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Jeremy Pruitt: 'Lord knows we have a long ways to go'

NASHVILLE — Thanksgiving might’ve been Thursday, but Tennessee was still in a tryptophanic-coma Saturday at Vanderbilt.

Despite a bowl berth on the line, the Vols completely Charlie Brown’d the opportunity, getting embarrassed by their in-state rivals for the third straight season.

Vandy’s 38-13 win capped a 5-7 season for Jeremy Pruitt in Year 1 — an especially dispiriting finish after Tennessee beat No. 11 Kentucky just three weeks ago.

“It’s pretty simple: The best team won today,” Pruitt said.

But it wasn’t just that Vanderbilt beat Tennessee.

It was how it happened.

On Saturday, Big Brother was straight bullied by its Little Brother. The Commodores dominated the trenches. They had the better quarterback. Their receivers made tough catches. Their lineman got off blocks. Their defensive backs broke up 50-50 passes. The coaching performance wasn’t much better.

“We didn’t make plays,” Pruitt said, with a mixture of despondence and frustration.

“You go back and look: They blocked better than we blocked them. They covered us better than we covered them. They made better throws. They got off the field on third down. So, it’s pretty simple. Lord knows we have a long ways to go.”

With the season now over, Pruitt was as critical about his team after the game — without specifically naming players — as he’s been all season. He lamented the missed tackles, the poor protection and the dropped balls, but his strongest bite was when Pruitt said he called the same plays a year ago — against the same Kyle Shurmur who looked like Peyton Manning on Saturday — in Alabama’s 59-0 rout over Vandy.

“I mean, I don’t know guys,” Pruitt said, shaking his head.

Whatever Pruitt was calling certainly wasn’t working Saturday, though.

Tennessee had zero answers for Shurmur, who played flawlessly in his final home game. The senior continued to torment Tennessee, completing 31 of 35 passes for 367 yards and three touchdowns. The Vols sacked Shurmur three times, but they rarely made him uncomfortable.

“They took it to us,” senior lineman Kyle Phillips said.

And yet, Tennessee’s offense somehow managed to look worse.

Outside of Ty Chandler’s 75-yard touchdown run, the Vols averaged 3.6 yards per play against the nation’s No. 94 defense.

The same Commodores defense that was torched by Arkansas, South Carolina and Ole Miss? Not Tyson Helton’s unit.

Jarrett Guarantano completed 45 percent of his passes and Tennessee finished with 242 yards of total offense — Vandy’s best defensive performance since … (drum roll) … last year against the Vols (238 yards allowed).

The Vols lost their sixth game this season by 25+ points on Saturday. Once again, too many balked when the going got tough.

Inconsistency reigned supreme this season, but so did Tennessee's propensity to deliver some truly listless performances. Pruitt has plenty to address this offseason, but among the main priorities is fielding a football team in 2019 that believes it can win every week.

“The teams that win every Saturday show up," Phillips said, bluntly.

"And we didn’t. We don’t show up every Saturday.”

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