When Butch Jones jumped from Cincinnati and the Big East to Tennessee and the SEC, he knew he was switching gears.
But the events of the past three weeks, when Tennessee has been scorched by Alabama, Missouri and Auburn by a combined score of 131-36, seem to have taken Jones aback. Now more than ever, he realizes the Volunteers are in fast company.
And they can’t keep pace.
Speed kills. On Saturday, Tennessee was blistered by Auburn 55-23 in yet another game that exposed the Vols’ lack of team speed. The Tigers played the game in a sprint. Tennessee barely got out of the starting blocks.
No wonder Jones spoke about a “vivid, vivid speed differential” afterward. These three blowout losses to top-10 opponents underscore just how far the Vols have slipped behind top-tier competition.
“It’s been a great gauge of where we’re at and where we need to go to improve as a football team and a football program,” Jones said. “… For me, it’s a great measuring stick, a tool for where we need to go with our football program — how we need to recruit, how we need to develop our players.”
It was the most points given up by the Vols since a 59-20 loss at Florida in 2007. Clearly, the schedule has taken a toll against a Tennessee team that is deep in rebuilding mode. According to STATS LLC, Tennessee is the first team since Pittsburgh in 1993 to play seven ranked teams in an eight-game stretch during one season. Auburn was Tennessee’s fifth consecutive opponent ranked No. 11 or higher.
After an open date, Tennessee closes the season against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. The Vols must win both to become eligible for a bowl.
This game was a total mismatch. Nothing exemplifies the difference in team speed more than special-teams play. Here, then, is food for thought: Auburn set an NCAA record by averaging 44.9 yards on seven kickoff/punt returns. The previous record was 41.8 yards per return by Florida State against Virginia Tech in 1974.
Auburn’s Chris Davis returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown, and teammate Corey Grant scored on a 90-yard return of the second-half kickoff. It would have been worse if Vols kicker Michael Palardy had not made two touchdown-saving tackles on returns.
“When the ball leaves my foot, I’m considered the last line of defense, I guess you could say,” Palardy said. “When the guy comes into open space, I’ve got to do my best to keep him from scoring.”
Maybe Palardy should get a few snaps on defense. The Vols were easy pickings at the point of attack, and their pursuit was lacking. They had no answer for Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall, who averaged a stunning 15.3 yards per carry as he accumulated 214 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The Auburn media guide characterizes Marshall as a “dual-threat quarterback,” but he needed only one threat against Tennessee’s beleaguered, step-slow defense. Often, he kept the ball on zone-read plays and found only token resistance. He was untouched on a 38-yard touchdown that gave the Tigers a 34-20 halftime lead.
“He just killed us,” Vols linebacker Dontavis Sapp said.
Marshall was especially effective once Auburn coach Gus Malzahn decided to scale back an offensive game plan that originally included a fair share of passes. The Tigers attempted five passes in the first half and only two after intermission.
“I still believe we can throw the football,” said Malzahn, whose Tigers threw only nine passes against Arkansas last week. “There’s no doubt in my mind we can, but when you don’t have to, you don’t.”
Marshall threw for two touchdowns — one for each team. His 25-yard pass to C.J. Uzomah accounted for Auburn’s first touchdown, and his throw late in the first half was intercepted by Vols defensive end Jacques Smith, who returned it 18 yards for a touchdown.
“They couldn’t really stop the run, so we just kept our foot on their throat and just ran it down their throat,” Marshall said.
While the speed differential was most apparent in special teams, and when Tennessee’s defense was on the field, the comparative shortage of big plays by the Vols’ offense also was telling.
“I thought we ran the ball effectively, but what was missing was big-chunk yardage plays,” Jones said. “When they ran the football, it was a 20-, 30-yard gain. It flipped field position. When we ran the ball, it was 8 yards, it was 4 yards. It was more methodical.”
In short, it was a race. And the Vols got lapped.
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