Four quick takes on a floundering finish to the 2018 season
NASHVILLE — Tennessee ended its season in disappointing fashion Saturday, losing to Vanderbilt for the third consecutive year — something that hasn’t happened since the 1920's.
The Dores’ 38-13 win meant a second-straight season without a bowl game for Tennessee and a 5-7 campaign for Jeremy Pruitt in his first year on Rocky Top.
Here are Four Quick Takes from Dudley Field.
1. Disastrous first half
After playing its worst half of football since the Florida game, Tennessee was staring at a 17-0 halftime deficit.
The Vols did next to nothing right for the first 30 minutes in Nasvhille.
They didn’t block. They didn’t tackle, and they didn’t coach any better, either. Worse, they were straight physically dominated.
The Vols jumped offsides multiple times, had busted assignments and Jarrett Guarantano threw his first interception in eight games. To further salt the wound, starting left guard Jahmir Johnson was ejected for targeting after stupidly taking out his frustrations on a late hit.
Tennessee did next to nothing offensively in the first half, rushing for just 19 yards against one of the worst run defenses in the country.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt did whatever it wanted — mainly without the services of tailback Ke'Shawn Vaughn who was knocked out with an apparent concussion.
After punting on its opening drive, Vandy did nearly all its damage through the air to take an early 7-0 lead, marching 11 plays for 84 yards. Senior quarterback Kyle Shurmur was 8-of-8 for 84 yards on the drive, capped by a 21-yard touchdown to tight end Jared Pinkney, who toasted Tennessee middle linebacker Daniel Bituli on a wheel route.
The Vols went three-and-out on their next drive, and Vandy easily knifed through UT’s defense to take a 14-0 lead on the next possession.
Down two touchdowns, Tennessee did respond with its best drive of the game, as Guarnantano converted a couple of third downs. But with the Vols facing a 3rd-and-4 just across midfield, Tyson Helton dialed up a rub route to tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson, whose drag had him go just one yard beyond the LOS.
He was naturally tackled immediately and Pruitt opted to punt. Joe Doyle then kicked the ball into the end zone, netting Tennessee just 22 yards of field position.
Vandy then marched the ball inside Tennessee’s 30-yard-line, converting a 4th-and-1 instead of opting for a 47-yard field goal. On the next snap, Darrell Taylor halted some of the Dores’ momentum, flying off the edge past right tackle Devin Cochran for a 9-yard sack.
It was Tennessee's lone highlight of the half. The Vols defense did hold the rest of the drive, too, forcing a field goal to mercifully go into the half down just 17-0.
2. Comeback short-lived
On the opening play after halftime, Ty Chandler sprinted up the right sideline 75 yards to put Tennessee on the board 10 seconds into the third quarter. The Vols had 85 total yards in the first half. Ryan Johnson and Jerome Carvin opened up a great hole and the Nashville native did the rest.
Tennessee suddenly had some juice and nearly the entire second half to mount a full-on comeback. Even better, Vandy started self-imploding. The Commodores missed a 20-yard field and the committed a couple bad penalties on their next offensive possession.
But Tennessee couldn’t take advantage.
They went three-and-out on their next three possessions, as the offensive game plan had zero rhythm or design. Even calling it a plan is being generous.
After Marquez Callaway returned a punt to midfield, the Vols went backwards and inexplicably didn’t give the ball to Chandler at all on three plays. Vandy would score a pair of touchdowns on its next two possessions, effectively icing the game.
3. Kyle Shurmur
Vandy’s senior quarterback continues to look like Peyton Manning against the Vols.
Shurmur entered the game 2-0 vs. Tennessee, throwing for 699 yards, six touchdowns and a pick the last two years. As Austin Price said, he should invite Tennessee defenders to his Pro Day.
The senior opened his final home game 15 of 15 for 165 yards. He didn’t throw his first incompletion — a catchable screen that was tipped by Kyle Phillips — until 55 seconds remained before halftime.
He exploited the Vols with his eyes and feet all day.
He attacked UT’s linebackers with throws to Pinkney and screens to the tailbacks. He also found his favorite target Kalija Lipscomb over and over, going after Alontae Taylor, Bryce Thompson and DJ Henderson. CJ Bolar had a big game, too.
Shurmur finished the night 31 of 35 for 367 yards and 3 touchdowns. Needless to say, Tennessee will be happy to see a new quarterback behind center for Vandy next season.
4. Odds & Ends
After earning compliments from Pruitt last week, Emmit Gooden earned the start Saturday as the Vols opened in a four-man front. Gooden made the game’s opening tackle, too. … Freshman cornerback Alontae Taylor was chewed out by Pruitt after missing a pair of tackles in the first half. Then in the third quarter, little-used cornerback DJ Henderson replaced Taylor following another long completion. … Joe Doyle has had a nice season for the Vols, but the redshirt freshman had a rough afternoon Saturday. Doyle averaged just 37 yards on seven punts, shanking a couple in the second half. ... While trying to mount a second-half comeback, Tennessee had to burn a timeout in the fourth quarter because the incorrect offensive personnel came out on the 2-point conversion attempt. These are the sorts of in-game mechanics the first-year staff must clean up this offseason. ... Seniors Keller Chryst and Madre London saw action late in the fourth quarter to close their collegiate careers.