UT exposed the weaknesses that this team has. I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but some of these issues won’t be fixed by anything except recruiting. There were some improvements this game (despite the score) but also reiterated a need to upgrade talent level at nearly all positions.
QB - I thought Doty moved around and used his pass protection the best he has this season. With that being said, he still struggled at times putting the ball where it needed to be, despite stepping up and following through on his throws. Was good to see him scramble more when he had open space to run.
RB - I was critical of our RBs last week, but I thought they did a nice job this week. They hit the hole hard (most of the time) and made a defender miss - or ran through the defender for a few more yards. I don’t expect our RBs to make someone miss coming from the backside that they can’t see. I do, however, expect our RBs to make someone miss - or break a tackle - in a one on one situation of a defender that they can see. For the most part, that happened against UT.
WR/TE - This group blocked well for the most part, but did miss on a few that could have helped get more yards. Can’t expect them to catch poorly thrown balls, but we also don’t have many guys in this group (not named Vann or Bell) that have shown the ability to make big plays after the catch.
OL - We did a lot more pulling this game than any other game this year. I think that’s partially why our RBs had a better day. Zone run blocking was still hit or miss - with too many misses than hits, especially in 1st quarter. On a bright note, I saw what looked like much more communication throughout the Oline this game than I’d seen before. Pass protection was decent and penalties were down. I also thought Vincent Murphy did a nice job at LG and Tyshon Wannamaker got some good reps at RT in the 2nd half. OL play is so important and I’m afraid coaching is only going to take us so far with this group, this year.
Defense - No forced turnovers and way too many missed tackles from every level today. We missed tackles all over the field due to either being out of position, taking poor angles, or bad form. UT’s offense really put a lot of pressure on our LBs and S. More on that below.
DB - I can’t always see what’s going on in the backend. But I do know if you don’t get your hands on, or bump someone that crosses your face, chances are you’re already beat. Just because we might be playing zone, it doesn’t mean drop all form of physicality and let players run free. UT attacked our nickel position and had a lot of success there in 1st half.
LB - Some of the same issues this week as the past few weeks. Staley again allowed another big TD run. We are still getting caught up in the wash too much and misreading something. UT put Johnson in some really tough spots this game. Kaba has to play more. Period. As I’ve mentioned before, Brad Johnson has been a nice surprise and continues to improve each game, but Kaba has some explosiveness that Staley and Johnson just don’t have.
DL - UT’s offense really exposed our weakness of outside contain. When UT pulls that G or TE to kick our DE out, the DE has to squeeze down and allow the LB to fill the gap to stuff that play. It’s a lot to ask the DE to keep outside contain and squeeze at same time. When that happens, the S or CB has to fill in for contain. If the S dives inside to help fill the gap where the LB should be and the CB gets kicked by the WR, that leaves a massive opening in our D. UT really hurt us with that. (I can’t do the cool GIFs that Chris and Wes do) but if you go back and watch UTs 3rd TD at about 1 minute left in 1st quarter, you’ll see what I mean.
I was just as confused as anyone else on the trick play that ended up being an INT at the goal line. If that was a QB throwing the ball on that play, he probably eats it and lives to play the next play. But when it’s a non-QB, 99% of kids are going to attempt that pass no matter how covered it is. It’s his time to shine and he’s going to take it. I wouldn’t have been a fan of the play call even if it had worked, but it probably wasn’t the best time to call it as we desperately needed points out of that drive.
Had we played UT earlier in the year, we would have stood a better chance to beat them, but now that they’ve found a QB that can get their playmakers the ball, it’s vaulted them a few notches. Their defense isn’t top notch by any stretch (although still solid), but that offense is going to keep them in a lot of games.
Special Teams is something that we’ll continue to be able to count on. Defense isn’t as bad as it showed today - tough matchup for us - and offense is slowly improving in areas. Obviously, this game was tough to watch at times and hurts bowl eligibility, but we’ll see if this team’s fight and determination will steal us a win somewhere else down the road.
