Earlier this week, all three of the GRT front page authors predicted a one-point victory for the Tennessee Volunteers over the Florida Gators this week. That wasn’t nearly as amusing/humorous/appalling on Thursday as it might seem right now. After all, there were some very good reasons for thinking such things, none of which matter now.
If you don’t care about the Vols, you don’t care what happened this evening, and if you do care about them, you don’t need me to remind you.
But the short version is this: The Vols didn’t just shoot themselves in the foot. They managed to hit both feet, along with every extremity and most vital internal organs. The self-inflicted wounds were catastrophic from every angle. Too many, too often, in the wrong part of the field, at the wrong time, and against the wrong team. It was a veritable box of chocolates, every one a reeking surprise.
It’s too bad, too, because all of that will rightfully obscure some facts that suggest this should have indeed been a one-point game:
- Tennessee had 18 first downs to Florida’s 14;
- The Vols were 8-17 on third down and held the Gators to 3-11;
- The two teams were only 24 total yards apart;
- Florida actually committed more penalties than did the Vols.
The two teams were even in almost everything that mattered. But all of that was completely undone by Tennessee’s six (6!) turnovers and a first-half drive chart that featured three fumbles, an interception, a turnover on downs, and a safety just for good measure. The Vols didn’t punt until the 8:26 mark of the third quarter but were at that time still losing 33-6.
The hardest truth confronting the team right now is that those turnovers may not be mere flukes that will suddenly appear against the Gators and disappear when those ghosts are gone.
I fear far too many of the turnover problems are directly attributable to the offensive line’s struggles. The first fumble occurred when Jarrett Guarantano was blindsided while attempting to pass. The interception happened on the next drive, with the team backed up and the Gators’ defense bearing down. Another fumble was caused by a low snap. The safety, of course, was the o-line simply getting pushed back into the end zone, leaving nowhere for the running back to go but down to the turf.
It’s tempting to conclude that the line is failing on every play, but it’s really not. At times, they can give the quarterback enough protection to take shots far downfield. At times, they can block well enough to spring a running back for a big gain.
But far too often, they block poorly enough to get their quarterback injured or their running back tackled behind the spot where he started, and when the defense is living in your space and your head, bad things happen.
That’s what happened tonight. Whether there’s anything that can be done about it this season, well, that’s a very good question.