Honest question - What should we watch?

[SmellyCat]

One of the UT fans posted that he started watching the Stanford/NU game and had some good comments and insights. Not that I'm Mr. Insight, but there are three weeks until this game and the only Tennessee football I've seen this year was more or less background (as in, I wasn't paying attention with the idea that NU would be meeting them on the field eventually, but more as entertainment).

So if I wanted to watch a game or games that were representative of the Volunteers' season, what would I want to see? North Texas would be as boring for us to watch as EIU would be for them, but maybe Florida (despite being a loss for Tennessee) would be interesting, as it was close, featured a team with good D and shaky O, and Tennessee managed to hang 27 on them.

 

[Seattle_Cat]

Where would one go to view games from this season?

 

[big orange fever]

I would check out the last two games against Mizzou and Vandy. Solid defenses with very little offense, similar to what you have described for NU. Team was finally taking shape. If you want a more stout defense, check out the Alabama game, though I don't see NU replicating that defense. Juiced up Will Grier will give you a false perception of the current Florida team. Florida had a solid offense with Grier at the helm.

 

[SmellyCat]

Seattle - I figure if you look hard enough, you can find them somewhere (or maybe one of our friends in Orange can point us in the right direction).

Big Orange Fever - thanks for the recommendations. I especially like seeing Mizzou and Vanderbilt get beat.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

You can find most of the games on Youtube (which is where I'm finding the NU games, as well).

The guy who designed and runs our fan forum, VolNation, did a great job with some of the games this year, cutting them into just the plays, all the time between snaps chopped out. You can watch a whole game in like 20 minutes, heh. Those are on Youtube, too, just google them along the lines of "Tennessee Georgia highlights".

As for which games to watch to get the best feel of our team, here are some good options:

1. Our most recent game was against Vandy. So if you want to see the late-season Vols, that's not a bad choice. I think there's a highlight reel on it.

2. The two games that I think show us at our best are the Georgia and Alabama games. Sure, we lost the Bama one, but I personally think it was the most complete game our coaches and players put together. So either of those would be good for the "high end".

3. If you want to see us at our ugliest, go to the Arkansas game. We stunk up the joint that night (and it was a home game).

4. Finally, if you want to get a feel for the "flavor" of the 2015 season for the Vols, you really should watch either the Oklahoma or Florida games. Many Vols fans will tell you years from now that Team 119 (our current squad) were the guys who built good leads early, came on like gangbusters, then slowed down and put it all at risk in the second half. To the extent of giving up 14+ point leads and losing to both those two teams. A couple of other games had that same feel (South Carolina in particular), but the OK and FL games are the ones that "define" Team 119's character in the minds of many.

If I only had the time/energy to watch two, I'd go with Georgia and Oklahoma. Kind of the two poles holding up the tent on our 8-4 season.

Best to you, I'm watching Northwestern-Wisconsin tomorrow!

 

[cat inkansas]

I would check out the last two games against Mizzou and Vandy. Solid defenses with very little offense, similar to what you have described for NU. Team was finally taking shape. If you want a more stout defense, check out the Alabama game, though I don't see NU replicating that defense. Juiced up Will Grier will give you a false perception of the current Florida team. Florida had a solid offense with Grier at the helm.

Kudos for correctly identifying us as NU. I saw the UT/Mizzou game and although I am not as knowledgeable as some (maybe most) on these boards, I thought that UT looked a lot like NU.

 

[cat inkansas]

You can find most of the games on Youtube (which is where I'm finding the NU games, as well).

The guy who designed and runs our fan forum, VolNation, did a great job with some of the games this year, cutting them into just the plays, all the time between snaps chopped out. You can watch a whole game in like 20 minutes, heh. Those are on Youtube, too, just google them along the lines of "Tennessee Georgia highlights".

As for which games to watch to get the best feel of our team, here are some good options:

1. Our most recent game was against Vandy. So if you want to see the late-season Vols, that's not a bad choice. I think there's a highlight reel on it.

2. The two games that I think show us at our best are the Georgia and Alabama games. Sure, we lost the Bama one, but I personally think it was the most complete game our coaches and players put together. So either of those would be good for the "high end".

3. If you want to see us at our ugliest, go to the Arkansas game. We stunk up the joint that night (and it was a home game).

4. Finally, if you want to get a feel for the "flavor" of the 2015 season for the Vols, you really should watch either the Oklahoma or Florida games. Many Vols fans will tell you years from now that Team 119 (our current squad) were the guys who built good leads early, came on like gangbusters, then slowed down and put it all at risk in the second half. To the extent of giving up 14+ point leads and losing to both those two teams. A couple of other games had that same feel (South Carolina in particular), but the OK and FL games are the ones that "define" Team 119's character in the minds of many.

If I only had the time/energy to watch two, I'd go with Georgia and Oklahoma. Kind of the two poles holding up the tent on our 8-4 season.

Best to you, I'm watching Northwestern-Wisconsin tomorrow!

NU, not NW-----but I will not ignore as you seem like a rationale and informed fellow.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

NU, not NW-----but I will not ignore as you seem like a rationale and informed fellow.

Heh, yeah, my bad, I noticed that right after I posted it. Went back and fixed it, but clearly not before you saw. Oops!


p.s. In my records and spreadsheets, I've been abbreviating you guys as "NW" for many years...never knew until now that you preferred NU. So that's perhaps the first of hopefully several useful things I've learned being a visitor here.

 

[cat inkansas]

Heh, yeah, my bad, I noticed that right after I posted it. Went back and fixed it, but clearly not before you saw. Oops!

What else do you expect old retired "farts" to be up to?

 

[AFVolunteer]

Vandy game in its entirety:

Mizzou game:

Most, if not all, of our games this year are hosted by the guy above. Can't get his page to link properly, but search for "classic vol video" on youtube or find it from the two links above.

 

[SmellyCat]

Best to you, I'm watching Northwestern-Wisconsin tomorrow!

VFL - Thanks for the thoughtful response, and AFV - thanks for the links.

You may enjoy the Wisconsin game if you like watching a nasty defensive performance. Plus reserve judgment on the questionable calls, by the way. The fair catch one in particular was a rule many of us didn't know as it occurred. And of course the end of the game was VERY controversial and some may feel NU didn't deserve to win. Those people missed a dominating defensive performance with several turnovers, sacks, and -26 rushing yards. I know Dobbs is MUCH different from Stave, but NU's D made Stave look like a freshman in that one, not the redshirt senior he is.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

VFL - Thanks for the thoughtful response, and AFV - thanks for the links.

You may enjoy the Wisconsin game if you like watching a nasty defensive performance. Plus reserve judgment on the questionable calls, by the way. The fair catch one in particular was a rule many of us didn't know as it occurred. And of course the end of the game was VERY controversial and some may feel NU didn't deserve to win. Those people missed a dominating defensive performance with several turnovers, sacks, and -26 rushing yards. I know Dobbs is MUCH different from Stave, but NU's D made Stave look like a freshman in that one, not the redshirt senior he is.

Thanks. Okay, I appreciate the heads-up on things to watch out for.