Upon Further Review: When it rains, it pours
It's a truly bizarre time on Rocky Top.
Tennessee football reached peak Wes Anderson film ridiculousness this week, as the following took place in the last seven days...
* Butch Jones was finally fired but caused one final (albeit overblown) stir on his way out.
* During his only public comments on Tennessee's coaching search, John Currie delivered a devilish Grinch-esque smirk when asked about Jon Gruden, spawning a million memes.
* #GRUMORS reached Red Alert status Thursday as Tennessee fans obsessively tracked multiple planes departing from Tampa, Fla.
* During pregame warmups Saturday evening, a goal post in Neyland Stadium was bent sideways due to 30 mph winds.
* Moments before kickoff, a local BBQ chain set off a frenzy, alleging that Gruden was in town enjoying ribs with Peyton Manning ... only to walk back the report on a case of mistaken identity.
* At halftime, the lights literally went out on Tennessee, as a monsoon sat on top of Neyland Stadium ... and game proceeded as if nothing unusual was even taking place.
The fact that Tennessee ultimately lost a waterlogged game 30-10 against No. 20 LSU almost seemed like an afterthought in the end.
A shorthanded bunch gave it a good effort against the Tigers, but the Vols didn't have the horses to keep up, falling to 0-7 in the SEC and their bowl hopes dashed.
Considering all the twists and turns from this 2017 season, perhaps its best for everyone involved if it ends quietly next weekend.
THE STARTING 11
A skinny dozen of quick-hitters and final thoughts…
1. Tennessee has been decimated by injuries again this season, and the Vols fielded motliest crew of motley crews on Saturday night. They started the game with around 55 available scholarship players. They played with just five scholarship offensive lineman — four of whom were freshman. Senior Jashon Robertson eventually left the game with an injury, forcing walk-on Joe Keeler into the lineup.
The Vols had a single scholarship quarterback available, and even Jarrett Guarantano was still limited with an ankle injury. A completely unknown walk-on from the track team caught a 10-yard end around.
It would’ve taken a Herculean effort for this team to win anyways on Saturday night, but Poseidon’s monsoon certainly didn’t help matters.
2. When Malik Elion had his nice gain, everyone in the press box said, “Who?”
A No. 34 on offense wasn’t on Tennessee's flip chart, and afterward, even Elion’s teammates weren’t exactly sure just how long the track and field walk-on had been around the team.
“He’s fast. That’s pretty much what we got from him there,” tight end Ethan Wolf said after the game. “He was our scout team kick returner and just kept running through our kickoff team back and forth, and the coaches just said, ‘We’ve got to get this kid the ball sometime.’”
Ironically, Elion’s 10-yard reception is more yards receiving than Tyler Byrd has had in two months.
3. Jarrett Guarantano finished with four completions over 20 yards Saturday, including his first-career touchdown as a starter.
Guarantano had only six such completions of more than 20 yards all season entering the night. He was bailed out on a couple heaves Saturday, but the redshirt freshman gutted through a tough game on a gimpy ankle with no real backup.
Since Guarantano wasn’t a legitmate threat in the run game though (he couldn’t honestly carry out fakes, keep the ball on the read option), LSU simply keyed on John Kelly.
4. John Kelly finished with 57 yards rushing on 25 carries. He had 14 rushes that went for fewer than two yards. Kelly is grinding hard, but behind Tennessee’s makeshift offensive line, he’s essentially working in a phone booth with a parking brake attached to his legs. He has no room to operate.
5. Tennessee was down 20 points at the start of the fourth quarter, and any fleeting hopes of a comeback went out the window with another awful red zone possession. It had it all, too — poor playcalling, awful communication, confusion, a penalty, a wasted timeout, and in the end, no touchdown. Overall, the Brady Hoke takes over the headset experiment went ok Saturday night (he mostly coached like he had nothing to lose), but the red zone possession was once again an indicator of poor coaching that’s been evident all season.
6. Despite its best efforts, Tennessee still hasn’t completed a wideout double pass this year. Points for still trying.
7. Tennessee’s special teams were a comedy of errors Saturday. Callaway muffed two punts, Aaron Medley hit a sidewinding sand wedge on a 46-yard field goal and the kickoff return to start the second half — totally not Tennessee’s fault but still a farce.
8. Defensively, Bob Shoop was dialed into LSU’s gameplan early. All of Matt Canada’s window-dressing didn’t work initially because the Vols maintained eye discipline and won at the line of scrimmage. LSU had just 17 yards in the first quarter.
Tennessee didn’t allow a first down until Darrel Williams’ touchdown in the second quarter.
9. Williams’ score was a sign of things to come though, as all the motions, sweeps and actions eventually confused Tennessee’s defenders as the game wore on. The Vols did a poor job setting the edge at times, and Quart’e Sapp just guessed wrong on Danny Etling’s 13-yard touchdown run.
10. The Vols allowed 200 yards rushing, but the defensive line actually played fairly well. Kendal Vickers had eight tackles and Shy Tuttle finished with a season-high five stops. Tennessee biggest issue Saturday night was when the defensive line had a breakdown, the linebackers and safeties were no where to be found to clean up the mess.
Sapp, Colton Jumper and Micah Abernathy all missed tackles near the LOS that turned into big gains. Meanwhile, Tennessee’s cornerbacks continued to struggle to shed blocks on the edge.
11. Stat of the week? Tennessee has allowed less than 85 yards passing in three SEC games this season (Georgia, Kentucky, LSU). They Vols are 0-3 in such games and have been outscored 100-36.