Thursday, September 28, 2006
The Death of "Johnny Ball"
Here's your assignment, Vol fans: describe Tennessee's offense over the last twenty or so years using only one word.
Predictable? Sometimes. Efficient? Often. Boring? To some. Reliable? Most of the time.
Explosive? Not typically. At least, not until this year. Not until you realize that the average Tennessee touchdown play in 2006 is a play of over 30 yards. In fact, seven of UT's 15 touchdowns have come on plays of 40 or more yards (8/15 are on plays of more than 20 yards).
For many fans, the general perception of Tennessee's offense is one that, while probably not borne out by statistics, has nonetheless earned its own nickname: Johnny Ball. Of course, Johnny Ball gets its name from the idea that Johnny Majors' offenses had the same basic strategy that has carried over at UT through the 90s and up to today. You know Johnny Ball: run up the middle three times, punt. Hope the other team makes a mistake that gives you good field position. Run up the middle three times, kick a field goal. Maybe late in the game, when all that running up the middle has worn the opposing defense out, you call a toss sweep and outrun them to the endzone. Or, if you want to get really creative, pop them with a play-action pass.
Johnny Ball is power running, field position, and defense. To many, it is boring.
Enter the 2006 Vols. Exit Johnny Ball.
We know that Tennessee is averaging 30 yards per TD play, and 8 out of 15 touchdowns have come on plays of 20 yards or longer. But what about the other 7 touchdowns? Consider the Air Force game, with four touchdown plays but none longer than 5 yards. Are the big plays still there? Yes, and they helped set up scores. Against Air Force, Tennessee had plays of 44, 20, 24, 45, and 28 yards. Four of those plays helped set up either a field goal or touchdown (two were on the same drive), and one got the Vols to the AFA 14 yard line before Ainge threw an interception. One other touchdown was set up by a 19-yard pass.
Through four games, Tennessee has had 23 plays of 20 yards or longer. Of 19 scoring drives this season, 16 have involved at least one play of over 20 yards. The Vols need big plays to score and are finding them. But are the Vols hitting it big out of necessity, or is it a luxury?
Both.
One of the big stories of the year has been the lack of production from the offensive line. Coach Cutcliffe has tried to deflect some of that heat onto himself, and recently fans have begun to blame the fullbacks for the inconsistent running game. Regardless of fault, the fact is that these Vols don't have Johnny Ball ability. In other words, this Tennessee team can't grind out a win, or at least hasn't shown the ability to yet.
However, for the first time since 2001, Tennessee has playmakers at wide receiver. Guys like Tony Brown and Chris Hannon were not bad wideouts, but not since Donte Stallworth and Kelly Washington has UT had a pair of guys who could burn a defense for 40+ yards with regularity like Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain are doing this year (as in six times over four games).
If Johnny Ball was anything, it was consistent. We're yet to see if the Vols can keep up their big play ways. As the cliche goes, live by the sword, die by the sword. If Tennessee runs out of big plays, they may run of wins.
But I'll leave you with a good sign that the Vols could continue their big play ways. One Tennessee running back has been more involved than the others in making 20+ yard plays. If you haven't guessed, it's LaMarcus Coker, who makes his first start of the year this weekend against Memphis .