Tennessee vs. Ole Miss: Game Grades, Analysis for Vols and Rebels

After a stalemate of a first quarter, the Tennessee Volunteers collapsed in several facets of the game and lost to the No. 3 Ole Miss Rebels 34-3 on Saturday.

Tennessee's defense looked tough during the early stages of the game, but a blown coverage by freshman Emmanuel Moseley and a bad interception thrown by Justin Worley allowed the Rebels to jump out to a 14-3 lead at the half.

From there, the Rebels started playing even better, while the Vols completely fell apart on offense, defense and special teams.

The final box score of the game can be found here, courtesy of NCAA.com. 

Here are the grades for the Vols and Rebels based on first-half and full-game performances of both teams.

Tennessee Volunteers Game Grades

Position Units	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	C-	C-
Pass Defense	B	C+
Rushing Offense	F	F
Rush Defense	B	D
Special Teams	B	C-
Coaching	B	C

Passing Offense: Justin Worley didn't have much time to throw for the entire game, but he did manage to move the chains with nice passes to Josh Malone in both the first and second half. However, his three interceptions were all killers for the Vols offense and hurt the team's chance of putting points on the board. Worley has to make better decisions moving forward and stop trying to force it when his receivers aren't open.

Pass Defense: Bo Wallace threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns, but most of that came in the second half. The Vols defense made him fairly ineffective during the first and second quarters, but he really came alive once the Ole Miss offense started clicking.

Rushing Offense: It's hard to get any worse than totaling zero rushing yards. Jalen Hurd was somewhat effective, rushing for 40 yards on 13 attempts. But behind Hurd, there was no one. Justus Pickett and Derrell Scott combined for minus-two yards. That's unacceptable moving forward for the Vols.

Rush Defense: Tennessee held Ole Miss's rushing attack in check for the most of the first half, but the third and fourth quarters were disastrous for the Vols. The Rebels finished with 180 yards on the ground, and three different players, including quarterback Wallace, finished with more than 30 yards rushing. 

Special Teams: A fairly solid Tennessee special teams performance collapsed in the second half. Evan Berry's kickoff-return fumble was disastrous, as were Matt Darr's ineffective punts that netted the Vols small amounts of field position. 

Coaching: The Vols came out ready to stop the Rebels in the first half, but everything started going wrong in the second half. It's tough to fault the coaches too much when it's clear Tennessee's offensive line was ill-equipped to handle a defensive front like the Rebels'. And it's also clear that the offensive line was the primary reason Tennessee lost the game. 

Ole Miss Rebels Game Grades

Position Units	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	C-	B
Pass Defense	B	B+
Rushing Offense	C-	B+
Rush Defense	A+	A+
Special Teams	B	B
Coaching	B	A

Passing Offense: Wallace was extremely limited in the first half, but he came alive in the second half and finished with 199 yards and two touchdowns. The biggest takeaway was that he didn't throw any interceptions. His patience paid off, as he drove the offense down the field after weathering a frustrating first half.

Pass Defense: The Rebels did allow some yards through the air, but snagging three interceptions negated most of Worley's 191 passing yards. Keeping the Vols out of the end zone through the air was also a big win, as Marquez North and Jason Croom are mismatches in the red zone for most opposing defensive backs. 

Rushing Offense: Jaylen Walton led the Rebels with 60 yards and one touchdown on 10 rushes. The Rebels didn't have a banner day rushing the ball, but the offense did enough to extend drives and maintain possession during crucial first-down conversions. 

Rush Defense: The Ole Miss Rebels defensive front was a major mismatch for the Vols on paper, and it showed up on the field, too. Ole Miss prevented Tennessee from doing anything on the ground, and the Vols finished with zero rushing yards. 

Special Teams: Ole Miss' special teams didn't stand out much in this game, which generally means they did their job. The kickoff coverage unit did a nice job of stripping Evan Berry of the ball, which allowed the offense to take over with excellent field position and put some easy points on the board in the second half. 

Coaching: Coach Hugh Freeze and his staff did a good job of adjusting to Tennessee's defensive game plan that worked so well in the first half. In addition, the Rebels defense became even more disruptive as the night went on, completely shutting down the Tennessee offense through the air and on the ground.