'Our Volunteers moved to 2-0 on the young season with a 45-24 thrashing of Virginia Tech in front of an all-time record crowd of 156,990 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It took 5 quarters of football for this team to wake up, but once we did, we fired off 45 points before you could blink. Sure, Va.Tech helped us out turning the ball over, but as the old saying goes, we made our breaks.


Not everything is peaches and cream, but I really see nothing that can't be fixed, if these coaches are willing to fix it. The offensive line is a work in progress and may continue to be a work in progress until Chance Hall returns. I think right now all you can do is shuffle it around some and hope for the best. Jack Jones looks like he should start to me. He plays mean and nasty and that's 80% of being an offensive lineman. I don't see anyone better suited to start at RG other than Jack. Dylan Wiesman looks like he should be starting at center over Coleman Thomas. Thomas for whatever reason looks like his game has gone south on him. He looks as clueless right now as he looked a couple of years ago when he started at RT against Oklahoma.


What's so puzzling to me about Thomas, is how good he looked at center down the stretch last year. I really think this line will come together and hopefully that happens sooner than later. I'm hearing there's a decent chance that Chance Hall could return for the Florida game. That could be just what the doctor ordered to solidify the line. You put Hall back at RT and you move Kendrick to LT and bada bing, everything falls into place. Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part, but I could see that being the case. Losing Chance Hall has been a tremendous blow to our offensive line, especially when you consider that Drew Richmond wasn't ready to start at LT. You have to think had Hall not got injured, that he goes at RT and Kendrick goes at left.


Drew Richmond will be fine in due time, but there's a big learning curve for a freshman on the offensive line. I don't think it's fair to look at this kid like he's a bust by any stretch of the imagination. He's just going to need time and reps to get it down. When the light does come on, I think Drew will be a fine tackle for us. I'm not going to throw this kid under the bus.


Hell, if I throw anyone under the bus it's going to be Don Mahoney. I don't think he's a top notch OL Coach. If he was so damn great, why did Mike DeBord come in here last year and practically take over coaching that position? I think Coach Jones made a huge blunder when he didn't retain the services of Sam Pittman when he took this job, but that's spilled milk at this point.


I'm not a big fan of all this zone blocking to begin with. I'm old school, take the guy in front of you and knock him back on his ass. I think a lot of times these coaches in these new age offenses try to re-invent the wheel, when they don't have to.


You will never make me understand why you can't merge the old with the new. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out in short yardage situations or goal line situations that you're better off putting a fullback in there with your QB under center. I was happy to see they used a H-Back in there a few times vs. Vatic. I hope this is a trend that continues.


Now let’s talk about Mike DeBord. I don't think this guy is the best I've ever seen at calling plays, but he's certainly not the worst. The biggest problem I see with Debo is that he sometimes gets lost when it comes to making adjustments and finding his playmakers. He especially seems to forget Alvin Kamara in particular. We heard after the Appalachian State game the coaches acknowledge that Alvin needs to get the ball more. What does Debo do? He gets the ball to Alvin less in the Virginia Tech game. He has the same problem when it comes to finding our WR's. Josh Malone is a TD waiting to happen. The problem is, he can't score if we don't get him the ball. Same goes for Preston Williams and Jennings.


Going forward it's a must we throw the ball to these guys more. Everyone who lines up against us is going to load up the box to stop the run, leaving these WR's in man coverage. Hello, wake up Debo! These are big physical guys who are going to come down with the ball and make plays more times than not.


It sure would be nice to see us get these kinks ironed out this week against Ohio before Florida comes to town. Speaking of Ohio, the Vols opened a 27.5 favorite over the Bobcats. I expect this game to be closer than the experts think. It's a noon start and it's also what we call a sandwich game. It comes after a big game with Va.Tech with the Florida game on the horizon afterwards. Ohio is also no walk in the park. They're well coached under Frank Solich and I expect them to be a game opponent.




In closing here, I'll take a win anyway we can get it this week and I'll be happy. I'm not as concerned with the scoreboard as I am working out the kinks. It's very important not to overlook Ohio with Florida on deck. I'll be honest with you, folks. I don't feel as good about beating the Gators as I did before the season starts, but that doesn't mean we won't beat them. It looks like they have found a QB in Del Rio and their defense looks to be as nasty as ever. Jim McElwain looks like a quality head coach too. It's going to be a very interesting couple of weeks around here.


Have a Great Day and Go Big Orange!

Your Vol Colonel'

Tony,

Everyone seems to finally get it: Dobbs is not a stay in the pocket passer. He is a limited one read thrower, but he is also a lethal read option threat runner.

Dobbs can make easy throws and run. That's it. Therefore, any plans to scheme around Dobbs staying in the pocket needs to be abandoned. NOW. However, there is a scheme that plays to Dobb's strengths: The "crash test dummy" scheme.


Does this scheme increase Dobb's susceptibility? Absolutely. See exhibits A, B, & C below:



A.


B.


C.



Crash test dummies experiment with the boundaries of safety. Hopefully, strong blocking will help this cause. However, there is another safety measure that has to be prevalent at all times to prevent Dobbs from flying through a glass window. It's known as the "air"bag, or airing out 30-40+ yard attempts at least one per quarter minimum to keep the defense in check and help the runners. Dobbs doesn't have to be the most accurate passer to ATTEMPT deep throws. He has a strong arm whereby his fast, long, talented receivers can do some work for him. (See exhibits D, E, and F)

D.


E.


F.



(Kippy says keep it real, baby. Throw it deep!)



(Jerry Glanville says chuck the damn ball down the field!)



In conclusion, Dobbs is best when he isn't making decisions. He is best when he isn't tentative, when instinct kicks in, and there is no time to think. As cerebral as Dobbs is, he is better off as a dummy-a crash test dummy.


MidState Heath

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