Tennessee vs. Appalachian State: Game Grades, Analysis for the Vols
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No matter how embarrassing the season opener for No. 9-ranked Tennessee almost was Thursday night, you won't hear any apologies for a 20-13 overtime win over a scrappy Appalachian State team.
Not from a relieved Volunteers team that is thrilled to get to watch an ugly game film without a blemish on its record.
"I've never been a part of a frustrating win," Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. "A win is a win. In this profession, you've got 12 opportunities to win. I'm proud of our players. I thought they showed resiliency to win.
"Again, to educate y'all, they're a really good football team. You don't win 17 of 19 games if you're not a good football team. I have the utmost respect for that. Did we do some things that were uncharacteristic? Absolutely. But I can guarantee you this—we will get them corrected."
Sometimes, being lucky is better than being good.
Tennessee wasn't nearly as good as its ranking suggested and will almost certainly drop in the rankings.
But after turning the ball over twice, benefiting from ASU clock mismanagement at the end of regulation and nearly fumbling away a chance to win when quarterback Joshua Dobbs dropped the ball into the end zone only to be recovered by Jalen Hurd for what wound up being the game-winning score, UT will take a fortunate win.
Still, if you like good grades, you should probably turn away.
Pass Offense
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No, the numbers aren't particularly good; Dobbs finished 16 of 29 for 192 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
But you have to give credit where it's due, and the Vols don't beat Appalachian State if Dobbs doesn't throw a perfect downfield strike to junior receiver Josh Malone, who shed a tackle and raced 67 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 13-all.
"That's all we keep asking for; just give us a chance," Malone said. "We're all just hungry to make plays out there. We have a lot of playmakers. We're all seasoned. We're just ready to go."
The Vols also did some nice things with tight end Ethan Wolf, who finished with four catches for 45 yards. Sophomore Preston Williams added five catches of his own before being hobbled with an injury and rendered ineffective.
Dobbs still isn't passing consistently enough to win important games, and his decision to throw the ball up for grabs rather than away at the end of the first half was inexplicable and cost UT three valuable points. That ball was intercepted instead, and UT came away with nothing.
The average per completion was just 6.6 yards, too. That won't get the job done against SEC opponents.
So, a few big plays brings up the grade a bit even though this is a game Dobbs would probably like to forget. After all, he did fumble the ball into the end zone on third down in overtime and was fortunate Hurd landed on it.
It's a Big Orange broken record, but the Vols have to get better throwing the ball downfield. Thankfully for them, they made some big plays when they had to.
Grade: C-
Run Offense
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Where did this come from?
A Tennessee team expected to be dominant running the football wound up with 127 rushing yards and a 3-yard average against a Sun Belt opponent.
Hurd had 110 rushing yards and recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, but he struggled to get going. Alvin Kamara had just six carries, and UT never had any luck getting Dobbs in space and utilizing his wheels.
Beyond that, the biggest concern exiting this game is the play of the offensive line, which was every bit as poor as the Vols were two years ago when Justin Worley ran for his life. Dobbs was under duress all night, and UT couldn't get anything generated on the ground.
If this small, athletic Mountaineers defense did this against UT's offensive front, what is Florida going to do? How about Alabama? This is a major red flag, and the Vols will be exposed as a fraud if this type of performance from the offensive front is the rule rather than an exception.
"We pride ourselves on being a physical football team," Jones said, "and, again, I thought they controlled the lines of scrimmage most of the game."
That was the most unexpected outcome; an area that nobody was worried about entering the season was exposed against a Mountaineers team that shouldn't have been able to have the success it had stopping the Vols.
When you've got such high expectations and you perform like the Vols did Thursday, it's worrisome. It's hard to believe UT failed despite having a 100-yard rusher, but this is a major concern moving forward.
Grade: F
Pass Defense
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There was at least one shining area for Tennessee's shaky football team on Thursday, and that was the play of the secondary.
Despite giving up a 33-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Cox, the Vols were otherwise brilliant in defending the pass, keeping ASU quarterback Taylor Lamb to just 108 passing yards.
There were several highlight-reel plays, including a diving interception by Cameron Sutton that looked like a play he'll make in the NFL next year. After muffing a punt that led to a touchdown early in the game, Sutton redeemed himself.
Sophomore Micah Abernathy came seemingly out of nowhere this preseason to pluck a starting spot in the secondary, and he showed everybody why against the Mountaineers. Not only did he make several big-time hits, he also batted away the pass in the end zone that could have tied the game in overtime.
Instead, his play ended it and led to jubilation and relief from the Tennessee sideline.
"Whatever his role is, he's going to do it for his maximum potential," Sutton said of Abernathy. "He made a lot of plays tonight."
There was nothing open for Lamb downfield through the entire game, and that's because the Vols were all over the place on the back end, led by Sutton, who provided a blanket of coverage play after play.
On the only big passing play App State mustered, Cox somehow got matched up in man coverage against defensive end Corey Vereen. So, take away that play, and UT allowed just 75 yards—that's solid against anybody.
Grade: A-
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Run Defense
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Appalachian State was expected to field a veteran offensive line that was going to pave plenty of paths for Cox in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Vols hope they wind up being one of the best units in the country.
After an offseason filled with defensive coordinator Bob Shoop praising the depth and talent across his defensive front, that group was dominated by the Mountaineers. Derek Barnett had a nice game, and UT made a few spot plays, but large gaps were created by App's front too many times.
"Our offensive line is our anchor," Lamb said. "That's where it starts for us."
Those guys led the way for another 100-yard game from Cox, and they made several big plays throughout the game. An option attack puzzled UT at times as multiple jet-sweep passes to speedster Deltron Hopkins yielded big gains.
The Vols were dealt a critical blow in the first quarter when leader Jalen Reeves-Maybin was ejected from the game for a questionable targeting call on punt defense on a play that Jones said was a "50-50" decision.
After noting that they reviewed and upheld the play, Jones told the media of the call afterward: "I trust that [the officials will] get it right. They better have. That’s kind of where I'm at."
JRM was replaced by junior Cortez McDowell, who tied for the team lead in tackles with Darrin Kirkland Jr. Each had nine, and Thursday was McDowell's first extensive defensive action of his career. Abernathy said his teammate "played his balls off."
Despite some plays here and there, the run defense was far too sporadic.
Grade: C
Special Teams
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Thankfully for the Vols, Aaron Medley drilled his only two field-goal attempts in a game where they needed every point they could get.
And Trevor Daniel is still good at punting, too, as his 49.2 average over six punts would indicate.
Beyond that, though, it was hard finding many bright spots in special teams. For every big play, there was a bad one.
"On special teams, we have to do a much better job and also youngsters on that group, I think that they found out the speed of the game," Jones said. "It’s a little bit different."
Kick returner Evan Berry began the second half with an electrifying 41-yard return that should have kick-started UT, but the Vols offense stalled.
Early in the game, the usually sure-handed Sutton botched a punt, losing the ball in what led to Appalachian State's first touchdown in a momentum-grabbing play. Also, the Vols allowed a 45-yard punt return following a booming punt that set up a scoring opportunity.
Tennessee's defense held firm that time, but it didn't keep the Vols special teams from putting Shoop's group in a major predicament.
Jones mentioned several times about the Vols making "uncharacteristic" mistakes Thursday night, such as turning the ball over. But some of the biggest blunders that puzzle everybody came from a special teams unit that was arguably the nation's best a season ago.
They made one play that cost UT in a major way, and another one would have without a crucial defensive stand.
Grade: C
Coaching
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Until Satterfield's clock-management blunder at the end of regulation, where he didn't use a timeout and the clock expired, the Mountaineers outcoached Tennessee in every facet of the game.
Shoop was lauded as one of the best assistant hires in the country, but all of App State's misdirection and option plays confused the Vols, and he didn't have enough answers. Too often, there were big holes or players getting sucked inside while Mountaineers gained big yards on the perimeter.
Offensively, it was the same old story for coordinator Mike DeBord, whose predictable, run-oriented play calling was so vanilla that everybody in the stadium normally knew what was coming. When he finally opened up the playbook with a first-down pass, UT turned it into a 67-yard score.
That play stunned everybody in the stadium, so you know it surprised the Mountaineers, who were caught in man coverage.
All those promises to get Kamara the ball more were unfulfilled for a night at least, and this was the first time in Dobbs' career he was held to negative rushing yardage.
You can't come out as flat as UT did against the Mountaineers and not second-guess decisions made by the coaching staff. This team wasn't ready to play, and they should have lost.
The Vols are extremely fortunate to be 1-0 coming out of this game, and while App State isn't a pushover, it shouldn't have taken UT to the brink.
Until Jones leads Tennessee to convincing wins over the teams the Vols are supposed to beat and unless he beats Florida or Alabama, there will be doubts about the game-day decisions of himself and his staff.
Thursday did nothing to quell those questions.
Grade: F
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
