Getting a bunch of good grades when facing the East Tennessee State Buccaneers if you’re Tennessee football is like going for a PhD in law school and acing one of those fake classes the North Carolina Tar Heels created for their athletes. You have to take it with a grain of salt. That required us to nitpick more than we usually would. Here are the Vols’ grades in their 72-17win over ETSU.
Quarterbacks: A-
Joey Aguilar was 23-of-31 for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Jake Merklinger was 9-of-14 for 118 yards and two touchdowns. George MacIntyre was 6-of-7 for 52 yards. Altogether, the Tennessee football quarterbacks were 38-of-52 for 458 yards, four touchdowns and no picks. Merklinger did have a pass that should have been picked, though, and Aguilar threw a couple of jump balls, which is why this is an A-.
Running backs: A+
Star Thomas was the most consistent back with 12 carries for 69 yards and three touchdowns. DeSean Bishop had a 50-yard run to open the game en route to just three carries for 68 yards. Peyton Lewis only had 19 yards on eight carries, but he was the workhorse with a score. Add in Duane Morris’ 48 yards and a score on nine carries and Justin Baker’s 37 yards on 11 carries, and as a unit, they had over 250 yards and five scores.
Wide receivers: A+
Just like the running backs, the receivers were perfect. Mike Matthews had six catches for 111 yards and an epic score on a 53-yard jump-ball he hauled in that Aguilar threw. Chris Brazzell had nine catches for 125 yards and two touchdoens. Braylon Staley had six catches for 39 yards and Radarious Jackson had three catches for 35 yards. Eight receivers were in on the game, and they were all elite.
Tight ends: B+
If not for a Miles Kitselman drop, this would have earned an A+, but things like that are a big deal with tight ends. Still, Kitselman had three catches for 36 yards, Dasaahn Brame had two catches for 16 yards, and Jack Van Dorselaer had a seven-yard touchdown grab. Ethan Davis had a catch as well. Also, the blocking helped Tennessee football from allowing a sack.
Offensive line: B-
Despite the 276 yards on the ground and not allowing a sack, the running backs outran the blocking of the offensive line in many cases. Also, Sam Pendleton had a bad snap that restuled in a fumble. Those things are enough for this unit to almost flirt with an average grade. Overall, though, with David Sanders Jr. out, they were still fine.
Overall offensive grade: A
The Tennessee football offense scored a school-record 72 points. How could they not earn an A with such a performance? Josh Heupel went to his third string late in the affair and still managed to hang that many on the Bucs. Even if it was against an FCS school, there’s no way you can look at that and say it wasn’t impressive.
Defensive line: B
Jaxson Moi and Daevin Hobbs were both out, but the Vols still could have done a better job containing ETSU up front. Although the Bucs only rushed for 49 yards and averaged fewer than two yards a carry, and although Will Healy spreads the field with west coast concepts to avoid sacks, this unit still could have done a better job. They weren’t bad, but they didn’t meet the standards of who they played.
Edge rushers: A
Joshua Josephs was a star in this game, coming away with a sack and a pass deflection to show why he’s equipped to replace James Pearce Jr. this season. Caleb Herring also came in with a tackle for a loss, and Jordan Ross had two tackles, one of which was solo. Once again, given the offense, it’s a bit hard to get sacks, so this unit gets an A and did nothing wrong.
Linebackers: B-
Arion Carter got beat on a couple of one-on-one plays on the scripted drive ETSU had to open the second half, and the backups allowed ETSU to move the ball. However, Carter and Jeremiah Telander for the first half earned an A+, and the Tennessee football linebackers by and large are fine. It was just about the way they finished that made it a B-.
Secondary: B-
Again, the backups coming in late and allowing ETSU to move the ball downfield is what pushed this from an A to a B-. To be fair, the Vols were already without Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III, so going to their depth was going to make things a lot more difficult. Still, against the Bucs, the backup UT defensive backs needed to do a much better job at the end, and not doing so makes depth a concern.
Overall defensive grade: B
ETSU’s first touchdown can be forgiven since it’s due to a mistake by the offensive line and a turnover that set up a short field, but the Tennessee football defense let the Bucs legitimately march down the field for 10 points in the second half. Sure, it’s with backups, but that was still a red flag for this team, and it was enough for us to push the grade down to a B.
Place kicking: A+
Max Gilbert hit all three of his field goal attempts, and one of them was a 53-yarder. He also nailed all six extra points, and Josh Turbyville came in for three extra points and hit all of them. Also, on kickoffs, Turbyville sent 12 of 13 into the end zone for touchbacks. Although that other one spotted ETSU on the 27-yard line, past the 25, everything else was enough to make this an A+.
Punting: A+
Jackson Ross only punted once in this game. It was one of the most beautiful punts of his career. Although it only sailed 36 yards, it pinned ETSU on their own three-yard line, exactly why he was brought in to punt right there in the first quarter with the Vols leading 10-0 at the time. While the punt game wasn’t impactful in this one, Ross still earned an A+ with that move.
Return game: A+
Boo Carter had returns of 16, 34 and 39 yards, setting up a field goal and two touchdowns respectively. That’s more than enough for us to give this unit an A+. He showed why he was let back on the team despite his tumultuous offseason. For what it’s worth, Morris had three returns for 24 yards, and Lewis had an 18-yard kickoff return as well.
Overall special teams grade: A+
Everything about this unit was perfect. Tennessee football didn’t miss a field goal or extra point, hit a 53-yard field goal, pinned its only punt inside the five-yard line and had three returns to set up 17 points. Every way special teams could make a splash for a team, the Vols did on Saturday, so the entire unit gets a perfect score, rare in these grades.
Offensive play-calling: A
Joey Halzle’s game plan resulted in the Vols setting a record for points scored at Neyland Stadium. That’s more than enough for this unit to get an A, and it could get an A+. However, part of Pendleton’s fumble was Halzle going too fast without the right plays dialed, and some of the big plays were due to Aguilar improvising, not necessarily his play-calling.
Defensive play-calling: B
Okay, so this is nitpicking, and Tim Banks was once again largely fine calling this game, but Healy’s scripted play-calling to open the second half caught Banks off-guard. Allowing ETSU to score 10 points in that half alone, even though it was meaningless, was enough for us to push this grade down to a B, but once again, this is no real concern.
Overall head coaching grade: A-
Pendleton’s fumble may have come down to Halzle’s tempo without the right play, but it was also due to Josh Heupel trying to rush a score before the half when he didn’t need to. That’s enough for the Tennessee football coaching staff as a whole to get an A- instead of an A or an A+, but just like Banks, we are nitpicking here. In general, Heupel was fine.
