Shots Across The Bow

Vols answer some questions

Saturday afternoon, UT Football returned after a year long absence. Banishing most of the demons from last year, the Vols played as a team, dismantling the Fresno State Bulldogs 24-6. The defense totally dominated a highly rated Bulldog offense, which returned a 1500yd rusher. In fact, the defense pitched a shutout, marred by an ugly pass from Clausen that resulted in an easy 6 for Fresno State.

Report Card

Quarterback: D
Picking right up where he left off last year, Clausen gave Fresno State their only points of the game on a lousy pass which went straight to the cornerback. Add another interception, several obviously bad throws to wide open recievers, and a fumble to his tally sheet, and he should be happy with a D.

Running Backs: B
Cedric Houston showed why we missed him so much last year, running with vision and intensity. Jabari Davis blasted through the line and outran everyone to the goal line, showing again that he's not just a power back. Fullback Troy Fleming still has not mastered the art of blocking, and is liable to be exposed when he comes up against quality linebackers.

Receivers: B
When the ball was catchable, they caught it. James Banks made a spectacular sideline grab that lead to Tennessee's first score. We didn't get to see too much from other receivers, as Clausen's accuracy problems kept them from being able to show their stuff.

Offensive Line: B
There were holes for the running backs all day long. Pass blocking was there, and although the Bulldogs did manage to penetrate a few times, and managed to sack Clausen once, on the whole, it was a good first game.

Defense: A
Most folks were more worried about the defense than the offense this year, due to the loss of so much talent. Those worries appear to be unfounded as a hungry defense stifled the Bulldogs, allowing -1 yards rushing and recording 3 sacks.

Special Teams: C
Several missed field goals and difficulty containing Bernard Berrian kept the grade average. On the positive side, several kickoffs made it inot the end zone, a sight not seen around here for awhile.

Coaching: C-
7 penalties is an improvement from last year, but still, there were some stupid mistakes. Clausen took every snap, even though the game was well in hand, which means our backup QB will alck game experience if Clausen gets hurt. The play calling was effective, favoring the run but showing a lot more balance than last year.

Overall: C+
Tennessee is a much improved team. Even though they weren't playing against a top tier program, Fresno State is no pushover, and it speaks well for the Vols that they were able to step up to the challenge so ably. Clausen still needs to improve his accuracy and his decision-making if he wants to fulfill his early promise, but he's running out of time. The defense looks sound, and will only get better as we get closer to the SEC opener against the Gators. Next weeks game against Marshall should be a sterner test for the Vols, but if they continue to develop, they should handle the Thundering Herd without too much trouble.

Posted by Rich at September 1, 2003 3:49 PM | TrackBack