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Tennessee wide receiver Lucas Taylor (12) is taken down by Florida safety Major Wright Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Vol vent
Audio slide show
Stats
Stories
- 'That loss is on me'
- Report Card: UT vs. Florida
- Adams: Series gap more gaping than ever
- Fans deliver boos; Crompton says 'we play for our football family, that's each other'
- Turnovers, missed chances hurt offense
- Short-yardage failures soured defense
- It's all business for Florida and it shows
- Florida has easy time with stumbling Vols, 30-6
Quarterback D+
Jonathan Crompton showed some upside but mistakes leave him lacking. Crompton's turnovers were costly; a fumble at the 2 and an interception from the 1 just before half. Gerald Jones had limited success in the 'G-Gun,' but until he proves he can throw, it's just a gimmick.
RUNNING BACKS D+
Arian Foster's personal foul was a dagger when UT needed to answer Florida's opening drive. Montario Hardesty followed by fumbling the ball away on the next play. Both Foster and Hardesty had a couple of nice runs, but none that could offset their critical mistakes on the opening drive.
RECEIVERS C+
No drops, but not as much separation as needed. Jones had five catches for 40 yards and tight end Luke Stocker added three catches for 25 yards. Brandon Warren is clearly a weapon but had just two catches for 12 yards.
OFFENSIVE LINE C-
The unit did a decent job protecting Crompton for the most part but was unable to get a consistent surge run blocking. Penalties continue to hurt this veteran group: Ramon Foster had a false start, a Chris Scott hold wiped out a 20-yard Foster run and a 13-yard pass was negated by a Josh McNeil hold.
DEFENSIVE LINE C-
At best, played the Florida offensive line even. Did a good job containing Tim Tebow, but the Gators took hunks out of the Vols on quick-hitting runs. End Wes Brown had five stops while Robert Ayers had a tackle-for-loss, but as a whole not enough play-making.
LINEBACKERS C+
Rico McCoy was all over the field with 10 tackles, and Ellix Wilson added six including a tackle-for-loss. Executed the plan to stop Tebow, but that appeared to come at a cost of not filling holes aggressively enough.
SECONDARY A-
Great coverage kept Tebow from throwing for more than 100 yards. Percy Harvin only got loose once on a 34-yarder. Solid open-field tackling. Eric Berry had eight tackles, including his first sack. Dennis Rogan had a facemask penalty, and DeAngelo Willingham was flagged for pass interference.
SPECIAL TEAMS D-
Brandon James had two punt returns for 92 yards and a TD and set the tone with a 52-yard return on the opening kick. A 37.5-yard punt average plagued UT field position. Demetrice Morley penalty for block in the back on a punt return. Rogan averaged 27.5 yards per kick return.
COACHING F
Fulmer took the blame for the loss, as the decisions to kick and punt to James proved costly as did the poor play calls in the red zone and inadequate clock management at the end of the first half.
OVERALL D
The Vols played Florida closer than the final score indicates, outgaining the Gators 258-243, but horrible Orange Zone execution (scoring one of three times) and bad punt and kick coverage doomed UT. The defense played well and the players showed no sign of quit.
Vanderbilt 93, Tennessee 79, Feb. 9…
UT's new $45 million football…
Tennessee 69, South Carolina 57 men's…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group is taken down by Florida safety Major Wright Saturday at Neyland Stadium.){kind=link}
Comments » 141
rockitwithrespect writes:
what more can be said at this point?
budd#207344 writes:
fulmer is to blame. what we do about it is the question
dcvolfan98 writes:
Bottom line is that we received a woodshed beating in our house, and you give the vols a passing grade? I think not!!
UTchange writes:
hahahahaha....
1-3 in September...
What a joke
wyomingvol writes:
Pitiful. Start the whole second string. Starting with Crompton. He is a joke.
Mansonlamps writes:
I think we can safely say we're now on Double Secret Probation with this latest report card. Hopefully by the time finals roll around in November Fulmer will have flunked out and will retire to one of his various mansions.
MDVol1966 writes:
Inept on all levels............there is no excitement for the vols.......we expect to screw up in the "orange" zone. We never throw deep any more...........try some young guys with talent, I hate the poor execution from our experienced players................Auburn will destroy wants left of this team and what excuses will there be then??? We are a mediocre team in the SEC on the verge of being Vandy.
silvertr6 writes:
Fulmer is the reason for the program going down the toilet for the last 5-6 years. He has to GO!
Tired of fixin, studying film, and working like heck.
Nothing will change until he leaves!
MDVol1966 writes:
Whoops, I cannot say Vandy, their 4-0 right now.....its been a long time since the Vols started 4-0. I wonder why??????
VolsorCat writes:
I started the season saying 9-3 (losing 3 of 4 to FL, AL, GA and AU), but after the boneheaded play week one and tonight, 6-6 is looking more realistic. UT may not score next week at Auburn. I think the defense will do fine, but as the season wears on, injuries and exhaustion will take its toll and more points will be put up. Why can't we play defensive starters on special teams? I would rather have Morley, Berry and McCoy trying to tackle someone than the 5 or 6 white guys getting faked out of their jocks by far superior athletes running kicks back. I love the Vols and days like today ruin my afternoon. Where were Creer and Poole?
yeavols#228407 writes:
last 10 years of nothingness..There is enough blame to go around everywhere..Let's think about this...I want to know where Crompton has been for the last 2 years...Did he not know that he was going to take the reigns after Ainge? I want to know what Fulmer was thinking when he hired Clawson..I want to know what this offensive line was thinking after they played LSU last year in the SEC champ..I want to know what makes this team think they are not repected...I want to know a lot..but no answers..Just working like heck..If you were working like heck..Maybe you might have a heck of a lead by now..Just a thought..
firefulmer (Inactive) writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
MDVol1966 writes:
N Illinois put some points up on the board today......is that still a gimme win or are we looking at fighting it out with the cupcakes on the schedule now.............this team needs to wake up and have some fire in their belly to play this game, they sure do not have the talent.........especially at receiver, you guys should keep your mouth shut until you actually do something instead of talking about it. Crompton should have a gag until he can move the team more than 2 drives and actually get some TD's......you know crossing the goal line with the ball in your hands!!!
Volunteerfan writes:
i would have to give straight f's on this report card. these guys do not get to graduate to the second grade especially the coaches. they might want to take summer school classes because they failed to look like a football team
DennisVols writes:
Score Card on the Vols:
QB: D
Crompton again throws interceptions when the Vols have a chance to score. The fumble was also on his shoulders because if he holds the ball closer to his body the fulback does not knock it out of Cromptons hands. Some good passes though is the only reason this is not an F
Running Backs: D+
UT got more yardage this year than in the last 2 but still not establishing the power football UT was use to having when the where considered a top tier program. Hardesty's fumble also cost UT big.
O-Line: C
Protect Crompton well and opened up some good holes for the rushing attack
Secondary: D
Too many missed coverages. The "jump pass" by Tebow c;ear;y showed the missed coverage on the receiver coming off the line. Allowed Harvin to get behind them during a critical score that wipped out any chance UT had of coming back
D-Line: C
The line did a fair job against the rush. Held Tebow to just 26 yards and limited UF to just 159 rushing over all.
Special Teams: F
Poor tackeling on the opening kick off gave UF a short field, poor tackeling on the punt return for a TD and poor coverage on the short punt which also gave UF good field position. This has been a problem for a few years and UT has yet to address it.
Coaching: F
Poor tackeling, poor clock management, turnovers, penatlies. This is why UT lost this game. The fundamentals seem to be lacking and this was game 3 for UT this year.
Overall: F
A loss and not even a good loss(if there is such a thing)
CoverOrange writes:
Crompton's interception in the endzone at the end of the first half was Clawson's error. It was fourth down, the called play emptied the backfield meaning every Gator knew it was a pass, little chance of a run.
Randy Sanders called better games.
Rico McCoy may have been all over the field but he made two critical errors that let Florida score and keep a drive alive.
DekanGator writes:
What do you think the "big Time" Recruit's are thinking?
Volunteerfan writes:
i will sum it up best.......TENNESSEE FOOTBALL SUCKS!!!!!
Bring on the basketball season
dragonslayer writes:
it comes down to recruiting, we seem to be selecting players that are leftovers. florida, georgia, alabama, lsu, seem to be getting pick of the crop. now even vandy is 4-0. seems to me someone is scouting and recruiting sub par players. i remember when houston was coach of basketball and the stadium was empty. is our football program heading that way with a empty neyland stadium too?
murrayvol writes:
Special Teams: D- is generous.
On the opening kickoff the coverage looked like a conga line.
On the punt return by James it was whiff, whiff, whiff, and poof, and he was gone.
MDVol1966 writes:
The only chance to energize what is left of the fan base right now is..........start Nick Stephens. Memo to Fulmer: your Junior QB cannot read a defense and throws to the first receiver, period. That's not tough to gameplan for if your the opponent. Shake it up and build for the future now, maybe you can beat Bama and Spurrier to save this season.......Crompton will NOT get it done, otherwise we would have seen something by now to think it will get better.........I've seen nothing from him......period.
99gator writes:
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sec?tag=kn...
UkJarhead writes:
UK 3-0
Vandy 4-0
UT 1-2
HeHe!!!!
dragonslayer writes:
in the LAST FEW YEARS I HAVE SEEN FLORIDA, GEORGIA, LSU, ALABAMA RELOAD THEIR PROGRAM EVRY YEAR WITH TOP QUALITY PLAYERS. BETTER QUARTERBACKS, BETTER TAILBACKS, BETTER RECEIVERS, AND BETTER DEFENSIVE PLAYERS. IT COMES DOWN TO RECRUITING, YOU NOT RECRUIT TOP PLAYERS, YOU DON'T GET WINS. I NOT PUTTING DOWN FULMER, BUT I AM PUTTING DOWN THE PEOPLE THAT ARE SELECTING THE SCOUTING OF THE PLAYERS FULMER SEES. WE JUST NOT GETTING, THE WITTENS, THE WILSONS, WHITES, THE MANNINGS, THE GAULTS, THE KENTS, THE CARTERS, THE HALLS.
CoverOrange writes:
So now we know, Fulmer clapping or grimacing and yelling, the result is the same. What exactly does he do that's useful?
bobbarbilly writes:
Boys playing against men.
tenuscvol writes:
I second that!
chuck writes:
When Tenn had the ball inside the 5, Crompton over center, Florida left the center McNeil uncovered. All Crompton had to do was sneak straight into the endzone. Even from the 2 yardline the middle was wide open. He wouldve easily sneaked in.
memphistnvol writes:
This was truly a disaster.
There were times, though, when I felt sorry for Fulmer. After the UCLA game, people were begging him to use Hardesty more.
Hardesty fumbled today.
People wanted Foster to stop fumbling. He did. But then he had to go and get a costly personal foul.
I really don't know what to say about Crompton...
People, myself included, wanted Fulmer to show more emotion/intensity on the sidelines--get more involved in the game.
He has, overnight, changed his sideline demeanour. But it all ends in a loss anyway.
tenuscvol writes:
I made the same observation. I could not understand why Crompton didn't see that. He should have checked to it. It goes back to my orignal comment. Crompton is not as good as he thinks he is. Bring on Nick!. NOW!
thsvolfan15 writes:
i missed alot of the game after the punt return for a td i was in the bathroom throwing up and by the way
we did get 2 big commitments from josh selby and jordan mcrae in bball though
at least one mens program @ ut is lookin good
what about this weekends visitors for football?
anybody know of any commitments?
FireJohnAdams writes:
Course we have NO kicking game....why? Because some people think drinking is more important than honoring a scholarship and the school that offered it!
FedUpVolFan writes:
"You test someone's maturity level when you go on the road,'' Gators coach Urban Meyer said. "I made the comment to the guys at the hotel last night, I want them to conduct themselves as a professional athlete.
Do our coaches and QB sound like professionals????????
Think about it before you drive to Auburn to watch the slaughter!
MANVOL writes:
where were all these great plays we have been hearing about all summer? Where is the wide open offense, hitting Warren over the middle, G Jones throwing the Ball, half back pass, end around,etc, anything beats the what we have been shown. This is sad that it has gotten this bad.
MANVOL writes:
Cheers!!
xvolx writes:
thats not a report card. its a death warrant.
adah398 writes:
Check out the article Gary Parrish just wrote. He got it right. This is embarrassing. I can't take another year of waiting for next year. Thanks Fulmer, but let's end this peacefully. Do it for the Vol faithful. Clawson is in over his head. He is out of his league....
http://www.sportsline.com/collegefoot...
chuck writes:
If Jones isnt gonna pass it, give up the G-gun unless its against D-2 schools. I kept thinking a halfback pass or something. I swear I think this is really our old offence with a small wrinkle. I think Fulmer demanded Clawson to learn our old out-dated offense. Im not sure its the new coaches as much as weak OL and DL, LB recruiting the past many years, then throw coaching complacency in there and you get this.
bluechip68 writes:
Whats actually sad is I find myself not even getting mad anymore. In fact I was actually laughing at times. Its comical - I can almost predict what's going to happen. We punt - "He's going to run it all the way back". We are in the red zone - "watch this, fumble or interception", 3rd and long for florida - "first down guaranteed"
Anyone else watch Au / Lsu and wish we had a coach like that? One who will get the ball to the talent? Oh wait a minute, we are lacking the talent.
And wtf is up with special teams? The biggest joke in NCAA the past 5 years.
And since I'm at it, when the hell did we start with the "wheeew" after rocky top. I'm about sick of that. That just blows.
jacksonvol writes:
I was booing from my recliner here in West Tennessee. Crompton is inCrompetant. The offense blows. The defense played well but the offal(ense) kept putting them in the hole. Here's the rub. What if Flubber doesn't win eight this year? Do we fire him? It will cost $10 million to buy out his contract. Not to mention the multi-year contracts given to the OC and DC. Maybe some rich alumni (Haslam) will pony up, but I wouldn't count on it.
Let's also not forget the (not so) special teams. Cafego is turning over in his grave! We truly suck. Hey Flubbo! Hire a good special teams coach! DDDUUUHHH!!!
jacksonvol writes:
bluechip68 has it right. "wheeew" after rocky top truly makes us look like idiots. In fact, the whole "Rocky Top" theme is degrading, demoralizing, detestable and just wrong. "Corn from a jar!" By the way, offal is pig food - just like our offalense|!
snafu14u#241639 writes:
May be time to put the pressure on Hamilton. He did the contracts, the extentsions. He's Fulmer's boss. He's the AD. We can't get rid of Fulmer, but Hamilton can be gone by Homecoming. Told you guys along time ago that Crompton was not SEC calibur. And we've known about the coaches for years. Hamilton has been living off the Pearl hire long enough, time to finish the job. bonzaivol
bloodrunsorange writes:
Where is the kid we got out of N.C.? The one who could run and had a cannon for an arm? After 3 games he just doesn’t look like he’s got what it takes to be our trigger. It looked like we’re a B team playing poorly against an A team that we just gave them the game. Where are the leaders? 5 missed tackles on one return that I saw! I’m just astonished at our play! This isn’t Tennessee Football. Drastic changes need to be made. Get the young kids out there. Several of our so called starters are just too slow to make things happen! Time for the new guys! Talent over experience if it is there!
misplacedVOLinGA writes:
first time poster here... been reading for several months now!! first of all.. you all crack me up!!! I love the excitement, enthusiasm, and well... let's be honest disgust, at times "more often than not as of late" with our Volunteer football program . Do the players make mistakes? Yes.. of course they do! Who doesn't? Do they respond to those very same mistakes like a program of this caliber should? In the last ????? years? I think not. Everything filters down from the top!! I do not care what type of business you are running! I am an ICU RN working in Augusta, Ga. Making let's see, about 1.25% of CPF's annual salary!! And that ladies and gentlemen is helping save lives not playing a GAME!! Am I saying I could run this team or any other as effectively, no, that's not what I do!! But does that mean I can not have an opinion or criticize whether it be positive or negative??? If I were to make the same mistakes, shift after shift, much less year after year, as of late, I would be FIRED!! Not laid off, or given the option to retire with my "good record" or "un-heralded success" in an institution intact! "JUST FIRED" Now that being said, I'm not blaming everything on the coach, or coaches, but they are the ones that have a direct impact on these young men!! Where is the fire, drive, will, determination, and overall ferocity that is TENNESSEE FOOTBALL!!!! I grew up in TN, played football in Memphis, and in East TN!! No one loves football like UT fans that is for sure!! I've seen it with my own eyes, as have hundreds of thousands of fans whether they be for or against us!!! It's alive and well in GA I can tell you that!!! What I can also tell you is that we "the true, die hard, yell at the tv when you are by yourself, can't sleep at night, sick to your stomach, get in trouble by your spouse for arguing with the television announcer on an obviously bad call; fans, are tired of the nay-sayers and "good time" fans who know nothing about the game!! "Alot of ga fans I know very well!!" Not to call any one out mind you.. "I just live here, so that is my only basis for that comment, although you run into all types; our "so-called fans included"!!!
misplacedVOLinGA writes:
Let's do something about the state of the TENNESSEE FOOTBALL union that is in the heart of fans across this AMAZING country!! Booing at the game does nothing but discourage our team at that particular moment!! For those whom are lucky enough to be at a game, encourage our men with your cheers and adulation in the good times and the bad!! That is what separates GREAT teams from the mediocre!! That is what gives life to our defense in those tough yardage situations where we can not spare another first down for the other team! Your cheers, be it from inside the GREAT Neyland Stadium, a gracious away teams stadium, "which we have to agree are best in the SEC!!!", or our cheers from home, on the couch, in the bar, online, or where ever we can find a place to see MY, YOUR, OUR VOLUNTEERS go into battle!! Criticism is good I don't care what some may say. Oversight is necessary in any venue. Accountability is what keeps us honest, it's what keeps us moving towards the next great thing!! Posters on here need to take account of what they have, what is truly important! This is an open forum for thoughts on OUR team and where WE stand. Everything is not going to go the way we want it to all the time! Keep fighting, keep believing, this is a great University in sports and academics. Support our beloved school and remember it is a school first!! Take pride in everything TENNESSEE and don't be caught with your pants down pissing on our fence when we whoop that teams A$- that we were never "supposed to beat"!!! GO VOLS...
misplacedVOLinGA writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
misplacedVOLinGA writes:
Is that inappropriate? Can never tell on here the way some things get through and others don't! Just trying to be creative with the ol' keyboard! Is anyone else still up reeling from this loss? Just wondering cause it's 3:32 am and I know I should be in bed but.....Dam!!!! is what the fish said when he hit that concrete wall!!!
GahLee writes:
There is no doubt that Tennessee has enough talent to compete with anybody in the nation, note that I didn't say win, but we have the talent. It all comes down to execution, or the lack there of. Which falls upon the coaching. Just look at our team, Foster may be slow, but our running backs are as good as there is in the SEC, we have one of the best players in the secondary in the nation in Berry. What it all boils down to is the fact that Crompton is Ainge circa 2005, and that our coaches do not get the most out of the talent that they have. At what point do you say that enough is enough and make some sort of a change at the top, there are plenty of good coaches to be had. Meyer, Richt just to name a few came from nowhere to somewhere so to speak.I know that Meyer and Richt were at good schools and achieved good things while there, all I'm saying is that the next great coach is out there and Tennessee can hire him.
volinjapan writes:
Sad day for me. PF is a good guy, but has the game passed him by? If the coach's are not prepared what can be said of the player's!
jimmy71#237592 writes:
I AM DONE. CRY IF YOU WANT TO CRY, BOO IF YOU WANT TO BOO, SCREAM IF YOU WANT TO SCREAM, BUT I AM DONE... I AM 39 AND HAVE BEEN THERE IN THE BAD TIMES...I REMEBER IN '88 WHEN MY ROOMATE AT ASU TOLD ME ..."I COULD HAVE RUN FOR 5 YPC AGAINST THAT D" WHEN UGA RAN ALL OVER US, AND I WAS AT THE 98 FIESTA BOWL (WHAT A DIFFERENCE 10 YEARS MAKES IN EITHER DIRECTION) BUT I AM HERE TO TELL YOU "I AM DONE" YESTERDAY I WAS WORRIED IF I WOULD SEE THE AU GAME BC I WILL BE AT LAKE POWELL AZ, NOW I JUST WANT TO SEE THE STARS AT NIGHT WITH MY THREE KIDS, IT REALLY IS A BETTER EXISTENCE ANY DAMN WAY WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT...
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