Everybody Loves the Backup Quarterback: Tyler Bray is Listed as the Starter for Memphis
by David Hooper on Nov 1, 2010 11:52 AM EDT
in Tennessee Volunteer Football
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PrintWell, whether we wanted a quarterback controversy or not, we have one. Talk radio just became a very easy gig this week as we have nothing to do in preview of Memphis but to talk about quarterbacks. Tyler Bray is now listed as the #1 quarterback on the depth chart.
Listening to the local airwaves today, this will be a topic of no small discourse. Some people are absolutely in love with the idea while some are ready to head to campus and string up the entire coaching staff. (Pro tip: neither answer will bring Fulmer back; just let it go.)
It's not an easy call, and I honestly don't know if it's the right answer or not, but let's remember one very important thing: we only know a portion of the information that Derek Dooley and Jim Chaney have on hand. We know that Matt Simms is a tough kid who has taken an absolute pounding. We also know that Tyler Bray is underweight and is the bigger injury risk based on physical factors alone. On the flipside, Bray's passing is clearly superior and his field awareness appears to be better. Back to the frontside, Simms is more mobile and can scramble and block better than Bray. On the flipside again, Bray seems to shift in the pocket a lot better than Simms, and has already avoided several sacks that I thought were guarantees.
The short of it is that we as fans don't have the information necessary to decisively judge the coaches on this one, and we're going to fit the facts to our preferences.
And to be honest, the decision may hinge on off-field factors as much as the on-field ones.
I don't think this move has anything to do with "getting the freshmen in", as it's far more important for Dooley to win as soon as possible than to embark on a three-year plan. But at the quarterback position, there are so many little details that go into the decision. Which quarterback gets the team to practice better? Which quarterback takes to coaching better? Which one is improving faster?
And if this wasn't the quarterback position, it wouldn't nearly be so newsworthy. The truth of the matter is that the coaches have to play the guy who they think gives them the best chance to win. That's not just limited to gameday, but everything during practice and everything during downtime. If Tyler Bray is the guy that the team rallies around and plays harder for, then that's a huge point in his favor. I have no clue if that's the case, but that kind of detail can often decide the starting quarterback when all else appears equal, and that's the kind of thing we'll never know about.
Either way, we all owe Matt Simms a huge thanks for the beating he took and the competitiveness he displayed on the field. Of all players, I never thought he showed quit during some of those second-half blowouts. I'm not one to tell you how to think, but let me at least say that he's sacrificed a lot for the team; for the time, let's leave the criticism behind and simply appreciate what he's done that we may sit in the stands and be entertained.
Let some other emperor give thumbs-downs. For now, let's just beat Memphis.
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for once...
I don’t feel completely terrified going into a game no matter who we are starting at QB
Starting with the South Carolina game, naturally.
Still not happy with tackling.
Ok, now on Memphis. ‘Two teams searching for a good win.’ Expects their best, etc. etc. etc.
Well, if Memphis wins, I'll let them call it a good win.
All things are relative, and that team is in a worse position.
If Memphis wins, they'll have managed to beat the worst team in Tennessee history.
As a Memphis win will basically guarantee that we have our first 8-loss season ever.
If Memphis wins
They’ll talk around the watercooler about how they dominated the series between 1997 and 2011, doubling their win total at the expense of the pitiful Volunteers! They will then return home and remember that they are Memphis fans, so they probably sit at home slamming the empty birdcage against their head while pouring boiling chicken noodle soup (don’t ask how they started the stove, you don’t want to know) on their stomach. Such is the life of a Memphississippian.
______________________________________________
I will give my North Carolina for Tennessee Today. Apparently.
As a Memphian, I'll round up and call it a good win.
To repeat class, if something happens ONCE in the ENTIRE HISTORY of the series – what do we call the Memphis victory over Tennessee? That’s the correct answer: A FLUKE
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Injuries:
Hughes still hobbling. Lincoln day-to-day. Lather day-to-day. Still working Oliver back into practice.
Ok, here comes the qb talk. Tyler Bray is confirmed. “Feel like that’s the best thing for our team right now.”
Loading praise on Matt right now. Says Matt was ‘apologetic’ for his postgame comments and that Matt came to Dooley to apologize.
Desicion is ‘strictly a business evaluation of our team’. Nothing to do with postgame comments.
Likes Simms’ emotions.
I'm less harsh on Simms now that I know he apologized for running his mouth. Was highly critical as the story broke.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Yeah. I don't mind fiery tempers in football players, so long as they control it on the field.*
And Simms has done that, at least. The comments may have been out of place, but at least he didn’t draw unsportsmanlike penalties for his temper.
(*) Obviously, so long as they control their tempers when on Cumberland Ave., etc. etc. etc. Hopefully the obvious never needed to be stated in the first place.
Hooper hit it
When Rajion Neal moved ahead of Oku, it barely caused a stir. The QB changes and it’s big news. Though I like the competative spirit Simms displays, as one who has coached other sports for many years, Simms’ lack of discipline in his post-game comments would, for me, earn him some serious splinters in his butt gathering bench time. Publicly criticising caoches and teammates is neither competativeness or leadership. It comes across more like whining and is disruptive to team chemistry.
In addition, Bray displayed more pocket presence, a much quicker release, and better touch and accuracy. Add some experience and he will be terrific.
by springtime-of-my-senility on Nov 1, 2010 12:34 PM EDT reply actions
Still thinks they'll need Matt.
Not necessarily that Tyler has ‘done everything he needs to do to earn a spot’. Still likely that Matt will play, but will be played by ear.
Dooley's not going to give much detail about why the decision was made.
‘Facts are facts’, etc., but he’s not going into the specifics.
Does mention sacks and turnovers. Not necessarily blaming Matt but trying to change things up. (Aside: that’s totally blaming Matt for at least a part of it or this makes no sense whatsoever.)
Sack-fumble EQUALS Interception. Translation to Mr Simms, both are bad and you have to own hurting the team.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Question if Simms is seeing field well.
And if that causes him to hold the ball too long.
Dooley hedges the question. Reminds that some rushers are unblocked. Or that a receiver doesn’t get free. Or that qb holds ball too long ‘for whatever reason’. Lotsa vagueness here.
That is a great question.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Stone will probably play center this game for at least some snaps.
Aside: let’s just assume Pope won’t play again.
Call the Vatican?
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
A successful new pope election from conclave. ;-)
My confirmation classes in Jr. High come to use! Hooray…
YES WHITE PANTS…don’t let me begin on my insanity of hatred against pants a l’orange.
Ahhhhhh, hey what about my cheering?!! Ahhhhhhhh - Swiperboy
Question about keeping this from being divisive
For one, Dooley doesn’t let players evaluate the team and influence personnel. Takes all the heat of personnel changes upon himself. (Which is only fair.)
That was probably a question trying to see if there was a chemistry issue involved in the qb switch.
Does note that Bray didn't get affected by that quick interception
and also praises Matt for that quality.
expect lawya Dooley to give a lot of fence-riding talk about this issue
Re: Jacques.
Unfortunate and isolated incident. Smith just got too emotional, but the other players did the right thing to diffuse the situation. Happening ‘since Adam and Eve, I guess’.
Tyler handled the announcement like everything else. 'Yessir.'
E.g. “Tyler, your house is burning up.”
Tyler: “Ok. I think I left a few things in there.”
o.O
The dude is just plain funny.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Aside: expect more qb switching in the game.
Until a qb is obvious, they’ll both get a shot. "Neither if their actions say, ‘play me for four quarters.’ " Also, both give reasons to play the other guy.
Janzen's going to get work at punt return.
He’s “almost our best at everything”. (That was supposed to be a compliment.) Looking at getting him involved on special teams without tiring him out too much for defense.
Eric’s good but muffs too many punts.
Re: Tauren Poole
Told him that Dooley’s wife asked: “why is Tauren getting the ball and stopping?” E.g. why doesn’t he trust his own abilities?
Sounds like Dooley thinks Tauren is overthinking. Could be partly due to defensive line quality (aside: and offensive line quality).
Harrington: how is team morale?
Dooley: Spirits are ‘pretty good’. [long pause] Recaps that team is overall on an upward trend but just needs to learn to execute in late-game situations.
Aside: pause notwithstanding, I’m surprised how resilient the team’s emotions have been.
Malik Jackson is 'most consistent and most productve lineman we have'
yet couldn’t get on field at USC. (Dooley’s words) Glad Malik is here.
Herman is good but shows inconsistency. A ‘fast runner and hitter’.
The three seniors: Gerald, Denarius, and Luke
are all performing well. Pleased with them. (And I’m really going to miss them next year.)
Re: Wilcox being up in the booth.
Helps in the secondary in particular and with the personnel adjustments. (Hard to argue with that.)
Re: why Stone didn't play center last week.
He’s left-handed, which makes it harder to work him in. Just taking a little longer to make sure the snap works. Pouncey 2.0 agrees.
Re: Hunter
Played about the same number of snaps but went quiet. (Aside: I’ll say.) Wants to get Hunter the ball more often.
Upside: it’s hard to get the freshmen the ball when the seniors played so well.
"Experience will help the quarterback. It'll be that way since the end of time."
Love the tense shift there. ;-)
The press have to love Dooley. Limited coach speak and he's way quotable.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Still lots of recruiting to do. 2012 will be better (i.e. over .500) but 2013 could be nice.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
/ducks what was that? over my head.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Really liked the way the secondary played until the final 10 minutes or so.
Names Prentiss in particular.
Yet up front didn’t work so well. Lattimore agrees.
Downplays being the favorite against Memphis.
“Last time we were the favorite, we went into OT against a team from the same league.” (Slight paraphrase)
And the Sports Animal cuts to commercial.
Not sure if the presser is actually over. But overall, not a lot of new information there. The media’s going to really have to step up their game if they want Dooley to spill the beans when he’s in lawyer mode.
I'm waiting for Rucker to ask what color jersey Tyler's wearing this week.
Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.
by Chris Pendley on Nov 1, 2010 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions
(I'm also bad at reading timestamps.)
Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.
by Chris Pendley on Nov 1, 2010 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Who predicted exactly this a month ago?
It was an obvious narrative… the young gun always comes in against the weak opponent.
Hint: me
I'm a little confused by the heading
Does this mean we’re all supposed to love Simms now?
;)
...just apologize for not thanking me.
I was wondering when somebody would comment on that.
It’ll depend on which happens first, I guess: a Bray TD or a Bray INT vs. Memphis.
Bray will really have to step in it for us to clamor for Simms again.
Simms was serviceable (i.e. not Crompton in 1st half of last season) but not mind-blowing.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
So what happens with Simms next year?
Will he stick around to be the backup? Will he transfer…again?
...just apologize for not thanking me.
would think he stays. see injury comment. (depending on new talent coming in.)
The COEXIST bumper sticker is ridiculous. How are people supposed to get along when one side is flying planes into tall buildings or wearing sweater vests full of C4 and nails? The faiths are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Good question.
If he transfers, he’ll have zero hope of a pro career. He’s already on his fourth year, so a transfer would only give him one year to play, and that’s assuming that Dooley releases his scholarship. I would almost guarantee you that Dooley won’t release the scholly unless some non-football factor comes into play. If the scholarship isn’t released, then Simms transferring would only cause him to be done with football.
hooper
I don’t think this move has anything to do with “getting the freshmen in”, as it’s far more important for Dooley to win as soon as possible than to embark on a three-year plan.
really? what if a three-year plan IS “as soon as possible.” i’m not sure if this is actually your opinion or if it’s just your view of the “reality” of the situation, but it seems to me like a three-year plan is precisely what we need right now. it’s also the #1 reason why bray should be starting: so that 2 or 3 years from now, we will have a seasoned qb that has grown up with the young offense around him. the only kind of results that will keep dooley employed are of the 9 and 10 win variety, and that’s just not going to happen this year or the next. i think it would be much wiser to take our lumps now with an eye on setting up real success in the long term than it would be to worry about the difference between 5-7 and 7-5 in the short term. this is a true rebuilding job, whether we like it or not, so we might as well take the time to invest in the future, even if it hurts the W-L record, and get it right.
The Dual Threat, Official Enforcer/Stat Geek of MCM.
See, I'd agree.
Based purely on program-building, a two or three year plan should be the best course of action. The problem is that the people who will judge Dooley won’t think on that kind of a scale (that’s be the fanbase in general). If the team doesn’t show significant improvement next year, you’ll see the seats go empty and the donations dry up just like it did in 2008. And if Hamilton was forced to fire Fulmer in ‘08 because of the financial situation, I have no doubt he’d be forced to do the same to Dooley if the fans reacted in kind. (Aside: that’d also be the end of Hamilton’s tenure at AD.)
I said that because I think the fanbase is going to be impatient after this year. Especially since we opted out of the UNC game, I think he’ll have to hit the 8-win mark to keep people happy in 2011. (Win all non-cons and split the conference, or maybe 3-1 non-con etc.) It’s especially important because there are just enough people out there that want to see Hamilton fired, that they may jump on any opportunity to quit on Dooley in order to get to Hamilton. That, and Tennessee fans are so good at being pessimistic that there’s a real death spiral of fan disapproval just waiting to happen.
(Seriously, I love the UT fan base, but it’s incredibly negative.)
I think you overestimate...
the number of Tennessee fans who even know who Mike Hamilton is… and I can’t tell if you are trying to communicate that this move makes no sense in the scope of a three year plan… or if that comment was simply an aside.
There is no substitute for experience, and winning now always makes it easier to win later(with obvious exceptions for extremely rare circumstances)… so I see no way in which playing the better QB, assuming that is Bray, could be considered a negative. Yeah, it can be a bit disconcerting when a fanbase clamors for a backup QB despite what appears to be a preference for the starter by the coaches… but sometimes the legions are correct. See Casey Clausen, Donte Stallworth, and Arian Foster.
I think I'm just not being clear.
I agree that you play the better QB, especially if it does happen to be Bray.
Any non-con losses next year are big trouble
it’s one thing to lose to the teams we’ve lost to this year. It’s another thing to lose to Montana, Cincinnati (who’s no good), Buffalo, or MTSU.
by Will Shelton on Nov 1, 2010 10:48 PM EDT up reply actions
I could see Cincinnati recovering and having a much better year.
That’s the only maybe I allowed, though: if Cincy became the winner of the Big East, it’d at least be a semi-excusable loss, especially if the Vols do well enough in conference play.
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