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Who is to Blame for Tennessee’s Loss to Florida?

By Caleb Calhoun

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There is a lot of blame to go around after the Tennessee Vols football team blew a 27-14 fourth quarter lead to the Florida Gators to lose 28-27.

It’s time for the blame pie.

Lots of people on the Tennessee Vols deserve criticism for their epic collapse against the Florida Gators in the 28-27 loss Saturday evening after they blew a 27-14 fourth-quarter lead.

The 11th straight loss to the Gators was the most painful one for Vol fans.

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Knowing they had control of this game and blew it, here are the players who deserve blame for how they played.

Joshua Dobbs: 5 Percent

It’s a low percentage because he rushed for 136 yards and played his heart out, but Joshua Dobbs made a few critical mistakes as well.

He struggled with accuracy all night under pressure and he had a crucial fumble that put Florida back in the game to begin with. Those two things put him on this list, but he alleviated a lot of it by the great plays he made.

Colton Jumper: 5 percent

He did not see the field after that first touchdown the Vols gave up, so that is why he is only at 5 percent as well. But Colton Jumper allowed that touchdown drive to happen.

Butch Jones may like him, but he showed why he is a walk-on. He is slow, out of position, and cannot get off blocks. All of these things are huge issues, and as a result the Vols gave up an early touchdown.

Offensive Line: 10 Percent 

They blocked okay for much of the game, but the offensive line still struggles a lot in pass protection and sometimes on running plays.

Jalen Hurd should never rush for a loss given how tough he is. But sometimes the line just gets beat up front. Yes, these guys are young, but they cannot allow that to happen given the talent they are all supposed to have. We have to hold them accountable.

Secondary: 40 Percent

They are lucky it is not more. The secondary had far too many fourth down collapses to garner any respect. This is the second time in three weeks they collapsed in the fourth quarter.

And that’s a problem.

Cameron Sutton gave up a few plays, which was bad, and the entire unit just had breakdown after breakdown, allowing Will Grier to go five of five for 123 yards and a touchdown on fourth down alone. They need to get mentally tougher.

Coaching Staff: 40 Percent

This goes for Butch Jones and Mike DeBord. DeBord abandoned the running game at times he should not have, and then his play-calling with the chance to seal the game was atrocious.

At the same time, Jones made terrible head-coaching decisions. This started with the extra point instead of two-point conversion after the Vols went up 26-14, which was the difference in the game. Then, he coached not to lose when it was 27-21. And finally, he was confused on the clock management at the end, which forced Aaron Medley to kick a 55-yarder instead of a 30-yarder.

All of this falls on him. Of any individual, he gets the biggest blame for this loss.

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