Tennessee football report card in 42-17 win at Vanderbilt
Coaching grades
Offensive play-calling: C+
The strip-sack of Harrison Bailey inside the Vanderbilt Commodores’ 10-yard line is enough for us to criticize Jim Chaney’s play-calling. Passing made no sense right there given how wrecked Vandy was in the middle. Sure, the offense put up 42 points, but Tennessee football was playing air. Chaney didn’t have much to do with that, even if he wasn’t bad the rest of the way.
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Defensive play-calling: B+
UT still got beat a lot in the passes over the middle against a bad team, enough for us to say Derrick Ansley can’t get an A. However, the defense was above average overall, and Ansley knew to bring pressure at the right times and exploit all the weaknesses of this team. He didn’t have one standout horrible call like Chaney, so we give him a B+.
Overall coaching grade: B
In terms of in-game decisions, Jeremy Pruitt was hit and miss. He pulled Harrison Bailey too early, but he also had a well-timed fake punt. However, his players were excited and motivated to play. It was obvious with their emotions on the field. Given everything the Vols have gone through, that alone earns him an above average performance.
dark. Next. Five takeaways from Vols' 42-17 win at Vanderbilt
When you’re on a six-game losing streak, it’s hard to get up to play a winless team like Vanderbilt. Pruitt managed to do that with Tennessee football, though, and it makes up for some of his failures on the sideline in that game.