Coaching
Daniel: It’s hard to knock the coaches too much when they got the job done at the end of the day. But there were some questionable parts of this game. There was the incident of only having 10 men on the field when Brandon Wilds went for 70 yards. It appeared that a linebacker was missing, putting the Vols in a bad spot. Twice the Vols opted to try a field goal instead of going for it on fourth-and-short and were stopped short both times. The Vols also went for it on the goal line and didn’t get it. Hindsight is 20/20, but especially the 45-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter didn’t make a ton of sense to me. Then there’s the fact that Vols again couldn’t contain the opponent’s No. 1 receiver. They didn’t identify Cooper well and he burned the Vols time and time again. But the offense has made huge strides with Dobbs at the helm and credit the staff for keeping him mentally sharp all year, even when he was possibly heading for a redshirt. It’s a results-oriented business, so even though I didn’t think it was a really clean-coached game, they still got the job done in the end. Grade: B-
Houston: I actually thought this was a night to forget for the coaching staff. Butch Jones’ decisions to have Aaron Medley attempt two long field goals into a swirling wind were questionable at best, but I think it was tougher to judge wind conditions from the field than it seemed.
I thought Bajakian had a shaky start to the game – running when he should have passed and vice versa – but really settled into a great rhythm in the 4th quarter (minus the deep shot that was intercepted on first down, still not sure about that one). It’s nitpicking to find issues when a team hangs 45 points, 35 first downs and 645 yards of offense, but I thought that the Vols could have taken a big lead early with a more traditional attack.
Defensively, for the second week in a row, Tennessee refused to adjust their coverage and got torched by a guy named Cooper. Pharoh Cooper accounted for 286 yards and four touchdowns for South Carolina and he’s not the starting quarterback. Cooper was the only thing that South Carolina had and I didn’t think Tennessee made very good adjustments to try and slow him down. Tennessee’s defense also got caught with 10 men on the field on Brandon Wild’s 70- yard touchdown run, and that absolutely can’t happen at this level. They looked like they figured it out late in the fourth quarter, however, and made a lot of plays that gave the offense a chance to put the comeback together.
That’s a lot of words to say that the staff didn’t have their best night, but they did keep this team believing they could win. They made some great adjustments late in the fourth quarter and put their players in a position to win a game that they would have lost under the previous regime. For that, they get a bump. Grade: B-
Reed: I have serious questions about the game plan on both sides of the ball. It was a rough first three quarters for the coaching staff but they came up big in the 4th quarter and overtime. Mike Bajakian had some beautiful calls late in the game – none better than the touchdown to Croom which forced overtime. That play was called away from South Carolina’s blitz and resulted in a wide open Croom. Even the questionable goal line call early probably would have been a TD if Wolf didn’t miss his block. This offense is really fun to watch with a playmaker like Dobbs at quarterback and you should see the playbook expand even more as the season progresses. The Vols tried zone and man coverages on defense to little success but were able to dial up some pressure in overtime for the game sealing stop. Credit Jancek for keeping his cool on a rough night and showing South Carolina a few different looks late in the game. Butch Jones coached a little cautious at times and that could have cost Tennessee the game. The Vols had just 10 men on the field for one of South Carolina’s TDs. That can’t happen. The staff gets credit for making some huge calls late and for the team never quitting when down 14 on the road. Grade: B-
Average Grade: B-
