Tennessee football: 5 takeaways from Vols ugly win vs. UMass

Tennessee football won an ugly 17-13 game over the Massachusetts Minutemen. Here are five takeaways from the Volunteers’ victory.

Butch Jones didn’t do himself any favors with his hot seat talk. An ugly 17-13 win against a winless team like UMass will do that.

Nonetheless, the Vols got a victory. And they are now 3-1. If they can somehow find a way to beat the Georgia Bulldogs next week after playing so bad this week, everybody will forget about this game.

Coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Florida Gators, a win is still a win. So, believe it or not, there are some legitimate things to learn after watching this game.

Here are five takeaways from Tennessee football’s ugly win over UMass.

1. Don’t panic. This was a fall out of bed victory.

Tennessee football was coming off a loss to the Florida Gators that they should have won. The Vols are going to face the Georgia Bulldogs next week in a huge SEC East showdown. How did anybody expect them to cover their 28-point spread?

UMass may have been 0-4, but they were in every game. And they faced a team that sat any starter with the slightest injury. So the Vols did not want to get out of bed to play this game, but they still won. That’s all that matters. Now, to a negative point.

2. Butch Jones’s quarterback management is terrible!

It’s understandable if Butch Jones wants to get Jarrett Guarantano some reps in this game. Having two quarterbacks is a good thing. However, he did a terrible job deciding when to put Guarantano in the game.

Quinten Dormady had found his rhythm and built a decent 17-6 lead for the Vols. The team was in good shape, but they needed more breathing room. Instead, Jones subbed in Guarantano at the worst time, and the offense was out of synch the rest of the game as a result. So if he’s going to use two quarterbacks, he has to get better at knowing when to change them up.

3. Brandon Johnson is emerging as a solid receiver.

We knew about Marquez Callaway. But Tennessee football needed another receiver to step up and become a playmaker. They may have found it on Saturday with Brandon Johnson.

Johnson had seven catches for 123 yards. He didn’t score a touchdown, but he made tons of plays. Of course, he did have one drop. But that was due to Jones bringing in Guarantano and messing up the rhythm. He still had a solid performance Saturday.

4. The rush defense has serious work to do.

The UMass Minutemen were averaging about two and a half yards per carry before this game. But in this game, they averaged nearly four yards a carry. And it took injuries to Marquis Young and Andrew Ford for the average to go down.

Now, they have been solid at running the ball. It’s been the issue of giving up too many sacks that keeps their average so low. But the Vols were racking up those sacks. They had three and picked up 15 tackles for a loss overall. But they still allowed 144 rushing yards. That’s a problem and something Bob Shoop needs to correct.

5. John Kelly continues to run hard.

UMass sold out to stop John Kelly in this game. And he still averaged over four yards a carry, which may not seem like much but is impressive considering the defense he faced. Kelly had over 100 yards on the day and a touchdown. But it still wasn’t enough.

Tennessee football needs to use the read option better if they are going to help his average. Quinten Dormady was too timid to keep it ever again after that first fumble he had. But if he stays confident and still keeps it just a few times, Kelly could become deadly.