1) KW looked, for the first time in a long time, like the KW of 2 years ago. Up until last night, he has seemed very skittinsh about delivering and receiving hits. I couldn’t understand it coming from a guy of his obvious physicality who also had the ability to make people miss if he needed it. Last night, we saw the punishing runner we knew he could be/had been. I was all for seeing Ridley play some more and am excited about his future, but I have to say KW earned it last night.

2) Thank God we’ve now put a rest to “let Lee play” nonsense. I question whether “Uniread” – as I like to call him – belongs in D-1 ball at all. This kid came into major CFB with the “handicap” of having gotten away with alot of stuff in high school (even Texas HS ball) solely on the strength and RELATIVE accuracy of his arm that you simply can’t get away with in D-1 ball. In HS, he was able to get away with making one read, staring down the receiver, and forcing the throw into double and triple coverage. His mechanics last year were horrible. What surprises me is that, while his mechanics are better than last year (he doesn’t make every throw off his back foot), he still doesn’t seem to make more than one read and still stares the receiver down. I would have thought that, after last year, he would have learned something. I can chalk some of what happened last night to rustiness, but the rest is just old school Uniread. I’m sure he’s a good kid, and might be able to play at Tulane, ULL, etc., but without further improvement in the decision making process (and he may not be capable of that; some people just aren’t), he doesn’t belong at this level.

     I’ll say this: I would rather see what I saw last night – in a game where he didn’t have to be a hero – than what I saw last year. I have no doubt that the coaches told him to throw the ball away, and even at that, there were a few times he reverted to the old Uniread: trying to force the ball into double coverage, staring down receivers and throwing the ball where it was catchable but left the WR exposed. I remember thinking last year that, if I was Dickson or LaFell, I would have wanted to beat Uniread’s a*@ for some of the throws over the middle that required them to expose themselves to serious injury.

     I don’t think he’s a different Uniread, just the same one with the unfortunate added layer of doubt about whether he can play at this level. That is a crushing combination. Based on what we saw of Miles’ interaction with him on the sideline last night, my hat’s off to Les. He seemed to know what he had out there playing QB, and when the kid would come to the sidelines after another dismal series, Les appeared to be spending his time and energy very paternalistically trying to keep the kid’s self-confidence from plummeting so low that he couldn’t finish the game.

I think one of those 1st downs we were I formation with the TE and both RBs staying back to block leaving Lee with only 2 receivers running routes. I he either took a sack or a grounding penalty there.

WE WERE IN MAX PROTECT ON FIRST DOWN. WTF.

KW played awesome but only to have Crowton take the ball out of his hands on the 2 drives above plus another drive where Ridley got all 3 carries.

Jonathan Crompton. Remember how bad he was last year? How the Vol faithful turned on a kid with decent ability and crushed him? He was absolutely awful. When he started this year poorly everyone laughed at the Vols and said Lane Kiffin would be on the hot seat by week 6 if he kept playing Crompton. Well, he kept playing him, they game planned around his skills, and now he’s actually doing very well. I believe I read last week that he has the most passing TDs of any QB in the conference.

My point is, if someone with a dismal a past as Jonathan Crompton can be nurtured back into being a fairly good quarterback by a coach whose only two abilities include interviewing well and pissing off other fanbases, then I have absolute confidence that Jarrett Lee can become a good QB in this league if we can learn how to use him. With our excellent receiving corps, JL (and JJ for that matter) should have a stat sheet that pops. A new offensive strategy can make it happen, I think. That doesn’t have to mean a new OC, just a new mindset.

Jonathan Crompton. Remember how bad he was last year? How the Vol faithful turned on a kid with decent ability and crushed him? He was absolutely awful. When he started this year poorly everyone laughed at the Vols and said Lane Kiffin would be on the hot seat by week 6 if he kept playing Crompton. Well, he kept playing him, they game planned around his skills, and now he’s actually doing very well. I believe I read last week that he has the most passing TDs of any QB in the conference.

My point is, if someone with a dismal a past as Jonathan Crompton can be nurtured back into being a fairly good quarterback by a coach whose only two abilities include interviewing well and pissing off other fanbases, then I have absolute confidence that Jarrett Lee can become a good QB in this league if we can learn how to use him. With our excellent receiving corps, JL (and JJ for that matter) should have a stat sheet that pops. A new offensive strategy can make it happen, I think. That doesn’t have to mean a new OC, just a new mindset.