ELA 130 Team Countdown

[Cincydawg]

A problem for ANY Vol coach is that "back to back 9 win seasons" will get you fired, even without a following 4-8 clincher.  Jones had to do more than win 9 games.

And those are really 8 win seasons with a minor bowl victory, so 4 losses, and to teams that are "rivals" in a sense plus that last 9 win season was supposed to be the "breakthrough" Vol fans wanted, e.g., an 11+ win season.

Mark Richt was fired after successive 10 win seasons, so this is not unique.

Pruitt of course catches a bit of a break coming off 4-8 where anything is likely better.  They open with WVU in a likely loss and catch Auburn (away) from the West (with Bama) and play at Georgia and USCe.  I can see a 6-6 record this year, mebbe 7-5 if they can edge Florida.

The problem for Pruitt starts in 2019 when Vol Fans will be expecting an SEC East title, at least.  UGA did that after an 8-5 year.

[Kris61]

A problem for ANY Vol coach is that "back to back 9 win seasons" will get you fired, even without a following 4-8 clincher.  Jones had to do more than win 9 games.

And those are really 8 win seasons with a minor bowl victory, so 4 losses, and to teams that are "rivals" in a sense plus that last 9 win season was supposed to be the "breakthrough" Vol fans wanted, e.g., an 11+ win season.

Mark Richt was fired after successive 10 win seasons, so this is not unique.

Pruitt of course catches a bit of a break coming off 4-8 where anything is likely better.  They open with WVU in a likely loss and catch Auburn (away) from the West (with Bama) and play at Georgia and USCe.  I can see a 6-6 record this year, mebbe 7-5 if they can edge Florida.

The problem for Pruitt starts in 2019 when Vol Fans will be expecting an SEC East title, at least.  UGA did that after an 8-5 year.

But the fact is back to back 9 win seasons didn’t get him fired or even have him on the hot seat prior to last year.  I get that expectations in Knoxville are loftier than that but UT hadn’t those kind of seasons in almost ten years. Last year was a really bad look and I expected him to be fired but now UT is in on its sixth coach since letting Fulmer go at the end of 2008.

[847badgerfan]

9 wins isn't what it used to be. With 12 games on the schedule now, the stick is 10 wins or better.

[FearlessF]

unless you subscribe to this "parity" thing that concludes the average schedule is tougher

I think conference championships are tougher to achieve because there are fewer conferences and therefore the conferences are larger.

[Cincydawg]

But the fact is back to back 9 win seasons didn’t get him fired or even have him on the hot seat prior to last year.  I get that expectations in Knoxville are loftier than that but UT hadn’t those kind of seasons in almost ten years. Last year was a really bad look and I expected him to be fired but now UT is in on its sixth coach since letting Fulmer go at the end of 2008.

Oh, he was absolutely on a very hot seat prior to last year.  VERY hot.  Expectations were for at least winning the East in 2016, at least, and they didn't, and they had a couple lucky wins in that nine.
Jones would have been fired had the Vols been 8-5 in 2017, he was on very thin ice.

[Cincydawg]

9 wins isn't what it used to be. With 12 games on the schedule now, the stick is 10 wins or better.

Yeah, 8-4 with a minor bowl win is just a so-so season for upper level programs.  10-3 gets you into "OK", but you'd better not do that routinely while losing to major rivals.  Fans of programs like Tenn and Florida and LSU just don't put up with 9 win seasons for very long unless there are some 11-12-13 win seasons salted in somewhere.
Tennessee was the penultimate team never to have had an 8 loss season.

[Kris61]

9 wins isn't what it used to be. With 12 games on the schedule now, the stick is 10 wins or better.

I think 9 wins looks pretty good when the previous 7 years your win totals were 5,7,6,5,5,5,7.  Like I said, I get it. Last year was a bad look and I don’t follow UT closely enough to know what the rumors were surrounding the program.  From the outside looking in it looked like Jones was getting them back on track before last year hit. I would have liked to have seen them him another year but in arms race that is the SEC I know why they didn’t.

[Cincydawg]

I was at the Tennessee game in 2016 when they played UGA sitting among Vol fans.  There were ALL wanting him fired then.  UGA got up early and then the Vols came back and won and they still wanted Jones gone, every one of them.  They were hollering nasty things directed at him.

That was where Nick Chubb messed up his knee.

Their fans really expected to have an NC shot in 2017, so 9 wins was a marked disappointment.  Jones was on a very hot seat after that season, as I stated.

[Kris61]

Oh, he was absolutely on a very hot seat prior to last year.  VERY hot.  Expectations were for at least winning the East in 2016, at least, and they didn't, and they had a couple lucky wins in that nine.
Jones would have been fired had the Vols been 8-5 in 2017, he was on very thin ice.

Fair enough. I’ll take your word for it.  He may have been in bigger trouble than I realized.

[Drew4UTk]

i gotta catch WAY up on this countdown... apparently my little auto script didn't/isn't working. 

re Vols:  Pruitt may not be the answer.  But... he'll bring a toughness back to the program they've sorely (pun entirely intended) lacked.

the issue with the entire program wasn't Jones's fault.  honestly.  he was never the man or going to be the man.  he was a hire who could talk the game but certainly not run it.  it's NOT his fault- it's like hiring a person with a short term memory issue and attempting to make a waiter/waitress out of them- they simply aren't cut out for the job and hiring them is doing everyone involved a disservice.  

the issues at UT are/were far above the HC position, anyway.  what was brewing was at least 20 years in the making running through 3 AD's and at least two chancellor's, and had to do with powerful boosters (one in particular, and brother to the governor) attempting to run the thing remotely.  Jones being hired was a product of that environment... Dooley being hired was a product.  Kiffin being hired was a product.  Fulmer being fired was a product.  I'm not going to say it wasn't time for Fulmer to go, but... how it was handled and the supposed reason's (not winning?) that made the opportunity/environment available for firing Fulmer.  The trio of Fulmer/Cut/Chavis is what made UT a force, and without those three together UT was just a run of the mill.  Fulmer tried to find a 'diamond in the rough' to take over those positions, but being pinched by boosters, chancellor's and AD's- yeah... that wasn't going to happen... much the same way they set Jones up for failure last year putting him in an impossible position. 

the basic gist of what happened at UT is all money based... similar to Black&Decker taking over DeWalt, the person's in the top office's saw opportunity to raid the 'good name' by running it into the ground (pulling quality but charging near same prices).  The AD's brought in a lot of money since Fulmer was cut.  There was rumor and all kinds of BS about the 'coffers being bare' but that was all it was.  the university was making record numbers insofar as income was concerned.  during this period they started selling students tickets instead of giving them away, and prices of tickets went sky high- luxury boxes were intro'd and sold to company's to smooze clients.. ect.. they got away from the basis of what got them there (such as what happens when conservative principles are abandoned)... it was very short sighted and it has cost them in the end.   it was not on just display this past fall, it was on parade.  people even connected to the game/team think it was just 'win' related, but.... it was far deeper than that.  what happened needed to happen- it would have been nice if it wasn't misrepresented and nearly as loud as it was, though. 

we'll see what pruitt does.  if he's the 'man' or not... he isn't a bad hire- he's made quite the meteoric rise through the ranks.  that doesn't make him cut out for the massive undertaking at UT, but.... who else would direct that train wreck? he's about as good as they could expect.    

[ELA]

70. Ohio Bobcats

#3 in MAC

With two weeks left in the 2017 season, Ohio sat at 5-1 in the MAC, with a trip to Akron for a shot to cling the division title and a trip to Detroit.  But what had been one of the better defenses in the MAC got burned by big play after big play by the Zips.  Akron scored three straight touchdowns, on drives of 1 play, 1 play and 3 plays.  They followed that with a loss to Buffalo to finish 5-3 in conference play, but the Bobcats are the favorites to rectify that in 2018 and win their second division title in three years.  If the defense comes together, they should roll to the title, because the offense has a chance to be the best Solich has ever fielded at Ohio.  Last year they led the MAC in scoring at over 39 ppg, with the conference's top rushing attack, putting up 244.5 ypg on the ground on 5.7 ypc.  The Bobcats now return All-MAC players at quarterback, running back and receiver.  The entire left side of the offensive line earned All-MAC honors as well, and both were only sophomores.  Considering it was between them and Toledo for the conference's best offense a year ago, this year it's Ohio by a landslide right now on paper.  The question is how far behind the defense will be.  The defense was solid for most of last season, ranking 2nd in the MAC, surrendering 22.5 ppg until that two game collapse to end the season.  But those losses were on the defense, giving up 68 points over those two games.  They have to replace a lot going into 2018, particularly in the front seven.  The secondary, led by safety Javon Hagan, should be ok, but the loss of Quentin Poling, among others, leaves plenty of questions in front of them, particularly at linebacker, where it's unclear who will even be the starters alongside Evan Croutch.  The schedule is fairly comparable to last year, trading Toledo for Northern Illinois as the major crossover opponent.  But that two game finish remains identical against Akron and Buffalo.  The difference is this year those games are at home.  Ohio hasn't lost a home divisional game since 2014 to Bowling Green.  Either way, this team should be a lot of fun to watch, as there's no reason they shouldn't shoot past that 40 ppg mark this year.
Key Players

QB		Nathan Rourke, Junior
RB		A.J. Ouellette, Senior
WR		Papi White, Senior
	.
LB		Evan Croutch, Senior
CB		Jalen Fox, Senior
S		Javon Hagan, Junior

[Brutus Buckeye]

[FearlessF]

[ELA]

69. Virginia Cavaliers

#13 in ACC

After a 2-10 debut for Bronco Mendenhall, a 5-1 start to Year 2, that included road wins at Boise State and North Carolina around a home win over Duke, made it appear as though the rebuild was ahead of schedule.  Losses in 6 of the final 7, by an average of 22 points, and all by double digits, left no doubt how far this program has to go.  The offense has plenty of weapons, but it's unclear where they all fit, and the quarterback position is a major question mark.  When your coach is named Bronco, you better run the ball, and stop the run, and Virginia did neither.  As for running the ball, the Cavaliers mustered only 93.5 ypg on 3.1 ypc.  Both numbers were worst in the ACC and third worst in the nation, ahead of only Western Kentucky and Washington State.  Jordan Ellis returns as the team's leading rusher.  His 836 rushing yards looks ok, but it took him 215 carries to do it.  That was the worst ypc average of any running back with 170 carries or more.  That begs the question of why they don't get the ball in the hands of Joe Reed and Olamide Zaccheus more.  Reed is a special teams ace, who averaged 5.3 ypc on 21 carries, and over 10 yards per catch on 23 receptions.  Olamide Zaccheaus is an H-Back who Virginia likes to move around.  To exemplify that, the ACC named him all-conference as a receiver, but the team lists him as a running back.  He had 6.7 ypc on 27 carries and had a team leading 85 receptions and 895 yards through the air.  There is no reason for Ellis to get the 240 touches he got in 2017 again.  But it might all be a wash if they can't find anyone to replace Kurt Benkert.  The lone returnee with experience is sophomore Lindell Stone.  His 2-9 for 26 yards with 2 interceptions a year ago does little to put him in front.  Virginia fans are hoping the answer is JUCO transfer Bryce Perkins.  The one time Arizona State player is the most talented player on the roster, but after failing to win the starting job for Todd Graham found his way to Virginia via Arizona Western College.  Going from JUCO to arguably the nation's top public university signals perhaps the academic profile of the football team doesn't match that of the student body.  Defensively, the secondary was pretty good a year ago, but has to mix in some new pieces.  The most telling sign that Mendenhall doesn't like what he's seeing is moving Juan Thornhill from cornerback to strong safety.  It's unclear if that move will stick.  But none of that matters if the front can't figure out how to stop the run.  Mendenhall was transitioning the defense to a 3-4, and in doing so surrendered 200 ypg on the ground.  Teams ran the ball on Virginia 557 times, most of any ACC team, but threw on them 322 times, lowest in the conference.  The recipe for moving the ball on the Cavs was no secret.  If Perkins can live up to the highest expectations, and the coaching staff does a better job utilizing the talent, rather than forcing the ball to Ellis, they could sneak back into a bowl.  But I'm not betting on that.
Key Players

RB		Jordan Ellis, Senior
WR		Joe Reed, Junior
HB		Olamide Zaccheaus, Senior
	.
LB		Chris Peace, Senior
CB		Juan Thornhill, Senior
P		Lester Coleman, Senior