Tennessee football: Remembering the scare last time Vols faced South Alabama in Butch Jones’ first season

Just like right now, Tennessee football was coming off a loss in its first year under a new head coach who was installing the spread offense the last time it faced the South Alabama Jaguars. That was back in 2013, and the result of that game should have been a red flag for what would become of the Butch Jones era.

Jones was a rocky hire, as he was UT’s fourth choice, but he was winning over the fan base with the recruiting class he was putting together for 2014. A 2-0 start increased the momentum. However, the Vols then got blown out by the Oregon Ducks and fell behind early to the Florida Gators because of an epic collapse by Nathan Peterman.

They came into this game 2-2 and looking to regroup, and Justin Worley became Tennessee football’s starting quarterback again after the failed experiment with Peterman. South Alabama came in at 2-1 under fifth-year head coach Joey Jones and was in just its second season in FBS play. It was a throwaway game that nobody expected the Vols to struggle in.

Early on, that looked like it would be the case. Although South Alabama scored on the opening drive to go up 7-0 and then forced a three-and-out, the Vols then refocused. LaDarrell McNeil intercepted a pass to set up a Michael Palardy field goal.

After that, the Vols forced three punts and scored on three straight drives, including a touchdown pass from Worley to A.J. Branisel, a touchdown pass from Worley to Josh Smith and a rushing touchdown by Marlin Lane. UT was in complete control 24-7, but then the early mistakes began.

On the next two drives, Worley threw back to back interceptions. One was with the ball at the South Alabama 34-yard line, and the other was on the South Alabama 4-yard line that ended a 13-play drive. You’re likely looking at the Vols being up 27-7, 30-7, 31-7 or even 34-7 without those mistakes.

Still, Tennessee football held the lead at halftime and put the picks behind them by opening the second half with a 6-play 76-yard drive and capping it off with a touchdown run by Rajion Neal. Then they got an interception, so they had the ball up 31-7 in the third. Game over, right?

Wrong. Worley threw his third pick of the day right after the Vols got the ball back, and South Alabama returned it to the Tennessee 5-yard line. They punched it in two plays later. After forcing turnovers, South Alabama’s defense began to stiffen as well.

UT’s next three drives involved two punts. South Alabama followed those up with a made field goal and then a missed field goal. Up 31-17, the Vols then set up for a 50-yard field goal to try to ice the game. Palardy’s kick was blocked, though, and the Jaguars returned it to the Tennessee 29-yard line. They scored again six plays later.

All of a sudden, it was 31-24 in the fourth quarter with over eight minutes left. South Alabama then forced a three-and-out and got the ball with a chance to tie. They slowly moved down the field, mounting a 16-play 79-yard drive to bring up a 1st and goal at the Tennessee 7-yard line.

That’s when the Vols’ defense finally stiffened. A tackle for a loss on first down and a sack on second down put South Alabama behind the eight-ball. They then had a small completion to bring up 4th and goal from the 8-yard line. Brian Randolph intercepted the 4th and goal pass, though. Three runs by Neal for a first down allowed the Vols to the ice the game and run out the clock.

It was an ugly win for both teams, as they each threw three interceptions and missed a field goal, while one of those missed kicks was blocked. However, UT outgained South Alabama 482-392 on offense and got away with that hideous win.

Throughout the next week, Jones insisted that Tennessee football was still making improvements in his rebuilding season, and while the future looked bright, nobody believed that at the time. However, he changed everybody’s perception the next week, to his credit.

Coming off that hideous win to get to 3-2, the Vols shockingly took the Georgia Bulldogs to overtime and lost because Pig Howard bobbled the ball while diving for the end zone in overtime, which resulted in a touchback and allowed the Dawgs to kick a game-winning field goal. That rejuvenated the fan base.

Two weeks later, off a bye, UT upset the No. 11 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, who would finish 11-2 and ranked No. 5 in the nation. It was the first ranked win for the program at the time since they beat South Carolina in 2009.

Those two games made everybody forget about the South Alabama game. However, the momentum didn’t last, as Jones’ team then got blown out by the Alabama Crimson Tide and lost Worley for the season in the process.

Throwing in a freshman Joshua Dobbs who wasn’t yet ready, the Vols lost their next two games to the two teams who would play for the SEC Championship, the Missouri Tigers and Auburn Tigers. Auburn would come one play away from winning the national title. They then lost to the best Vanderbilt Commodores team fielded in decades.

Because of those three losses, the Vols would miss out on a bowl even with a win over the Kentucky Wildcats to close out the season. The South Alabama game became a forgettable part of the year. However, it was part of a season in which there was a lot of faith in what Jones was building. Everybody turned out to be wrong on that, but hindsight is 20/20.

This year, beating South Alabama will allow Heupel to do with Tennessee football what Jones couldn’t which is reach bowl eligibility his first year on the job. However, South Alabama is a much better program now under first-year head coach Kane Wommack. They recently blew out Jones’ new team the Arkansas State Red Wolves, so the Vols need to be ready.