Big6 Blog: Big 6 Takeaways (UT vs. FLA)

By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – September 23, 2018)


Yeech. Gross. Repulsive. Are you kidding?

You can choose whatever word you want to try and adequately describe the humiliating embarrassment that was Jeremy Pruitt’s first SEC game at the helm of the Tennessee Volunteers. Whichever you decide upon though, just know this…

…it isn’t strong enough.

Folks, this was my first ever trip to Neyland Stadium, and the atmosphere at kick was phenomenal. It was the experience I drove to see in person. And then the football game began, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a football team play worse in every facet from the jump. I tweeted out my prediction, based solely on a gut feeling, that the Vols would win the game. I was entirely wrong, along with many others, but I will not pick this Tennessee football team to win a single SEC matchup this season after this performance.

Any win they get will be an upset inside the conference.

I got caught up in the week and made a bad selection. It won’t happen again. This team is flat out not good. Here are my Big 6 Takeaways from the beatdown by the Gators on Saturday.

 

THE OFFENSIVE LINE IS…WELL…OFFENSIVE

Jeremy Pruitt said of his starting quarterback, Jarrett Guarantano, that he could be a really good player, but the team can’t protect him to give him a chance. Truer words have never been spoken. The offensive line that couldn’t come close to controlling West Virginia and even had trouble in sections against both ETSU and UTEP saved their worst for the biggest moment. Florida is a game that could have been such a momentum builder for the program and its jaded fan base. Instead, they couldn’t block the talented Gator front, couldn’t keep Jarrett Guarantano comfortable, and couldn’t create any running lanes, as the backs rushed for less than three yards per carry on the night.

It’s not going to get better this season. They’re terrible. Perhaps we’ll see some semblance of progress as the season goes along, but considering the next stretch of opponents, it’s going to get WAY worse before there’s any marked improvement. I shudder at the prospects of JG and the Tennessee running game having to deal with Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina…not to mention Kentucky, who might just be legit.

 

CITRUS TURNOVERS

The Big Orange entered the game without Guarantano throwing an interception and making good decisions. We’d seen a few fumbles, but nothing that truly worried you, as one of those was Jeremy Banks making a freshman mistake trying to stretch for the goal line last weekend. JG fumbled on the Volunteers’ first drive due to a Jachai Polite sack that gave Florida the football on the Tennessee 21-yard line.

Then came the second UT offensive possession, which made the first look optimistic in retrospect.

After a Trey Smith personal foul, JG ran for no gain (he had already run for -2 on the Smith play), and then proceeded to throw his first interception of the season. It was DEEP in Tennessee territory, and handed the ball back to Franks and the Gators on the SEVEN.

Two plays later, Franks put seven more on the scoreboard.

Guarantano threw another INT before he left the game, but that one was more trying to make a play and throwing into double coverage. The first was the killer. The stadium let out an audible gasp, and you could feel the building sigh, as if to say, “We’ve seen this movie before.”

All in all, Tennessee turned the rock over six times on the evening, and one of my pregame keys was that the Vols could not beat themselves and that whoever made the most mistakes in special teams or with turnovers and penalties would lose the game. Boy, was that ever true.

 

FLORIDA SPECIAL TEAMS

The Gators showed up ready to play on all sides of the ball, and the punt coverage team was exquisite, forcing Tyson Helton’s offense to go 90+ yards on multiple occasions. Spoiler alert: Tennessee was not able to succeed under these circumstances. The second half began with another special teams mess for the Vols, as Florida forced a fumble and took over. Jordan Scarlett’s touchdown on the ensuing drive put the game completely out of reach at 33-3.

This one is a shorter takeaway, because…

 

THE WORST FIRST HALF IMAGINABLE

Tennessee did not punt once in the first half. That sounds awesome until you realize why. Here’s a summation of the Volunteer drives over the first 30 minutes of the football game: FUMBLE, INT, TURNOVER ON DOWNS, FG, SAFETY, FUMBLE, FUMBLE.

They didn’t punt because they managed to hand the ball away in some other fashion outside of the one Cimaglia field goal. If you want the play that wrapped this game up, look no further than the Austin Pope touchback. It was fourth down, Guarantano found him outside the numbers down the left side and he was wide open. He goes 51 yards but is hit at the 4, loses the ball as it scoots through the end zone. It’s the worst rule in college football without a doubt, but that’s where it was clear this day was over for Tennessee.

Just look at those seven first half drives for the Vols. As a result, the Gators scored their first two touchdowns in the opening quarter on drives of 21 and 7 yards. That’s just disgusting if you’re a Tennessee fan. I can’t even imagine how frustrating it was for Jeremy Pruitt, especially because he had to realize at some point, “We can’t do anything about this. We stink.”

There is virtually not one single word to say of a positive variety about this game, but there are not enough unfriendly terms to get across how bad a half of football this was to watch.

 

THE SECONDARY WAS ABUSED ALL DAY…CORRECTION, THE ENTIRE D WAS

Feleipe Franks is not a great quarterback, but you wouldn’t know it by how he picked apart the young Tennessee back end. Freddie Swain and Tyrie Cleveland both had their way with the corners whenever they wanted, consistently getting behind them and gaining a step on their inexperienced opposition. Scarlett had running lanes, as did anybody else that wanted to run it for Florida.

This was a Gators team that rushed for over 200 yards against Colorado State last week,

This is a Gators team that rushed for over 200 yards against Tennessee on the road this week.

The Vols couldn’t tackle, they couldn’t cover, they had no answer for Florida from the jump, and the offense put them in such a hole with the turnovers and inability to get anything whatsoever going, they just collapsed under the weight of all of it. But, it was particularly the secondary that just played like they weren’t ready to be on that field. And Florida knew it. I can’t even imagine how ugly it would have been if Dan Mullen had a real quarterback out there.

 

TENNESSEE IS GOING 3-9 AREN’T THEY?

I can’t pick them against a single SEC opponent going forward. With the exception of Charlotte, they shouldn’t be favored in any of those games. If they’re able to stay healthy over the next month, that in itself will be a miracle. They travel to Athens to get annihilated by Georgia in six days, then have a bye week before a trip to South Carolina…to lose. Stidham and Malzahn come to town next, followed by Tua and Saban. Charlotte will come to Knoxville after those four losses, but then Pruitt will face Kentucky (they’re good), Missouri (they’re pretty good), and Vanderbilt (they’re better than you are).

Seriously, 4-8 at BEST, but 3-9 looks likely. It’s going to be hard for Vols fans to watch this, but do remember this team was expected to be terrible, and they’re living up to it. It turns out Helton wasn’t saving anything over the past two weeks in the run-up to Florida. That’s just all they’ve got. The OL is a joke, and alongside Arkansas, Tennessee is the cellar dweller in the conference.

Jeremy Pruitt just has to navigate this storm and Tennessee fans need to relax, because it was not going to be a quick turnaround. It’s a full rebuild. That’s what a decade of bad hires and a losing culture has wrought. It’s going to take time.

 

OVERALL

3-9 and I’m dead serious about that. Any SEC win Tennessee gets should be considered an upset. That was an abysmal performance at home against a Florida team that IS NOT PARTICULARLY SPECIAL IN ANY RESPECT. That’s what’s scary. The Gators aren’t great, they’re average right now. Dan Mullen has to get his guys in there and he still needs a legit quarterback. That’s how bad Tennessee was. Colorado State gave up 49 last week and the Vols gave up 47 at home last night.

Putrid. Nothing else to say. I’m sorry Vols fans. It’s time to look ahead to hoops season in Knoxville. This is going to be rough.

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