- Jun 19, 2014
- 13,483
- 34,764
Founding Member
First Impressions:
1. The defense was much better but not great...not by a longshot. Tennessee failed to take advantage of several opportunities we gave them. Pass rush has to get better. Organization and communication has to improve.
2. Driskel got NO help from D. Rob. Embarrassingly poor performance. We have nobody we can count on to catch the ball consistently. Jake McGee could have been that guy. I can't believe NOBODY has stepped up. Surely we must have at least one pair of great hands somewhere on this team. A QB has to have somebody he trusts who is consistently on the same page as him. Think Shane Matthews-Willie Jackson, Danny Wueurffel-Chris Doering, Rex Grossman-Jabbar Gaffney, Chris Leak-Ben Troupe. "That guy" is the difference between an offense that can sustain drives and an offense that can't. We need to find that guy.
3. Saw consistent blitz/stunt pick-ups for the first time in a long time. O-line and especially Matt Jones and Clay Burton were in position better than I have seen them in the past. It's one thing to be in the right place and get beat (I'm looking at you, D. J. Humphries, getting run over by a true freshman) but it's another to be entirely out of position. We did a much better job of identifying rushers and getting in position than we have been. Dunno who gets the credit here, Roper, Mike Summers, or the players, but it was an area of improvement.
4. Treon didn't exactly light it up through the air, but he gave the team a new energy and confidence that was sorely lacking. He looked confident and decisive. Freshmen often do until adversity smacks them in the mouth. Driskel's confidence is shattered. I pointed that out after the Kentucky game. He's scared. All that preseason talk about his confidence was just that--talk. You know that feeling in the pit of your stomach every time Driskel drops back to pass? Well, he's got the same feeling as you in the pit of his stomach--dread. That's bad. QB can't play scared. Question is, will Treon maintain his confidence or will adversity overwhelm him? Only one was to find out.
5. No Adam Lane sightings? Have to assume he's told the staff he wants to transfer. They can't call it a medical redshirt without an injury. Shame. I really wanted to see him in game action. Maybe he's got a half season suspension and they're lying to cover it up? Regardless, disappointed we haven't seen him. I like Matt Jones but he's shown a propensity to put the ball on the ground. As John Heisman once said "Better to have died as a small boy, than to fumble this football." Not much running success from Taylor. I expected a lot more from him this season. Hard to judge when the defense is stacked to stop the run though. Maybe a QB change will force defenses to play us a little more fairly.
6. Kick and Punt return teams need to be better coached. The double block-in-the-back penalties on the TD return were terrible. Debose is an elite returner. A couple of times he took too long waiting for his blocks to develop instead of just turning on the jets. We've established that he can't catch but I still don't know why we haven't seen Debose on an end around or jet sweep (or even a fake).
7. Winning. The sun seems to shine brighter. The air feels fresher. Food tastes better. Your wife is hotter. Life is better when you win. We won. Let's do it again next week. I like this feeling a lot more than the other feeling.
Alex.
1. The defense was much better but not great...not by a longshot. Tennessee failed to take advantage of several opportunities we gave them. Pass rush has to get better. Organization and communication has to improve.
2. Driskel got NO help from D. Rob. Embarrassingly poor performance. We have nobody we can count on to catch the ball consistently. Jake McGee could have been that guy. I can't believe NOBODY has stepped up. Surely we must have at least one pair of great hands somewhere on this team. A QB has to have somebody he trusts who is consistently on the same page as him. Think Shane Matthews-Willie Jackson, Danny Wueurffel-Chris Doering, Rex Grossman-Jabbar Gaffney, Chris Leak-Ben Troupe. "That guy" is the difference between an offense that can sustain drives and an offense that can't. We need to find that guy.
3. Saw consistent blitz/stunt pick-ups for the first time in a long time. O-line and especially Matt Jones and Clay Burton were in position better than I have seen them in the past. It's one thing to be in the right place and get beat (I'm looking at you, D. J. Humphries, getting run over by a true freshman) but it's another to be entirely out of position. We did a much better job of identifying rushers and getting in position than we have been. Dunno who gets the credit here, Roper, Mike Summers, or the players, but it was an area of improvement.
4. Treon didn't exactly light it up through the air, but he gave the team a new energy and confidence that was sorely lacking. He looked confident and decisive. Freshmen often do until adversity smacks them in the mouth. Driskel's confidence is shattered. I pointed that out after the Kentucky game. He's scared. All that preseason talk about his confidence was just that--talk. You know that feeling in the pit of your stomach every time Driskel drops back to pass? Well, he's got the same feeling as you in the pit of his stomach--dread. That's bad. QB can't play scared. Question is, will Treon maintain his confidence or will adversity overwhelm him? Only one was to find out.
5. No Adam Lane sightings? Have to assume he's told the staff he wants to transfer. They can't call it a medical redshirt without an injury. Shame. I really wanted to see him in game action. Maybe he's got a half season suspension and they're lying to cover it up? Regardless, disappointed we haven't seen him. I like Matt Jones but he's shown a propensity to put the ball on the ground. As John Heisman once said "Better to have died as a small boy, than to fumble this football." Not much running success from Taylor. I expected a lot more from him this season. Hard to judge when the defense is stacked to stop the run though. Maybe a QB change will force defenses to play us a little more fairly.
6. Kick and Punt return teams need to be better coached. The double block-in-the-back penalties on the TD return were terrible. Debose is an elite returner. A couple of times he took too long waiting for his blocks to develop instead of just turning on the jets. We've established that he can't catch but I still don't know why we haven't seen Debose on an end around or jet sweep (or even a fake).
7. Winning. The sun seems to shine brighter. The air feels fresher. Food tastes better. Your wife is hotter. Life is better when you win. We won. Let's do it again next week. I like this feeling a lot more than the other feeling.
Alex.