Everything Jeremy Pruitt said following Tennessee’s loss to Arkansas

On his decision to not kick the field goal late in the game down 11:
“We wasn’t close enough, didn’t feel like. So we felt like we had a good play there. We just didn’t get it done.”

On Harrison Bailey:

“We’re running four verticals and they’re dropping eight. He didn’t really try to force the ball. He took check downs, down the field. Based off the time there, he was going to have to force one in there. But it’s something he can learn from.”

On Jarrett Guarantano’s injury diagnosis:

“The doctors just said he’s out of the game. So we’ll obviously see that over the next couple days.”

On why he made the decision to bench Brian Maurer for Harrison Bailey:

“Brian came in and Brian ran around a little bit, but couldn’t get nothing going there so we went with Harrison there.”

On being outscored several games in a row now:

“Just looking back, obviously when you have an off week you have a lot of quality control, right? Just trying to figure out. You know, it seems to me we’ve had more penalties in the third quarter. We’ve had more turnovers in the third quarter. That’s from an offensive standpoint. And tonight we got a penalty the first time we got the ball, that puts us in I believe it was second-and-15 or second-and-210, one of those two. Then we punt the ball, it’s a fourth-and-4 or fourth-and-5. We made up the yards to gain, but we just can’t shoot ourselves in the foot there. We’ve done that several times. It was a motion penalty. That’s one of the big things. Tonight you look at it, defensively, I mean just two explosive plays throwing the ball. They did put together a really good drive there to start the third quarter there, running some hat plays, getting the tight end inside on our backers there. So we’ll have to go back and look at it and fix it.”

On if he’s worried about the the team’s ‘mental carryover’ moving forward:

“No, I don’t think so. I think one thing that our players know is — we have a lot of smart guys, right? — when we make mistakes, they can recognize it. They know what it takes to execute. We’ve done it at times pretty good. But we’ve not done it consistently the entire year. That’s obviously something that we’ve got to get to if we’re going to be able to beat guys in our league.”

On not being able to cover Arkansas’ slants:

“Well, no. The 70-yard play was a nine route, when they outside-released us over there. Then the other play, that 16 caught coming back across, was just a scramble play that he ran out the backside, and we should’ve had a backside safety back there. But we didn’t. That’s 140 yards on two plays and basically set up two scores. And they had one drive there to start the quarter.”

On why Alontae Taylor and Shawn Shamburger didn’t travel:

“Alontae has been hurt, pretty much the entire year. He pulled his hamstring back in fall camp. He’s worked really hard, and I know he’s frustrated, trying to get to where he can play full speed. Shamburger just didn’t make the trip.”

On why Ty Chandler didn’t play much:

“Ty, he hurt his ankle obviously in the last game and just hasn’t gotten over it.”

On where his team is at mentally after four losses in a row:

“I just talked to them. I told them I’m not discouraged, I’m not disappointed with where we’re at. I’m pissed off where we’re at, obviously. But, it’s like I told the players, I’ve been part of really good programs. I know how to get there. And we have to learn to play at a higher level on Saturdays. So when I got the tight end to the flat, I have to take the tight end to the flat. When we’re playing two-trap and they throw a ball out in the flat, they shouldn’t be able to catch the ball. If I’m supposed to poach on the backside on a post, we have to be there. If I have four and first crosser, I have to be there. Just the execution part is not where it’s at. It’s my fault, not the players. My fault. And we’ve got to work hard to get them there. And the guys understand that. I really like the character of the people in our room. But we’ve got to be able to execute at a higher level if we want to finish the way we want to finish.”

On if he believes the team has improved:

“There are certain areas that have improved. We have some guys that, if you just look at our team on the defensive side, we’ve had guys that have battled injuries in and out all year. And maybe they haven’t played their best ball. But in my opinion, a lot of it is because of time lost. It’s been an unusual year for some of these guys. That’s why I’m not discouraged. I know we’ve got guys that got good character, got good ability. And maybe we haven’t played our best, maybe we haven’t coached our best, right? But I believe in these guys and we’ll get it fixed. We’ve got a young football team. If you look at our team, there’s very few of them that have been through a spring football practice, right? So they’ve got a lot to learn. And we’ve got to perform a little better.”

On why J.T. Shrout didn’t travel to Arkansas:

“We had a couple guys that, we didn’t know whether or not we were going to be able to bring them. Ty Chandler being one, Brent Cimaglia has been kind of nursing a sore leg there. Just trying to figure out the 70 and getting the right numbers. That was one of the reasons we did that.”

On the balance between running the football and throwing the football:

“I think it’s a lot. No. 1, we feel like that’s probably a strength of our team is our offensive line. Another thing is the way Arkansas has played defensively this year. They’ve done a lot of eight-drops, a lot of zone drops. Just not having a lot of holes there. I think we had a really good game plan the first half. First half it’s 13-0. On both sides of the ball I think our execution was a little higher. So second half, got to make some adjustments. Obviously got to be more aggressive, throwing the ball down the field. I think we’ve got some weapons down there. Jarrett got hurt, got a new guy in there (at quarterback) and never got in a rhythm in the second half.”