Upon Further Review: When heartburn turns to happiness

JACKSONVILLE — Tennessee, from coaches to the players and especially the fans, have experienced enough heartburn over the last 10 years that the university could fund a drug company.

Has one guy finally found the right remedy, though?

“This decade is gonna be the decade of the Vols,” head coach Jeremy Pruitt told his team in the wee-hours of Friday morning after Tennessee stunned Indiana to win the Gator Bowl.

“You got me?! And the first one was a hell of a game. I can tell you that, and you found a damn way!”

The Vols are 1-0 in 2020, but Thursday’s four-hour contest (officially) putting a pin in the 2019 season was much like the last four months on Rocky Top: weird, erratic, agonizing and euphoric.

Name your adjective, really.

“You really don’t find out a whole lot about yourself or a team until you face adversity. And we’ve faced a lot this year,” Pruitt said.

“A lot of it was self-inflicted, but still, it is what it is.”

These Vols are full of imperfections. They’ve mastered the art of shooting themselves in the foot, only in the last eight weeks, the Yosemite Vols have finally figured out how to point the gun in the right direction.

Tennessee won eight games in 2019, finishing the season on a six-game streak — second-most in the nation after LSU and Clemson, one of which will lose in 10 days.

The Vols were the better team on Thursday, but the scoreboard almost didn’t reflect it after another disjoined performance.

Some guys had career nights, but those performances were almost overshadowed by red zone woes, inexcusable penalties, Jarrett Guarantano turning into a pumpkin again and some odd coaching decisions.

And yet, after trailing 22-9 with just over five minutes remaining, the Gator Bowl’s second half script unfolded much like Tennessee’s season — the Vols were down (a 1-4 start) but never totally out (six straight wins, 8-5 finish), rallying for a crazy win.

Tennessee experienced every bit of their usual heartburn again in Jacksonville last night, but for this season at least, Pruitt’s concoction of orange antacid with a side of steam proved to be the perfect elixir to create some genuine happiness for GBO Nation.

“We all bought in and we said we're going to put on more steam when we face adversity, we're going to put on more steam and that's exactly what we did this year,” tailback Eric Gray said.

“It’s just a great way to finish.”

Each week, I’ll rewatch the tape so you don’t have to. Here’s a skinny dozen of notes, analysis and final thoughts…

1. Rapid report card grades!

QB: D

RB: A

WR: B

TE: C

OL: B

DL: B+

LB: B+

DB: A

ST: A

2. Five guys who I thought played well

A. CB Shawn Shamburger

B. RB Eric Gray

C. CB Alontae Taylor

D. LB Henry To’oto’o

E. OLB Kivon Bennett

Gray took home MVP honors with his 121 total yards, the go-ahead touchdown and the onside kick recovery, but truthfully, I thought either To’oto’o or Shamburger was Tennessee’s best player Thursday night.

Tennessee’s freshman tailback was partially responsible on Guarantano’s first interception, running the wrong way on the errant screen pass.

Still, Gray’s performance, complete with his dead-leg move, sudden burst and cut-back vision, capped back-to-back strong games for the freshman that should propel him into a starring role in 2020.

But outside of Gray (and perhaps Trey Smith, who delivered a few of his patented brutal blows including a great seal block on Gray’s score), the standouts for Tennessee on last night were on defense.

That was the most complete game I’ve seen To’oto’o (eight tackles, 1 PBU, a QB hurry) play all year, same for Shamburger (one sack, one INT). His sack was well-executed, while his interception was just a great individual play to undercut the route.

Alontae Taylor was fantastic, too, and in tandem with Shamburger, helped totally shutdown Indiana star receiver Whop Philyor, who had one measly catch for one yard on four targets and actually finished the game with -10 yards on four total touches.

That’s impressive scheming.

Taylor didn’t allow a completion on three targets, per review, and put IU behind the sticks with his close-line sack late in the fourth quarter.

Bennett showed up large, too, blowing up Philyor in the backfield for a 7-yard loss on a reverse in the fourth quarter. The junior outside linebacker finished with a pair of TFLs and four quarterback hurries.

3. Five guys (units or coaches) who’d like Saturday back

A. QB Jarrett Guarantano

B. QB Brian Maurer

C. Tennessee’s freshmen OTs

D. Jim Chaney

E. The DL, which otherwise played well, that kept jumping offsides

Guarantano was mystifyingly inconsistent again Thursday, throwing high, late or short of the sicks on third down. Again, give Guarantano credit for rallying late and gaining some confidence with some easy completions to Gray on the team’s first touchdown drive, but filling up the quarterback bingo card is only going to lead to more questions — and uncertainty — heading into 2020.

Guarantano missed, by my count, at least four touchdown throws against IU last night.

He also had another three or four complete misfires (see: the pick-six). He essentially sacked himself once and threw behind the LOS on a 3rd-and-8 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Even one of his early completions looked like a dangerous throw. I thought, both live and on replay, he was targeting Josh Palmer on a deep corner only for Marquez Callaway to come out of nowhere to big-boy IU with a tough catch.

Guarantano had the gorgeous deep ball to Ramel Keyton in the first quarter, but the redshirt junior reverted to some of his old bad habits in the red zone, guessing instead of reading his keys.

But ultimately, his benching didn’t last long because Maurer should’ve tossed two interceptions on three of his throws.

“Nobody is entitled to anything around here,” Pruitt said.

“We have to earn it, earn every bit of it. Jarrett knows it, Brian knows it, everybody that’s associated with our program knows it. It’s a performance-based industry, and we’ve got to perform. Jarrett performed pretty good when he came back in there, you know, and we needed him to.”

This is not the time for a discussion about Tennessee’s quarterback room this spring, but needless to say, there will be many debates about the future of the position heading into 2020.

As for Chaney, his early gameplan did Guarantano little favors. Yes, there were missed throws, but against Indiana’s 2-high look, the Vols waited until the fourth quarter to really get the tailbacks involved in the passing game. Many times, the Hoosiers were double-teaming Marquez Callaway, Josh Palmer, and later, Jauan Jennings on the perimeter, but the Vols almost didn’t adjust until it was too late.

Obviously, the four passes down in the red zone inside the 6-yard line was silly in the moment as well — but it looked even worse later on when Quavaris Crouch and Eric Gray could’ve hit their head on the goal posts running right up the middle in the second half.

However, due to a lack of execution in the red zone early, the Vols kept IU in the game by clinging to a three-point lead at halftime rather than being up by two touchdowns (or more).

I should add, the Vols struggled to run the ball for a full quarter after tight end Austin Pope went out with an injury. Their steady diet of inside zone runs went nowhere with Pope out, as IU starting blitzing more, shooting gaps and disrupting UT’s early rhythm. Tennessee eventually figured it out though, with Chaney’s inside zone (especially to the weak side) accounting for some big plays late, including Gray’s touchdown.

As for the four offsides penalties, there’s not really a good explanation for those. Certainly not from the players postgame. They guessed the snap count wrong four times, giving IU a chance to convert a couple third downs. The penalties were particularly frustrating for Jeremy Pruitt & Co., because they were constantly confusing Peyton Ramsey on third down. IU finished just 4 of 13 on third down — two of which were aided by offside penalties.

The Hoosiers had the jitters will all of UT’s pre-snap movement and blitz packages, and ironically, Tennessee didn’t really send a ton of pressure Thursday.

Most of the time, the Vols still dropped seven into coverage but they did an excellent job disguising where the rushers were coming from.

Here's multiple examples of Tennessee teasing lots of pressure but actually jus sending four or five rushers...

4. More on a stifling defense effort…

Tennessee fans were blowing a gasket — at least on Volquest and Twitter — over all of Ramsey’s scrambles, but most of the runs were on busted plays Thursday night. It was school-yard stuff.

The Vols were blanketing IU’s receivers down the field and the front-four (or seven with some of the blitzes) were getting pressure — 23 hurries, per PFF, and five sacks — but Tennessee couldn’t quite finish the play every time.

Ramsey was slippery, slyly escaping the pocket by running for his life for 5-6 yard gains. Pruitt certainly would’ve wanted his guys to maintain their rush lanes better at times, but the plan for Ramsey was sound.

Folks were crying about spying Ramsey, and Pruitt dialed up that at times, too. They Vols simply didn’t contain the quarterback very well at times. It was that simple.

I will point out, Pruitt (and Derrick Ansley) absolutely got outfoxed on the one long QB draw, and Bituli got sucked inside on the other designed run, but otherwise, IU’s offense had little room to operate.

The Vols totally bottled up Sampson James (2.3 yards per carry) and shutdown Philyor and Ty Fryfogle (outside of one bust by Jaylen McCollough).

The Hoosiers had all of 69 yards at halftime. They didn’t cross midfield themselves until the third quarter.

Tennessee’s defense has some dudes to replace (Nigel Warrior and Darrell Taylor both were solid in their final games) but the future is bright.

5. Tennessee’s special teams were just that Thursday.

When you rally for two scores in the last five minutes of the game — doing something 471 other FBS teams had failed at previously — much of what happens beforehand gets overshadowed.

It shouldn’t.

I detailed the Paxton Special in a instant-oral history last night, but the brilliant onside kick was not Tennessee’s only really good special teams play in the victory.

Ty Chandler ripped off a 50-yard kickoff return, nearly breaking it loose for a touchdown. It was nullified by the pick-six but briefly gave a dead offense great field position.

The Vols held Philyor to -4 yards on punt returns. Brent Cimaglia was perfect on field goals (3 for 3), including nailing a 43-yarder with a low snap. Brooks did shank a punt, but he more than made up for it with his squib kick.

6. Tennessee’s offensive line situation will be another interesting storyline this spring.

With a month to prepare for IU, the Vols settled on a five-man group that did not include former 5-star freshman Darnell Wright.

K’Rojhn Calbert earned the nod at right tackle Thursday, and while Wright played some, Calbert was clearly more productive and had a 3:1 snap count advantage.

Brandon Kennedy, who revealed postgame that he received his sixth year of eligibility, gutted it out just 27 days removed from knee surgery, allowing Jerome Carvin to remain at right guard.

That didn’t last long though, as Carvin injured his leg and was spelled by Riley Locklear, who played 56 snaps to Carvin’s 17.

With Trey Smith likely off to the NFL, how the OL shakes out this spring will be interesting. The Vols need Wright and Wanya Morris to make a leap, but I also expect guys like Calbert and freshman Chris Akporoghene, who redshirted this season, to push for playing time.

7. How not to manage the “middle eight.”

Brent Hubbs wrote pregame about the importance of the middle eight minutes of the game Thursday — a situation the Vols have been very successful at managing throughout the season.

Not Thursday, though.

Tennessee was spectacularly bad in the final four minutes of the second quarter and first four minutes of the third quarter.

“We probably messed it up about as bad as you can for the middle eight of the game,” Pruitt said.

To whit:

- The Vols took over the ball at their own 37-yard line with 3:44 remaining before halftime, up 6-0.

- They gained eight yards on the first two plays, only to screw up a screen and turn the ball over.

- IU converted a 4th-and-1 and 3rd-and-8, only to bail out Tennessee with some terrible clock management (more on that subplot in a moment).

- Coming out of halftime, Tennessee allows IU to go 70 yards on 12 plays, including converting a 2nd-and-20 and two short third downs.

- Two plays later, the Hoosiers score again on Guarantano’s pick-six.

“There's 17 points that didn't go to the good guys in that stretch there. But our kids kind of kept on fighting.”

That they did.

8. Neither coach will go home bragging about their clock management last night.

IU inexplicably wasted an opportunity to score a touchdown just before halftime by not calling a TO after a first down inside the 10-yard line.

Pruitt tried to return the favor late in the fourth quarter, though. With the playclock winding down and the team not totally set, IU looked like it might have to use its final TO before attempting a 52-yard kick.

Instead, Pruitt raced down the sidelines and called a timeout to try and ice the kicker.

Obviously it worked with the miss, but the result does not excuse the decision by allowing IU to save it's lone timeout.

9. Need an inch, steal a yard?

This didn’t comeback to bite Tennessee, but it’s still hilarious.

10. The most underrated sequence in the comeback.

While the onside kick, Guaranntao's (umpteenth) redemption and the final stop late were all keys to Tennessee's rally Thursday night, none it might've been possible without the defense getting a quick 3-and-out midway through the fourth quarter.

Pruitt had reinserted Guarantano back into the game, but the Vols went nowhere on three plays. IU, up 22-9 at the 8:50 mark, had a chance to put away Tennessee.

Instead, the Vols bowed up, with Bennett making the key play with a tackle for loss on a run.

The Hoosiers punted after just a 95 second drive and never held momentum the rest of the game. The Vols don't become the first team in 472 tries to comeback down 13 so late without that stop minutes earlier.

11. The last word: Take it away, Juice Man.