Tennesee-UCLA Critique: The California Jinx

Coaches are there to be questioned or chastised by one and all.  As long as things go well, there is very little other than praise heaped on them.  Losses are going to happen, even though a lot of fans think that is impossible until it happens.  Then, it is time to question or chastise.

It is now my turn after the UCLA disappointment.

Tennessee has two very capable running backs that gave us reasonable effort this night (except for the fumble maybe).  They had two touchdowns running to the left side of the line, and both were things of beauty.  BUT, I have a couple of problems.

On 2nd-and-three, four, or five, why did we think we had to throw a pass?  QB Jonathan Crompton may be a good quarterback in the future, but whatever the reason, his throwing was not extremely sharp against UCLA.  Due to first game jitters, not very good protection, slow decisions to escape the pocket when necessary, etc., the passing just didn't work as well as it should have.  (Also, why is the roll out not being used?)

I think we should have trusted our blockers and runners to pick up first downs in several situations.

I also question 51- and 56-yard field goals when our man has never kicked one over 48 yards.  I questioned these before the attempts.  I think Coach should have yelled for the 'Pooch' a couple of more times as he did late in the game.  (That was not for Smokey, by the way, as you well know.)

I live in Big 12 country now and am subjected to mostly Oklahoma news and comments.  Tulsa University, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma U. are the elite around here—not bad when you can't get the daily dose of Vol mania. 

Of course, they speak of Texas and Missouri as Tennessee does about Alabama and Florida.  I would like to share a comment from the Tulsa World newspaper today of which I was not too happy.  In a comment about Texas, the writer stated, "Mack Brown becomes the next Phil Fulmer for winning just enough to fool the suckers."

We don't want to believe comments like this, do we?