In its last two games, Tennessee’s mostly young, definitely not-ready-for-prime time secondary has yielded career games to Alabama’s D.J. Hall and South Carolina’s Kenny McKinley.
Just don’t tell Volunteers secondary coach Larry Slade this group needs a boost of confidence.
“I think they have plenty of confidence,” he said Tuesday. “Come watch them practice. There’s not a confidence problem with this group.”
Maybe so, but it can be safely assumed there’s a “covering receivers” issue. Opponents are throwing for nearly 260 yards per game against this crowd and completing 59 percent of their passes.
A lack of sacks hasn’t helped—UT has just 10 through eight games—and running six different starting alignments out there in the first eight games explains other things as well.
But another reason might be self-inflicted. Figuring that a constantly-changing group of players would be better served with simple schemes, the coaching staff has opted for soft coverage instead of an aggressive approach.
“We’d like to play more bump-and-run coverage,” cornerback DeAngelo Willingham said. “But you do what the coaches ask. It’s real frustrating [at times], but you have to play your coverage and assignment.”
Willingham and fellow corner Brent Vinson might get their wish if Slade’s response to a question at Tuesday’s press conference is any indication.
“It’s what we believe,” Slade said of the defensive philosophy. “It’s a matter of experience. Brent and those guys are outstanding athletes and they’re very capable of doing [press] coverage. You’ll see more of it.”
It might be worth taking a chance on, particularly tomorrow against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Vols do have good safeties in freshman Eric Berry and senior Jonathan Hefney, so why not take the training wheels off for a week?
Richt had it right
Some say what Georgia coach Mark Richt did last week was provocative.
I say even though it drew two 15-yard penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, what he did helped the Bulldogs beat Florida.
If you haven’t heard, Richt told his offensive players to celebrate in the end zone as a team when Georgia scored its first touchdown Saturday.
Moments after Knowshon Moreno’s dive broke the goal line’s plane, the Bulldogs followed suit ... all 70 of them. Jumping up and down, Georgia drew the ire of Gators coach Urban Meyer and a pair of flags which forced it to kick off from the 8-yard line.
This act from another program—say the early 1990s era Miami Hurricanes—would have been seen as an exhibition of thuggery and intimidation.
But Richt is one of the sport’s classier coaches and he had more than built up enough equity in this instance. Remember last month, when some of his players jumped up and down on Vanderbilt’s logo after a game-winning field goal?
An angry Richt shoved them away from the logo, shook coach Bobby Johnson’s hand and apologized for the display.
So cut Richt some slack here. This didn’t incite a thing, other than a big win for his program.
Which, by the way, was one call we got right in this space last week as we went 5-1 to make us 14-4 over the last three weeks. Kentucky’s unaccountable tank job against Mississippi State kept us from a perfect record.
Now for this week’s batch of picks (wagering should be done for entertainment purposes only, hehehe):
Vanderbilt at Florida
The Commodores definitely have the better defense and nothing to lose. But I don’t think they have enough offense, particularly with injury concerns about their top two quarterbacks. And remember that the Gators haven’t played a home game since Sept. 29. This could be close, but I just don’t see a scenario under which Vandy wins. Florida 27, Vanderbilt 13.
Troy at Georgia
Talk about your trap games. The Bulldogs can’t help but look ahead to next week’s biggie with Auburn on some level. The Trojans and dual-threat QB Omar Haugabook are just dangerous enough to make this a game going into the fourth quarter. But in the end, Georgia is physically more superior and enforces a win. Georgia 30, Troy 20.
Northwestern State at Ole Miss
Bad I-AA team goes to bad I-A team. With LSU and Mississippi State left on the schedule, this may be Rebels coach Ed Orgeron’s last chance for a win. It’s getting harder by the day to imagine him being the coach of this team next year. Ole Miss 38, Northwestern State 17.
Tennessee Tech at Auburn
Wonder if Tommy Tuberville tried to use Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 as an excuse to fire up his players for this one? If so, I’ll bet his players just laughed. Tennessee Tech is 4-5 and just here for a healthy paycheck. Auburn 42, Tennessee Tech 7.
Louisiana-Lafayette at Tennessee
Should be a great game for Erik Ainge, Arian Foster, Montario Hardesty and a bunch of wide receivers to pad their stats. But don’t be surprised if the Ragin’ Cajuns run for about 250 yards or so and a lot of the post-game calls gripe about the run defense. Nevertheless, this will be a much-needed breather for the Volunteers. Tennessee 56, Louisiana-Lafayette 24.
LSU at Alabama
Should we call it the Saban Bowl? Or just what it is—the game of the year to this point in the SEC? LSU had 33,000 requests for its allotted 7,000 tickets at Alabama, a clear indication its fans want to see Saban take a drilling. Only thing is, the Crimson Tide are better than anyone imagined, a reflection on Saban’s ability to fashion the most from what he has. Nevertheless, the Tigers have more talent and at some point, doesn’t talent trump Xs and Os, particularly when that talent has had a week to heal up? LSU 27, Alabama 20.
South Carolina at Arkansas
I think the Gamecocks will win this one—if they play with the aggression they showed in the second half at Tennessee. But you can’t tell which version of Blake Mitchell will show up from one week to the next. Nor can you predict if South Carolina’s run defense can hold up against Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Even so, the Razorbacks seem too one-dimensional this year and one-dimensional teams rarely succeed in this league. South Carolina 30, Arkansas 28.