MONDAY ON MY MIND
POST SYCAMORE THOUGHTS: Not sure what kind of result would have made me come out of the Indiana State game feeling better -or worse- about the Vols going forward. That’s what usually comes from playing a team that has zero chance of beating you. You watch and try to enjoy but little can be drawn from the outcome. About the only thing you can say about a glorified Orange and White Game played on your regular season schedule is that the Sycamores couldn’t have shown up at a better time than 5-days after a physically and emotionally draining game Here are what few thoughts I have looking back to Saturday:
-After the explosive start provided by Ty Chandler’s opening kickoff return for a TD the Vols slept walked through most of the remainder of the game as you would expect against a team that has zero chance to beat you, on only five days’ rest
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-I expected Jarrett Guarantano to get more series. I understand Quinten Dormady needed the reps as well but all the same….
-Thought both QBs struggled. Once again however -Marquez Callaway excluded- our WRs need to do a better job of catching 50-50 balls and judging balls in flight. Our receiving corps too often resembles the Phillies outfield.
-Not sure why we saw so little of Chandler on offense. I was hopeful we would get him more reps with Florida dead-ahead
-I thought we might see the Vols be a little more physically-dominant. I will grade on the curve due to the short recovery week.
-To expound on my opening comment concerning the difficulty of ever looking impressive enough against outmanned opponents the Sycamores had a paltry -these days- 215 yards of total offense and were 0-11 on third down and I still thought we didn’t look dominant defensively.
-The Sycamores had seventy-five different shifts and appeared to run about 5 plays out of them.
-They ran more jet sweeps than the Claxton Grasscutters.
-The two turnovers were disappointing with Trey Smith getting beat for a strip sack of Dormady and the interception Quinten threw in the red zone.
-Marquez Callaway once again provided a highlight reel play on his only catch of the day.
WHAT WE LEARNED IN WEEK TWO:
SEC TAKES A STEP BACK: With the exception of Georgia’s win at Notre Dame the SEC was unimpressive in its Week 2 headliner games. Auburn battled but Jarrett Stidham was battered by Clemson’s defense and certainly didn’t appear to be the salvation at the QB position (13-24 for 79 yds and 0 TDs) he was reputed to be. Arkansas was bludgeoned at home 28-7 by TCU and outgained 359-257. Throw in unimpressive showing by Kentucky and Ole Miss against the OVC’s Eastern Kentucky and UT-Martin and the league’s performance was certainly less than stellar.
DAWGS MAY BE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: As mentioned above Georgia was able to go to South Bend and appears -snapshot in time- to have garnered a signature victory in Kirby Smart’s early tenure. Notre Dame -as they did last season- may prove to be a fading entity but an early season victory in the shadows of the golden dome and Touchdown Jesus is still an impressive accomplishment.
OK-LA-HO-MA: Speaking of big wins the Sooner Schooner rolled in, around and over Urban Meyer’s #2 ranked Buckeyes spoiling THE Ohio State’s home opener for second time in the last four seasons (Virginia Tech in 2014). Oklahoma outscored the Bucks 28-13 in the 2nd half and put 477 yards total offense on their alleged vaunted defense. Not sure what occurred last year in Norman -other than a three TD beating- that would push Baker Mayfield to the point of planting an OU flag in the center of the Horseshoe but that was some pure rasslin activity. It’s probably best that was the last of a home-and-home series. I’m guessing the Buckeyes won’t forget that demonstrative celebration for years to come.
ROLE REVERSAL: For a number of years David Shaw’s Stanford Cardinal have been the bullies on the PAC-12 block. They didn’t always win but they would run over you rather than around you and pound you rather than astound you. Looks like Clay Helton and the proud USC Trojans have had enough of that. After losing the last two games in the series by double-digits the Trojans not only put on their usual display of impressive athleticism but also showed their brutal side as well. The Men of Troy not only outrushed Big-10 wannabe Stanford 307-171 but put 313 more on them through the air. Let me say once again I’m sorry for ever saying
“who the hell is Clay Helton and how is he the head coach at USC?”
VOLS-FLORIDA WITH FEW OPTIONS: With Florida State and Miami already pushing their game scheduled for Saturday in Tallahassee back until October 7th it seems highly unlikely the Vols and Florida can play in Gainesville as scheduled. Glancing at both teams schedule it seems the only option is a change of venue to either Knoxville or a neutral site. Playing in Neyland would be less than ideal for either with the Gators losing another home gate and the Vols forced to play both the 2018 and 19 games at The Swamp. We saw last season that the SEC is unwilling to push back the SEC Championship Game and the Vols and Gators don’t have a common open date as the Seminoles and Hurricanes were fortunate to share. Opportunities to buy out non-conference opponents appear nonexistent as well. When the Vols face U-Mass and Southern Miss the Gators are schedule to face conference opponents Kentucky and Missouri. The Gators have UAB coming to Gainesville on November 18th but that is the day LSU invades Neyland. Maybe there is an option that I haven’t considered but it is not clear what that could be.
FINAL MONDAY MUSING: The blessings of living in East Tennessee should never be taken for granted.
