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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ wild 31-26 loss to Ole Miss

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee defensive lineman LaTrell Bumphus (11) closes in on Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral (2) during a football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football Bp
Tennessee defensive lineman LaTrell Bumphus (11) closes in on Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral (2) during a football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football Bp /
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Trash litters the sidelines after it was ruled that Jacob Warren was a yard short of the first down marker on a 4th and 24 play during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Tennessee fans littered the Neyland Stadium field with debris for several minutes following Ole Miss’ game-clinching defensive stop with 54 seconds to play.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football
Trash litters the sidelines after it was ruled that Jacob Warren was a yard short of the first down marker on a 4th and 24 play during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Tennessee fans littered the Neyland Stadium field with debris for several minutes following Ole Miss’ game-clinching defensive stop with 54 seconds to play.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football /

Lane Kiffin’s return to Rocky Top didn’t have the points everybody expected, but it certainly had the fireworks. Tennessee football lost 31-26 to the Ole Miss Rebels after Joe Milton III, in for an injured Hendon Hooker, inexplicably tried to run for a touchdown from the Ole Miss 21-yard line with three seconds left after Hendon Hooker was knocked out of the game.

Before it even came to that, Vol fans delayed the game for over 15 minutes by throwing debris onto the field out of anger over a spot on a 4th and 24 pass from Hooker to Jacob Warren on the previous drive. They got the ball back after using their three timeouts and drove down the field with a chance to win before that Milton play.

UT falls to 4-3 on the year and 2-2 in the SEC with a visit to the Alabama Crimson Tide up next. Kiffin, who’s return to Knoxville was met with a string of boos, oversees a team that improves to 5-1 and 2-1 in the SEC on the heels of their second straight win on the final play with the LSU Tigers up next. Here are five things we learned from Tennessee football’s loss.

5. Officiating was an issue, but Vol fans overreacted.

We can’t overlook the officiating. The Vols were robbed of a defensive touchdown because the refs gave Matt Corral forward progress on a strip-sack despite never blowing the whistle. That was the worst of all the calls and one in which they should clearly be held accountable. Two other tough calls fall on the SEC.

Both of those calls came on two bad spots. However, there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the spot, and that’s because the SEC didn’t have camera angles on one of the sidelines. That’s embarrassing for a conference with as much wealth as this one, and it’s something they have to address going forward.

However, Tennessee football fans massively overreacted. The throwing of debris is an obvious overreaction. Beyond that, though, these were three missed calls in the course of a 60-minute game that lasted four and a half hours. Two of them were questionable, and Vol fans nearly cost their team one final chance. That can’t happen, and it’s now the lead story.

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