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Tennessee football report card in 45-20 win vs. South Carolina

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee wide receivers Jalin Hyatt (11) and JaVonta Payton (3) celebrate Hyatt's touchdown during the NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, October 9, 2021.Utvsc1007
Tennessee wide receivers Jalin Hyatt (11) and JaVonta Payton (3) celebrate Hyatt's touchdown during the NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, October 9, 2021.Utvsc1007 /
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Tennessee Head Football Coach Josh Heupel and Running Backs Coach Jerry Mack during the NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, October 9, 2021.Utvsc1007
Tennessee Head Football Coach Josh Heupel and Running Backs Coach Jerry Mack during the NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, October 9, 2021.Utvsc1007 /

Coaching grades

Offensive play-calling: A-

For the most part, Josh Heupel and Alex Golesh called a solid game. However, they got predictable in the second half, first turning to the run on their first drive and then abandoning it after it didn’t work on the second drive. A run-run pass situation on the third drive was also a killer.  The game plan was fine, but Tennessee football didn’t mix it up enough.

Defensive play-calling: B

South Carolina moved the ball. As we mentioned, they gained 370 yards of total offense. Tim Banks would’ve given up 27 or 28 points if not for a red zone interception, which was all because of a bad play-call. He still did what he needed to do, but he got beat on a few too many calls.

Overall coaching grade: A

Although the play-calling could be questionable at times, Heupel had a perfect game plan. Everybody was expecting the Vols to build the lead on the ground, and Heupel caught them all off-guard, including South Carolina’s defense, by airing it out.

Next. Top five performers in Vols' 45-20 win vs. South Carolina. dark

From an intangibles perspective, Heupel kept Tennessee football hungry after last week’s successful win, which is hard to do with a young team. The Vols also had no turnovers and only two penalties, which also reflect coaching. As a result, the coaching performance as a whole was great and deserves lots of credit.

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