Not the game I expected.

The TN Vols got slammed right out of the gate. I just could not believe that Auburn would drive on their first 2 possessions & score touchdowns like that. Auburn looked like a contender for a while & UT was a joke.

Last quarter was almost the opposite. When Casey converted that 4th & 15, I really thought we were going to score. Th & tie the game. That thought didn't last long

The offense met my expectations, Auburn exceeded my expectation (props to the Tigers), and the Vols defense laid an egg.

At least we can pride ourselves on that great punting. Punting *really* wins championships, right? Cause that's our only hope right now.

ross

[golferttu]

Tennessee really diappointed me this weekend. Our defense was absolutely dominated by auburn's offensive line. Congratulations to them because they practically just made us look like a high school football team. It was really an embarrasing game. If tennessee doesn't step it up then we can say goodbye to both the national championship and any bowl game period if we are gonna play like that.

[bpjett]

Auburn really impressed me as well. I expected them to be tough for us, but not this tough. They really had their game on. The Vols on the other hand, their game didn't show up til the fourth quarter, a little too late to recover from trailing 21 points. Clausen and the Vols' offense really turned it on toward the end. We definately had a shot, but we ran out of luck. I'd like to believe that Clausen's last interception was a miscommunication between him and his receiver. Looked like a missed route to me. Anyway, bottom line...Auburn was on....we weren't.

[mprater]

If you check out the "previews" section, the fellow correctly pointed out the fact Auburn was a pre-season #1 pick by a lot of the press. Yes, they got off to a rough start, but something had to be there in the first place for such to have occurred, and QB Jason Campbell and crew showed why.
The Vols' defense was suspect enough coming into the game, after the hard time they had keeping up with South Carolina's offense. As for the punting, Colquit is about as "blue blood" as they come, seeing his dad enjoyed successful tenures with the Vols and the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the 1970s hey days, so yes, a very good punter WILL make a difference, ala the SC game. At least THIS year it makes a difference.
Anyway, Hang in there fellow Big Orange fans! 4-1 at this juncture is better than I had hoped for the Vols!!

[rmjvol]

Watching some replays on CSS, a few things I noticed time and time again:

mprater, as you said in another post, the Tigers continually brought an 8/9 man front, putting everyone up in the box. Everyone knows that we are a run first/pass second team, so this was a smart move. Kudos to the defensive coordinator for sticking to his guns even as we began to slowly pick apart the Auburn D with the passing game towards the end. Clausen was pressured all day.

For the Vols' defense, I'd like to ask John Chavis what he was thinking. I watch the game over and I watch Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown and Brandon Jacobs dominating us and running everywhere...and then I watch our defensive formation. We have 6 guys in the box. Four man defensive front, two inside backers playing close. This is not gonna cut it!!! Auburn is mercilessly pounding us with the running game, their passing game is an afterthought and only shows up when running appears to not be an option, and the most we can put on the line is six guys? I want to weep.

Defensively, we made no actual committment to stop the run.

One more thing: I have to give Clausen some praise on this game. How many times did he hit a receiver in the hands and have the receiver drop it? As I said, he was pressured all day long and still made some excellent throws. BPJett, I too think that the interception was a bad route, though I could be wrong. But I find it hard to believe that after making that clutch throw on 4th and 15, Clausen would sail one away by that much.

The offensive line is beginning to look like a joke. We may have fared better with a few tackling dummies sparsely scattered around the field.

Kudos to Clausen and Colquitt cause nobody else is deserving in my book...