the Vandy protocol against our O (which is what OSU and Utah did) really helped us out. I'm curious to see what our O does if UK stacks the box and forces us to beat them wit the pass.

I watched the replays a number of times. We weren't that off on the passes we did miss on. If they do that, I expect us to motion and fake runs, then if he rolls out away from the rush something has to be open. Hitting it consistently to back them off remains to be seen.

 

[GatorTruth133]

Hitting it consistently to back them off remains to be seen.

There's that. But UT also wasn't stacking the box early allowing us to get the run game going so that we could work off that (granted the jet sweeps were passes). We might be fine, but UK will probably be a good test of that as they seem to always have a decent defense that is at least fundamentally sound.

 

[I Have No Friends :(]

UT not following the Vandy protocol against our O (which is what OSU and Utah did) really helped us out. I'm curious to see what our O does if UK stacks the box and forces us to beat them wit the pass.

The UK game has all the makings of a 16-9 game with a lot of FGs and not much else happening. I think we win, but they're going to force us to beat them with precision passing. I'm more worried about the dirty cheap shots that Stoops teaches his kids to play with. We should walk out of Lexington with a win, but we may leave battered and bruised.

 

[aka]

The UK game has all the makings of a 16-9 game with a lot of FGs and not much else happening. I think we win, but they're going to force us to beat them with precision passing. I'm more worried about the dirty cheap shots that Stoops teaches his kids to play with. We should walk out of Lexington with a win, but we may leave battered and bruised.

Of course they will, the same or worse than UT did. Both of those programs are terrified of sliding back to irrelevance by a surging Florida.

 

[oxrageous]

Arky has no defense, but a pretty good offense

Arkansas just lost to lowly BYU at home. They are terrible.

 

[Homer J]

Arkansas just lost to lowly BYU at home. They are terrible.

New offense for Arky

 

[Daryl]

Here's a question: Is Napier actually calling the plays? My recollection is that he's not working with a clipboard or play sheet.

Paul Johnson didnt use a clipboard, playsheet or a headset

 

[Altitude Gator]

Paul Johnson didnt use a clipboard, playsheet or a headset

Paul Johnson ran four plays. Napier clearly has twice that many!

 

[soflagator]

Paul Johnson didnt use a clipboard, playsheet or a headset

He also acted like a drunk homosexual after big wins. Let’s shoot higher.

 

[Gator87]

New offense for Arky

They scored 31 but gave up 38, sounds like they need a new defense.

 

[TN G8tr]

New offense for Arky

They scored 31 but gave up 38, sounds like they need a new defense.

They do have KJ at QB but BYU? I don't ever recall BYU having a lights out defense either.

 

[GatorTruth133]

Arkansas just lost to lowly BYU at home. They are terrible.

Don't look now, but BYU is 3-0, though they've beaten bad teams and Arky. Also, Arky missing a First Team All-SEC RB in Rocket Sanders who should be back for our game. Like I said, no defense, pretty good offense and right in a perfect trap game spot between UGA and LSU.

 

[Detroitgator]

They scored 31 but gave up 38, sounds like they need a new defense.

This is exactly what happened last time Dan Enos was OC at Arky with Crete’s man love Big Brett… score 31, give up 35.

 

[itsgr82bag8r]

Of course they will, the same or worse than UT did. Both of those programs are terrified of sliding back to irrelevance by a surging Florida.

This is absolutely true. I know several people, from both of those fan bases, and they are desperate to capitalize while we are down before they’re once again nothing but dirt under our shoes.