Here are my grades for Tennessee’s performance against Oklahoma in Saturday night’s 31-24 overtime loss:
Tennessee Grades: Oklahoma Game
Offense: C
The bottom line is that the offense wasn’t able to put this game away. Twice in the first half, the offense had great field position and came away with only three points. In the second half, the Tennessee offense couldn’t put together any sustained drives and put no points on the board until the overtime period. The play calling was more conservative than I expected and the passing game never got close to finding any rhythm. The play calling in the first OT series I thought was just what the offense needed, but we didn’t see that much all night. Too much running inside on first and second down and not enough second level passing. Had the offense got just one or two more first downs in the second half, Tennessee would be celebrating a big win tonight.
Quarterback: C
This game was not the best we’ve seen from Joshua Dobbs. Particularly early on, Dobbs seemed to be hesitant in making calls at the line, along with making audibles and throwing accurate passes. Dobbs seemed uncomfortable on the run and unable to get into a rhythm at any point in the game. Some of that has to do with the play calling and some of that has to do with Oklahoma’s defense. Early in the game, Dobbs was late in making decisions twice on Tennessee’s first drive and got lucky with not being called for a penalty after throwing a pass three yards past the line of scrimmage. Late in the game, Dobbs threw a ball into the ground to an open receiver on the flank and his final pass was probably a bad decision. Overall, Dobbs’ inability to get away from the pressure and complete passes to the second level after scrambling was a key component to Tennessee’s inability to move the ball in the second half.
Running Backs: B
Jalen Hurd was easily Tennessee’s most dangerous weapon. He ran hard all night and posted 106 yards rushing. However, the one dimensional Vol offense wasn’t able to leverage Hurd’s hard-earned running success into a successful passing attack. Oklahoma was able to key on the running attack late in the game to prevent Tennessee from building any momentum in the second half. Alvin Kamara had only four yards on four carries and Dobbs only twelve yards on 14 carries. Again, the absence of a passing attack allowed the Sooners’ defense to key on the rushing attack.
Receivers: C-
Tennessee has to do a better job at getting the ball into their playmakers hands. Other than a great effort by Josh Smith and two nice catches by Johnathon Johnson, the receivers weren’t able to influence the game. Pig Howard and Marquez North each had only one catch. Josh Malone dropped an early pass that help stymie the momentum from an Oklahoma turnover. Again, the play calling and Dobbs’ performance is part of this, but the receivers must do a better job getting open and making plays once they have the ball.
Offensive Line: C+
This was a tough unit to grade. Obviously they are upgraded from last season and I thought they gave Joshua Dobbs options even when Oklahoma brought pressure. They especially seemed hampered to get blocks on the ends of the line and the second level to spring the running attack for big plays. Oklahoma brought pressure most of the night, and – again – the lack of success in the passing attack allowed Oklahoma to continue to do that. Improvement from last season, but still plenty of opporutnity to get better.
Defense: B
The defense showed marked improvement from last week. Overall, they played well enough to get the win tonight. They allowed Oklahoma’s two touchdowns in the fourth after the offense wasn’t able to put together any sustained drives. The defense provided the offense with great field position multiple times and the offense wasn’t able to convert at least three times and came away with just a field goal on one other occasion. The inability to convert the second defensive interception was the turning point of the game. Overall, the defense played better than their individual parts.
Defensive Line: C+
This unit continues to disappoint. They weren’t able to get a lot of pressure on Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and – more importantly – when they did get pressure they weren’t able to tackle Mayfield. The Vols defensive line left at least three sacks on the field, one of which led directly to an Oklahoma touchdown. With Oklahoma’s skill players, you can’t allow Mayfield to extend plays on a regular basis. They were solid in run defense.
Linebackers: B
The linebackers looked better than they did last week. Colton Jumper made improvement at middle linebacker, but still had some problems in pass defense. The linebackers did keep the Oklahoma running attack mostly quiet, with 25% of the yards on the ground coming from the quarterback escaping the pressure from the defensive line. The Vols still need to get better at middle linebacker. Again, there were too many missed tackles from this unit.
Defensive Backs: A-
The defensive backs got torched last week but looked great tonight. They kept Oklahoma to 187 yards and kept Baker Mayfield to under 50% completion percentage. On multiple occassions the defensive backs broke up completions at the point of catch. Coverage was good and there were no obvious assignment breakdowns against the Sooner Air Raid offense. The only notable mistake was the unnecessary pass interference call late in the game. Regardless of the quality of the call, there was no reason to give the referee an excuse to throw the pass.
Special Teams: C
An Aaron Medley missed field goal is another example of how Tennessee missed an opportunity for the big win. Medley continues to struggle early in the season. A huge penalty on the last kickoff return prevented Tennessee from turning on the two-minute offense with :40 seconds remaining. None of the return teams were able to provide any yardage. Coverage teams were solid for the most part. The punting was outstanding and easily the highlight of the special teams tonight.
Coaching: B-
The defensive scheme was very effective in this game. I thought the offensive play calling was super-conservative while Tennessee was up by 14 points, essentially the entire second and third quarters. This prevented the offense from getting into a rhythm. I think it was an attempt to try and keep the Oklahoma defense off the field, but it didn’t turn out that way. No real specific instances to point to as far as game time decisions, but I think there will be some questioning of the offensive play calling. What’s new, right?
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