The TIDAL Wave - Tennessee Edition
Will Reichard is the most consistent weapon in CFB. It’s hard to quantify what he means to the Tide. Thank goodness NIL brought him back to the Tide for another year!
The defense locked down for the second half. Whatever Kevin Steele is doing for adjustments, bottle it & keep it for the future. His second half adjustments (this week playing more even coverage) have been on point all season.
Kool-aid had a horrible day returning. Wonder if someone else gets a shot against LSU?
Play calling by Tommy Rees was better. The jet sweeps still didn’t look like the 2nd coming of Sark, but it was much better. I thought for perhaps the first time all season, the offense developed a solid rhythm in the 2nd half.
I’ve been very critical of Milroe. He looked much better in the 2nd half. It seemed like he finally relaxed and let the game come to him. Didn’t overthink it and was very instinctive as a runner. I’m calling that significant improvement.
The running game finally started to click in the 2nd half. Jase really pressed the hole and the OL seemed to get a ton of confidence.
Speaking of the OL, they seemed to hold their technique much better in the face of pressure. Really cleaned up the discipline penalties. Holding their stance for an entire 40 sec. clock without a twitch in on 4th down late in the game is the kind of discipline play that I hope inspires them to play with more confidence.
Caleb Downs played well save a couple of times he got caught looking into the backfield & getting greedy as opposed to maintaining his leverage. All in all, the secondary was solid & hats off to Tennessee for the two TDs. Just great execution that was hard to defend.
Tennessee may be crying about the officiating, but both teams were significantly under their season average in penalties and yards. Officiating didn’t determine this one just like it didn’t last year. Ultimately, Heupel killed his own team’s chances by going 0-3 of 4th down attempts.
I just have to say this: Vol fans really make it easy to hate their team. The whining is unparalleled especially in the face of their futility. Good to start a new streak this year. Given the choice, I would rather beat them over Auburn or LSU. Can’t express how much they remind me of a Chihuahua barking at a Rottweiler with their bluster every single year only to be nothing.
