Vandy, Vandy, Oh Hell Yes........

I am sure those of you over by the (small) Vandy section heard that chant way to many times Saturday afternoon. I have to admit that I am not terribly surprised by this outcome. I was commenting to a fellow tailgater before the game that I thought we would win, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if we lost. Vandy has a history of playing the Dawgs close even in years when we can tell our hind quarters from a hole in the ground 2 out of 3 times, and this team last year wasn't just Jay Cutler. They have an outstanding defense and RB/WR combination. Plus the fact that they are a scrappy bunch and played with alot of heart, which I have yet to see out of the Silver and Black this year.

This is how things looked to me from Section 321:

Offense

• QB play wasn't bad, Stafford looked great and would have been 12/13 if not for two drops (that incidentally were drive killers). Joe T. didn't look that horrible either, although his lack of arm strength was apparent on a play where he tried to throw an out route to A.J. Bryant from the left hash and it was horribly slow and underthrown (and almost picked off). I love the kid and his attitude, but its time to look to the future and play Stafford and Cox and let them take their lumps. I would rather lose with them now and win next year than get marginal play from Joe T. and have the young guys learn nothing.
• We ran the ball well again in the first half, Brown and Lumpkin were ripping off big chunks and it looked like the O line was blocking well also. Once again though we went away from the run in the second half resulting in 3 and outs. Terrible news about the injury to T. Brown, looks like he is done for the year.
• WR's didn't play too badly either. A.J. Bryant had a couple of nice catches but he did have two key drops. Mo Mass had a couple of good grabs also. They seemed to block pretty well on running plays too.
• O-line....where to start. First of all they did really well run blocking in the first half, pass protection wasn't bad but wasn't great either. In the second half we couldn't run or pass very well and I blame the line on not opening holes and holding their blocks long enough in pass protection. Daniel Inman needs to be run until he throws his toe nails up for the stupid, uncalled for personal foul penalty (that incidentally killed a drive). There is no reason for that and speaks of how undisciplined this team is this year.
• Offensive play calling- I could write for days on this topic! In a nutshell we were hamstrung in certain situations by our playcalling. The shotgun with 3 wide inside the 10 yard line doesn't work. It didn't work last week and didn't work the 3 TIMES we tried it yesterday. Why we don't get into a power I with 2 TE's and pound the ball straight up the gut 4 times is beyond me. We come away with 6 instead of 3 on those possessions then it's an entirely different ball game. I also don't get why CMR insists on asking Joe T. to try and do things he is not capable of doing (i.e. the out route from the opposite hash). Play to your strengths.

Defense

• I can sum this up in one word: Pathetic. This has to be one of the most pathetic displays of defense that I have seen in a long, long time. It is mostly due to coaching and scheme, I'll address this later
• DB's were terrible, they got beat in man coverage (both Oliver and Brown gave up long passes), tackled poorly (but then again who on Defense didn't?), Bryan Evans whiffed on at least 3 tackles that I counted. Saftey play was awful (C.J. Byrd being the exception), the only reason Tra Battle made the interception is that it was thrown right to him and hit him in the hands. These guys are supposed to be talented, but they don't cover well in man, they don't break on the ball in zone, and they don't tackle well at all.
• LB's were marginal at best. The only bright spot was Tony Taylor's pick six at the end of the game. I actually feel sorry for Taylor, he is having an outstanding season that is being overshadowed by the rotten play of his supporting cast. Ellerbe is supposed to be a cover LB and was beaten by the TE more than once, Jackson and the others were OK in run defense.
• The D-line took the game off again. Moses and Johnson were more or less invisible the entire game. Owens, Gant, and Weston had a few good plays but were mostly whipped by the Vandy O line. They generated no pressure on the QB and he had all day to throw.
• Coaching and scheme-There aren't words in the English language to describe how bad both of these are. Willie Martinez should be run out of town on a rail for the last two games he has called. Who in the hell thinks a zone inside your own 10 is a good defense?? If you are going to get beat, at least get beat in man coverage trying to apply some pressure. Our scheme is awful, it doesn't work anymore. Everyone in the SEC has figured out how to beat us, bubble screen look familiar to anyone? I don't attend practice so I don't know what they work on, and I don't watch the film that the staff watches but come on, obviously the coverages and blitz packages (what few we run) are not working. Change something, anything, just don't sit back and get picked apart by an average QB who has all day to throw. Would somebody please teach these kids the fundamentals of the form tackle, this has to be the worst tackling Defense we have had in a LONG time.

Special Teams

• Punting was OK (no blocks), Kickoffs were surprisingly good, Coverages on both were good with the one exception of the long KO return. Andy Bailey missed the FG at the end of the game that could have won the game, but in his defense the wind was blowing pretty hard.

My take on the game......

We have no heart and no drive to win. I haven't seen a team quit like this since the Donnan days. We don't play physical on Defense, our Offense still doesn't have an identity, our scheme on both sides of the ball is stale and needs to be changed ( we are so predictable on Offense that I called our first two series sitting in my seat, don't think that DC's all around the league aren't doing the same), and as I stated before PLEASE get rid of the soft zone defense. I would rather get torched in man or combination coverage. We need to get well against the Bizzaro Bulldogs next week and try to get things right so we aren't completely embarassed in Jacksonville. Joe T. is a great kid, but we are offically playing for next year now and its Stafford's turn to get some OJT to prepare him for next year. Lumpkin needs to be the primary running back for the rest of the year with Ware spelling him periodically. On Defense I really don't have an answer, I think Oliver is capable of being a shut down corner, which would leave the safeties to help out the other corner and the nickel back. Our LB's need to play faster, and we have to get pressure on the QB with our front seven.

I will try and get a preview of the Bizarro Dogs up this week, until then stay safe and GOOO DAWGS!