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Who to Blame for Tennessee Vols’ 19-14 Loss to Alabama Crimson Tide?

By Caleb Calhoun

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Who for the Tennessee Vols deserves blame for their 19-14 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide? Here is a Volunteers blame pie.

It’s hard to blame a team that appears to have put up a great fight in a game but just happened to come up short.

But the Tennessee Vols lost another game in which they led, something that has happened to them all season long.

Still, at 3-4, this loss is not as sickening as many of the others when you consider who they were playing and what they were dealing with when it comes to injuries.

With Peyton Manning in the house, the Vols did a lot to make him proud but just happened to come up short in the end.

What is clear, though, is that the coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for this game, as overall they made great play calls and just happened to come up short. It does not make up for what happened in September.

But it does lend credence to the fact that this staff can do a good job with its team.

So with a focus on as much objectivity as possible, here is a blame pie for Tennessee’s 19-14 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

And this is also done knowing that they did everything they could to win the game.

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Aaron Medley: 20 Percent

He did miss three field goals on the game, which would have given the Vols the win. But we are being far too unfair to Aaron Medley.

Consider that Medley missed two field goals beyond 50 yards and another one beyond 40 yards.

Generally, you expect your kicker to be automatic under 40, solid from 40 to 50, and rarely able to kick beyond 50. Medley is indeed automatic under 40, more than most, but he is rare beyond 40 and never beyond 50. So as a result, he deserves some blame.

But setting him up for some easier kicks would have been nice. And that brings us to our next point.

Offensive Line: 30 Percent

It’s really unfair to go at this unit when they have so many injuries, so little experience, and have to fix so many issues while going up against a very complex, loaded 3-4 defense.

But the offensive line still deserves the largest share of this blame pie.

Chance Hall was torched on the right side of the line, and from center to the right side, the line could do nothing. Dobbs was sacked and rushed far too often, particularly when Alabama dropped multiple players in spy on him.

The final sack and fumble at the end told the story.

Wide Receivers: 30 Percent

This seems like a high amount of blame, but when you take into account the talent of the unit, it’s deserved. Due to injuries and youth, the offensive line is expected to struggle.

Due to his past, Medley is exactly what you would expect.

But given the preseason hype, the physical abilities, and recruiting hype, there is no reason for the elite Tennessee receivers to have so much trouble making big plays. All of this takes into account Josh Smith being a major exception.

Still, with no Alabama rush and plenty of time, Joshua Dobbs could often find nothing because these “elite” receivers could not get open. Given their talent levels, they deserve a ton of blame for not being playmakers.

Defensive Line: 10 Percent

The Tennessee defensive line could move up to 20 percent when you consider that they gave up 143 rushing yards to Derrick Henry. But a little bit of youth at linebacker helped with that struggle, and they made up for it with their pass rush.

Corey Vereen, Kendall Vickers, Latroy Lewis, and of course, Derek Barnett, managed to give Jake Coker hell all night. They forced a lot of bad plays, and that helps to make up for some of the mistakes they made.

Secondary: 10 Percent

Again, like the wide receivers, these guys are significantly under-achieving when you consider their talent levels.

But the biggest culprit is one play by Emmanuel Moseley on that first touchdown drive by Alabama, which gave the Tide a 7-0 lead. He had a dumb holding penalty on third down that was unnecessary on that drive to keep it alive.

After that, Cam Sutton got beat multiple times, but it was mainly great play by the receivers.

And Justin Martin played as hard as he could while trying to get into rhythm, as he is just now getting fully healthy. But he got beat a couple of times too. Overall, a few mistakes by the secondary puts the unit on this list.

Next: Tennessee Loses to Alabama: 5 Things We Learned

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