SB Nation User Blog: Joel

Around the SB Nation: Malzahn salivates at the prospect of facing Martinez

Joel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:40:54 -0000

by Dave Martin - AP

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Football

Georgia's nightmare scenario: Gus Malzahn against Willie Martinez.
EDSBS, on Nick Saban on SEC officials.
Tomahawk Nation gives Bobby Bowden's post-game press conference a good and proper Fisking.
Wisconsin blog Bucky's 5th Quarter demonstrates how a college football playoff bracket could work this season.
The Rivalry, Esq. is not exactly thrilled about the upcoming release of The Blind Side.
Team Speed Kills notes a shift in the balance of power in the SEC West.
Building The Dam explains that Oregon State actually has a path to the Pac 10 title and a Rose Bowl berth.
Rakes of Mallow says that with 9-3 still a possibility, Charlie Weis isn't done at Notre Dame yet.
Despite the uncertainty of his future, Dan Hawkins received a commitment from an outstanding QB prospect with an outstanding name, Munchie Legaux. [Ralphie Report]
It's that time of the week at OBNUG: anagram the opposing roster. The Idaho Vandals, featuring Vapid Stoners and Scenic Library.

Basketball

Arkansas Expats reacts to the announcement of the suspensions of Razorbacks basketballers.
Michigan State blog The Only Colors provides a primer on tempo-free basketball statistics.
A terrific Pac 10 hoops preview from UW Dawg Pound.
MWC Connection has a comprehensive hoops preview of the Mountain West.
SFBE notes that Arkansas has suspended five players, including Courtney Fortson and Stefan Welsh.

Happy Veterans Day

Joel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:03 -0000

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Happy Veterans Day to everyone out there and a heartfelt gratitude to all of our community members (and front-pagers!) who have served or are serving in the armed forces.

A member of the community at SB Nation Miami Dolphins blog the Phinsider who also happens to be stationed at Ft. Hood penned a FanPost earlier this week just after the tragic events down in Texas. I suggest you go read it.

And again, thanks to all the men and women in our armed forces.

Tennessee Volunteers at Ole Miss Rebels: game preview

Joel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:17:58 -0000

A weekly look at our upcoming opponent's recent history, with animated drive charts and links to SB Nation game pages.

This is a long post full of moving pictures and stats, so I'm putting the conclusions and predictions both at the beginning and at the end.

Conclusions

Against common opponents, Tennessee has fared better than Ole Miss. We beat Memphis worse and played Alabama and Auburn better. The Rebels' best victory this season came against Arkansas. We got ours against South Carolina, a team to which Ole Miss lost.
Much like Tennessee (discounting the recent trend), Ole Miss is middle-of-the-pack on offense but very good on defense. They're especially good at pressuring the QB and stopping plays before they can get across the line of scrimmage.
The keys to the game for Tennessee will be winning the line of scrimmage on offense and balancing the defense to stop McCluster's big-play ability and Snead's potential as a good passer.

Predictions

Tennessee 13, Ole Miss 12

Schedule and Animated Drive Charts


@ Memphis Tigers	9/6/09	win 45 - 14
SE Louisiana Lions	9/19/09	win 52 - 6
@ South Carolina Gamecocks	9/24/09	loss 10 - 16
@ Vanderbilt Commodores	10/3/09	win 23 - 7
Alabama Crimson Tide	10/10/09	loss 3 - 22
UAB Blazers	10/17/09	win 48 - 13
Arkansas Razorbacks	10/24/09	win 30 - 17
@ Auburn Tigers	10/31/09	loss 20 - 33
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	11/7/09	win 38 - 14

Rather than post all of the Rebels' drive charts, I decided to compare those of Ole Miss and Tennessee against common opponents. Up first is Memphis. Both games were blowouts, but ours was front-loaded (which is better, right?) and more blowout-y:

FULL SCREEN VERSION

They lost to South Carolina, and we dominated, although we were pretty fortunate with the turnovers:

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Both teams played fairly well in losses to Alabama and mostly kept the Tide out of the end zone (although the Rebels' let 'em have one). Ole Miss, though, threw four interceptions to our one, and the Tide pulled away from the Rebs at the end but the Vols pulled closer:

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Both teams lost to Auburn, but we both held the Tigers to fewer points and scored more:

FULL SCREEN VERSION

National Unit Rankings

Now on to the national rankings.

OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Category	National Rank	Actual	National Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Southeastern Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	40	172.44	Nevada	319.13	6	Florida	240.67
Passing Offense	57	223.56	Houston	433.67	4	Arkansas	299.44
Total Offense	51	396.00	Houston	577.89	6	Auburn	450.30
Scoring Offense	38	29.89	Houston	42.11	6	Arkansas	35.56
Passing Efficiency	72	126.00	Cincinnati	171.84	9	Florida	159.46
Sacks Allowed	T-34	1.33	La.-Lafayette	.44	5	Alabama	1.00

Offensive observations. Smack dab in the middle of the pack in the SEC and slightly above average nationally in every offensive category except passing efficiency, where they're in the bottom quarter.

DEFENSIVE RANKINGS
Category	National Rank	Actual	National Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Southeastern Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Defense	58	136.44	Texas	55.33	7	Alabama	68.22
Pass Efficiency Defense	14	100.02	Florida	85.86	3	Florida	85.86
Total Defense	25	317.22	Texas	230.78	6	Florida	232.44
Scoring Defense	12	15.78	Florida	10.11	4	Florida	10.11
Pass Defense	23	180.78	Air Force	127.20	7	Florida	134.44
Sacks	16	2.78	Pittsburgh	4.33	2	Alabama	2.89
Tackles For Loss	26	7.00	Cincinnati	8.89	2	Alabama	7.33

Defensive observations. Sort of all over the board here. Extremely good at disrupting the opponent's backfield and pass effficiency defense, good at keeping points off the board, and average (in the SEC, anyway) in rush, pass, and total defense. Their primary vulnerability appears to be against the run.

SPECIAL TEAMS AND TURNOVERS RANKINGS
Category	National Rank	Actual	National Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Southeastern Conference Leader	Actual
Net Punting	62	35.74	Georgia	43.95	5	Georgia	43.95
Punt Returns	58	9.37	Arizona	19.00	6	LSU	17.32
Kickoff Returns	16	24.97	Stanford	32.06	3	Florida	26.48
Turnover Margin	102	-.78	Rutgers	2.25	11	Arkansas	1.00

Special teams and turnovers observations. Bell curve here. Really good at kickoff returns (uh-oh), okay at punting and returning punts, and really bad in turnover margin.

Stastical Comparison

Here's how the two teams stack up against each other in each of the key statistical categories in Hooper's wizbang BlogPoll Computerer:

Rank	Team	WL	SOS	PED	RD	3DO	TD	PEO	OPPG	TO	3DD
27		51	32	16	39	70	16	35	26	47	16
33		31	59	14	58	66	25	72	12	51	2

Against a much more difficult schedule, the Vols are roughly evenly matched against Ole Miss. Where they're ranked higher than Tennessee, though, it's fairly close, but where Tennessee is ranked higher, the difference is generally more pronounced.

Players to watch for

Category	Player	National Rank	Actual
Rushing	Brandon Bolden	95	58.11
	Dexter McCluster		52.56
Passing Efficiency (Min. 15 Att./Game)	Jevan Snead	73	123.84
Total Offense	Jevan Snead	58	216.56
	Brandon Bolden		58.11
	Dexter McCluster		52.56
Receptions Per Game	Shay Hodge	T-55	5.00
	Dexter McCluster		3.00
Receiving Yards Per Game	Shay Hodge	31	81.44
	Dexter McCluster		39.11
Interceptions
Punting (Min. 3.6 Punts/Game)	Tyler Campbell	18	43.80
Punt Returns (Min. 1.2 Ret./Game)	Marshay Green	36	8.82
Kickoff Returns (Min. 1.2 Ret./Game)	Jesse Grandy	11	30.06
Field Goals	Joshua Shene	T-65	1.00
Scoring	Joshua Shene		6.33
	Shay Hodge		4.00
All-Purpose Runners	Brandon Bolden		97.00
	Dexter McCluster		94.78
	Shay Hodge		81.44
	Jesse Grandy		74.25
Sacks	Greg Hardy	T-51	.62
	Kentrell Lockett		.44
	Patrick Trahan		.44
Tackles	Kendrick Lewis		6.33
	Johnny Brown		6.22
Tackles For Loss	Jerrell Powe	T-77	1.00
	Greg Hardy		.81
	Kentrell Lockett		.67
	Patrick Trahan		.67

Observations

Running backs. Dexter McCluster is not ranked nationally in any statistical category, but he's everywhere doing everything. Apart from McCluster, it appears that they have a bunch of good runners, but no spectacular ones. Brandon Bolden is the most productive of the bunch.

Quarterbacks. For as much preseason hype as he got, Jevan Snead's numbers this season haven't been anything special. He's solid, and he can go off at any time, but he can also completely tank at any given time.

Receivers/Tight Ends. Shay Hodge is the team's go-to receiver with 5 catches and 81.44 yards per game. Oh, look. Next is McCluster.

Defense. Look at all of those guys making noise in the backfield. Led by Greg Hardy and Jerrell Powe, they're quite good at pressuring the quarterback and stopping running plays before they get to the line of scrimmage. Hardy's getting .62 sacks and .81 TFLs per game. Powe's getting a sack per game. Kentrell Lockett and Patrick Trahan round out the aggressive group.

Special teams. Jesse Grandy is a dangerous kickoff returner, averaging over 30 yards per return. He's returned two for touchdowns this season, one against UAB and one against Auburn.

Head to Head Comparisons

			Best Comparable	Result Against Best Comparable	Prediction
UT rush v. Ole Miss rush defense	168.22 (#46)	136.44 (#58)	South Carolina (145.60)	199	190
UT pass v. Ole Miss pass defense	232.22 (#45)	180.78 (#23)	Alabama (174)	265	240
Ole Miss rush v. UT rush defense	119 (#39)	172.44 (#40)	WKU (175)	34	100
Ole Miss pass v. UT pass defense	176.11 (#20)	223.56 (#57)	UCLA (222.44)	101	120
UT scoring offense v. Ole Miss scoring defense	32.11 (#23)	15.78 (#12)	Alabama (11.78)	10	13
Ole Miss scoring offense v. UT scoring defense	18.89 (#26)	29.89 (#38)	Alabama (30.89)	12	12

Again, not math, but informed guess. I doubt we'll have as much success against their running game as we did against WKU's, what with ladies man McCluster back there running all over the place and us working on our third starting middle linebacker of the season. I also took trends into account in bumping up the prediction for Tennessee's points. 13 may actually be conservative with how this team has shown it can move the ball in the last few games. But the most concerning thing about the above chart is that Alabama pops up as the best comparable in half the categories.

Prediction? More yards for Tennessee, but a close, relatively low-scoring game. Like the 'Bama game but without Terrence Cody?

Conclusions

Against common opponents, Tennessee has fared better than Ole Miss. We beat Memphis worse and played Alabama and Auburn better. The Rebels' best victory this season came against Arkansas. We got ours against South Carolina, a team to which Ole Miss lost.
Much like Tennessee (discounting the recent trend), Ole Miss is middle-of-the-pack on offense but very good on defense. They're especially good at pressuring the QB and stopping plays before they can get across the line of scrimmage.
The keys to the game for Tennessee will be winning the line of scrimmage on offense and balancing the defense to stop McCluster's big-play ability and Snead's potential as a good passer.

Predictions

Tennessee 13, Ole Miss 12

Around the SB Nation: Hokies' uniforms worst ever?

Joel — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:09:20 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

It's okay, No. 5. It's only one game.

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Gobbler Country, on the Nike Pro Combat Uniforms Virginia Tech will wear against Maryland: "I get the feeling VT and Florida State are getting the jerseys Oregon said 'no' to."
Continuing emotional fallout from Iowa's loss to Northwestern: The Rivalry, Esq.'s resident Iowa author says that it wasn't so much that the winning streak ended, it was that it wasn't supposed to end like this. And Black Heart Gold Pants notes that the team just couldn't overcome the loss of injured QB Rick Stanzi.
Spencer Hall posts his weekly College Football Alphabetical. Don't miss "H" and "S."
The Word of the Day for Michigan football: Gack. But there's a bright side:

Still. Saturday could've been worse. A year ago I sat through a miserable downpour in 28 degree weather to watch Michigan lose to a Northwestern team they probably could've beaten. But Saturday wasn't like that.

Saturday was sunny.
Black Shoe Diaries bids adieu to casual Penn State fans until next season.
Team Speeds Kills, on the lessons learned from the weekend.
Basketball season kicks off, and North Carolina is out of the gate with an 88-72 win over Florida International.

Talking Points: What of Charlie Weis's QB commits?

Joel — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:04:02 -0000

More photos » by Joe Raymond - AP

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Football

Worried about a QB for next year? Don't forget about Nick Stephens, and don't miss Hooper's posting of the Tyler Bray video, but also note this: Notre Dame has not one, but two QB commits: Andrew Hendrix and Tommy Rees. Weis's biscuits are burning, and if he's gone after this season, what happens to those guys? I mean besides having Ed Orgeron camped in their front yards, because that's a given.
My prediction? Pain. (/Mr. T voice) I had no idea that Chris Walker's back pain was at times so severe he had trouble getting out of bed. Really hoping they get that under control.
Michael Silence rounds up the first salvos advocating for Lane Kiffin, Coach of the Year.
Tennessee's game against Vandy is set for 7:00 p.m., and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
3SiB on Jonathan Crompton:

I’m sorry for selling you short, Jonathan. You’ve certainly earned your orange jersey and that T on your helmet in my mind. How far you’ve come in a little more than a month is a testament to your work ethic, perseverance and self-confidence. Anybody who has overcome ridicule, benching, hatred and death threats to become what you have is a strong person and one that I’m happy is on my team. Now, let’s go out there and finish your career in style.

Just our luck. The predominant pre-season meme for the Ole Miss Rebels was that although Houston Nutt's teams can play the respect card like no one else, they couldn't handle high expectations. Well, those expectations are gone now, and their holding a flush of respect cards. Sigh.

Basketball

Expectations are tricky things. Bruce Pearl's team will likely start four seniors and returns its top seven scorers from last year's 21-win team and added, among others, the aforementioned Mr. McBee, who may provide the consistent outside scoring threat last year's team lacked. This could be a fun season. Or a disappointing one. Expectations are like that.
Walk-on U? First the football team has Nick Reveiz and the Sullins twins. Now, the basketball team has Skylar McBee, who's been so impressive early that his presence has moved Cameron Tatum from shooting guard to small forward and who is even, according to Bruce Pearl, pushing McDonald's All-American Scotty Hopson for the first-team job at shooting guard.By the way, Renaldo Woolridge has been, for the time being, squeezed out of the 10-man rotation, thanks in part to McBee and fellow freshman Kenny Hall.

RTT Podcast tonight at 9:00 EST

Joel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:56:35 -0000

Tune in tonight at 9:00 EST for the weekly Rocky Top Talk Podcast. The folks from SB Nation Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion will be joining us to talk about this week's game in Oxford.

And you know, this doesn't have to be just a passive experience for y'all. We have a call in number and everything. So please, call in and let us know what you're thinking about.

The number to call is (724) 444-7444. When you call in, you'll be prompted for a call ID. Enter 61505. You'll then be asked for a PIN, and if you've signed up for a TalkShoe account, you can enter that, but you don't have to. You can also call in anonymously by pressing some number I forget. They'll tell you. They're good that way.

And for those of you who prefer bullets:

Phone number: 724-444-7444
Call ID: 61505

We'll try to give callers priority. Talk to y'all then.

Submit your questions for tonight's RTT Podcast

Joel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:45:09 -0000

As suggested last week, we're reminding everyone about the weekly Rocky Top Talk Podcast tonight at 9:00. We'll be talking with the folks at SB Nation Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion.

If you have a comment or a question you'd like us to address, there are three ways you can do it:

Call in live between 9:00 and 9:30 EST. Phone Number: (724) 444-7444; Call ID: 61505.
Use our cool call-in widget by clicking on the Call Me button and leaving a message:

CALL NOW, LISTEN LATER!

Got something to say about the Tennessee Volunteers? Click the graphic above to make a comment or to ask a question, and we'll try to work it into our next RTT podcast!
The old-fashioned way, by leaving your comment or question in the comment thread below.

Most Steals in a Game - Tennessee Volunteers College Basketball

Joel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:37:37 -0000

Most Steals in a Game - Tennessee Volunteers College Basketball

Around the SB Nation: Iowa finally falls, Northwestern ecstatic

Joel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:09:12 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

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The Iowa Hawkeyes' first loss of the season has Black Heart Gold Pants taking a serious look at offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe. Northwestern blog Sippin on Purple, though, is just celebrating a historic win: "It's not every year you even get to play a top five ranked team, let alone beat one. I mean, at NU, it's not every half-century you beat a top five ranked team."
Buckeyes blog We Will Always Have Tempe is wondering whether Ohio State can trade stadiums with Penn State, and Black Shoe Diaries is lamenting Joe Paterno's conservative play-calling in the loss to the Buckeyes: "Please don't tell me you were hoping the special teams were going to bail you out sooner or later. You can't return fair catches for touchdowns, you know."
Roll Bama Roll has some initial impressions on the Crimson Tide's SEC-West-sealing victory over the LSU Tigers. And the Valley Shook, by the way, says that the game was not decided by the blown interception call that went against the Tigers in the fourth quarter.
Tomahawk Nation reports that Florida State Seminole QB Christian Ponder is finished for the season.

PAC 10

* ATQ says Stanford whipped Oregon by taking a play out of Chip Kelly's playbook.

* After Saturday's win over UW, Bruins Nation says UCLA is now officially Kevin Prince's team. On the other side, UW Dawg Pound questions Steve Sarkisian's playcalling and clock management.

* Building the Dam is impressed Jeff Tedford blamed the Cal loss on he and his staff being outcoached.

* Meanwhile, California Golden Blogs is much more concerned about Jahvid Best, concussions, and the future of football.

* Coug Center finds a reason to smile about WSU football: QB recruit Connor Halliday.

BIG 12

* The Big 12 North race is complicated. Bring on the Cats helps sort it all out.

* Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley set all sorts of records in Texas' 35-3 win over Central Florida.

* It's a straight-A report card for the Nebraska defense after the Huskers' 10-3 win over Oklahoma.

* C&CM is very concerned that Oklahoma could go into a tailspin, looking like they "couldn't care less."

* Rock M Nation is disgusted by fans hosing Blaine Gabbert on Twitter; as players race to defend their quarterback, RMN jumps in with a solidarity campaign.

BIG EAST

* The Smoking Musket asks which was worse on Saturday -- West Virginia's fans or its quarterback?

NON-BCS

* BCS Evolution has a complete breakdown of this week's standings and all the stakes heading forward.

* Huge, huge game in the Mountain West this week as TCU takes on Utah. Block U has the big preview. MWC Connection notes that ESPN's Gameday show will be headed to Fort Worth.

* HOOPS Blogging the Bracket continues its amazing conference previewing: the ACC, the Northeast Conference, the Mountain West, the A-10, and Conference USA.

Ed Orgeron returns to Oxford, gives all of us the silent treatment

Joel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:06:38 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

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Ed Orgeron will not be speaking with the media in advance of the matchup against his former employer this week. The Rebels, though, are talking, and if the Vols can find motivation in Tommy West's stupid joke about a talking dog, they might be able to do something with this:

[Some unidentified dude referred to only as "Hodge:"] The first one against Tennessee is kind of personal. Coach O never did anything to me, but the way I saw him treat some people, I know some guys are going to come out with a real fire in their belly and get after (UT) pretty bad."

Defensive end Kentrell Lockett added: "Great guy, but he just wasn't that head coach. He was a great D-line coach but he wasn't that head coach. I haven't talked to him (since Orgeron was fired). I might get a chance to talk to him after the game Saturday - might not, but life goes on, you know."

John Adams may have neglected to fully identify the source of that first quote, but he closed strong: "My guess is the Vols won't find talking Rebels any funnier than a talking dog."

All is well with Nu'Keese Richardson, who said that the weight of his homesickness and introverted personality was what was causing his issues last week. Credit Richardson's roommate Marsalis Teague for helping him through the situation, encouraging him to listen only to the advice of those closest to him -- his aunts and his high school coaches (!) -- who told him to tough it out. According to Kiffin, Richardson had one of his best weeks of practice, and against Memphis, he caught three passes for 54 yards and got his first touchdown. More importantly, he was laughing, joking, and at ease with his role.

And now it's running back Tauren Poole's turn, apparently. Poole was not demonstrably not happy with playing only on special teams against the Tigers, and Kiffin sent him to the locker room with time left on the clock (duplicate link). I'm guessing it was the confirmation that he was behind both Bryce Brown and David Oku in the pecking order. "I don't expect kids to agree with our decisions on playing time," Kiffin said. "I expect them to think that they're the best guy at their position. But they need to respect those decisions and not let their feeling show, and just keep practicing hard and playing hard when they get an opportunity." Kiffin met with Poole yesterday, and, not having had any problems with Poole in the past, Kiffin said he'll be available to play this weekend.

Not only is Jonathan Crompton ranked 1st in the SEC and 4th nationally in touchdowns thrown, he's done it on fewer attempts. Nationally, Crompton's behind only Houston's Case Keenum, Boise State's Kellen Moore, and N.C. State's Russell Wilson. But Crompton's done it on 264 attempts, and Keenum, Moore, and Wilson have 458, 268, and 293 respectively.

Huh. Despite both being charter members of the SEC, Tennessee has only played Ole Miss at Oxford three times.

SB Nation User Blog: Joel

Around the SB Nation: Malzahn salivates at the prospect of facing Martinez

Football

Basketball

Happy Veterans Day

Tennessee Volunteers at Ole Miss Rebels: game preview

Conclusions

Predictions

Schedule and Animated Drive Charts

National Unit Rankings

Stastical Comparison

Players to watch for

Observations

Head to Head Comparisons

Conclusions

Predictions

Around the SB Nation: Hokies' uniforms worst ever?

Talking Points: What of Charlie Weis's QB commits?

Football

Basketball

RTT Podcast tonight at 9:00 EST

Submit your questions for tonight's RTT Podcast

CALL NOW, LISTEN LATER!

Most Steals in a Game - Tennessee Volunteers College Basketball

Most Steals in a Game - Tennessee Volunteers College Basketball

Around the SB Nation: Iowa finally falls, Northwestern ecstatic

Ed Orgeron returns to Oxford, gives all of us the silent treatment