AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 02
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Is Tennessee looking at a 2-4 start?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tennessee does not play again until Sept. 13 against UAB. For the Volunteer football team and coach Phillip Fulmer, that is going to be 11 very long days.
For so many reasons, it was a bad, bad loss for Tennessee last night against UCLA (27-24 OT) in Pasadena. The Volunteers did so many things wrong it’s hard to know where to start.
The Tennessee defense had four interceptions in the first half, one that was returned for a touchdown, but led by only seven, 14-7, at the intermission.
Tennessee had a chance to put the game away in the opening possession of the second half but Arian Foster’s fumble on the UCLA six-yard line was a killer. That would have made it 21-7 against a beat up UCLA team that lost three starters in the first half. The Bruins could not have recovered.
Once UCLA regained its confidence, the Tennessee defense could not stop the Bruins and quarterback Kevin Craft, who bounced back nicely from those four picks before intermission. The front seven of the Tennessee defense is still a problem. We knew that.
What we didn’t know was that the offense, under new coordinator Dave Clawson and new quarterback Jonathan Crompton, would look so inconsistent. First game jitters was part of it but so was Tennessee’s inability to block UCLA’s defensive tackles. When Crompton didn’t get pressure, he was fine. When pressed, he was not fine completing only 19 of 41. That will not go unnoticed by the defensive coordinators in the SEC. A veteran offensive line should have given Crompton more protection than he got.
Fulmer’s decision to suspend punter Britton Colquitt for the first five games came into play as UCLA blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. There were missed snaps, a bunch of penalties, plus Crompton running into Foster because the two apparently weren’t running the same play. Every team makes mistakes in the first game but Tennessee’s all seemed to come at crucial times.
Despite all that Tennessee should have won the game but it didn’t. And here is what the Volunteers are facing now: The Vols play UAB at home on Sept. 13. Three of the next four games are against Florida (Sept. 20 in Knoxville), at Auburn (Sept. 27), and at Georgia (Oct. 11). There is a non-conference game with Northern Illinois on Oct. 4.
A 2-4 start will make things pretty restless on old Rocky Top, especially with Fulmer’s new contract in place. But I believe, and I’ve written this before, that Fulmer got the new deal just in case something like this happened. It takes the issue of his job security off the table.
But that doesn’t mean that Tennessee fans won’t raise the issue in the coming weeks. In a poll conducted by the Knoxville News-Sentinel in the wee hours of his morning, 67 percent blamed “coaching in general” for the loss.
Did you Beat Barnhart? Check the results from the Week One “Beat Barnhart” contest. Tony went 9-3 with his picks. How’d you fare?
