Tennesee v. UTSA

Following a disappointing (ie, heartbreaking and infuriating) loss to Florida, Tennessee needs to get right. Far too often in the history of the University of Tennessee Volunteers, the Big Orange had a stumble against a foe only to let it snowball into a season destroying slump. This game is the Vols last chance to get the offense rolling before hitting a mid season slate which will include home stands against South Carolina and Texas A&M before trips to Alabama and Kentucky. While USC has been up-and-down, they demolished UT last year. A&M is dangerous, and laid previously undefeated Auburn down by nearly 20 points this weekend. At Alabama will NEVER be a cakewalk, and this year’s Kentucky squad, while not lead by the same blue chip players as last year, still has enough firepower to start 2023 with a four game win streak averaging a margin of victory of more than three touchdowns.

 

With the broadcast harping on the Florida loss and Milton’s reaction to the failure, and with the Pride of the Southland Band still filing to the stands, Milton kept the ball on the first play and raced past the defense 80 yards for the score. That is something which has been missing from this UT offense, a threat from the QB when it comes to the running game, or even scrambling during a pass breakdown. But once again, we know the athleticism of Milton; I want to see him making those downfield passes. On their second possession, UT started with a series of short passes. While the first used a moving pocket in a pass to the tight end McCallan Castles, the next 4 were all short hitches and hooks, usually with another receiver blocking downfield.

 

Milton did take a few shots downfield as the game progressed, though only a few were completions. A deep shot into the endzone to Ramel Keyton in the endzone hit the receiver’s hands, but a defender was right there with him, and knocked the ball away. In the 3rd quarter, another deep throw to Keyton, both ball and player were knocked out by the defender, and Keyton did not return to the game. On a post to Squirrel White, where White had absolutely everyone beaten, Milton threw outside of White instead of inside, and the ball was nowhere near anyone. On a go with seconds remaining in the first half, Milton was a yard too far on his receiver who had a man beat, and the ball landed just out of each in the endzone. Milton also had a few underthrows to receivers who also had their men beat, resulting in easy breakups instead of long touchdowns. But he also threw a beautiful touchdown on a rope 25 yards downfield, with enough speed to get there before the defender, but not so fast it was impossible to secure.

 

Fortunately, the run game produced over 300 yards. Unfortunately, that included nearly 100 yards from Milton. Fortunately, the run game had a bunch of 40+ yard runs. Unfortunately, leading rusher Jaylen Wright left with a possible concussion in the first half, and would not return. But Dylan Sampson carried with load with over 100 yards and multiple big runs, and Jabari Small also broke out a long run early to help UT score. While the team put up 45 points, it was another instance of “what could have been,” and a sign the team is still unable to put together a complete game, something which haunted them mightily against Florida.

 

Another thing I want to see is consistent defense. The first two possessions for UTSA, Tennessee’s defense gathered a TFL in each drive, but gave the ball back after going for a blocked punt. It took an endzone incomplete pass on 4th down to finally retain the ball again. The Vols defense was mostly fantastic thereafter in the first half, giving up no points, forcing a pair of failed 4th down conversions, and holding the Roadrunners to 3/9 on 3rd downs, albeit against the second-string QB due to the starter being injured. But to start the third quarter, 3rd string QB Owen McCown, son of NFL vet Josh McCown, got rolling. He drove the Roadrunners for touchdowns on back-to-back drives, and completed 90% of his passes on the day. The incompletes were a throwaway under pressure, and pick, one of two on the day for UT’s defense. The interceptions paired with a strip sack recovered by the Vols. Tennessee did get four sacks and seven tackles for loss on the day, as well.

 

This was a game to show what could be, and, as nice as a 45-14 win is, it demonstrated again an inconsistent team which leaves way to many plays on the field, and whose defense is playing way too much. Tennessee once again lost the time of possession battle by nearly 15 minutes, holding the ball for less than their season average of 23:17. Another thing a team wants in these games is to get going, and get out uninjured, but the medical team was busy on the day. Jaylen Wright, LT John Campbell, Ramel Keyton, and DE Dominic Bailey were ruled out, and LB Aaron Beasley, safety Wesley Walker, and DB Christian Harrison also got hurt, leaving the game, some with potentially long term injuries. Even Milton got tweaked, with his leg in a brace in the second half due to an awkward tackle. With Pili already out at ILB, the second level is getting dangerously thin, and the offense is running low on their explosive players.

 

Tennessee did well, but their leading receiver (Keyton) barely has more yards through 4 games (205) than South Carolina’s Xavier Legette has in games against North Carolina (178) and Mississippi State (189). The defense continues to miss far too many tackles, the running backs get bottled up too frequently, and the opposing defenses are not nearly scared enough of the deep game because the ball rarely gets to the receiver downfield. The game was positive, don’t get me wrong, and it answered many questions I had about the team. Unfortunately, the answers were confirmation of my worries; this is a good team, but the lapses, mistakes, and poor execution will hold this team back, just as it did in Gainesville.