Tennessee and Butch Jones Still Aren't Ready to Compete in the SEC

The record will show that Tennessee’s fate was sealed against Florida Saturday when Aaron Medley’s 55-yard, last-ditch field-goal attempt sailed just wide right.

In reality, the Volunteers lost the game long before that, with poor game management, poor clock management and poor defense.

Put it together, and Florida 28, Tennessee 27 shows that Butch Jones and the Vols simply aren’t ready to compete as serious SEC contenders yet.

One year after what looked like a breakthrough 7-6 campaign and the program’s first bowl bid since 2010, which the Vols accomplished with a young, talented roster, Tennessee was expected to compete for an SEC East title.

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Instead, as we roll into October, the Volunteers are 2-2 with a pair of gut-wrenching defeats to Florida and Oklahoma. Next month will bring difficult games with Top 15 teams Georgia and Alabama, which means the Rocky Top renaissance might have to wait until 2016.

Saturday was a shining example of why Tennessee isn’t ready to win yet. Early in the fourth quarter, Jalen Hurd’s 10-yard touchdown run capped an impressive 16-play, 70-yard drive, giving the Vols a 26-14 lead with 10:19 remaining. Jones had nothing to lose going for two points and a two-touchdown lead. Instead, he chose to have Medley kick an extra point.

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Regardless, the Vols defense was in perfect position to put the game away against a Florida offense that was struggling to move the ball with quarterback Will Grier. Instead, the Vols allowed Grier to put together a gritty 17-play, 86-yard drive that cut the score to six points, and then they couldn’t melt the clock on offense.

The final insult? On 4th-and-14 from the Florida 37, Tennessee couldn’t stop Grier from finding Antonio Callaway for a 63-yard catch-and-run touchdown for a stunning 28-27 lead.

Jones’ poor clock management made the Vols’ final chance more difficult than it needed to be.

With Tennessee driving inside the Florida 40 with less than 30 seconds to play, quarterback Josh Dobbs fumbled the ball out of bounds, but the clock kept ticking, unbeknown to the UT sideline. Tennessee was forced to scramble to kill the clock but was called for an illegal substitution penalty with three seconds left.

Only a timeout saved the Vols from a 10-second runoff and a truly ugly ending, but it still made Medley’s job exceedingly difficult.

The loss mirrored UT’s 31-24 double-overtime loss to Oklahoma, which saw the Vols blow a 17-0 third-quarter lead.

Entering this season, Jones was 12-1 as Tennessee's coach when leading at halftime, per B/R Insights, which makes those defeats even tougher to stomach.

The Vols remain young: Tennessee had only three senior starters on its projected starting lineup this week, although the loss of senior defensive end Curt Maggitt (sidelined with a hip injury) hurts the defense.

But at some point, Jones and his staff must turn that potential into victories. Blowing an opportunity for the program’s first win over Florida since 2004 stings, too.

Tennessee fans will need patience in Jones’ third season. But for those who expected the Vols to compete for an SEC East championship this fall, that surely won’t sit well right about now.