We weren’t underdogs in those games because we lost to GA St. & BYU - those were better teams, and who we subsequently beat. Man, you can give’em whatever you want, or not. But your argument is completely illogical, because you want it both ways, just as I said, and which still stands. You want to condemn them for the gigantic hole they dug in those two losses - entirely fair. But you don’t want to then give them due credit for having climbed out of that same sizable hole in finishing 7-5, winning 6 of their last 7 - including 5 straight and while waiting on a New Year’s Day bowl bid. That’s dumb, and now makes you dumb for having believed and said it, at all. And you’re just being plain silly in now defending it. So, here are your choices, again: Those two losses were either.... A) NOT as bad as you say, and their finishing 7-5 is still a little above where most predicted that they’d finish. - OR - B) EXACTLY as inexcusably all-time terrible as you believe, and the staff deserves immense credit for having overcome them to still finish as well as they did. - OR - C) Neither? Both? But then, you just want to [itch bay], don’t like this coach / staff, want to give them full blame but not full credit, and you’re silly, dumb and not to be taken seriously on this point. But pick one, man.
All I will say is this. The people who are closer to the program than I told me that 5-7 last year was a miracle and are all quite excited we got to 7 wins this year. I would have been much better off had I listened to them from the beginning.
Good enough to win against BYU and Ga State. We missed a golden opportunity to win 9 games and jumpstart momentum.
Helluva job finishing the season the way they did and it "feels" like the program is headed in the right direction but next year should be pretty telling. If I had to give him a grade to this point it would be a B- and that's largely due to finishing strong.
I feel like the 1st Qtr against ETSU was an accurate reflection of the team Pruitt inherited. Butch wasn't just asleep at the wheel while here, he was the guy who set the cruise control to his RV then retreated to the lounging area to take a nap.
at the start of the season weren't good enough to beat them. Pruitt didn't make Taylor bite on a move on 3rd and a mile and get burned. He didn't make Guarantano rifle passes to the flats or drill 3 yard pass attempts either.
I think the team got better and played more consistently (especially JR) as the season went but the reality is outside the first two games we beat the teams we should have.
It's been years since Tennessee has beaten teams with equal or greater talent consistently. It's nice to see a 5-3 SEC record again. It's happened once since 2007 and Butch managed to lose to Vanderbilt and South Carolina with NFL guys everywhere. Pruitt is recruiting guys that are just flat out better than Missouri, Kentucky and South Carolina now. You couldn't say that about Butch's last two classes
So you're saying it wouldn't have mattered who the coach was, we were taking two L's against Georgia State and BYU no matter what?
I think there was a chance. I also think both of those games were winnable, and if played 10 times Tennessee would win 8 or 9 of them with no changes to staff or roster.
No. I'm also not trying to write the first two off as unwinnable and thereby inconsequential to Pruitt's grade.
We lose 5+ out of ten to Georgia State if we try to shuffle half the roster every play like we did. We prepare and coach like it's a real game we likely win 10 of 10.
g st was on the staff for lack of prep, mentally and physically. Still coulda won the game with competent qb play in a 55-38 type game, but it was on them. BYU we coached well enough to beat them by 3 tds, and had players standing wide open to do it.
I said all along I thought we had a good chance to lose to BYU so that didn't bother me so much (maybe how we lost did, but not that we did). GSU was cluster. I've said it a million times. I just think that the way the finished, and for better or worse played in Tuscaloosa, cancels out the awfulness of GSU. I've said elsewhere, 7-5 isn't a reason to hang a banner, but the way we played the last half of the season does make me hopeful and excited about where we are headed.
I felt better, strangely, after the BYU game because a lot of the GSU stuff was a lot better. But the QB was so bad. The coverage bust is the kind of demonic Butch shit that had to get exorcised
It's possibly the worst loss in program history. I'd need a top 5 win to cancel something like that out. If this recruiting class ends up a dud, the repercussions of Georgia State are going to be felt for years.