Like I said in the game thread yesterday,
The biggest difference in this game was on the line of scrimmage. Their QB (who in my opinion was quite bad, and will be Tennessee’s downfall this year) had all day to throw, and for his WRs to find open holes in a zone defense. We had absolutely no pass rush, and it took guys more than 3 seconds to disengage from a block to try and slowly plod after the QB.
Just looking at the way their RBs went down is also tell-tale about the lack of talent (or at least strength) compared to ours. Even when we did clog the lanes and that back had no where to go, every time it seemed to take us 3-4 guys to wrestle their backs to the ground. Which then allowed them to fall forward for another 2-3-4 yards.
Their OL opened up lanes, climbed to the second level well and ours held their own against what I suspect will prove a dominant front in the SEC. Unfortunately we didnt excel, and we were terribly unprepared for their delayed blitzes and stunt game. Their creativity created some luck (the diving INT, and the lucky bounce leading to the scoop and score) and they took advantage. If that INT hits the turf and if that fumbles squirts all the way out of bounds, the game is a whole heck of a lot closer in the fourth quarter.
We aren’t a bad team. We had critical errors at key moments yesterday and couldn’t recover. When you go to play a team that’s highly talented and very experienced, you cannot do that and expect to win. You have to play an extremely clean game. We did not. Thus the result. The reality always was (even if we didnt know it yet) that we were overmatched in the trenches, particularly along the Dline. Only way to overcome just how big a competitive gap we displayed yesterday was to be flawless elsewhere. Clearly we were not.
Team is still going to be strong this year, but we need to be a lot cleaner in other ways, and certainly need to scheme up something against the run, quickly.
Side note: Demetres Samuels played well in my opinion. He got picked on early, but also made some damn good plays. That deep ball annoys me from a scheme perspective. Why are we leaving him on an island, like he is Darrelle Revis, in his first college game, against a burner, and a QB that we couldn’t even get close enough to breathe on? Is that just our coaches having too much faith in him before he’s proven it in games? Is that a safety screwing up his assignment so bad he’s not in the play?
Believe it or not, lots to be encouraged by yesterday. Even if we got taken behind the woodshed in the first quarter. Thought we pretty much controlled the second half aside from that damn interception and that final gotta have a stop drive.
