A noticeable crisp has arrived in the air. Pumpkins and scarecrows begin to dot the East Tennessee landscape. On Saturday, the Tennessee Volunteers put the finishing touches on a 41-10 victory over Buffalo. As Halloween arrives on the horizon, one thing is crystal-clear.
The Vols are in store for a long month.
Overall, the Buffalo game was a solid performance for Tennessee’s first October opponent. The Vols managed to establish some semblance of a running game after a dismal rushing performance against Florida. Tyler Bray picked apart the Buffalo defense, completing 21-30 passes for 342 yards and four scores in the first game without top offensive weapon Justin Hunter (To Bray’s credit, a few of those nine incompletions were drops). Local product Devrin Young showed flashes of the speed for which he was recruited.
However, these positives are counteracted by some troublesome trends that have developed for the Vols.
For starters, Tennessee gave up a 68-yard touchdown run to Buffalo quarterback Chazz Anderson. This play marks the fourth scoring play of over 60 yards in four games. For you math scholars, that’s one 60-yard scoring play per game. Not encouraging.
Head Coach Derek Dooley blamed the big plays during the Buffalo game on mental mistakes from the players.
“On defense, it’s the same old story. We play great defense for 51 plays and give up two plays for 108 yards,” Dooley said. “Total mental breakdowns.”
In addition to giving up the big plays on defense, special teams continue to be a proverbial thorn in Derek Dooley’s side. Devrin Young fumbled a kick, and Michael Palardy struggled with distance on kickoffs. Also, the Vols had their second punt blocked in two weeks.
“It’s embarrassing,” Dooley said, referencing the blocked punt. “It has nothing to do with anything other than a guy choosing not to do what he’s coached to do.”
There is no doubt that youth plays a role in these miscues, and the youth on the field for the Vols is well documented. As Alan Carson and Jordan Williams saw the field against Buffalo, the season-total for playing freshman rose to 15. That number is down two from last year’s total of 17.
Youth or no youth, ready or not, October is here. The Vols are set to face four straight Southeastern Conference opponents. Eastern division rival Georgia comes to Neyland Stadium next Saturday. Georgia flat ran the Vols off the field last year, winning 41-14 in Athens.
“They whipped us good last year, about as good as you can get whipped. They’re probably as talented as any team in the league,” Dooley said, clearly approaching the 3-2 Bulldogs with a healthy amount of respect.
After facing the talented Georgia team, AP No. 1 LSU rolls into Neyland. The Vols will be looking for payback after the, uhh, we’ll say hectic, ending to last year’s game in Baton Rouge. This should be an interesting matchup, with LSU’s defense allowing less than 13 points per game and Tennessee’s offense averaging close to 38 points per game.
One would be wise to keep an eye on No.7 Tyrann Mathieu for LSU. Mathieu is a big play waiting for a place to happen, with four forced-fumbles in five games this season. Mathieu also leads the Tigers’ defense in tackles.
As if the LSU defense isn’t enough to give Coach Dooley nightmares, Tennessee travels to Tuscaloosa on October 22 to play Trent Richardson and the Crimson Tide (No. 2 in the AP poll, right behind previously mentioned LSU).
Tennessee made a game out of The Third Saturday in October last year, and that’s exactly what reasonable Tennessee fans should expect this year. Just keep it close enough to maybe eek out a win late in the game with a big play. Alabama is just too talented to expect much more than that.
The Vols finish up their brutal October stretch with South Carolina, a team that many experts picked to win the SEC East this season. South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia currently leads the Football Bowl Subdivision with nine interceptions. As long as Garcia is behind center, the opposing team always has a fighting chance.
Vol fans have to feel like this game can be won, if, that is, the Tennessee defense can remotely contain South Carolina star running back Marcus Lattimore. Lattimore is a bonafide Heisman candidate, ranking second in the FBS in both yards (677) and touchdowns (9). Keeping Lattimore in check is certainly no small task.
Winning two of the four games during this portion of the schedule would place the Vols at 5-3 on the season and likely satisfy the majority of Tennessee fans. It would also set Tennessee up to finish strong with MTSU, Vandy and Kentucky remaining as should-be wins on the schedule.
Overall, as fans, we’re looking at a month of some fine SEC football.
Oh, and by the way, Trick or Treat, Vol fans.