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Tennessee football report card in 34-7 Kentucky loss

By Caleb Calhoun

The Vols tackle a Kentucky player in the first quarter of a game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020.
The Vols tackle a Kentucky player in the first quarter of a game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. /
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KNOXVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 12: A general view of the goalpost before a game between the UCLA Bruins and the Tennessee Volunteers on September 12, 2009 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. UCLA beat Tennessee 19-15. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
KNOXVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 12: A general view of the goalpost before a game between the UCLA Bruins and the Tennessee Volunteers on September 12, 2009 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. UCLA beat Tennessee 19-15. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

Special teams grades

Place kicking: A+

Brent Cimaglia didn’t attempt a field goal. However, he made the only extra point attempt of the game. Meanwhile, both of Paxton Brooks’ kickoffs sailed out of the end zone for touchbacks. As a result, Tennessee football’s place kicking could not have been better. However, without a field goal attempt, it had minimal impact on the game, so this won’t affect the overall grade that much.

Punting: D

Brooks’ punting was way worse than his kickoffs. This is why the Kentucky Wildcats dominated field position. He averaged only 37.8 yards per punt on five punts. None of his punts pinned Kentucky inside the 20, one went for a touchback, and three failed to travel 40 yards while one traveled right at 40 yards. It was just an awful performance, and we have to give him a D.

Return game: D+

There weren’t many opportunities to return the ball on Saturday. However, on three kickoff returns by Velus Jones Jr., only one went past the 25-yard line. On another one, he was stopped at the 21-yard line, and a holding penalty pushed another kickoff return back to the 16-yard line. That put the Vols behind the eight-ball while trailing 24-7 already, so this unit was bad.

Overall grade: D+

Since place kicking didn’t have much of an impact, we had to focus on the return game and the punt game more. Punting was the worst aspect and the most impactful, but the return game was pretty bad as well. Not enough place kicking to help gives this unit a below average performance just like the rest of the groups.

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