This past Saturday, Tennessee traveled to Columbia to play its first game ever in the Show-Me State against the No. 9 ranked Missouri Tigers.
By the time the game ended, Tennessee had seen enough.
Missouri throttled Tennessee 31-3, beating the Vols in pretty convincing fashion. Mizzou redshirt-freshman QB Maty Mauk, standing in for the injured James Franklin, accounted for 280 total yards and three touchdowns, while freshman counterpart Joshua Dobbs amassed 300 yards, but with three turnovers and no touchdowns.
To pull out the dubya in this setting, Tennessee needed to run the ball and play largely mistake-free on offense while employing, at the very least, a bend-but-don’t-break defense.
But, alas, it did none of those.
Missouri out gained the Vols on the ground 339(!) – 94, averaging 6.3 yards per carry to Tennessee’s 3.9. For comparison’s sake, that’s more rushing yards allowed than any game in 2012, which was the worst defensive season in Tennessee history.
The inability to run the ball effectively forced UT’s offense into 42 pass attempts, which is just far too many for a young QB in such a hostile setting. It allowed the Tigers to really get after the QB and force mistakes, something it does very well (first in the conference in sacks and interceptions).
And while Missouri turned the Vols over three times, Tennessee had its share of unforced errors, too. Josh Smith dropped a likely touchdown on 3-and-12, while the offensive line had three false starts (on first down), all in just the first half.
Tennessee wasted a damn good game (aside from one poor punt) from Mike Palardy. Besides the 51-yard FG, he pinned Missouri inside the 20 four times, with two falling inside the 5-yard line.
With the field consistently flipped in their favor, the Vols crossed the 50-yard line NINE times but scored just THREE points. Of those NINE trips across the 50, Tennessee managed to get the ball inside the 20 just once. Ugh.
Defensively, the Vols bent AND broke. This team must play fundamentally sound defense, as it simply lacks the talent and team speed to cover up mistakes. Saturday, the entire unit played undisciplined football. The line ignored gap responsibilities, while bad angles and busted coverages plagued the back-seven. With that said, let’s take a closer look at a few of the plays that really cost the Vols defensively.
Gap responsibilities are one the most fundamental aspects of playing defense. On a given play, each defensive lineman is assigned a gap (or two) to protect. Defensive ends, specifically, must balance their pursuit of the QB with their overarching responsibilities to contain and maintain their integrity. VFL Steve White (@sgw94), a former defensive end at UT and in the NFL, mentioned Tennessee’s lack of gap discipline on twitter. And since Steve really knows his stuff, I thought we’d check out what he meant.
On this play, it’s third-and-four, and Tennessee is set up in what appears to be its nickel package. Tennessee’s defensive ends are Jordan Williams (far) and Jacques Smith (near).
Here Williams and Smith push too far upfield and lose their gap integrity. If there’s not a spy (player whose job it is to specifically watch the QB), the linemen must be conscious of the QB’s ability to run. As is, Mauk evades their pursuit, scampers through one of the lanes that opened up, gains 20 yards and a Missouri first down. The drive leads to a Missouri field goal. This happened again right before the half, and it cost the Vols three points then, too.
Now we know most football players aren’t math majors. Buuuut, to be a good tackler you gotta have a basic understand of angles. In the open field, the path one takes to the ball carrier, whether it’s wide or narrow, good or bad, can be the difference between a minimal gain and a touchdown.
On this play, we see Missouri lined up their “10” personnel, meaning there’s one back and zero tight ends, with two WRs split out to each side. Tennessee, acknowledging the Missouri WR’s height advantage, plays man but doesn’t press. The Vols are in their nickel package, with Cam Sutton matched up with Dorial Green-Beckham on the near side of your screen. When the ball is snapped, Beckham steps back to take the screen. The Vols are slow to react.
Green-Beckham catches the ball and Johnson, Randolph, Toney and Coleman pursue, but they go where the ball IS, instead of where it’s GOING. All four take too narrow of a pursuit angle, and as Brian Griese mentioned during the telecast, they lose “leverage” on the play. None have the athleticism to make up for the poor angle, and the Vols look like they’re running through the La Brea Tar Pits as Green-Beckham cuts back outside and scores an easy six points.
When a QB can run, it forces the defensive linemen to stay disciplined, but also tests the defensive backs. The DBs have to balance staying with their coverages AND keeping an eye on the QB in case he tucks the ball and takes off down field. As we saw, Mauk wasn’t afraid to take off when a play breaks down or the coverage is too tight.
Here UT is in what looks to be a standard cover 2 man under. The corners and LBs play man coverage underneath, while the safeties each drop to deep zone responsibility.
When the ball is snapped, L’Damian Washington runs a go route down the near sideline while the other two WRs on the near side run 10-yard outs.
The play breaks down and Mauk leaves the pocket, but keeps his head up, looking downfield. Randolph, instead of “keeping a lid” on the play, breaks on either a.) the underneath routes or b.) the anticipated QB scramble. Coleman has also left his man, likely for the same reasons. The Vols are then have five men to account for three Mizzou WRs and a QB.
So there’s nobody left guarding L’Damian Washington running the go route.
And there’s Washington, absolutely butt-naked, wide open in the end zone. Nobody even close. Whether the cause was the route combo or the threat of Mauk’s legs, it’s a brutal busted coverage here that cost the Vols a touchdown.
Plain and simple, that’s just not playing winning football. Too many mental errors. The SEC is a grind; you have to bring it every week, whether at home or on the road. Tennessee will have to play more disciplined to make six wins and bowl eligibility. Lucky for the Vols, the two toughest games remaining are played in Neyland Stadium. In next week’s edition of GIVE HIM SIX — provided the Vols score a touchdown — we’ll look at the offensive side of the ball.
Follow Nick on Twitter @_nicosuave_