Truth Takes: Tennessee Review 2023

[Theologator]

When asked about the run heavy offense by Holly Rowe, Napier said yes that who they are. I took it to mean that's who he wants us to be.

I only saw his last game at UL, but if that’s an example of what he wants to do once he’s got his team and organization and an experienced QB, it looked good in that game. That year, though, was run heavy. YPA passing was 7.6. So, yeah. If he can run it, he will.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

On the TV broadcast I'm pretty sure they said Mertz had cuts on both hands. Napier went conservative but I think the hands made it worse. And I get playing it safe with a 3 score lead, at home, at this point in the season. UT can score fast. don't give them one.

From watching highlights I'd say #2 and #7 made lemonade out of lemons. Both repeatedly making crazy cuts at just the right time. And breaking tackles they shouldn't.

 

[GatorJB]

On the TV broadcast I'm pretty sure they said Mertz had cuts on both hands. Napier went conservative but I think the hands made it worse. And I get playing it safe with a 3 score lead, at home, at this point in the season. UT can score fast. don't give them one.

From watching highlights I'd say #2 and #7 made lemonade out of lemons. Both repeatedly making crazy cuts at just the right time. And breaking tackles they shouldn't.

This. I don't mind the conservative play calling in the second half knowing that there's an issue going on with both of Mertz's hands. I think if his hands didn't need to be taped up in spots they would have thrown more. No need to risk the ball coming off weird and turning into an int because of a minor hand injury when you're up two to three scores.

 

[soflagator]

On the TV broadcast I'm pretty sure they said Mertz had cuts on both hands. Napier went conservative but I think the hands made it worse. And I get playing it safe with a 3 score lead, at home, at this point in the season. UT can score fast. don't give them one.

From watching highlights I'd say #2 and #7 made lemonade out of lemons. Both repeatedly making crazy cuts at just the right time. And breaking tackles they shouldn't.

Agree. The fact that we were moving the ball effectively on the ground and in short passing makes the conservative play smart. Throw in the hands issue and EW being out and there’s simply no need to take shots there. Even if we weren’t scoring, we weren’t going 3-and-out every possession and putting our defense in a jam. Plenty of our best teams under our best coaches did that.

 

[Tunaboat]

Last night was a great game for the Gators, maybe one that in the future we can point to as a defining game for this program. The game was a dogfight where both teams were giving their all but we buried them early and kept stopping them even after Napier went conservative - which I hated, I wanted to blow those bastids out of the stadium! I hope Nape doesn't have that as standard procedure our playcalling went to sh@t on those 3 & outs and gave TN momentum. But the storyline of this game was the Gators beat the hell out of TN almost from the get-go, and they were crying about the refs after the game because they suck.
The entire Gator team gets a sharp salute for busting TN's overconfident bubble. The rockin' Swamp had em rattled much of the night - there is no other stadium like the Swamp in the country you can't hear yourself think when it's LOUD. Props to all Gators in the house! Salute to Napier, coaches and entire organization - we are clearly headed in the right direction; this was a very important game. WELL DONE!

 

[GatorTruth133]

I thought the play calling in the first half was sharp, especially early. Using Wilson to loosen up their rush defense early was smart. 2nd half was pedestrian, but maybe Mertz was dinged up, plus Wilson out. I’d prefer aggression.

I think I had said on the podcast get it to Wilson early and often, but I know I said it while tailgating.

Here's my thing and yes, I believe Mertz had hand issues, but he had at least 3 "pass attempts" that were jet sweeps including the first two plays to Wilson. No reason he couldn't have done a second one to Pearsall (did one to him in the game) or even get a speedy guy like Mizell into the game.

Also, don't think I put how impressed I am getting with Douglas. Dude has made some catches on some seriously contested balls. He's not going to wow you in many ways on the stat sheet it appears, but he will be a solid pass catcher after being iffy at times last year.

Billy did admit to being overly conservative in the 2nd half. He can't do that. As I hinted, if the first half is the same and this game is in Knoxville, that conservative playcalling has the thumbprints of 2016 all over it. The difference, as stated, is the atmosphere in the Swamp causing issues.

 

[TN G8tr]

Good Write up.

Agree with everything but it was some much fun being there, again. Keep the momentum.

Only thing I will add is SMACK3 should be our only kicker. Mahaelik, nothing personal, but he just ain't it. It look like both misses were more like enema missiles than attempts. I've said since last year. You go out and get Smack, WTH is he not kicking. No excuses now. ST's still need some help. But not gonna fuss, enjoy the win, and build off of it. The team playing well will make everyone step up their game, hopefully.

 

[GatorTruth133]

Good Write up.

Agree with everything but it was some much fun being there, again. Keep the momentum.

Only thing I will add is SMACK3 should be our only kicker. Mahaelik, nothing personal, but he just ain't it. It look like both misses were more like enema missiles than attempts. I've said since last year. You go out and get Smack, WTH is he not kicking. No excuses now. ST's still need some help. But not gonna fuss, enjoy the win, and build off of it. The team playing well will make everyone step up their game, hopefully.

Definitely a lot of fun being there. I had a few people sending me messages with like 6 minutes to go and UT driving and I had to tell them that I was not going to answer until after the game. Didn't need that jinx out into the universe

 

[Zambo]

There's being conservative, and then there is turtling up. I feel bad criticizing after such a huge win, but man if there is one thing I hate is when teams get a lead and then just try and sit on it and hope the clock runs out. Fundamentally I think the logic is flawed.

Its like going for 2 way too early in the game. The sentiment behind this sort of approach seems to be that if you throw the ball then you might turn it over, combined with clock stoppages on incomplete passes. I would submit that you can turn the ball over while executing running plays as well, and while yes you don't risk stopping the clock on an incompletion, getting first downs uses a LOT more clock than running plays which result in punts.

Finally, no matter how much you try to keep the play in front of you on defense, you always run risk of having a defender blow an assignment or fall down or crash into each other etc leading to a quick score for the other team. In short I think the philosophy should pretty much always be to just keep playing football. This is how the Eagles beat the Pats in the SB and how the Falcons lost to the Pats in the SB.

You're playing great, that's why you have the lead. Keep playing. On the other hand if our entire offensive scheme crumbles because our qb1 gets a cut on his hand, then we've got bigger issues than strategy.

 

[oxrageous]

I feel bad criticizing after such a huge win

I'm pretty sure you don't. Not at all.

 

[Zambo]

I'm pretty sure you don't. Not at all.

You complete me ox.

 

[oxrageous]

You complete me ox.

That's not a denial.

 

[Zambo]

That's not a denial.

A denial of what? Your idol Billy agrees with me BTW, so I'm just backing up his post-game assessment. Get on board and come on in for the big win soldier!

 

[oxrageous]

A denial of what? Your idol Billy agrees with me BTW, so I'm just backing up his post-game assessment. Get on board and come on in for the big win soldier!

I'd bet ten bucks you enjoyed the second half of that game more than the first. Must have been quite a sense of relief for you.

 

[Zambo]

I'd bet ten bucks you enjoyed the second half of that game more than the first. Must have been quite a sense of relief for you.

Why are you so emotional? Something else is bothering you, I can tell. C'mon bro, tell us what's going on. You're among friends here. I hate seeing you this way.

 

[oxrageous]

Why are you so emotional? Something else is bothering you, I can tell. C'mon bro, tell us what's going on. You're among friends here. I hate seeing you this way.

Just enjoying a little payback to those who thought we didn't have a chance in hell.

 

[wrpgator]

This. I don't mind the conservative play calling in the second half knowing that there's an issue going on with both of Mertz's hands. I think if his hands didn't need to be taped up in spots they would have thrown more. No need to risk the ball coming off weird and turning into an int because of a minor hand injury when you're up two to three scores.

Yes, this going conservative in 2nd half is completely understandable when they had to reattach Mertz's hand after some toothless thugs stomped them off in the bottom of the pile.

Mertz's hand at halftime:

They did a pretty good job getting him back out there, but he was not 100%. I saw extra blatant ankle twisting attempt after a tackle on Pearsall too. The Kash Daniel and Darnell Dockett types find a home in Obknoxville. "I Hate Tennessee".

 

[soflagator]

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.

 

[Silverback Gator]

STs are still a mess but hopefully we’ve found something with Smack and FGs. Live 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.

Happy with Smack. He hit the marks. Don't know why the other unit, presumably the same but with different kicker, missed so often.

I am prepared for Napier to lose a game we could have won for being too conservative or a game plan that falls apart because of circumstances in a game. That happens to the best laid plans. I liked Tenn's hurry up. Wish we would practice that occasionally in case we are behind and need the clock.

We might go into the SC game 5-1. That would be huge. Unfortunately, there's no way to call out the experts who predicted 3-9.

 

[B52G8rAC]

Happy with Smack. He hit the marks. Don't know why the other unit, presumably the same but with different kicker, missed so often.

I am prepared for Napier to lose a game we could have won for being too conservative or a game plan that falls apart because of circumstances in a game. That happens to the best laid plans. I liked Tenn's hurry up. Wish we would practice that occasionally in case we are behind and need the clock.

We might go into the SC game 5-1. Dwag game 6-1. That would be huge. Unfortunately, there's no way to call out the experts who predicted 3-9.

Fixed it for ya'.