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Five Things We Learned About the Tennessee Vols in their Loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide

By Caleb Calhoun

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The Tennessee Volunteers football team lost a heartbreaker to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa 19-14. Here are five things we learned about the Vols.

It’s the story of the season for the Tennessee Vols, finding ways to lose in the fourth quarter.

This time, in a back and forth game against Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide, Butch Jones’s squad lost another game late.

This time, though, they managed to take a 14-13 lead in the fourth quarter before they gave up a touchdown to Alabama. Joshua Dobbs was then sacked twice, the second time being a fumble that Alabama recovered, which secured a Tide victory.

Although they lost, there are some positives to take away from the 3-4 Tennessee Vols. But there are also some negatives.

Here are the five things we learned about the Vols in their loss to the Tide.

1. The Offensive Line is Still a Work in Progress

This is not much of a surprise after all of the injuries that have happened on this unit, but Chance Hall and Jack Jones made us think last week that Tennessee has a dominant unit coming together.

That unit was exposed to reality against Jonathan Allen and Saban’s 3-4 defense on Saturday.

Although it was against one of the best front sevens in all of college football, the Vols still showed major concerns on the right side of the offensive line. However, you can’t condemn them too much for being so young.

2. Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara Are a Great Combination

Despite no help from the offensive line and great coverage from the Alabama secondary, Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara make a great combination.

Hurd managed to carry the ball 18 times for 92 yards and a touchdown, and Kamara had five carries for 21 yards and another four receptions for another 44 yards. The two together are only going to get better, and they were used properly against Alabama.

More help from the offensive line could make this unit deadly.

3. Aaron Medley Is the Same

Last year, Aaron Medley was borderline automatic within 40 yards, which is all you can ask for from a college kicker.

But despite an extremely strong leg, he was awful beyond 40 yards. Going into this year, he had given the impression that he worked on improving that.

He clearly hasn’t. Medley does not deserve to be benched because he is what you need under 40, but he consistently shows an inability t0 bail out a drive that stalled. It’s unfortunate to know he has not progressed.

4. Tennessee Has a Great Pass Rush

This may be the one college football team in the country that has a dominant pass rush but a terrible rushing defense. The Vols were awful at stopping Alabama’s ground attack, as Derrick Henry had 143 yards rushing.

But to be fair to Tennessee, they did get lots of pressure on Jake Coker. Derek Barnett added another big-game sack to his resume, and he, Corey Vereen, Latroy Lewis, and Kendall Vickers were in the backfield all night.

Meanwhile, Jalen Reeves-Maybin at linebacker adds another element to it.

5. The Wide Receivers Still Struggle to Get Open

Josh Malone is developing, and Josh Smith is a model of consistency, but the Tennessee Vols receivers are doing nothing to help their quarterback.

Too often against Alabama, the Tide dropped multiple linebackers in spy to keep Dobbs from running. That gave him all the time in the world to throw, but nobody could get open. That’s all on the receivers.

Malone, Marquez North, Preston Williams, and Von Pearson should be able to make big plays no matter what. We are seven games in the season, and they still are under-achieving.

Next: Vols Lose 19-14 to Alabama

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