Tennessee Football: 5 Key Moments That Turned the Volunteers' 2015 Season
There are so many important moments throughout the life cycle of a college football season, and when you have a year like the topsy-turvy year the Tennessee Volunteers just experienced, there are almost too many to count.
A couple of days ago, we examined the top plays of the year, so that was overwhelmingly positive. So, plays such as Josh Smith's fourth-down catch against Georgia and Malik Foreman's forced fumble of South Carolina tight end Jerell Adams certainly belong in both places.
But for the sake of fresh ideas and writing about different subjects, let's take a look at five more moments—both positive and negative—that helped define UT's season.
Over the course of their 8-4 campaign that helped put the Vols back in the rankings and, more importantly, on the college football map, there were many season-signature plays. But with just a few more swings in the orange direction, the Vols' season could have been special.
Maybe, it should have been.
Regardless of playing the what-could-have-been game, 2015 represented the best season Tennessee has enjoyed since 2007. That's a long time wandering in the wilderness, so even though it could have been better, it's important to look at the year as a move toward the positive direction.
Here are five moments (other than the five plays linked above) that were massive in telling the story of Tennessee's rebound season. Please put any more you may have in the comments.
Baker Mayfield's Fourth Quarter
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It isn't really a "moment" as much as it is a haunting, skipping record, playing the same, scrambling horrors over and over in Tennessee's football nightmares.
Before Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield's All-American season unfolded, he had a second half for the ages against the Vols. Though he was constantly and consistently within the grasp of Tennessee's best defenders, such as Derek Barnett and Owen Williams, he wriggled free.
Time and time and time again.
Mayfield ran around in the backfield, buying time and making plays. Sometimes, he enabled his receivers to get open. Others, he got the ball off, and flags flew—such as the inexplicable pass interference call on Foreman on an uncatchable ball out of the back of the end zone.
Regardless of the circumstances, Mayfield put the Sooners on his back. He wound up carrying them to a 31-24 double-overtime victory after being in a 17-3 hole to start the final quarter.
"I've always been able to scramble out when I need to, but at times, I need to stay in the pocket," Mayfield told NewsOK.com's Jason Kersey. "I know I can get out of the pocket and scramble, but I need to take advantage of being in there and the protection."
Throughout UT's down cycle the past half-decade, quarterbacks who aren't the most mobile displayed the elusiveness to make the Vols look silly. Mayfield wound up being legit. He willed the Sooners to a win by making play after gargantuan play.
The undersized quarterback was the insurmountable wall standing between the Vols and what would have been a huge, early-season, out-of-conference victory. Instead, Oklahoma is playing in the College Football Playoff.
John Kelly's Fumble Recovery Against Georgia
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The 39-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass to Josh Smith against Georgia that we covered in the season's top plays was undoubtedly monumental. But that play likely winds up not meaning anything without what came next.
Sony Michel fielded the ensuing kickoff but hit a clot of Tennessee defenders around the 25-yard line. The Vols were strong all year in all facets of the kicking game, and this day was no different. Sophomore Jakob Johnson pried the ball lose from Michel, and freshman running back John Kelly recovered.
"It hurts bad," Michel told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Michael Cunningham. "My team fought hard. We made a lot of mistakes, and I feel like I made the biggest mistake that turned this game around. I kind of want to take this game on myself. I felt like we lost this game because of me."
Even so, the Vols still had to take the ball and score. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs completed a 23-yard pass to Josh Malone to set Tennessee up at the 2-yard line, and two plays later, he hit Alvin Kamara for a two-yard touchdown.
That fumble essentially was parlayed into a momentum-securing touchdown that helped trim the lead to 24-17 at halftime with the Vols getting the ball back to start the second half. They capitalized with a touchdown there, too, and that's the concoction for a comeback win that changed around the season.
That game had tons of crazy, year-flipping plays, such as the Reggie Davis drop, Brian Randolph's batted ball at the end of the game and Tennessee's 28-point turnaround after falling down 24-3.
But that fumble may have been the biggest.
"(This) was a big character win for our football team," Kamara said after the game. "We got down early, but everybody stayed locked in and focused. We were able to pull out a win tonight. We definitely needed to win."
It saved the season.
Hall's True-Freshman Moment
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So many things stand out in that Alabama game, which was almost one of the biggest victories in program history.
There was Calvin Ridley's catch to help Crimson Tide quarterback Jacob Coker's game-winning drive along in what amounted to some underappreciated heroics from the UA senior. Of course, you had the frustrating missed (long) field goals by Tennessee sophomore place-kicker Aaron Medley.
But the bottom line is Tennessee still had an opportunity to win the game with some final-drive heroics of its own. Instead, the Vols fell flat.
After a quick first down following Alabama taking a 19-14 lead with a little more than two minutes remaining in the game, the Vols made three costly mistakes.
First was an illegal procedure penalty. Then, Jonathan Allen shot a gap, broke through and sacked Dobbs for a nine-yard loss to put the Vols in a 2nd-and-24 hole with time ticking away. That's when freshman right tackle Chance Hall had his first-year forgettable moment.
Though he'd held his own for much of that game as well as the week before against Georgia, Ryan Anderson straight-up beat Hall on the next play. The Tide junior sped around the outer edge and sacked Dobbs, stripping the ball free (two-minute mark).
Alabama recovered and ran out the clock for the win.
For all the positive things Tennessee did in that game, the outcome was tough to stomach because of all the chances the Vols had against one of the top teams in the nation—as well as a hated rival.
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Post-Arkansas Loss Players-Only Meeting
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When you think about the biggest moments, most of them will be on the field in front of the watchful eye of coaches, thousands of fans in the stands and millions more watching on television.
But one of UT's biggest team turnarounds came behind closed doors.
In street clothes.
On a Sunday afternoon.
With no coaches around.
It was following a heartbreaking loss at home to Arkansas to put Tennessee at 2-3 on the young season. With Georgia and Alabama waiting in the wings and after the Vols had blown three 13-plus-point advantages in their three losses, there had been finger-pointing and frustration.
The leaders called a players-only meeting where they brought up accountability, challenged youngsters and forged a season.
"Our hunger grows more week in and week out," junior cornerback Cameron Sutton said after the Vanderbilt win. "Adversity's going to hit a team, and it hit us early. But we put it upon the leaders of this team to step up, embrace it and make a change. We did that and came together.
"I remember we had a Sunday meeting, just the leaders trying to get it turned around, just preaching to younger guys and the rest of the team to have our backs the same way we have theirs. We're in a good position right now and finished the way we wanted to finish."
After that Arkansas game, the only loss UT had was a five-point setback at Alabama. The Vols dominated weaker opponents, took care of business and won the most games on the field since 2007.
The origins of that turnaround can be traced back to that day in the Anderson Training Center. It may be the day that turned around the program.
Florida's 4th-and-14 Conversion
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Sorry Vols, we have to bring it up.
Though coach Butch Jones' inexplicable decision to kick an extra point up 26-14 and make it a 13-point advantage wound up biting him in the big toe, we're never having this conversation if Tennessee hadn't given up a play that Florida fans will still be talking about in Gainesville 50 years from now.
Even if you give up a long play and a first down, just don't give up six points. Instead, Tennessee lost in the most Tennessee way imaginable against the Gators.
With 1:39 left in the game and Florida trailing 27-21, Will Grier dropped back from his 37-yard line. Freshman receiver Antonio Callaway found a soft spot in UT's extra-soft zone. After catching the ball, he took a quick turn toward the sideline, and three Vols took poor angles on him.
A small block sprung Callaway, who sprinted 63 yards for a mouth-dropping touchdown that helped give the Gators their 11th consecutive win in the series. The Vols missed a long field goal as time expired.
"They played their hearts out for the Gators, and all the Gator fans, and all the Gators that played before them," first-year coach Jim McElwain told the Orlando Sentinel's Edgar Thompson. "I think, down deep, you just don't lose to Tennessee, and they didn't. I don't know if we deserved it or not, but I sure like it this way than the other way. It was pretty cool, wasn't it?"
Not for the Vols, it wasn't.
That Callaway catch-and-run was the fifth time in five tries that UF converted on fourth downs in the game, and none was bigger.
There's really no way to describe how poorly the Vols defended on this play. You have to watch it to believe it yourself.
For all you UT fans: LOOK AWAY! It will rob you of all the happy-go-lucky, everything-is-awesome feelings that the final part of the season gave you.
Here's all you need to know about the importance of that play: Had Tennessee stopped the Gators on that play, the Vols would have been in Atlanta this past weekend in an epic rematch with Alabama. If it weren't for the Hog-and-Ladder play by Arkansas, UT would have been playing Ole Miss in the Georgia Dome.
It's moments like this one that make college football the best drama on television. Maybe for the Vols, more gut-twisting plays such as this one will go in the other direction before long.
All stats gathered from UTSports.com unless otherwise noted. All quotes and information gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
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