Coach Doug Mathews
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An old rival, for many years prior to the SEC expanding in 1992 and moving to division play, the Auburn Tigers were usually the Vols first conference opponent. I had the opportunity to coach in ten of these games and without question they were the most physical opponent we played year in and year out. We knew this going into each game…… the loser was digging out of a conference hole and the winner was normally playing for a championship later in the year against Alabama. And both teams were going to be sore for a good number of days. Few opposing fans could throw an orange as far as Tiger fans…..but their accuracy wasn’t the best thank goodness. Those were the good old days….
The Tigers are in much the same position midway through the season as the Volunteers…..out of their division race with a lot of conference games remaining. One difference however…..Auburn played in the conference championship game last year and the Vols hired a new coach. Expectations for Auburn were significantly higher than for the Vols.
Before looking at the Tigers let’s talk open week happenings for the Vols. It was back to the basics on the practice field. A lot of time working on fundamentals…..tackling, blocking, ball security, stepping with the correct foot, containment on defense and staying with blocks on offense. After five straight games there were some nagging injuries that had time to heal, coaches moved some players around to get a look at a different position. This is a great opportunity to work with younger players that are not playing to let them know you haven’t forgotten them….to give them a little “love” if you will.
This team from a fundamental stand point is getting better….in some areas, especially on the defensive side, significantly better. It is hard for those of us not associated with the program on a day to day basis to see improvement……it is also at times hard to remember why we have a new coaching staff. This first year, as in all first years, a staff must work with what players they have to work with. I see Coach Pruitt putting his stamp on this defense! We are playing tougher, harder and about as well as our talent will allow. We need to tackle better….but on some of our best defenses we needed to tackle better. That is a refrain most defensive coaches always fall back when we don’t have anything else to say. Offensively he has a ways to go as we are not making the progress the defense is making. I suspect he got his opinions across emphatically this past open week and will watch at 11 Saturday to see what “improvements” have been implemented.
So how about Auburn…..Better than Florida from a talent stand point but very similar from a production standpoint. Offensively they will not score a lot of points IF….I repeat….IF we don’t help them with turnovers on offensive and in the kicking game. It is no secret what this Volunteer team must do every week to give themselves a chance to win. We must play the field position game…..offensively we are not talented enough to drive the ball consistently nor have we shown the inclination to throw the ball deep….therefore we must punt and cover and let the defense play for a while. I have not watched a single Auburn game against even an average defense where their offense has driven the ball for many scores. You can bet Coach Pruitt’s vast experience defending Auburn while coaching at Georgia and Alabama will be a huge asset for his Volunteer defense. Defensively Auburn will be the best defense we have faced…..better than Georgia….if they play well. That is why we need more imagination in offensive game planning. Very few teams score many touchdowns without big plays in the passing game when playing Auburn.
If we can get a key takeaway or two……if we can continue getting the production from our kickers (Doyle at punter and Brooks on kickoffs)….if we get the ball on offense to our playmakers (#8, #33, #15, #1 and at times #4)….and if we can get this game into the fourth quarter within a touchdown one way or the other I believe we have a decent chance to win in a tough place for the Big Orange to play.
IT IS ALL ABOUT FIELD POSITION….NOT AS MUCH WHO HAS THE BALL BUT WHERE THEY HAVE IT!
Let’s “Talk” next week.