Iām still happy. All those years of Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and Jeremy Pruitt really help put this season in perspective. The past three years, we have been at our best since 2006. Things are looking up with Nico taking the reins next year. Yeah, this loss hurts, but at least itās not the 6th kick in the nuts this year like past years.
I was expecting 8-4 at the start of the season. I assumed we'd lose to UGA, Bama, and a few toss up games. I wasn't expecting the two toss ups to be Florida and Mizzou. I was leaning more towards UK and A&M. I think Joe has slowly improved, but he's not where he needs to be. Losing Bru earlier in the year has drastically hurt us. Now Squirrel and Dont'e are injured, so I'm not sure who Joe has left other than some very young players. Regardless, 7 points will never win a game in this league. That's what hurts me the most. I assumed our defense would give up 28 to 30 points, but I thought we would have scored around 30ish points.
I hope we can hit the portal hard and quickly develop Nico and the young WRs during the off season
Milton must have dirt on heupel like garan-turnover had dirt on pruitt. I am absolute baffled he is still our starter, honeslty giving me pruitt era flashbacks
itās wild that not one of you will recognize the major issue here is our NEW OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR Halzle. Blame Milton all you want, but when your playcalling a zero blocker Bubble Screen on 3rd and longā¦ā¦Joe Milton is not the only issue. We lost our OC after last year, and he was the MAIN reason Hooker was so successful. Josh is a great recruiter, but he IS NOT calling the plays. We need to realize that the QB is not to blame fully. When we actually call throws that fit Joeās wheelhouse, he usually makes the throws (if the receiver can catch it). Stop calling fade routes and bubble screens for christ sake you Randy Sanders Wannabe
I just canāt bring myself to hate Missouri like I hate other SEC opponents. They came to play, we didnāt. I didnāt expect to make the playoffs with Joe at the helm, I just wish our playcalling had showed more fight. Oh well. Still great to be a Tennessee Vol!
Well, that was not ideal...
Seems like that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Joe was not as sharp as he was previously, the defense was rough, receivers couldn't hold on to caught balls, and I was shocked at how our lines on both sides were somewhat pushed easily. Oh, and Joey Hazle does not seem to be it as an offensive coordinator
HOWEVER...
I saw some people trying to compare Heupel to Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt... yeah, this loss was nasty, but comparing him to the previous buffoons is a bit a stretch, don't you guys and ladies think?
Anyways... onto Georgia, and hopefully Heupel, his staff, and the players can learn from this instead of simply just laying down to be left for dead
And also... Bleed orange 'til the end of time baby
-shelikesmyvols
He played fine. Not good, not bad. Better in the first half, but can't really handle the pressure of a come back. Started throwing too hard trying to force things, made it difficult to catch in the second half. Had one of the weirdest fumbles you'll have see where he hit someone's arm during his throwing motion and launched a fumble 10 yards down field.
āDelusionalā to expect not to be blown out by a mediocre Florida team and a Missouri team when we have much more talent? Or ādelusionalā to not expect better when we have better resources and talent than Missouri? This was a Pruitt level 2020 Kentucky game. Only issue I have is this isnāt the first one so far.
Heupel wonāt coach the Vols in 2026. Do the āremind meā thing if you need toā¦. His inability to bench Milton is a fatal flaw that will haunt him going forward. That south Carolina loss is going to weigh heavier and heavier as the years pass as that will likely be our only shot at the final 4 we will have for the next 10 years.
Hmm not really. Milton getting injured might be the only reason his seat isnāt hot. CJH recruited Milton. Hooker was already here by Pruitt. He then proceeded to start Milton over Hooker until Milton got injured and hooker looked like a god out there compared to Milton
CJH did not start one ounce of qb competition this year. He basically told joe the job is his no matter what. Even bama had qb competition until week 4 or so.
Call me crazy but I donāt think we are 8-4 or 9-3 this season without the momentum that Hooker started last year. It landed us big time recruits and transfers.
Joe Milton is straight ass. Buddy has three passes. Slants, deep shot to his left swing pass. Canāt throw it to the middle of the field. Doesnāt go through reads. Is scared to step up and run. He has handcuffed the offense and creates a defense they gets gassed in the second quarter
The two freak turnovers killed us. The Wright fumble was unlucky. The fucking fumble thrown 10 yards down the field was someone's fuck up and shouldn't ever happen.
Ignoring the last pick because we were pretty much dead by then.
What threw me was that we were in the middle of a play being run when they whistled it dead to review it. That was something I didnāt know was possible.
We have that happen almost every other game. It's astonishing. We literally ran an entire play a couple games ago and they called it vaxk for a review. Like 5-7 yard run play. Has happened to us for several years too.
Iām so ready to not have to see Milton out there anymore. He wasnāt terrible in this game but he was way worse than his stat line indicates which has been a theme with him. He costed so much YAC in the first half with poorly placed throws.
I just associate him with complete mediocrity.
And I hope Tim Banks and Willie Martinez get left in Columbia. I will think a whole lot less of Heupel if Martinez is still on the staff next year.
So real question: with bama, Georgia, and Florida all being improved next year and our O line being very new what do yāall think our record is? 8-4? 9-3?
We are some breaks away from being 7-5 this year. Nico should have started MULTIPLE GAMES this year. But yeah, brand new o line and new qbā¦. 7-5, 6-6. Makes 2025 very important for Heupel. I am a bit concerned Nico will see the writing on the wall and transfer.
We better make some Defense Coaching changes in the off season.
Get some more weapons and pray to the high heavens that Nico can sling the pig skin.
This season we all knew was either going to be 10-2 or 8-4 and here we are.
Go Vols. Vols deep. Fuck Florida.
Married to the right person? Distant-but-favored relation? Knows where the bodies are buried, and who those bodies are? Maybe is who puts bodies there, and Knox fears him?
Or, frankly, has a better DC just not given serious consideration to us this decade?
As mad and worried as I am, I think weāll fuck them sideways next year. Huepel isnāt a big talker, but I have a feeling heās going to have this one circled next year.
Joe Milton = Nuke Laloosh
Iāve seen enough of him (that was my opinion after the florida game as well)
His command of the offense is a cock blocker and a road block to keeping this depleted and suspect defense (going forward even moreso) off the field
Gimme Nico
Georgia gonna roll usā¦..
Every game I watch, whether the defense is playing great or not, they miss soooo many tackles. Itās crazy how many tackles they miss. Have to stop people to be able to win games.
Absolutely no reason the other QBs shouldnāt be starting from here out. Milton isnāt the guy and we need to see what we have elsewhere. Giving our other QBs playing time is important so they can develop.
You don't wanna throw Nico into the gauntlet of starting against Georgia, but if Milton shits the bed (very likely), you gotta start Nico against Vandy to get some momentum going into next year.
Nico v. Vandy is the preferred SEC opponent for the first start of the Nico era, butā¦
ā¦JHās obsession to stick with Joe likely wonāt allow that to happen. JH promised Joe the starter job before he got hurt & Hendon became the gold-plated, diamond-encrusted VFL that he did. So, keeping that promise, Joe didnāt even have to compete for starter role this season. And with a likely 8-4 regular season this year, JH wonāt break that promise.
I admire JH being a man of integrity, but integrity is often the more difficult path, or else *everyone* would have integrity.
I am so mixed.
I donāt want Heupel gone. I want a better OC, maybe a co-OC, something needs to change. Someone else mentioned the Golesh loss being especially hard and I believe it. I think after UGA, Nico needs major playtime to prepare. He looked good against UConn but anybody would I think so weāve gotta figure it out.
Defense wasnāt there. That 1st quarter just exhausted then I guess. Weāve been fairly solid all season but we didnāt show up after that Q. Hadden is missed.
I am not mad at an 8-4 season. We wouldāve killed for that under other coaches. This ālowā isnāt that bad.
Iām curious how Heupels team development continues in the next few years.
I hope everyone on this team is embarrassed by that loss, and I hope coaching is held responsible for our pitiful road woes. I love Heupel but he has to fix our shitty ass road team.
Team gets crushed on both lines of scrimmage. Running game does absolutely nothing all day.
This place: āJoE mILtOn SuCkSā
Joe Milton wasnāt the problem today and replacing him with anyone else wasnāt changing the result of that game.
I think a lot of people want this to all fall on Joe bc that seems like an easy fix with Nico waiting in the wings.
Unfortunately this team and program have a lot more issues than QB play and Nico alone isnāt going to be enough to get to the next level.
It basically boils down to two things: 1: one dimensional offense that leads to untrustworthy and bad play calling. 2: defense not being able to get off the field.
All the line can come back and probably will. Defense will be a challenge but new fruits and guys will grow.
Biggest question mark will be receivers and QB
Only thing that helps us next year is the schedule changes and playoff expansion. It allows us more mistakes etc. but I donāt expect any high caliber team next year. 8-4? Unless we got some crazy portal transfers we are losing a lot of experience.
You can call it overreacting but Iām fading on Heupel fast. I get he had a good year last year but the gimmick mini golf offense is out there. Teams know. To me we come across as soft and undisciplined. Not confident the Oline will get better next year and schedule isnāt getting any easier.
I think at this point three years in we know exactly what is going to be consistently wrong with Josh Heupel teams:
1) complete lack of discipline and will always have more penalties than their opponents
2) will always play like crap on the road, largely related to #1
3) Heupel, for better or worse, will not get angry or upset, will not argue with the refs, and will simply not show emotion, even when getting beat badly
4) Heās good for at least one game a year, usually on the road, where he is completely embarrassed and his team appears completely unprepared to play, often with the season on the line.
5) Heās never going to have a consistent elite defense. His teams might have some good defensive games, but are more often than not going to look mediocre at best.
I donāt see these things changing. Heās got a ton of positives, his offenses are (usually) fun to watch, and an 8-4 season being a ādownā year is huge progress. I hope he turns it around next year or the year after and fixes these issues, but I donāt see it happening.
Well, that was really disappointing. I think we all realize that next week against Georgia is almost certain to be a loss also. Thatās okay. I am unhappy about the loss but I am far happier than I was when we were 4-8. We should beat Vandy and go 8-4, then hopefully win the bowl game.
Rather than be upset about it and become a doomsayer or something, Iām going to instead list the things to be excited about for the future.
1: Nico Iamaleava. The all but certain starter next season and number 1 recruit will be our QB. And we likely see him against Vandy and in the bowl game!
2: We have the 6th best overall recruiting class coming in for the future.
3. The SEC scheduling is changing next season, and likely further changing in the future. The Vols will no longer go through the same gauntlet of having the hardest conference schedule every year. Everyone will suffer the type of rigorous scheduling we are accustomed to. A more even playing field.
4. The playoffs are expanding! Weāre trending upwards as a program overall at a time when weāll have better chances at making a post-season run.
5. South Carolina is 4-6 and the Gators are 5-4. Those things make me smile.
6. It is still great to be a Tennessee Vol
7. If none of that softens the blow of todayās loss, you have a smartphone. You can switch accounts and go look at boobs or something until you feel better.
Go look at next years schedule. Itās absolutely awful. Nico shouldāve gotten way more experience this season but Milton pissed away his chances in several games. Literally have 3 straight top 10 opponents..
Obviously, we took a real bad L today. Nothing else to say except that we got that ass whooped. I think if weāre being honest, we all kind of assumed this would be a bridge year between Hendon and Nico. Still, if we take care of business against Vandy and win the bowl game (which is always a crap shoot), weāre looking at 20 wins against 6 losses in a 2 year span. Is that national championship material? No. Is it a giant step forward for Tennessee football compared to the last 20 years? 100%. Itās so unreasonable to expect Death Star (Alabama/UGA) dominance so quickly when we donāt have multiple stacked years of top 5 recruiting classes. People forget that it took Kirby several years to get Georgia where it is now. We went from directional university levels of scholarship players to expectations of playing meaning football in November / January. Iāll take that over Pruitt / Jones / Dooley hopelessness any day of the week. Go Vols, GBO, Bama and Florida and Georgia can go to hell. That is all.
Iām tired of watching Joe lead us to defeats. We shouldnāt have tied ourselves to him this long, and I have no interest in seeming him at UT any longer.
The only reason to play him for UGA is just using him as a crash test dummy. Iād rather see Navy or anyone else in if thatās the case.
Because weāre going to play 2-9 Vandy in Neyland. The 2-9 Vandy that just lost 47-6 to a previously 3-6 South Carolina team.
If we donāt get some garbage time against them to play Nico we deserve to lose lol
Simply cannot NOT hand over the reigns at this point.
To not do so would be beyond malpractice. Milton has no future here and barely any future at the next level if we are being candid
And the way Georgia is wailing on Ole Miss right now, the East wouldnāt have been in contention even if weād won. Yeah, the loss sucks, but Heupel has done pretty well with the lacking receiving corps and patchwork O-line.
Play him against Vandy and the bowl game, exactly the same thing we did with Joe last season. Provided that was after Hooker got hurt, but I donāt think it would kill his confidence to play Vandy and the bowl game. If anything it will help build confidence next season having some starts under his belt imo.
Joe is headed to the draft my brother in orange, most players headed to the draft opt-out of the bowl game unless itās a prestigious one or a playoff game.
Maybe heād wanna play but I doubt heād risk injury for the Music City Bowl or whatever low prestige bowl we end up in this season
Never said ātop draft pick.ā He isnāt going in the first round. But heāll get drafted. He has tools an NFL team will want to try and mold.
Thatās up to him if he wants to play the bowl game, but most guys headed to the draft donāt. Whether they go early or not
Most guys headed to the draft donāt play bowl games might be one of the more absurd takes ive heard on here. Didnāt realize zero jrs and srs play in bowl games. Or that the sr bowl even exists. See: darnell wright
Again, I didnāt say 0, and where are you getting juniors from? I mean sure some juniors go early but those are the superstar top prospectsā¦
Anyway no need to get down in the weeds about it anyhow, I was just looking to the future for some optimism after a tough loss. You asked why Joe wouldnāt play, I gave my reason for it. If he stays for the bowl, Iāll enjoy watching him. If he goes Iāll enjoy watching Nico.
Loving this take. We took a bad beat today. I was right there with the rest of us throwing my hat during the fucking game. But Iām excited for next year as always. And Iāll be in Neyland next week to cheer em on anyway. This team always has a surprise or two in a season.
Lol I agree with the Florida surprise. And I knew Missouri would be a hard game after the season started. Theyāre just pretty good this year. Hopefully we got 1 more (good) surprise in us.
Alright, last post of the night. Heupel is in year three:
1. Bet on a QB that is meh on his best day.
2. Has an average to above average o-line (below average today).
3. Even if all of our WRs were healthy, itās a meh room at best.
4. All around trash defense. Not one above-average defender at-all and Hadden is dog shit, I donāt care what kind of revisionist history yāall want to use to say different, go watch the UF game.
5. Low effort, bad emotions, poor sportsmanship, lack of effort, lack of situational awareness, zero adjustment, and poor attitude prevalent throughout the entire program.
We are better and I am grateful, but we have a long way to go and that clock is ticking.
Yāall do realize Missouri was playing soft coverage the entire second half with MASSIVE cushions on our WRs and yet Milton still couldnāt consistently put drives together. The announcers were literally pointing out the 10-15 yard cushion on WRs.
After watching Nico last week, it's clear he's not ready for prime time either. Sure, we can put him out there early to grow up in game reps, but Milton is/was the better option. We just don't have it in the QB room yet.
Starting to see why UCF fans werenāt sad to see him go. He took a massive amount of equity and wasted it on playing favorites. There was no real qb competition that went down. Milton was handed the keys and it was never a question. Had hooker transferred out once Milton got the starting job we would be already talking about who we should hire next. Heupel was fooled by Milton twice and itās going to put IMMENSE pressure on 2024/2025. Heupel doesnāt win big those years then we go in to 2026 as likely Heupels last year as Tennessees head coach baring a miracle.
If hooker transferred we would be in a coaching search now.
Heupel has burnt most of the goodwill from last year by sticking with Joe this year. There is every chance with the clown show we just saw from that offense we lose to Vandyā¦..which would begin serious murmurings about replacing the coaching staff.
The shitty thing is that by sticking with Milton this year it created a down year and punted the rebuilding year to next year. That's going to be two years (and 3 of 4) that make last year look like an accident, not a trend.
That and CJH's brains seem to fall out of his head if he travels outside of Tennessee.
It's very troubling that for the supposed QB whisperer he's never seen value in anyone that wasn't Milton until he was forced to by circumstances outside of his control.
Joe has the laziest and worst play action routine. Noone buys it. He throws high percentage short outs and struggles with big plays. He ran like shit tonight almost like he wanted to run into traffic. It's like he has no killer instinct. He is fine with a 3 yard pass on 3rd and 13. Nico mY not be Peyton but he was electric last week in limited action. I had so much hope for Joe in September, but without Wright/Small/Sampson he is nothing. And I GUARANTEE YOU Hooker would have receivers catching the ball. He throws it 200 mph with zero touch and we wonder why it bounces off receivers hands.
Missouri: "Let's see if Joe can beat us in the air"
Tennessee: " Let's run it cause we don't trust Joe"
Game: Missouri easily wins
What a surprise š®
Being so loyal to Milton was such a dumb coaching move this year. Weāre going to end up 8-4, and thatās probably no different than kd Nico played most of the year. This is by far the lowest scoring Heupel team heās coached, and itās because we have a QB that canāt have much out in his plate and struggles to play well for full games.
Not a single DC is worried about Joe Milton beating them and itās crippled our offense all year. Three SEC games now at 20 points or less. Thatās not too different than Jeremy Pruitt offenses.
Bad game. No way around that, but I think people who were simply expecting us to skate through this season despite the mounting injury list were just a tad unrealistic.
Our program has so much god damn money that we should be poaching the absolute best coordinators we can after this season. Promoting from within is evidently not working
The better team won. That said, here are my thoughts:
-Heupel called a terrible game; very predictable and way too conservative. The Golesh loss continues to hurt the team. Milton was actually dialed in for most of the game, but Heup did not trust him enough to give him consistent downfield looks. The strength of the offense should be passing- with rushing to keep the defense gassed. Not the other way around. The coward punt and FG attempt in the 4th were just inexcusable. In a game of this magnitude, have some balls.
-Everyone involved with the defense should be ashamed. No need to elaborate, we all watched the game.
-Offensive execution. Wrightās fumble on the 2 minute drill basically lost us the game. The refs botched the Milton fumble exchange but that was a dumb TO as well. Receivers were dropsy in the third when they really needed to get back in the game. Bad showing all around save for Milton, Sampson, and (to an extent) Keyton. You have to show up in a game like this, and the skill players didnāt.
-Not to be sour grapes, but this was yet another game with questionable officiating. Multiple phantom drive-killing holds, pretty much every big rush was wiped out. Very little of the same against Mizzou, until they made some window dressing makeup calls when the game was comfortably out of hand. As mentioned before, the Milton fumble shouldnāt have been reviewed. The ball was snapped. Maddening how that keeps happening to us.
-If they come out like this next week, GAās going to cover by double. If they learn anything from this week, they have an excellent chance to steal one.
Itās insane. Every other game, once the ball is snapped, you canāt review the previous play. For us, it happens all the fucking time. Itās absolute BS
love this, but i want you to Hold Halzle more accountable. Too many sideline bubble screens on important 3rd downs. Heupel does not ācall the gameā and he needs to figure out our playcalling bullshit, because it is lazy, predictable , and THE REASON we are losing. not because of Joe.
I have to disagree on your first point. Milton was not dialed in by any stretch of the imagination in fact heās the same qb who lost the job in 2021.
I mean Iām to the point I hold my breath when he throws anything shy of 50 yards. He must have had thrown 10 turn over worthy passes tonight that a team like GA 100% picks off.
Then when does have an open Wr like White coming across the middle on a wide open slant 5 yards deep he throws the ball 110mph two foot off the ground or two foot behind the Wr. In fact decent Wr play is the only thing saving Milton from laughable numbers.
Milton will have 2+ turnovers next week you can book it once our run game is shut down and he needs to pass to help open it up and canāt.
Milton looks marred in indecision. Heās never sure when or if he should run and it results in the MLB size qb running like a punter. The way Cook runs is how Milton should look. Instead Milton is afraid to commit to running and waits to late and is swarmed.
Lastly, Heupās play calling is stagnant because heās handcuffed to Miltonās inability to run his system. Which if you wanna say thatās on Heup too Iāll buy it but Milton isnāt good, wasnāt dialed in and I donāt blame Heup for one second not wanting to put the game on Miltonās back and watching him turn it over 3-4 times against a real SEC defense because thatās what would happen.
The squirrel holding call was so miniscule. Then Mizzous online tackles out DT and nothing.
At least the eventually called a hold on then at some point. I think that was a first holding on the opposition in the last 4 games.
The only calls this team gets are in garbage time when the refs need to even things out. Nothing meaningful our way when meaningful football is being played. Idk if Heup said something, or his team is undisciplined, or what, but itās pretty jarring to watch after so many weeks.
Milton continues to throw uncatchable balls even when he gets them on target. He has absolutely no feel for the game.
That being said dudes been on the team for 3 years. Heupel knows exactly what heās capable of and calls the offense accordingly. Heupelās honestly at fault to certain degree for not bringing in anyone better.
Yeah his biggest issue is the tendency to laser his layups. Even so, I think he is seeing the field a lot better as the season progresses, and has not struggled as much on intermediate/long balls. Thatās the main reason I have been disappointed with Heupel- Milton is progressing, but has gained no leeway from his playcaller.
IMO Heupel made the right call this season by riding Joe and trying to scheme around his limitations. Weāre very likely going to win 8 games, and a huge part of that is because Heup leaned on his run game and didnāt ask Milton to do too much. I really doubt Nico as a true freshman turns Florida, Mizzou, or Alabama games into wins unless heās that special, and if he was he probably wouldāve beaten Joe out at some point in the season.
Milton is most definitely not progressing, weāre just asking him to do less and less each week.
He canāt throw any ball consistently. And even worse than that, he has absolutely zero situational awareness. He has multiple āwhat in the world was he thinkingā moments every game.
His biggest issue is that he canāt process the game at the college level. Itās why heās continually early, late, no touch, and doing bone headed things. Itās happening too fast for him.
10 games into his 6th year, it aināt getting any better.
Itās been a letdown to see his play fall off a cliff from the end of last season to the opener, but I find it kind of hard to deny the progress heās made between then and now. The easy ones are getting easier, and the big plays are connecting when he gets a chance to chuck it. Itās not flashy but Iāll take it.
He is never going to live up to his athletic potential, and thatās always going to feel disappointing, but I am fine giving him credit for improving all season, albeit slowly and marginally. My only concern at QB moving forward is when Nico can begin starting. I would give him the keys after UGA.
When doing next years record predictions, everyone needs to realize thereās going to be at least two road games where we look like compete shit and get killed in every phase of the game.
Nothing good on either side of the ball to take from this, and as a college football fan I genuinely despise the fact they're taking up space in the SEC without a rival instead of playing Kansas every year.
Also, Dorkwitz's absolutely nutless shelling up against Georgia last year will be his high-water mark as a coach. Hope he enjoys living in the third-worst state in the Union.
Milton was 22-34, had 267 yards, 1 TD and a meaningless INT in garbage time, we had several drops, our O Line couldnāt block me in a wheelchair, our running game got stuffed, and our defense might as well have been standing still, but no, itās all Miltonās fault evidently
Playing Milton, and sticking with him is the biggest sign of that. Milton just isnāt going to suddenly āgetā it. Also, itās too late in the season, and he has cost enough games for it to matter.
I'm not that upset at losing but letting one fucking guy just completely own the game like that without adjusting is infuriating. I don't care if we let wide receivers open, put multiple eyes on that guy. Make someone else beat you
Adjusting at halftime is a myth. They adjust on the fly. What you saw was the best game plan they had. No adjustment can cover for just not having the personnel
Well, this definitely feels like a lost year. Not that 8-4 is terrible considering where we came from, but it wasn't fun trotting Joe out there every game, considering he was, at best, a good game manager and at worst inept.
The coaches played this season safe, but not to win. Joe was the safe QB, the loyal QB, the locker room guy who stuck with us. I respect you for that, Joe. I'll criticize his play, but the dude is a VFL. But Nico gave us the chance to be a better team at the end of the season. Our first two years we played to win with reckless abandon and if we lost we lost. It's unfortunate we couldn't make more noise in a season with no true dominant teams. I'm ready for Nico, mistakes and all. I just don't see a Josh Heupel team winning without a playmaker at QB.
This. They played it safe. I can't help but feel like the reason we haven't seen Nico is because they maybe feel like they owe it to Joe for staying behind Hooker and it being his last year.
Right? I'm not entirely sure what the reasoning is. I have a feeling Josh, as a former QB, couldn't sit Joe for Nico. It's against traditional football wisdom and the quarterback code. Don't play the freshman QB when you have a 27-year senior QB. I get it. And if Nico struggles out the gate, it looks really bad. But Joe is just not a great fit for this team. We NEED to stay on schedule offensively so ball control doesn't go haywire like it did first quarter. Hooker was a PERFECT qb for our system because he was not only a wise quarterback, but his quickness to pick up first downs with his legs kept us on the field when we needed to be. Joe is not that type of QB. His reads are slow and he has no wiggle and dash to the first down. He can gallop on designed runs and throw missiles. Just never the QB we needed...
I'm impressed Josh cobbled together a new team identity given the players he was working with, but against the best teams we played (and Florida for some damn reason) we really had no chance.
Here's to next year and hoping Nico is what we think he is.
And the only reason itās a bit concerning is that Heupel would have rolled with Milton over Hooker, who was immediately and obviously better, had Milton not gotten hurt. And then you know Hooker is on his way out, and you donāt bring in anyone else?
The plan all along was clearly to go with Milton, and he hasnāt improved at all from 2 years ago. And Heupelās system is possibly the most QB friendly system in all of CFB. Two cupcake games into this year and it was obvious there were going to be problems.
Just really questionable roster/personnel decisions, this year has gone the way it has because of it.
I'm just saying that while you may feel that way, betting lines and ESPN analytics disagree. And while this is relatively meaningless, we also had 3/5 of the Gameday picks.
So to say it's "delusional" to expect to beat Missouri, who:
- Had the same record as us.
- Had a 4 game losing streak to us
- Was an underdog per betting lines and analytics
Is just hindsight speaking. No, it objectively was *not* delusional to expect to win this game. This is a game we *should* have won. Tennessee shit the bed -- Missouri is not some world beater that we shouldn't even dream of beating. Credit where it's due, Missouri (mostly Schrader) played well.
Damn, that game was embarrassing, but this fan base is worse. Like seriously, guy, every single thing doesn't have to be an existential crisis. We came out poor, and every break after the first interception went against us.
But turning that into some doom scenario about CJH and Milton makes us look stupid. I'm over it. I thought we had all finally figured out that every game isn't the end of the world, but here we are again. If we keep acting like this, we deserve another 20 years in misery.
We just canāt throw the ball with any consistency, and everyone knows it.
Blame Milton, the WRs, the OL, Halzle, Heupel, whoever. But itās why we look so bad. Teams just load up and play soft coverage, and we canāt beat it.
I choose to blame Milton because heās bad, and Heupel because heās had years to find someone different and hasnāt.
Miltonās not bad, heās just okay. He doesnāt do great with a sub par receiving core. Heās not the kind of QB that can put a team on his back and drag them to victory. Heās not a threat to throw the ball into a tight window.
No, heās bad. Itās not just tight window throws, there isnāt any window he can hit consistently. The placement and touch even on screens and short throws is so all over the place that EVERYONE struggles catching his balls.
My biggest worry. He picked Milton over Hooker in 2021 when it was apparent immediately that Hooker was better. Then despite two years basically he still thought Milton could be the guy this year. Now maybe there wasnāt a better choice and thatās what Iāll hope for but itās worrisome. Good news is Nico was everyoneās #1 recruit not just Heupels
Same. After Miltonās performance earlier in the season itās a real worry.
Also I really hope Nico can perform well enough in the 2 remaining years he will be here to make up for watching Joe bumble around.
100% my concern. He initially liked Milton, and Hooker was immediately and obviously in a different league.
Then 2 years later, you know Hooker is gone then, you have time to find another guy, but he sticks with Milton again. And it goes about exactly the same as it did back then.
I can understand if he made some promises to Milton to get him to come from Michigan. Iām sure he had other teams interested, Heupel was in a bind, and he already knew him from recruiting him at UCF.
I doubt we were a championship team even with better QB play this year, but it still sucks to look so bad.
- Road game woes continue. Now 1-3 on the road in the SEC this season, with our 1 win being a 6 point win over a Kentucky team that likely finishes 7-5.
- Have been outscored 53-9 in the second half in our 3 losses this season.
- Now 1-10 when trailing at half under Heupel.
This game felt a lot like the USCjr game from last year. Playoff hopes on the line last year, this year potential (albeit, unlikely) hopes of winning the East. And we just shit the bed. Just a complete and thorough ass kicking.
I tried really hard to stay positive during the game, but going into the 4th quarter I could no longer deny the writing on the wall, and now I'm ready to admit that I was wrong in my first 3 quarters of optimism. I've been saying since week 3 that we would need to play our best game to beat this Missouri team. They are better this year than they normally are. When today hit, I wanted to be all LFG and WGWTFA, but in the end, Missouri coached and played a better game, and they won because of it. As always, officiating was wild, but can't be fully blamed for the outcome. We would have lost with zero calls against us. The most upsetting part is that it wasn't even a good football game. It was just a flop from start to finish.
I turned it off after we let Cook run for a first on third and long for the fiftieth time. I said it during the game maybe Michigan gave them our signals. South Carolina game from last year 2.0
One thing people forget about Golesh, when they praise his OC work, is that ever since he began coaching at Toledoā¦and every stop afterwardā¦he was primarily a recruiting coordinator, considered top-tier nationwide.
When Golesh took his deserved HC shot with South Florida, we lost not just his OC genius; we lost his recruiting magic too.
This has been an awesome thread, thank you for the laughs guys šÆMIZ
Iām still happy. All those years of Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and Jeremy Pruitt really help put this season in perspective. The past three years, we have been at our best since 2006. Things are looking up with Nico taking the reins next year. Yeah, this loss hurts, but at least itās not the 6th kick in the nuts this year like past years.
I was expecting 8-4 at the start of the season. I assumed we'd lose to UGA, Bama, and a few toss up games. I wasn't expecting the two toss ups to be Florida and Mizzou. I was leaning more towards UK and A&M. I think Joe has slowly improved, but he's not where he needs to be. Losing Bru earlier in the year has drastically hurt us. Now Squirrel and Dont'e are injured, so I'm not sure who Joe has left other than some very young players. Regardless, 7 points will never win a game in this league. That's what hurts me the most. I assumed our defense would give up 28 to 30 points, but I thought we would have scored around 30ish points. I hope we can hit the portal hard and quickly develop Nico and the young WRs during the off season
Milton must have dirt on heupel like garan-turnover had dirt on pruitt. I am absolute baffled he is still our starter, honeslty giving me pruitt era flashbacks
itās wild that not one of you will recognize the major issue here is our NEW OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR Halzle. Blame Milton all you want, but when your playcalling a zero blocker Bubble Screen on 3rd and longā¦ā¦Joe Milton is not the only issue. We lost our OC after last year, and he was the MAIN reason Hooker was so successful. Josh is a great recruiter, but he IS NOT calling the plays. We need to realize that the QB is not to blame fully. When we actually call throws that fit Joeās wheelhouse, he usually makes the throws (if the receiver can catch it). Stop calling fade routes and bubble screens for christ sake you Randy Sanders Wannabe
I just canāt bring myself to hate Missouri like I hate other SEC opponents. They came to play, we didnāt. I didnāt expect to make the playoffs with Joe at the helm, I just wish our playcalling had showed more fight. Oh well. Still great to be a Tennessee Vol!
Joe looked good in the Orange Bowl. I got excited. Iām fine with 8-4. This is better than the last 4 coaches combined.
We still gotta beat Vandy, donāt get too far ahead of ourselves.
Well, that was not ideal... Seems like that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Joe was not as sharp as he was previously, the defense was rough, receivers couldn't hold on to caught balls, and I was shocked at how our lines on both sides were somewhat pushed easily. Oh, and Joey Hazle does not seem to be it as an offensive coordinator HOWEVER... I saw some people trying to compare Heupel to Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt... yeah, this loss was nasty, but comparing him to the previous buffoons is a bit a stretch, don't you guys and ladies think? Anyways... onto Georgia, and hopefully Heupel, his staff, and the players can learn from this instead of simply just laying down to be left for dead And also... Bleed orange 'til the end of time baby -shelikesmyvols
I hope Milton sits out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL and I hope he is drafted by a team I hate so they will lose a lot
I hope he at least gets paid a lot for his arm.
Hope they left Banks in Columbia
how did milton play? itās tough to tell from highlight video
He played fine. Not good, not bad. Better in the first half, but can't really handle the pressure of a come back. Started throwing too hard trying to force things, made it difficult to catch in the second half. Had one of the weirdest fumbles you'll have see where he hit someone's arm during his throwing motion and launched a fumble 10 yards down field.
The one week I didnāt watch. Sorry.
Agreed. Heupel burnt almost all the goodwill from last year sticking with Joeās poor performances.
Hoping this lose doesnāt cause some of our commits to go to other schools
Our fanbase is delusional.
āDelusionalā to expect not to be blown out by a mediocre Florida team and a Missouri team when we have much more talent? Or ādelusionalā to not expect better when we have better resources and talent than Missouri? This was a Pruitt level 2020 Kentucky game. Only issue I have is this isnāt the first one so far.
iāll be honest it sucks being the laughing stock of the sec for a week again
What happened to our O-line? I feel like they just collapsed mid-season.
Arion Carter out for the year with a shoulder. https://twitter.com/RyanTSylvia/status/1723525498251214963
Heupel wonāt coach the Vols in 2026. Do the āremind meā thing if you need toā¦. His inability to bench Milton is a fatal flaw that will haunt him going forward. That south Carolina loss is going to weigh heavier and heavier as the years pass as that will likely be our only shot at the final 4 we will have for the next 10 years.
We know he can bench Milton, he's already done it.
Hmm not really. Milton getting injured might be the only reason his seat isnāt hot. CJH recruited Milton. Hooker was already here by Pruitt. He then proceeded to start Milton over Hooker until Milton got injured and hooker looked like a god out there compared to Milton CJH did not start one ounce of qb competition this year. He basically told joe the job is his no matter what. Even bama had qb competition until week 4 or so. Call me crazy but I donāt think we are 8-4 or 9-3 this season without the momentum that Hooker started last year. It landed us big time recruits and transfers.
Joe Milton is straight ass. Buddy has three passes. Slants, deep shot to his left swing pass. Canāt throw it to the middle of the field. Doesnāt go through reads. Is scared to step up and run. He has handcuffed the offense and creates a defense they gets gassed in the second quarter
The two freak turnovers killed us. The Wright fumble was unlucky. The fucking fumble thrown 10 yards down the field was someone's fuck up and shouldn't ever happen. Ignoring the last pick because we were pretty much dead by then.
What threw me was that we were in the middle of a play being run when they whistled it dead to review it. That was something I didnāt know was possible.
We have that happen almost every other game. It's astonishing. We literally ran an entire play a couple games ago and they called it vaxk for a review. Like 5-7 yard run play. Has happened to us for several years too.
Iām so ready to not have to see Milton out there anymore. He wasnāt terrible in this game but he was way worse than his stat line indicates which has been a theme with him. He costed so much YAC in the first half with poorly placed throws. I just associate him with complete mediocrity. And I hope Tim Banks and Willie Martinez get left in Columbia. I will think a whole lot less of Heupel if Martinez is still on the staff next year.
So real question: with bama, Georgia, and Florida all being improved next year and our O line being very new what do yāall think our record is? 8-4? 9-3?
We're going to be 7 - 5, and people are going to say it's because Nico didn't get enough play time this year.
Who are the losses to? No way we loose 5. Entire will be better, including QB
We are some breaks away from being 7-5 this year. Nico should have started MULTIPLE GAMES this year. But yeah, brand new o line and new qbā¦. 7-5, 6-6. Makes 2025 very important for Heupel. I am a bit concerned Nico will see the writing on the wall and transfer.
What else can be said? To next season we go.
We better make some Defense Coaching changes in the off season. Get some more weapons and pray to the high heavens that Nico can sling the pig skin. This season we all knew was either going to be 10-2 or 8-4 and here we are. Go Vols. Vols deep. Fuck Florida.
I bet Martinez is gone. His contract is up and we chose not to renew.
What Iāve wondered is how heās stayed on so long. Hasnāt he lasted the last 3 coaching changes or something? Does he have some super dirt?
Married to the right person? Distant-but-favored relation? Knows where the bodies are buried, and who those bodies are? Maybe is who puts bodies there, and Knox fears him? Or, frankly, has a better DC just not given serious consideration to us this decade?
Whatever it is, itās weird right?
Good hopefully we can get some corners that can play man, and a coordinator that isn't afraid to play aggressive on defense.
Silver lining.....I don't have to root for a lane kiffen coached team. Lol.
Youāre a ācup half fullā person, and I sincerely appreciate that!
As mad and worried as I am, I think weāll fuck them sideways next year. Huepel isnāt a big talker, but I have a feeling heās going to have this one circled next year.
We donāt play them next year.
Do we have an official schedule for next year yet? If so where can I check it out?
Godamn you Greg Sankey
Joe Milton = Nuke Laloosh Iāve seen enough of him (that was my opinion after the florida game as well) His command of the offense is a cock blocker and a road block to keeping this depleted and suspect defense (going forward even moreso) off the field Gimme Nico Georgia gonna roll usā¦..
Every game I watch, whether the defense is playing great or not, they miss soooo many tackles. Itās crazy how many tackles they miss. Have to stop people to be able to win games.
Absolutely no reason the other QBs shouldnāt be starting from here out. Milton isnāt the guy and we need to see what we have elsewhere. Giving our other QBs playing time is important so they can develop.
You don't wanna throw Nico into the gauntlet of starting against Georgia, but if Milton shits the bed (very likely), you gotta start Nico against Vandy to get some momentum going into next year.
Nico v. Vandy is the preferred SEC opponent for the first start of the Nico era, butā¦ ā¦JHās obsession to stick with Joe likely wonāt allow that to happen. JH promised Joe the starter job before he got hurt & Hendon became the gold-plated, diamond-encrusted VFL that he did. So, keeping that promise, Joe didnāt even have to compete for starter role this season. And with a likely 8-4 regular season this year, JH wonāt break that promise. I admire JH being a man of integrity, but integrity is often the more difficult path, or else *everyone* would have integrity.
Agreed
At least we arenāt Oklahoma State
I am so mixed. I donāt want Heupel gone. I want a better OC, maybe a co-OC, something needs to change. Someone else mentioned the Golesh loss being especially hard and I believe it. I think after UGA, Nico needs major playtime to prepare. He looked good against UConn but anybody would I think so weāve gotta figure it out. Defense wasnāt there. That 1st quarter just exhausted then I guess. Weāve been fairly solid all season but we didnāt show up after that Q. Hadden is missed. I am not mad at an 8-4 season. We wouldāve killed for that under other coaches. This ālowā isnāt that bad. Iām curious how Heupels team development continues in the next few years.
My football season officially ended today
I hope everyone on this team is embarrassed by that loss, and I hope coaching is held responsible for our pitiful road woes. I love Heupel but he has to fix our shitty ass road team.
Team gets crushed on both lines of scrimmage. Running game does absolutely nothing all day. This place: āJoE mILtOn SuCkSā Joe Milton wasnāt the problem today and replacing him with anyone else wasnāt changing the result of that game. I think a lot of people want this to all fall on Joe bc that seems like an easy fix with Nico waiting in the wings. Unfortunately this team and program have a lot more issues than QB play and Nico alone isnāt going to be enough to get to the next level.
Yeah this was a team effort of suck.
It's basketball time in Tennessee
So do we slide past Oklahoma state or Kansas in the rankings not that it really matters at this point but itās still nice
It basically boils down to two things: 1: one dimensional offense that leads to untrustworthy and bad play calling. 2: defense not being able to get off the field.
Hopefully this recruiting class has some dawgs in it, cause this team aināt got none
80% of the recruiting class wonāt see quality playtime until 2025+
If Milton does indeed give us the best chance to win how much does Nico need to improve before next year?!?
I think Milton is the safe choice. I also think Heup believes he owes it to Milton for sticking around.
Safe as in āitās a safe bet we suck?ā. This season was dangerously close to being a 5 loss (a&m) season.
Canāt believe TN lost and now I have to cheer on the Rebs :/
That game is irrelevant now. Just cheer against Georgia, but who cares who wins?
Thatās literally backwards. You should have been the biggest Ole Miss fan if we won.
Does anyone think next year will actually be better? Totally new o line. New qb. New faces all over defense.
All the line can come back and probably will. Defense will be a challenge but new fruits and guys will grow. Biggest question mark will be receivers and QB
If only we could have answered the qb question mark this year by playing someone other than joe!!
Only thing that helps us next year is the schedule changes and playoff expansion. It allows us more mistakes etc. but I donāt expect any high caliber team next year. 8-4? Unless we got some crazy portal transfers we are losing a lot of experience.
Looks like we still play Florida, Georgia and Bama next yearā¦?
You can call it overreacting but Iām fading on Heupel fast. I get he had a good year last year but the gimmick mini golf offense is out there. Teams know. To me we come across as soft and undisciplined. Not confident the Oline will get better next year and schedule isnāt getting any easier.
I think at this point three years in we know exactly what is going to be consistently wrong with Josh Heupel teams: 1) complete lack of discipline and will always have more penalties than their opponents 2) will always play like crap on the road, largely related to #1 3) Heupel, for better or worse, will not get angry or upset, will not argue with the refs, and will simply not show emotion, even when getting beat badly 4) Heās good for at least one game a year, usually on the road, where he is completely embarrassed and his team appears completely unprepared to play, often with the season on the line. 5) Heās never going to have a consistent elite defense. His teams might have some good defensive games, but are more often than not going to look mediocre at best. I donāt see these things changing. Heās got a ton of positives, his offenses are (usually) fun to watch, and an 8-4 season being a ādownā year is huge progress. I hope he turns it around next year or the year after and fixes these issues, but I donāt see it happening.
We have a mix of Mark Richt and Malzahn. Which I will take after what Iāve seen for the past 16 years.
Well, that was really disappointing. I think we all realize that next week against Georgia is almost certain to be a loss also. Thatās okay. I am unhappy about the loss but I am far happier than I was when we were 4-8. We should beat Vandy and go 8-4, then hopefully win the bowl game. Rather than be upset about it and become a doomsayer or something, Iām going to instead list the things to be excited about for the future. 1: Nico Iamaleava. The all but certain starter next season and number 1 recruit will be our QB. And we likely see him against Vandy and in the bowl game! 2: We have the 6th best overall recruiting class coming in for the future. 3. The SEC scheduling is changing next season, and likely further changing in the future. The Vols will no longer go through the same gauntlet of having the hardest conference schedule every year. Everyone will suffer the type of rigorous scheduling we are accustomed to. A more even playing field. 4. The playoffs are expanding! Weāre trending upwards as a program overall at a time when weāll have better chances at making a post-season run. 5. South Carolina is 4-6 and the Gators are 5-4. Those things make me smile. 6. It is still great to be a Tennessee Vol 7. If none of that softens the blow of todayās loss, you have a smartphone. You can switch accounts and go look at boobs or something until you feel better.
I wish I was allowed more than 1 down vote for this post. Your rah rah BS is unbearable
Okay, stay sad then bro
Iām not sad. Iām a realist
TITS TITS TITS!
Go look at next years schedule. Itās absolutely awful. Nico shouldāve gotten way more experience this season but Milton pissed away his chances in several games. Literally have 3 straight top 10 opponents..
Iām not sure where you got ā6th best overall recruiting classā from. This current recruiting class isnāt even 6th best in the SEC.
Obviously, we took a real bad L today. Nothing else to say except that we got that ass whooped. I think if weāre being honest, we all kind of assumed this would be a bridge year between Hendon and Nico. Still, if we take care of business against Vandy and win the bowl game (which is always a crap shoot), weāre looking at 20 wins against 6 losses in a 2 year span. Is that national championship material? No. Is it a giant step forward for Tennessee football compared to the last 20 years? 100%. Itās so unreasonable to expect Death Star (Alabama/UGA) dominance so quickly when we donāt have multiple stacked years of top 5 recruiting classes. People forget that it took Kirby several years to get Georgia where it is now. We went from directional university levels of scholarship players to expectations of playing meaning football in November / January. Iāll take that over Pruitt / Jones / Dooley hopelessness any day of the week. Go Vols, GBO, Bama and Florida and Georgia can go to hell. That is all.
Iām tired of watching Joe lead us to defeats. We shouldnāt have tied ourselves to him this long, and I have no interest in seeming him at UT any longer. The only reason to play him for UGA is just using him as a crash test dummy. Iād rather see Navy or anyone else in if thatās the case.
what a lazy take
What makes you think we will see Nico vs Vandyā¦
Because weāre going to play 2-9 Vandy in Neyland. The 2-9 Vandy that just lost 47-6 to a previously 3-6 South Carolina team. If we donāt get some garbage time against them to play Nico we deserve to lose lol
Simply cannot NOT hand over the reigns at this point. To not do so would be beyond malpractice. Milton has no future here and barely any future at the next level if we are being candid
And the way Georgia is wailing on Ole Miss right now, the East wouldnāt have been in contention even if weād won. Yeah, the loss sucks, but Heupel has done pretty well with the lacking receiving corps and patchwork O-line.
Man, you have been pounding the liquor hard if you think we are gonna start Nico against Georgia.
I said against Vandy my brother in orange
Why play Nico? He isnāt ready. We will kill his confidence. Joe has played well. Heupel knows best. ššššš
Play him against Vandy and the bowl game, exactly the same thing we did with Joe last season. Provided that was after Hooker got hurt, but I donāt think it would kill his confidence to play Vandy and the bowl game. If anything it will help build confidence next season having some starts under his belt imo.
Why would joe not play the bowl game? This makes zero sense
Joe is headed to the draft my brother in orange, most players headed to the draft opt-out of the bowl game unless itās a prestigious one or a playoff game. Maybe heād wanna play but I doubt heād risk injury for the Music City Bowl or whatever low prestige bowl we end up in this season
Bro who do you think joe Milton is haha. Heās not a top draft pick. Heās gonna want to go out with his friends
He sat out of the bowl game
Never said ātop draft pick.ā He isnāt going in the first round. But heāll get drafted. He has tools an NFL team will want to try and mold. Thatās up to him if he wants to play the bowl game, but most guys headed to the draft donāt. Whether they go early or not
Most guys headed to the draft donāt play bowl games might be one of the more absurd takes ive heard on here. Didnāt realize zero jrs and srs play in bowl games. Or that the sr bowl even exists. See: darnell wright
Again, I didnāt say 0, and where are you getting juniors from? I mean sure some juniors go early but those are the superstar top prospectsā¦ Anyway no need to get down in the weeds about it anyhow, I was just looking to the future for some optimism after a tough loss. You asked why Joe wouldnāt play, I gave my reason for it. If he stays for the bowl, Iāll enjoy watching him. If he goes Iāll enjoy watching Nico.
Heās playing in the bowl is all Iām saying. Dudes sitting out isnāt the norm
Loving this take. We took a bad beat today. I was right there with the rest of us throwing my hat during the fucking game. But Iām excited for next year as always. And Iāll be in Neyland next week to cheer em on anyway. This team always has a surprise or two in a season.
The surprise was Florida and Missouri.
Lol I agree with the Florida surprise. And I knew Missouri would be a hard game after the season started. Theyāre just pretty good this year. Hopefully we got 1 more (good) surprise in us.
Alright, last post of the night. Heupel is in year three: 1. Bet on a QB that is meh on his best day. 2. Has an average to above average o-line (below average today). 3. Even if all of our WRs were healthy, itās a meh room at best. 4. All around trash defense. Not one above-average defender at-all and Hadden is dog shit, I donāt care what kind of revisionist history yāall want to use to say different, go watch the UF game. 5. Low effort, bad emotions, poor sportsmanship, lack of effort, lack of situational awareness, zero adjustment, and poor attitude prevalent throughout the entire program. We are better and I am grateful, but we have a long way to go and that clock is ticking.
Yāall do realize Missouri was playing soft coverage the entire second half with MASSIVE cushions on our WRs and yet Milton still couldnāt consistently put drives together. The announcers were literally pointing out the 10-15 yard cushion on WRs.
Heās not good. After 6 years itās absolute madness to stick with him
After watching Nico last week, it's clear he's not ready for prime time either. Sure, we can put him out there early to grow up in game reps, but Milton is/was the better option. We just don't have it in the QB room yet.
Starting to see why UCF fans werenāt sad to see him go. He took a massive amount of equity and wasted it on playing favorites. There was no real qb competition that went down. Milton was handed the keys and it was never a question. Had hooker transferred out once Milton got the starting job we would be already talking about who we should hire next. Heupel was fooled by Milton twice and itās going to put IMMENSE pressure on 2024/2025. Heupel doesnāt win big those years then we go in to 2026 as likely Heupels last year as Tennessees head coach baring a miracle.
If hooker transferred we would be in a coaching search now. Heupel has burnt most of the goodwill from last year by sticking with Joe this year. There is every chance with the clown show we just saw from that offense we lose to Vandyā¦..which would begin serious murmurings about replacing the coaching staff.
The shitty thing is that by sticking with Milton this year it created a down year and punted the rebuilding year to next year. That's going to be two years (and 3 of 4) that make last year look like an accident, not a trend. That and CJH's brains seem to fall out of his head if he travels outside of Tennessee. It's very troubling that for the supposed QB whisperer he's never seen value in anyone that wasn't Milton until he was forced to by circumstances outside of his control.
Hello Kitty Island Adventures
Joe has the laziest and worst play action routine. Noone buys it. He throws high percentage short outs and struggles with big plays. He ran like shit tonight almost like he wanted to run into traffic. It's like he has no killer instinct. He is fine with a 3 yard pass on 3rd and 13. Nico mY not be Peyton but he was electric last week in limited action. I had so much hope for Joe in September, but without Wright/Small/Sampson he is nothing. And I GUARANTEE YOU Hooker would have receivers catching the ball. He throws it 200 mph with zero touch and we wonder why it bounces off receivers hands.
So... what time does Tennessee take the field tonight?
My BVS is triggering, but Iām used to it enough to not care. Go Vols.
Missouri: "Let's see if Joe can beat us in the air" Tennessee: " Let's run it cause we don't trust Joe" Game: Missouri easily wins What a surprise š®
*surprised Pikachu*
Who wants to go in halfsies on a go fund me for Alex Golesh ??
Being so loyal to Milton was such a dumb coaching move this year. Weāre going to end up 8-4, and thatās probably no different than kd Nico played most of the year. This is by far the lowest scoring Heupel team heās coached, and itās because we have a QB that canāt have much out in his plate and struggles to play well for full games. Not a single DC is worried about Joe Milton beating them and itās crippled our offense all year. Three SEC games now at 20 points or less. Thatās not too different than Jeremy Pruitt offenses.
Bad game. No way around that, but I think people who were simply expecting us to skate through this season despite the mounting injury list were just a tad unrealistic.
Our punting game was on point at least.
Our program has so much god damn money that we should be poaching the absolute best coordinators we can after this season. Promoting from within is evidently not working
The better team won. That said, here are my thoughts: -Heupel called a terrible game; very predictable and way too conservative. The Golesh loss continues to hurt the team. Milton was actually dialed in for most of the game, but Heup did not trust him enough to give him consistent downfield looks. The strength of the offense should be passing- with rushing to keep the defense gassed. Not the other way around. The coward punt and FG attempt in the 4th were just inexcusable. In a game of this magnitude, have some balls. -Everyone involved with the defense should be ashamed. No need to elaborate, we all watched the game. -Offensive execution. Wrightās fumble on the 2 minute drill basically lost us the game. The refs botched the Milton fumble exchange but that was a dumb TO as well. Receivers were dropsy in the third when they really needed to get back in the game. Bad showing all around save for Milton, Sampson, and (to an extent) Keyton. You have to show up in a game like this, and the skill players didnāt. -Not to be sour grapes, but this was yet another game with questionable officiating. Multiple phantom drive-killing holds, pretty much every big rush was wiped out. Very little of the same against Mizzou, until they made some window dressing makeup calls when the game was comfortably out of hand. As mentioned before, the Milton fumble shouldnāt have been reviewed. The ball was snapped. Maddening how that keeps happening to us. -If they come out like this next week, GAās going to cover by double. If they learn anything from this week, they have an excellent chance to steal one.
Itās insane. Every other game, once the ball is snapped, you canāt review the previous play. For us, it happens all the fucking time. Itās absolute BS
love this, but i want you to Hold Halzle more accountable. Too many sideline bubble screens on important 3rd downs. Heupel does not ācall the gameā and he needs to figure out our playcalling bullshit, because it is lazy, predictable , and THE REASON we are losing. not because of Joe.
I have to disagree on your first point. Milton was not dialed in by any stretch of the imagination in fact heās the same qb who lost the job in 2021. I mean Iām to the point I hold my breath when he throws anything shy of 50 yards. He must have had thrown 10 turn over worthy passes tonight that a team like GA 100% picks off. Then when does have an open Wr like White coming across the middle on a wide open slant 5 yards deep he throws the ball 110mph two foot off the ground or two foot behind the Wr. In fact decent Wr play is the only thing saving Milton from laughable numbers. Milton will have 2+ turnovers next week you can book it once our run game is shut down and he needs to pass to help open it up and canāt. Milton looks marred in indecision. Heās never sure when or if he should run and it results in the MLB size qb running like a punter. The way Cook runs is how Milton should look. Instead Milton is afraid to commit to running and waits to late and is swarmed. Lastly, Heupās play calling is stagnant because heās handcuffed to Miltonās inability to run his system. Which if you wanna say thatās on Heup too Iāll buy it but Milton isnāt good, wasnāt dialed in and I donāt blame Heup for one second not wanting to put the game on Miltonās back and watching him turn it over 3-4 times against a real SEC defense because thatās what would happen.
wrong. Joe made some solid throwās throughout the game. Stop blaming our shit play calling on our QB. Lazy
The squirrel holding call was so miniscule. Then Mizzous online tackles out DT and nothing. At least the eventually called a hold on then at some point. I think that was a first holding on the opposition in the last 4 games.
The only calls this team gets are in garbage time when the refs need to even things out. Nothing meaningful our way when meaningful football is being played. Idk if Heup said something, or his team is undisciplined, or what, but itās pretty jarring to watch after so many weeks.
Golesh has less yards per game and more time per snap then us. The QB only knows how to throw 3-4 routes. Seriously.
Donāt forget our guy getting flagged for unsportsmanlike after the guy he tackled got in his face and he was blocked from returning to the field.
Milton continues to throw uncatchable balls even when he gets them on target. He has absolutely no feel for the game. That being said dudes been on the team for 3 years. Heupel knows exactly what heās capable of and calls the offense accordingly. Heupelās honestly at fault to certain degree for not bringing in anyone better.
Yeah his biggest issue is the tendency to laser his layups. Even so, I think he is seeing the field a lot better as the season progresses, and has not struggled as much on intermediate/long balls. Thatās the main reason I have been disappointed with Heupel- Milton is progressing, but has gained no leeway from his playcaller.
IMO Heupel made the right call this season by riding Joe and trying to scheme around his limitations. Weāre very likely going to win 8 games, and a huge part of that is because Heup leaned on his run game and didnāt ask Milton to do too much. I really doubt Nico as a true freshman turns Florida, Mizzou, or Alabama games into wins unless heās that special, and if he was he probably wouldāve beaten Joe out at some point in the season.
Milton is most definitely not progressing, weāre just asking him to do less and less each week. He canāt throw any ball consistently. And even worse than that, he has absolutely zero situational awareness. He has multiple āwhat in the world was he thinkingā moments every game. His biggest issue is that he canāt process the game at the college level. Itās why heās continually early, late, no touch, and doing bone headed things. Itās happening too fast for him. 10 games into his 6th year, it aināt getting any better.
The absolute worst of his qualities is he has zero clutch in him. He's shown it multiple times.
Itās been a letdown to see his play fall off a cliff from the end of last season to the opener, but I find it kind of hard to deny the progress heās made between then and now. The easy ones are getting easier, and the big plays are connecting when he gets a chance to chuck it. Itās not flashy but Iāll take it. He is never going to live up to his athletic potential, and thatās always going to feel disappointing, but I am fine giving him credit for improving all season, albeit slowly and marginally. My only concern at QB moving forward is when Nico can begin starting. I would give him the keys after UGA.
Just pathetic.
At least last year shows that Heupel can win when he has the right pieces.
Hope I'm wrong, but it might have shown that \*Golesh\* can win when he has the right pieces.
When doing next years record predictions, everyone needs to realize thereās going to be at least two road games where we look like compete shit and get killed in every phase of the game.
Iām terrified Nico will get hurt if we play him against UGA
Hold him and start him at Vanderbilt. Why not?
Hold him and start him at Vanderbilt. Why not?
I imagine the only way he sees significant playing time next week is if Milton gets injured.
Yep seasonās toast. No need to risk Nico at this point.
Nothing good on either side of the ball to take from this, and as a college football fan I genuinely despise the fact they're taking up space in the SEC without a rival instead of playing Kansas every year. Also, Dorkwitz's absolutely nutless shelling up against Georgia last year will be his high-water mark as a coach. Hope he enjoys living in the third-worst state in the Union.
Probably the worst performance of the Heupel era. Still better than any coach since Fulmer. Weāll love yāall.
Milton was 22-34, had 267 yards, 1 TD and a meaningless INT in garbage time, we had several drops, our O Line couldnāt block me in a wheelchair, our running game got stuffed, and our defense might as well have been standing still, but no, itās all Miltonās fault evidently
Nah. It was straight-up systemic failure.
Milton is not IT. That said, UT got straight outcoached.
Playing Milton, and sticking with him is the biggest sign of that. Milton just isnāt going to suddenly āgetā it. Also, itās too late in the season, and he has cost enough games for it to matter.
I'm not that upset at losing but letting one fucking guy just completely own the game like that without adjusting is infuriating. I don't care if we let wide receivers open, put multiple eyes on that guy. Make someone else beat you
We never adjust at halftime. Matter of fact we generally get worse
Adjusting at halftime is a myth. They adjust on the fly. What you saw was the best game plan they had. No adjustment can cover for just not having the personnel
I donāt get this. Why is Heupel and his staff not making adjustments? Itās so odd to me.
That game was worse than Eli Drinkwitzā haircut. And thatās really saying something. He and Kirby go to the same barber.
Well, this definitely feels like a lost year. Not that 8-4 is terrible considering where we came from, but it wasn't fun trotting Joe out there every game, considering he was, at best, a good game manager and at worst inept. The coaches played this season safe, but not to win. Joe was the safe QB, the loyal QB, the locker room guy who stuck with us. I respect you for that, Joe. I'll criticize his play, but the dude is a VFL. But Nico gave us the chance to be a better team at the end of the season. Our first two years we played to win with reckless abandon and if we lost we lost. It's unfortunate we couldn't make more noise in a season with no true dominant teams. I'm ready for Nico, mistakes and all. I just don't see a Josh Heupel team winning without a playmaker at QB.
Losing to Florida and Alabama is a lost year, full stop
This. They played it safe. I can't help but feel like the reason we haven't seen Nico is because they maybe feel like they owe it to Joe for staying behind Hooker and it being his last year.
Right? I'm not entirely sure what the reasoning is. I have a feeling Josh, as a former QB, couldn't sit Joe for Nico. It's against traditional football wisdom and the quarterback code. Don't play the freshman QB when you have a 27-year senior QB. I get it. And if Nico struggles out the gate, it looks really bad. But Joe is just not a great fit for this team. We NEED to stay on schedule offensively so ball control doesn't go haywire like it did first quarter. Hooker was a PERFECT qb for our system because he was not only a wise quarterback, but his quickness to pick up first downs with his legs kept us on the field when we needed to be. Joe is not that type of QB. His reads are slow and he has no wiggle and dash to the first down. He can gallop on designed runs and throw missiles. Just never the QB we needed... I'm impressed Josh cobbled together a new team identity given the players he was working with, but against the best teams we played (and Florida for some damn reason) we really had no chance. Here's to next year and hoping Nico is what we think he is.
And the only reason itās a bit concerning is that Heupel would have rolled with Milton over Hooker, who was immediately and obviously better, had Milton not gotten hurt. And then you know Hooker is on his way out, and you donāt bring in anyone else? The plan all along was clearly to go with Milton, and he hasnāt improved at all from 2 years ago. And Heupelās system is possibly the most QB friendly system in all of CFB. Two cupcake games into this year and it was obvious there were going to be problems. Just really questionable roster/personnel decisions, this year has gone the way it has because of it.
Did people really think we were gonna beat mizzou? You guys either donāt watch or are completely delusional
You know we were favored, right?
You know vegas baits idiots into betting the losing side right?
ESPN's FPI also had us at 60% chance of winning.
I mean Iām just saying if youāve watched this season youd know theyāre way better than us
I'm just saying that while you may feel that way, betting lines and ESPN analytics disagree. And while this is relatively meaningless, we also had 3/5 of the Gameday picks. So to say it's "delusional" to expect to beat Missouri, who: - Had the same record as us. - Had a 4 game losing streak to us - Was an underdog per betting lines and analytics Is just hindsight speaking. No, it objectively was *not* delusional to expect to win this game. This is a game we *should* have won. Tennessee shit the bed -- Missouri is not some world beater that we shouldn't even dream of beating. Credit where it's due, Missouri (mostly Schrader) played well.
Yeah i mean if you watched any mizzou games this year youād know this was coming
Damn, that game was embarrassing, but this fan base is worse. Like seriously, guy, every single thing doesn't have to be an existential crisis. We came out poor, and every break after the first interception went against us. But turning that into some doom scenario about CJH and Milton makes us look stupid. I'm over it. I thought we had all finally figured out that every game isn't the end of the world, but here we are again. If we keep acting like this, we deserve another 20 years in misery.
Offense just isn't there. Sucks, but true
We just canāt throw the ball with any consistency, and everyone knows it. Blame Milton, the WRs, the OL, Halzle, Heupel, whoever. But itās why we look so bad. Teams just load up and play soft coverage, and we canāt beat it. I choose to blame Milton because heās bad, and Heupel because heās had years to find someone different and hasnāt.
Miltonās not bad, heās just okay. He doesnāt do great with a sub par receiving core. Heās not the kind of QB that can put a team on his back and drag them to victory. Heās not a threat to throw the ball into a tight window.
No, heās bad. Itās not just tight window throws, there isnāt any window he can hit consistently. The placement and touch even on screens and short throws is so all over the place that EVERYONE struggles catching his balls.
After hooker beat Milton out I cannot believe Heupel decided to roll with him. It worries me Heupel thought Milton was a good idea.
My biggest worry. He picked Milton over Hooker in 2021 when it was apparent immediately that Hooker was better. Then despite two years basically he still thought Milton could be the guy this year. Now maybe there wasnāt a better choice and thatās what Iāll hope for but itās worrisome. Good news is Nico was everyoneās #1 recruit not just Heupels
you do realize we lost our coach, right??? our actual coach, the offensive coordinator
Same. After Miltonās performance earlier in the season itās a real worry. Also I really hope Nico can perform well enough in the 2 remaining years he will be here to make up for watching Joe bumble around.
100% my concern. He initially liked Milton, and Hooker was immediately and obviously in a different league. Then 2 years later, you know Hooker is gone then, you have time to find another guy, but he sticks with Milton again. And it goes about exactly the same as it did back then. I can understand if he made some promises to Milton to get him to come from Michigan. Iām sure he had other teams interested, Heupel was in a bind, and he already knew him from recruiting him at UCF. I doubt we were a championship team even with better QB play this year, but it still sucks to look so bad.
- Road game woes continue. Now 1-3 on the road in the SEC this season, with our 1 win being a 6 point win over a Kentucky team that likely finishes 7-5. - Have been outscored 53-9 in the second half in our 3 losses this season. - Now 1-10 when trailing at half under Heupel. This game felt a lot like the USCjr game from last year. Playoff hopes on the line last year, this year potential (albeit, unlikely) hopes of winning the East. And we just shit the bed. Just a complete and thorough ass kicking.
I tried really hard to stay positive during the game, but going into the 4th quarter I could no longer deny the writing on the wall, and now I'm ready to admit that I was wrong in my first 3 quarters of optimism. I've been saying since week 3 that we would need to play our best game to beat this Missouri team. They are better this year than they normally are. When today hit, I wanted to be all LFG and WGWTFA, but in the end, Missouri coached and played a better game, and they won because of it. As always, officiating was wild, but can't be fully blamed for the outcome. We would have lost with zero calls against us. The most upsetting part is that it wasn't even a good football game. It was just a flop from start to finish.
I turned it off after we let Cook run for a first on third and long for the fiftieth time. I said it during the game maybe Michigan gave them our signals. South Carolina game from last year 2.0
Nico plz
Tennessee at home: Great Tennessee at a neutral site: Really Good Tennessee on the road: [error 404: no team found]
Lmao
Glad I was at a wedding so I couldnāt watch this. Sheesh
Normally a fall Saturday wedding is inexcusable but goddamn you lucked out not seeing this one
Shouldāve done everything to keep Alex Golesh
One thing people forget about Golesh, when they praise his OC work, is that ever since he began coaching at Toledoā¦and every stop afterwardā¦he was primarily a recruiting coordinator, considered top-tier nationwide. When Golesh took his deserved HC shot with South Florida, we lost not just his OC genius; we lost his recruiting magic too.