Chow bella

Listen, Brian Dohn, I respect you and appreciate what you do. That is why I come back day after day to read your posts.

With that said, will you second think your assessment of our O-line? 20 points by our offense is not too shabby for a team with a "PUTRID O-LINE" against an SEC "powerhouse." I'm not saying you used those terms, but most others have.

Barely any offensive penalties, no sacks, no bad snaps. Think our guys have potential now?

Correction, 1 sack, but that is not too bad considering what we were told about the OL.

The turnaround was one of the most remakable I've ever seen. Otoh, it also seemed that some of the missed passes were one hand not knowing what the other was doing. I mean,,,,Craft virtually passed to NO ONE at times.

I stand corrected. We did allow 1 sack. But by the way Dohn assessed our line against the powerful Tennessee line, I thought we would at least give up 8 sacks.

Aren't these the same kids VB called garbage? That is the bigger turnaround.

So Dohn how about that rutgers game?

The one sack was attributed to Reggie Carter on a missed LB blitz. The OL did well, based on everything we've heard. They couldn't generate a run game, but part of that was due to the Vols stacking the box and daring Craft to throw (good strat in the first half). Still, they should have run more effectively in the second half once Craft started connecting in the passing game.

Although I am excited about this win, despite cursing Craft's name in the first half :)...

I am now interested if this team will lay an egg after a big win like they did in the Dorrell years.

I know this team will have its ups and downs due to a transition year, I just expect them to come out competitive. Under Dorrell, there were certain games where right out of the gate you knew it was going to be a loooooong day.

Wow... WOW... Someone please quote me saying that our O-line is "garbage." Brian Dohn was the one who posted every day for the past 3 months about how lowly our O'linemen are. I merely criticized Sheller for riding an ATV over the summer. When did I EVER criticize our current O'linemen? Quote me. Please.

Plus, if you go back, I actually praised Micah Kia for his courage to play with a broken hand. Most other players would take the opportunity to sit out, but Kia wanted to play.

Please don't be a muckraker. VB arrived at Lot H at 6:00am yesterday and didn't leave until 10:30p.m. I'm tired as heck and have no voice. Did you even go to the game Fan4life?

Dohn: Time to serve yourself a heaping serving of CROW.

I have come to worship at the altar of Neu Chow Walker. Chow is a God/Genius.

Yes, the O-Line had problems with the run (especially Tevaga getting beat down for the almost-safety), but they came through when it mattered the most--run blocking for Raymond Carter's touchdown run. Also, credit Theriot for a masterful block on that play, too.

The ghots of Dorrell/Norvell are dead and buried!

I can vouch for VB, he has constantly doubted Dohn's assessment of the OL.

It was a great effort by the whole team, but let's not get carried away: the O-Line was not that good. Yes, they didn't give up a lot of sacks, but their run-blocking was abysmal at times, and Tennessee inexplicably played too far off the line and should have blitzed more. UT also went to a short passing game instead of running the ball down our tired defense's throats when they had the chance. Credit our coaches for designing a good game plan. Except for some missed tackles, the defense was very good. The D-Line got a lot of penetration against the UT meathogs on the line and took pressure off the secondary by not letting Crompton get comfortable. Plus, they hung in there during the 1st half when the offense couldn't keep them off the field. Not a pretty game, but I'm happy with the result. Let's hope the bye week lets the team get healthier and that the offense can get more in sync.

VB... did you really think the O-line did that well? What I saw was the Tenn. D running through our line like butter and the complete inability of the O-line to open up holes for the running game.

The 20 points I saw came from spectacular play calling and spectacular play by Craft and the receiving core. I loved watching the game last night... but it certainly did not give me comfort for the rest of the season. I saw a team playing beyond their abilities. I think Dohn's assessment has been pretty much dead-on.

Although I think our O-line surpassed Brian Dohn's, and even my, low expectations, I don't think we can call that a very good or even good performance. Average may be the best we could give them.

A lot of the second half success passing the ball came due to roll-outs and short dink and dunk passes that are used to compensate for holes in the O-Line. And, of course, we didn't run the ball effectively at all.

That said, the O-line still needed to hold the line long enough for those plays to develop and did so admirably. They worked their butts off and achieved better than any of us expected. I'm sure even VB, who has been skeptical of Dohn's assessment, was surprised... maybe just a little.

But what surprised me most was the secondary's performance. They did well, but there were many times where I saw huge swaths of daylight between the corner backs and receivers with no help from the safeties. Fortunately, Tennessee's QB either couldn't take advantage because of our rush (a ton of hits after his throws) or didn't see the openings. This is certainly something Asst. Coach Walker probably noticed and will be tinkering with.

Thankfully we have nearly 2 weeks to heal up and try to fix the lingering issues.

In the end, who cares about the analysis... it was a darn fine game that was super fun to watch. I brought my Texas buddy to the game and he was impressed with the competition, location, and fan support (but not the traffic out). I got numerous text messages from my East Coast friends who stayed up late to watch the game. This could do nothing but help recruiting!

No reason to rag on Dohn about anything but Rutger's brilliant offensive performance against Fresno.

On the OL, as he reported they were not the strength of the team and they could not open up holes for the running game. If I remember he predicted that while UCLA would loose they would stay in the game with a brilliant short passing game.

So except for the fact that Tennessee could score 14 points in the first half with 4 interception and that Neuheisel and Chow are even more brilliant then he thought he was pretty right on with what would happen in the game.

Now as for his assessment of Rutgers ??????

ooohh and to give some kudos to the o-line... When they were able to get UT to to jump on the play where they were backed up to the one was a great feat. I played on the line and know how difficult it is to sit there and not budge on long counts with the D coming at you. They showed that they have the mental game down. Great job boys!

This was a remarkable victory for the Bruin team and coaches (and of course the fans). I can't recall when we have ever had success with the running and passing games being so out of balance. A lot of credit has to be given to Tennessee's linebackers who always seemed to be there at the point of attack on the line stuffing the Bruin running game. The next two weeks of practice are going to be about concentrating on opening holes and developing misdirection to make the LBs guess wrong.

bz, yes that was great work by Craft and O-Line. Craft drew the Tennessee D-Line off-sides when our boys were backed up to the 6-inch yard line after the near-safety. Theat penalty gave Perez the breathing room to punt. That was awesome, and Kudos to Palcic for sharpening the tools that were in the tool shed.

Yes, there is lots of work left to do byt the players and coaching staff. No one is disputing that. But props must be giving to the players and coaches for the good work that they did.

Hey,

I don't think you could have asked the O-line to play any better than they did, except maybe a little bit more yardage on the ground. They were very disciplined, no procedure penalties or bone head plays. Yes, they may not have won the game, but they didn't lose the game and was able to give Craft enough protection to execute the game plan!! Kudos to the O-line as I know they can only improve and get better.

I don't know. I think Brian was dead-on about the offensive line. I mean 29 yards rushing on 31 carries? That's .935 yards a carry. Yeah, Craft was only sacked once, but the offense was designed to prevent sacks, the use of the shot gun formation, rolling him out, and quick hitters. I seem to recall Craft on the ground a lot and under a lot of pressure. He just did a great job of getting rid of the ball. The O-line didn't exactly dominate the line of scrimmage but, if it helps their confidence, I'll go along with it. Anyway, great win.

Great observation. Norm Chow has a long history of being able to move the ball even when his team had less than stellar talent. Look at the years at BYU where they would almost always take UCLA down to the wire. I was really happy when we were able to hire him and even happier with the win.