The CheckerBoard

I think blaming a glorified scrimmage loss on Bray is a stretch.

But I agree Bray needs to win some games this year against good SEC teams to show me something.

What close games did Bray exactly lose for UT? I wouldn't exactly put the UNC loss on him. The Florida loss where Hunter got hurt shouldn't be blamed on Bray. Maybe the UGA loss you could put on him. Bray shouldn't have played in the UK game. He was not 100% and was sick that week. Bray simply hasn't played in enough games to come to this conclusion yet.

Definite overthink.

Bray is the real deal. If he can stay healthy, and with the receivers he'll have, he'll keep us in the hunt.

know i am going to get crap for saying this but i somewhat agree with OP , it just seems that the kid doesnt play well when the game is on the line for some reason . He had a fair amount of time to dive the team down and tie the game with just a FG ( quit laughing ) and he was not even close to getting his team in position to tie or win the game , its almost like he doesnt have the confidence to make it happen for some reason . Felt the same way when we were playing againest UK and we had a chance to win the game and again he just couldnt make things happen at the end of the game and we never got close to getting in position as far as i can remember ...i know he doesnt have all his players and such but it does make one wonder - some kids love the pressure and want the ball with the game on the line and others dont like or want to be placed in that position ...thoughts ?

probably right as he was hurt / sick when we played againest KY so that game really shouldnt count againest him but there are other games like the UNC game etc.....kid can play theres no doubt and i think he will make it at the next level but hope he keeps maturing over the next two years here at UT

I love this site because this board is capable of disagreeing without name calling.

I think we all agree that he can play and I know it was just a scrimmage, but I think winners win in practice too. He just doesn't strike me as super competitive. I hope I'm wrong but thus far I just haven't seen him turn on that extra gear when games are close to win.

When Bray has had a full complement of players around him he has been outstanding. Circumstances have dictated that he does not have the best complement of players when he has played the more outstanding teams. When you add no running game to his stat's last year you start to get a picture of why he has seemed to not play well against top teams. We will be able to judge more accurately if he has that full 'complement of players' this year. The irony of this thread is that just last year almost everyone thought he was a 'three and done' and now...

Y'all worry about that for the next 4 months. I'm worrying if we have enough footballs to keep three first round wide receivers happy. As long as Bray makes his reads he should be throwing to someone who is wide open. I also worry about blitz pickups by Bray and the offense because I'm guessing we'll see every blitz in the book.

Sports are a zero sum game but accurate evaluations are not. I point to some great quarterbacks who had weak or non existent support around them(translate losing teams)...Archie Manning-New Orleans Saints, Sonny Jurgensen-Washington Redskins. I could name more but you get my point.

I agree let's just wait until the season starts to find out where bray stands when we have ALL receivers on the field NOT being double teamed. I think he will Pass the test. Go vols!!!

I agree, he has had to win the games that he has won with the defense keying in on nothing but the pass, if a productive run game gets going he will be great imo