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Tennessee football: Five things to improve during bye week

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee players review plays on the sideline during the Alabama and Tennessee football game at Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.Tennessee Vs Alabama Football 100369
Tennessee players review plays on the sideline during the Alabama and Tennessee football game at Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.Tennessee Vs Alabama Football 100369 /
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Tennessee placekicker Brent Cimaglia (42) kicks for an extra point in the fourth quarter of a game between Tennessee and Missouri at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020.
Tennessee placekicker Brent Cimaglia (42) kicks for an extra point in the fourth quarter of a game between Tennessee and Missouri at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. /

4. Special teams consistency

There was finally a bit of a resurgence of this in Tennessee football’s loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, but it didn’t matter given how bad the loss was. Meanwhile, the advantage the Vols seemed to have in the kicking game entering the season hadn’t shown up before then. It starts with the most important aspect of special teams: Place-kicking.

Brent Cimaglia hid 23-of-27 field goals last year, including nine-of-11 from beyond 40 yards and both from beyond 50 yards. However, he missed one in the opener at the South Carolina Gamecocks, and then he missed a kick within 40 yards against the Missouri Tigers. So far this year, he is a mere two-of-four, but to be fair, he still hasn’t missed an extra point.

Paxton Brooks, meanwhile, had a horrendous game against the Kentucky Wildcats. He didn’t pin them inside the 20 once and had only one punt go beyond 40 yards. Such failures at pinning them deep allowed them to move the ball and control the clock throughout much of the second half. Again, he improved against Alabama, but it didn’t matter.

Then there’s Velus Jones Jr., a graduate transfer from the USC Trojans. UT brought him on as a kick returner and has used Eric Gray largely as its punt returner, but while both have had some nice returns, neither has broken one open yet. This issue hasn’t directly proven costly yet to Rocky Top, but it’s one the Vols will have to work on to make sure that’s not the case down the stretch.

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