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Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis hangs his head as he walks the Vols sideline Saturday during the third quarter of California’s 45-31 win over UT in Berkeley.
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BERKELEY, Calif. - Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis walked away from Memorial Stadium with one major certainty after the Vols' 45-31 loss to No. 12 California on Saturday night: His defense didn't look a whole lot like he's used to seeing it.
"That's not typical of Tennessee football," Chavis said, "particularly Tennessee defense."
Certainly, Tennessee's night could have been worse.
Defensive end Xavier Mitchell spent several minutes on the turf after tackling Cal running back Justin Forsett near the Vols' 10-yard line.
He was carted off and taken to a local hospital where he had X-rays and an MRI.
As of press time, UT coach Phillip Fulmer said he hoped Mitchell would be able to join the Vols on their cross-country flight home to Knoxville.
"He was alert and talking when he left the field," Chavis said. "We're hoping everything's fine. He said he felt fine, but when those things occur, you want to make sure."
Tennessee couldn't do much about Cal's first score, a 44-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Worrell Williams.
But the Golden Bears (1-0) got their second touchdown of the game on their second possession came courtesy of a 4 minute, 45 second drive that showed just how vulnerable the Vols can be.
On third-and-2, Cal tailback Forsett took a pitch 15 yards.
Three plays later, quarterback Nate Longshore scored from 2 yards out.
Cal's third score - a 77-yard punt return by DeSean Jackson - wasn't on the defense, either.
But the next four touchdowns were.
And Chavis said they happened in large part because the Vols couldn't wrap up.
"We didn't tackle as well as I thought we would," Chavis said. "That's my responsibility. We're going to look at the film, we're going to go to work and we're definitely going to get better."
Players like Forsett or Jackson or receiver Lavelle Hawkins on the other side of the ball didn't help, either.
"You've got to give Cal a little credit," Chavis said. "We played a good football team. We played a team that was in the top 10 in every (offensive) category last year."
After giving up a 63-yard drive to start the second half, the Vols' defense held Cal without points on its next three drives.
That happened thanks to better execution and tackling, Chavis said.
"We executed a little better, we tackled a little better in that period, and emotionally I think we played a lot better," he said. "You've got to be able to do that for 60 minutes."
It didn't even last a quarter.
With Tennessee trailing by seven points with nearly 11 minutes left, Cal moved 70 yards in just five plays.
On that drive, Longshore connected on consecutive passes of 24, 23 and 10 yards before Forsett scored from 13 yards out to all but put the game away with 9:10 left.
"We didn't play the way we were capable of playing," Chavis said. "The tackling was not acceptable. We're going to get that squared away. We'll look at personnel, we'll look at the whole deal. Whatever we need to do to get better, that's what we're going to do.
"Right now our focus is going back to Knoxville, getting this game behind us, correcting the mistakes and getting back on the field. And I can't wait to get back on the field to work. Because we've got a lot of work to do."
There's just not a lot of time left.
In two weeks, the Vols will face the Florida Gators in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, with more on the line.
That's the only place a team has scored more points on a Chavis-led defense than Cal did on Saturday, when the Gators hung 62 on the Vols in 1995.
"We didn't play Tennessee defense tonight," he said. "We're going to go back and work on those things, and we'll be better next ball game, I guarantee you that."
Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.
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Comments » 68
BigUn writes:
Hopefully when Chavis reviews the film Jarod Parish will suck as much on it as he did watching it live.
Also it would be nice if our DL would actually penetrate into the backfield and make a play.
Right now, this is going to be a long year because we will face offenses with great QB's, WR's and RB's like UF, UGA, Bama and even UK.
BIGEJ writes:
Was there a defense in white and orange or just kids wearing jerseys; again, no heart on this team.....it has been "winter" here on tobacco road since 2001...this team and coaches look like....well, when UNC-Carolina and other ACC fans can compare Tennessee football to ACC football...well it just makes one sick to one's stomach...again NON HEART.....
OldNumber7 writes:
The only season's since 1990 that Tennessee has been competititve they have been loaded with NFL talent and big playmakers. That is the only consistency. If coaching was great - then each team would be competitive each year, with consistency, discipline, and good turnover margins. But if you consider the competitive teams during the last 17 years, names like Manning, Wilson, Lewis, Henry, Walker, Riley, Clifton, Bryson, and Witten were on the field (mid 90's, 98, and 2001). Those competitive teams yielded a ton of NFL players. So all you need to do is look at the team now and see if NFL talent is on the field.
georgiavol91#379211 writes:
Will someone please tell me why John Chavis is still employed by UT?
No sacks, little QB pressure, ZERO tackling. That has nothing to do with schemes and everything to do with COACHING and has been a problem for years.
CrankE writes:
I had to go to bed at the half, but I really did think that UT would get it together. Against UGA last year, they had the same kind of first half. The home team got the crowd stirred up, made some great plays, ran out to a nice lead, then went to the lockers. In the second half though, UT's defense shut UGA down and the offense kept on scoring.
Last night, our defense never had an answer for Cal and apparently threw a no hitter. (Well, what else would YOU call it with all the missed tackles?) 200+ yards given up on the ground, no interceptions, no fumbles, no sacks-not a single play that might have altered the momentum of the game. And this, on opening day. Too many things went wrong yesterday to try and fix this week, but the foremost of these is what BigEJ said; HEART. The second is tackling.
My only hope is that Cal really is all that and a biscuit and that in December, we'll look back and say that they were the best opponent Tennessee played.
BIGEJ writes:
Plasticman, thanks for the encouragement but I do not and did not want to just have a good Pearl of a team; there was a day when UT fans could hold their head high for football...UT football...as of 09-02-07, NO HEART, NO "MARBLES"
mtnvol writes:
Speaking of "no heart", look in the mirror. Fans wanting coaches fired, calling players out after one game. Give Me a Break! What about you and your heart? Are you going to give your heart away after one loss to a top tier team? Sell all of your UT stuff and pick another team to be "loyal" to? We call people like that "sports whores" in the mountains. Why don't you put on the maise and blue and pull for Michigan? hahahaha Go Apps!!! Three in a row is on the way!!!
TNvolunteer writes:
i wouldnt say the team has no heart because the offense has plenty...great game by ainge and his receivers...the line played better than most people would have thought and the backs did great jobs too...the defense on the other hand makes you woder what are they over there practicing??? way too much arm tackling, and tackling with your head down...cant tackle what you cant see.... if cal's players got there hands on us, it was almost a certain tackle...take notes fulmer and company...our pass coverage couldnt cover a a man in a wheel chair...lets play 7 yards of the los and give em some cushion to yurn a 2 yard pass into a 8 or 9 yard gain...no pressure what so ever on their qb...he all kinds of time to pick us apart...dont be afraid to send the house a time or two...cal wasnt and they did it often...i dont think we got out played because we were only down by 7 in the with plenty of time left....we just plain and simply got out coached yet again...time for a change on the hill..maybe this will be the year it happens.....
rootin4volz writes:
Well, boys...At least we didn't lose to a Division 1-AA team!
That was a talented offense with lots of weapons. But I agree, there's no excuse for the porous defense we displayed last night. For goodness sake, wrap up your man and bring him to the turf!!!
waterskier3#226480 writes:
chavis is terrible and has been for years.. what people forget is that we've been going down hill for a while hopefully hamilton can see a trend and start cleaning house... i love phil for devoting his life to UT but UT is bigger than one person and he should do the right thing like randy sanders did and quit if we lose to fla and GA. Man its going to be a long year.......
VolFan4Life writes:
Tennessee's defense has declined in prowess over the past several years. Following several consecutive seasons among the top 20 defenses in the country, Tennessee's defense has finished in the top 20 only once in the past four years, including a rousing 50th place ranking in total defense last year.
The Vols have not finished inside the top 20 pass defenses since 2002, and have finished inside the top 25 rush defenses only once in the past five years (72nd last year).
Compare that to LSU and Florida, both of which have been ranked among the top 10 nationally in total defense in the past two years.
If that old saying "Defense wins championships" is true, then Tennessee fans will be saving a lot of money by not having to purchase those December Georgia Dome tickets any time soon.
Southland writes:
Chavis is still employed at UT because his defenses has carried our butts for 10 years. Now he is stooping to the level the rest of the team has been at. Fire special teams coaches. Fire the kicking team coaches. Help them load their furniture and then help Fulmer hire someone that is actually good at their job
johnlg00#206211 writes:
The tackling looked pretty bad at times, but the Cal ball handlers were about as shifty a bunch as I have ever seen! They all seemed to have a little wiggle about them just as a defender was about to make the hit, and then they had the strength to run through the arm tackles. It was REALLY hard to get a solid hit on them. Of course, that is where the wrapping up is most important. I will be surprised if we see any better bunch of skill players the rest of the year, but we do need to tackle better. I don't think there is as much full-on tackling in practice these days because of concerns about numbers, and this often shows up in first games. However, if we are still tackling like this when we play Florida, it will be a long season.
scvols writes:
Were were the sacks????? 0 sacks So much for improving the sack total.
jdcvols#230433 writes:
ej, know the feeling. I'm in NC as well and sick and tired of everybody asking what happened to your football program. We have DECLINED people!! and not getting any better. I predicted 7-5 and maybe 8-4 and everybody went after me. What say you now!
DSaVol writes:
"...we'll be better next ball game, I guarantee you that." Uhh - NEWS FLASH! - you can't get much worse!! Someone needs to explain to this coaching staff that when your ultimate goal is to be a REAL national title contender - assuming that IS still a goal around here, albeit not possible until Clint Stoerner's son gets to college - and team such as Cal is your first test (with FL up 3rd), there is NO room for gradual improvement. You MUST be ready from the opening gun and this team wasn't. You've had EIGHT MONTHS to prepare and this is the best performance you can produce??? And don't talk about the offense being great either. Yeah they put up 31 points but should have had 60 cause Cal's defense sucked too! But we wouldn't run a damned play that MIGHT get more than 10 yards and tried to cover up for the lack of an offensive line with about 42 passes of 3 to 5 yards - even on the goal line! This entire staff is living off of 1998. Folks wanna talk about how good they recruit but here's another flash- either they ain't recruiting as well as advertised or they can't coach worth a damn! Either way, the end result is the same and has been for at least 5 years. They need to only look over the mountain to see what REAL coaching and heart can do!
TNvolunteer writes:
Mr. DSAVOL..you hit the nail on the head....we have great recruiting...but with poor coaching, what is it going to matter...we have some of the best kids in the nation here and cant even win a league title...and it all comes down to coaching...i think its time for a new HEAD BALL COACH....our offense has no creativity, defense plays like ole philly boys offense: conservative.
what is the use of complaining about our special teams, it dont do any good....the more we complain about it, the worse it gets. the only way this team gets back to national dominance is by shaking up things and it starts at the top. GOOD BYE PHIL FULMER!
BornaVolDieaVol writes:
I really miss Al Wilson, Albert Haynseworth, John Henderson, Julian Battle, Deon Grant, and even 2005 season senior Jason Hall. We just dont have playmakers on defense anymore. Please somebody at least touch the quarterback or cover a receiver without a pass interference call. We don't have those power guys anymore who can cause fumbles in the end zone on sacks (like Hall did a couple years ago) or pick off a pass and run it back for a td (like Deon grant did on the first play of the 1999 Auburn game in Knoxville).
wkjq#213863 writes:
volnflorida, read THIS article!
arkyvol writes:
so he takes responsibility. so what? he takes responsibility about like donald rumsfeld did--and nothing ever happens but the s.o.s., until he was dismissed. chavis ought to take a cue from the samurai. whenever one consistently failed as he has, they had an age old ritual. seppaku, i think they called it.
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
ALL problems could be solved with 4, 6'6" and 295 lbs recruits that are defensive tackles....
volfanjustin writes:
The offense was not the problem at all, they actually looked pretty good. Our D sucks and has for a while. We cant get pressure with front 4 so we need linebackers to bring pressure and that leaves our secondary exposed. We will go 7-5. We need a whole new coaching staff, I mean start all over. I am tired of Fulmer and Chavis
invisiblekid writes:
165,231,259,109,128,183, and 231. That's the rushing defense totals for our past 7 games. Some on here don't put any stock in stats but I think it illustrates one of the fundamental ideas of football, if you don't stop the run you probably aren't going to win many games. We are 3-4 in those last 7 games and it will be a very long year if these players and staff can't put together a better effort than they did tonight. Only thing that really matters right now though is it hopefully looked worse than it is for Mitchell.
BIGEJ writes:
Cannot segregate a team and say offense “has it going on” and only the defense has no heart; this "segregation" to individuals, or "sides" of the ball says the “body” is not complete and heart of the ENTIRE team is not there; UT has suffered the “I” or superstar syndrome since for some time; the team of the “Al Wilson era” had heart; we fault lack talent, lack of coaching, but these elements were there in the 90s and are here now. "HEART OR SOUL" is not; as a coach I know talent is needed but heart gets you that extra and belief in self and TEAM to truly prosper. All the proposed changes will not help if the attitude of heart from all sides does not change. Being an UT alumni and a VOL fan I stood and stand faithful whether 5-6 or 13-0; 5-6 sucks but I know UT is MY school and MY team regardless unlike those I hear on tobacco road, “running” to basketball season in July…
tennisvol writes:
I think the defense stayed in Knoxville. Cal could have scored two or three more times. Moved the ball at will against UT. Florida will have no fear of having to move the ball on this defense. What has happened to Chavis?
virginiaandlaloma writes:
Is the entire state of Tennessee completely delusional?
You played a football team that is going to make more than a few defenses look dazed and confused this year; we can score points on anyone. And at the end of the year, after California has put up more points per game than a Pat Summitt basketball team, you will look back on this game and realize that your boys did pretty good last night.
You were simply beaten by a better team.
Speaking of Pat Summitt and girls sports, can we please stop hearing all the nonsense about the Pac-10 not playing physical football?
Ya'll are heavy weight fighters of the highest caliber, and we stood toe to toe with you, answered your gutsy third-quarter resolve, and then won going away.
We have always respected your program, and have always respected the SEC, despite your mouthy coaches, players, and fans. Tennessee is a worthy opponent, always.
Maybe you should consider putting a muzzle on it, and letting your team play ball.
Need more evidence on that point?
Bears linebacker Zack Follett said he was particularly motivated after hearing that Tennessee running back Montario Hardesty thought Cal was soft last year and would be again this year.
"We came out wanting to hit him and we kept hitting him," said Follett, who also rocked quarterback Erik Ainge, causing the fumble that Cal linebacker Worrell Williams picked up and ran 44 yards for the game's first score.
"They said we folded (last year). And they folded today. In the third quarter, their offensive line was taking a knee. So I don't want to hear that any more."
Shut up and play football, Tennessee.
VolFan4Life writes:
If Tennessee's poor defensive performance doesn't improve, the Vols face the prospects of losing 3-4 more games in which the offense will score 30 or more points. While Tennessee needs to tackle better, they also didn't appear to match up well in terms of physical strength or speed -- a deadly combination when facing Florida, Georgia, etc.
By October 7th, Tennessee can be 4-1 and in the driver's seat for the SEC East or 2-3 and on their way to the Music City Bowl. It's up to the players and coaches which one its going to be.
As for me, I'll be in Gainesville looking for a Big Orange win!
andy112382#209793 writes:
"We didn't play Tennessee defense tonight," he said. "We're going to go back and work on those things, and we'll be better next ball game, I guarantee you that."
I say you can believe Chavis will deliver on his gurantees, this will be one hard week of practice for that defense. We will come back better. GO VOLS!!!
orangeblood writes:
listen EVERYONE! Stop blaming phil fulmer for every dang thing that goes wrong! We were prepared for the game. We could not have asked for more from our offense. I am convinced that our running attack this year (especially with the return of coker next week) will be tops in the sec. Did you even take time to look at Cal's offensive line or were you too busy worrying about our D-line? That is probably the best O-line we face this year. Don't be so hard on UT. They are gonna be fine. Look at the positives. Eric Berry is 100% cracked up to the hype he was given. He IS the real deal. Go BIG ORANGE!!!!!
dsavage#234774 writes:
embarrassing...
VOLFANSTKGA writes:
Let's start from the beginning because this is personal and having read many comments by those such as CRVOL, eVOLution (whatever) and your many cohorts - let me say my peace....I've seriously watched the VOLS for 16 years and I was dedicated... but what does that really say....I've known no other coach but Fulmer, I've known no other assistants but Chavis & Cutcliffe, and I've personally met Randy Sanders. I stuck around for the good stuff and I stomached most of the bad. Now I don't have the pleasure of living in Tennessee, so I don't have fellow fans to whine and moan with. I've lived 12 of those 16 years in KY in constant state of agony waiting for the day when Kentucky remembers what the hell they did in 198?, now I live in southwest Georgia and 99% of my aquaintances graduated from UGA with a major in hating Tennessee. Now I know Chavis will come around, Culcliffe will bring it as always, and Fulmer will take the credit as always.....but I'm done, it's over, I'm moving on and aside from 1995-1998 - I want those other 12 or 13 seasons back again. Sorry but... SEE YA!!!
arkyvol writes:
i'm amazed at the number of posters who want to give fulmer and chavis a pass. i guess mediocrity has become acceptable in knoxville. we might as well have bill battle back.
Volzo writes:
Once again, Tennessee would rather punt than to play football. Anyone that knows football understands that it involves momentum and that there are crucial points in every game. Last night in the 2nd quarter, Tennessee had the ball across the 50 yard line with the team trailing by 7. Obviously, the game had already turned into a track meet. Tennessee made a terrible mistake in choosing to punt. First of all, the punt gave the ball to Cal at the 30 yard line. Coaches have to recognize the key points in the game. This was certainly a KEY point in the game! Whether Tennessee thought they could play the conservative defensive battle against Cal or not going into the game, they should have figured out by the 2nd quarter it was going to come down to offensive production. Ultimately, Cal took the ball and put 7 more on the board. That was a 14 point swing. I believe that was clearly the turning point in last night's game. Yes, Tennessee's front four is way to weak. But, the coaching staff has to adjust to the game and how it is being played. Last night, the Tennessee coaching staff did not. What did Tennessee have to lose? If Tennessee had gone for it on fourth down, they might have gotten it and scored. However, if not, Cal would have gotten the ball around their own 40 yard line. Instead, Tennessee punts the ball and gains about 10 yards. Great call Tennessee! There's your ball game. Against great competition on the road, you have to have better decision making than what Tennessee possesses at this time. Sorry, this stings I know, but it is all so very true.
mtnvol writes:
volnFlorida; what a great knee-jerk reaction! Moore @ ASU is 69 years old, get offers every year but declared years ago that he was staying in Boone until retirement. He likes it here and knows how to recruit those kids that get overlooked by the big schools. Kind of like Ken Sparks at CN. Who else ya got? With posters like the ones listed above; fair weather fans that look to lynch at the drop of a hat, would YOU come to KnoxVegas to coach?
andy112382#209793 writes:
Volzo, you have to think about it this way as well - if Fulmer goes for it rather than punting and does not get it, then you are on here saying how stupid Fulmer was for going for it and giving them really good field position, because remember you would not know what would have happened if we had punted, nor could anyone possibly know until after the fact. We did try to swing momentum by going for it on 4th and goal so you can't say they were not taking that approach at any point. I think our guys know a little bit about playing football, second guessing after the fact is always soooo easy to do, but it means absolutely nothing. Go back and fix the tackling and short yardage conversions in practice and come back and win the rest of'em! GO VOLS!!! We'll be fine people, geesh!
chrisw2967 writes:
Posted by alcofc on September 2, 2007 at 9:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Chavis is still employed at UT because his defenses has carried our butts for 10 years. Now he is stooping to the level the rest of the team has been at. Fire special teams coaches. Fire the kicking team coaches. Help them load their furniture and then help Fulmer hire someone that is actually good at their job
You forgot one thing Fulmer needs to pack his furniture and leave also . I get sick of hearing how good Fulmers winning percentage is , the last I checked percentages doesnt win football games. As far as Chavis goes he has carried Fulmers butt for the last 6 years but that wasnt Tennessee defense last night. they dont know how to tackle or wrap up or get pressure on the qb . On offense why is the only play we can run is up the middle or off tackle , are they not good enough to run toss sweeps or anything ? I still dont understand why he cant put freshmen in there and just let them play , they do it everyday at other div 1 schools and its plain as day that our playbooks re not that complicated. Like I said before you coach scared you will lose. the game called football has passed Fulmer bye , he needs to go rebuild another program with his style of thinking.with 2 minutes left he punts , that tells me he gave up
andy112382#209793 writes:
chrisw2967 - "....sick of hearing how good Fulmers winning percentage is , the last I checked percentages doesnt win football games."
I think that was the most stupid comment I have ever read on here....HOW DO YU THINK YOU GET A GOOD WINNING PERCENTAGE?!?!? Percentages don't win football games, right, but you get the good percentages BY WINNING FOOTBALL GAMES! Honestly, please proofread and get over your hangover from last night before you post, please.
whistlinwingman writes:
Whats Fulmers winning percenatage against top 25 teams???????
andy112382#209793 writes:
hahaha, I still can't stop laughing at that comment, chrisw2967. It was like me saying 'I don't think their a good student, I don't care if he has a 4.0 GPA, last time I check a great GPA doesn't pass classes!' .......you fair weather guys crack me up, but at least ya'll provide a good laugh win or lose! GO VOLS!!!
andy112382#209793 writes:
whistlinwingman,
Fulmer has won 41 of 72 games against ranked opponents, good for a 56.9 winning percentage.
He is 87-27 against SEC opponents for a percentage of 76.3 %.
And for extras, he has won 77 of 93 home games, 82.7% winning percentage.
At least at one point last year, I think it still holds true, no one has won more SEC conference games in the past 10 years than Fulmer and no one has played in more SEC title games in the past 10 years than Tennessee.
Hope that answered your questions there! GO VOLS!!!
andy112382#209793 writes:
Oh, and just for kicks, no one in the nation has had more NFL draft picks than Tennessee since 1996.
WYLOVER writes:
It is not fairweathered to call out coaches and players. We should expect more from our program. No one coaching or playing at Tennessee should kid themselves about the expectations that come with that honor. If you want to take it easy and be on TV, play at Louisville. Brohm did.
It is ok to lose but it is not ok to show the same weaknesses year after year. Are we ever goingt to anything on special teams? Someone needs to go coach a VA tech for a few years and then come back.
WYLOVER writes:
That winning percentage comment was pretty poor, I have to agree.
It does get old seeing that stat every game. When we mattered (and trust me, we don't now), we focused on winning the game we were playing and not talking about how well we played 10 years ago.
We may slip to third tier this year (I like to call that the ND tier).
virginiaandlaloma writes:
Your D will be just fine, Tennessee.
Tackle to tackle, California has one of the finest offensive lines in the country; include our TE, and we might be THE best. We have a tough, brusier of a FB (who played with a torn MCL) and RB's who can hit the seam and be gone for 18 or 20 yards before you can blink.
That combination will make more than a few teams question their defense this year.
Go Tennesse in '07.
Beat Florida.
SmokeDog72 writes:
Em-bear-assing
That had to be the worst tackling, least physical, least prepared, undisciplined UT defensive performance I have ever seen. Our defense cost that game. Any time the offense can put up 31 points on the road, a win should happen. The defense was horrible. Cal may be talented, but, our defense made them look like a Super Bowl champion. Chavis has generally had a D that was a little more fundamentally prepared. I have never thought that he was that great of a in-game coach (slow to adjust and see tendencies), but normally the players make a few plays and tackling and angular pursuit is sufficient. But not last night. That was simply inexcusable. This defense is liable to give up 400 yards a game. I thought the linebackers would at least be solid. Boy, was I wrong. The D looked equally bad from up front to the secondary. I am scared to see what happens when conference play starts. Hide the women and children. It could be gory.
Sheepscape writes:
Andy smell some of what you are shoveling
Volzo writes:
andy112382, the point I was trying to make is that you must play differently on the road than you do at home. Likewise, I believe coaches have to adjust as the game goes along. Yes, you game plan as much as you can beforehand, but if the other team is scoring each time they touch the ball you had better change your approach to something more suitable to beating the team your facing today. Yes, I guess it can be sooo easy to second guess on Sunday afternoon, but if you keep doing what your doing, your going to keep getting what your getting! Lately, that's not all that much.
Dirtdobber writes:
Is it Chavis or Fulmer? The answer to defense is getting pressure on the qb. If we cant get there with 4, we need to rush 5, if not 5 then 6, if not 6 then 7! You get the point. Last year agaist LSU, when we blitzed Russell he looked horrible, got him to make bad decisions. When we played mustang pack(rush 4,prevent,etc) Russell looked like a #1 NFL pick! This goes for all qb's. Since rushing 4 is not working, why not send the whole dam team! At least we can get a shot on their qb and keep him out of sync and his head in the turf! UT fans all remember the 97 Orange Bowl- Nebraska had one of the best rushing offenses in the history of college football. We put 8 and 9 in the box in the first half- held them to about 80 yards of total offense. The second half we came out and went to mustang, 4 man front- this led to Nebraska running up about 680 yards of offense in the second half! Defense was the typical play it safe, bend dont break, mustang package phooey! Dont think its the fault of the players but scheme.
andy112382#209793 writes:
Sheepscape, take a lesson from Cal fans on this site and get some class.
Volzo, I get what you are saying, I think we did make adjustments on defense there to stop them on three series, it seems we eliminated that short pass that they burned us on a few times during the game, unfortunately they adjusted to our adjustments. I am thinking it safe to say that from top to bottom they are the most complete team we will see all year. I just think that the things that were done wrong are things that can be fixed and fixed in time for our next game and fine tuned even more for Florida, they did not stop fighting and we still have conference play yet to start and our biggest RB threat hasn't played, plenty to be happy about, yes you have to focus on the bad to correct it, but we could focus on the good as well like our return game, the running by Foster, lack of turnovers ourside of the opening drive, lack of penalties other than the freshman TE movement and pass interference and little things like not having to burn timeouts because of being unorganized, that kind of thing can kill you as well but we didn't do that, usually it seems to be a problem in openers yet it wasn't, so we were indeed prepared fundamentally, it just seems we ran into a team that is on their way to a magical year. When we beat Syracuse in 1998 it wasn't they were bad and needed to be dismantled as a team, it was they ran into a team destined for a championship, heck FSU lost a game that year and went on to play for the title just as Florida did last year, so this is far, far, far away from over. Fix the problems, beat the gators and dawgs, and GO VOLS!!!
Volzo writes:
"We didn't play Tennessee defense tonight," he said. "We're going to go back and work on those things, and we'll be better next ball game, I guarantee you that."
I say you can believe Chavis will deliver on his gurantees, this will be one hard week of practice for that defense. We will come back better. GO VOLS!!!
Andy,
Breaking News: What is Chavis going to do over the next couple of weeks in practice that will cure what I saw last night? You need to break them down and build them back up. The tackling by the team is fundamentally flawed. What has Chavis and friends been working on all spring and all summer? Usually, most coaches establish the proper technique for tackling during the early stages of spring practice. But, maybe the push now is to introduce that after the first game. This time I guess Tennessee is ahead of the curve. "All right guys! Now, let me show you what you've all been waiting for: HOW TO TACKLE YOUR OPPONENT. We will take up this topic first thing Monday morning."
Gee, thanks coach, that would have been a little helpful last night against Cal, but I guess it was best for us to tweak that Mustang package before Florida. By the way coach, did you say arm tackling would or wouldn't work on Tim Tebow? Just wondering, I normally just use my shoulders anyway.
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