Tennessee football: Five takeaways from 35-12 win vs. Missouri

5. Place kicking is now a concern.

After going 23-of-27 on field goals last year, not missing an extra point, going nine-of-11 on field goals beyond 40 yards and two-of-two on field goals beyond 50 yards, Brent Cimaglia entered this year with high expectations. Well, in Tennessee football’s first two games, those expectations have not been met.

Cimaglia is one-of-three so far and still hasn’t made a kick beyond 40 yards. Last week, his miss was excused because of how UT had poor protection on and a new long snapper. It made sense as well given the way they couldn’t work on special teams in the offseason, something Jeremy Pruitt said was due to the number of infections players had.

However, in this game, Cimaglia missed another kick. There was no bad snap, no bad protection and no degree of difficulty. It was only from 39 yards out. Somehow, Cimaglia shanked it wide left, and it didn’t even turn towards the goal posts. At this point, we have to wonder if there has been some sort of regression in Cimaglia’s game after he was an All-American candidate.

Now, to be fair, Cimaglia still is yet to miss an extra point in his career. However, the Vols are still trying to develop as a team, and Jeremy Pruitt needs Cimaglia to be an advantage. The Missouri Tigers had a freshman in Harrison Mevis nail two field goals, one of which was from 50 yards out.

That difference between Mevis and Cimaglia is why the game was close late. If Cimaglia hits his 39-yarder and Mevis misses his 50-yarder, then Mizzou never would have come within three scores of the Vols in the second half. It may just be rust early in the season, but this is something Tennessee football should focus on. The Vols can’t afford a drop-off from Cimaglia.