Published Sep 8, 2019
The Good, Bad & Ugly from Tennessee's stunning loss to BYU
Jesse Simonton  •  VolReport
Senior Writer
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@JesseReSimonton

Perhaps Webster’s Dictionary should update its definition of inexplicable with an addendum that says, “See: Tennessee Football.”

For the second time already in the 2019 season — and countless times in the last decade — the Vols lost a game they had no business of losing Saturday night, holding a 99.6% win probability inside the final 19 seconds only to fall to BYU in stunning fashion in double-overtime.

Here’s the Good, Bad and the Ugly from the 29-26 loss.

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THE GOOD

Let’s start with Tennessee’s fans.

Despite last weekend’s historic loss to Georgia State, Vol Nation still packed Neyland Stadium with more than 92,000 people Saturday night. There was plenty of BYU blue and even the $13 beers helped, but Big Orange was loud and proud until the final whistle tonight. It was incredible. Their collective resiliency is amazing, only to be rewarded with another soul-crushing loss. This fan base has picked up itself time and again, but Saturday might be the straw that breaks its back. There might not be 50,000 people in the stands next Saturday at noon.

On the field, there was actually some things to be excited about for Tennessee fans. Ty Chandler ran hard and had a 154 yards. Eric Gray was a valuable complement (77 yards) and Jauan Jennings balled out (two touchdowns including a man's catch in overtime) just like he said he would. Young defensive playmakers like Latrell Bumphus (2 sacks), Henry To’oto’o (8 tackles, 2 TFLs and two big 3rd-down stops), Quavaris Crouch (2 hurries, 1 PBU) and Greg Emerson (1 sack) all played well at times. Also, Tennessee’s special teams continues to be the best unit on the team, as Brent Cimaglia drilled all four field goals, Joe Doyle averaged 46 yards per punt and Paxton Brooks is a touchback machine.

Finally, the in-game adjustments weren’t great (more in a moment) but Tennessee’s coaching staff came in with a solid plan Saturday night. Jeremy Pruitt dialed up pressure early and often, leading to four sacks and six tackles for loss. The offensive plan of running outside zone off-tackle produced lots of chunk plays — fourth quarter execution, notwithstanding.

THE BAD

While some guys flashed on offense and the OL rotation was shortened a bit, Jim Chaney’s unit still left far too many points out on the field.

At least three scores.

The Vols have been bad in the red zone the first two weeks of the season and it cost them a pair of potential wins. They didn’t covert a pair of fourth-downs in BYU territory, including Chaney’s bizarre jet-sweep call with wideout Josh Palmer. But much of the offense’s issues Saturday revolved around the poor play of quarterback Jarrett Guarantano.

For the second straight Saturday, the redshirt junior was bad.

Guarantano finished 17-of-28 for 176 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He nearly had two other passes picked off — including his first touchdown pass that was a tip-drill catch by Jauan Jennings.

Guarantano's regression has been legitimately strange. Since getting knocked out of the Missouri game last November, where he played all of nine snaps, he hasn't been the same. He’s been rattled and careless against Vandy, GSU and BYU.

Guarantano didn’t see the field well once again, with Pruitt even lamenting postgame that Tennessee’s quarterback missed a pair of touchdowns just before halftime — exactly what happened in Week 1, too. On his interception, Guarantano didn’t even see Josh Palmer streaking down the sideline, instead throwing into triple coverage in the middle of the field. The Vols aren’t 0-2 because of their quarterback, but they’d probably have a win if Guarantano had even been serviceable the last two weeks.

THE UGLY

How could it not be the 64-yard play near the end of regulation?

With 19 seconds remaining, Tennessee had a 99.6 percent probability of winning the game, only Alontae Taylor botched a coverage with poor technique, allowing Micah Simon to get behind him. Nigel Warrior missed the tackle, and if not for Taylor’s hustle, Simon would’ve scored the game-winning touchdown before overtime.

Pruitt was furious on the sideline, slamming his headset and raking Taylor over the coals in the huddle. It would only get worse though, as the sophomore allowed BYU’s first touchdown in overtime with poor inside leverage on an RPO-slant.

Tennessee’s defense was mostly solid Saturday, but one gigantic breakdown ultimately cost the Vols the game.

They now sit 0-2 for the first time in 31 years. They’re staring at the real possibility of starting the season 1-6.

Marcus Tatum said postgame he’s “been through worse around here.”

I’m not so sure about that, there's still 10 games left in the season.