Tonight’s Vol victory
over UAB was nothing more than exactly what it was supposed to be. It was what we all thought the Georgia State game was going to be, a dominant performance against
an overmatched Group of Five team.
The Vols nearly
doubled UAB’s rushing output (121 to 63), held the football for almost 8 more
minutes, picked up 20 first downs, and won the turnover battle four to one.
Bryce Thompson killed the UAB offense in the first half by tying a school record with three interceptions, and Jauan Jennings added another strong outing to his senior season, as he finished with 70 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown.
Ty Chandler continues
to be the best and most consistent running back on the roster. He turned his 16 carries into 85
yards and a touchdown. Eric Gray couldn't get much going tonight on the ground (8 carries, 8 yards), but he did catch a touchdown pass, the first score of his Vol career.
If there’s a complaint
about the game, it’s that the Vols could’ve won by even more than they did.
Their first three scoring drives ended with field goals, and Jarrett Guarantano
threw an endzone interception right before the half that got him screamed at by
Pruitt. Amazing, I didn’t think it was possible to coach a guy hard without
putting your hands on his facemask. That’s all I heard from Bubba in Bulls Gap
the last two weeks.
The offense was far
from crisp, and UAB certainly deserves some credit for that, because again,
this is a good, capable defense, even if they are just a Group of Five team.
But in reality, the lackluster Vol performance had more to do with the lack of quality quarterback play. I’m not going to rip JG too hard here because the guy literally had hand surgery less than a week ago, but he clearly was affected by his hand and his performance was the complete opposite of what it was last week. All of which makes me wonder why he was even out there in the first place.
I’m assuming we
aren’t going to see too much of Brian Maurer the rest of the year, if at all,
due to his multiple concussions, but with JG banged up, why not play Shrout more tonight? He
only threw six passes the entire game. Would he have been significantly worse
than what Guarantano gave them? I don’t think so. All of this is probably
moot if Harrison Bailey is as good as everyone hopes he is, but if he’s not,
wouldn’t it be nice for a guy like Shrout, who could potentially be the starter next year,
to get as many live game reps as possible? Or is Pruitt planning on Guarantano
being the starter next year also? I can’t imagine that would be the case. Right?
Regardless, the
Vols did what they needed to do tonight, and what they should always do in games
like this, which is win by more than three touchdowns and hold the opposition
to less than 240 yards of offense.
They’re 4-5 now,
and only need to win two of their final three to go to a bowl game for the
first time since 2016. If they play like they did against South Carolina last
week, they could win all three. None of their remaining opponents are scary. But if the offense is a clunky as it was this week
the rest of the season, that Vanderbilt game in Knoxville could be a must-win. Let’s
hope they figure it out.
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