it's funny how some coordinators are remembered. Reading this board the last few days, you'd be lead to believe that Todd Monken was the reincarnation of Bill Walsh. To be clear, Monken was very good here. I was thrilled with the hire when we made it, thrilled when he stayed around after 2021, and sad when he left. I have nothing against him... but he's been elevated into something that he wasn't, I suspect partly to justify the criticisms of our current OC.
If this past Saturday was alarming to you because it represented a step down from Todd Monken, I would suggest that you're not accurately remembering all of last season.
This past Saturday against South Carolina we scored 24 points. We missed two FGs. We ended up with 458 yards of offense.
That's what happened - regardless of your opinions on the play calling or anything else, those are the numbers.
Compare those to 2022:
Missouri - 26 points, 481 yards of offense
Tennessee - 27 points 387 yards of offense
Kentucky - 16 points, 363 yards of offense
tech - 37 points 407 yards of offense.
That's 40% of our regular season last year against major competition that is not markedly different than what happened last Saturday. And those 2022 numbers above reflect the production from a more talented offense than the one we put on the field against South Carolina.
And before any retorts that Tennessee was #1 when they came here; I know what they were ranked. Pittsburgh scored 27 points and had 415 yards of O against Tennessee earlier in the year. Alabama scored 49 against Tennessee in Knoxville. Missouri scored 24 with 389 yards of offense in Knoxville. South Carolina scored 63 against the Vols. Tennessee didn't have a good defense last season. I don't recall any "alarm" last year at our offensive output when Tennessee came here.
Having said all of that, I'm in complete agreement with anyone who has watched the first three games and said that something is missing. I don't know what it is, but there is something that just feels different than last year. Injuries probably have a lot to do with that. But this whole idea that the offense has regressed because of the coordinator change just isn't supported by what we saw this past Saturday. What happened Saturday happened multiple times last season.
If this past Saturday was alarming to you because it represented a step down from Todd Monken, I would suggest that you're not accurately remembering all of last season.
This past Saturday against South Carolina we scored 24 points. We missed two FGs. We ended up with 458 yards of offense.
That's what happened - regardless of your opinions on the play calling or anything else, those are the numbers.
Compare those to 2022:
Missouri - 26 points, 481 yards of offense
Tennessee - 27 points 387 yards of offense
Kentucky - 16 points, 363 yards of offense
tech - 37 points 407 yards of offense.
That's 40% of our regular season last year against major competition that is not markedly different than what happened last Saturday. And those 2022 numbers above reflect the production from a more talented offense than the one we put on the field against South Carolina.
And before any retorts that Tennessee was #1 when they came here; I know what they were ranked. Pittsburgh scored 27 points and had 415 yards of O against Tennessee earlier in the year. Alabama scored 49 against Tennessee in Knoxville. Missouri scored 24 with 389 yards of offense in Knoxville. South Carolina scored 63 against the Vols. Tennessee didn't have a good defense last season. I don't recall any "alarm" last year at our offensive output when Tennessee came here.
Having said all of that, I'm in complete agreement with anyone who has watched the first three games and said that something is missing. I don't know what it is, but there is something that just feels different than last year. Injuries probably have a lot to do with that. But this whole idea that the offense has regressed because of the coordinator change just isn't supported by what we saw this past Saturday. What happened Saturday happened multiple times last season.
