UT vs UGA Recap + Midseason Review

The administration finally did it. After a decade of high expectations, preseason top 25 rankings, midseason collapses, underachieving teams, and discontented fans and boosters, the Orange finally pulled the plug on a successful coach who just couldn’t cut it this season.

Except the coach was Tommy Bowden.

And the school was Clemson.

200 miles to the northwest, Phillip Fulmer breathes a sigh of relief. It could have been him. Clemson is only 4-2, with a weak ACC schedule that still makes a respectable season possible.  Tennessee is on the other end of the spectrum, 2-4, with only one game from now until the end of the season that is automatically considered a win: Wyoming  The rest of the season is playing teams that have a combined record of 22-8, for a .733 winning percentage.

And for the third time in as many attempts against SEC foes, Tennessee fell behind early and was forced to put the game on the shoulders of the quarterback as the running game was abandoned due to ineffectiveness. Tennessee had a net gain of 1 yard on the ground on 15 attempts. That’s an average of around two and a half inches per attempt. By the end of this article, I will have written longer than the Vols gained on the ground.

Give all the credit to Georgia on this one. Their game plan was effective, make the new quarterback beat us, crowd the box, and press coverage. And for about all of 5 minutes of the game, the defense was outstanding. When Nick Stephens had time to set his feet and survey the field, his throws were accurate and picked apart an above average secondary. Finishing 13 for 30 for 208 yards against UGA in his first SEC start bodes well for seasons to come. And he sure does have a pretty deep ball.

The running game, as said before, was atrocious. Yes, Stephens was sacked twice for 15 yards and Gerald Jones had an untimely end-around right into a cornerback blitz for a loss of 8 yards, but with a veteran line and a stable of excellent running backs, we should have been able to gain more than 24 yards, right? Apparently not and this will be something I’ll discuss later.

The defense played their hearts out again. Robert Ayers and Eric Berry both had interceptions, which set up all of Tennessee’s points. They gave up their first 100 yard rusher of the season, but at least it was a former Heisman candidate in Knowshon Moreno. To be fair, Moreno gained the majority of those yards in the 4^th quarter on a massive 10-minute drive Georgia sustained, and had his bell rung quite well on a vicious, clean hit by Berry in the latter minutes of that drive. Stafford really was the key to victory for Georgia, throwing for 310 yards and really obliterating a secondary that had its flaws once again exposed in this loss. The cover corners seem to be always playing 8 yards off the receivers, the strong safeties are too slow to the play, and everyone outside of Berry seems to be playing with no or little passion.

Even the kicking game was flawed. On the return of All-SEC punter and town drunk, Britton Colquitt, he drew a personal foul after one of his punts. How the heck do punters draw personal fouls? They get the ball, they punt the ball, they trot off the field, the end.

The sector of the game that really punished Tennessee was penalties. We had ten penalties for nearly 100 yards. Take that off of our 209 total yards and it’s easy to see why the Vols were never able to get anything started against UGA.

Today, since this is the midpoint of the season, I’ll look back at what was expected of the team, what has actually happened that has shaped the team, and what the future might hold for the second half of the season.

Quarterbacks: What was the quarterback of the future turned out to be one colossal bust. Jonathan Crompton never looked comfortable, never checked down, forced throws, and seemed too timid or two overanxious when throwing. After 3 disappointing games and one decent one, the coaches handed the reins to Nick Stephens who has shown poise, precision, and confidence in the pocket. The passing offense has improved tremendously the past two weeks and will hopefully soon have the running game to complement it later in the season.

Outlook: Improving

Running Backs: Another instance of seniority stifling talent. Arian Foster, leading-career-rusher-to-be hasn’t returned to his 2006 and 2007 form. A timidity of running through holes and a new case of the ‘dropsies’ (read fumbles) has put this senior back’s playing time in jeopardy. Montario Hardesty has seemed to be the more explosive and powerful runner, both inside the tackles and bouncing it outside, while Lennon Creer, who inexplicably has seen his playing time cut significantly, is the speedy homerun threat. I’d be happy to see Arian get his record, but not at the expense of winning the games.

Outlook: Standing Still

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: You can’t blame the receivers for Crompton’s woes. And mostly, when the ball was thrown to them, they caught it. But recently, with Stephens under center, their drops are inexcusable. Stephens have been delivering strikes and they should be able to hold on to them. Denarious Moore has been a pleasant surprise, rapidly becoming Stephens’ favorite downfield target, while Gerald Jones has been pretty consistent, catching the short and midfield throws. With more practice, hopefully, the wide receivers will develop more of a chemistry with Stephens and will improve the passing game. Junior tight end Luke Stocker has been a disappointment so far, while most fans are still scratching our heads on why the ball has not gone to former Freshman All-American Brandon Warren more often.

Outlook: Improving/Standing Still

Offensive Line: I drank the Kool-Aid. I should have seen it coming. We automatically assume veteran means better and that’s not always true. Cutcliffe shaped the line to be pass-blocking first, run-blocking second and now it’s showing. The run game has been non-existent when it has needed to be and the pass-blocking has been decent, at best. The offense has been spending too little time on the field and has been wearing the Volunteer defense out. The offense has only spent 163 minutes on the field through six games, which is roughly 45%. That means that on average, the defense has spent between 5 or 6 minutes more on the field than the offense. It was never as clear as the Georgia game, where the offense was only on the field for a measly 18 minutes. It showed in the fourth quarter as Georgia was able to wear down the defense and seal the game with a 10 minute drive. By the time UT got the ball back, there was simply no time left to score. The offensive line must get better quickly for Tennessee to turn this season around.

Outlook: Going Down

Defensive Line: What was a supposed weakness along the defense has turned out to be not as bad as some, including me, had expected. UT has excelled against stopping the run but has struggled in bringing the quarterback down. They’ve also been surprised at the screens opponents have been bringing and can be taken advantage of by trap plays. Yet overall, this is one of the many defensive surprises that many people did not see. Robert Ayers has been a rock at the end and Wes Brown has been quick at getting outside runners. The inside of the line still needs to stiffen up, especially in short-yardage downs, but that will come in time, when the defense can rest after our offense picks up.

Outlook: Staying Put

Linebackers: Rico McCoy could have been a monster in the middle of the field, but for some reason, hasn’t played up to the level of 2007 when he and Jerod Mayo had terrorized slot receivers and running backs. Ellix Wilson, on the other hand, has excelled in the Mike position, rarely getting caught out of place on running and passing plays. Adam Myers-White has been decent at best, but no backup backers have been able to really fill the spots of the starters. Because of this, when the starting linebackers have been spelled, opponent’s offenses have been taking advantage of the inferiority of the second string and usually run the bubble screens and slants in the middle to expose us. Someone needs to step up to keep the middle of the field protected, so we can keep the intensity and pressure up for the whole game.

Outlook: Going Down

Secondary: Well, the perceived strength of the defense has been hit or miss. Case in point: UCLA. The first half: 3 interceptions by the secondary. Second half: 2 long scoring drives when a stop was needed. The cornerbacks and safeties play relatively well in run support but seem to be too slow to keep up with some of the receivers in the SEC. While the interception total is outstanding, giving up the yardage that the secondary has been will and has bit us back. The corners always seem to play off the receivers, giving up the easy quick throws to avoid a strike downfield, and is frustrating to watch. Hopefully, the secondary will gel again like they did last year and prove that the secondary really is the strongest part of the defense.

Outlook: Staying Put

Special Teams: Lincoln really hasn’t been used a whole lot, cutting down his attempts significantly this year, but has been okay in spot duty. His misses against UCLA are really coming back to haunt him, though. Daniel Cunningham was up and down in punting this season, having two punts blocked in games so far, but keeping UT in the game against Auburn with his precise 5-yd line punts. Colquitt got his leg worked out in his first game back against UGA, booming 6 punts four 288 yards. Despite some early struggles in the return game, Dennis Rogan and Gerald Jones seem to be the capable return men most people expected them to be. We’ll need more out of them in the coming games though, as UT will not be favored to win much, if any, of them.

Outlook: Improving

I’ll talk about the coaches some other time. Preferably at the end of the season where I can make a couple points on how the whole of the offensive and defensive schemes work out.