Coach Doug Mathews
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So here we are almost in November, seven games under our belt and four conference games remaining. The Vols now 3-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play are record wise about where most thought they would be….at least from a conference perspective. Entering the season I thought winning one of the first four SEC games would be good….I expected that win to be Florida not Auburn however we indeed are 1-3, we are playing four teams that are winnable games and we have an excellent chance of reaching a 6-6 season when it is all said and done. I won’t quibble with those that think we should do better and we well may end up better than .500 but after watching these first seven games I believe we have played about where our talent level has allowed us to be. We match up well overall with the remaining four. Better in some areas and not as good in others.
Coach Pruitt has said all year and repeated the same theme after the Alabama game that this team must run the ball better on offense and stop the run better on defense. These two areas are the basic fundamental of his program here with the Vols. Run on offense and stop the run on defense must be accomplished before we can get competitive with the three teams we must beat to win championships. So when it seems the offense is running into a brick wall and when it seems the opponent offense is running too easily just remember what the goal is…..keep your eye on the prize….in building this program back a strong foundation in required and that foundation starts with a strong running game on both offense and defense.
The game plan for South Carolina will be the game plan for the remaining three SEC teams. Coach Pruitt and staff know what their team can and can’t do. On offense it is a matter of running the ball enough to get man coverage in the secondary. Against man coverage Jennings, Palmer and Callaway will have favorable matchups in the passing game. Jennings must get at least 10 targets per game. He is the only short threat to get yards over the middle after catch and he is the BWG, the best we got, at catching those jump balls 30 or so yards down the field. Failure to get him those touches is poor in game play calling or poor coaching period. As the head coach I worked for on the Hill often said “either get them the ball or I will get someone calling plays that can”. Chandler must get 20+ touches including open field catches where he can use his running ability. Jennings 10+ and Chandler 20+ and I don’t care what you do with the other plays.
Defensively same scheme we have been running. Forget the last game…..we have been improving weekly on defense in the areas that matter: tackling, playing leverage and containment. Our overall talent limits some things I know CJP would like to do but we are getting better.
The kicking game fell apart last week with a missed field goal, a botched onside kick, a botched fair catch on a kickoff and a 10 yard shanked punt. These and one costly fumble cost us dearly in field position giving our opponent a short field. I know I read like a broken record sounds but field position….where we get the ball and where we give the opponent the ball was, is and always be the biggest determining factor in winning and losing…..as Casey Stengel use to say “look it up”. However kicking has been a strong point in most games and I expect we will play it much better this week.
Four winnable conference games…..we need to go at least 2-2, could easily do better and could easily do worse. It starts in Columbia Saturday evening.
Let’s “Talk” next week!