The very first play on the very first drive on the opening possession was not just the very first play on the very first drive of the first possession, it was instead all you need to know about the state of football in Knoxville.
Football is largely a game of reaction. The week leading into any game the coaches have one absolute opportunity to set the tone, which is NOT a reaction- they study and they experiment, knowing their teams strengths and weaknesses they plot, before the opening whistle blows there is only one thing they know with any certainty- and it has to be good.
Turnover. Interception just outside the flats. It could be said "well, that UGA D is really fast", and that can't be disputed- but that isn't it. ANY reasonably staffed D would have made that interception. QD took the snap (from friggin' shotgun) and stared down his target- not even a cursory glance left or right- he didn't pay any other receiver the courtesy of including them on the play. He took the snap, wound up and fired what should have been a quick out high percentage drop for marginal yardage. That CB must have thought "This kid can't be serious- he surely isn't going to throw the ball this direction after that look--- is he?" and afterward "oh, this kid is a clown, making the same mistakes he has made all season long". But I ain't here to destroy the reputation of a kid who is performing better than I ever could, but instead to discuss the lack of instruction he's getting, the pitiful 'game planning' of the one single play that removes almost every element of reaction which will be present from that point forward.
It's my contention UT aka Coach Butch Jones, plays scared- constantly scared. The man can't digest the expectations and lay a victory- instead he lay's a hot ploppy that stinks the place up for years on end. His record is dismal- yet he has won the games expected for the most part.... barely in many cases. He has lost the majority of the games he was supposed to lose~ barely, in most cases. Often this happens in the same season. It defies reason and logic when a team can play a spirited game against a contender, and the very next week allow a team without a win after a recent move to the upper league to hang around until the very end of a game. It defies logic until you pass it under the filter of fear- and that is what Jones (and by extension his teams) is/are.
Lacking confidence, the team plays soft and careful- only attempting to operate in high percentage plays- which aren't so "high percentage" for this squad, and why? How can you hit receivers in the hands and them not catch the rock 75+%? How can you consistently under throw the ball while you're staring him down the entire time? Why do you have the one consistent performer on your team running into congested traffic every other play? Why does your QB take snaps from shotgun every single play?
The coach fears they'll screw up, that's why. His fear has ran without check and poured down on his players.. He sends them out on the first play of the game and his 'plan' is to "run a high percentage quick drop pass to outside flats"- and his QB does the precise (uncorrected yet for the season) thing he truly expected from him, which was "screw up by staring down the receiver against a Defense they obviously didn't scout effectively".
All of this^ is to say this: PRECISELY WHAT COACH BUTCH JONES REALLY EXPECTED TO HAPPEN IN THIS GAME/SEASON/CAREER, HAPPENED.
Because that's what happens when you play scared, and afraid to lose. Afraid to screw up. Afraid to not meet expectations. Winners just play the game- all out all the time and without concern for how they're interpreted. Doesn't matter their competition. Doesn't matter where they're at. They just play. Jones has yet to field a team for a single game that has played loose and happy- they've every single on been tense and nervous.
the personality HAS to change if he wants to keep his job. Just this one adjustment will take the man, and by extension his team, far.
