The breaks just didn’t go our way this year.

You can’t play (and coach) as sloppy and undisciplined as this team has played at times and blame it on the breaks.

MnAGuy said:

The Vols can match up with anyone in the country, but missed field goals and incredibly costly turnovers ruined the playoff hopes. That’s the short and simple of it. The pass interference on first down of GA’s last drive was also BS as well as the offensive PI against 17 at MS St. The 98 team had incredibly good luck: pass interference and a made field goal at Syracuse; created big turnovers and won the field goal battle against FL; the Stoerner miracle fumble; and not having to face Weinke in the championship game. Very good luck.

That GA PI was a back breaker….and it was egregious.

people don’t want to admit it but we just are not that good this year. we are ok

VFF said:

people don’t want to admit it but we just are not that good this year. we are ok

@VFF is it to hard to stay consistent though. We werent great in 2023 either thats two out of three years we are just okay? The missed kick against UGA made UT not have anymore bad losses and have to play almost perfect the end of the year. I just think losing McCoy and then Gibson was just an absolute killer for the D and Carter being hurt and not effective has just made the D vulnerable and not effective. We just werent talented enough in spots we needed to be. I keep going back to the 4th and 8 that UGA hit for a TD. McCoy is out there instead of a freshman or Gibson. Those two were worth at least a win many 2.

RDVOL said:

You can’t play (and coach) as sloppy and undisciplined as this team has played at times and blame it on the breaks.

You don’t get the “breaks” when you play that way.

rkc1234 said:

@VFF is it to hard to stay consistent though. We werent great in 2023 either thats two out of three years we are just okay? The missed kick against UGA made UT not have anymore bad losses and have to play almost perfect the end of the year. I just think losing McCoy and then Gibson was just an absolute killer for the D and Carter being hurt and not effective has just made the D vulnerable and not effective. We just werent talented enough in spots we needed to be. I keep going back to the 4th and 8 that UGA hit for a TD. McCoy is out there instead of a freshman or Gibson. Those two were worth at least a win many 2.

‘you have 3-5 losses with our schedule you just were not playoff worthy. as far as the breaks were concerned it was our own catastrophic mistakes that hurt us. Not luck

VFF said:

‘you have 3-5 losses with our schedule you just were not playoff worthy. as far as the breaks were concerned it was our own catastrophic mistakes that hurt us. Not luck

And scared coaching… 6 running plays after 2 turnovers when you could go for kill shots in two of the losses.

RDVOL said:

You can’t play (and coach) as sloppy and undisciplined as this team has played at times and blame it on the breaks.

You can acknowledge the breaks and that’s what he’s doing. Just cuz he’s a Tennessee fan doesn’t mean he’s making excuses or blaming. If a South Carolina fan said, “Man the breaks went against Tennessee this year, or they could easily be in the playoffs,” they wouldn’t be wrong, and they wouldn’t be blaming the breaks.

Larrysmith_1990 said:

You don’t get the “breaks” when you play that way.

Non called dpi’s and offsides are breaks that have nothing to do with our play.

You make your own breaks. I’ve been watching football long enough to be able to look at a team that shoots themselves in the foot and isn’t opportunistic when they get breaks themselves. It was evident very early this year that this team was going to do themselves more harm than good. And that played out.

MnAGuy said:

The Vols can match up with anyone in the country, but missed field goals and incredibly costly turnovers ruined the playoff hopes. That’s the short and simple of it. The pass interference on first down of GA’s last drive was also BS as well as the offensive PI against 17 at MS St. The 98 team had incredibly good luck: pass interference and a made field goal at Syracuse; created big turnovers and won the field goal battle against FL; the Stoerner miracle fumble; and not having to face Weinke in the championship game. Very good luck.

No offense, but this is just making excuses. In sports, you largely make your own breaks. Yes, we've had some unfortunate injuries that have no doubt been costly. But the truth is, this team just isn't good enough to make the playoff. And it hasn't been the best year for the coaching staff either.

RDVOL said:

You can’t play (and coach) as sloppy and undisciplined as this team has played at times and blame it on the breaks.

You also can't argue that about the same number of plays that went our way in 98 went against us in 25 that could have completely changed the landscape. Some act like the program is in the dumps or terribly underperformed this year. I am as disappointed as the next VFL, but a little perspective can be helpful. Plenty of places to improve...but what would you have guessed the record to be after Nico bolted if you knew both starting corners would be out for the year?

Margin of victory/difference in teams in today's NIL world is thin. Making critical plays (good or bad) at critical times can often decide a season. Whether you call them breaks or not; this year we have not been good

RDVOL said:

You can’t play (and coach) as sloppy and undisciplined as this team has played at times and blame it on the breaks.

Yep. This is the final step. The explosiveness to the offense is back and creates massive problems for opposing defenses. Heupel is now elite at WR again. The defense has dudes and we do have to remember that we had a ton of dead money out on our defense. McCoy and Gibson were probably your 2 highest paid players. Boo Carter falling off the wagon was another amount of dead money. Just unfortunate reality that also doesn't excuse the defensive performance. Can you begin to limit the self inflicted catastrophic mistakes? You are never going to play perfect. But you can't be as sloppy as we are is the bottom line.

MnAGuy said:

The Vols can match up with anyone in the country, but missed field goals and incredibly costly turnovers ruined the playoff hopes. That’s the short and simple of it. The pass interference on first down of GA’s last drive was also BS as well as the offensive PI against 17 at MS St. The 98 team had incredibly good luck: pass interference and a made field goal at Syracuse; created big turnovers and won the field goal battle against FL; the Stoerner miracle fumble; and not having to face Weinke in the championship game. Very good luck.

Dog sh*t D. 98 team had an amazing D.

WESATTY said:

Dog sh*t D. 98 team had an amazing D.

Having two of our best defenders injured is a tough break but gotta have better play from defense.

rkc1234 said:

@VFF is it to hard to stay consistent though. We werent great in 2023 either thats two out of three years we are just okay? The missed kick against UGA made UT not have anymore bad losses and have to play almost perfect the end of the year. I just think losing McCoy and then Gibson was just an absolute killer for the D and Carter being hurt and not effective has just made the D vulnerable and not effective. We just werent talented enough in spots we needed to be. I keep going back to the 4th and 8 that UGA hit for a TD. McCoy is out there instead of a freshman or Gibson. Those two were worth at least a win many 2.

Parity in college football makes it even harder to stack seasons that will satisfy most fans. I’m not surprised at all by how this season played out.

I think it is clear that we have the ability to beat anyone. There are elite elements to our team, but we beat ourselves with extremely costly mistakes, this year.

MnAGuy said:

The Vols can match up with anyone in the country, but missed field goals and incredibly costly turnovers ruined the playoff hopes. That’s the short and simple of it. The pass interference on first down of GA’s last drive was also BS as well as the offensive PI against 17 at MS St. The 98 team had incredibly good luck: pass interference and a made field goal at Syracuse; created big turnovers and won the field goal battle against FL; the Stoerner miracle fumble; and not having to face Weinke in the championship game. Very good luck.

Penalties and turnovers lost aren’t “breaks not going your way”. We aren’t a great team and the results show. Can we beat most anyone? Sure. But we could also have 5 losses right now with a few breaks going the other way if you want to play that game.

You make your own breaks by the way you play

MnAGuy said:

The Vols can match up with anyone in the country, but missed field goals and incredibly costly turnovers ruined the playoff hopes. That’s the short and simple of it. The pass interference on first down of GA’s last drive was also BS as well as the offensive PI against 17 at MS St. The 98 team had incredibly good luck: pass interference and a made field goal at Syracuse; created big turnovers and won the field goal battle against FL; the Stoerner miracle fumble; and not having to face Weinke in the championship game. Very good luck.

Yeah, just bad luck is why this team lost. Never was coaching a problem, and missed FGs were just bad luck, not poor kicking. Good grief, that 98' team would maul this 2025 team. Are you serious?

Dr. Curmudgeon 2.0 said:

Yeah, just bad luck is why this team lost. Never was coaching a problem, and missed FGs were just bad luck, not poor kicking. Good grief, that 98' team would maul this 2025 team. Are you serious?

I never said this team was anywhere close to 98, but 98 could have easily had an 8-3 regular season.

RDVOL said:

You can’t play (and coach) as sloppy and undisciplined as this team has played at times and blame it on the breaks.

SLOPPY..IS the word I was going to post about--TY for using it. I really think Josh is great from an all round coach and leader of men. Sloppy, on his game day attire, his look all imo play into the mantra of his team which is sloppy errors will cost you in a conference as competitive as the SEC.

VFF said:

people don’t want to admit it but we just are not that good this year. we are ok

I agree. Hut also feel a lot of other teams battling for playoffs are just ok, too. And we were pretty fortunate with the schedule these past two years where even with a flawed team, we had our chances.