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Offense shows some new wrinkles

By Dave Hooker (Contact)
Originally published 10:56 p.m., November 3, 2007
Updated 10:56 p.m., November 3, 2007

Critics could call it running up the score. Tennessee called it getting better.

"Our whole theme for this game was to get better," offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe said of UT's offensive approach late in a 59-7 romp over Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

"You can't sit on it and get better. We weren't trying to run the score up. We weren't trying to embarrass anybody."

UT didn't just stay within the framework of its offense to score 14 fourth-quarter points with the game already in hand.

The Vols also unveiled a new offensive package with receiver Gerald Jones playing quarterback. The freshman ran for 20 yards on two carries from the shotgun - including a 12-yard touchdown to put the Vols up by 52 points.

"There's a few more things with that," Cutcliffe said of the package. "We're going to have some fun with that.

"I think Gerald Jones is a natural quarterback. Believe me. He's really good back there and he can throw the football."

The Vols worked extensively on the Jones package in the preseason. But it was shelved, almost permanently, when Jones suffered a pulled hamstring earlier this season.

Some, including Cutcliffe, thought the injury could end Jones' season, but when he came back, so did the new look.

"Early in the year, had he stayed healthy, we would have been using it early," Cutcliffe said. "When we were recruiting him, I told him I wanted to do that. I liked Gerald a lot as a quarterback in high school."

Jones, who won a state title in 2006 playing quarterback for Millwood High School in Oklahoma City, isn't available for interviews, as per UT's policy on freshmen.

Cutcliffe maintained that the package wasn't just something UT planned to use against a weak non-conference opponent. With three consecutive SEC games left - against Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Kentucky - fans will soon find out.

"I think it could be kind of exciting for us down the stretch," Cutcliffe said. "You just have to see the situation, whether we can use it or not."

Head coach Phillip Fulmer implied that using the package on Saturday has paid dividends.

"That'll make other people have to work on it at least," he said.

Next week's opponent, Arkansas, knows something about such a package. The Razorbacks drew national acclaim last season for a similar package in which Heisman candidate Darren McFadden played quarterback.

The Vols also were plenty aggressive in the more traditional passing game.

Junior college speedster Kenny O'Neal caught a 49-yard touchdown pass, his first score as a Vol, in the fourth quarter. Cutcliffe said ULL was pressing UT's receivers at the line when he decided to call the deep pass.

"I just called the game as if it was nothing to nothing at that point," Cutcliffe said.

Right Place, Right Man: Antonio Wardlow scored his second UT touchdown on a blocked punt when he caught the ball in midair at the 20-yard line and sprinted into the end zone.

The punt was blocked by Nevin McKenzie at the Ragin' Cajun 38-yard line. McKenzie said, through studying ULL, that it would often leave a hole in the middle of their offensive line on punts.

"I was planning on being able to get back there somehow," McKenzie said.

The last time Wardlow scored came after he blocked a punt against Georgia in 2006. That play landed the Winston-Salem, N.C., native on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first such honor for a Vol since receiver Peerless Price landed on the front of the magazine following UT's national championship.

For UT, it was the second blocked punt of 2007, the first coming against Georgia by Ellix Wilson.

Climbing: Arian Foster rushed 20 times for 100 yards, giving him 2,001 career yards. Foster is only the 12th Vol to top the 2,000 mark.

"It's an accomplishment I'm proud of," said Foster, who is 11th on UT's all-time career rushing list.

Foster passed Stanley Morgan (1973-76, 1,952 yards). He is 60 yards away from Aaron Hayden (1991-94, 2,061) for 11th place.

Just a junior, Foster is within reach of becoming UT's all-time leading rusher. Travis Henry (1997-2000) holds that record with 3,078 career yards.

Injury Report: Defensive tackle Chase Nelson suffered either a broken or dislocated right wrist. Sophomore receiver Austin Rogers and sophomore defensive end Wes Brown both suffered shoulder injuries.

Sparse Crowd: Saturday's crowd of 96,197 was the smallest for a UT home game since 1995 when the Vols played Vanderbilt in front of 92,274. The ULL crowd was the lowest since Neyland Stadium was expanded before the 1996 season.

Lead Ship: With Navy beating Notre Dame 46-44, UT's current winning streak of 22 games over Kentucky becomes the longest active in the nation. The Fighting Irish had beaten the Midshipmen 43 consecutive times before Saturday.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

       57 Comments

Posted by BigUn on November 4, 2007 at 12:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

"Offense shows some new wrinkles"

Yeah, we let actually run a pass pattern that so confused the defense he scored on it, and we ran the ball all day like we should have doing since the Bama game.

Posted by alfrizzle097 on November 4, 2007 at 12:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey, 'Bama whipped us and their rush defence showed up big against LSU. Don't need to be complaining about the play calling against 'Bama.

Complain about the result all you want though.

Posted by GreerVol22 on November 4, 2007 at 12:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Well Cutcliffe, Arky ain't no Cajuns. My fear is that you now think were experts at running the Wild Hog offense too. There is no McFadden on this team...he just hung 300+ rushing yds on USC for peats sake. Run the ball, don't get cute.

Posted by nicksjuzunk on November 4, 2007 at 1 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Heck,

I say get cute. Get real cute! Half the people on this site complain Cutcliffe is too predictable and we don't get the young players in etc.

Well, we took care of those things tonight. Naysayers will say look at the competition, and I will agree. However, I think the future looks very bright with our young players showing great potential.

So do we want a new innovative offense, or do we want smash mouth football?

We never play our young players or we waste their redshirts.

It's a terrible season, but we still are in control of the east.

We sure are fickle fans.

MacFadden is a beast. WE WILL NOT stop him. Let's hope we can limit Jones and put up some points. Surely MacFadden can't beat us alone... can he?

Posted by asleep on November 4, 2007 at 1:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Nicks,

I think McFadden can beat us but I don't think he will. I am more worried about Monk's return. Beating any one-dimensional offense isn't hard. The return of Monk gives them a 6'6" target to use when they need to mix it up. I don't guess any of us needs reminding how poor our pass defense has been! This game really falls on Cutcliffe and the offense to keep AR's vaunted run game off the field. Let's hope some of those new offensive wrinkles will work against SEC competition. Go Vols!!!

Posted by RocketVol on November 4, 2007 at 6:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

...and enter the coaching factor. Nutt outcoached Fulmer's 98 and 99 teams big time. I think he will outcoach the 3-ring circus Saturday too.

Posted by Smokey57 on November 4, 2007 at 6:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree nicksjuzunk, Fulmer and Cutcliffe get lambasted for a stagnant offense, lambasted for trying new things (even if they work)- so they are damned if they do, damned if they don't. When I read these comments, there are certain people whose comments I specifically look for. I can't remember one instance of Greer... or CR...( I can't put 'Vol' after their names because I don't believe they are Vols)making a positive comment after any article they blogged. Rather than fess-up to that, they will respond to this by lambasting me for stating the obvious. Greer, you need to go camping again.

Posted by yeavols on November 4, 2007 at 7:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Forget the Defense next week. PUT in any wrinkle you can think of. Make it a high scoring game. McFadden will run all over us. Get CUTESY! We have to have something to counteract what is going to happen to our defense. McFadden will RIP us apart like a paper shredder in Donald Trump's office. By the way, don't forget to make your reservations in Atlanta.

Posted by Smokey57 on November 4, 2007 at 7:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Nobody realizes that more than me, Touchdown. In fact, I turned off the SC-UT game 1:00 into the 4th quarter because I would not subject myself to the 2nd half crap I have been watching all season. I was PISSED! But I didn't come on here and start badmouthing everything Tennessee as a result, and I still support them despite my anger. I'm just stating the obvious that there are some who come on here to do nothing more than start fires. They are products of their "glass-half-empty" mentality.

Posted by Smokey57 on November 4, 2007 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)

There is certainly nothing wrong with expressing your displeasure, but it is better served if it's done constructively. Despite what the season has looked like so far, there have been some bright spots in there too, none of which has been mentioned by certain bloggers. To them, it's all what's wrong with Tennessee. My neighbor is like that. He hates CPF, and says he can name me 30 coaches that are a worthy replacement. When pressed, he couldn't give me one name.
I would challenge the aforementioned to state a problem with our team and offer a solution in a positive manner. I don't believe they are capable of doing that.

Posted by why36knot on November 4, 2007 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)

touchdownTn and rocketvol.... you two creeps need to get a new bucket to carry all that crap around in. The ones you are using have holes in them and the smell is stifling.
GO VOLS BEAT THE HOGS

Posted by injunvol on November 4, 2007 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

hot off the press --- aub beats ga -arky beats tn -ky beats vandy - fla beats scar / back to a 4 way tie / my o my its crazy -it will go down to the final week and my guess is ga will win it depending on the outcome of tn- ky game - but dont really matter lsu is the sec champion reguardless of who they draw - i just want the best team in sec to kill the golden boy herbie`s SUCKEYES

Posted by threehundredbowler on November 4, 2007 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Where is that idiot that jumped on the 28.5 points as soon as the line came out?Oh,I know,he is home with cr trying to find enough piggy banks to pay off the loss.

Posted by waterskier3 on November 4, 2007 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)

does this sound familiar... we lose some key games but the young talent isn't ready to play but after we sux they insert the young talent and man maybe they could make a difference???? same ol crap every year.......... well every average team we've played this year has had one player have a record day... so how many yards will mcfadden have?????? he will win the HT on us.....

Posted by volsfaninBoca on November 4, 2007 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Arkansas can be defeated but a victory by Tennessee will not come from stopping McFadden. No team in the SEC has really stopped him this year. The only way Tenn will win is to put a lot of points on the board and if Ainge and company are on, they can do so. I say Tenn wins a close one by outscoring McFadden 37-33. Go Big Orange.

Posted by scvolalum on November 4, 2007 at 10:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I have to agree with you, Smokey57. If I want to listen to crybabies, I'll just find some angry old women (No offense to the majority of ladies------you nasty ones know who you are)--------or one of the CR's, waterskier's, touchdowns, rocketboys, etc., of the world. It's easier and more simple-minded to predict doom and gloom,then say "I told you so!" It just makes life more pleasant to pull for positive results and be extra pleased when they (sometimes) occur------that is, in opposition to hanging with the nagging naysayers in order to elicit attention. CPF is a class act and loves his Vols way too much for such loose lipped insults! I've said all I will on this subject and will let it be. Let's whip the hogs and move on from there. GO VOLS!

Posted by GreerVol22 on November 4, 2007 at 10:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Smokey 57, you have an opinion and I respect that. Its a shame your not adult enough to respect those of others. None of us are any more or less qualified to comment nor are we any more or less a fan for doing so. We beat a team badly that we should have, we nearly gave away the game last week and have lost badly to our greatest rivals. The offense is predictable and if we decide to "get cute" we had better spend more than 15 minutes of practice on it. You really should try camping sometime, its a great place to "release" all that pent up cool-aid.

Posted by budd on November 4, 2007 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

rocketvol if you are going to continue with your whining, understand one thing. If you get beat you didn't outcoach anybody. There are no moral victories. It's "Ws". At the level these coaches are paid they must either win or leave. so take your "outcoached em" crap somewhere else like Disneyland.

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 10:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)

We better come up with a patch on the defense for AR when McFadden is QB or we are going give up a ton of yards!

As for the usual CPF assasins, just ignore the slam-talk. They can't help it...it's what they live by.

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 10:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Oh, and one more comment on the CPF assasins...It wouldn't surprise me if some of them were getting "incentives" to post the stuff.

Posted by rockytopjeff on November 4, 2007 at 11:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

TouchdownTN, what is you prediction of the final score against the hogs? and keep in mind I may make a "substantial" wager with you.

Posted by RocketVol on November 4, 2007 at 11:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

budd - you need to pay attention. Saban had the Tide competing for the single spot in Western SEC dominance last night in only one year against probably the best neutral-field team in the game. The fact that he had them in this game, with a lesser team, at the end, is significant in understanding the level of coaching output.

I don't care what you say - Fulmer did NOT outcoach Spurrier this year...he was very lucky to win.

Posted by RocketVol on November 4, 2007 at 11:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Touchdown...it's like pissing-in-the-wind. I'm beginning to think folks just don't pay attention. A good friend of mine used to say "those who are casual fans and don't know much about the game watch the ball - but the experts know the game of football is played everywhere else on the field away from the ball". I pride myself in watching what's going on away from the ball and asking why certain decisions are tactically made. It's not always about if they work - but why did we do it? I can see logic in the approach of so many teams we play - even when they lose. But Tennessee dumbfounds me as they always seem to do things that are not putting the team in position to win. I think it's this boundary that many folks just can't see because of lack of understanding. So it is probably useless to discuss.

So.....how bout those Midshipmen?

Posted by threehundredbowler on November 4, 2007 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Arkansas is NO.1 in all these catagories,yet they have lost 3 games.They can be had again.

Posted by asleep on November 4, 2007 at 2:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

touchdown,

Botox? Good one. I see their rankings but they have lost to both of the high scoring teams they have played - Alabama and Kentucky, plus the only team to slow down their run, Auburn. We will have to win a high-scoring contest but it can be done. BTW, they have played 4 ULL - level teams already so their scoring and offensive numbers should be that high. Only Ole Miss has played a weaker schedule than Arkansas so stats don't always tell the tale. I still agree with you we will have to play head and shoulders better D than we have been playing to have a chance. Go Vols!!!

Posted by LargeOrange on November 4, 2007 at 4:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Touchdown, Greer, CR, Rocket (none of you should have TN or Vol in your names). Asleep makes a good point, if the Vols beat ARK you loss-lovers will say " Ark was not even ranked, and look who they have beat, Troy, North Texas, Chattanooga, Mississippi and Florida International". You will probably say, "This win proves nothing, we should have beat them worse". OR if we do lose, which is what seems to drive all of you, You will say, "see we told you so..." You want it both ways. When we beat Georgia, most of your losers tryed to claim credit for "waking up" the coaches and players with your critisims. I have news for you, I doubt any players or coaches read your hate dribble. What is embarrassing to me is the laughs that any of our opponenets fans must have reading your hate rants. I am curious about your constantantly talking about your higher standards, what TN coach did you like? Battle, Dickey, Majors? How far back do you have to go to tell me you were ever a satisfied "Vol" fan? The one thing that one of you said that was true, you have taken a consistant stand, you will be negative no matter how good or bad our team is.

Posted by ozoney on November 4, 2007 at 5:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

LargeOrange, seems you are the type of "fan" who is glad to see UT just trot on the field..no matter the outcome. There are, however, true fans who care about the tradition of hard work, leadership, and dedication by our young men wearing orange, and we're tired of seeing it coached out of them. my entire family bleeds orange and support the football team in spirit and financially, we're there cheering them on through wins and losses, and never give up on the atheletes who choose to play for the Vols. If you truly believe that fulmer and staff are headed in the right direction, well.."chuckle", you're entitled to your own opinion and i respect that. you should have the same respect for those that want to see a positive change for UT football, you talk about spewing hate..your post was full of hate for all fans who believe...no wait..know that this coaching staff has to go. I have all the televised games on tape over the last few years if you need to review, i'll even edit the games and highlight the bad decisions and lack of motivation on the sideline and on the field that's prevelant every game, win or lose. it's time for a change, i'm a Volunteer fan, not a fulmer fan. Go Vols.

Posted by invisiblekid on November 4, 2007 at 6:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

They don't need to put in any special plays for Jones, if it weren't for the injury early in the year he would already be a star in the making on this team. If I were Rogers or Briscoe, I'd be getting ready for some more bench time because Jones looks to have a ton of potential.

BTW, nice post Ozoney, but like RocketVol said, it's just like pissing in the wind with most of the folk on here.

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 7:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

LargeOrange said, "Battle, Dickey, Majors? How far back do you have to go to tell me you were ever a satisfied "Vol" fan?"

You are right so the "hate CPFs" can't answer. They are too busy drinking the yellow koolaid (you know...that stuff they keep putting in the "wind.")

Posted by ozoney on November 4, 2007 at 7:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

movol77 maybe you can't read..but i did answer, true champions always want to improve..not get worse..our program unfortunately has been geting worse...and the yellow koolaid joke?...i guess you're around 9 yrs old, maybe 10?...if you believe fulmer is the man to head this program and you have your way..we'll all have to settle for enjoying the vols running through the T, cuz once the gameclock starts...it's back to fulmer football..the nightmare continues in knoxville...

Posted by ozoney on November 4, 2007 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

P.S. in case you haven't been watching vol football...fulmer's teams do not have even an ounce of fire and energy battle, dickey, and majors teams did...it's not about the wins and losses as i said before..it's about pride and the traditional fight UT always showed up until the fulmer era..sugar bowl vs. miami anyone?..you don't know what you're talking about mo...

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on November 4, 2007 at 7:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Last week everyone was wanting Fulmers @#%# and now they beat a 1-7 team and everyone is happy again! Fulmer is a clown and needs to go. The school has top notch facilities, a huge fan base, and top 5 recruiting classes every year. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize what the problem is. See below:

SEC teams records against the top 25 the past 6 years:

LSU - 15 wins 11 losses
Auburn - 12 wins 10 losses
Georgia - 13 wins 11 losses
Florida - 12 wins 16 losses (Thanks Ron Zook)
Tennessee - 7 wins 17 losses

But yet he has a 82% winning percentage. Give me a break! Please get rid of him!

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 7:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)

ozoney, you must be drunk on that yellow koolaid cuz you DID NOT answer LargeOrange's question on coaches!

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 7:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"The school has top notch facilities, a huge fan base, and top 5 recruiting classes every year. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize" which coach brought the program to this level. :) (I bet you are fuming now!) :)

Posted by ozoney on November 4, 2007 at 8:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)

neyland started this program mo...fulmer, if it's up to idiots that know nothing about football like you, will be responsible for running it into the ground. The vols brought in fans under majors, battle, etc...and the new facilities?..you can thank the leadership of al wilson and tee martin and co. for overcoming the fire and drive being coached out of them..thank the true hero's, not the zero..and again..the "yellow" coolaid thing is just...juvenile. Stop embarassing yourself. Too many damn fulmer fans and not enough Volunteer fans around here.

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 8:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

ozoney you are laughable. Neyland left the program over 50 YEARS AGO. Battle???? Are you kidding? :0))) As for Al Wilson, Tee Martin, etc...they were all RECRUITED by the hated coach. You my friend are blindly yellow, not objective.

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 8:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

ozoney, though you probably won't answer this question either, I will ask it anyway.

What two coaches have won our beloved Vols a national championship in the poll era?

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on November 4, 2007 at 8:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

How hard is it to recruit to a school with a stadium that holds 100,000+ and a football program with the history of Tennessee? Give me a break movol. Accept mediocracy on the hill but I will not.

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 8:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Longestnameinhistory, can you answer the LargeOrange questions above or just keep spewing the hate CPF stuff too?

Posted by ozoney on November 4, 2007 at 8:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

another reading lesson for you..."you can thank the leadership of al wilson and tee martin and co. for overcoming the fire and drive being coached out of them" thus referencing the national championship year, but i wouldn't expect you to know who played on the 98 team, much less this years team, considering the BLIND following of fulmer you exhibit. And UT's numerous donors, season ticket holders and rich alum paid for the facilities, not fulmer or the atheletic department. would you like for me to hire a private tutor to teach you to read? may help to end this redundancy mo..have a nice "no football knowledge havin'" life. maybe you can move to whatever state the next school, or victim, fulmer decides to coach at.

Posted by LargeOrange on November 4, 2007 at 8:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I guess you respect these same people with the FOOLmer, Phat Phil, and donut jokes, that is so mature. These Phil-haters were the same type sending moving vans to coaches houses in the past and they will with the next coach too. You are right, I do hate that. I have donated every year and had the same 6 tickets since 1986 two years after I graduated. I go to every game, home and away that I possibly can. I live in Atlanta so I left yesterday morning at 8:30 am and got home last night about 2:30 am and had to be up for work at 7:30am. I think I know a little about Tennessee football, and no, I am not happy with the direction we are going, but I am not convinced that tossing CPF aside will solve our problems. Miami win was awesome, but I was in Athens last year and in Knoxville this year for both Georgia games, they had the fire, I saw 12 out of 13 games in person in 1998, we got some big breaks, but there was fire and tradition in spades, in Tempe, I lived it. There are a ton of examples but here are two, how do all the Nebraska and Notre Dame fans feel with the great tradition and success they must have been used to. I think they would love to be ranked in the polls, with a chance to win the at least their division in the best conference in the country, and going to a major bowl game? I am not saying to settle, I HATE to lose, but like the song says, "we were there, we here now and we'll be here then" and not just in the good times.

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on November 4, 2007 at 8:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)

My point exactly LargeOrange. Nebraska and Notre Dame are also considering coaching changes. As did Florida when things were down with Zook. Remind me how that turned out for them?

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 8:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)

ozoney, you seem to be impossible and unreasonable Are you suggesting that UT won the '98 championship without any coaches. Feel better? :0)))

Posted by ozoney on November 4, 2007 at 8:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Last post is for you LargeOrange, if you aren't happy with the direction the program is going, what should we do? give fulmer a raise?..dismiss the players? fire Hamilton? or do the right thing, thank fulmer for the memories and move ahead. no doubt fulmer has maintained the integrity in our football program that fans and alum expect with regard to ncaa policy, but he's consistantly out-coached, rarely out-manned. here's a suggestion..go on Youtube.com look up "fulmer pregame speeches" and view the video..about as inspiring as sunday brunch. P.S. You should be aware that nebraska fans feel the same as we do, they want a great coach for a great program, Osborne will do the right thing, just hope Hamilton will. Will it take someone blistering us and putting up 79? if it's up to people like you and mo, it's a safe bet it will happen.

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 8:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Hate blinds objectivity. Defending the hate leads to insanity.

Posted by LargeOrange on November 4, 2007 at 8:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

TD, our defense is struggling, but do you think it wouldn't be a lot better if we had the 4 or 5 starters that are not playing due to injury and discipline? I just don't think Chavis has forgotten how to coach defense suddenly. I think I remember that more than one NFL team has tried to buy him away from Tennessee more than once, he was considered one of the premier DCs in the country before the last 3 years. Ozone two questions for you -- Who, that would take the job, would you advise Hamilton to hire if you had the chance? -- Has there ever been a head coach of a currently ranked team that is leading (or very close, if not, I don't have time to look it up) the nation in winning % among active coaches, fired? Ok, so you will ask what would I do? I would promote Trooper to Assistant Head coach, pay him a million a year, and give him the authority to make changes in both Offense and Defense, practice, training, and most especially pre-game and half time speeches. And in 3 years if all of those freshman and sophomores I saw last night aren't SEC Champs then I would make a change, assuming the right coach was available.

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on November 4, 2007 at 9:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

LargeOrange- please never bring up that coaches winning % crap. 7 wins 17 losses against top 25 teams the past 6 years? Does this answer where Fulmers wins are coming from? Teams that do not have a 105,000 capacity stadium and do not have nearly the players or facilities that UT has.
In other words, he beats who he should and rarely overachieves.

Posted by movol77 on November 4, 2007 at 9:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Forget all stats other than championships!!!

Posted by fivolfan on November 4, 2007 at 9:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)

yesterday's win is in the books.for those that remember the championsip season, we had more than a few given to us(syracuse, ARK) with more talent on our sidelines.just watched Indy lose to NE. no fault of 16(18).Tennessee has had a great program. support our boys (and girls) and understand we have great coaches, players, fans. what we need are heart, commitment, and sacrfice. Chavis and fulmer are keepers. More inspiration, leaders like Peerless, Peyton, Travis, and even Leonard(off field activities excluded) will help bring the Vols back to greatness. Do our players care? Cohesive individuals make a team. As fans we should support,inspire. As alumni, demand respect for UT tradition!

Posted by LargeOrange on November 4, 2007 at 9:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Please answer the questions instead of pontificating. I will make it easier for you, forget about the winning percentages, even in a bad year we are still a ranked team in both polls, has there ever been a coach of a ranked team fired? Who would you hire that reasonably might accept?

Posted by LargeOrange on November 4, 2007 at 9:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Well said fivolfan!!

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on November 4, 2007 at 10:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I'll name 3 off the top of my head:
Peterson at Boise St.
Rutgers coach
Levetz at South Florida

All 3 know how to win with nothing, not lose with everything. Expect more in Knoxville! Tennessee has an athletic budget that is top 5 in the country. Football should be it's catalyst. I don't consider a 20-13 record over the past 3 seasons acceptable and you should not either.

Posted by LargeOrange on November 4, 2007 at 10:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

We all know about the Tennessee tradition, facilities, money, etc. I think you would agree Notre Dame has all of that as well. They even had their own TV deal for goodness sake. What happened over the last 12 years or so that they are now 1-7, loser of 9 straight bowl games and the butt of jokes nationally today?
- Lou Holtz (1986 - 1996) 95-24-2
- Bob Davie (1997–2001) 35-25 and 0-3 in bowl games
- George O'Leary (2001) hired and was HC for 5 days
- Tyrone Willingham (2002 - 2004) 21-15
- Charlie Weis (2005 - present) 20-13 including his 1-7 start this year.

Now I don't think Lou Holtz was that phenomenal of a coach at ND but they are 66-53 since he left. Are you ready for a record like that at Tennessee over the next 12 years?

Posted by LargeOrange on November 4, 2007 at 10:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

You make my point for me, that is why I call you guys Fulmer-Haters. Blinded by emotion.

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on November 4, 2007 at 11:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Please tell us Vol Fans what we have to look forward to? We all know that a great recruiting class means nothing (and by the way, it's looking very bad). I don't think Crompton can lead this team. And our coach is a clown. You can be happy with our coach but I expect more.

Posted by Smokey57 on November 5, 2007 at 6:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Greer,
I respect opinions- I don't respect pissing-and-moaning. I challenge you to post just one positive comment about Tennessee. Come on, man, just one comment! Shock all these bloggers!

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