If I can engage in some brief horn-tooting, it would be an understatement to say that yesterday’s Montana Project post went over well. GTP drew a record 31,468 site views of which nearly 20,000 were attributed to that post. After one day, it’s already the third most visited post in the history of the blog. The post also got plenty of attention on Twitter and at the SI.com site.
Needless to say, we are all gratified. It’s always nice to see a labor of love appreciated by a wider audience. So thank you all very much. And, again, if it’s not too much trouble, please check out Travis’ post and see what you can do.
If you’re a fan of the yards per play metric, then this post at Team Speed Kills will be right up your alley. Particularly this chart ranking the conference teams by the ratio of offensive to defensive ypp:
Rank
Team
Offensive YPP
Defensive YPP
Ratio
1
Louisiana State
6.91
3.46
2.00
2
Alabama
6.69
3.56
1.88
3
Georgia
7.80
4.69
1.66
4
South Carolina
6.71
4.53
1.48
5
Florida
6.42
4.55
1.41
6
Texas A&M
6.02
4.43
1.36
7
Mississippi State
6.71
5.32
1.26
8
Vanderbilt
4.71
4.29
1.10
9
Kentucky
5.87
5.35
1.10
10
Mississippi
7.05
6.67
1.06
11
Auburn
5.42
5.50
0.99
12
Tennessee
5.72
6.73
0.85
13
Missouri
4.10
4.86
0.84
14
Arkansas
4.02
5.88
0.68
Some of this will come as no surprise: there’s a reason the top five teams on the list are recognized as the five best teams in the SEC. And why Arkansas has been such a disappointment.
On the other hand, Missouri is kind of turning that whole Big 12 mystique on its head, as it looks quite credible on defense and anemic on offense.
And then there’s that Tennessee defensive number. Vols, we tried to warn you that the transition to a 3-4 scheme won’t be a smooth one.
It’s inevitable based on last year’s unpleasantness that James Franklin and Todd Grantham would be a big part of the story leading up to Saturday’s game. But if we’re lucky, the following week in Athens may see us blessed with another big coaching story.
So let’s evaluate where the Vols go from here. Akron should not be that much of a problem on Saturday, but the trip to Georgia — to Dooley’s hometown, no less — is shaping up to be the defining moment of his career.
Yes, it seems that Dooley’s Vols have a defining game or a season-shaping chance every other week, but so it goes when a coach and a program are searching and starving for a statement moment and a helmet-hanging win.
Good coaches can regroup a team amid challenges, and great coaches can regroup them amid great distractions. The inverse of that is true, too, and if these Vols do not respond with an inspired effort in what will surely be the biggest game in Dooley’s coaching career, then we all will see exactly what kind of presence Dooley has in the UT locker room.
The Georgia game represents Dooley’s next chance at making UT fans believe he is worth the emotional investment.
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