Tennessee football moves to 4-5 on the season as they take care of Charlotte on homecoming weekend. Here are the five takeaways from the game.
Tennessee football isn’t must-see television at the moment. Frankly, they aren’t that good. But, more times than not, these games tend to be closer than expected because the better team thinks they can sleepwalk to a win.
Sure, the Vols won but it wasn’t pretty, and we will get to why that was in the takeaways. With three games left, Jeremy Pruitt can lead this team to an unbelievable finish. If somehow the Vols won out which would include beating Kentucky, Missouri, and Vanderbilt, I think every fan would be impressive.
Anyways, here are the takeaways from the boring win against the Charlotte 49ers.
1. The rushing attack was awful
I think a lot of the problem from the offense is the horrendous offensive line play. There is some talent from the running back position, but they have struggled lately. Let me give Charlotte credit because they did come into the game ranked sixth nationally in rush defense only giving up around 89 yards a game.
But its Tennessee versus Charlotte, you run all over them no matter what. However, that didn’t happen. The Vols were held to zero rushing on 11 carries in the first half. I don’t even know if there are words for how pathetic that is.
If you take away the negative 24 yards from the sacks on Jarrett Guarantano, the Vols rushed for 44 yards the entire game. Now in fairness, Ty Chandler wasn’t 100 percent, but that is flat out awful.
2. It’s clear; Vols need offensive NEW linemen
We’ve said it all year, but there is no question that Jeremy Pruitt needs to sign a class with at least ten offensive linemen to have a chance in the SEC. There is no way Tennessee can win games with 44 rushing yards and Jarrett Guarantano getting rocked every time he drops back to pass.
The good news is five-start recruit Wanya Morris was in town. He also brought a couple of his teammates along with him. However, thinking it over, did Morris leave Neyland Stadium with a good taste in his mouth? The only hope is he knows he will start next season without question.
3. Callaway first touchdown of the season
Finally, Marquez Callaway found the end zone. For the first time, this season the junior wide receiver scored a touchdown. However, it didn’t come on a reception.
Midway through the first quarter, Callaway fielded an awful punt from Charlotte’s Kyle Corbett and took it 82 yards for the first touchdown of the game.
In a game where the Vols couldn’t get anything going, it really mattered that Callaway made a play to get in the end zone.
4. Alontae Taylor know how to sit out boring games
Another game and another targeting call. It seems every week in college football there is a targeting call and the player gets ejected. In most cases, the ejection is justified according to the “rule.”
However, it’s time to have two different targeting calls. One that is intentional and one that is by mistake. During the game, Alontae Taylor was diving in for a hit on the quarterback as he was sliding down and there was helmet to helmet contact. Taylor was ejected.
It’s becoming a theme for Taylor. Apparently, he knows a boring game when he sees it and doesn’t want any part of it. He was also thrown out the Alabama game for punching a receiver.
In all seriousness, the rule needs to be looked at and changed. The “targeting” from Taylor wasn’t intentional.
5. People can stop blaming Jarrett Guarantano
It’s easy to blame quarterback Jarrett Guarantano for the offensive struggles. The sad thing about it is it’s never going to stop. He could have a game throwing for 500 yards, and people would have something negative to say about him.
Guarantano finished the game 16-of-21 for 172 passing yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions.
It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. It’s always better to win ugly than to play good and lose. Moving forward, the Vols host a Kentucky team who is in the dumps with a 34-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.