SB Nation - Rico McCoy

Post-game awards: Tennessee Volunteers vs. Vanderbilt Commodores

Joel — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:15:38 -0000

Best are-we-sure-they're-not-conjoined-twins. Cody and Cory Sullins, who were both named the scholar athlete of the week and were pictured together for the sponsored award. They play next to each other on the line, right? Is anyone certain that this is not the case?

Best word for the seniors. Kiffin telling the seniors, specifically Rico McCoy, on Friday night not to say that they hadn't won any championships for the Volunteers because of their contribution to the foundation upon which championships will be built in the near future.

Best start, offense. Lane's guys, who went 60 yards in 7 plays to put 7 on the board on its first series.

Best start, defense. Monte's guys, who forced Vandy into a three and out on its first series.

Best bounty hunter. James Wilhoit, G.A., who, upon being told by Kiffin to go find a place kicker with eligibility, found Devin Mathis, who'd played in a junior varsity game here awhile ago but had only recently returned to Tennessee after studying in Mexico.

Best debut. Mathis, who not only kicked the ball over the scrimmage line, but through the uprights for three points on Tennessee's second possession.

Best TFL. Chris Walker, who graduated from Unblockable to Untouchable, blew through the line unscathed, and swallowed Vandy's running back as soon as he had gotten the handoff, driving the Commodores back to their own two yard line.

Best sarcasm, I. Kiffin, who said of the first pass interference penalty on the Vols, "I thought the refs did a great job all night long, and I'm sure that was a penalty on me, on us right there."

Best drive. Jonathan Crompton, Luke Stocker, and the Volunteer offense, who closed the first half with a 4-play, 61-yard touchdown drive in 30 seconds.

Best catch. Luke Stocker, who closed the Best Drive with an outstanding nab in the end zone, leaping backwards, snatching the ball out of the stratosphere, and securing the thing even as he landed flat on his back in the checkerboards.

Worst timing. David Oku, who turned a catchable pass from Crompton into a tip drill in the third quarter, giving Vandy an interception and denying Crompton's bid for the record of pass attempts without interceptions two shy of Casey Clausen's 143.

Worst news. Linebacker Greg King is out for the season with some sort of cracked bone injury, which I think makes McCoy and Shane Reveiz our only remaining linebackers on the roster. I supposed I should clarify that that's exaggeration, because it's close enough to being the truth that it could be mistaken for fact.

Most insufficient sarcasm. Kiffin, on the second pass interference call to deny the Vols an interception in the end zone, who breathed an audible sigh into his lavaliere, said, "I thought that was a great call by the ref throwing the pass interference there. I'm sure that we were at fault . . ." but then said to Bob Kesling, "You can say whatever you want. He can't fine you. Don't worry. Go ahead. Say what I wanna."

Best tag team hit. Stephaun Raines and Reveiz, on 2nd and goal down by 11 early in the 4th. Raines sent Warren Norman, who'd just hauled in a screen pass, head over heels and into the torpedoing Reveiz.

Best sack. Wes Brown, on the very next play, who threw off the blocker, closed in on the QB, and, just when you'd thought the QB had escaped, dived and shoestring-sacked him.

Best hands. Bryce Brown, who seized control of the ball on Vandy's onside kick by grabbing it at its highest point and covering it up immediately.

Orange-est blood. Wes Brown, who said the night before the game, "I would rather go to Tennessee and lose every game than go to another school and win every game."

Best revenge. Kiffin, who ended his portion of the Lane Kiffin Show by telling Bob Kesling, "Thanks, Bill," which was retribution for Kesling accidentally calling Lane "Lance" last week.

Best play, offense. See Best Catch above.

Best play, defense. Wes B's Knees.

Player of the game, offense. Montario Hardesty, who rushed 32 times for 171 yards and a touchdown.

Player of the game, defense. Tie between McCoy, who had 15 tackles, and Brown, who only had three tackles, but whose stat sheet includes a nine-yard sack, a nine-yard TFL (same play?), a QB hurry, and the 25-yard pick six.

Add yours below.

Tennessee Senior Day 2009: Rico McCoy

Will — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:15:11 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

2 months ago: Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (15) fumbles the ball as he is hit by Tennessee defensive tackle Montori Hughes (93) and Tennessee linebacker Rico McCoy, left, during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. Tennessee recovered the ball, and went on to score a touchdown. Florida won 23-13. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

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Before we get to our last senior spotlight, here's a look at the other names you'll hear called on Saturday:

TE Jeff Cottam ends his Tennessee career with 7 catches, 2 for touchdowns going into Saturday's game. Played together with his brother Brad in 2007.
CB Marsalous Johnson saw duty in UT's nickel and mustang packages over the last three seasons, finishing with one sack and one interception.
DT Andre Mathis saw spot duty at a variety of positions in the defensive front in his four years, seemingly never finding the right fit. He has 9 career tackles going into Saturday.
Others include DB Derrick Furlow, the snapper/holder combination of Morgan Cox and Bram Cannon, and walk ons Johnny Harrison, Steven Hensley and Sean White. Austin Rogers is applying for a sixth year of eligibility, so I'm not sure if he's running Saturday or not.

Our last spotlight senior has been that one that's contributed the most over the course of all four of his seasons in Knoxville, a four year starter at linebacker...

Rico McCoy

McCoy was a freshman All-American in 2006, picking up the start late in the season and leading the team in tackles as a freshman against Vanderbilt. He was a second team All-SEC selection in 2007, with 106 tackles on the year, sixth best in the conference. He played tremendously well in the 2007 SEC Championship Game, with 8 tackles and a forced fumble. In 2007 & 2008 he had seven double digit tackle games.

This season, McCoy has continued the tradition of fast, hard-hitting Tennessee linebackers, leading the defense with four forced fumbles. He set a career high with 16 tackles in the Auburn game, and now has ten double digit tackle games for his career after getting 12 at Alabama and 10 more against South Carolina. His 84 tackles this year are currently good for fourth best in the SEC, which will again make Rico a candidate for all-conference honors, and give him a chance in the NFL Draft.

My personal favorite Rico McCoy moment?

Tennessee Football: Becoming a Complete Team

Will — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:45 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

This year, there's more than just this guy to celebrate.

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Note from Will, 11:00 AM: Bumped back down to deal with the obvious breaking news of the day.

Let's start with the negative: our special teams play has not been good.

David Oku and Nu'Keese Richardson have done a fairly good job returning kicks: the Vols are 31st nationally in kickoff return average at 23.7 yards per return. But the good news ends there in the all-important third phase of the game. Take a look at Tennessee's position in the national special teams rankings (thanks once again to the fine folks at cfbstats.com):

Kick Returns: 31st
Punt Returns: 60th
Opponent Kick Returns: 103rd (one of only nine teams to allow two for TDs this year)
Opponent Punt Returns: 75th
Punting Average: 63rd (40.5 yards per punt)
FG Accuracy: 97th (10 of 16, 62.5%)

The Vols allowed Brandon James to hurt them in the kicking game again, watched Ohio run a kickoff back for a touchdown, lost to Auburn by four points in a game where Daniel Lincoln missed a field goal and an extra point, surrendered nine points to Georgia on special teams thanks to a kickoff return TD and a blocked punt safety, missed three field goals at #1 Alabama in a two point loss, and continued an unbelievable streak the following week when South Carolina made it three blocked field goals in a row for Vol opponents. Yikes.

Our special teams play has not been good. But nine games into the season, Tennessee has become a good team everywhere else.

The good news also starts with the obvious:

Jonathan Crompton

In Crompton's two starts for the injured Erik Ainge during the 2006 season, he went 11 of 24 against LSU and 16 of 34 at Arkansas, with two touchdowns (thanks, Robert Meachem) and an interception in each game. Last year in seven starts, Crompton completed just 51.5 percent of his passes for only 889 yards, 5 INTs with 4 TDs.

If you set aside the game against the worst team in FBS in the season opener, the numbers in the next four games...well, you remember right? Five interceptions and no touchdowns against UCLA and Florida combined, a pedestrian performance against Ohio, and a first half against Auburn that featured dropped balls aplenty and no hope to be found.

Throwing out Western Kentucky, take a look at the split between the next four games and the last four games:

UCLA, FLA, Ohio, AUB: 61 of 122, 50.0%, 667 yards, 4 TD, 6 INT
UGA, Bama, USC, Memphis: 74 of 114, 64.9%, 1,048 yards, 12 TD, 2 INT

Plenty has been said about Crompton's transformation, and the kid deserves even more. At some point during the first half of the Auburn game, while trying to come to terms with the fact that Kiffin simply wasn't going to pull him, I was imagining Crompton running thru the T on senior day against Vanderbilt as the quarterback of a 3-7 team, being the first Vol in history to get booed in his final run. And now I feel like I owe it to him to be there next week against Vanderbilt, to join in what will be a hero's welcome if the Vols take care of business this week.

Tennessee has made a habit of putting the same quarterback on the field for several consecutive seasons: Casey Clausen started every week he was healthy during his four years, Erik Ainge started for most of his four years, and we've seen Crompton under center for part of 2006, most of 2008 and all of this year. As such, the fanbase builds a long term relationship with these guys that has the ups and downs of a marriage; even Peyton Manning spent a few nights on the couch after long weekends in Florida.

We've tried to divorce Crompton, and more than once. I was going to joke that we've tried to kill him, but at one point the kid received actual death threats. But in these last four weeks, Crompton has changed his ways...and so have we. And now we're like the older couple that's been through the worst of times together only to have a greater appreciation for the best of times. Crompton knows he wasn't playing well, and maybe we feel like we were a little too hard on him at some points, though we both had our reasons.

Point being, now...now Crompton is playing like one of the best quarterbacks in America. When he rolls out, you feel confident. When he releases the ball, you're not braced for the worst, you're expecting the best. Tennessee is becoming a complete team, first and foremost, because our quarterback is becoming a complete player. And all joking aside, after Tim Tebow wins his customary first team All-SEC honors at quarterback...if Crompton outperforms Jevan Snead in a Vol victory on Saturday, who's to say he won't take second?

Montario Hardesty

The more you think about it, the more you realize what a great story this team is becoming. They're not going to win any championships, and they had their lapses early...but the way we're playing now in conjunction with the things some of these guys have gone through to help the team along the way, this is going to end up being a very memorable group.

Hardesty is a guy that just keeps coming to work, with 901 yards in 9 games. And while Crompton's transformation might be the most unexpected surprise in Tennessee Football history (no exaggeration), Hardesty's emergence has been just as important in creating a balanced offensive attack. The Vols are averaging 232 yards in the air and 168 on the ground this season, solid numbers on both counts seeing how they add up to 400 per game. And Hardesty - who sat behind Arian Foster for three years, listened to LaMarcus Coker and Lennon Creer get all the hype during that same span, then heard all about Bryce Brown all summer - has become the best Vol running back in eight years, still has a shot to crack the top ten in the all-time yardage list here, and has ensured that the Vols can also run the ball if and when they want to.

Wide Receivers & Luke Stocker

This may not be the most talented group of Vol WRs in school history, but once everybody got healthy, they've done their job admirably. After the debacle of the first half of the Auburn game, there have been almost no drops. There's an incredible balance amongst this group: Gerald Jones leads with way with 28 catches, Denarius Moore has 26, and Quintin Hancock has 20 in only six games.

This group may be the best example of how well this coaching staff handles player development. Before this year, Denarius Moore was a guy who only caught deep balls, and Quintin Hancock didn't catch a single pass last season. Now Moore is showing playmaking ability all over the field, and Hancock, when healthy, might have the surest hands of the group. The Vols haven't needed superstars at the wide receiver position to excel in the passing game in the last four weeks.

And then there's Luke Stocker, who at 6'6" was always going to draw NFL eyes if he produced. Stocker leads the team in yards per reception (among regular contributors), and has shown the ability to make in-traffic, downfield catches from the tight end spot. Crompton needs to quit throwing it to him so he has fewer reasons to think about leaving early.

Simply put: the Vols are getting good play from every one of their offensive skill positions.

Offensive Line

If I told you on August 1 that Josh McNeil would see no significant action this season and that his career would essentially be over, that both Cody and Cory Sullins would be starters, and that one of our starting tackles would be a guy that had never played the position before, how many wins would you have given this team?

Again, this staff has coached guys up and turned career backups into solid players. The Vols have executed the zone blocking scheme about as well as you could hope for a team in its first year with the system. For the most part, Crompton has had the time he's needed. And while the line hasn't been perfect and was faced with tough assignments early when everyone was stacking the line, this group has played well, and played well over their heads at some points. The way this group has performed makes you more hopeful that next year's group of nobodies will mature quickly as well.

Defense

The numbers are a bit skewed after Memphis had a field day with our backups, but the Vols still rank 16th nationally in total defense at 295.1 yards allowed per game. And at every position, Tennessee has gotten solid-or-better play. Chris Walker has stepped in at end and, despite not being fully healthy, given the Vols 3.5 sacks and 5.0 TFLs, forced a fumble and somehow picked up two interceptions, one for a touchdown, from the defensive end position. No one has missed Robert Ayers because of him.

Inside, Dan Williams could be a first round NFL Draft pick and has anchored a group that hasn't allowed a 100 yard rusher that didn't play in Gus Malzahn's crazy scheme or go against the backups last week. At linebacker, Rico McCoy is 7th in the SEC in tackles and has led the way for a group that's seen more injuries than any unit on the team, yet still performed well every week. LaMarcus Thompson and everyone that's played in the middle have been better than we thought they would be.

Eric Berry may not win the Heisman, but his move up towards the line of scrimmage has made him the SEC's leader in tackles for a defensive back. Berry still has two picks and two fumble recoveries, and his performance this season shouldn't hurt him on Draft Day, where NFL teams have now seen his ability to do it all.

But perhaps the best news in the defensive backfield is that everybody else has played well. Art Evans and Dennis Rogan, best known as a non-contributing wide receiver and a kick returner coming into this season, haven't allowed any breakdowns in the passing game. The Vols haven't been burned by the deep ball all season, the lone TD given up on a long pass coming as the result of a great catch by South Carolina's Moe Brown...and this too is a credit to freshman Janzen Jackson at free safety, who is often left alone back there but has held the line, and delivered his share of huge hits. This defense has produced four stars and an entire unit that rarely bends and never breaks.

Still Improving

The best news is, this team is still improving, and its players have seen enough frustration in the last year and a half to not think they've suddenly arrived at their fullest potential in only four weeks.

This staff has done a tremendous job developing players on both sides of the ball, and while our depth didn't look great against Memphis, when guys have had to step up and become first-teamers, they've done a good job.

And this team is an excellent study in how much things change. When spring practice began, if I told you the 2009 Vols would be without BJ Coleman, Lennon Creer, Brandon Warren, Austin Rogers, Josh McNeil, Demetrice Morley, the starting middle linebacker (because you wouldn't have been sold on Nick Reveiz yet), the backup middle linebacker, plus Vlad Richard and Quintin Hancock for several games...you get the idea.

From day one of spring ball and for the last nine months, these coaches have made these players better. And these players have performed at a higher level than we expected at almost every position. The Vols have become a dangerous offense, capable of hurting you with the run and the pass. And the Vols have always been a great defense, making sure points are a luxury for the offense.

Tennessee is playing well at every position group on offense and defense. The Vols have become one of the nation's hottest teams in the last four weeks, and having stood toe-to-toe with the best team in the country twice, are a team that is capable of beating anyone it faces on any given Saturday. And we got back to the last part of that sentence a lot faster than I thought we would.

When does Michael Palardy get here?

Jonathan Crompton and other Volunteers slowly climbing national rankings

Joel — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:31:01 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

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Tennessee is trending upward, appearing to have successfully navigated the meat of the Kiffin Chimera's learning curve. Despite a pretty big hole they dug for themselves early on, several Volunteers are slowly climbing the national rankings in several major statistical categories. Have a look:

Offense

Jonathan Crompton, tied for 11th in "points responsible for" (1st in the SEC, and behind the likes of Houston's Case Keenum, Boise State's Kellen Moore, BYU's Max Hall, and several players from lower-tier teams)
Montario Hardesty, 25th in rushing yards per game (4th in the SEC)
Crompton 35th in passing efficiency (over Joe Cox, Matt Barkley, Greg McElroy, Terrelle Pryor, Stephen Garcia, and Jevan Snead, among others)
Crompton, 40th in total passing yards (above Joe Cox, Jevan Snead, Matt Barkley, Greg McElroy, Terrelle Pryor, and Tim Tebow, among others)
Jonathan Crompton: 44th in passing (above Ryan Mallett, Joe Cox, Matt Barkley, Greg McElroy, Jevan Snead, Jordan Jefferson, Chris Todd, Tim Tebow, and Terrelle Pryor, among other notables)
Crompton, 44th in passing yards per game (above Joe Cox, Jevan Snead, Chris Todd, Greg McElroy, Jordan Jefferson, Tim Tebow, and Terrelle Pryor, among others)
Montario Hardesty, 56th in all-purpose running

Note that we have no receivers ranked nationally in receptions per game, receiving yards per game, or total receiving yards, which must mean that Crompton is spreading the ball around and the driving force in the passing game.

Defense

Rico McCoy, tied for 7th in forced fumbles
Eric Berry, 9th in fumbles recovered
Dennis Rogan, 25th in fumbles recovered (duplicate link)
Chris Walker, 41st in sacks
McCoy, 52nd in solo tackles
McCoy, 58th in total tackles
Berry, 63rd in passes defended
Walker, 98th in interceptions

Special Teams

Daniel Lincoln, 49th in field goals
David Oku, 50th in kickoff returns
Chad Cunningham, 52nd in punting
Nu'Keese Richardson, 85th in kickoff returns (duplicate link)

Post-game awards: Tennessee Volunteers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

Joel — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:03:23 -0000

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Best trick. Warming up in all orange and then making the switcheroo right before racing out of the tunnel in black jerseys and orange pants.

Best hit, I. Janzen Jackson, "capping off" on Gamecock tight end Justice Cunningham, knocking the ball loose and treating the guy to an in-air somersault to boot.

Best hustle. Either Dan Williams (official credit) or Ben Martin (Lane Kiffin's credit), who recovered the first fumble nearly fifteen yards downfield from where they started the play.

Best call. Tennessee's second play on offense, a 38-yard Jonathan Crompton to Austin Johnson touchdown pass down the middle. According to Kiffin, most defenses take that play away, but they knew from film study that it would work against South Carolina.

Best rinse and repeat. Two plays after Tennessee had turned a forced fumble into seven points, Rico McCoy forced another fumble, Wes Brown recovered it, and the offense turned it into another touchdown.

Best move. Montario Hardesty on his first touchdown, juking right and making the defensive back utterly whiff on one of the prettiest spin moves I have ever seen on his way to the end zone and six points. Call it The Move.

Longest run. Bryce Brown's 37-yarder in the first quarter, during which he negotiated dense traffic in the middle before breaking outside.

Worst streak. Tennessee's first field goal attempt, which was low again and blocked again, making it the third blocked attempt in a row for the Volunteers.

Best threepeat. Having converted forced fumbles on the Gamecocks' first two possessions, the defense forced another on their fifth when McCoy and Savion Frazier hit a scrambling Stephen Garcia. Dennis Rogan recovered, and the offense took it 22 yards to the checkerboards.

Best block. Hardesty on fourth and goal for Tennessee's third touchdown. Hardesty put a rushing defender on his butt with a perfect cut and gave Crompton enough time to hit Kevin Cooper for the score.

Best post-play move. Cooper, who after crossing into the end zone with the ball, quickly one-hopped and flapped his elbows. It was just residual energy, but it looked like a pole-vaulting chicken.

Best hit, II. Jackson again, on Cedrick Snead, who'd escaped an earlier tackle attempt only to find himself airborn and in the arms of Jackson, who promptly slammed him to the ground.

Best peripheral, I. The Pride of the Southland's Thriller:

Best peripheral, II. A short video on Nick Reveiz, his leadership, his injury, and his pending recovery on the VolTron during the timeout. That guy is inspiring.

Best streak-buster, I. Getting a sack on the quarterback in the second quarter, the first in what seems like forever.

Best streak-buster, II. Chad Cunningham's field goal in the fourth quarter, halting the series of consecutive blocked attempts for the Vols at three.

Best Jack of All Trades. Cunningham, who not only kicked off and punted, but kicked field goals to boot (heh) in relief of Daniel Lincoln, who was still recovering from a quad injury.

Best tough guy. Monte Kiffin, who got mixed up in a tackle that spilled over into the sideline. According to Lane, Monte's hand was cut, and despite the insistence of the rest of the staff, he refused to see a trainer even after the game.

Best hit, III. McCoy this time, who nailed some poor South Carolina receiver with a perfectly-timed jarring bear hug of a tackle in the fourth quarter.

Best hit, IV. Jackson again, who capped off on a tight end again late in the game, preventing him from catching a well-thrown pass.

Play of the game, offense. Hardesty's The Move.

Play of the game, defense. Jackson's magical-somersaulting-now-you-have-it-now-you-don't tackle and forced fumble to win momentum for the team for the duration of the game.

Player of the game, offense. Montario Hardesty, who rushed 23 times for 121 yards, two TDs, caught a pass for 12 yards, and preserved his place in highlight videos for years to come with The Move.

Player of the game, defense. Tie between Rico McCoy, who had ten tackles, two forced fumbles, and a pass breakup, and Janzen Jackson, who racked up seven tackles, a forced fumble, two pass breakups, and continues to challenge Eric Berry for the reputation as the hardest hitter on the team. Thanks to lawvol98, Janzen will forever be known around these parts as Stonewall Jackson.

Best quote (paraphrased). Jim Chaney, who, when asked how he and Lane Kiffin collaborate on the offensive gameplan, explained the process and then, laughing, said something like, "If he's doing something screwy, I'll be like [clears throat] . . . and he'll go right ahead and do it anyway." Jim Chaney knows how Mike Slive feels.

Best picture of discipline. Jim Chaney. I've never heard any stories about this at all, but Chaney looks like he's lost at least 100 pounds:

What have I missed?

Post-game awards: Tennessee Volunteers vs. Georgia Bulldogs

Joel — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:08:11 -0000

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Best pre-game glad-handing. Lane Kiffin, schmoozing the officials just before kickoff. Yeah, we got some calls.

Best Jedi Mind Trick. Lane Kiffin, who, early in the game, spotted the ball for the official several yards beyond where it should have been spotted. The official accepted the assistance and gave the Vols a first down.

Best team effort. The defensive line, for a play during which Dan Williams pressured Joe Cox into a quick pass, Gerald Williams tipped such pass into the air, and Chris Walker pulled down the INT.

Best, most candid response. Lane Kiffin on his TV show, who said while watching Georgia's kickoff return for a touchdown, "I'm out of answers. There's Eric Berry. Nu'Keese, our fastest guy on the team. Our starting corner. I don't know. We'll figure something out." When asked about it later in the show by a write-in fan, Kiffin said he was taking suggestions. Hooper?

Best impersonation of a flying squirrel. Denarius Moore, who took a Jonathan Crompton pass, spun out of the reach of two would-be tacklers, raced down the sideline, launched into the air at the five yard line as he was hit by another defender, and deployed his patagium to glide through the air while stretching the football out with his right hand to touch the invisible corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

Most humorous comment. Lane Kiffin, again on his TV show, who said "My man the robot there," describing true freshman Zach Rogers's short-strided run after a catch for a nice gain. It's true. Rogers looked like he was doing the robot dance on fast forward.

Best block. Kevin Cooper on Montario Hardesty's 39-yard touchdown run. Cooper was through the hole already when he realized the strongside linebacker was threatening to catch Hardesty from behind, so Cooper peeled off and chipped the defender giving Hardesty just enough room to get through the hole and into the open.

Best We've Been Waiting for That. Gerald Jones, who had gotten behind the safeties on a wonderful double move the team had been setting up the entire game, and who hauled in a well thrown deep ball from Crompton for a 51-yard touchdown.

Best icing on the WIN cake. Seeing Josh McNeil, who ignored the knees telling him he will never play football again, on the field late in the game and mixing it up with a defender.

Best stat. Georgia's offense never made it past the Tennessee 34-yard line and managed a mere three points on a 52-yard field goal.

Best dress rehearsal. Eric Berry, who raced 46 yards after grabbing an air-borne fumble caused by Art Evans's jarring hit on a receiver. For a fleeting minute, everyone thought that it had been an interception, which would have given Berry the college football record for interception return yards.

Most concise. Lane Kiffin, who, when asked about the post-game Gatorade bath (his first, by the way), said simply, "Cold."

Top 5 plays (according to the Lane Kiffin Show):

5. Crompton to Marsalis Teague for a five-yard touchdown. Crompton said Teague was his third read, by the way.

4. Moore's flying squirrel TD. Moore said he was the second read.

3. The Williams, Williams, and Walker team effort interception mentioned above. Walker called Gerald Williams "Teasy" on the TV show, and I've no idea why. Anyone?

2. Hardesty's 39-yard TD. Call this "Team effort, offense," as Hardesty said it was an outside zone, but Cooper "made a great read," cut it back, and Hardesty simply followed.

1. Crompton to Jones 51-yard TD.

Best continuation of the chimera theme. The Lane Kiffin show is now half Lane Kiffin and half one of the Chimera heads. It's a different guy each week (James Cregg was the lucky guy yesterday). Consider that new format another nice move by Kiffin, getting each of his guys some face time and public appearance practice reps for their resumes.

Player of the game, offense. Crompton, who went 20-27 for 310 yards, four TDs, and one interception. Good for him. Seriously.

Player of the game, defense. This is a close one, actually, as the defense was fantastic all day, and it was a true team effort. Rico McCoy had nine tackles, a pass breakup, and a QBH, Savion Frazier had seven tackles and a TFL, and Dennis Rogan had six tackles, a TFL, and an interception, but Eric Berry, who only had five tackles, also had that terrific 46-yard fumble return and two pass breakups, so I'm going with him.

Tennessee-Auburn post game awards

Joel — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:57:55 -0000

I'm actually vacationing at a conference this week, so this edition of the post-game awards will have to be a group effort. A few to get you started:

Best hire. Gene Chizik, who hired Gus Malzahn.
Best offense. Gus Malzahn's, which often looked like a variety pack of trick plays. A reverse looked normal. And does it work? Oh yeah, it works. When you put up 459 yards on Monte Kiffin, you're doing something right.
Worst offense. That'd be ours, which gained 314 yards. Fun fact: our passing game gained more yards (259) than the running game did (151). Huh, looking back, we did that against Ohio, too, although not to the same degree. Just think what we could do with consistent accuracy at QB and consistent hands at receiver.
Best dreaming. Me, for the above statement.
Player of the game, offense. Montario Hardesty, who rushed 21 times for 90 yards and a TD and caught three balls for 56 yards and a TD.
Player of the game, defense. Rico McCoy, who had 16 tackles (10 solo), one pass breakup, and one forced fumble.

Gotta run. Whatcha got?

Talking Points: defending the defense, the defensible, and the defenseless

Joel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:00:39 -0000

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Mike Strange is defending Tennessee's defense, saying that it wasn't as bad as real-time made it feel.
Not to be outdone, Mike Griffith is defending both Bruce Pearl and Jonathan Crompton. On Bruce, Griffith notes that he's the same gregarious guy on ESPN as he is in a small, media-less room full of autistic kids or on the streets of some obscure European country trying to get folks to see his team play. Anyone who talks so well so much and has such a good time doing it is likely to end up with his foot in his mouth every once in awhile. On Crompton, Griffith takes a closer look at Crompton's passes against Ohio and finds several dropped passes and good throw-aways among the still-too-many errors.
Whoa. That story about Emmanuel Negedu "passing out" after a workout yesterday? He had to be revived with a defibrillator. Still no news on his overnight tests.
Straight from Mike Hamilton's tweeter, we won't know the time for next week's Georgia game until Monday, but it will be either "noonish" or 3:30.
Nick Reveiz's knee injury? A torn ACL. How are they going to replace him in the middle? Lane Kiffin said that if it was late in the season, they'd just plug in the backup, but with eight games remaining, they're considering a lot of different options. Yesterday, they put Savion Frazier -- who's been backing up Rico McCoy at weakside -- at the Mike. Redshirt freshman Herman Lathers -- who's been listed as Reveiz's backup -- is another option. Lathers didn't take on that role against Ohio when Reveiz went out because Lathers had a concussion, so true freshman Nigel Mitchell-Thornton filled the hole.

Tennessee-Ohio post game awards

Joel — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:10:32 -0000

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Chris UnWalkerble.

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Worst announcing. Randy somebody. And don't bother asking him what his last name is, because he'd probably get it wrong. The guy botched names, teams, calls, rules, orders to the concession stand, pretty much everything. My favorite (paraphrased):

Randy SomethingOrOther: Gerald Jones lined up in the Wildcat. [Hands off to Hardesty, who scores.]

Jeff Francis: Actually, that was Nu'Keese Richardson lined up at QB and handing off to Hardesty.

Randy WhatsHisName: [watching the replay . . .] Yes, you're right. Not Gerald Jones, Marsalis Teague at quarterback on that play.

He also said at one point that Kentucky was up 34-7 on Florida or something and reversed the score of the very game he was calling. I think the rain was pooling on the top o' that guy's head.

Worst flashback. Ohio returned Tennessee's first kickoff all the way for a touchdown. Thought we'd had those behind us this year. Guess not.

Best play, offense. On 4th and short and driving for a touchdown, and finally having established Tennessee as a power rushing team, Lane Kiffin called play action. Jonathan Crompton checked down from his primary receiver (who was covered) and tossed off to Hardesty, who ran for 18 yards to the three yard line.

Best sight for tired eyes. On the very next play, Crompton hit on a fade route (remember those?) to Brandon Warren (remember him?) for a TD. The play was executed well all around.

Worst not agains. Crompton had another two turnovers, a team-effort interception that was thrown into double coverage and a roll-out sack with a fumble that Ohio picked up and ran back for a touchdown. Replay showed that the Bobcat who picked up the fumble had a foot out of bounds when he did, so it was Tennessee's ball, but wow. And again wow.

Best play, defense. With Ohio backed up on their own nine yard line on third and the river (29), Chris UnWalkerble peeled off his pass rush to stay in coverage for the screen pass, which came straight to him. He plucked it out of the air in traffic and ran it in for a pick six.

Best headhunters. Tie: Janzen Jackson and Rico McCoy, both of whom were freed up a bit by the fact that Ohio was trying especially hard to stay away from the Chief Headhunter, Eric Berry. Jackson and McCoy each had at least two scary hard hits on Bobcats.

Player of the game, offense. Montario Hardesty, who ran twenty times for 140 yards and caught two passes for another 29 yards. He also had one TD.

Biggest surprise. That the Vols gave up 319 yards in the air to the Bobcats. Did we miss Dennis Rogan that much? Is it time to return Berry to his favored position?

Player of the game, defense. Rico McCoy, who had eight tackles (five solo), a half a TFL, a forced fumble, a pass breakup, and a QB hurry to boot. The man was everywhere doing damage to everything, and it was a lovely sight.

Worst news. That fan favorite Nick Reveiz will miss the rest of the season. Kiffin said on his TV show that Reveiz is everything that they want in a player and that losing him is a "huge blow" to the team. That's bad, bad, bad with a side of nasty timing.

What'd we miss?

Tennessee Football: Surviving September & Anticipating October

Will — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:16:51 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

If the guy on the left can hurt us less, the guy on the right will help us more.

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Two wins over mid-majors, a heartbreaking loss to UCLA and a closer-than-expected battle in The Swamp leaves the Lane Kiffin Era with a 2-2 start and a relatively firm foundation, even if there hasn't been a lot of building on it yet. But the Vols will have opportunities throughout the month of October to do just that, as the schedule brings Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and an open date to the table.

A third of the way through the regular season, we're still trying to figure bits and pieces of this team out, and that's based largely on the schedule: we don't know how good Western Kentucky, Ohio and even UCLA truly are, and we don't fully know exactly how much better Florida is than everyone else. But the Vols will be measured most closely by what they do against their SEC contemporaries, which is exactly what they'll see in the next four games. If this team has as far to go as they've looked at their worst, the Vols will have a long month and will be scrambling for bowl eligibility by the time November gets here. And if this team is as competitive as they've looked at their best, Tennessee will give themselves a chance to win in each of the next four ballgames.

One of the biggest factors in Phillip Fulmer's dismissal was his inability to win any big games last season - when you beat UAB, Northern Illinois, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky, you lack a signature win - and so the biggest step forward the Lane Kiffin administration can take would be to win one of the next four games.

That's not to say going 1-3 in October would be a success...but I think 2-2 would be.

Getting two of the next four wins would give the Vols an excellent chance to get bowl eligible, would mark significant progress from last season, and could set the stage for a hot finish against a weaker November schedule (including a trip to Oxford to face an Ole Miss team that suddenly looks very beatable) that could give the Vols huge momentum towards recruiting and the next stage of the growth process.

That process starts with getting one win, and since we take them a week at a time, it starts with a fascinating matchup with Auburn this week.

We'll learn everything we need to know about this team, and ultimately judge its season as a success or failure based on what happens in October. But through four games, here's what we have learned for sure thus far:

We're playing Russian Roulette with Jonathan Crompton

It's no longer a matter of if Jonathan Crompton is going to hurt Tennessee each week, it's simply when, and how bad is the wound going to be. That's not to say he isn't capable of doing some good things at times or making some decent throws, as he did last night against Ohio. In fact, his numbers would've been better against the Bobcats if Vol receivers held on to the football.

In his entire Tennessee career, Crompton has now seen significant action in 12 games spanning three seasons. In those 12 games, he's been responsible for 18 turnovers. That's 1.5 per game.

In fact, only twice has Crompton played a turnover-free game: his backup duty performance against Wyoming, where he went 11 of 27 in a Vol loss, and against Kentucky last season, where the Vols passed only eight times.

This is who he is.

Again, it's not to say Nick Stephens should be playing instead, or that he can't make some good throws, or that the Vols can't win when he's under center. You just need to know, and you might as well embrace at this point, that Tennessee's quarterback is going to cost you 1.5 turnovers per game. How the Vols choose to manage these expected mistakes will go a long way in determining how successful the month of October is.

Montario Hardesty is the best back to wear the orange since Travis Stephens

We're a spoiled bunch, because to play tailback at Tennessee for 15 consecutive years from 1987-2001 meant you were playing it very well. The list of starting tailbacks during that run is astounding: Reggie Cobb, Chuck Webb, Tony Thompson, James Stewart, Charlie Garner, Jay Graham, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, Travis Stephens. Every single one of those guys was a game-changer.

We've been okay in the backfield since then: Cedric Houston, Gerald Riggs, Arian Foster, plus several others who saw spot duty. But none of them have run the way Montario Hardesty has in the first four games of this season.

Last night, the Vols opened things up in the first half in hopes that Crompton would produce. When it wasn't going as well as we'd hoped, it's no big deal: we'll just give it to #2 and watch him run for 135 yards in the second half.

I don't know if this is Hardesty or Eddie Gran or both, but when that kid gets the handoff, he's already at full speed. There's no waiting for this or that hole, he takes the ball with explosion, and then leaves defenders in the collateral damage. When was the last time you didn't just expect a Tennessee back to break tackles, you got used to it?

Hardesty has 485 yards in 4 games, which includes two tremendously tough performances against great defenses from UCLA and Florida. He's still averaging 5.8 yards per carry. He's 7th nationally and 1st in the SEC in rushing yards (storyline alert: numbers two and three both play for Auburn).

And Hardesty has been here. He's done his time, waited on the depth chart, showed flashes of greatness like that run against Cal way back in 2006. But now, there's no more waiting: #2 is the man. And in this offense, he'll need to be that and then some this month to get the Vols where they want to go. I don't expect him to disappoint.

Veterans still rule the day at WR

...and that's not an entirely great thing.

Tennessee's leading receivers last night against Ohio? Denarius Moore and Brandon Warren. Before them it was Quintin Hancock, and part of me still feels like Gerald Jones is still the team's #1 receiver.

Nu'Keese Richardson is still more style than substance - and he'll get there eventually. Marsalis Teague had bad luck last night, because Crompton overthrew him on a double-move sure touchdown...but still, Teague had six catches against Western Kentucky and has one since.

I go back to the fact that when the game was on the line against UCLA, it was Jones, Hancock and Moore who were in the game. Brandon Warren did look good last night. But I think it's going to continue to be those guys who lead the way the rest of the year - I'm just not sure a total breakthrough is coming from Teague or Nuke in 2009. If it's going to be the vets, they've got to help Crompton and not hurt him, and they've got to catch the ball when it comes their way.

How good is Chris Walker?

He sacked Tim Tebow twice. He gets the rare defensive lineman pick-six on an incredibly savvy play last night. Through four games, he has 5.5 TFLs, 4 sacks, a pick, a forced fumble and a touchdown. When they said he was unblockable in the spring...again, maybe Lane Kiffin really is a man of his word.

Walker is the kind of dominant presence at end the Vols have been sorely missing. He's got better numbers than Robert Ayers and been a bigger presence in the opposition's backfield than anyone we've had in recent memory - like Hardesty, you have to go back to 2001 to find a better DE performance thus far.

Suddenly, I'm worried about this guy turning pro early.

Rico McCoy, Eric Berry and Janzen Jackson are out for blood

Whatever the record is for the number of times the Neyland Stadium crowd goes "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" after a big hit on defense, it's going down this year.

Eric Berry is Eric Berry, who leads the team in solo tackles with 20, and the next closest guy (McCoy) has only 12.

Rico McCoy picked a good year to play up to his potential, and in terms of hitting he got even better when Nick Reveiz went down, which was great to see. That guy will bring the pain.

But there's been no bigger headhunter thus far this season than Jackson, who is an impossible combination of tall and fast, and who is making us happy for more than just his hit on Brandon James.

When the ball goes up around #15, you look for bad things to happen to the receiver. This defense is incredibly agressive and makes the other team pay...and again, we're going to need more of the same if the Vols want October to go their way.