Upon the re-watch of Tennessee’s 5th straight loss as the Vols blew a 10-0 halftime lead I dive into what I think I know as the Vols continue to not be able to finish.
It’s an all too familiar theme…
2. Eric Gray is Tennessee’s best football player — The sophomore tailback averaged 8.9 yards a touch Saturday night. He made people miss. He finished runs. He caught the ball well. He’s a weapon as a punt returner. Tennessee is not explosive on offense. They struggle to get the ball down field in chunks. Gray is Tennessee’s best chunk player. The sophomore leads the Vol offense with 7 plays of 20+ yards. He had four Saturday night at Auburn. Gray has been the Vols' most consistent weapon and he’s the guy Chaney wants to lean on. At Auburn, Gray had 25 offensive touches. At Arkansas, Gray had 34 touches. In the last 8 quarters, Gray has 377 yards on 59 touches. An average of 6.4 yards a touch.
3. Not doing the little things —With a small margin for error, Tennessee has to do the little things well. They didn’t do enough of that Saturday night. Look at the offense’s third offensive possession, the Vols had 3rd and 3 and Princeton Fant is running a rub crossing route and runs it at 1 yard instead of three. Guarantano threw the ball late and leads him into a defensive back meaning no first down and having to settle for a field goal. On the interception, Smoke Monday said after the game that Guarantano doesn’t move guys with his eyes and Monday just read Guarantano for the interception. Twice in the fourth quarter Auburn motioned their slot receiver from left to right, leaving one on one on the short side of the field. Tennessee’s corner gave up inside leverage on their jam at the line and the Tigers converted third down on the slant.
Tennessee gave up the edge too many times allowing Nix to get outside the pocket or the running back the ability to bounce it outside. One of the biggest defensive keys was securing the edge. They gave it up too many times.
Then of course they had the huge bust in the secondary where someone played the wrong coverage and gave up a home run for a score.
To win Pruitt’s team has to do the little things better. They obviously played better Saturday night. The won the stat sheet but not the scoreboard. Why? The little things.
4. More oddities from Jim Chaney — I will say I liked Chaney’s plan versus the Tigers better than the plan at Arkansas. Chaney opened the game with a really good mix of run and pass on first down. On the first three drives, Chaney called 4 first down runs and 6 first down passes. The next three drives he ran it 5 times and threw it once on first down. On the first three drives, Tennessee missed a field goal, scored a touchdown and made a field goal. On their last three of the first half they went punt, punt, and end of the half in a series of plays that was just strange. I’m not sure what led to Chaney changing how he attacked things in the first half. In the second half, Tennessee’s offensive line dominated and Chaney called 10 runs on their first 11 first down snaps (before they were down 27-10) which made sense because the run game was clicking.
5. Proof stats can be meaningless —I don’t think I have ever seen it. In the third quarter, a quarter where Tennessee had no first downs and 16 yards at Arkansas, the Vols had 135 yards on 19 snaps. Tennessee averaged 7.1 yards a play. They didn’t punt and they didn’t score. That’s two of the most dominate drives that resulted in nothing that you will ever see.
6. Pruitt has to be more exotic on third down — Auburn converted 9 of 11 third downs and on the year opponents are now converting 50% of their third downs. Kivon Bennett did have two sacks, but Tennessee simply can’t get home consistently enough with their front four to sack or even pressure the quarterback. As a result, Pruitt has to get more creative with his blitzes, corner or safety blitzes, a nickel blitz. Something.
7. The interception — You can debate the 2nd and 7 play call given the way Tennessee was running the ball. But even with that a 5th year quarterback can’t make that play. He didn’t move the safety with his eyes, but also Palmer wasn’t open. It was a one receiver route, which means I’m sure JG was drilled all week, if it’s not there you throw it away. Guarantano just made a horrible mistake and Palmer couldn’t get open. Ball has to land in the stands on that play. Just can’t throw it when your only read is covered like a blanket.
8. Target Hyatt and Jones more — Jalin Hyatt had three receptions on four targets Saturday night. Velus Jones had two catches on two targets. Hyatt averaged 12 yards a catch. Jones averaged 13.5. Both had yards after catch taking shorter routes and turning them into first downs. Both players because of their speed should be higher priority targets for this offense. Jones can do more than just a jet sweep and Hyatt runs as good of routes as anyone on the squad. Both need more opportunities.
9. Interesting note on Harrison Bailey —Tim Priest noted it on the Vol Network broadcast. Bailey went 7 of 10, but all of his success came in the middle of the field or on the right hash. All three of Bailey’s incompletions came on throws to the left sideline. That doesn’t mean Bailey can’t play or that he isn’t ready but the ability to use the entire field is definitely an area of growth needed for Bailey.
It doesn’t appear that Pruitt is interested in starting Bailey as he continues to say that Guarantano gives this team the best chance to win. I’m not sure what Bailey can’t do that Guarantano can, but it doesn’t appear that you will be seeing Bailey in the starting line up.
10. Does this team get back off the deck — Upon rewatch, I thought Tennessee’s effort was good. They had a better offensive plan. They started well offensively. They played hard defensively. If you take out the blown coverage, the defense gave up 16 points. This team clearly didn’t mail it in. How do they go from here? A couple of players had some odd social media posts following the game. When you lose five in a row by double digits, you always wonder if they keep can get off the deck. There will be plenty of chatter this week about Jeremy Pruitt’s status. Trey Smith defended his coach. Pruitt was certainly snippy in his post game comments after the game. When asked what his message was to the fans, Pruitt made it clear that wasn’t his focus or what he’s paid to do.
"That ain't my job, guys. My job is to coach.”
Tennessee is an 11 point favorite to open the week at Vanderbilt. It's definitely their best chance to win. Does this team show up with the effort they played with Saturday night in Nashville?
It’s an all too familiar theme…
- The offensive line was moving people in the run game —Tennessee’s tackles had some issues in pass protection, but the run game was terrific. The offensive line got the backs to the second level untouched routinely which is why the tailbacks didn’t have a negative yard rushing in the game. Tennessee’s overall line was good. In watching the game again I thought Trey Smith and Cade Mays were as good as they have been all year. From the end zone vantage point the media has at Auburn you could see there were nice holes in the run game. In rewatching it, they really reset the line of scrimmage the entire day. Terrific work by that unit up front.
2. Eric Gray is Tennessee’s best football player — The sophomore tailback averaged 8.9 yards a touch Saturday night. He made people miss. He finished runs. He caught the ball well. He’s a weapon as a punt returner. Tennessee is not explosive on offense. They struggle to get the ball down field in chunks. Gray is Tennessee’s best chunk player. The sophomore leads the Vol offense with 7 plays of 20+ yards. He had four Saturday night at Auburn. Gray has been the Vols' most consistent weapon and he’s the guy Chaney wants to lean on. At Auburn, Gray had 25 offensive touches. At Arkansas, Gray had 34 touches. In the last 8 quarters, Gray has 377 yards on 59 touches. An average of 6.4 yards a touch.
3. Not doing the little things —With a small margin for error, Tennessee has to do the little things well. They didn’t do enough of that Saturday night. Look at the offense’s third offensive possession, the Vols had 3rd and 3 and Princeton Fant is running a rub crossing route and runs it at 1 yard instead of three. Guarantano threw the ball late and leads him into a defensive back meaning no first down and having to settle for a field goal. On the interception, Smoke Monday said after the game that Guarantano doesn’t move guys with his eyes and Monday just read Guarantano for the interception. Twice in the fourth quarter Auburn motioned their slot receiver from left to right, leaving one on one on the short side of the field. Tennessee’s corner gave up inside leverage on their jam at the line and the Tigers converted third down on the slant.
Tennessee gave up the edge too many times allowing Nix to get outside the pocket or the running back the ability to bounce it outside. One of the biggest defensive keys was securing the edge. They gave it up too many times.
Then of course they had the huge bust in the secondary where someone played the wrong coverage and gave up a home run for a score.
To win Pruitt’s team has to do the little things better. They obviously played better Saturday night. The won the stat sheet but not the scoreboard. Why? The little things.
4. More oddities from Jim Chaney — I will say I liked Chaney’s plan versus the Tigers better than the plan at Arkansas. Chaney opened the game with a really good mix of run and pass on first down. On the first three drives, Chaney called 4 first down runs and 6 first down passes. The next three drives he ran it 5 times and threw it once on first down. On the first three drives, Tennessee missed a field goal, scored a touchdown and made a field goal. On their last three of the first half they went punt, punt, and end of the half in a series of plays that was just strange. I’m not sure what led to Chaney changing how he attacked things in the first half. In the second half, Tennessee’s offensive line dominated and Chaney called 10 runs on their first 11 first down snaps (before they were down 27-10) which made sense because the run game was clicking.
5. Proof stats can be meaningless —I don’t think I have ever seen it. In the third quarter, a quarter where Tennessee had no first downs and 16 yards at Arkansas, the Vols had 135 yards on 19 snaps. Tennessee averaged 7.1 yards a play. They didn’t punt and they didn’t score. That’s two of the most dominate drives that resulted in nothing that you will ever see.
6. Pruitt has to be more exotic on third down — Auburn converted 9 of 11 third downs and on the year opponents are now converting 50% of their third downs. Kivon Bennett did have two sacks, but Tennessee simply can’t get home consistently enough with their front four to sack or even pressure the quarterback. As a result, Pruitt has to get more creative with his blitzes, corner or safety blitzes, a nickel blitz. Something.
7. The interception — You can debate the 2nd and 7 play call given the way Tennessee was running the ball. But even with that a 5th year quarterback can’t make that play. He didn’t move the safety with his eyes, but also Palmer wasn’t open. It was a one receiver route, which means I’m sure JG was drilled all week, if it’s not there you throw it away. Guarantano just made a horrible mistake and Palmer couldn’t get open. Ball has to land in the stands on that play. Just can’t throw it when your only read is covered like a blanket.
8. Target Hyatt and Jones more — Jalin Hyatt had three receptions on four targets Saturday night. Velus Jones had two catches on two targets. Hyatt averaged 12 yards a catch. Jones averaged 13.5. Both had yards after catch taking shorter routes and turning them into first downs. Both players because of their speed should be higher priority targets for this offense. Jones can do more than just a jet sweep and Hyatt runs as good of routes as anyone on the squad. Both need more opportunities.
9. Interesting note on Harrison Bailey —Tim Priest noted it on the Vol Network broadcast. Bailey went 7 of 10, but all of his success came in the middle of the field or on the right hash. All three of Bailey’s incompletions came on throws to the left sideline. That doesn’t mean Bailey can’t play or that he isn’t ready but the ability to use the entire field is definitely an area of growth needed for Bailey.
It doesn’t appear that Pruitt is interested in starting Bailey as he continues to say that Guarantano gives this team the best chance to win. I’m not sure what Bailey can’t do that Guarantano can, but it doesn’t appear that you will be seeing Bailey in the starting line up.
10. Does this team get back off the deck — Upon rewatch, I thought Tennessee’s effort was good. They had a better offensive plan. They started well offensively. They played hard defensively. If you take out the blown coverage, the defense gave up 16 points. This team clearly didn’t mail it in. How do they go from here? A couple of players had some odd social media posts following the game. When you lose five in a row by double digits, you always wonder if they keep can get off the deck. There will be plenty of chatter this week about Jeremy Pruitt’s status. Trey Smith defended his coach. Pruitt was certainly snippy in his post game comments after the game. When asked what his message was to the fans, Pruitt made it clear that wasn’t his focus or what he’s paid to do.
"That ain't my job, guys. My job is to coach.”
Tennessee is an 11 point favorite to open the week at Vanderbilt. It's definitely their best chance to win. Does this team show up with the effort they played with Saturday night in Nashville?
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