ON MY ALLEGED MIND (10-25-21)

SCORE DOESN’T REFLECT MY VIEW: I’m either not the demanding fan I once was or I’m simply beaten down by extended failure because I somehow came away fairly impressed by Tennessee’s moxie in a four-touchdown loss to Alabama. As I said after last week’s close loss to Ole Miss at some point my patience will waiver and the honeymoon period for the current staff will end but today ain’t the day. A miscommunication between quarterback and receiver leading to a devastating turnover and Josh Heupel’s correct decision to go for a near hopeless 4th down conversion late, deep in our own territory, rather than trying to keep the deficit more palatable turned a competitive contest into a laugher. The Vols were as mistake-riddled and incompetent in short-yardage situations than at any point in the season and still had Alabama’s team and faithful sweating late. For right now I’m okay with just that.

SAD FACTS

MADDENING PACE: Heupel’s offense is simultaneously fun to watch and frustrating. It will never be some’s cup of tea who believe it’s unsound, too fast and gimmicky and will never allow Tennessee to play the complimentary football required to win in the SEC. Being a traditional baseball fan exasperated by the game’s new wave approach, I understand and feel your doubt. I just don’t currently share your angst. I think Tennessee Football needs to be different to succeed at the level most of us hope they someday rediscover. Unlike the 90s, I fear the days of Tennessee having equal or superior talent to Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Texas A&M and soon Texas and Oklahoma are likely over. The way for the Vols to overcome roster deficiencies is to be different. Conventional football will not get us where we hope to ascend to. Will Heupel need to tweak the approach in certain situations to better manage the game? No question. But not to the point where many hope to see it return. That approach no longer works here.

3RD DOWN FOR WHAT THE HELL: If you want to summarize the game’s real issue don’t look to the Vols breakneck pace but they’re broken back failure on third down on both sides of the ball. The Vols loathsome inability to convert short-yardage opportunities led to a woeful 2-13 performance converting 3rd-down conversions compared to stopping Alabama on only 5 of their 20 attempts. Good luck getting your defense any rest with either of those results. Matt Dixon has a mind-boggling yardage stat about Bama’s offense’s domination on 3rd down. It’s too mathmetizer for this simpleton’s blog so I’ll let him reveal it in his.

OLE MISS-LIKE? I said from the start if Tennessee could have a similar season to Lane Kiffin’s first at Ole Miss I would be happy as a clam. Well, so far you can throw me in a bowl of New England chowder because it’s playing out. The Vols have been entertaining, engaged and playing above what the current roster situation suggests they should. The good feelings are fleeting and can be destroyed in the last third of the season but snapshot in time the 2021 Vols have exhibited more guts and resolve than the previous five editions combined.

WHO’S NEXT; CJ STROUD? My nephew Andy made a great point that Tennessee has likely now faced the three best QBs in America in Kenny Pickett, Matt Corral and Bryce Young. I realize we lack SEC speed in our back seven but that trio will make most anyone look mortal on third down.

BITS AND PIECES:

-Having Hendon Hooker, Tiyon Evans and Cooper Mays all available for Alabama was a pleasant surprise and bodes well for the remainder of the 2021 season. Not sure I would have had any in the game for the last couple of series but thankfully they survived without further injury

-Hooker had another solid game going 19-28 passing for 282 yds 3 TDs and 1 interception that may or may not have been his fault. He wasn’t as effective running as versus Ole Miss but his 12 carries were probably more than I wanted to risk versus Bama

-Cedric Tillman (7-152; 1 TD) is this team’s Joey Kent. He’s likely not the most physically-gifted of our current receiving corps but a solid tactician that you don’t want to bet against in a battle with a DB. Now about those back-to-back motion penalties……

-Matthew Butler came up big with 9 tackles including 1.5 tfl.

-Jeremy Banks was everywhere again with 12 tackles. The only blot was everywhere included one occurring 6 yards out of bounds

-Kamal Hadden (8) and Brandon Turnage (5) combined for 13 tackles. Had to feel good for a couple of Auburn and Alabama transfers respectively.

-Our special teams were much better last night. Paxton Brooks averaged 44.3 ypp; Chase McGrath was 1-1 on FGs, Toby Wilson kicked it deep all night, our coverages were solid and the Vols blocked a punt. No issues at all.

-Aside from the 3rd-down atrocities the Vols were also penalized 12 times for 98 yards compared to 4 for 30 for the Tide. This had nothing to do with the officiating crew listening to THIS in their earpieces as required by the league but rather the Vols lack of discipline.

NEXT TIME: Blog break for open date

CLOSING COMMENT: 15 losses in a row to Alabama. Didn’t think I would live to see that. I "guess" I’m glad I did.

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