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Tennessee post spring game thoughts
Posted on 4/26/21 at 6:55 pm
Posted on 4/26/21 at 6:55 pm
It's obviously hard to take much away from a scrimmage and even more so with the amount of players we had out, but I'll give it a shot.
First the good --
The new look offense was explosive & exciting to watch for the first time in a long time. UT has been at best embarrassing on offense since Josh Dobbs left after the 2016 season and at worst soul crushing. 4 years of straight eye cancer and that's being kind. I thought Harrison Bailey won player of the day with his decision making, arm strength and control of the offense. This was the first time I thought that he did a good job of living up to the hype he had coming out of high school and showing how explosive he could be. He has a cannon and they let him sling it on Saturday. He had a 75 yard bomb for a TD on his opening drive and did a good job pushing the ball down the field all game. I think he finished the day 12/16 with a few drops for 260 yards and 3 TDs. Maurer and Hooker had decent showings at QB as well. Maurer and Bailey both looked more comfortable in this offense than whatever Chaney was calling or Pruitt was hamstringing him with. Maurer and Hooker both made some good plays, but both had some head scratchers as well. Certainly weren't as consistent as Bailey even with them being more mobile and adding the DT wrinkle to the offense. Not bad performances though.
The pace of play and tempo in the offense was really fast. I don't know that I've ever seen Tennessee play with that type of speed before. The offense in general looked solid. I thought we would look better given Heupel and Pruitts differences in coaching styles, but we looked a lot better then even I was expecting. Granted some of that was how vanilla the defense was playing on top of the lack of bodies. Surprisingly there's still quite a bit of talent on that side of the ball and Elarbee has already made a big impact with the OL which has helped the run game. Eric Gray would have shined in this offense. Losing him to Oklahoma was a giant L, but the backs still had a good day. Jabari Small in particular. The WRs and TEs looked good and are actually deeper than most of us thought they would be. I think a lot of that is them being utilized correctly and having an offensive minded coach that isn't afraid to go 5 wide and call passes farther than 10 yards.
Now for the ugly --
The defense looked bad outside of 1 pick 6. We're razor thin at some positions and will need some transfers just to have enough bodies to sub guys in and out. In particular at Linebacker and DB. Getting pressure on the QB was bad to non existent and the DBs outside of Taylor and Burrell looked like they had no idea where they were supposed to be. Admittedly we had most of our Front out 7 on the sidelines, but it's not like they're some world beaters either.
In summary, the offense looks energized, fast paced and comfortable in the spread and has potential to put up a lot of points. Feeling good about the QB situation for the first time in 4 or 5 years. The defense looked bad. There's really not much else to say. We need a lot of help at DB & LB. S&C looked good. The offense looked like they were able to handle the tempo and the size and strength of the team looked decent to good.
I think the 2020 version of Ole Miss might be a team to draw comparisons with. This offense is going to be exciting to watch, but we're going to have to win shoot outs because of the holes and lack of bodies on defense. Probably a 6-6 type team that gets better as the year goes on.
3 minute highlights from the game: LINK
First the good --
The new look offense was explosive & exciting to watch for the first time in a long time. UT has been at best embarrassing on offense since Josh Dobbs left after the 2016 season and at worst soul crushing. 4 years of straight eye cancer and that's being kind. I thought Harrison Bailey won player of the day with his decision making, arm strength and control of the offense. This was the first time I thought that he did a good job of living up to the hype he had coming out of high school and showing how explosive he could be. He has a cannon and they let him sling it on Saturday. He had a 75 yard bomb for a TD on his opening drive and did a good job pushing the ball down the field all game. I think he finished the day 12/16 with a few drops for 260 yards and 3 TDs. Maurer and Hooker had decent showings at QB as well. Maurer and Bailey both looked more comfortable in this offense than whatever Chaney was calling or Pruitt was hamstringing him with. Maurer and Hooker both made some good plays, but both had some head scratchers as well. Certainly weren't as consistent as Bailey even with them being more mobile and adding the DT wrinkle to the offense. Not bad performances though.
The pace of play and tempo in the offense was really fast. I don't know that I've ever seen Tennessee play with that type of speed before. The offense in general looked solid. I thought we would look better given Heupel and Pruitts differences in coaching styles, but we looked a lot better then even I was expecting. Granted some of that was how vanilla the defense was playing on top of the lack of bodies. Surprisingly there's still quite a bit of talent on that side of the ball and Elarbee has already made a big impact with the OL which has helped the run game. Eric Gray would have shined in this offense. Losing him to Oklahoma was a giant L, but the backs still had a good day. Jabari Small in particular. The WRs and TEs looked good and are actually deeper than most of us thought they would be. I think a lot of that is them being utilized correctly and having an offensive minded coach that isn't afraid to go 5 wide and call passes farther than 10 yards.
Now for the ugly --
The defense looked bad outside of 1 pick 6. We're razor thin at some positions and will need some transfers just to have enough bodies to sub guys in and out. In particular at Linebacker and DB. Getting pressure on the QB was bad to non existent and the DBs outside of Taylor and Burrell looked like they had no idea where they were supposed to be. Admittedly we had most of our Front out 7 on the sidelines, but it's not like they're some world beaters either.
In summary, the offense looks energized, fast paced and comfortable in the spread and has potential to put up a lot of points. Feeling good about the QB situation for the first time in 4 or 5 years. The defense looked bad. There's really not much else to say. We need a lot of help at DB & LB. S&C looked good. The offense looked like they were able to handle the tempo and the size and strength of the team looked decent to good.
I think the 2020 version of Ole Miss might be a team to draw comparisons with. This offense is going to be exciting to watch, but we're going to have to win shoot outs because of the holes and lack of bodies on defense. Probably a 6-6 type team that gets better as the year goes on.
3 minute highlights from the game: LINK
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Posted on 4/26/21 at 7:01 pm to TRUERockyTop
quote:
2020 version of Ole Miss might be a team to draw comparisons with
Posted on 4/26/21 at 7:03 pm to TRUERockyTop
From what I saw the second string looked the part and had fight. Young though.
Posted on 4/26/21 at 7:04 pm to Muthsera
A .500 team with a strong offense and terrible defense is a bad comparison?
Heupel had the #2 offense in the country last year. Kiffen had the #3. Pretty similar in almost every metric
Heupel had the #2 offense in the country last year. Kiffen had the #3. Pretty similar in almost every metric
Posted on 4/26/21 at 7:21 pm to TRUERockyTop
quote:
A .500 team with a strong offense and terrible defense is a bad comparison?
Corral was a top 3 QB in the SEC last year, it would be ridiculous to expect that of Bailey.
Didn't you lose your entire RB depth chart and half your OL and your receivers already sucked?
Plus you won't have the luxury of playing Defenses that didn't go through Spring practice.
Just seems like a big jump for a team I expect to go 3-9 or 4-8
Posted on 4/26/21 at 7:26 pm to TRUERockyTop
Now that your team's offensive cancer is gone (Guarantano) your offense should already be better.
And to think State lost to that guy.
And to think State lost to that guy.
Posted on 4/26/21 at 7:45 pm to TRUERockyTop
Offense was gellin and defense was atrocious. I think we have like 2 scholarship LBs. I think Bailey is the starter, but he might struggle after he gets reamed a couple times by a SEC DE. 5-7.
Posted on 4/26/21 at 7:51 pm to TRUERockyTop
Every year for the last 10 years I have said UT is due to field an elite team. They have not. I fear I may be jinxing them. So I just want to say that this year UT will field an elite team.
This post was edited on 4/26/21 at 7:52 pm
Posted on 4/26/21 at 8:07 pm to TRUERockyTop
Y’all suck... End of story! Move on.
Posted on 4/26/21 at 8:09 pm to Muthsera
quote:
Corral was a top 3 QB in the SEC last year, it would be ridiculous to expect that of Bailey.
That's fair -- certainly up to this point. Heupel's track record and offensive production has been very QB friendly every where he's been. Bailey has the skill set and talent to have a breakout year in this system IMO.
quote:
Didn't you lose your entire RB depth chart and half your OL and your receivers already sucked?
The receivers haven't had anyone that was able to get them the ball in over 4 years. There's definitely some talent there. We lost 2 RBs in Chandler and Gray. Lost 3 OL. 1 starter to the draft in Smith, 1 starter to Oklahoma in Morris and 1 back up to A&M in Johnson. Gray & Smith without question are the biggest losses. Morris would have been had he gotten some better coaching. His development left a lot to be desired as did most of the OL and I think Will Friend was the reason for that. Elarbee is one of the best Offensive Line coaches in the country and was Heupel's best hire on the new staff. We picked up The #1 JUCO RB in Tiyon Evans to pair with 4 other running backs and still have some talent and big bodies at OL. Elarbee has some guys to work with.
That being said I don't think people realize how inept Guarantano made this offense look from a production stand point and a leadership stand point. He got both Jones and Pruitt fired and by all accounts sounded like a cancer on the team who people didn't want to play with. The definition of an energy vampire.
The offense looks night and day different from even last years spring game. The system, which is pretty close to what Lebby is running at Ole Miss, has made a huge difference.
quote:
Just seems like a big jump for a team I expect to go 3-9 or 4-8
I had us at 4-8 prior to seeing the overhaul on offense. I think we get to 5-7 to 6-6
This post was edited on 4/26/21 at 8:13 pm
Posted on 4/26/21 at 8:45 pm to Muthsera
quote:
Corral was a top 3 QB in the SEC last year, it would be ridiculous to expect that of Bailey.
Why? Corral is an average to slightly above average QB in a very QB friendly system. Bailey is ahead ahead of that in a better system with better talent around him.
quote:
Didn't you lose your entire RB depth chart and half your OL and your receivers already sucked?
Lost 1 very good RB and one decent one. Added depth and a better system. Oline will be at least ok with the Mays Boys, Wright and Carvin back. Spraggins has big shoes to fill but he saw action last year. Having the Oline practice together as a group with competent coaching will be a nice change and should pay off long term. WRs are a great mix of size and speed and more talented than Pruitt utilized.
quote:but the O will get spring practice with a competent QB in a system that just racks up yards and points. And that schedule is much lighter than what Ole Miss did. 5-7 is bottom, 5-7 is the ceiling. If someone overs you 4.5 or less take over and profit. Vandy isn’t good, UofSC isn’t going to be good, 3 of the 4 OOC games are gimmies. And they will win 1-2 of the 4 toss ups.
Plus you won't have the luxury of playing Defenses that didn't go through Spring practice.
Posted on 4/26/21 at 9:33 pm to TRUERockyTop
I watched highlights and, while my mile high view is similar to yours, I think there are details to be examined. HB did show a quick release while playing vs the d lineman he was, extremely thin LB corps, and scout team DBs. He might be able to do similar vs non-SEC teams, but in the big league the d linemen will be in his face quickly with their hands up. The quick routes of CJH’s offense will be tested early and often in the SEC. The biggest blaring weakness on offense is the presence of an explosive RB. Transfers killed the group and freshman need numbers around them to compete, which TN doesn’t have. Your defense is going to be one of the worst in the SEC and perhaps the worst TN has fielded since ive been paying attention to CFB. You have no LBs, no edge rushers, and are very thin in the secondary. TN is going to give up lots of points and, with the speed of the formation and execution of the offense, they’ll be gassed in Q1. I think 6 wins is the ceiling for this season. Pitt will be a pivotal game and I expect it to be a nail-biter. Lose that one and wheels start falling off.
Posted on 4/26/21 at 10:00 pm to BrotherDawg84
quote:
The biggest blaring weakness on offense is the presence of an explosive RB. Transfers killed the group
Lost 1 RB to transfer that will be missed. They will utilize RB by committee with Evans, Smalls, Hodge, Wright as the main 4 with Beckwith and Whitehead big backs. The Heupel O rarely features just 1 but has shown that multiple backs can contribute meaningful yards
Posted on 4/26/21 at 10:01 pm to Muthsera
quote:
Corral was a top 3 QB in the SEC last year, it would be ridiculous to expect that of Bailey.
Corral's stats the year before Lebby took over were very forgettable. 1300 yards, 6 TD 3 INT with a 59% completion rate. The system that both Ole Miss and UT run are made for quarterbacks to put up big numbers.
Posted on 4/26/21 at 10:03 pm to TRUERockyTop
I watched some of it while I was doing cardio at the gym today and I thought fo the same comparison. That defense looked so bad tho. Most of the time they couldn’t even get off the line of scrimmage. Yalls QB did take a while to make decisions they just had so much time it waste.
Y’all did remind me of us last year especially that defense
One thing that I think tennessee may fail at compared to ole miss is the rushing offense. Ole miss led the SEC in rushing YPG. I don’t think heupels offense will be able to replicate that
Y’all did remind me of us last year especially that defense
One thing that I think tennessee may fail at compared to ole miss is the rushing offense. Ole miss led the SEC in rushing YPG. I don’t think heupels offense will be able to replicate that
This post was edited on 4/26/21 at 10:06 pm
Posted on 4/26/21 at 10:04 pm to Thumpa15
The offense he was running was basically the triple option and he barely played because JRP played
Posted on 4/26/21 at 10:16 pm to hiremikeleach
The point I'm trying to make is that both guys played on terrible offenses prior to their new staffs taking over. These systems hum when you have half decent guys behind center.
Posted on 4/27/21 at 12:09 am to viceman
quote:
Every year for the last 10 years I have said UT is due to field an elite team. They have not. I fear I may be jinxing them. So I just want to say that this year UT will field an elite team.
Posted on 4/27/21 at 6:15 am to TRUERockyTop
Posted on 4/27/21 at 6:40 am to viceman
quote:
Every year for the last 10 years I have said UT is due to field an elite team. They have not. I fear I may be jinxing them. So I just want to say that this year UT will field an elite team.
Who has seriously stated they were going to field an elite team? The last 5 have seen Gitmo at QB which is a disqualification. Before that Dobbs was decent but wildly inaccurate. But at least he gave honest effort. Maybe if Jones could have held it together but dude is a walking colostomy bag.
I’m going to call bullshite on you here.
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