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Tennessee football report card: Grading the Vols in 34-3 Florida loss

By Caleb Calhoun

GAINESVILLE, FL- SEPTEMBER 21: Lamical Perine #2 of the Florida Gators rushes against Jaylen McCollough #22 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL- SEPTEMBER 21: Lamical Perine #2 of the Florida Gators rushes against Jaylen McCollough #22 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images /

Special teams

Place-kicking: A+

Hey, Brent Cimaglia nailed another 40-yard field goal. He’s nine-for-nine on the year, and he scored the Vols their only points. Meanwhile, Paxton Brooks was perfect on kickoffs, not allowing anything significant to be returned. So once again, despite a small sample size, Tennessee football’s kicking remained perfect, and that continues to be a huge advantage for Rocky Top. Maybe it will make a difference in an upcoming game.

Punting: C-

Joe Doyle was not his usual self in this game, hitting four punts for 161 yards, averaging just over 40 yards a punt. None of them pinned the Gators inside the 20-yard line either, and one of them went for a touchback. That was not a good day. Meanwhile, Brooks came in to try one punt, and his only went 36 yards. So this was a bad performance by the unit altogether, which is why we give it a nearly below average grade.

Return game: C-

There wasn’t much to say about this one. No kickoffs were fielded, and Marquez Callaway fielded one punt, returning it for no yards. So the Vols didn’t have much going here. It just wasn’t enough for us to give this a below average grade, and it had nothing to do with their overall struggles.

Overall special teams grade: B-

Punting and returning are supposed to be huge advantages for the Vols, so those struggles were problematic. But place-kicking remains the most important part of special teams, and Cimaglia continues to not miss a beat. His play allowed this unit to still get an above average grade, and that has to count for something.

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