::crawling out of my hole to hit y'all with some links::
- Dooley compares the Vols to the WWII Germans. This will probably get a lot of (mostly negative) national press as comparisons of football games to actual wars can generally be fairly characterized as "overstatements." But to the extent Dooley was simply noting that the Germans lost, well, I guess I can't call it totally inaccurate. I just wish that he would have used his best Christopher Walken voice (from Pulp Fiction). Now that would have been funny.
- Rivals article ($) on "The Quarterback Quandry". Dooley wants to get Bray some work and generally opines that he is in a lose-lose situation when he does try to get him some meaningful work. He doesn't question his handling of the Alabama game:
"Yeah. I think we are. I am. He got experience. I don't think looking back we would have won the game had we not played him," said UT's first-year coach. "He put together some nice drives late in the game and didn't finish them off, which is what Matt did. Put together some nice drives and didn't finish them off."
- Speaking of QB quandry, Bray sees more time in practice due to Simms being a little gimpy on his leg. Tauren Poole notices a difference in Bray's demeanor:
"You could see he’s more focused, he was into it," Poole said. "It seemed like he was ready to go.
"If it’s his shot, I think he’ll take full advantage of it."
The above-linked article also includes an injury report. Both Montori Hughes and JerQuari Schofield are expected to play this weekend in Columbia against the Fighting Spurriers of South Carolina. More word will be available on Daniel Lincoln later in the week. Marsalis Teague is banged up and day-to-day. But then again, aren't we all?
The above-linked article also has some duplicate quotes from the Rivals link, if you don't have a Rivals account.
- Clay Travis puts on his feisty pants and I think it is fair to say that at this point he is not enthralled with Mr. Dooley.
So far Dooley's entire coaching strategy seems to be pointing out the flaws of his team. How about starting with your own inability to get 11 players on the field for the snap? The Vols have had either too many or too few players on the field for snaps in five of their seven games. Will it get better any time soon? Nope. Dooley's currently put together the SEC's 10th best recruiting class for 2011 despite being able to point to every position and offer playing time to anyone who is interested.
- John Adams argues that the potential for immediate playing time has to help recruiting for next year. My only counter to that is that we only have (I think) like 8 more slots to fill for the upcoming recruiting class. If we could sign 40 guys, then yeah that would kool and the gang. Pesky "Houston Nutt" rule.
::crawling back into my hole for a couple more days::