- Jun 12, 2014
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Founding Member
"Bounce Back" was a term usee to describe our 48-10 victory over Colorado State. Bounce, yeah maybe. Back, not yet. The Rams initially might have been thought to pose a worthy next step test based on their win against Arkansas. But the Hogs are looking more like the Armadillos after getting run over by a foe from a lesser conference. So we had the luxury of yet another warm up type game. The good thing I suppose is that we've won a couple we were supposed to win. The bad is that we lost one we thought we were supposed to. At 2-1 with our first conference road game coming up in Knoxville, i think we still have more questions than answers. Let's look at a few as we review:
Q1-QB. Franks is Franks. Down and up, up and down. Will he ever become a leader that can consistently keep his composure, especially in the face of situational pressure? He looked like a new man against lowly Charleston, but has been erratic since. He looks to lack poise when it is needed, making poor decisions, reads and throws. Starting 0 for 6 with an unsportsmanlike like penalty is not poise. Mullen's got his work cut out for him and it remains to be seen if Franks can be salvagable much less a consistent and effective leader. I'm not on the play Trask/Jones bandwagon yet and I'm afraid if we get there it' might be cancel Christmas. Last week I thought this game would tell us more, but UT will probably be that game. They don't look like world beaters (and neither do we), but they are a conference road game and an important test.
A1-Special Teams. Save a couple of long-ish KO returns allowed, this group was the star. Two punts defended/blocked with a TD, Swain with a huge return for a score and another that gave good field position gives us a good feeling about Mullen's promise to get this group back in order. Him playing more better players in these groups instead of the cub scouts lets us know the importance attached. Smart move to return these teams to a higher status. And BTW, MacPherson says "Edie who?"
Q2-OL/Run Game. It got more attention and was more of a factor. Scarlett had a couple of good runs and Perine looked pretty fair. Davis sprains an ankle on I think his first carry, which opened up some second half carries for Pierce, who delivered. His long scoring run was what he did effectively in HS, so it's good to see him do it collegiately. Hoping his load will increase and il be interested to see him get some against the SEC defenses. OL was probably a little better, but the Rams were not a vaunted group by any means. I like that we scored on a counter and I noticed some good effort and technique on a couple of pulls, progress still needs to be made on consistency. Again we should know more after next week. As we all know, the offense goes as this group goes.
A2-Defense. Better against the run yielding 71 yards on the ground. Zuniga looked good and had a couple of sacks and pressures. LBs seemed to play some better as well and Joseph had his name called a few times. Maybe he's learning the position and playing with more disciplined speed. Poor pursuit angles have been his big nemesis, so maybe he's finally getting it terms of what the position should be coached to do. Maybe. Secondary is just going to have to grow up and get resupplied through recruiting. It's evident we are having to rely on several in this group who aren't ready and may never be. Tackling was some better, but still some misses. This unit can be hard to watch considering the defenses of the past. Only growth and the recruiting will get us back.
Q3-Strength and Conditioning. I have to chuckle when I read in some threads about how Savage really hasn't got us where we need to be after all the early hype. I know a lot of that is the emotion of the moment, but you have to understand that inheriting a team that basically had no S&C for three years, it is going to be a longer process than you might think. I don't know that some of our freshmen might not have come in better prepared than many of our veterans. One guy that should give us an idea of what to look for, and I've mentioned him before, is Freddy Swain. He's a new guy this year. Better strength and agility and obviously supremely confident. He should be the prototype of what that part of the program is seeking to build.
A3-UT. First SEC road game and a time to really mark progress despite how good or not the Vols really are. What do we take from Colorado State? What did we learn from the UK game. How will Franks react? Can we get more out of the run game? Can the defense hold their own? The answers...maybe. We still have a lot of unknowns that are driven by our consistency and mindset. Team confidence IMHO took a deeper dive than we imagined last season. Many are not overjoyed with Mullen and staff, but there has been some growth in this part, it's just not the quantum leap we hunger for and it likely want be this season. Our gains will more likely be measured in inches than miles. We have been down that low and quite frankly we don't have a quantum leap roster (broken record, I know).
So the words for next week should be patience and passion, neither of which are or have been in bountiful supply. That's what it's going to take if it's really not over (sorry @soflagator ). One thing to consider and I know you have is that at least we aren't the Noles shackled to Taggart. Poor guy looks like he got off the Greyhound in the middle of nowhere without a map.
So here's to a good outing at Neyland and a chance to see our baby more stable as it learns to walk. Perhaps a better comparison may be to an accident victim learning move all over again! Anyhow, "C'mon Gators let's get up and go!" Pride will be back when we say so.
Q1-QB. Franks is Franks. Down and up, up and down. Will he ever become a leader that can consistently keep his composure, especially in the face of situational pressure? He looked like a new man against lowly Charleston, but has been erratic since. He looks to lack poise when it is needed, making poor decisions, reads and throws. Starting 0 for 6 with an unsportsmanlike like penalty is not poise. Mullen's got his work cut out for him and it remains to be seen if Franks can be salvagable much less a consistent and effective leader. I'm not on the play Trask/Jones bandwagon yet and I'm afraid if we get there it' might be cancel Christmas. Last week I thought this game would tell us more, but UT will probably be that game. They don't look like world beaters (and neither do we), but they are a conference road game and an important test.
A1-Special Teams. Save a couple of long-ish KO returns allowed, this group was the star. Two punts defended/blocked with a TD, Swain with a huge return for a score and another that gave good field position gives us a good feeling about Mullen's promise to get this group back in order. Him playing more better players in these groups instead of the cub scouts lets us know the importance attached. Smart move to return these teams to a higher status. And BTW, MacPherson says "Edie who?"
Q2-OL/Run Game. It got more attention and was more of a factor. Scarlett had a couple of good runs and Perine looked pretty fair. Davis sprains an ankle on I think his first carry, which opened up some second half carries for Pierce, who delivered. His long scoring run was what he did effectively in HS, so it's good to see him do it collegiately. Hoping his load will increase and il be interested to see him get some against the SEC defenses. OL was probably a little better, but the Rams were not a vaunted group by any means. I like that we scored on a counter and I noticed some good effort and technique on a couple of pulls, progress still needs to be made on consistency. Again we should know more after next week. As we all know, the offense goes as this group goes.
A2-Defense. Better against the run yielding 71 yards on the ground. Zuniga looked good and had a couple of sacks and pressures. LBs seemed to play some better as well and Joseph had his name called a few times. Maybe he's learning the position and playing with more disciplined speed. Poor pursuit angles have been his big nemesis, so maybe he's finally getting it terms of what the position should be coached to do. Maybe. Secondary is just going to have to grow up and get resupplied through recruiting. It's evident we are having to rely on several in this group who aren't ready and may never be. Tackling was some better, but still some misses. This unit can be hard to watch considering the defenses of the past. Only growth and the recruiting will get us back.
Q3-Strength and Conditioning. I have to chuckle when I read in some threads about how Savage really hasn't got us where we need to be after all the early hype. I know a lot of that is the emotion of the moment, but you have to understand that inheriting a team that basically had no S&C for three years, it is going to be a longer process than you might think. I don't know that some of our freshmen might not have come in better prepared than many of our veterans. One guy that should give us an idea of what to look for, and I've mentioned him before, is Freddy Swain. He's a new guy this year. Better strength and agility and obviously supremely confident. He should be the prototype of what that part of the program is seeking to build.
A3-UT. First SEC road game and a time to really mark progress despite how good or not the Vols really are. What do we take from Colorado State? What did we learn from the UK game. How will Franks react? Can we get more out of the run game? Can the defense hold their own? The answers...maybe. We still have a lot of unknowns that are driven by our consistency and mindset. Team confidence IMHO took a deeper dive than we imagined last season. Many are not overjoyed with Mullen and staff, but there has been some growth in this part, it's just not the quantum leap we hunger for and it likely want be this season. Our gains will more likely be measured in inches than miles. We have been down that low and quite frankly we don't have a quantum leap roster (broken record, I know).
So the words for next week should be patience and passion, neither of which are or have been in bountiful supply. That's what it's going to take if it's really not over (sorry @soflagator ). One thing to consider and I know you have is that at least we aren't the Noles shackled to Taggart. Poor guy looks like he got off the Greyhound in the middle of nowhere without a map.
So here's to a good outing at Neyland and a chance to see our baby more stable as it learns to walk. Perhaps a better comparison may be to an accident victim learning move all over again! Anyhow, "C'mon Gators let's get up and go!" Pride will be back when we say so.