Truth Takes: Tennessee Review 2023

[Zambo]

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

Could be as simple as the other guy just gets too nervous under the lights. There's no way in hell his kicks in practice look like what we saw in the games.

 

[GatorTruth133]

Fixed it for ya'.

We should 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.

Fixed it better. Though I think that UK will be the toughest defense we've faced since Utah. They are usually very disciplined and not miss 11 tackles. That said, there is no reason to ever expect to lose at Kentucky.

 

[Lake Gator]

Fixed it better. Though I think that UK will be the toughest defense we've faced since Utah. They are usually very disciplined and not miss 11 tackles. That said, there is no reason to ever expect to lose at Kentucky.

However, they occasionally forget to cover a wide receiver.

 

[Silverback Gator]

Fixed it for ya'.

Right, you caught me, because what I meant was we will lose at SC and go into the georgia game 5-2.

Too early to think about georgia but man, if we finish that game 7-1.

 

[jdh5484]

Could be as simple as the other guy just gets too nervous under the lights. There's no way in hell his kicks in practice look like what we saw in the games.

He has the yips. Needs to be put down.

 

[soflagator]

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.

Working tempo into your offense at times is one thing. When it’s your only identity, it can go south very quickly, especially on the road. I’ve said this for years. They were so hurried that the moment things got uncomfortable, they made a ton of mistakes. In the process, their defense lived on the field against us.

 

[neteng]

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.

Mertz was down a hand and the other got cut up. Wilson was out. Montrell got a bit banged up but came back later. And there is the new clock rule. I thnk the play calling kinda changed a bit without Wilson but was still pretty effective with Pearsall getting those plays. Then when Mertz hurt the throwing hand (bleeding) it really went conservative. But factor in the new clock rule and how fast UT blew through their first two timeouts in the 2nd half it was the right thing to do.

I have no complaints about the coaching in this game unlike the previous two games. Both preparation and gameday coaching were obviously really good this week. I just wish our special teams would get better.

 

[Zambo]

He has the yips. Needs to be put down.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

However, they occasionally forget to cover a wide receiver.

 

[Uncle Rob]

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.

I don't have an issue with going for two. If you get it, you're 7 up. if you don't you're 5. After we missed two kicks I'd be leery of trying to go up by 6.

 

[oxrageous]

I don't like going for two in the first half either, but if Napier thought our kicker couldn't even handle the XP, that's another story.

 

[Uncle Rob]

One more thing. Do you think Billy could use his Louisiana connections to get Dree Brees for a pre game pep talk? Billy sounded like he was channeling Ben Stein.

 

[Silverback Gator]

Fixed it better. Though I think that UK will be the toughest defense we've faced since Utah. They are usually very disciplined and not miss 11 tackles. That said, there is no reason to ever expect to lose at Kentucky.

If we are healthy, we should be the best RB/OL combo they've seen.

 

[Silverback Gator]

But factor in the new clock rule and how fast UT blew through their first two timeouts in the 2nd half it was the right thing to do.

I have no complaints about the coaching in this game unlike the previous two games. Both preparation and gameday coaching were obviously really good this week. I just wish our special teams would get better.

Is our offense slow to get the play, get set, run the play? Would you expect our staff is capable and ready to run a faster offense if we are behind?

 

[Zambo]

I don't have an issue with going for two. If you get it, you're 7 up. if you don't you're 5. After we missed two kicks I'd be leery of trying to go up by 6.

I gotcha, I wasn't specifically referring to this game but the strategy in general. Way too many times I see a team go for 2 because they think the math makes sense, then they miss it and later on as the game is coming down to the wire that one point is making all the difference. The fatal flaw in the logic is that with an entire quarter to play, much less more than a half of football, there are any number of possible scoring combinations. If logic determines that you should just kick the easy PAT on your first TD, then logic also dictates that you kick the PAT on the next one as well if there is a lot of time left in the game, regardless of whether the first one was successful or not.

 

[soflagator]

Mertz was down a hand and the other got cut up. Wilson was out. Montrell got a bit banged up but came back later. And there is the new clock rule. I thnk the play calling kinda changed a bit without Wilson but was still pretty effective with Pearsall getting those plays. Then when Mertz hurt the throwing hand (bleeding) it really went conservative. But factor in the new clock rule and how fast UT blew through their first two timeouts in the 2nd half it was the right thing to do.

I have no complaints about the coaching in this game unlike the previous two games. Both preparation and gameday coaching were obviously really good this week. I just wish our special teams would get better.

Excellent point on the timeouts they blew on that first Q3 drive. Another contributing factor. But again between the situation with our injuries and the fact that it was already pushing 8 minutes left when they finally got within 2 TDs, it was the right move. In 22 minutes they’d closed the gap by 6 total points and we were still running effectively against them.

 

[g8tr76]

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.

 

[Silverback Gator]

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.

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

 

[g8tr76]

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

I have heard he was calling the plays, but you are right, he doesn't seem to refer to anything on the sideline. He does have his headset on so he maybe agreeing with the booth or other sideline decisions. As a fan, it is above my pay grade to do anything more than praise or complain.

 

[Back Alley Gator]

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.

Im not sure how well our illustrious bovine leader is going to take being in lock step with Bianchi....but I'm willing to bet he will come to terms with it pretty quickly.