No matter how bad
Tennessee is, they’re always going to beat the hell out of Kentucky. I know it
was only 24-7, but if not for two dumb fumbles in the second half that kept
points off the scoreboard, Tennessee wins 34-7 and Mark Stoops's fat butt finally rips through his three-sizes-too-small pants. (Am I the only one that notices that Stoops looks like he's too fat for his clothes? Like he constantly looks like he's restrained by everything he's wearing. Like he's just ready to bust through them all).
The defense held a pretty limited UK offense to only
262 yards, the Vol offensive line had their best performance in maybe a decade, and
Jeremy Pruitt got a big win in a rivalry game against a Top 11 team.
I don’t know where this
offensive line has been all season, but they showed up in a big way today and
helped power the Vol ground game to 215 yards on 40 attempts. The defense
forced three turnovers and got four sacks from Darrell Taylor, who had the best
performance by a Vol defender since Derek Barnett left for the NFL two years ago.
Jarrett Guarantano didn’t
light it up (only 197 yards and 12 completions), but he took care of the ball
and didn’t get clobbered 15 different times in a game for the first time all
season. I could be blanking here, but the only time I remember him getting
clocked was on his deep pass to Tim Jordan that set them up for their first
touchdown.
The most impressive thing
they did the entire day was their Hail Mary drive right before the half. Great
teams consistently execute offense in the final minutes of the halves, and the
Vols got into scoring range thanks to a great third down run by Ty Chandler and
a phenomenal move outside the pocket and throw down the field by Guarantano to
Marquez Callaway. And the Hail Mary was incredible, of course. Guarantano
almost got stripped before escaping the pocket and lofting a beautiful ball to
the end zone where Callaway boxed everyone out (including some teammates) for
what was basically a game ending score.
Look, I’m thrilled about
today. Tennessee blocked a field goal, they ran the ball the best they have in
years, and they completely dominated the game in all three phases. And it’s
always fun to kick Kentucky’s ass, especially this Wildcat team that actually
thought they were good at football. What’s a little concerning is that we still really have no idea which Tennessee team we’re getting week to week. Let’s take
the last month. They come out against Auburn and play their best
start-to-finish game of the entire season, which was great. They then get
blasted by Alabama (which we all expected). Then they play a great first half
against South Carolina and build a 12 point lead in the third quarter before the
offense completely collapsed and let Will Muschamp beat them for the
seventh straight time (GAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!). Then there’s the Charlotte game
where they let themselves get out gained and play as sloppy as they have under Pruitt for sixty minutes against an
extremely mediocre Group of Five team. And then there's today; they play a great first
half and build a 17 point lead, which was basically insurmountable for the limited
Wildcat attack, only to slog around for the final thirty minutes offensively and keep Kentucky alive late into the fourth quarter. Jeremy
Pruitt never seems happy after wins (which doesn’t bother me), but he’s right
about this team still having a ton to work on. Tennessee won’t be able to get
away with subpar second half offensive performances against teams with half-decent offenses (which is what we saw with the South Carolina game) if they want to
get the program to the point where they’re contending for SEC titles.
Still, all things
considered, today was a good day for Vol nation. They moved to 5-5, avoided the
possibility of back-to-back 4-8 seasons (gulp) and now have a realistic shot to
finish with 8 wins in Pruitt’s first year, which seemed like a near
impossibility 24 hours ago.
Also, where the hell was the Beer Barrel? It's time to bring that back! How great would it have been to see the Vol players running around the field with that trophy again? I might make this my life's sole purpose.
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