SB Nation - Kevin Cooper

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

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

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

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

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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.

The Challenge Going Up Against Tennessee's Monster Offensive Line

Nestor — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:21 -0000

I wanted to delve a little deeper into the matchup between our defensive front-7 and the Tennessee OL. I think this will be the biggest challenge for our Bruins on Saturday. If our Price, Jerzy, Carter and co. are not able to hold their own against the behemoth Volunteers frontline, I think it will be a long day of watching prime time football on ESPN.

First, let's put the numbers of Tennessee front line in perspective. Here is a look at the Volunteers OL depth chart:

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Chris Scott, Sr (6-5, 330)	Vladimir Richard, Sr (6-4,300)	Cody Sullins, Sr (6-1, 260)	Jacques McClendon, Sr (6-3, 324)	Jarrod Shaw, Jr (6-4, 332)+
Dallas Thomas, Fr.* (6-5, 268)	Cody Pope, So (6-6, 288)	Cory Sullins, Sr (6-1, 270)	William Brimfield, So (6-5, 346)	Aaron Douglas, Fr* (6-6, 282)+

*Indicates red shirt
+ Listed as "Co-No. 1"

And now here is a look at the depth chart of the San Diego State's OL heading into last weekend:

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Tommie Draheim, So (6-4, 290)	Mike Matamua, So (6-4, 290)	Trask Losefa, Jr (6-0, 290)	Ikaika Aken-Moleta, Sr (6-2, 295)	Peter Nelson, Sr (6-5, 295)
Tom Rische, Jr, (6-4, 290)	Alec Johnson, Fr* (6-3, 300)	Damian Shankle, Sr (6-2, 295)	Emilio Rivera, So (6-4, 295)	Kurtis Gunther, So (6-8, 285)

*Indicates red shirt

You guys see the difference? It took couple of series for Brian Price and rest of the Bruin defensive frontline to generate pressure on the Aztecs. I don't think we can afford to have that luxury on Saturday evening. The Tennessee guys will come out right away and look to establish their own tempo and rhythm, by power running all over the Bruin defense.

If you recall they had decent amount of success against the Bruin defense rushing the ball last year as they ran for 177 yards in 34 attempts. They lost control of the game when for some inexplicable reasons they decided to go chuck and duck with Jonathan Crompton with astonishing 41 pass attempts. I don't see the Vols making the same mistake this time around.

You can bet they will come out at Neyland and serve up heavy doses of Hardesty and Brown. Don't forget though. Tennessee also has other talent at the tailback position. From Athlon.com's season preview:

Senior Montario Hardesty hits holes hard and possesses breakaway speed, and with a healthy spring behind him is on pace to enjoy his finest season. But before Hardesty can lead the Vols to victories he must first win his position. That figures to be a challenge with highly regarded prospects Bryce Brown and David Oku coming to fall camp. Brown, a 6'0", 215-pound super talent from Wichita, Kan., was ranked the No. 1 overall prospect in the nation by Rivals.com, and a visit to various YouTube highlight reels shows why. Oku, a 5'10", 185-pounder, was Rivals’ No. 1-rated all-purpose back and offers quickness and receiving ability. Freshman Toney Williams enrolled early and was expected to challenge for immediate playing time, but suffered a season-ending knee injury in summer workouts. Tauren Poole is another shifty option who should get into the mix this year. Fullbacks Kevin Cooper and Austin Johnson could get competition in the event the coaches move a tailback to the position.

Looking the boxscore from last Saturday, it looks like Oku got a decent chunk of action. He carried the ball 8 times for 42 yards, scoring 2 TDs, while Poole also carried the ball 5 times for 62 yards. So no doubt Hardesty and Brown are going to get the spotlight. However, I am sure our coaches will also be aware of Oku and Poole.

It will be interesting to see how Bullough scheme up his defense for Saturday. I thought our defensive effort in the early going was fairly vanilla. It seemed like the San Diego State OL (who clearly are not in the same league as the Tennessee OL in terms of size and athleticism) handled our stunts pretty well. It took us a while to get serious pressure going on the Aztecs passing game.

So what do we do? For starters, I think we are going to need more intense effort from our LBers. For whatever reason, I though Reggie Carter and Akeem Ayers came out a little slow last weekend. I didn't think their concentration level pick up till the second half (perhaps I am being bit harsh here but calling it as I saw the action). I think those guys will need to focused and locked in so that they can help our defensive frontline in containing the Tennesee ground attack.

I think the key for us will be to disrupt Crompton's comfort level. If we can contain their running game early on and get some heavy pressure on the Tennessee QB by blitzing him through different looks, I think we might be able to get him rattled a bit and throw him off rhythm. It is going to be a huge challenge.

That is why it will be imperative for a total team effort. The defense will need all the help it can get from an offense that will need to play effective ball control and the special teams doing whatever it can to give us good field position on both sides of the ball. Otherwise with that kind of imposing size and experience, I can see their OL eventually wearing down our front-7 in front of a rocking Tennessee home crowd.

GO BRUINS.

The Tennessee Volunteers Football Depth Chart is Out

Hooper — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:38:34 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

He's been patiently waiting to find out who the other 21 would be. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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The first real, comprehensive depth chart (pdf) of the Tennessee Volunteers was released yesterday, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press (h/t to Home Sweet Home of Gate21). As expected, freshmen players litter the field, including a listing or two that are surprising even to those following the practices.

OFFENSE

Quarterback

#1 - Jonathan Crompton This we knew, as it was announced on Monday.
#2 - Nick Stephens

Fullback

#1 - Kevin Cooper Cooper is a little shorter and stouter than Johnson, which should help in blocking situations. I don't know how the receiving comparison works out, but protection for the quarterback is probably a high priority until we know how well Crompton performs with the new offense against actual opponents.
#2 - Austin Johnson I'm a little surprised not to see Sam Edgmon given a nod, considering how well he seemed to be catching passes.

Tailback

#1 - Bryce Brown and Montario Hardesty The first surprise to me is the cop-out of listing co-#1s. Even if the very first play against Western Kentucky has both of these players in (and one fullback out), one of the two is still the #2 option for the staff. I still think that, at the moment, Hardesty is the "first-option tailback", but this might be a way to add some publicity for Bryce Brown.

Wide Receiver

#1 - Nu'Keese Richardson Nuke is the only true freshman to have unquestioned ownership of a #1 slot on the offense. Getting the nod over Warren is a testament to his work ethic and his ability to stay healthy through the preseason. I wonder, though, how much of this was influenced by the injury to Gerald Jones and the need to add a little more speed and maneuverability on the field.
#2 - Brandon Warren Stay healthy and practice hard, young man. Coaches don't evaluate training table etiquette when choosing starters.

Wide Receiver

#1 - Quintin Hancock In his senior year, Hancock has a golden opportunity to show Vol Nation that he's as good as he can look in practice. That he is the tall receiver on the field (and not Brandon Warren) is a statement about the premium that the coaching staff placed on practice time.
#2 - Marsalis Teague I wouldn't expect Teague to be far behind right now, with Hancock having the advantage of spring practice to learn more of the playbook. By the time Jones gets back, Teague may very well have moved up (back) to send on the depth chart here.

Tight End

#1 - Luke Stocker Stocker's the better receiver, and Cottam's the better blocker. This may be more informative of the staff's offensive tendencies than the actual comparison between the two.
#2 - Jeff Cottam I have to wonder: if he hadn't been injured all last year, where would Cottam be as a player right now?

Left Tackle

#1 - Chris Scott No surprise here.
#2 - Dallas Thomas The redshirt freshman is the heir apparent and should get some live fire time here and there throughout the season.

Left Guard

#1 - Vladimir Richard I like Vlad, he's a fun guy.
#2 - Cody Pope Another heir apparent, it's notable that Vlad is listed at 300 lb and Pope at 288. This offensive line is going to be much lighter and quicker than last year's, courtesy of a different zone blocking concept.

Center

#1 - Cody Sullins Who might have been #1 even if McNeil hadn't been injured.
#2 - Cory Sullins Learn quickly, young man. Please learn quickly.

Right Guard

#1 - Jacques McClendon where experience again made the difference. The right guard will be critical in the new running game, as he both assists the center in blocking and is the primary blocker to open up most cutback lanes on zone sweep plays. If you're inclined to watch line play, watch him.
#2 - William Brimfield Note, though, that the beef is apparent on the right side of the line. McClendon is 324 and Brimfield is 346. Run blockers, yes.

Right Tackle

#1 - Aaron Douglas and Jarrod Shaw Even more transparent than the co-number 1 running backs - we're not going to see two right tackles on the first play against Western Kentucky. I'm guessing that Douglas has more potential, but Shaw is more polished.

DEFENSE

(Note: I think that the defensive line terms of 'left' and 'right' refer to the left and right as the offense sees them, so the left end lines up against the offense's left tackle, and so on.)

Left End

#1 - Gerald Williams Raise your hand if you saw this coming at the beginning of spring camp, when GW was begging Kiffin to let him play linebacker. It's good to be unblockable.
#2 - Willie Bohannon and Ben Martin Sigh. Another co-listing. I'll stop that now, as you know my feelings.

Left Tackle

#1 - Wes Brown - at 257 pounds, he's one of the lighter starting tackles you'll ever see. This feels much like a pass-rushing tackle, similar to the way the New York Giants line up.
#2 - Andre Mathis - I think Mathis will be in for short-yardage situations.

Right Tackle

#1 - Montori Hughes and Dan Williams Talk of Dan Williams not being the exclusive starter did not begin for a while, and even when Hughes came on strong earlier in the fall camp, it was thought he'd be at left tackle. The staff really like what they see in this new kid, and so do I.

Right Guard

#1 - Chris Walker who has also had a really nice fall, though you don't tend to hear about it as much because of Williams and Hughes.
#2 - Steven Fowlkes The consensus on Fowlkes appear to be that he has a really, really high ceiling but is still developing. If he stays on course, then next year's presumed lineup of Gerald Williams, Hughes, and Fowlkes may be special.

Strongside Linebacker

#1 - LaMarcus Thompson This is not a surprise.
#2 - Greg King That Thompson was the obvious #1 is not a slight on King, though. You don't hear much of him, but it's always been very complimentary. I think he should be at full speed next year.

Middle Linebacker

#1 - Nick Reveiz Even less surprising. The staff loves this guy, and his attitude should be a real emotional boost for the whole defense.
#2 - Herman Lathers It's hard to find information on Lathers, both because the news coverage on linebackers has been almost nonexistent and because Shorty Reveiz has made a better story whenever they did bother mentioning these guys.

Weakside Linebacker

#1 - Rico McCoy Injury didn't keep him from losing his slot. Healthy, he's one of our best and I look forward to seeing him play.
#2 - Savion Frazier I'm curious how close Frazier came to taking the slot when McCoy was hurt. Unfortunately, the lack of news drama here suggests it wasn't as close as I'd hoped.

Left Cornerback

#1 - Anthony Anderson and Mike Edwards I think this really means that Anderson is the #1 for the first couple of games, but Edwards could take it so long as he keeps learning the system.

Right Cornerback

#1 - Art Evans No real surprise here. His name has come up quite a bit during practices, particularly for his interceptions.
#2 - Marsalous Johnson The depth is really nice in the secondary.

Strong Safety

#1 - Eric Berry
#2,436 - Darren Myles, Jr. and Prentiss Waggner Welcome to the competition for the guy that gets to replace Eric Berry next year. Don't worry; we won't be judging you according to Berry. Sure.

Free Safety

#1 - Janzen Jackson and Dennis Rogan I'm still a little surprised that Rogan gets moved around between corner and safety as much as he does. Jack of all trades, master of none? However it works out, I'd like him to have a more permanent home on the roster.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker

#1 - Daniel Lincoln
#2 - Chad Cunningham

Punter

#1 - Chad Cunningham His kicking strength is supposedly much better this year.
#2 - David Harrington
#3 - The Ghost of Colquitts Past

Kickoffs

#1 - Chad Cunningham
#2 - Daniel Lincoln

Punt Returner

#1 Nu'Keese Richardson I guess those worries about ball-catching weren't enough to sway the staff. Hopefully that means he's been catching better.
#2 - Dennis Rogan

Kick Returner

#1 - David Oku
#2 - Dennis Rogan

Deep Snapper

#1 - Morgan Cox
#2 - Nick Guess

Holder

Bram Cannon

Tennessee offense increasing ups, decreasing downs

Joel — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:43:30 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

4 months ago: Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton, left, pitches the ball to Montario Hardesty (2) during football practice Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, in Knoxville, Tenn. It was Tennessee's first day in pads. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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Huh. This is new. The play of the QBs has the head coach smiling. After Nick Stephens didn't do so well Wednesday morning, having a sluggish practice, fumbling a snap from center, and throwing a horrible pass to Eric Gordon, he made good on his vow to rebound Wednesday evening. Although the reports all indicate that Stephens lost ground to Jonathan Crompton in the morning session, Crompton also struggled a bit early, fumbling two snaps from center in three plays and throwing a bad pass that should have been picked off but wasn't and throwing another that shouldn't have been but was. However, Crompton finished the morning session strong, leading the offense down the field in 11-on-11 drills and tossing two TDs to Quinton Hancock.

But it was the evening session that really had Lane Kiffin glowing. Kiffin said the offense practiced "extremely well," and that the QBs were "really good." Each had an interception, but both "delivered the ball accurately and on time for the most part." Together, they threw "a number of touchdowns in the red zone," and, according to Kiffin, are developing more confidence as each practice progresses. Bottom line, the QBs are still having some "ups and downs," but the ups are increasing, the downs are decreasing, and the recovery time from the downs is improving.

With all of the talk about Bryce Brown and David Oku, don't count out Montario Hardesty, who Scout.com named offensive MVP Wednesday ($). Hardesty broke "several" TD runs in the morning and evening sessions. Also, don't forget about fullbacks Austin Johnson and Kevin Cooper, as they're being used extensively in the running game.

The DBs, though, are also doing quite well, according to practice reports. Freshman LB Jerod Askew had two impressive hits on running backs, Eric Gordon - whose mother never would have allowed him to come to UT without the coaching change due to disciplinary issues - had an interception that Kiffin called "outstanding," and Anthony Anderson is climbing the depth chart.

Reading Between the Lines: Changes in UT Football From Last Year

Hooper — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:50:46 -0000

Ordinarily, when a news article has an eye-popping line, I will post it up as a FanShot and highlight the curiosity in the brief text I write with it. That's the fairest way to handle articles, as it encourages everybody to read the article at the source and give the webhit to the person who wrote the article. Sometimes, however, I do a double-take at several things inside an article and want a little more space to comment. Such is the case with an article on GVX entitled Jones is OK if G-Gun dismantled.

The article parrots earlier news stories about how Jones isn't required to run the G-Gun because everybody feels more confident in the quarterbacks this year. We've been down that road, with all the talk about the complicated Clawfense and the two-year learning curve. There is some information added to the article - almost randomly - that was far more interesting to me. First up:

Quarterback Jonathan Crompton has already noticed just how versatile UT's fullbacks can be.

"They're athletic enough that if we want to put them out wide, we can put them out wide," he said.

That's news. Fullbacks are traditionally lumbering hulks, and certainly UT's are not small boys. This little line item, however, is a treasure of possibilities.

No huddle, anybody? If you have fullbacks who can play wide receiver, then you can run no-huddle (more specifically, no-substitution) drives and take advantage of either passing mismatches or rushing mismatches. It's bad enough for a defense to have to get caught with the wrong personnel on the field, but having the offense this wide open is exciting.
Also athletic enough for additional rushing options. Coupled with zone blocking, having athletic fullbacks really opens up possibilities in rushing plays. You can play-action bootleg and have the fullback block or spread to a pass pattern (or both!). You can change the timing of the rushing play, depending on whether the halfback or the fullback gets the ball. You can add a lead blocker.
Three tight-end sets. There's a mythical school of offense that firmly believes that three tight-end offenses will eventually take over. The trick is getting enough players who can line block and run pass patterns on the field at once. WR/FB hybrids ought to do the trick.

Then there's this:

No Pushovers: UT's effective rushing attack - especially on short yardage - had even the receivers talking on Tuesday.

"The difference between this year and last year is they've got somebody on their back to push them to the limit to make sure they're going to do it," Jones said. "They've got the mindset that they won't be denied. They won't be stopped.

"It's one yard. We have a great back in the backfield that can pick it up. All they have to do is get a push and they do it."

Huh? This little line might tell a huge story. Why didn't we have somebody "push them to the limit" last year? What was missing?

Other than that, I absolutely love the "especially on short yardage" comment. The question about a zone-blocking scheme is always: how effective are they at goal-line situations? In all honesty, they can be just as effective as a power blocking scheme; the problem is that the trust and timing requirements intensify as the number of defenders in the box increases. In a goal-line situation, the rusher has to head toward a hole that he can't see, knowing that he won't even see it when he gets there. It's like flying through the Alps in a plane with no windows; you can do it if your instruments and maps are good enough.

Lastly, the sweetest words an offense coach can hear:

"I want to be a playmaker," [Austin] Johnson said, "and I want to be able to block for this team."

It's a great article to read and there's more in there, but those points really stood out to me.

Talking points: call it the crab attack edition

Joel — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:00:59 -0000

Tennessee football

Crab Attack! After Lennon Creer was stripped on a run up the middle in Saturday's scrimmage, Ed Orgeron slipped during the resulting scrum for the ball and had to "scramble crab-like on his backside out of harm's way." Right. Obviously, the reporter responsible for this account does not know the Powers of the O; he was merely in attack mode.
More details on the practice that wouldn't end ($). The defense ended ahead on points, and when practice was called, the offense refused to leave the field and challenged the defense to keep playing. Lane Kiffin allowed one more play, and B.J. Coleman hit Quinton Hancock on a quick slant route for a 3-yard TD. Kiffin again called practice, but this time the defense refused to leave the field, so Kiffin permitted another play. Crompton then hit Hancock on the same play with the same result, and the defense again refused to leave the field. But Kiffin, probably wary of some sort of NCAA sanction against competition, finally made everyone pack up and head home.
What's the estate tax on this? Many of Tennessee's new coaches are inheriting units in shambles, but not secondary coach Willie Mack Garza, who takes the reins of a defensive backfield consisting of a consensus All-American, four bona fide starters, a stable full of talent behind them, and a handful of very highly touted recruits on the way. One member of that secondary on Saturday ran an interception back for a 60-yard touchdown and then leveled a running back like he was Knowshon Moreno ($). What? No, it wasn't Eric Berry, it was Prentiss Waggner, about whom coaches were raving after Saturday's scrimmage. Brent Vinson, though, is still struggling with that shoulder, which became dislocated again a few weeks ago, and will have to have surgery after spring practice. He should be back in time for fall practice.
Did I miss something? Crompton played on a bad ankle for almost the entire season in 2008? ($) Is that new information? Well, regardless, Montario Hardesty says that Crompton is "miles ahead of where he was at this time last year," an assessment that begs for relativity jokes. Hardesty's not the only one, though, as Kiffin said that he played "extremely well" at Saturday's scrimmage. Some Vol fans are understandably skeptical, and as John Adams points out, it's going to take a lot to erase the memories of 2008. Nick Stephens, by the way, is set to re-enter the QB competition next week.
More power please. The offensive line is going all zone all the time this spring, and the players are loving it as evidenced by this quote from Josh McNeil: "You snap the ball and fire off and you go. Whoever you see first, you knock the fire out of him. It just allows you to go 100 percent." I suggest not being in the line of sight at the time of the snap. Aaron Douglas is enjoying his move from tight end to o-tackle, too, maybe because of the "knock the fire" aspect or maybe because he's not running down the field 50 yards every play.
A bit of news on the fullback position in Kiffin's offense. Kevin Cooper says that the fullback is being used more as a running back and as a receiver ($) than just a lead blocker this season.
Big Dan becoming Sorta Big Dan. Dan Williams is shedding pounds to play in Monte's smaller, quicker, faster, better defense.
It's on! Lane Kiffin is hosting a free "Chalk Talk" for fans tonight at the Turkey Creek Texas Roadhouse. Word is he's going to challenge the whiteboard to a duel and ask the staff to draw up plays shirtless.
Put that on the fridge. The final grades are in for this year's recruiting class, and Dave Hooker gives the team a shiny gold star, including an "A+++ " for running backs. Hooker's probably underlined that grade in red and included some happy faces, too, I'm guessing. I would.

Tennessee basketball

Hmm. Pearl got a commitment from JUCO point guard Melvin Goins this weekend, but what has gone sort of unnoticed so far is that in order to add him to the lineup, Pearl's going to have to have a scholarship freed up. So who's on his way out?
Climate control. Pearl is not a big fan of all of the recent coaching changes in the SEC.

Tennessee alums

No comment. Former Vol Arian Foster, who decided not to attend Pro Day in Knoxville a few weeks ago, didn't have the best day in front of NFL scouts last week. He ran a 4.73 and a 4.69 in the 40-yard dash, and those times, along with most of his other results, didn't hit the benchmarks scouts generally look for in running backs.

Looking deeper into the problems with UT's offense.

Hooper — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:00:06 -0000

I didn't get much of a chance to comment on the MSU game last week, thanks to a great-but-fatiguing week-long training seminar and a brutal 48-hour head cold. But even though I basically ran silent for the week, I was [just] able to keep up with the charts I maintain on my computer. That has served well for this week, as I can continue looking at the offense in its seasonal entirety. The MSU game was one of the brighter spots this year. (Remember, it actually gave us a little hope before the Third Fourth Saturday. Gee, hope felt nice. Mmm... hope...) So when I look at the Alabama stats a little more closely here, I'll add in a few comments on the MSU game as well. I'll also throw in a little peek at the unformatted data I use, because it points out something I didn't catch while at the game against Alabama.

But first, let's revisit a graph I put up earlier:

This is the pass play history of UT against Alabama. Since the completion percentage is a function of the number of passes thrown up to that point, it tends to be very erratic early, then stabilizing later on. As you can see, Stephens was settling in at about a 58% completion percentage, which is pretty good for UT this year. (This chart does not include plays where penalties were a factor, and sacks do not alter the completion percentage.) There are two things I'd like to focus on that I didn't mention before.

First, Nick Stephens has completed his first pass in every game he's started. No kidding. Every Stephens chart starts at that 100% mark rather than at the 0% mark. It's only 1 pass in a game, but it's always the right start. (Crompton was 3 of 4 for his first passes; the lone miss was against Auburn, where he missed his first 3.) Now, obviously the coaches script the first play (and likely more), so you would expect the QB to be ready for that pass. But it's a good start nonetheless.

Second, take a look at the chart again. Notice that his percentage dipped to 33% (2 for 6) before working back up toward his final average. The odd thing is, this has been the trend for Stephens in all 3 of his SEC games. And another factor is equally consistent.

UT v. UA reception chart

This little beaut is the unformatted data I was talking about earlier; you can even see the little green triangles where Excel's A.R. is yelling at me and I no longer care enough to change the settings. If you want a closer look, you can use the link to a bitmap version; SBNation won't allow me to make the chart any larger (probably a wise thing). But back to the point; this is the data I use to build that graph above. I even record the intended receivers' names. The ones highlighted in banana yellow are the incompletions. What do you notice about the first 3 incompletions? (Well, the first 4, but don't count the one with the "?"; that was a sack, not an incompletion, but it makes the charts make sense. Unformatted, remember.)

Figured it out?

The incompletions are all Austin Rogers. If you look at the last 3 games, you'll see that the trend is actually that early misses are almost exclusively wide receivers. It's not just Rogers, though he was the guilty party in this game. Against MSU, it was Jones, Rogers and Hardesty (the only non-receiver in this list). Against UGA, it was Taylor, Moore, Jones, Briscoe, then Taylor again. By the time those 10 wide receiver incompletions were tallied, there were only two wide receiver completions. Non-WRs were, on the other hand, 7 for 9 during the early phases of those games.

I don't know the cause of the poor WR numbers early.

They do improve as the games go on. I also do not have copies of the games (e.g. DVR or TiVo), so I can't go back and figure out the cause. But I do know that passes to WRs aren't working in the first drive or two, and it's killing UT's starts.

Hey gang, if you have copies of these 3 games, could you take a peek at the first several pass plays and tell me what happened? I'm really curious.

Ok, looking at the receiving season as a whole:

Oddly enough, everybody is at 50+% for the season except for Jones and Rogers. Rogers was around 50% until the UA game, where his 0-3 start cut his numbers down. The net percentage includes passes where the receiver is unknown in NCAA's stats as well as plays that resulted in sacks. So, out of 229 pass plays (not including positive-yardage scrambles), UT has made 113 completions - just below 50%. The "?" category includes throwaways but not spikes (which aren't counted as passes anymore). The running backs have been the best pass catchers, while the WRs and TEs have settled on lower marks overall. That's not terribly surprising, as many RB passes are dumpoffs and screens (i.e. high-percentage passes).

And yes, Eric Berry is his own category. I suppose he'd technically be a WR, but his lone use was such an anomalous play that I didn't feel right categorizing him. I'm sure he won't mind.

So there you have it. The passing offense is AWOL and the receivers have started cold during the last three games. Add that to a running game that has absolutely disappeared since the beginning of the season, and it's not exactly a recipe for success. Like you needed the reminder.

Tennessee - Georgia: A Brief Look at the Numbers

Hooper — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:00:05 -0000

I'll spoil the ending of the story for you early; the numbers don't make the Georgia game feel much better. It still hurts, and it's not a pretty sight. Still, there are some things to see in the pretty charts and graphs, so here we go.

First up, let's take a look at the basic box score numbers in comparison to the rest of the season. Remember, pink is bad. Prepare for bad.

Quick notes:

Completion Percentage! Aagh! Ok, so UT's passing game was better than their running game against Georgia. When you rush for 1 net yard, that's not exactly hard to do. But the reality is that the 43.3% completion rate is second-worst on the season - barely beating out the UCLA game. More on that in a bit.
QB Rating - Not So Shabby! With such a low completion percentage, this number is pretty decent. The reason for this pleasant surprise is that Stephens has still not thrown an INT. Digest that.
Running Game! Running Game! Wherefore Art Thou, Running Game? The more I look at the numbers, the more I believe the Georgia linemen when they say they read our offense. (That's the difference in film study between the majors and 1-AA, Clawson. Remember that.) You'll see this later on, too.
Wheee! Pass-Whacky! 2:1 Pass-Run Ratio. Not exactly Clawson-esque. Chalk that up to the second-half desperation, where the running game nearly disappeared. You can blame the clock rules for that. Well, that and the multi-score deficit. That didn't help much, either.

Let's dig a little deeper into the offense now:

Three sacks, no INTs, no hurries*, again. The (*) is on account of the data source; NCAA.com has still not updated the game data, so I don't have the hurry data for this one. However, the three sacks all came early in the game, suggesting to me that Stephens quickly learned to get rid of the ball. But hey, no INTS is still good. Even when Stephens forced the ball, his velocity made it hard to intercept. A bonus for us.
Wide receivers must love this guy. Stephens is more WR-dependent than Crompton was. I think it's largely due to his love of the deep ball. That's fine, so long as the protection holds. Once Stephens discovers the tight ends in the middle of the field, however, the passing game will likely take off.
Go long, baby! Even with only 13 completions, this was the second-best weekend in terms of overall passing yardage. The kid's got a 300-yard game in him. I just know it.

The RBs don't get many throws from Stephens, but perhaps they should. I don't know this for sure, but I think Clawson is keeping the RBs in for protection. If Stephens is getting the ball out quicker, Clawson should consider throwing to the RBs more. They can catch, even if it's not for long gains.
The WRs don't catch enough. All of them hover near 50%, which is partly a function of Crompton's "horseshoes-and-handgrenades" approach to passing. But this weekend didn't help much. Some quick completion rates:
- Gerald Jones: 4 / 6
- Lucas Taylor: 4 / 8
- Denarius Moore: 1 / 5 (!!!)
- Josh Briscoe: 0 / 1
- Austin Rogers: 0 / 1
50% on the year won't work. This counts sacks, but that's still a lost pass and it's still too low.

And now for the through-game passing trend:

This neatly divides into 3 acts of 10 pass attempts each:

Act I: Hey! These Guys Are Fast! In the first 10 attempts, Nick Stephens learns that the UGA pass rush is faster than the UNI pass rush. Fortunately, the lesson is learned and no more sacks occur.
Act II: Yeah, I Can Throw Against UGA! Despite zero rushing attack, Stephens manages a respectable slightly-above-50% rate throughout the next 10 passes with no consecutive incompletions.
Act III: Ummm..Not So Easy When It's Pass-Whacky! Once UT was in desperation mode, UGA settled back into a full pass defense. From here onward, completions became rather scarce (as did UT's hopes).
Curtain Call: No INTS! So woo! for that.

If you want to compare the UGA game to others, here is the link. There's not a whole lot to say, so I didn't reproduce the old graphs here.

Now for the charts!

I'll tackle these from the top down (FYI, the red line indicates a QB change):

UT continues to hemorrhage offensive plays. Seriously, how far can the bleeding continue? Between the tipped-off running game of no account and the 3rd-down-ole defense, UT's offense was practically absent.
Trend Broken! We now no longer show a trend of decreasing pass calls - a trend that initially had us throwing zero passes against Alabama. Sure, it was desperation, but at least we seem to have found a lower bound on the pass-run ratio.
Again, not a shabby QB Rating. Keep in mind that in the NCAAs, a 120 QB rating is not exactly All-American. But it's better than the abyss we found ourselves in before. Considering that this was Nick's second start (and that against UGA), this is quite acceptable.
We need to average at least 5.5 yards per play to be competitive. That disappearing act of a running game held the average down, obviously. But if the offense can ever get both the pass game and the run game within the realm of functional, most of the offensive woes will vanish. 5.5 ypp (yards per play) isn't a whole lot, especially if the passing game can stay above 7 ypp.
What a wild, erratic offense. The last chart in particular is an exercise in randomness. Stay tuned for more on that.

The worst for last!

Wanna see something freaky? Watch what happens when you take out the best rush that UT had on Saturday:

Normally, this trick gives a better feel of the average rush by eliminating a strong influential rush that's exceedingly long. Even though UT's longest rush was 7 yards (woo for Hardesty), removing it drops UT's rush average to negative yardage. I never thought I'd see the day when removing a sack would be more appropriate than removing a rush.

FIN