9.28.2009

Tennessee overview

Hey everyone. See if you find this useful in preparing for this weekend's game.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (2-2)
  • GAMES:
    • W vs. Western Kentucky, 63-7
    • L vs. UCLA, 19-15
    • L at Florida, 23-13
    • W vs. Ohio, 34-23


  • PLAYERS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT:

      OFFENSE
      • QB Jonathan Crompton, No. 8: At least 1 INT in each game this season, 8 INT in all.

      • TB Montario Hardesty, No. 2: Rusher. Averages 5.8 yards per carry. 4 TDs.

      • UB Bryce Brown, No. 11: Mario Fannin-type player. Averages 5.0 yards per carry, team's second-leading receiver with 7 catches for 102 yards.

      • WR Quintin Hancock, No. 87: 11 catches for 128 yards, 1 TD. May or may not play against Auburn (broken jaw).


      DEFENSE
      • CB Eric Berry, No. 14: Bad man. One of the top 3 DBs in the nation.

      • LB Rico McCoy, No. 5: Hitter.

      • DE Chris Walker, No. 84: Has a tackle-for-loss in three of the Vols' four games this season, 5.5 overall.


  • UT PLAY DISTRIBUTION:
    • Total plays: 270
    • Runs: 159 (59%)
    • Passes: 111 (41%)

  • AU PLAY DISTRIBUTION:
    • Total plays: 299
    • Runs: 186 (62%)
    • Passes: 113 (38%)


  • OTHER UT TRENDS OF NOTE:
    • Opponents are outscoring Tennessee 29-14 in the 3rd quarter.

    • Tennessee is outscoring opponents 43-3 in the fourth quarter.

    • Tennessee defense is allowing 2.7 yards per rush this season.

    • Tennessee is a running team, but it struggled to run against both Florida (understandable) and UCLA (not as understandable.)

        Against UF: 32 rushes for 117 yards. That's 3.7 yards per carry.

        Against UCLA: 44 rushes for 115 yards. That's 2.6 yards per carry.

    • Based on the trends outlined above, it's reasonable to assume Auburn will sell out against the run and require Crompton to make exploitative throws in man coverage. He hasn't demonstrated the ability to do that consistently. He makes a lot of mistakes.

280 comments:

  1. no missed tackles

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  2. I hate orange. Oh wait, I only hate that pumpkin orange.

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  3. UT goin down down down!!!!

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  4. google "pumpkin diamond". if you ever see it in person, it will definitely change your mind.

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  5. Reviez is out for the season with a knee injury.

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  6. It's only 5.5 carats and ugly as hades. No, I don't think my mind will be changed about UT's ugly pumpkin orange based on a rock.

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  7. Nick Reveiz is out for the season.

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  8. It's a girl thing, PF. Show it to your fiancee.

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  9. echo. echoooo. echoooo00. echoooooooooo.

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  10. Thank you for the Reveiz update.

    You don't need to know about him!

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  11. I agree we will be primarily in man coverage and hopefully stuffing the run.

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  12. THT,

    She's a Georgia girl. Due to their close association with Florida and TN, all things orange make her vomit. It took a long while before she was okay with me wearing burnt orange and navy blue.

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  13. Getting UT is long yardage situations and letting Coleman and Carter have at Mr. Crompton works for me.

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  14. I am also seeing that Hancock will miss this game(broken jaw).

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  15. Lane Kiffin said yesterday that Monte has been watching videos of Gus' offense since the summer.

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  16. that's understandable, PF

    2.0, you got any leads on a UGA red diamond for PF to get for his fiancee?

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  17. Just line up 11 and go after every punt.

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  18. My guess is UT goes mainly zone against us and tries to get some picks.

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  19. Dude, are you gonna answer me about the bet or what? This is like the fifth time I've asked you now.

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  20. Phred, you talking to me?

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  21. Jay G,
    Thanks for this info. I'm not sure the intent was to make me feel better about this game, but it did. Good work.

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  22. We had a bet we made in the spring I believe and MSU is one of the games. UT is also.

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  23. Oh, and btw, my son enlightened me on the appeal of Guitar Hero this weekend. :)

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  24. The Moussaieff Red. heck, there is very little i wouldn't do to have it.... including possibly considering forgiving the cousin humpers.

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  25. Did you enjoy the game, Cincy?

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  26. exploitative - that's a good word. Too good a word for Crompton. I'm hoping all the exploitative throws will come from Chris Todd this weekend.

    GO TIGERS!!!

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  27. It was $20 a game on 4 games if I am not mistaken. I had the opponents. I think the games were MSU, UT, Ole Nutt, and Bama. Is that correct?

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  28. I have no idea, but I'm going to check the archives I guess. Jay G, is there any kind of super search feature where we can find a history of a single poster's comments?

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  29. Let me know what you find out and contact me on facebook.

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  30. Just my brain ... and I remember no such post.

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  31. I am reading on Yahoo sports that a lot of TN defense is banged up.

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  32. I'm looking for explicatives from Kiffen, uttered in disgust as Zachery goes 93 for a TD.

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  33. I know it was games we play where there is a former Tuberville assistant coaching for the other team. I think we agreed to not include Arkansas since Petrino had been gone, but I could be mistaken.

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  34. Jay, let's just say I enjoyed watching other people play those cute little guitars, I am not that coordinated.

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  35. prefaced by a jock loosening fake by one Chris Todd.

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  36. I made the bet, Jay. I am guessing it was in the late spring, possibly may or june.

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  37. I still can't get use to thinking of Todd as a significant threat to an opponent. I was hoping he would be reliable and make good decisions. I just had no idea he would perform like this.

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  38. FC - that's right. it's coming back to me now. So I'm up at this point. Except I thought it was $50 a game.

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  39. If I remember correctly, Steve has the bet right, except I think that Arkansas was in there somewhere.

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  40. 2.0, be careful when you say that there isn't much you wouldn't do for something on this board. There's some scary minds up in here.

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  41. it was $20/game, but I can't find it either

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  42. To search old habotn posts:

    put "site:jaygtate.blogspot.com whateveryouaresearchingfor" in the google search box

    It is hit or miss. Google doesn't see all, but it sees a lot.

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  43. I hear both Michael and Frankenbummer are good at searching the archives. Heck, Frankenbummer pulled out a jewel just yesterday that made Steve's Furry Cats look foolish for trying and call him out.

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  44. you are right. Arky was in there because an outright win netted $100.

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  45. "Sounds good Phred. Then Ole Miss, UT, MSU, and Bama are it. I was thinking a coach went to Georgia, but I can't find a staff listing, so lets just go with the four."

    http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/2009/04/video-report-414.html?commentPage=3

    Arky was on there for a second, but they were taken off when it was decided only coaches who were here last year counted.

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  46. j-z - what would you not do for 1.02 grams of carbon worth 7 million dollars?

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  47. And there you go. Problem solved. So I will win a total of $2580 on the tigers this year.

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  48. nice work, Queen of HABOTN!

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  49. Given how much Florida would have been keying on the run, I think UT ran the ball pretty well against them. I also think UCLA had a fairly well-respected defense before playing UT.

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  50. Thankyou, THT. It's not like I have an incredible amount of work to do that is causing me to stay late at work.

    I think you guys have a pretty good shot at splitting those games.

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  51. I like this follow up from Steve, apparently directed to ALL Hotties:

    §teve From Columbia said...
    And as for the bowl game, if we make a bowl game, I will give you $20 regardless of the team or if we win or lose.

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  52. Auburn is 27 points away from matching its scoring total from 2008.

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  53. E-Bro,

    I listened to the 1st 2 hours of Sporttalk and it was a very rare time where there was very little UT talk.

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  54. UCLA: Fairly well respected defense. I'll agree to that. Less than 3 yards per carry is bad, though.

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  55. "Auburn is 27 points away from matching its scoring total from 2008."

    sort of like going from '71 to '72, only in reverse.

    well, and the fact that we went 9-1 each of those years.

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  56. Hahaha, Phred, you could win $100. We can settle up after each game or at the end of the season. It is up to you. Send me your contact information on facebook. I am in a meeting at the moment.

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  57. RK, surprising indeed. Surely they'll pump up the volume as the week moves along. I remember I spent all week listening to them before the 2004 game, just to get my Vol-hating amped up.

    Jay G., true. It is bad. I was just making the point UCLA is decent on defense.

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  58. is there a new thread somewhere I don't know about?

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  59. This place slows down from 5-7 CDT every day.

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  60. Jay G - haven't had a chance to ask about dropping UPitt all the way from 11'ish to off the board?

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  61. With our turnover margin, it would be GREAT if Crompton decided to give us the ball three or so times over the ball game. That would seal the game.

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  62. WTC,
    Your boy Akeem has setup an official for the IB.

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  63. Anonymous5:47 PM

    So that means we exceed the 2008 total against UT. The UT offense is going to make our defense look good.

    AU 31 UT 20

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  64. Defensive game plan: Load the box, contain the run, force Crompton to throw, get pressure on QB from the front 4 and timely blitzes.
    If we get pressure on Crompton, he will make mistakes. Then it is up to Malzahn and Co. to take advantage of those mistakes. If we do, we will win the game, handily.

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  65. Probably has been discussed at length, been out of the pocket:

    Results for Auburn -- Week 5.

    Voter Rank
    Colley Matrix Top 50 10
    Massey Ratings Top 50 16
    Sagarin Top 50 (ELO_CHESS) 18
    Harris Interactive 26
    AP Poll 27
    USA Today Coaches' Poll 28
    Billingsley Top 50 34

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  66. Averages out to 22.7... so we should be ranked 23rd.

    I couldn't disagree with that. Of course, I don't disagree with not being ranked yet either. Still a lot to prove, and a lot of questions without answers.

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  67. For those of you who have been around a lot longer than I have; Lucy, as in Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, died today. She had some chronic illness. Julian Lennon was her childhood friend. He came in one day with a drawing of her that he called "Lucy in the sky with diamonds".

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  68. Loading the box to stuff the running game, sounds like a great opportunity for Eltoro Freeman to make an impact. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.

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  69. Still waiting for the bull to make a play.

    Either he's trying too hard, too perfect, or too fast. He's around the play, but not the one making the play.

    Maybe everyone is running away from him.

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  70. AUFan, I have had similar hopes. It would be a good time for the bull to have a breakout game.

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  71. Anonymous5:59 PM

    So the computers like us? That's different but they always have seemed slanted to high scores.

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  72. Colley Matrix had us around number 2 last week, just behind LSU, so I wouldn't bet too excited about it. The computer numbers will start to settle out soon once they have more samples.

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  73. Ok Jay, sorry I gotta ask:
    Is your Boise State ranking based truly on how you think they'd fare if there was a playoff? Course with what little data we have to base their ranking on...

    Not Nit picking, but think the Lions are going to lose two more this season. There is a Ohio St. v. PSU matchup later in the year.

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  74. Sorry,...Didn't finish that thought, so OSU v PSU is going to give one of the two a loss. Then with Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Michigan State..

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  75. Jet - The CFN guys haven't been drinking Coosa-aid, but I do love the term. You can have half the marketing rights for coming up with it.

    They just rank teams based on their actual performance on the field, leaving the politics out of it. For some reason, they think losing a game 42-3 should get you dropped out of the rankings. And they think that when one team clobbers another team that should be sufficient reason to rank the winning team ahead of the losing team.

    Such radical ideas will never make it in the present age of college football.

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  76. Allen Wannstache: Official HABOTN Pollster Harassment Officer.

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  77. Ha! I'm watching the Lane Kiffin show. He just called CGM "that high school guy." I hope that high school guy cleans Kiffin's clock this weekend.

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  78. I think some of the Hotties will have some difficult times in their old age. I can imagine the following conversation taking place in living rooms of the future, as your grandson sits on your knee:

    Kid - Grandpa, tell me again about the magical Auburn season way back in 2009, and riding the Gus Bus.

    Old Hottie - Well, you see, I didn't really get on the Bus until it went to Baton Rouge and Auburn beat LSU 59-20.

    Kid - But Grandpa, wasn't that like, the 8th game of the season?

    Old Hottie - Yes, son, I'm afraid it was.

    Kid - Wow, Grandpa, how could you have been so dumb?

    Old Hottie - I don't know, my boy, I just don't know.

    Kid - And I'm stuck with your genes. Rats!


    Aww, who am I kidding. You'll all just lie and say you were on the bus as soon as it left the station.

    ;)

    ALL ABOARD!

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  79. Oh I've got a funny feeling for the game.

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  80. That's just you becoming a man, LGGByron

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  81. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  82. well, we messed that up just about every which way possible.

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  83. Some how it doesn't really suprise me.

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  84. What just happened? Why the rampant banhammerbation???

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  85. I'll go ahead and say it - in my mind, I would pick us in every game left in the season except for Alabama. I think we will drop an additional game to another team.

    Two loss season. Mark it dude!

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  86. A horrible attempt to get the Beasley post.

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  87. Dmiller-Yes he set the visit up. If AU offers, he will commit. Very good player.

    I agree with Jay. AU loads the box and dares Crompton to beat us. I think UT does te same. I just think Fannin being covered by a LB gives him his biggest game at AU so far.

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  88. Coosa ... that was my favorite post of the year. Bravo! And your ability to imagine Eddie and Sensi as old men was just phenomonal.

    Steve FC - We'll settle up at the front gate after the bowl game.

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  89. Michael, at this point I agree with you, although it wouldn't surprise me for some teams like Ole Nutt, LSU, or UGA to get on a role. Furman doesn't get on roles.

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  90. No problem Phred. We are clear that the five games are MSU, UT, Arkansas, Ole Nutt, and Bama. I believe it is $20 each and I am taking the victims, I mean opponents each time.

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  91. Dear Coach Chizik,

    Please forgive Byron Isom. He didn't mean to do it. Really. He came home crying and told me so. He's very sorry and promises he will never do it again. Really. So would you please, please, pretty please let him play Saturday?

    Very truly yours,

    Phomerly Phred Phinebaum

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  92. I'm basically done with the AP poll questions for now.

    According to Pollspeak, 15 voters have Boise at 5. Another 15 have Boise higher than 5.

    So exactly half the electorate is at least as high on Boise State as this voter.

    I understood the questions about Pitt. I had them higher than anyone else. Now you've moved on to Boise and I'm not on outlier on that one. Seems like a Cartesian argument: Whatever I say, you say it's wrong and around and around we go.

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  93. I would like to point out that the HABOTN does not endorse illegal sports betting in any way, shape, form or fashion... unless Steve is losing big.

    Take his butt to the woodshed Phred.

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  94. I just bought three new bow ties(one just happens to be burnt orange and navy blue, which I got for the UGA game). Now I have to decide what to wear for bow-tie Tuesday.

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  95. Not that you need my back up here, but I have no problem with Boise St. They play hard and are well coached. They win and that is what it is all about. No knock on any other team, but Utah got very little respect until the last game was over.
    FWIW-The Boise St coach was at thead of my list last year. I know the scientology thing, but I still wanted himas the HC at the time.

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  96. Is today big word Monday, Jay G?

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  97. To show you how weird the poll thing gets, I had an LSU fan email me today to complain that I didn't include South Carolina in my poll.

    Nevermind that I'm one of 24 voters (almost half) that don't rank South Carolina. He "doesn't feel like" emailing the other ones as asking them about it. Just me.

    Once I answered the USC thing, he started rattling me for ranking Penn State too high ... and for ranking his LSU Tigers too high.

    At some point, dude has to look at himself in the mirror and say: I need some therapy.

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  98. If I was a coach, I would not want to play Boise St on their blue field. Tehy are like 67-3 over the the last 9-10 years.

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  99. Steve Finally Cares,

    You mean roll, right?

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  100. I'm all for being accountable, but I don't have an answer for every question.

    I think a lot of these "fans" believe AP voters are people whose job is to be an AP voter. Like I don't do anything else. It's weird to me.

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  101. Call them like you see them Jay. That's about all anyone can do. Just be happy that you get to vote every now and then.

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  102. Hey Jay..could you answer for me why you don't have the Gators ranked any higher?

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  103. JGT, what's "in it for you" to answer such emails. I would doubt this LSU fan has much hand in your valued outcomes (i.e., life, liberty, and the pursuit of quan). more patient than i.

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  104. Wes, you're right. I should do that. Maybe I will.

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  105. That sounds like a fun game. I'm gonna look up some guy in Nebraska and ask him why he doesn't have South Florida higher.

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  106. Jay G, not to diminish your honor of being an AP voter, but why are people so worried about it? I didn't think it mattered anymore. I thought it was all BCS rankings at this point.

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  107. I cannot imagine the email Dude From Cleveland gets each week. His ballots are nutty.

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  108. Actually Jay..I think you do your poll in the right way. Good grief you post it out here for all to see and comment on before you submit it.

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  109. I personally think that Coach Dye has the best ballot this week.

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  110. Thanks Phred, but I didn't necessarily mean Sensi and Eddie. Eddie imagined an 11 win season just this morning. Sensi, ok, I guess he fits. All the naysayers except IV; he's too old to still be around then. ;)

    So now Michael is on board for a 10 win season. The Bus is loading up.

    Good thing about the internet is that I can just disappear if TN blows us away.

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  111. Didn't they interview the guy from Cleveland on the College Gameday Saturday morning?

    15 mins of fame right there.

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  112. They are nutty but there is a method to his maddness. Oe that others might consider. There are NO darlings and last year has very little to do with this year.

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  113. Not only are his polls nutty (or brilliant, depending on how you see it), there's no telling how much the extra press he's gotten has increased the hate mail. I wonder how many times his paper's email server has crashed due to overload.

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  114. I would not be all that OK with being on GameDay.

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  115. Yes they did Faker and I watched it and he made some sense.

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  116. If you get on Gameday, I'm flying out to wherever it is, getting there at 5am, and putting up a gigantic HABOTN sign that will make all of the other signs look amateur.

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  117. I posted his poll earlier and it is weid to look at compared to the AP or Coaches Poll

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  118. FSJ - I agree with Coach Dye in putting bammer #1, but how on earth could he justify putting OK at #4? I mean, do the results on the field count for nothing? Maybe he doesn't realize they lost a game to a team that got bombed by FSU. At least he didn't rank them.

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  119. To throw water on this discussion, if Au was ranked @#10, no one would be too upset. It all depends on who's 'ox is being gored' as to how you look at things. Since many believe AU is geting no love, they think everyone is against them.
    Just today the idiot on the Gumo call-in show was talking about the block on Hightower being a chop block and the lineman did it on purpose, yada, yada, yada. Just because it happened to his team, he isoaal over it.

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  120. Jay..it would be great exposure for HABOTN if you were to ever get on Gameday..

    Maybe you could call out some hotties while on the air.

    I vote for throwing shesaid under the bus.

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  121. Maybe I'll just start ranking people fresh next week ... because I really believe Alabama is better than Florida.

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  122. I just found odd the idea of dropping Florida after a 41-7 win at Kentucky.

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  123. I don't have a problem with OK at #4. Sure, they lost a game, but I don't believe that game was really indicative of who they are as a team. With Bradford, they're the fourth best team in the nation.

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  124. LOL Coosa. I didn't get past third place on Coach Dye's ballot before I jumped to the end to see if he had ranked Auburn.

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  125. Jay G,

    can you post the voting guide the AP sends you. Forde game some tidbits, but not the whole thing. I'd be interested to see it(for my own personal enrichment, not because I actually care how some guy in Cleveland or Lincold actually votes).

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  126. FSJ, what two legends ranked Auburn? I didn't bother continuing my search after I discovered Dye and Dooley didn't.

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  127. Jay,
    If I might ask a non-poll issue, any idea why T Zachery doesn't get a shot at returning punts? He seems like a natural choice to me, but I've never seen his name mentioned for the job. Am I totally in the wrong to think he would be a good return man?

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  128. Base your vote on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation.

    Avoid regional bias, for or against. Your local team does not deserve any special handling when it comes to your ballot.

    Pay attention to head-to-head results and don’t hesitate to make significant changes in your ballot from week to week. There’s no rule against jumping the 16th-ranked team over the eighth-ranked team, if No. 16 is coming off a big victory and No. 8 just lost 52-6 to a so-so team.

    Teams on NCAA probation ARE eligible for the AP poll.

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  129. I don't see Zachery as a home-run threat. He's a relatively fast dude who can catch passes.

    At this point, though, they should look at all available options.

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  130. I agree Bama is better than Florida at this point.

    As for getting to vote in the poll, what a wonderful job. Imagine a job where you do it every week and, no matter what, you got it wrong and must re-do it the next week. Now, that is one fulfilling job.

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  131. JGT- Sorry, not really harping on your poll, you've earned the right to have your vote. [suck up mode off]

    I do enjoy understanding the reasoning behind rankings however, thus my "nagging." This early in the season, there are still enough teams that haven't played meaningful opponents and thus can be artificially elevated due simply to preseason buzz, not performance.

    With that in mind, I wonder how many rank based on the buzz, perfomance on the field (regardless of opponent), or consideration of the remaining schedule: Team "A" should be the remaining teams on it's schedule so go ahead rank them as a one loss, or undefeated team (but toe to toe they may be more like a top 15 team).

    beating a dead horse.

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  132. does all available options include an open to the student body contest on the intramural fields? I'd love to see some random kid walking on mid-season as the punt returner. Hey, they do it with kickers.

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  133. Were you reading my post as I was typing it?

    strange sensation that a key logging software may be operating within my laptop, or that blasted camera thingy is on.

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  134. Not sure Peter..

    I know Dye and Stallings didn't have them ranked.

    I thought at least one of those would...especially after the nice things that Stallings had to say about AU Friday on Finebaum.

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  135. Jay, you should just set down and do the poll right once and get it over with. Imagine being the voter that doesn't change any of his votes for the rest of the season. You will be worshiped as a genius.

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  136. Allen Wannstache,

    When you walk into a bar, how you rank the girls you see? Do you consider whether they will go home with you at the end of the night, the buzz among your friends, whether your parents will like them, etc...?

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  137. I think we should have a rank that cheerleader poll..

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  138. Jay,

    Another pet topic of mine...anyone at the complex relate on Eltoro's performance? Not hearing his name as often as Mr. Koolaid told me to expect.

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  139. Snacks -

    It's elimination. Stack up te list of lookers first, then look for a little tatoo.

    Because you know she's already done one thing that she regretted the next morning...

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  140. I haven't heard a straight answer on Eltoro, but my educated guess is that he's not quite up to speed on strategy.

    He's confused too often. He's been a see ball hit ball guy to this point. Herring may be a little bit too far the other way, too ponderous, but I guess Ted Rüf would prefer to err on the side of caution.

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  141. Return specialists. For all the rough edges, I miss Robert Baker.

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  142. I love it nobody cares about the Polls but it is the hottest topic during football season.

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  143. Lookers then Little tattoo. Awesome. Not the way I'd rate them, but that's fantastic.

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  144. The Braves lead the Fins 3-0 in bottom of the 6th. still holding on.

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  145. Allen..

    Some idiots on Tiderinsider are discussing whether Javy Arenas is better than David Palmer at returning punts...

    Are you kidding me?

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  146. Snacks, mrs. mindingthepollswannastash doesn't sport the tat. I abandoned that strategy when ranking for a more permanent poll.

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  147. Anonymous7:59 PM

    Peter.. rating chicks in a bar...depended on what time I got there and whether I walked or staggered into the bar.

    Note the past-tense verbs.

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  148. Of course, Wannstache. That's usually the way it works.

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  149. Anonymous8:03 PM

    FSJ....Bammers are stoopid aren't they

    The final chicks-in-the-bar rating system would take into consideration how it had been since the last hookup. Long time running = G-U-E.

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  150. Gimme a guy whos first move, ...followed by the next several..., is staight ahead at full speed.

    Of course the ability to catch the ball notwithstanding.

    Admittedly not my cup of tea either (that lil brown pill gets small and wobbly looking when thar's a herd of buffalo running at ye).

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  151. Anonymous8:08 PM

    Maybe TZac could limit punt fumbles. Wouldn't be able to create something out of nothing, but if we blocked, he could move the ball forward.

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  152. Anonymous8:10 PM

    Reading about all of the UT defensive injuries = drinking kool-aid

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  153. What you talkin' 'bout Coosa. I am going to live that long and longer. I have to because I have got too much to do to check out before I am 125. At the rate I am going, I may not get it all done by then. I can bounce my great-great grandson on my knee and tell him, I was not sure we could win 10 games in 2009 but I was as happy as anyone else that we did.

    We might do it. I am just not sure we will without a terrific amount of improvement in some areas. By the way Coosa, I have already accomplished something that you are not sure you will. I have lived to be 70.

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  154. I will settle for replacing our punt returner with a punt catcher. Find someone that can call for a fair catch every time and not drop it and I will be satisfied. Our special teams issues go deeper that just the punt returner.

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  155. Good Trooper article. TN fans still like him.

    http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2009/sep/28/taylor-staying-put-now/

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  156. Speaking of first move straight ahead, wish our O staff would work on eliminating dance moves on sweeps, screens, etc....ie: don't catch the ball on a wr screen and try to dance around the oncoming D. Turn on the jets and adjust to the backside shoulder of the pursuit (generate positive yards and make a yard or two after contact). Ball security and lost opportunity for positive yards are a concern while dancing.

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  157. I say screw the punt returner. Put 11 on the line and go full bore after every punt. That has to work better than what we've seen so far.

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  158. My fiscal budget for the next few months is looking awfully red...

    not good...

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  159. Excellent article on Trooper, Kathy. Someone give that man a contract that says he has a job at Auburn until his kids graduate high school, with an option to extend it through college. Heavy buyouts on both sides of course.

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  160. Anonymous8:21 PM

    AD..I generally with your straight ahead concept. Of course TZac danced around on a screen and broke loose for a TD against BSt.

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  161. Not for "full bore", too many of those may come with 15 yard penalties.

    But there may be something to be said for getting the 11 to just stall the gunners (and others) long enough for the ball to die after it hits...maybe get some of those to roll into the end zone for a touchback, and I'm not sure it would make a difference on the others.

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  162. Anonymous8:22 PM

    Dang, Michael making sense. Is the world ending?

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  163. Ouch. This is a freaky accident.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4512778

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  164. Does anyone know if Isom has a Twitter or Facebook page? We might need to check it out!

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4511880

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  165. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  166. Hi Hots. Who gives a crap about the polls. I mean, it's the fourth game of the year. Their nice to look at, but don't over analyze. they usually work themselves out as the games are played.

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  167. IV - Hope I didn't offend you; I meant it entirely as a joke. You have joked a lot yourself about being in the home. Looks like you have about 15 years on me, so congrats on making it that far, and I surely hope you do make it to 125.

    I hope that everyone realizes that most of my posts are meant as humor. Probably very bad at it, but I try anyway. I'm not as much of a koolaid drinker as you would think from my posts here, but I do think that a 10-2 season is not impossible. I think Michael nailed it pretty well - we have little chance against bammer, and will lose at least one other game. I doubt we can do much better than that, and I think we win at least 8.

    If Todd gets hurt, all bets are off.

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  168. Isom is suppa coolin right now fo sho.

    I hope we don't call the guy who fields punts on our team the "Return Specialist".

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  169. It appears Mike Leach isn't in a good mood. Who peed in his cheerios? It is college football. Sometimes you are going to lose. Get over it.

    As for the head coach being late for a meeting, in my opinion the rules for coaches should be the same as those for players in general. Coaches should set an example, but that player really should have expressed his opinion in a different manner.

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  170. Good job PF. No clues there. What did Isom do?

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  171. Isom out for a minimum of 3 games, supposedly.

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  172. Coosa. I have to admit that before the season started, I thought we would win 6. I had us losing to WVU, beating UT, losing to Arky, beating Furman, and winning one other like Kentucky.

    After seeing our offense, and seeing the defense is about what I thought it would be, I'm revising my picks. I'm going with 8, with us still winning UT, KY, Furman, and someone we shouldn't beat.

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  173. Wow wtc. You're usually pretty accurate with your info. That means he misses both road games.

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  174. I definitely think Isom will be out a little while.

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  175. They yanked a redshirt off Andre Harris for no apparent reason.

    I'd say they're trying to build depth at guard.

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  176. IV will remember this, and a few others might. We were having the exact same problem in 1969 with our punt return game - nobody could hold on to a punt. Shug tried several different guys, and all of them fumbled. He finally turned to a guy that was pretty surprising - Larry Blakeney. He was the starting QB as a sophomore in 1966, then lost the job to Loran Carter in 1967. He got hurt in 68, and surprised the coaches by asking for a redshirt year, even though he knew that we had a guy named Sullivan who would be the QB in 69.

    He didn't get to play much that year, but Shug finally put him to returning punts. I remember him saying that catching a punt was nothing to Larry Blakeney. I don't think he had a long return, but he had no fumbles.

    So do we have a sure-handed, washed-up QB on the roster?

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  177. My opinion has changed a bit sense the beggining of the season in terms of how many games we will win. Before the season I was saying 7 maybe 8. At this point 8 seems likely and 9 or 10 are not out of the question. Those numbers just continue to rise. Back in the spring before I found out Todd was actually healthy, I was thinking 6 or maybe 7. Only part of this is due to how good we have looked. Part of it is because teams like LSU, Ole Nutt, and UGA haven't looked as good as I anticipated.

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  178. Look for Eddins or Jared Cooper to start this week.

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  179. So... what did Isom do, exactly?

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  180. I got the same impression from Chizik's comments. I sure hope those guys can step up and keep the pressure off of Todd. We can not afford for him to get injured.

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  181. Jay, what the heck did Isom do? In your opinion, are these kids breaking too many rules, or is Chizik a little too strict? Not sayin Chizik doesn't have to come down hard, but how bout a bunch of stadium steps, up and downs, sprints till you throw up. There are other ways to dicipline than game time. It hurts the other kids that are doing right!

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  182. I have suspected that removing the redshirt from Andre Harris might be a direct result of Isom going bye bye. I think it likely.

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  183. The OL was playing so well together. Here I was worried about an injury. Stupid is as stupid does. Why would you bust your butt throughout the spring and summer just to break team rules and get suspended?

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  184. We probaly will never hear what Isom did, I respect the staff for that

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  185. Jay, I think Harris is there for back up as you say. AU just saw what can happen when 1 guy is out.

    BTW-AU has a good chance of getting the kid from Ariton that is a commit to UAT for now. not saying Au gets him, but AU is not giving up.

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  186. Coosa nah man, you didn't offend me. You are right I joke about my being an old man and I love being one considering the alternative. You go ahead anytime you want to and poke fun at me, just be ready for a shot back at ya. By the way, I have bad aim so don't let the women and children get in the way.

    I don't say we can't win all of them, let alone 11, 10 or whatever number you select. I am just a realist and I don't think that will happen without some improvements in some areas especially parts of the kicking game. We did tackle a bit better last week over the previous week; however, I see room for improvement there. I could go on but most of my concerns have been covered by others and there is no need in going over them again. I do like the team chemistry and that can overcome alot of negative things. I am more of a wait and see guy. I have been disappointed several times over my years of Tiger watching; therefore, I don't usually count my conference championships before they happen.

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  187. Our O-line coach said not too long ago that Andre wasn't ready for prime time, not even close. What's changed? If Cooper, Sullen, Eddins can play, why take the redshirt off. Just sayin.

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  188. I have no idea. The system at Auburn is built to keep information from reporters.

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  189. I ain't scared. I'll turn the page.

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