Not here to rip Satterfield or any of our players. Coach put together a hell of a game plan that almost worked. I just don't understand why we don't try throwing the ball down the field more. Lamb is a good passer, we've seen it. I'm not saying we needed to try more 65 yard bombs or anything, but why not go ~20 yards down the field every now and again? I do understand in the first half our pass rush seemed to struggle. But the second half the few times we let Lamb drop back and scan the field I think he had time. It's just we didn't even give him a chance to get into a rhythm tonight. It was all screens or short routes when we did pass. I think Lamb is good enough to be a weapon, but we didn't try to unleash it tonight. Do they not think our receivers can get open or what?

Either way, as much as this stings I'm extremely proud. I'm just curious if anyone has any thoughts on this

Downfield passes were an unnecessary risk for us when we were ahead for most of the night and if we needed them we were never going to win this game. Our only chance at winning this game was to control possession on offense and let our defense and special teams make big plays and that's exactly what they did. Marcus Cox rushed for almost five yards a carry and we won time of possession by seven minutes. There's no need to throw the ball downfield to open up the run if they already can't stop the run. The biggest difference maker in this game wasn't the receivers or the kicker or the poor clock management. It was the fact that our defense forced three fumbles and didn't recover any of them. We made big, big plays on defense and the ball just didn't bounce our way. All three of those fumbles would have been game changing had we recovered, but sometimes you just get unlucky.

Out OL played a fantastic game last night but let's not forget that TN was getting some penetration on D and we were sticking with quicker pass plays (in addition to the reasons stated above about ball control / clock management).

We didn't vary our snap count and #9 was timing his jump on 3rd downs, Lamb really never had time. Plus our WR weren't getting separation (my biggest concern after last night).

We'll fix that for week two, heck of a game we played last night.

We would have rarely (if at all) been able to go down field. Receivers still had difficulty getting separation. That won't be nearly a problem the rest of the season. I see some big passing games since teams will have to respect our decisive advantage running the ball. A couple of ill timed mistakes just got us.

I was surprised the tight end, Burns was not thrown to on the 3rd down and short yardage more. He has good hands and runs well after the catch. maybe the coaches upstairs saw there linebackers were covering him . He is a valuable piece of the offense.

Tennessee's Defense was getting consistent penetration on 3rd down, Lamb made quick decisions to avoid sacks
We have a young WR corps that is still finding their place
Lamb doesn't necessarily have the strongest arm to hit targets deep down field against a fast well positioned secondary
The run game was working, and there was no desperate need throw deep.

When you're up 13-3 it's all about running out the clock and limiting the other team's offense. Kinda concerned about our receiving corps, but hopefully they'll get lots of practice next Saturday.

What we were doing was working, and we were running the clock. I don't think our pass protection was good enough to allow enough time for Lamb to get through progressions.

Shoot.. I was just flat out impressed the effort by our guys. Great talent that will continue to blossom this year, if they stay injury freed.

We made mistakes and were still in the game.......... missed field goal and extra point, interception, clock management, fumbles missed.
And we lost in overtime. Very few penalties. BUT please remember that Tennessee's secondary is top flight and we didnt put more that 3 receivers out and the Tight end stayed in to block.

because there was no way we were going to do it against this team. We had a great game plan. We missed a pat to win the game. Great game plan and great execution. It really is just that simple.

I think that if we want to get a good picture of where we are at as a program, comparison to teams with more "elite" athletes we saw it tonight. Our O-line might live up to the billing. I believe a publication had us as a top 5 in the country? We are not at the reload stage like an Alabama. A team like that can graduate the entire receiving Corp and then not miss a beat. We can't do that and play a UT right out of the gate. They knew we would run the ball, loaded up the box and we still brought it to them. The commentator made a reference to the size difference between their O-line and our D-line (50 lb avg). Made zero difference. We are progressing with strength and conditioning and it shows. We didn't need to use a vertical game but a few attempts to our tight end in the flats or maybe a slant here or there might have been good. We are going to burn some people up with our fast guys. I was impressed that we could out run them on several occasions around the corner. Tackling was on point. Their big back didn't run over anyone.

Even with our conditioning I thought we looked spent in OT

Rekdiver wrote:Even with our conditioning I thought we looked spent in OT

Just can't replicate that exhausting humidity ---

Those jet sweeps that went for 8-10 yards at a clip, will be going for 80 yards against the rest of our schedule.

We tried on 1st and 4th in OT, and see where it got us. I was a little upset that we used two plays to basically go for the endzone when all we needed was a first down. Not the right person to determine whether it was a bad play call or it just didn't execute as planned. We are not really a vertical passing team, and didn't need to be last night.

My biggest issue last night was the clock management to end the 4th quarter. Had the ball around mid field with a minute, and we looked lost. Maybe not as much time was spent practicing that scenario because we didn't expect to be in that situation? Not sure. Will the team learn from it? APPsolutely. Game plan was great, and if we play that way for the remaining games we will finish 11-1.

Very pleased with offense and defense last night. Made a name for ourselves on a national stage against a team projected to win the SEC East.

As for anyone blaming Rubino for the loss, that's not how sports work. We had 60 minutes and then some with OT to win. Can't blame his two single plays for the loss. Said this on another thread, but Lamb threw a pick as we were driving, and there were other minor mistakes.

WVAPPeer wrote:

Rekdiver wrote:Even with our conditioning I thought we looked spent in OT

Just can't replicate that exhausting humidity ---

Not when you spend all summer practicing in Boone.

That goal line stand in OT was something special, even if the ball did bounce the wrong way in the end.
The front 7 just absolutely manhandled Tennessee's O line the entire game.

If he kicked the winning FG on the final play he would be heralded as a hero. So, a PAT should be routine. The circumstances and environment had much to do with his performance. But, I don't think unfair to be critical of the PAT miss. The FG was no gimme but there wasn't a lot of pressure on the PAT at that point. Of course, we failed to take advantage of a number of opportunities. So, the loss doesn't fall directly on his shoulders but he did fail to perform.

Taylor said that the pass to Meadors in the end zone on the final play of the game, was the third option. The first two were covered.