No there are things Helton could do a lot better. The rub routes and screen game against SC were great. Why UT hasn't done that more, I have no idea.
It works when they make an effort to. The offense wasn't bad the 2nd half of UGA, wasn't bad against Auburn and really wasn't an issue against USCe. Now, they get to a cupcake, they continue to run it for 0 to 1 yards and get the game over with. It's not necessarily something I would do, but I get why they want to just get this game out of the way.
And there has been a learning curve as the season went on. It's gotten better since the UF game. The UK game will see if that continues
Given the state of the team, I don't think we can afford to go into ANY game "just to get it out of the way." If one of the objectives is to get this team practicing and playing at the level that Pruitt keeps espousing, then this would seem to send a conflicting message. It makes me sad to say this, but I just don't think we are good enough to have the luxury to do that.
It's like pre season NFL game to the staff. Look at the defensive line rotation, a lot of young guys played immediately. Like I said, I would rather they not, but they did.
I get that point of view. And maybe that is the case. I really don't know. I have not seen very many preseason NFL games where the "1st" string QB played the entire game. I do think Jennings and Chandler may have been dinged up and I can see the rationale for saving them. The possibilty that we may still be treating games 3/4 into the season as preseason is not very comforting.
I don't like it, but there's 4 or 5 defensive linemen that can play at the SEC level. They are going to get them as much rest as possible. There's only three legit playmakers on this offense, IMO, in Chandler, Jennings and Palmer. Two of the three rested. You assume your QB would get better at reading defenses through reps, but it doesn't appear to be the case, but hey they're trying. DWA getting some catches hopefully gets him some confidence too. I don't think the staff wants to treat the games this way, but are hamstrung by a lack of depth and at this point, the health of the team.
I'd hazard a guess that there are two main reasons you saw JG all the way in the "preseason" game as well. 1. It stayed close. 2. Avoid controversy
It just bums me out that this is where we are, still. I'll confess, I've never been 100% sold on JG. Mad props for his toughness. Just not convinced that he has the mental grasp to be successful. Hard to tell with the OL he has though. I'm of the opinion that KC was brought in strictly as an insurance policy in case JG got injured and can not play. I get that. It just sucks. "Dammit, Bobby!"
I don't get this reasoning. It's week 9, there's no hiding the playbook at this point in the season. I can be convinced of this if you're playing a couple of patsies in week 1 and week 2. If I believed we have a head coach hiding the play book in week 9, I'd be calling for his ass to be fired yesterday. Clearly our team sucks donkey [penis] which is the primary reason for the shit show this weekend.
If you can do minimal prep for Charlotte and prepare for a huge game for your bowl resume (UK), wouldn't you do it?
According to Pruitt, that is not what we did ... DID YOU HOLD BACK OR LIMIT WHAT YOU WANTED TO SHOW IN THIS GAME? “No. That’s not how we coach, that’s not how we prepare.” ON WHY THE TEAM RESHUFFLED THE OFFENSIVE LINE IN THE GAME: “Well, when you look up at the scoreboard and you got two yards rushing, at some point in time, you might as well make some changes.”
