It was definitely one-sided in terms of which unit showed up for Tennessee football in the Volunteers’ heartbreaking 44-41 overtime loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, but to be fair, the other side had some key injuries. We’ll address some of that while still being honest about our grades with our report card for the Vols by unit based on their play last Saturday against the UGA Dawgs.
Quarterbacks: A-
Honestly, the two interceptions aren’t what kept this from being an A+, as Joey Aguilar was hit on one of them. He simply wasn’t accurate enough at times. Still, Aguilar was 24-of-36 for 371 yards and four touchdowns and directed what should have been a game-winning drive for the Vols at the end of regulation, so he played exceptionally well.
Running backs: B+
Star Thomas had nine carries for 60 yards. Behind him, though, DeSean Bishop had 15 carries for 54 yards, and Peyton Lewis had five carries for 19 yards. Maybe it’s a bit wild to give them a B+ instead of just a B- or a C+, but the Vols never really ran it enough to get them the ball in rhythm. Based on what their jobs were, they performed well overall.
Tight ends: A-
Miles Kitselman seemed to have a couple of second-half drops, which could have pushed this grade down further, but that was partially due to Aguilar’s accuracy issues at times, so the unit still gets an A- overall. Tennessee football tight ends blocked well, and Kitselman still had three catches for 33 yards, so there wasn’t too much to criticize.
Wide receivers: A+
Chris Brazzell II had six catches for 177 yard and three touchdowns. Braylon Staley addednine catches for 97 yards and a score. Mike Matthews added five catches for 59 yards, and he dictated the coverage well with his speed on the outside. This unit was so elite for the Vols that Staley slipping on Aguilar’s second interception still didn’t keep it from getting an A+.
Offensive line: B+
In terms of pass blocking, the unit was great, and the interior blocking was good enough. However, key penalties proved costly. Sam Pendleton had a false start when the Vols had the ball up 35-30 that led to Josh Heupel settling for a field goal, and Shamurad Umarov had another one that may have resulted in the missed game-winning field goal. Combine that with just okay running, and the grade gets pushed down to a B+.
Overall offensive grade: A
At the end of the day, Tennessee football scored 38 points in regulation against Georgia and had nearly 500 yards of total offense. The Vols moved the ball well all game with the exception of about two drives, and they proved they can go toe-to-toe with anybody in the nation on that side of the ball when Aguilar is directing them.
Defensive line: B+
Despite playing without Jaxson Moi and Daevin Hobbs, UT won the line of scrimmage against the Dawgs here. Bryson Eason, Dominic Bailey, Tyre Weat and Tyree Weathersby were superb. The only reason this grade got pushed to a B+ is because the line came up short late in overtime, but it is true that because of their injuries they were tired by that point.
Edge rushers: A+
All game long, the Vols managed to get pressure around the edges on Gunner Stockton. Joshua Josephs had a strip-sack, Jordan Ross had half a sack, a tackle for a loss and a pass deflection, and Caleb Herring had one and a half sacks and two and a half tackles for a loss. They each had four total tackles, and three of them were solo for both Herring and Josephs.
Linebackers: C-
Arion Carter and Jeremiah Telander have not shown themselves to be a strength for the Vols to this point, and that’s a red flag since they are both returning starters with a lot of talent. Containing Stockton’s mobility seemed difficult, and he torched them over the middle a lot. The unit still stayed within the average tier because they stopped the run, but they’ve got to be better in coverage.
Secondary: D
Again, this unit gets a break since both Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III were out, but the safety help over the top was abysmal, and there were far too many pass interference penalties in the game. Colton Hood showed he can’t yet be an island cornerback, and Ty Redmond has some growing to do. Boo Carter also got torched over the middle a good bit.
Overall defensive grade: C
Yes, injuries are an excuse, but Georgia’s offense looked anemic the previous week. As a result, Tennessee football should have still done a better job containing Stockton and his over 300 yards passing. Letting the Dawgs go for over 500 yards on them was a problem. We’ll give the unit a C because of the injuries, though. It could have been worse.
Place kicking: B-
Max Gilbert nailed field goals of 48 and 42 yards. All but one of Josh Turbyville’s kickoffs went for a touchback. If Gilbert had nailed his game-winning attempt, we would have this grade be an A+ despite that one Turbyville kickoff that didn’t go for a touchback. However, if you miss a 42-yard field goal to win it, your grade comes down a good bit. He was still above average, to be fair.
Punting: A-
Jackson Ross pinned two punts inside the Georgis 12-yard line, and he had one go 57 yards. That’s enough to say that he gets an A-. There was one bad punt that keeps this grade from getting an A+, as he had three on the day, but averaging over 48 yards a punt and pinning two of your three punts inside the 20 is a pretty impressive outing nonetheless.
Return game: D
There were no kickoff returns by the Vols, and Boo Carter fumbled the one punt return UT had. Now, Carter did recover it, but that was still a bad play, as he gained 0 yards on it, which is enough for us to give this grade a D. Carter didn’t put on the show for Vols fans he had put on the previous week against the ETSU Bucs where he helped the team score 72 points.
Overall special teams grade: B
Fortunately for Carter, the return game had a minimal impact. The same is true of the punt game, but it had a larger impact, so in reality, this just came down to place kicking. We gave that grade a B-, and Ross’ elite punting will push the Tennessee football overall special teams grade to a B, but on the most important special teams play of the game, UT failed.
Offensive play-calling: A+
Joey Halzle was superb in this one. He played to the strengths of his receivers and Aguilar, and although he never fully established the run game the way he likely wanted to, he was able to go with the flow of the game in pretty impressive fashion. As a result, the offensive play-calling gets an A+, and this was one of Halzle’s best-called games ever as offensive coordinator.
Defensive play-calling: A-
Tim Banks is getting a lot of flack for this game, but again, he was coaching without his top two cornerbacks and without two of his top three defensive linemen. His best chance was to get pressure, and he did that a lot. The pass interference penalties, safeties getting caught napping and linebackers struggling in coverage aren’t on him. That’s the personnel hand he’s been dealt.
Overall head coaching grade: C
Josh Heupel made three key in-game mistakes. He punted the ball on 4th and 2 near midfield in the first half when it was a clear-as-day shootout, he sat on a 35-30 lead after a strip-sack and then false start despite Georgia’s history, and his attempt to get cute pushed back a game-winning field goal. Those plays cost Tennessee football dearly.
