How The Hell Are The Vols 1-0?

The offense was abominable for most of the first half, the defense couldn’t tackle and gave up more than 500 rushing yards, the Tech offense controlled the ball for TWENTY THREE MORE MINUTES, and yet, Tennessee somehow found a way to win despite the entire fan base giving up on the program 500 different times during the night. 

I have no problem admitting I was one of them. After Dormady played one of the worst first halves ever played by a Tennessee quarterback (he was 8-20 for 53 yards), I thought they should’ve rolled the dice and started the second half with redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano. They didn't have anything to lose, though not that it would’ve mattered, considering the receivers couldn’t have caught the Black Plague if they were all dropped in medieval Europe. The defense, after a stellar first two possessions, suddenly couldn’t get off the field. Tech drove the field on them all night, scoring touchdowns on drives of 12 plays for 86 yards, 16 plays for 75 yards, 11 plays for 80 yards, and 7 plays for 75 yards.

I still have no idea how Tennessee won. Dormady got into a little bit better of a rhythm in the second half, and for as bad and uncomfortable and stiff as he looked in the first half, the final drive of regulation, a 7 play, 93 yard push that was capped off by one of John Kelly’s 4 rushing touchdowns, was extremely impressive, considering every Vol fan watching had already given up on him.

A few plays, and this game turns out totally different, of course:

• Defensive back Rashaan Gaulden made an incredible chasedown tackle to force a fumble when Tech was on their way to a game-clinching touchdown. 

• After Kelly's tying score with less than a minute and half in regulation, Tennessee inexplicably allowed the passing inept Yellow Jacket offense to drive their way into field goal range by throwing the ball. Luckily, Tech’s kicker Shawn Davis, who had shanked an attempt badly earlier in the half, kicked the ball lower than Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz, which allowed Tennessee’s Paul Bain to swat it out of the air. 

• After the Yellow Jackets scored their touchdown in the second overtime to make it 42-41, they ran a terrible, incomprehensibly dumb two point play. Rather than attack the soft middle of the defense and pick up five yards like they had been able to do all night, they instead tried to run off tackle and right into the waiting arms of the Tennessee defense. Great moment for me, of course, but what the hell was that? You’ve been blasting them off the line of scrimmage all night, why not just do that again? If any of these plays turned out differently, then Tech wins the game and someone finally breaks down buys the domain for “firebutchjones.com”.

I don’t think Butch really did anything to change the narrative around himself (having a trash can that defensive players dunk turnovers into is so Butch it hurts), but a loss, particularly with as bad as they looked for large stretches of the game, probably sends the entire season into a tailspin. But a victory, as well as a few standout Vol players, at least appeases the fan base enough to think that there’s no way they’ll go into Gainesville in two weeks and blow it against a Florida team that may have the worst offense in the SEC. No way that happens, right?

Other positives:

• John Kelly was awesome last night, piling up 128 rushing yards on just 19 carries to go along with his aforementioned 4 rushing touchdowns. He seemed to get stronger throughout the game, and that’s due in part to his offensive line, who started winning some battles upfront in the second half. It was really concerning in the first half when they struggled to block Tech’s three man fronts, and seemed incapable of opening a hole bigger than a crawlspace, but to their credit, they didn’t give up any sacks, and they only allowed the Yellow Jackets one tackle for a loss. 

• After a dreadful first half by the entire Vol receiving core, sophomore Marquez Callaway stepped up in the second half, hauling in 4 catches for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 50 yard TD catch and run in the 3^rd quarter, and an acrobatic leaping grab that went for a long gainer on the Vols final TD drive of regulation. With Jauan Jennings reportedly out for 12 weeks with a wrist injury, and the return of Josh Smith still up in the air, Tennessee is going to be relying heavily on Callaway. Let’s hope he’s up for it. He’s certainly looks talented enough.

• It’s difficult to praise anyone on the defense, but sophomore linebacker Daniel Bituli looks like he’ll be a monster going forward, as he totaled 23 tackles and forced a fumble in the first half that led to Tennessee’s first touchdown.

I have no idea how the rest of the season is going to turn out, but I know for a fact it's not going to get any easier for Butch. And I know last night won't be the last time I send my dad texts like, "is it acceptable to fire a coach in the middle of the third quarter", or "Kelly-Helfich 2018". The balls in your court Butch. Keep proving us wrong.