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Rehashing Texas and Predicting Auburn · Champions of Life

welcome to the champions of life podcast where 3 orangeblooded Tennessee alums discuss how there's always next year Welcome back, y'all.
It's the Champions of Life podcast, which we all know and accept as the name of our podcast, and nobody has forgotten it.
We're back with Joe, Noah, Laney, and myself.
Bunch of VFLs working at R&S Logistics doing all your logistical needs.
So we can't do a ton of air freight.
That's, I mean, we can, but, like, we'd love to help the offense out a little bit.
Mm.
Oh, okay.
That's a great segue.
Great segue.
Coming in hot- Yes, we do right out the gate.
Would you like to explain your comment? Guys, look, there's a lot of things that can be true.
We held our own against the number one team in the nation.
That is true.
We did a good job.
Mm-hmm.
We could've, should've, would've won, but we can also be frustrated that our offense looks drastically different than it did three, four seasons ago.
Yeah, it does.
What do you think the main reason for that is? I'm in a weird spot because I gave him a pass on Joe.
Joe's physically gifted and he's got all the tools.
Not necessarily our Joe, but Joe Milton.
Sure.
And maybe he couldn't make all the reads.
Give him a pass.
Let's limit the offense.
You get Nico, he's a first-year starter.
He's second year in the program, but- Yeah okay, let's give him a pass.
He can't make all the reads.
Let's give him a pass.
Then you get Joe who's been on campus for a couple months.
Give him a pass.
You got an 18-year-old.
It's his first time playing against elite talent.
He's always been the best player on the field.
Give him a pass, but i'm kind of out of passes.
I don't know what we're doing.
Yeah.
Instability at quarterback is challenging but common in the current landscape of college football.
It does feel like other programs are doing it better.
Mm-hmm.
I would come back to, I said this early in the season in the podcast, our offensive line looks atrocious.
My friends that tried to fight me on this after the Furman game and said, you know, the offensive line, it's, it, we just need to go hat on hat.
We're playing too schematic.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, we went hat on hat, and it was terrible.
It was not good.
This is the worst offensive line I've seen in a long time for Tennessee, and it was supposed to be a strength, so that to me is a huge concern.
I agree, Faizon maybe brought some of the pressure on himself by holding the ball too long but if you have a quarterback getting sacked 10 times, and you're also pretty impotent in the run, and you're not, you know, breaking off chunk plays like you're used to.
I mean, Bishop, he looked banged up or something going on.
Not good.
He didn't look like himself.
But if you can't generate any sort of push across four quarters, you're gonna be in trouble, especially against the number one team.
Joe? Yeah, I said last week he's gonna be running for his life, and he was, right? Yeah.
I mean, so to your point, they should have schemed up something where these short outs, not the last...
not at the end of the game when there's 20 seconds left- Yeah and the guy catches the ball, not that time.
But in the first half, where's the tight end, like, right over the middle? Mm.
He's taking too long to make a decision, you have to do these shorter outs, or I don't, I don't know what needs to be done, but these taking too long, and as soon as he runs, the guy's open down the field.
Yeah.
So it's like there was no good decision for him.
No, there wasn't.
So I blame the coaches on it, not just him.
Yeah.
I mean, he can't...
I think in general he's probably slower make it as a freshman.
Yeah.
He'll get faster, but you can't learn on Texas.
No, you can't.
And my concern overall, especially the past three years, has been in-game changes or management by Heupel looks really bad.
Right.
It looks really bad.
So for me, if I'm watching the game, okay, we can't stop him.
What do you do? You run a bunch of screenplays.
Yeah.
You let him in.
You know, channel- Right them through gaps that you want them to be in- Yep and dump it off.
And I didn't see any screens.
Yeah.
One tunnel screen was all we ran on Saturday, and it was visually shocking that you thought, "Is this a trick play?" Yes.
"What did we just run?" It's like, no, it's just a tunnel.
Just a tunnel.
Didn't it gain yardage, if am I remembering correctly? It, it wasn't a substantial, it was like five or six yards, but it was like, "At least we're going."
That felt substantial at the time.
Yeah.
That's 10% of his yards for the game.
Yeah.
That's my concern with Heupel.
They've...
the in-game management looks really atrocious.
Couple- couple of games last season looked the same, and obviously it's the first time we've seen it.
Defense, fantastic.
Special teams- Mm maybe the best special teams game- Wow we've seen from Tennessee in a decade.
I mean onside kick recovery, a punt return.
It was beautiful.
I think there was five punts downed- It was beautiful inside the 10.
Yeah.
Yep.
I was getting a hot dog on that.
Don't quote me on that, but that's how it felt like.
I was too.
So you squandered those two, but, yeah, we don't look the same.
Since Golisch has left, we have not looked the same, which leads us into this weekend.
That leads us into a point I made last year- Here we go of are y'all ready to come to my side of we're over Heupel? Because listen, there are so many things that remain the same every year.
There are multiple games where time management is an issue, especially late in the game, critical moments.
Yep.
If we had a reasonably decent offensive line, we would be in more games and/or would have won that game.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
But yet offensive line is again an issue, which you've mentioned if it's a friend thing and Heupel can't make the decision that needs to be made because he doesn't wanna get rid of his friend, well then that's ul- ultimately on Heupel, and I hold him accountable.
Yeah.
Correct.
We're also in, there were 12 third and longs- Mm on Saturday.
Half of those...
Sorry, 12 third down, half of those were third and long.
How many games do we have double digit third down situations- It was atrocious.
I was in a random place watching it in Boston, and the whole restaurant was pulling for Tennessee.
Yeah.
I was shocked, but it was just like you're watching that game unfold, and you know what's gonna happen.
As a Tennessee fan, that's why we're champions of life.
Right? Yeah.
But still, in the final moments it's like, "Oh, wait, no, there's still a chance."
Mm-hmm.
There's absolutely still a chance.
Oh, we fumbled it.
And then...
Yep.
Another one to add to your list is penalties.
Like, he's always every year- Yeah "Oh, sure it'll get cleaned up."
Nope, it's not gonna get cleaned up.
That final drive when you've, when Staley's knee was down, had it not been, but we continued to shoot ourselves in the foot with a false start on Davis Sanders, and then maybe the worst decision that we could have...
Minus running out of bounds as the clock expires, which we're accustomed to.
Shout out to Nico.
A- and Joe.
Yeah.
But he threw an out route that was not gonna go anywhere- Yeah and our tight end is laying out for...
It's like- Just let it go just bat it down.
Bat...
So situational awareness, which comes back to coaching, is an issue.
It- it's almost like he's gonna call his plays, what you guys are saying, no matter who we're playing, Texas or not.
It's gonna be the same, same scheme offensively, no matter who, instead of adjusting, which is what...
It's hard for me to even say his name, but it's what Saban was so good at.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
He was so good at- In game adjustments.
Yeah.
He was gonna do whatever it took to win.
I think that's the issue with- I know which you've been saying for years.
Well, and that's- He doesn't have it that's why, too, I think, I...
Can we just try a game where Halsey is the one that's calling the plays on offense? Yeah.
And it's not Heupel.
Like, can we let our offensive coordinator run the game? Mm.
I would love to see that.
Like, let's just try it at this point.
Try it, yeah.
What are we gonna lose? Should've tried it la- two weeks ago- Yeah against Kens- And now, like- Kansas Wendell, Wendell Moye is definitely out- Mm for a larger portion of the season.
Like, I don't know what was happening with the Colin.
I know that Colin guy was, he's crazy talented.
I mean, he'll be a first-rounder.
Yeah.
But- He'll be a top 10 there's been no consistency on the line.
It's not just we're not pass blocking well, we're not opening up running lanes.
Games are won and lost in the trenches.
Defensively we're great.
I feel like- Our new DC has got to be super frustrated with what he's seeing from the offensive side because the defense, again, we're unbalanced.
They- We have a great defense, we have a poor offense.
We can't combine them.
They, they over-performed.
Yeah.
Yep.
I mean, they did their best, them and the fans.
Yeah.
The fans did great.
It was electric in the stadium.
And yeah, Knowles earned his first letter of approval from me of- Mm okay, the money was well spent.
I mean, Arch had the worst QBR than Faizon in that game, so.
We don't need to spend a lot of time on this, but do we start questioning...
Do we buy into the hype of our new trainer, who's supposed to be the greatest, the best, awesome- Mm and get everybody in shape? We've had more injuries this year.
More people get hurt.
We're getting pushed around the line.
I don't know.
I told you a few weeks ago, I don't know if it was on the podcast, but one of my concerns with putting that much muscle on that quickly what is it doing to your joints? What's it doing to your tendons and ligaments? Because that's a- Mm that's a ton more stress than your body has been used to dealing with, and now you've added 30 pounds of muscle in two or three months.
I don't know.
Mm.
I hope, I hope that doesn't continue to play out, but yeah, you're right, there's another major injury.
Yeah.
I think that is interesting.
I'm not ready to go that granular yet.
I think hat on hat, we just don't have the guys on the o-line.
No.
And I think it's time to start spending some NIL money on our line- Yeah if we're gonna have these guys set up.
We gotta get a new coach first.
Right.
There you go.
That looks us ahead to this weekend for Auburn.
Yes.
Let's do it.
And Golish returns...
the best offensive scheme we ever had.
Not, not just Golish.
Yeah.
But Mr.
Banks- Yep who we fired.
That's true.
And they're gonna have some schemes.
And Nimrod.
Nimrod's back, right? And Mr.
Nimrod.
We...
I just, going back to the offensive line coach, Tim Banks is a friend, too.
He's a finalist for the coordinator of the year two years ago.
He loses his top two corners, and so he's gotta schematically change his entire defense of the 2025 season, which is basically just blitz and hope that we can get them behind the sticks and figure it out, and maybe we'll outscore them.
But it doesn't work.
He gets fired.
Meanwhile, offensive line has looked the same that it has for the last six years.
I don't understand the components of how that works out, but it will be interesting to see Golish and Banks come back.
And if you drop this game at home- Mm the fan base is gonna start saying, "We kept the wrong guy."
Mm.
Yep.
That's very true.
I mean, Knowles did enough for me against Texas so far.
I'm not totally sold, but I said this in our first podcast, I was surprised when Banks was gone- Mm.
Because of what you said the top two guys on the NIL team last year were the two cornerbacks, and they got injured.
Yeah.
So it's like he had nothing to work with.
I think Knowles has enough in his locker that Golish is gonna struggle to put up the points he's used to.
Mm-hmm.
But Auburn was toe-to-toe with Florida until the fourth quarter two weeks ago.
Yeah.
And how good does that look now? Yeah.
With Florida looking like they do.
And they can put up points.
They're going to.
So the question is, are we going to? Yeah.
We'll see.
I do think we get the win.
I think we played too good on defense and special teams last week.
I think the offense is gonna rebound, but I think it's gonna be tight.
I think we're gonna win maybe by a field goal, so.
Ooh.
I don't know what the spread is, but- I think it's six and a half or seven.
Yeah, I don't- I can't remember I'm not sure we cover that if it's six and a half or seven, but I think it's close.
What do you think the score for the game- I would say 41-38.
Ooh.
Okay, all right.
High scoring.
Shoot out.
It's gonna be a shoot out.
You gotta get a run game.
Yeah, we gotta run the ball.
Yeah.
For sure.
But yeah my prediction would be 41-38 I don't think it's gonna be that high.
I think we're gonna struggle offensively.
I think they're gonna struggle offensively.
Um, I don't know, 17-21.
Wow, okay.
Mm.
And I don't know- Good lord I don't know who's gonna win.
I'll say Tennessee because- Let's just score.
Let's just go on record, that's just a score.
I don't, I don't know who it is.
One more note just goes on the whole season, not just with Auburn.
But I do get concerned, Faizon got just obliterated so much on Saturday.
How much is he going to continue to play when he realizes he does not have an O-like...
Is there gonna be an injury that happens to him- Mm that, you know, maybe shouldn't sideline him, but maybe it does because he's not willing to put his body through that- Through that, yeah and jeopardize his future career.
So how much will- Mm that affect our ability to hang on to Faizon? Mm.
That's just another question.
It's a good question what do y'all think about the game Saturday? I think it'll be...
It will be, it has to be better, right? Like, it has to be better.
Texas is an amazing defense.
You look at the top 10 NFL draft picks, and it's like they're basically 60% of it.
So it's gotta be better.
I think run game gets reestablished.
Bishop had, like, nine carries for the Texas game, and he had three yards of carry.
He had, like, just under 30 yards.
So that is not sustainable.
They knew that going into it.
They, hedged their bets that Faizon was gonna be an 18-year-old, and they were right, and we still almost won.
So I think defense continues to show that they are...
it's worth every penny.
I think the run game gets reestablished, and I think Faizon, this is kind of the teeter point.
Like, we kinda said this about Georgia Tech.
He's either gonna double down on, like, "This is too much.
This is overwhelming.
I'm tired of getting hit.
The fan base is insane," or he's gonna say, "Okay, glad I got that out of the way.
I'm coming in, and it's gonna be...
We're gonna be fine."
So you really wanna see if he's completing some of these passes across the middle, he's finding the open guys, not double clutching, because I do think it's not the yips, but I think, that sack pressure will live in a young quarterback's head, and you start second guessing everything.
And I'm sure Joe, just, just like youth soccer- Mm he's probably listening to coaching, which is saying, "If we're gonna have a chance at winning this game, you cannot turn the ball over."
Right.
And if that's drilled in your head as a priority- Mm-hmm you're not, you're gonna double clutch those throws.
Mm.
Yep.
Sure.
And decide to run too many times too early.
Yeah.
I'm gonna say 27-17- Mm or 27-14.
I think we win.
Tennessee? But, yeah.
And we get three touchdowns, two field goals.
I think it's- About- 24-21 Tennessee.
Okay.
And here's the li- I, I...
The offensive line's killing me.
But why did we let Hurd go? I don't understand NIL.
I don't wanna pretend that I understand or who's backing it, but, like, you look at the program valuations and Tennessee's always in, like, the top five.
Yeah.
And so it's like, why can't...
It's Kiffin, right? But, like, why can't we be like LSU? Why can't we go and buy a quarterback or an offensive line or...
I don't know.
I don't know how that works.
I don't either.
But we could have talked about how bad Texas looked, too, though.
I mean, they- Yeah they could have beat us by a lot more.
It could have been a lot worse.
They made a lot of mistakes, too.
A lot of mistakes.
But they were beatable that day.
They were.
It was a huge opportunity, but we come out, we beat Auburn.
Looks like Texas A&M's not the team we thought it was.
Hm.
Florida's more than- You just got- Jim McElwain.
Thankfully we don't play them, though.
We don't play them.
Kentucky's definitely one of the team- Well, why can't we be- Exactly.
All right, maybe for another day.
Exactly.
I think you could split Bama and LSU.
You win one of those games, you're definitely in the playoffs.
So, they can restore a lot of faith, I think, going into Saturday if we come out with a dominant performance.
I agree.
We'll see.
go Vols.