Audio slide show
Tennessee Stat Book
Quarterbacks: D
B.J. Coleman anyone? It's time to start wondering if UT's offense (especially poor pass protection on Saturday) is the reason that Jonathan Crompton and Nick Stephens have looked so ineffective. How can either have any confidence with the way they've been handled? Bad offense or not, turnovers are not acceptable because UT's offense isn't good enough to overcome them.
Running Backs: D
Lennon Creer's fumble set up a touchdown that practically put the game out of reach in the second quarter. Arian Foster ran hard, averaging 4 yards per carry. He was fortunate to get the ball over the goal line for a touchdown just moments before losing the handle.
Receivers: C/Inc.
The Vols receivers never challenged South Carolina's secondary. Without a healthy Gerald Jones and Denarius Moore on the bench, there isn't nearly enough explosiveness. However, with poor pass protection and a quarterback quandary, who really knows how good these guys are?
Offensive Line: D-
At times, it looked like the Vols might be able to establish a running game against South Carolina. Then, the game got out of hand and there was no time to lean on the run. Pass protection was incredibly poor (six sacks) and penalties were again a problem.
Defensive Line: B
With all of UT's injuries up front, I kept looking for Hawkeye and Trapper on the sideline. Considering the injuries, UT's defensive line deserves a tip of the cap for their play on Saturday. The Vols recorded three tackles for a loss, including a sack.
Linebackers: B-
Rico McCoy had nine tackles, one for a loss. Ellix Wilson had six. Nevin McKenzie had four, one for a loss. This group has improved but still needs to turn in more big plays.
Secondary: B
The 'B' is for Berry, Eric Berry. I wouldn't be surprised if James Bond wears Berry pajamas. Berry is a once in a decade type of player that just happens to be playing on a once in a decade type of struggling team. Well, there was 2005.
Special Teams: D-
Dennis Rogan's fumble on a punt return was the cherry on top. It could have been a backbreaker had the game not already been decided. Demetrice Morley was called for offsides on a field goal attempt prompting South Carolina to go for it on fourth down, convert and kick an easier field goal - another example of UT's lack of discipline. Oh, and there was also that 67-yard kickoff return that nearly scored.
Coaching: D
UT's offense lacks direction and is woefully undisciplined. Defensively, the Vols are hamstrung by injuries but played too conservative. This shouldn't be a problem too much longer.
Overall: D
The Vols are certainly consistent. This loss was extremely predictable given the shortcomings of this season.
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Comments » 62
mike_d writes:
Its a good thing the Big 12 bailed all of us college football fans out this year. Good teams and good games. Even our big games with good teams are blowouts and phooey to watch. At least my night of watching football was an A.
JKW50 writes:
Given how this season has gone, did anyone actually think we were going to Columbia and winning? I hoped but didnt expect it. Bring on Mike Leach!!!
VolFan1012 writes:
Eric Berry is Chuck Norris and Jack Bauer all rolled into one!!
rockitwithrespect writes:
tell us how you really feel hooker
Feared_Mustang_Package writes:
Offensive Line= Admin. Withdraw from class for excessive absences
Mr_Bandman writes:
The D- for O-line and D for Coaching are awfully generous....
volsconti writes:
This team is a joke…….. what a depressing disgrace. Just resign Fulmer….please make it easy for us.
FedUpVolFan writes:
Awesome!
HeckuvaStandpoint writes:
FULMER BINGO REPORT CARD
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE - A
I CANT BELIEVE HE ACTUALLY SAID THAT - A
FUNNY AS SHiat - A
http://www.fulmerbingo.com/
Make the best of a bad situation, play FULMER BINGO
pdhuff#552644 writes:
O-line a "D"!
What does it take to get a F-?
Make sure your dark suit is clean and your good shoes are shined.
khelton657 writes:
Kosmo - That is great !!
99gator writes:
it depends on your perspective.....
trust me...., blowouts can be a very good thing. a whole lot of fun in fact.
98reax writes:
[ Coaching: D
UT's offense lacks direction and is woefully undisciplined. ]
To the AD:
Bottom line. Not JUST offense. The team has lacked discipline all season long. This is the most embarrassing excuse for a coaching staff I have ever seen. This discipline problem will rear its ugly head until new leadership is brought in.
Just let us go ahead and lose out the remaining games, if you must. We are used to it now. We simply don't expect to win or improve. We are sick of this and we wallow in our sickness.
Mr AD, you should step aside too for allowing this to happen.
rusty_shackleford writes:
Berry and Ayers are the only two Vols who would play for the other 11 in conference. McCoy would play for half. No one on the offensive side of the ball would play for anyone else in the SEC.
TheFuj writes:
D- for the o-line is very generous. Should be an I for incomplete. They look worse every game. Why have we not changed position coaches in mid stream? Try something different. Same ole is giving you same ole---losses. Also, little Fuad plays with heart and hustle, but he is just in the wrong league. Should be at Carson Newman. Chavis finally played Gerald W. more in the 2nd half, and we actually stopped them more. Not difficult to figure out.
vol52 writes:
D- for the OL is way generous as is the coaching grade. This is the worst Tennessee Football I have ever SEEN. No one deserves a penny when they get the boot.
volcop writes:
Coaching - F (for fired)
QB's - F
richvol writes:
You are exactly right...
tennisvol writes:
Probably the worst offensive team in the history of UT football.
vol4good#206163 writes:
Would a G be worse than an F? I mean, what the Hell do these fellas do during the week, sow quilts?
vol4good#206163 writes:
i meant sew--mabye the sow was a Fruedian Slip
stevefrommemphis writes:
sew, not sow, unless they are planting the quilts in the ground, like crops.
I guess F grades get saved for losses to Vanderbilt, coming in 2 weeks.
turner_c writes:
Hooker, Arian had the ball well over the goal line and made a great play, nothing lucky about it at all. The TD was signaled well before the ball was swiped from his hands, after the pile pushed back. No point in making things appear worse than they are, they're bad enough. Did you even see the game or watch the replays?
hilltopper writes:
please coach fulmer resign play golf go fishing go watch video of the 90's go hang out with Johnny Majors and have a good life
tnbigg writes:
Well...the vaunted offensive line from the preseason never existed. All the hopes (granted - not as high as the 2005 debacle) with a preseason top twenty ranking are dashed to peices...but...our imaginarily legendary coach still boasts such bravado...it is the sign of a one who has lost all sense of reality and perspective...and his flock of sheep gleefully bleat their undimished support...baaaaaah...baaaaaah...we don't care what you say...he'll be baaaack...
brokebackvol writes:
It doesn't get a whole lot more pitiful than last night - I am sorry to say I expected the Vols to lose from the first moment, and I haven't had that sad, grudging acceptance in a long time. I love CPF but he needs to resign if he loves Tennessee.
tnbigg writes:
The Phil-Osophical aura of the Phulmer show today will be one that will rival any sense of reality from anytime in history. As of today...please...feel free to make the mindless comparisons to the coach he helped usher out...just make sure you look at each ones beginning and each ones ending...Majors makes Phulmer look like some kind of clownish figure who briefly...with the aid of incredible talent...looked like a great pick...but now...Haslamm, Thornton et al will always be synonomous with the biggest loser (after one more loss - which is inevitable this year) possibly EVER in Tennessee football..to think...he renamed it Tennessee Phootball as a tribute to his ego and was so bent of "passing Neyland" out his self centered arrogance that he ends up going out in absolute shame and disgrace...anybody who wants to paint his as "honorable"...I can fill this thread with columns from around the country throughout his years that dictate absolute dishonor (especially the one about he and his lawyer rushing ahead of police to be sure that an underaged mentally slow girl never got a fair chance to speak to police about what happened to her). Honorable...indeed. So...if you want to claim..."those are old"...DO NOT BRING UP THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AGAIN...because THAT is even older...which is it?
volsthunder writes:
Agree with you but the horrific truth about it is Fulmer is not ever going to resign. To much money, to much ego, and to much "good ole boy" horse hockey. They will have to drag him out of Knoxville and it will get ugly! Even more so than Majors...
givehim6 writes:
The worst offensive game UT has played this year. We all hear the "working like heck" line, my question is at what? There for a bit UT scored about 12-14 points a game now it's all UT can do to avoid a shut out! Great work by the defence. Sense the Miss ST. game you guy have shown heart. I know it's hard playing lights out only to have your bumbbing dumd butt brother to give the game away.
blitzshoot writes:
F for the OL. I have seen high school teams with more discipline and get up and go. Didn't matter who the qb was last night. Fulmer gets $39,000 a week for this stuff.
Get rid of this OL. The worst line I can remember at UT.
Shame the defense cannot play both ways.
PaulTheVol writes:
The O line isn't that bad - the coaching is. The WRs aren't that bad - the coaching is. The RBs aren't that bad - the coaching is.
This may not be the most talented offensive group (and that's putting it mildly) but Cutcliff proved last year that they can be effective with good coaching. This is what you get with bad coaching and the head coach has to take responsibility.
golfnut0517 writes:
Word out of Knoxville is the reason Phat Phil isnt gone yet they can't find a BIG ENOUGH moving van that his FAT AZZ will fit into yet!
leedsvol2007 writes:
I have defended Fulmer for a long time. I still believe he has earned one more season to right the ship.
If a change is to be made it should not be made unless we feel we have the right fit for the job.
If we change some of the criteria should be:
A coach and staff who are very strong recruiters.
A coaching staff that has against strong competition shown the ability to design schemes as good or better than the opposition.
A head coach that can communicate effectively with both the fan base and the local and national media.
A head coach with a good track record of NCAA compliance.
If Fulmer is retained Dave Clawson needs to work elsewhere. Admittedly we don't get to see game films and attend practices or understand the nuances of developing an offense but we do get to see the results.
We have 2 to 3 quarterbacks that appear to have some talent but have shown very little progress. We have an offensive line that is at least adequate. Two wide receivers that last year caught at least a combined total of 100 passes and 3 above average tailbacks yet we cannot do anything well offensively.
And the players seem to be putting forth effort. Therefore you have to question their coaching.
Someone said last year that Tennessee is not a place you come to to learn to be a coordinator you come to Tennessee because you have proven you are a good one. Clawson may be brilliant and prove to be an outstanding coordinator but currently his training is coming at our expense.
When players who have talent and give effort you have to think that there is confusion causing their problems. And the removal of that confusion is the essence of coaching.
Transition from systems does take time but this has taken way to much the conclusion has got to be that Clawson is not yet up to speed on the SEC and unless there is a sudden turnaround the last 3 games he has got to go.
Triton1 writes:
Go to a Gator board, YOU SUCK!!
DennisVols writes:
I was somewhat excited when Clawson was hired. Silly me thought he would actually get the opportunity to install his west coast offense at UT.
Clawson like the rest of the team is handcuffed by a coach who has past his prime.
Switching QB's for a couple of series was about as stupid as they come. We blamed Sanders for that in '05.
Change has to happen and I am not talking Obama either.
UT should expect nothing less than a change by Monday and if we don't get it then let them see the empty stadium this Sat. for homecomming.
This is the worst this team has looked in my 48 years of being a Vol. There is no acceptable excuse for this. The talent is there if you know how to use it right.
There must be a change and it needs to be sooner not later.
LostinNCVol writes:
I have heard this drivel for a long time. DO you think that you are the only person that can hire. Should they check with you before they do.
I am sick of these list of what our next coach should have and how we need to hire him before we fire Fulmer are you nuts. Put together a search team like what was done with PEARL and lets get on with it. The longer we wait the more we risk endind up one of these stories of a floundering team slipping into mediocrity, oops we already have that. Bob Davie was given more time to get things right and look what happened to Notre Dame. If they could have put aside the racist attitudes Willingham had them going in the right direction. Big Charlie won all his games with Ty's players. WE need to make a move and look to our future. 10 years is to long I can't wait 1 more.
Volalumnus writes:
Coaching: D
UT's offense lacks direction and is woefully undisciplined. Defensively, the Vols are hamstrung by injuries but played too conservative. This shouldn't be a problem too much longer.
-This shouldn't be a problem too much longer.
*This shouldn't be a problem too much longer.
Go ahead and give an F then.
Maybe the clock change last night was a coaching change in disguise.
jack_2222#231746 writes:
Last year so many "fans" were whining about Cutcliffe's "dink and dunk" offense. The guy knew what he was doing, huh?
And all that laughing on the sidelines during a butt whipping is tough to take.
Smokey91 writes:
Is this true? The street named for Coach Fulmer on campus (Phil Fulmer Way) is a dead end. If it ain't, it should be. For those who want to give Coach Phil one more year, take a deep breath cause this ship is going down.
vance2002#327500 writes:
Losing to, a "average" at best, USC team closes out the '08 season for most of us...No other W's or L's matter from here on out and , frankly, haven't for several weeks...
It's apparent the team is getting much worse and is no longer competitive in the SEC. The game and really, season, was never in doubt...
Next year we'll focus on re-building a program...
SFOrange writes:
Serious question: how/why did pollster rank UT in the top 20 to begin the season? what were they using as rational?
tyler1 writes:
you could have heath shuler at QB this year and it would not help the QB IS NOT THE PROBLEM the blocking and coaching are what stinks layoff the QBS.
TommyJack writes:
A kid named BJ has got to be tough. Put him in, coach.
VolinCalif writes:
I don't think the D for the QB's is correct. You can't even blame JC this time out. The Rec's couldn't hold onto the ball or didn't know how to turn up the field. and what QB can play when there is on OL, not a poor OL but not one at all. Not that our QB's are even Ave. but in truth how in the he@@@ can we tell? Just a bad game and loosing was generous. All these grades are too high. Well not for the Def and EB
imnotwithphil writes:
Check out Fulmer's performance starting in 2000... check out his overall winning percentage, his winning percentage against ranked opponents or his winning percentage against the current set of elite coaches in the SEC.
We have a decade worth of data on Fulmer - and that data says that he can no longer compete amongst the elite in the SEC.
He's had the better part of a decade to win an SEC championship - and he's failed.
He doesn't need another season... or another 10 seasons... it is time for Fulmer to go.
I'm just glad everyone (except you) has decided to join the band wagon. I've been calling for this change since 2005.
VolinCalif writes:
To upset to watch my subject matter or spelling "there is no OL"
ncvol17 writes:
when was the last time we lost 8 games? 9 games? At the end of November it will be 2008
stormblast writes:
BJ Coleman...transfer.
I hope he goes to Duke with Cutcliffe and the "good" coaches that left UT and becomes all-conference when he "GETS HIS CHANCE TO PLAY."
Sometimes...I think this coaching staff wants to fail.
oldsarge writes:
Bob Davie said during the game that the running game lacked synchronization. I spell it out more bluntly. The OL is slow, S-L-O-W. Since just about every team running a pro style offense uses the same plays and simular blocking, this means every defensive team Tennessee meets is beating the Volunteers to the point of attack. Normally, if a team is stacking against the run you punish them with your passing game. But, Tennessee's receiver corps does not frighten anyone. Unfortunately, these are problems that should be addressed in the off-season. It looks like there will be a long off-season to correct these problems, whoever the coach is.
asleep#212036 writes:
Actually, I think several of the O-linemen could play for other teams if they were coached up. Also, Gerald Jones and Denarius Moore are plenty talented enough too but... Sad thing is the raw talent is there. Good thing is that will make it easier to lure another coach. Go Vols!!!
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