Coaching
Daniel: Butch Jones handled the game exactly as he should’ve. He got some rest for some ailing players, still was able to take care of business and got some young players some reps later in the game. A few players got banged up and Young may miss some time, but it looks like the Vols avoided any catastrophic injuries as well. That is important with the upcoming schedule. I understand the youth and inexperience aspects on the offensive line, but some of it has to fall on the coaching staff at this point. It doesn’t look like they’re getting better there and there’s no excuse for getting beaten up front by an FCS team at times. That being said, the defense continued to look fantastic, the special teams were impressive and the passing game was good enough for the offense on this day. Next week will be a massive challenge for the Vols, but they took care of business this week. Grade: B-
Houston: In the type of game that typically lends itself to sloppy play from the favorite, I thought that the coaches had this team focused and well prepared for UTC. Butch Jones was coaching his team until the final whistle and was able to get a lot of young players into the game. UTC never challenged Tennessee’s defense and, even though they struggled at times, the offense took care of business and scored when they needed to. The offensive line continues to look lost at times and they made mistakes that you simply should not see from an SEC team facing an FCS opponent. Other than that, I thought that this was a good showing from the coaching staff. Grade: B
Reed: I’m sure folks will find something to criticize from this game but I’m having a hard time. They simplified the game plan on both sides and did what they had to do to get a victory. The Vol QBs finally ran it a little – we’ll probably never know if that was at the direction of the coaches. Credit the staff for having their team ready to play for a game that easily could have been a emotional letdown. Grade: A
