B6B: Big 6 Takeaways from UT vs. Missouri

By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – November 22, 2019)


Got it done. Could have been easier… a little sluggish out of the gates, but 24-20 and five wins out of the last six games. You’re playing in late December or early January. Here are my Big 6 Takeaways from the road win at Mizzou.


NOT SHARP EARLY… BUT JG ANSWERED THE BELL AND MADE A LITTLE HISTORY

Despite throwing for more yards in the first half than he ever has in his Tennessee career, it didn’t feel like JG was firing on all cylinders, at least not to the degree we’ve seen during this stretch of wins. Maybe he would have thrown for over 300 in the first half with a better opening stanza. It took him a bit to warm up in this one. But I can’t be too negative here… JG was ridiculous in the second half more often than not. It still felt like it could have been a 500 yard performance if he’d been cheddar out of the blocks.

This was a game where 15, 5, and 1 all went for over a c-note in receiving yardage. That, if you’re scoring at home, is the first time it’s ever been done in the history of Tennessee football. It’s only the fifth 400 yard passing game in Vol football history as well, and although Guarantano won’t end up on a Mount Rushmore, he’s going to end up on a list with Peyton Manning in Knoxville.

It seemed he was ten times more poised after Brian Maurer came in for a few plays, because once he returned to the game following the big hit on Callaway, he was a totally different player. His percentage wasn’t great going into the fourth and in fact it wasn’t great at the end either, going 23/40 for those 415 yards, but he was accurate on some tight window throws and he stood tall as the OL tried to handle Mizzou’s pass rush. This was a great secondary JG had to deal with, and he shredded them WHEN he had to, especially on third down.

 

JAUAN JENNINGS… AGAIN

Christian Holmes was abused by Marquez Callaway late in the third quarter on a man’s touchdown grab in the back left corner of the end zone, but after Jennings dropped the touchdown, you knew he’d find a way to make amends. He would do so with one of those plays we’ve seen 15 make every week or two for the past three years. This is just what he does.

In tonight’s case, “this” means a 16 yard touchdown where David Ubben of The Athletic described it best. On the play, Jauan Jennings broke THE SAME GUY’S TACKLE TWICE on his way to paydirt. He broke through arms and bodies and spun and just kept chugging along until he was standing on painted grass and had earned six points. To call him a gladiator out there is an understatement. Often, the difference for Tennessee and the opposition is that the Vols happen to have Jennings on their team and the other dudes don’t.

He was over 100 yards receiving before the fourth quarter ever commenced, and even taking a few physical shots, he was the dog of dogs… and Mizzou’s secondary was wearing Milkbone underwear, to borrow a classic line from Norm Peterson.

 

HOW DID BRYANT EVER START OVER LAWRENCE?

He hasn’t been healthy much this season, but even when he was, it’s shocking Kelly Bryant ever started a game with Trevor Lawrence also on the Clemson roster. Bryant is a great athlete, but not a polished passer, which we saw when he was summarily neutered by Alabama in the CFP semifinal two years ago. Dabo Swinney saw Trevor Lawrence in practice. He had to know what he had, which tells me he loved Kelly Bryant as a person and a football player and a competitor, because in no way is he a better quarterback than Lawrence.

I have no idea how close to 100 percent he is at this point, but even when he was in the ACC, there was nothing you ever feared with him in the pocket. Tennessee should have sent pressure more often, because whenever they did, he couldn’t handle it, especially with limited mobility. The Mizzou offense over the past five weeks has been abysmal to say the least. It’s shocking to see them this handicapped on that side of the football.

 

RUSHING FUTILITY ALL AROUND

Entering the fourth quarter, neither team had 100 yards on the ground, and once Tennessee passed the century mark, Tim Jordan promptly fumbled to kill a drive with the Vols up 24-17. At that point, UT had 23 carries for 106 yards… but three of those carries totaled 40 yards, meaning the other 20 went for 66. Mizzou was even worse, with 31 totes for 79 yards at the same juncture of the game. They would never cross the 100 yard mark.

That turnover only led to a field goal, and let’s give credit to the Vols defense against the run, as Mizzou struggled to advance the ball all night long and just made Kelly Bryant’s evening miserable in the cold. Tennessee continues to struggle running it, but when you throw for over four lengths of the field, you’re still probably in good shape.

 

MISSOURI PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS

Oh, my bad, wrong “PI.” Here, we’re talking about four defensive pass interference penalties called on Missouri in the first three quarters of the game, a few of them kept Tennessee drives alive that appeared dead in the water. These were crucial and they were devastating, and at least one of them, I’d have swallowed the whistle on as it just looked like two players both attempting to get to the football.

Mizzou entered the game with one of the better secondaries in the country, but their success was stymied as it was contingent upon being able to bump and grab a bit more than this set of zebras would allow.

And, for as good as the stats were, both Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway… and Josh Palmer, made the Tiger secondary look foolish several times during the course of the game.

 

BOWL ELIGIBLE

Stewart Mandel of The Athletic this week released his bowl projections and had the Vols in the Gator Bowl on New Year’s Day, squaring off against Minnesota, a team that one week ago was undefeated and in the national playoff discussion. Considering the first half of the season, not just a bowl, but a JANUARY 1 bowl seemed unfathomably optimistic, and yet, with one more win, the Vols will finish the regular season 7-5 and winners of 6 of their last 7 ball games.

The only blemish on the resume was a hard fought loss in Tuscaloosa, where Tennessee played Bama as well as anybody other than LSU has this season. Credit to Jeremy Pruitt for managing to hold his team together at a time when it could have gotten ugly with a quickness. He stood up for them, even took a penalty to show them he would back them, and they responded by playing far better football and taking advantage of a beatable schedule down the stretch.

And now, there’s going to be a 13th game.


OVERALL

The Vandy losing streak should come to an end next week. The Dores crushed ETSU, but Tennessee is a massively better football team than the one playing on West End in front of about 100 people. Nobody in Knoxville wants 6-6, and nobody in Knoxville wants to have that Vanderbilt loss kind of sour taste in their mouths entering December. Finishing 7-5 will feel good, it will feel successful, and even if you want to play “what if,” you have to remember that had Tennessee opened up 3-0, there’s nothing to say that every other game would have gone in the same fashion these did.

Perhaps this team had to be humbled and hit rock bottom before they could begin climbing out of the hole they found themselves in. Maybe not, but it’s immaterial as 3-0 wasn’t something that actually happened. So you look towards finishing strong and having the right kind of momentum as you play your in-state rival next week, who you’d better demolish.

And Tennessee will.

 

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