Upon the re-watch of Tennessee’s 14th straight loss to Alabama a 48-17 defeat, here’s ten thoughts about the game and about things moving forward.
There’s plenty to get to so here we go….
2. The ball is your friend catch it — Tennessee’s secondary is struggling to cover people and Alabama’s offense is really good. So when they make a mistake and give you a chance you have to take advantage of it. Trailing 7-0, Mac Jones threw a ball down the middle of the field and Treyvon Flowers didn’t play the ball. He played the receiver. Had he played the ball he has a great chance at an interception. With Alabama leading 21-10 and the Vols having just scored, Bryce Thompson’s ball skills weren’t good on a ball he should have picked off or at worst batted down at the two yard line. To end the first half, Jones threw a ball that Kenneth George should have picked off. To have a chance in a game where you are a three touchdown underdog you have to take advantage of opportunities or mistakes the other team is trying to make. Tennessee didn’t and they haven’t. The Vols have not had an interception since the Missouri game.
3. OL growth — The offensive line wasn’t awesome by any means but they were better on Saturday particularly in pass protection. And give the tight ends and running backs credit there as well. JG had to scramble some and did a nice job, but for the most part he had time and a comfortable pocket. At times Tennessee created some movement in the run game and the backs were pretty solid in the cutback runs. The backs still need to break more tackles. Gray and Chandler were credited with 48 yards after contact. Tennessee still needs more. Chandler missed an open field cut that would have resulted in a much bigger gain. But overall the run game was solid from the backs and from a run blocking stand point. I thought Darnell Wright played solid, maybe his best game. I thought Jamir Johnson was solid for them at left tackle as well. Also, Javontez Spraggins is not there in pass protection yet, but he’s going to be a good player and is physical in the run game. Spraggins had a nice block on his first game snap when he went in for Trey Smith late in the first quarter when Smith was banged up. It was on a third down play. The open date comes at a good time for them as it will allow for some healing for that group. A guy like Trey Smith is pretty beat up.
4. Zero qb pressures — The secondary has issues covering people especially in the middle of the field. Tennessee did finish with 5 pass break ups which included a PBU on a slant. But Mac Jones could have had a meal in the pocket before he threw the ball. One play Jones dropped he snap, picked it up and still felt no pressure before throwing a completion. Tennessee had a sack in mop up duty at the end. At the half way point of the season, the Vols have 10 sacks. They had four in the first game. The Vol secondary must improve, but they need help. Pruitt schematically and with development of personnel must find a way to get to the quarterback the back half of this season. Mac Jones started 11 for 11 for 184 yards. He was never uncomfortable.
5. Need more Jalen Hyatt — The Vols need speed on the perimeter. They need a guy that a safety has to help a corner with. They need a guy who defenses worry about down the field besides jump balls to Josh Palmer. That guy has to be Hyatt. In five games, Hyatt has 5 catches averaging 26 yards a catch. He had two catches for 86 yards on Saturday and both should have been called scores (I don’t think he stepped out). He ran by the corner both times. On the year, Hyatt 8 targets. He needs more. Cedric Tillman and Ramel Keyton had been targeted 22 times and only have 8 catches. Hyatt is more productive. He needs to be a bigger part of the offense.
6. Play the freshmen — Everyone is asking and I agree with everyone. Play those guys more. I get the notion of earning it on the practice field as no one should be given a pass on putting in the work, but play your talent. If it’s all about practice performance there would have been some really good players in the Fulmer era not see much playing time. Players on the team know who the best players are. Play them. And you certainly should have played them more in the second half of a blowout. Play more Morven Joseph. Play more Slaughter, Key Lawrence and obviously those freshman receivers. Austin said it best in the podcast following the game. Everyone needs guys to be excited about. Play those guys. They don’t have to start, but get them involved in a bigger role.
7. Poor tackling — It was by far Tennessee’s worst tackling game of the year. Darel Middleton and Kivon Bennett missed key tackles behind the line of scrimmage that would have made touchdown drives field goal drives. Henry T had a tough day at the office. He missed several tackles. So did Q. Crouch. Alabama had 119 yards after contact in the run game and 183 yards after contact in the passing game. Tennessee has to tackle better. Even when they did make the tackle, Alabama receivers and runners seemed to always be falling forward.
8. Stop all the defensive substituting against tempo teams — Tennessee has called more defensive than offensive timeouts in 2020. The biggest issue is having too many men on the field. Jeremy Pruitt likes to substitute personnel based on down and distance and the other team’s personnel, but they have had substitution issues all season. They had them multiple times on Saturday. They were penalized at least twice for it. Against up tempo teams making those substitutions is hard when the offense isn’t substituting. Maybe Pruitt and Ansley need to make their calls faster. Maybe they need information faster from upstairs on the opponents personnel, I don’t know. What I do know is that Tennessee is getting caught too many times with substitution issues.
9. Clean it up — Tennessee again had too many penalties. The offense had 5 more penalties including 3 more false starts. For the year, the offense has had 14 false start penalties. This offense has it’s struggles converting third downs. They need to do a better job of staying out of third and long. One way to do that is to avoid penalties putting them in down and distances too hard to overcome. Again against Alabama on two occasions, the late shift by the Tide defensive front bothered the offensive line creating penalties as it did at Georgia. Tennessee has enough experience up front that those things shouldn’t bother them.
10. JG is this teams quarterback — The Vol senior is one tough dude. He just doesn’t go away. He’s got limitations and he does things that are maddening like throwing behind a receiver on a slant. But it’s clear as can be that while he might have a shorter leash he’s the guy this staff believes gives them the best chance to succeed. He played better on Saturday. Had he played against Kentucky like he did against Alabama, the Vols would be 3-2 and where everyone thought they would be record wise. Now here’s the concern, Jim Chaney and Jeremy Pruitt didn’t have full trust in him throwing the ball and understandably so, but can you win that way in a league where you gotta score? I don’t know, but he’s going to be this teams quarterback. They just don’t have much faith in those behind him. They don’t think Harrison Bailey is ready. They don’t have any confidence in JT Shrout and don’t seem to trust Brian Maurer. So JG is the quarterback of choice provided he can avoid the meltdown.
It will be interesting to see how things go with JG and Brandon Johnson moving forward. The two had a pretty heated and lengthy sideline discussion in the second half on Saturday.
There’s plenty to get to so here we go….
- Third down give ups — Tennessee wasn’t going to win the game. I think even the most optimistic people knew that going into the game. Jim Chaney’s offense has been bad on third down all year. Going into Saturday’s game, the Vols were just 14 of 53 (26%) on third down. Saturday they were just 4 of 16 on third down. Making them 18 of 69 on the season.
2. The ball is your friend catch it — Tennessee’s secondary is struggling to cover people and Alabama’s offense is really good. So when they make a mistake and give you a chance you have to take advantage of it. Trailing 7-0, Mac Jones threw a ball down the middle of the field and Treyvon Flowers didn’t play the ball. He played the receiver. Had he played the ball he has a great chance at an interception. With Alabama leading 21-10 and the Vols having just scored, Bryce Thompson’s ball skills weren’t good on a ball he should have picked off or at worst batted down at the two yard line. To end the first half, Jones threw a ball that Kenneth George should have picked off. To have a chance in a game where you are a three touchdown underdog you have to take advantage of opportunities or mistakes the other team is trying to make. Tennessee didn’t and they haven’t. The Vols have not had an interception since the Missouri game.
3. OL growth — The offensive line wasn’t awesome by any means but they were better on Saturday particularly in pass protection. And give the tight ends and running backs credit there as well. JG had to scramble some and did a nice job, but for the most part he had time and a comfortable pocket. At times Tennessee created some movement in the run game and the backs were pretty solid in the cutback runs. The backs still need to break more tackles. Gray and Chandler were credited with 48 yards after contact. Tennessee still needs more. Chandler missed an open field cut that would have resulted in a much bigger gain. But overall the run game was solid from the backs and from a run blocking stand point. I thought Darnell Wright played solid, maybe his best game. I thought Jamir Johnson was solid for them at left tackle as well. Also, Javontez Spraggins is not there in pass protection yet, but he’s going to be a good player and is physical in the run game. Spraggins had a nice block on his first game snap when he went in for Trey Smith late in the first quarter when Smith was banged up. It was on a third down play. The open date comes at a good time for them as it will allow for some healing for that group. A guy like Trey Smith is pretty beat up.
4. Zero qb pressures — The secondary has issues covering people especially in the middle of the field. Tennessee did finish with 5 pass break ups which included a PBU on a slant. But Mac Jones could have had a meal in the pocket before he threw the ball. One play Jones dropped he snap, picked it up and still felt no pressure before throwing a completion. Tennessee had a sack in mop up duty at the end. At the half way point of the season, the Vols have 10 sacks. They had four in the first game. The Vol secondary must improve, but they need help. Pruitt schematically and with development of personnel must find a way to get to the quarterback the back half of this season. Mac Jones started 11 for 11 for 184 yards. He was never uncomfortable.
5. Need more Jalen Hyatt — The Vols need speed on the perimeter. They need a guy that a safety has to help a corner with. They need a guy who defenses worry about down the field besides jump balls to Josh Palmer. That guy has to be Hyatt. In five games, Hyatt has 5 catches averaging 26 yards a catch. He had two catches for 86 yards on Saturday and both should have been called scores (I don’t think he stepped out). He ran by the corner both times. On the year, Hyatt 8 targets. He needs more. Cedric Tillman and Ramel Keyton had been targeted 22 times and only have 8 catches. Hyatt is more productive. He needs to be a bigger part of the offense.
6. Play the freshmen — Everyone is asking and I agree with everyone. Play those guys more. I get the notion of earning it on the practice field as no one should be given a pass on putting in the work, but play your talent. If it’s all about practice performance there would have been some really good players in the Fulmer era not see much playing time. Players on the team know who the best players are. Play them. And you certainly should have played them more in the second half of a blowout. Play more Morven Joseph. Play more Slaughter, Key Lawrence and obviously those freshman receivers. Austin said it best in the podcast following the game. Everyone needs guys to be excited about. Play those guys. They don’t have to start, but get them involved in a bigger role.
7. Poor tackling — It was by far Tennessee’s worst tackling game of the year. Darel Middleton and Kivon Bennett missed key tackles behind the line of scrimmage that would have made touchdown drives field goal drives. Henry T had a tough day at the office. He missed several tackles. So did Q. Crouch. Alabama had 119 yards after contact in the run game and 183 yards after contact in the passing game. Tennessee has to tackle better. Even when they did make the tackle, Alabama receivers and runners seemed to always be falling forward.
8. Stop all the defensive substituting against tempo teams — Tennessee has called more defensive than offensive timeouts in 2020. The biggest issue is having too many men on the field. Jeremy Pruitt likes to substitute personnel based on down and distance and the other team’s personnel, but they have had substitution issues all season. They had them multiple times on Saturday. They were penalized at least twice for it. Against up tempo teams making those substitutions is hard when the offense isn’t substituting. Maybe Pruitt and Ansley need to make their calls faster. Maybe they need information faster from upstairs on the opponents personnel, I don’t know. What I do know is that Tennessee is getting caught too many times with substitution issues.
9. Clean it up — Tennessee again had too many penalties. The offense had 5 more penalties including 3 more false starts. For the year, the offense has had 14 false start penalties. This offense has it’s struggles converting third downs. They need to do a better job of staying out of third and long. One way to do that is to avoid penalties putting them in down and distances too hard to overcome. Again against Alabama on two occasions, the late shift by the Tide defensive front bothered the offensive line creating penalties as it did at Georgia. Tennessee has enough experience up front that those things shouldn’t bother them.
10. JG is this teams quarterback — The Vol senior is one tough dude. He just doesn’t go away. He’s got limitations and he does things that are maddening like throwing behind a receiver on a slant. But it’s clear as can be that while he might have a shorter leash he’s the guy this staff believes gives them the best chance to succeed. He played better on Saturday. Had he played against Kentucky like he did against Alabama, the Vols would be 3-2 and where everyone thought they would be record wise. Now here’s the concern, Jim Chaney and Jeremy Pruitt didn’t have full trust in him throwing the ball and understandably so, but can you win that way in a league where you gotta score? I don’t know, but he’s going to be this teams quarterback. They just don’t have much faith in those behind him. They don’t think Harrison Bailey is ready. They don’t have any confidence in JT Shrout and don’t seem to trust Brian Maurer. So JG is the quarterback of choice provided he can avoid the meltdown.
It will be interesting to see how things go with JG and Brandon Johnson moving forward. The two had a pretty heated and lengthy sideline discussion in the second half on Saturday.
