We've gone over that play pretty thoroughly in the other thread. Assume that the playcall was one of our suggested plays, and that it worked. The score is now 27-17 with 10 minutes left to play. Here were Oklahoma's previous four drives: 4 plays for 14 yards, punt. 6 plays for 18 yards, turnover on downs 3 plays for 1 yard, punt 3 plays for 3 yards, punt Here were Tennessee's previous three drives (including the hypothetical TD) 7 plays for 17 yards, FG 3 plays for 43 yards, INT 8 plays for 60 yards, TD With all that being said, you have probably braced yourself for the inevitable "would we have won the game" hypothetical question? But I don't think we would have won the game, and so I won't pose said question. Momentum is fine and dandy, but it doesn't move the sticks on its own. And I'm also not going to ask about how the general narrative of the game, and the perception of the program, changes as a result. We know it would change. Sportswriters aren't cerebral. They take the low hanging fruit and bang out however many words they need to bang out. So, yes, the generally accepted narrative changes quite a bit. What I'm asking is this: would you feel any different about this team had the score been 27-17 with 10 minutes to go and 27-20 Oklahoma when the clock finally ran out? Would you be any more bullish about our chances of winning an abnormally weak SEC EAST? Or perhaps just a little less worried about whether we're gonna be bowl eligible. And try to be honest.
I thought we'd get beat 42-10 before the game so the rest was gravy. I don't think we would've won the game and OK lost some intensity when they got the lead
I would also add the fumble that wasn't ruled a fumble added 7 more to Oklahoma. What I took from that game is that Hurd is on the verge of being a star, Pearson is really important to the screen game, the OL is in rough shape and the defense can keep us in a game with just about any team Tennessee has left on the schedule. The final score wasn't really indicative of how well parts of the team played. It's a work in progress, but the team didn't lay down and quit and youth is everywhere. The final score didn't really sway my opinion. I've never thought Tennessee had a chance to win the east this season, but the east doesn't have anywhere close to a dominant team. I do think a 9-3 or 8-4 team wins it.
Emotionally I might be on a bit of a higher plain, but intellectually, I don't need the score to be any different than it was to know we made some big strides forward after halftime. A loss is a loss is a loss, and the score be damned. But the play I saw in the second half gives me, dare I say, some hope.
Goes well. Limping more after an 8th surgery on the leg, but life is fine. 1 highschooler, 1 middle, 1 elem, keeps me busy and awake.
I figured you just had a bad case of ED. 8 surgeries on a leg? Jesus, that's like Dr. Gregory House type shit. I hope the 8th time is a charm.
I thought UT outplayed OU in the second half which was a surprise. Going in I thought UT would play hard early a couple plays OU makes breaks it open, UT gets tired and the youth doesn't know how to fight back. Then the game goes down hill in the second half with OU running away. Pretty much the exact opposite happened. UT looked out of place and shell shocked early. They got what should have been a break taken away from them with the fumble and instead of being down 6 at the half they are down 13 with OU getting the kickoff. OU takes the 2nd half kickoff and put what looked to be the nail on the coffin early in the third. From that series forward UT outplayed OU but couldn't covert that good play to scores. Hurd's performance probably doesn't get the credit it really deserves 97 yrds against that front seven with our OL is remarkable. If UT can get the OL fixed and stretch the field he will show why everybody wanted him for their RB.
What that game communicated to me is that you cannot ask Justin Worley to bring things to the table because Justin Worley does not and will not bring things to the table. The best you can do is put Justin Worley in a situation where he can't possibly take anything off the table. There are a lot of people who praised Worley's performance in that game, and he did make a few nice throws. But weren't you just waiting for those picks to happen? Was anybody even a little bit surprised that he threw a 100 yard pick six? I wasn't. I wasn't surprised at either pick. And I'm not just saying that with the benefit of hindsight. I'm accurately describing my thoughts pretty much every time he threw ball ("don't throw a pick; don't throw a pick"). If what I wrote above is right, where does that leave us? It means that we can't attack the defense, and that we're not going to score with big plays. So, pretty much, if we get behind by two touchdowns, we lose. On the bright side, Hurd busted out a few long ones, and there's a decent chance that there's more where that came from. And when you have that, you don't have to ask Worley to bring things to the table. Further on the bright side, Von Pearson will be back either next game or the game after (I assume), and that guy can take a screen pass to the crib against any team we play. And when we can move up the field in large chunks without asking Worley to bring things to the table, then we're less likely to see Worley take things off the table. Even further on the bright side: our D is legit solid, and since we're not playing TAMU or Auburn this year, they must just keep us from situations where scoring quickly is our only option (i.e. situations where we would have no choice but to ask Worley to attempt to bring things to the table). If Florida could only score 21 against Kentucky, how are they going to score that much on us? And at Neyland, and with Pearson definitely back, we win that game. And we win at least one of Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The next game always has the answers I'm seeking. I would have felt better, yeah, but the playcalling was still bad and needs to be fixed if we have any hope of getting to a bowl game. So I can't say my opinion has changed too much. Now if Florida gets romped by Alabama this weekend and UGA lets Troy run them up and down the field and Vandy doesn't get completely rolled by the Cocks, then yeah, I'll start to feel better about our chances.
UGA will completely destroy Troy, and Bama will beat Florida by something to the tune of 35-7. And Vandy is the worst SEC team in the modern history of the conference. Every other team in the league can name their score.
I think we can make some noise. Too many glaring deficiencies to say we win it. South Carolina and UGA both should beat us on paper. That said, Richt can take his team right out of a game and Spurrier actually did that last year. Haven't seen enough of Mizzou or Florida yet.
I am regretting playing flag and basketball on a bad wheel until @ age 35. Didn't think about it then. Wish I would've stopped a decade before.
I was like that with Worley all last year. I haven't felt that way until Worley throws deep this year. He's not missing on passes 10 yards and in for the most part.
Florida is awful. They are undisciplined and for every big play they make, they end up giving it back due to a stupid penalty or a busted coverage. Mizzou isn't as good as UGA or South Carolina but better than the rest but not by much.
