Same Song, Fourth Verse

Thoughts on Tennessee's 26-14 loss to Georgia this afternoon:

1) Nick Stevens appears to be about as good as any other QB we've had lately in their 2nd game starting, so I've been happy with his progress to this point. So far - no INT's, so that's a plus no matter what else. No major overthrows, underthrows or bad decisions - some questionable throws into coverage and not very mobile, but still head and shoulders above Crompton. I wonder how good the other guy, B.J. actually is that we've never seen? He could be even better, who knows.

My standard answer whenever anyone on the radio gripes why we're not using Lennon Creer - like it or not, he's still the 3rd string tailback. If he were better, he'd be the 2nd string or 1st string. That's how they're ordered, and it doesn't make sense to think Creer is going to run better than Hardesty and Foster just because he's there. That's why we don't see him as much, it doesn't make sense to play your 3rd string guy except in special situations when your 1st and 2nd string guys are out.

THAT SAID....

As we've seen with Stevens, obviously the coaches have no idea how to grade their players 1st string, 2nd string, etc. We went through four games with an obviously inferior QB and just now found the real starter. THere's probably no real reason to think he should've been 1st string and Stevens riding the bench. In the same way, who knows who among the 3 RB's is really best? I think it's obvious that it's not Foster anymore, and it should be a competition between Hardesty and Creer. But they don't pay me to make decisions...

3) I am beyond blaming the defensive guys for bad tackling and being out of position (or continuous "busted plays" as Bob Kesling kept alleging). I hang the Defense's bad play solely on John Chavis and the defensive coaches for the most haphazed defensive scheme in the SEC. Every down we play off the receivers, allowing them to get 5-10 yards on the sides at will. That's all coaching, and it's inexcusable.