Tennessee football report card: Grading the Vols in their 42-41 OT win vs. Georgia Tech
![ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 04: Jashon Robertson ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 04: Jashon Robertson](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/8ba649fd2d6fdeaf0cd78e3a7ffdc12109ef722cdb1e1e1558f8bbd840746e19.jpg)
Overall coaching grade: C
Butch Jones deserves credit for sticking with Quinten Dormady even when times got rough. That helped Tennessee football secure such an important victory, and it gave him confidence.
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He also deserves credit simply for keeping his team together when things went against them. For the head coach, those decisions matter. They also get credit for limiting mistakes, and Tennessee had two penalties and no turnovers.
Those are all the positives.
However, there were some serious negatives. Bob Shoop kept the Vols defensive tackles playing off the line of scrimmage, even as they got torched on that triple-option. This was his worst coaching game ever, and yes, he gets a big fat F just for not adjusting at all to what Paul Johnson and TaQuon Marshall were doing.
Meanwhile, Larry Scott was okay in his debut as offensive coordinator. But he put too much on Quinten Dormady in the first half and did not establish the run with John Kelly. That was a huge mistake, and it’s what allowed Georgia Tech to take control of the game and tire out the Tennessee football defense.
As a result, despite a solid second half and overtime, his early coaching put the Vols in trouble, so he was below average.
Next: Smokey Points: Top 5 Vols performers vs. Georgia Tech
Those two things negate what Butch Jones did and give this unit overall a C. Lots of blame truly does fall on the players. But Scott and Shoop had some serious issues at times, so we can’t be too nice to this unit.