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Four quick takes on an ugly afternoon

Tennessee’s nightmarish 2017 season continued today, as the Vols lost 15-9 to South Carolina, falling to 3-3 on the year and 0-3 in the SEC. Here are four quick takes on a long afternoon inside Neyland Stadium.

1 — Jarrett Guarantano — Many fans got what they wanted today, as the redshirt freshman made his first career start. It wasn’t pretty but the loss can’t really be laid at Guarantano’s feet, at least from my vantage point.

As many suggested this week, he may not be ‘ready,’ and that appeared to be the case today. He finished 11-for-18 for 133 yards and was under constant pressure, getting sacked seven times on the day.

You don’t have to look hard to find the positives in Guarantano’s play. He had zero turnovers on the day, which is a massive improvement at the quarterback position. Turnovers from that spot have killed the Vols in the first five games, so cleaning that up today was a step in the right direction.

Guarantano also showed himself to be a willing and capable runner. He didn’t dazzle anyone with his legs, and thanks to taking seven sacks finished with just -2 yards rushing. But he also picked up some tough first downs on the ground and at least presented the defense with someone they had to pay some attention to.

The obvious downside is that as a passer, he’s just not SEC ready yet. Whether that’s a lack of confidence, lack of having the whole playbook under his command or just not having the necessary rapport with his receivers doesn’t matter. He’s just not pushing the ball downfield at all right now, which makes makes for a crowded situation at the line of scrimmage.

As badly as the offensive line is struggling right now, not being able to loosen up the defense is a killer.

Guarantano gave the Vols a chance on the final possession of the game, driving them to the two yard line but he couldn’t get them into the end zone for what would have been a memorable comeback.

2 — Red Zone Offense, and that third quarter— No matter who’s playing quarterback, this offense is hard to watch at times. The Vols have now played 10 quarters of football without scoring a touchdown and today’s showing against South Carolina was just atrocious to watch.

Tennessee drove inside the Gamecock’s 20 three times in the first half, and twice had 1st & goal situations. All three times the Vols had to settle for field goals. That’s just not winning football.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. First off, the offensive line simply isn’t playing at a high level and that gets magnified in the tight quarters closer to the goal line. The Vols aren’t moving people off the ball, creating lanes for the backs to find room and pass protection was a real issue all day long.

Furthermore, and understandably, the staff doesn’t trust Guarantano to sling it around down there in those circumstances, so I don’t know that you can really blame the playcalling. I’m not sure what workable options the Vols really have down there right now if you’re not going to let the quarterback throw the ball.

Twice inside the 10-yard line Guarantano took sacks that could have been avoided by throwing the ball away.

The red zone offense was terrible but the third quarter offense may have been what doomed the Vols today. Tennessee got the ball coming out of halftime and had a chance to make a statement. Instead the Vols couldn’t even make a first down.

Tennessee gained eight total yards in the third quarter on two possessions. Meanwhile, South Carolina gained 119 yards and took control of the game against an increasingly fatigued Tennessee defense.

It should be clear to everyone now that the problems don’t all lie at the quarterback position. Tennessee can’t block anyone and it doesn’t appear that the receivers are giving defenses much to worry about.

3 — The defense — Fans may grumble, but these guys showed up to play today and kept a struggling offense in the game all afternoon long. They got less than no help though from their offensive counterparts.

South Carolina didn’t convert their first 3rd down until there was under six minutes left in the third quarter. Similarly, the Gamecocks didn’t have a drive reach the Vols’ red zone until the final minutes of the third quarter.

Rashaan Gaulden had another strong showing with 10 tackles on the day.

Tennessee didn’t kill itself with breakdowns that led to huge plays today. South Carolina didn’t have a play that went for more than 20 yards. That’s a step in the right direction on an issue that’s been a near constant problem, not just this year, but extending back to last season.

In the end though, the defense simply wore down, and that could hardly be less surprising. The Vols played just three defensive ends and three tackles for the vast majority of the game and by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, it was obvious that the lack of depth up front was taking a toll.

After starting day 0-for-6 on third down the Gamecocks covered five straight during consecutive drives in the third and fourth quarter on two drives that produced nine points.

Some will argue that the defense let this one slip away in the second half, but count me among those who feel like they’re severely handicapped by what now may be the most hapless offense in the SEC. It’s certainly one of the worst offenses that Tennessee has fielded this century.

4 — Butch Jones — The man has been an absolute lightning rod for criticism for much of this season and the speculation over his job security has reached a fever pitch since the Georgia loss.

His team played a bad football game today, but I wouldn’t say it was because they were poorly coached or unprepared. They’re simply not very good. But yes, in year five, that’s totally on the head coach.

To Butch’s credit, his team played hard today. I don’t question their effort, which is something I wasn’t remotely sure about heading into this contest with all the chatter around the program.

After this loss though no one is talking about the next game, they’re all talking about the head coach. Or more accurately, who the next coach might be.

For those that think the chatter about his future is already loud, prepare to have things cranked up a notch.

Tennessee is now 0-3 on the year in SEC play, the Vols haven’t scored a touchdown in 10 quarters and the offense looks as bad as it has at any point in Jones’ tenure at Tennessee.

All of this in a season in which Jones shoved all his chips to the middle of the table and overhauled his coaching staff.

That overhaul included new hires at offensive coordinator, wide receiver and offensive line. Three areas that are perhaps the worst on the team halfway through the year.

This was a huge game for Jones today and he and his team came up well short against a mediocre opponent.

Calls for Jones’ job certainly will not subside after this game. There’s simply nothing to get excited about with this football team at the moment.

With a road trip to Alabama looming and the likelihood that this team will fall to 3-4 overall and 0-4 in the league it’s inarguably the lowest point of the Butch Jones era in Knoxville and it’s hard to see things getting any better.

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