Tennessee

Sorry I was late, but you get what you pay for.

QB: eh. Leak needs to get a better sense of when to vacate the pocket, a couple of times he could have run for yardage but was looking down field to pass instead. You want that, but there are times you should run. He remains inaccurate on occasion (which means he really should be running more and he is not great throwing on the move). He also threw two passes that Tennessee easily could have picked (credit Cornelius for making a great play to break one up in the redzone on the TD drive). Leak did not do a great job managing the game, but he did do enough to keep drives alive by hitting some long passes on third down; keeping our D off the field and tiring out theirs. Maybe it was not the prettiest game ever, you never like settling for so many field goals, but the competition was stiff. Still there are some basic aspects to football he seems not to grasp; case in point when were trying to run the clock out at the end he was leaving anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds on the play clock when he snapped; where was Meyer to say something?
GRADE: B

RB: Wynn is clearly the best back on the team. I give credit to Meyer for figuring out pretty quickly we could not run wide and working up the middle for most of the game. Even more so for running repeatedly even if we were not getting chucks of yardage most of the time. Our commitment to run was big in helping us hold on to that lead. I still think we should use our fullback more.
GRADE: B+

WR: Losing Caldwell hurt, but Dallas Baker deserves note for stepping up after that happened and making some plays. No one had an outstanding game, but they made big plays on third and long when we needed them.
GRADE: B

TE: He is number 84, keep an eye out for him. If you see him, let me know.
GRADE: NA

OL: Leak was not constantly under constant pressure despite how much we went five wide; although there was clearly some. There was at least some running room against a pretty good (and large) defensive line.
GRADE: B (B+ in comparison to what I expected given how they had played so far: this is probably the part of the team that has improved the most.).

DL: Riggs gashed us for some big runs early and once again we could only get pressure via the blitz. Losing McDonald hurt, but honestly we seemed better against the run once he was out (although it killed the pass rush); does Ray has a tendency to run upfield and overshoot the play? (Seriously, I have never noticed it myself). Whatever halftime adjustments were made worked very well as we really shut them down after that. They probably should have kept trying, but there was not much to be had. Last week I commented we telegraphed our blitzes, well this week I caught them repeatedly feigning corner blitzes and bailing on them. It seemed to work some; I definitely saw UT changing their blocking schemes a few times. We got sucked into one screen early, after falling for it a half dozen times against LA Tech, but never again.
GRADE: B+

LB: Continue to be workmanlike. The only big play they made was the pass deflected in the redzone on the failed fieldgoal drive, but there were no breakdowns. You have to appreciate that.
GRADE: B

DB: No picks (Webb dropped a possibility). Yes; they gave up some long (as in 10 yards for a first down) passes, but they adjusted to that. They beat Vernell Brown (the other starting CB; the local kid) on three (I think it was three) up and outs, but he adjusted after a while and drove on them to break up a couple so they gave that up. [It is possible that might have been coaching; maybe they told him he had a safety up top so he could go for it]. The main point is they never let Tennessee get any type of rhythm in the passing game.
GRADE: A

Special Teams: Surprisingly good. Ignoring the three big plays, there were no screwups of the type we had seen in the first two games. Coverage was pretty good even if returns were not. Getting blocked field goal was a huge momentum boost. On the muffed punt our cover guy played that perfectly: after the muff he realized the return man was in a better position to cover the ball so he did not go for it and instead killed the Volunteer so he could not get it. On the failed fake punt that was a botch by us: we did not cover one of the gunners; their punter saw the opportunity and made the right move (it was apparently not a called fake I learned after the game). Thankfully he is a punter, not a QB so his throw had no zip on and Tony Joiner (that is right Tony Joiner, not Dee Webb who the scoreboard credited. He is number 19. No, I had never heard of him before either. Webb was the one who blocked the field goal though) made a great individual play.
GRADE: A-

Coaching: That gimmicky offense is not working. I do not know if it is because SEC defenses are just that much better than what Meyer has faced before, or the players have not grasped it, but it did not work. Meyer did slowly figure out to use less and less of those shovel passes. I will give him props for the first touchdown. That misdirection to Caldwell was done off a play they had run ad nauseum in the first two games. I guarantee Tennessee though it was a play they recognized (I sure did) and that was why they over pursued. I have mentioned the adjustments they made during the game already, but there are two calls I want to talk about. Going for it on 4th and one in your own territory: an absolutely awful call. Despite its popularity with the drunk undergrads surrounding me (including one truly annoying girl who explained her “philosophy” was to yell we are on defense, but not on offense: thanks honey) a smart coach would never make that move. It was a tie game in the second quarter, Tennessee had just driven 83 yards for a TD and you are risking giving them a short field. Even if it works, you are still in your own end. Had replay not overturned the catch and they score it is a totally different game. You can say you should be able to get 6 inches all you want, it was a stupid move. It was also stupid to go for the endzone rather than punt late in the game on 4th down. It probably did not seem big to anyone else at the time, but after a clock burning drive we could have putted and pinned them inside the ten, instead we left them with space. Nine times out of ten it is meaningless (as it was), but a great coach is thorough coach and would have done that knowing that you play the percentages and make sure you win because you never know what might happen. Ask the Cowboys.
GRADE: B- (I really credit homefield and the deafening cheers as a part of this win)

Final Verdict: We put together two scoring drives to their one. We played better and deserved to win (regardless of how many quarterbacks they were using). We are still not a national championship contender. However after a big win moves us to fifth in the nation it is good idea to look ahead: Next week we are at Kentucky; no problem. After that we are at Alabama, a team that is better than generally recognized (unless their QB gets hurt again) and could upset us. I do hope the give us a tough game because the week after that we are at LSU. Right now I do not think we can do it, but we shall have had two more games to sharpen up that offense (and get used to playing without Caldwell and McDonald; we can not take many more loses). If we win at LSU, we have a bye week to prep for an overrated UGA (sorry Jen, but if Alabama can kill South Carolina at home why did the Dawgs struggle?). If that is still five versus six, I am probably paying out my money to go (should anyone wish to carpool). After that it is smooth sailing, I do not believe the Gamecocks have enough to beat us (unless we are overconfident) and Vandy will not win here. FSU might be getting better, but beating BC is a far cry from winning on the road in the Swamp. Either way we are probably in the SEC playoffs, and have a chance to win those to go onto a BCS bowl. SEC champ plays in the Sugar Bowl, but thanks to Katrina there is talk it may be in Atlanta (someone remind me to kiss up to Taylor).

Eagles 42, 49ers 3: I know what I am talking about.