Best Plays of 2010: A Man-Sized Throw vs. Heh, Gator Bit

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jun 15, 2011 10:00 AM EDT in Tennessee Volunteer Football

A Man-Sized Throw -- Tyler Bray's 30-yard TD pass to Denarius Moore against South Carolina

Subtitle: Woo! Hello, Tyler Bray!

It wasn't that Matt Simms had played all that badly. Yeah, he did have those two fumbles on sacks that South Carolina had converted into points, but at the point that Derek Dooley decided to give Tyler Bray a shot, Simms was 10-13 for 153 yards and a TD, and the Gamecocks were up only 17-10 despite the fourteen points the Vols had given them on turnovers.

But Dooley called Bray's number anyway, and Will stood and screamed somewhere in the stands about the idiocy of the move. Bray immediately threw a pick six on his very first pass attempt to give Carolina a 24-10 lead.

But Dooley gave it back to Bray and changed the entire course of the season. With the game still threatening to spin out of control, Bray and the Vols got the ball on the 30 yard line with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter. The team went nowhere, but got a second chance when a fake punt resulted in a 25-yard gain and a first down. On the next play, yay Bray:

It was not a fluke, either, as he tossed another one to Gerald Jones soon after that. We didn't win, but we never looked back.

Heh, Gator Bit -- Matt Simms' 40-yard TD pass to Justin Hunter against Florida

As we said when discussing Watch the Pretty Pattern, everyone still thought Florida was Florida when Tennessee played them. The Gators scored twice more after that play to go up 24-10, but Simms and Hunter made it interesting early in the fourth:

Poll

Which play should advanace?

A Man-Sized Throw

110 votes

Heh, Gator Bit

27 votes

137 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

The Carolina throw was much more impressive

and it meant more to the narrative of the season.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Go Bolts! Out West, go Preds! Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Jun 15, 2011 10:09 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed.

I’d really like Simms to get a play into the next round, but this ain’t gonna be it. Throwing a TD to a wide-open guy on totally busted coverage is nice and all, but that Bray pass was pretty textbook beautiful.

by _trey_ on Jun 15, 2011 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions

What I loved about that play sums up what I love about Simms:

The guy is tough, and the guy can throw the football. In the end, it was the mistakes he did make that killed us — fumbles against South Carolina, pick sixes early in the season, and he didn’t have the gung-ho put-that-ball-right-in-there-try-and-stop-it mentality that Bray has, but he is tough. Simms held the ball, saw Justin going wide open, threw it well, and got blasted.

That said, I voted for the Bray pass. That was one sick pass, and might be my favorite play so far. I didn’t realize just how good a throw that was.

______________________________________________
That's (333333jorkland)^2 and $$$$$$$$immons to you, chump.

by bobothevol on Jun 15, 2011 11:30 AM EDT reply actions

yeah neither did I

You really couldn’t throw that any better. Word is the staff is really happy with his progress this summer. I can’t wait to (hopefully) see him ball out.

by Rx Salt on Jun 15, 2011 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

The most I have ever been wrong about something in sports with one of my teams

is when the Titans drafted Chris Johnson. I complained about that pick every month of the offseason. I would love for the decision to go to Bray here to give it a run for its money.

Rocky Top Talk

by Will Shelton on Jun 15, 2011 2:53 PM EDT reply actions

Hold on...Will was screaming because Dooley took Simms out?

Like…really?

...just apologize for not thanking me.

by kidbourbon on Jun 16, 2011 9:51 AM EDT reply actions

Yes, really. I don’t think I liked it much at the time, either. Maybe. I’m old, and my memory’s . . . um . . . what?

Chief Editor, Rocky Top Talk. Chief in Charge of Woo, Gameday Depot.

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jun 16, 2011 9:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I remember disliking it at the time as well

Simms was probably having his best game of the season, absent the fumbles.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Go Bolts! Out West, go Preds! Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Jun 16, 2011 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions

While in hindsight I'm pretty sure it was an at least somewhat pre-planned contingency thing...

.. at the time the switch-up definitely seemed a little panicky/worrisome.

by _trey_ on Jun 17, 2011 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Also

Between the above man size throw and the throw to Da’Rick against the more northerly brand of Carolina, it is tough to decide which is a prettier pass. Both give me warm fuzzies all over.

...just apologize for not thanking me.

by kidbourbon on Jun 16, 2011 9:53 AM EDT reply actions

Tough call

The SC play was obviously more important to the season (and thus gets my vote), but I love the Florida play as well. It gave me the first ammunition vs. my UF-grad co-worker in years, due to the complete breakdown of the UF defense (and assisted by their inability to snap the ball during the first part of the season). He’s not a huge smack-talker, but he definitely has a superiority thing going on. This year’s game will hopefully take him down another notch.

by rbird8 on Jun 16, 2011 11:23 AM EDT reply actions