Tennessee football missed a bowl game in Jeremy Pruitt’s first year. The Volunteers suffered a 38-13 blowout loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville.
For the third straight year, Tennessee football lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores, a failure that the program hasn’t suffered since before Robert Neyland arrived. Meanwhile, the Vols missed a bowl for the second straight year.
It was that bad for the program in its first year under Jeremy Pruitt, as they lost 38-13 to the Vanderbilt Commodores. Kyle Shurmur completed 15 of his first 16 passes and built a 17-0 lead for Vanderbilt in the first half.
The Vols opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown run from Ty Chandler to cut it to 17-7. Then Tyson Helton forgot to give him the ball for the rest of the game. Despite two defensive stops following that touchdown, including one that ended in a missed field goal by the Commodores, they weren’t able to get anything going.
In the fourth quarter, Vandy scored two touchdowns to make it 31-7. Jarrett Guarantano cut it to 31-13 in the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass to Marquez Callaway, but that was all he was able to do the whole game. He finished with 139 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception.
The Commodores responded to that touchdown with a touchdown drive of their own after a failed onside kick to make sure they stayed in control. That solidified the final score at 38-13. Shurmur finished 31-of-35 for 367 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in his final home game. Ke’Shawn Vaughn getting hurt did not stop the Commodores from dominating the Vols offensively for a third straight year.
With the loss, UT finishes the year 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the conference. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt finishes 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the conference. Derek Mason also made his second bowl game in three years, both times off of a win against the Vols in Nashville.
The Vols’ offense was horrendous all day and only gained 239 yards. Meanwhile, the defense allowed 467 yards. Add in Guarantano’s interception while Vanderbilt committed no turnovers, and it’s pretty easy to see why they weren’t able to win this game.
Tennessee football’s secondary was once again the embarrassing story of the day against Vanderbilt. But this time, Helton’s offensive play-calling was also a disaster. Chandler was the star on that side with seven carries for 88 yards and that touchdown, while Jauan Jennings led the team in receiving with 51 yards even though Callaway had the touchdown.
This loss marks another point of failure for the Tennessee football program this decade. They have assured that the majority of seasons this decade would finish with a losing record, and now it’s a sure bet that half will have finished without a bowl appearance. The Vols will need a strong 2019 to make sure the worst decade in program history doesn’t look worse.