Even against the Alabama Crimson Tide, somebody has to take the blame for losing. There was actually plenty to go around for Tennessee Football in this one, particularly in the second half. Here is a look at who is most responsible for the Vols blowing a 20-7 lead to lose by two touchdowns in the second half.
Dee Williams: 5 percent
You can blame the refs for applying this rule when it never is, but Dee Williams is still the guy who waved off a return only to see Cameron Seldon run with it, which spotted the Vols the ball at the four on their first offensive drive of the second half after Alabama cut it to one score with a touchdown. That killed any chance of a drive. You should never wave off a return on a kickoff.
Josh Heupel: 10 percent
Going for it on two 4th and 1 plays and getting neither aren’t by themselves problematic. However, in both instances, Josh Heupel called plays out of the shotgun, one of which was a predictable running play, the other of which was on 4th and inches. Why is the quarterback sneak and getting under center never utilized anymore? Heupel killed two drives solely because of that.
Everybody involved in the passing game: 15 percent
They built the lead for Tennessee Football, but there were mistakes. Joe Milton III had two bad throws on both drives in the first half inside the 10 that saw the Vols settle for field goals. He held the ball too long on the strip sack that gave Bama its final score. Jacob Warren killed a drive with a holding penalty. Ramel Keyton brought up one of the 4th and 1s UT didn’t convert because he bobbled a pass.
Defensive line: 30 percent
This is hard because the Vols had four sacks and five tackles for a loss in this game, but three and four of those respectively came in the first half. They couldn’t get pressure to stop Jalen Milroe and Jase McClellan on the ground in the second half, and that was a huge reason Alabama was able to take control of the game.
Interior blocking: 40 percent
Despite Milton running the ball well, Tennessee Football couldn’t get its running backs going. After winning the line of scrimmage against the Texas A&M Aggies last week, the Vols lost in a bad way up front to Alabama. Inability to run the ball was the biggest reason they lost this game, as they just couldn’t take control when they needed to.
