Question of the day: Ainge and the Clawfense or Cutcliffe and Crompton

by Joel on Nov 19, 2008 7:31 AM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Football Comment 16 comments

Which of the following two scenarios would have improved this Season of Constant Sorrow more and why?

Erik Ainge returns for another year of eligibility and runs the Clawfense under Dave Clawson.
David Cutcliffe returns for another year and runs the same offense as last year with this year's quarterbacks.

0 recs | Comment 16 comments

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simply put: Cut

Cutcliffe, if he couldn’t get crompton on track, i believe he would have Stephens or Coleman prepared to take the reigns.

whoshotwhointhewhatnow?

by thetennesseethumper on Nov 19, 2008 9:08 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Cutcliffe could have made Rick Clausen look decent so I’d take my chances with Cutcliffe and Stephens/Crompton. Remember Randy Sanders couldn’t do much with Ainge so it’s fair to assume that Clawsen would have yielded no more results with Ainge.

by jtferrell21 on Nov 19, 2008 11:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Uh...Without a doubt, the second one

I mean, in two games two years ago, Cutcliffe had Jonathan Crompton looking better than he has yet this season.

by nirwin on Nov 19, 2008 11:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

By far David Cutcliffe

I honestly believe he has made more average QB’s look like superstars than anyone else in college football today. Cutcliffe turned Ainge from a mediocre/average QB under Sanders to a very efficient passer. Ole Miss was really really dumb for firing that guy.

http://hobnailboot.blogspot.com/

by AuditDawg on Nov 19, 2008 11:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Coach Cut

by rblakeh on Nov 19, 2008 3:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Cut, Hands Down

Because he always made sure that his guys did every little thing right all the time. God is in the details.

by Colonel Corn on Nov 19, 2008 6:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Wow...

I’m a little shocked that everyone is agreement on this…because I’m not sure I’m on board. Ainge was by no means Peyton Manning, but he was a very good college quarterback. The quarterbacks on this roster are simply not SEC-caliber players, with the possible exception of Coleman who we haven’t really seen. Also, it’s pretty widely known that Cut was no fan of Crompton and was a B.J. Coleman fan. So, had Cut stayed, there’s a decent chance that Coleman would have been our starting quarterback for a good majority of the year. So by picking #2, not only are you assuming Coleman would be a good SEC quarterback, but you’re also assuming that Clawson’s offense is just not effective. There’s no way to know about Coleman, and I think it’s unfair to judge Clawson’s offense with the quarterback play we’ve seen and Fulmer’s famous tinkering. Don’t get me wrong, Cut is a great coach, but he is not a miracle worker. He made a big difference with Ainge in ‘06, but you have to remember that Ainge showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman in ’04. Injuries and Fulmer’s knack for Rick Clausen killed Ainge’s confidence. We’ve never seen anything from Crompton or Stephens to suggest they can be good SEC quarterbacks. So, unless Coleman is just a vast improvement over those two, I don’t see Cut making that much of a difference in the end. So I’m going to have to go with #1. Give me Dave Clawson and Erik Ainge’s quick reads.

by LukeMP1186 on Nov 20, 2008 2:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

With all of that said...

If B.J. comes in and plays well against Vandy and Kentucky, I’ll change my answer. But even then, it’s still not really fair to judge Clawson’s offense. This is especially true if they put up points with B.J. under center, because then you can undoubtedly point the finger at Crompton and Stephens for the offensive failures. I just don’t believe those two have the ability to be consistently successful quarterbacks in this conference, even with Cut on staff.

by LukeMP1186 on Nov 20, 2008 2:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You make some good points

But to say that Crompton is not SEC-caliber (at least in theory) is a bit of a stretch. Recruitment rankings aren’t everything, but his was way up there. Like, number #3 pro style qb, or something like that? We weren’t the only school after him. I believe Mark Richt said, “We recruited the heck out of him…” The fact that he is not a good quarterback this year reflects glaringly on Clawson. I have heard the stories that Cutcliffe didn’t think too highly of Crompton, but I have also seen Cutcliffe quoted that Crompton was really coming along near the end of the season. Take a look at Duke’s season if you don’t think that Cutcliffe is a miracle worker. Heck, take a look at what he’s done with Thaddeus Lewis. Though he has less touchdowns than he did last year, he’s got a 3:1 TD:INT ratio for virtually the same number of attempts as all of last year. His completion percentage is up 5 percent points, and the most shocking category – sacks – is sitting at 15… compared to 44 last year. As a comparison to UT’s football team, who gave up only… 3? sacks last year. This year we’ve given up 21 (on less attempts than Duke’s passing game).

Either Cutcliffe is a miracle worker, or Clawson is a witch doctor. We are so much worse off compared to last year it’s mind boggling.

by rblakeh on Nov 20, 2008 12:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Come on man...

when asked the question, do you really expect Cut to publicly say that Crompton isn’t “coming right along”? He’s obviously going to be publicly supportive, but like I said, he wasn’t privately. You can throw recruiting rankings around all day – it means nothing. Look at Gerald Riggs, look at Kenny O’Neal, look at Daniel Brooks, look at Michael Munoz. Those were all five-star guys. Regardless of what you think of Clawson’s offense, Jonathan Crompton has been awful, and I really don’t see the debate. He takes an eternity to go through his reads, he doesn’t make the proper changes at the line of scrimmage, and if he does happen to get rid of the ball, it’s usually in the grass or in the 6th row. These aren’t my opinions, these are the facts. Stephens is better with his progressions, but he’s had issues with making changes at the line and has made some truly awful throws. Dave Clawson may have a terrible offensive system, but the fact is that we just don’t know – not with the quarterback play and Fulmer wearing a headset.

by LukeMP1186 on Nov 20, 2008 10:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

All that about Crompton

True, but many of the same things could have been (and were) said about Ainge in 2005. He was broken, beyond repair. Horrible. Yet Cutcliffe reanimated him.

Go Vols!

by Joel on Nov 21, 2008 6:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Look...

there is no doubt that Cut saved Erik Ainge’s career. But like I said in my initial comment, we knew that Erik Ainge had what it took to be a successful SEC quarterback after watching him as a freshman. Other than being highly rated by the recruiting services, we haven’t seen anything from Crompton to suggest the same about him. I’m not saying Cut wouldn’t have made a difference this year, he would have. But does he turn 3-7 into 7-3? If Ainge was still here, there is no doubt in my mind that this team has 7 or 8 wins right now, regardless of the offense. You win at UCLA with Ainge, you win at Auburn with Ainge, you likely win at Georgia with Ainge, you win at South Carolina with Ainge (remember Stephens handed them 14 points), and you certainly beat Wyoming with Ainge. Then, who knows what happens against Alabama? That game was there for the taking in the 1st half. I respect everyone’s opinions here, but I’m just shocked to find a contingent of Tennessee fans that still think Jonathan Crompton has what it takes.

by LukeMP1186 on Nov 21, 2008 12:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oh, don't get me wrong.

I asked the question precisely because I thought there were good arguments to be made on both sides. I was a bit surprised to such a majority as well.

Go Vols!

by Joel on Nov 21, 2008 1:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It's not that I think JC has what it takes

It’s that I have more confidence in Coach Cut than Ainge, Clawson, and Crompton combined.

by rblakeh on Nov 21, 2008 9:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Remember the LSU game

Remember that a couple of years ago Ainge was hurt, and I think he started the LSU game but Crompton came in real quick, and we almost beat LSU. Cut was still the OC at that point, and everyone got real excited about him, and they were ready for him to take over after Ainge graduated. Seems like Crompton has gotten worse since then.

http://www.lsusports.net/src/data/lsu/assets/docs/fb/06stats/ls09.htm

by Colonel Corn on Nov 20, 2008 7:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I mean...

he hit two deep balls to a 1st round draft pick and that was it. Outside of that, he was 9-22 with a pick and less than 100 yards passing. No one can argue that he doesn’t have an arm, he certainly does, but it’s not like he led a couple of methodical drives to keep us in the game. Meachem was his first read in all likelihood and he just put it out there for him to go get it. We know what happens when he has to go through his reads. Then he didn’t really do anything at Arkansas, who had a defense inferior to that of LSU’s. I just don’t see how anyone can still believe that a different coach would have made a difference with him.

by LukeMP1186 on Nov 20, 2008 9:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs