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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols 48-45 OT loss to Purdue

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee running back Jabari Small (2) finds a line through the Purdue defense during the 2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl between Tennessee and Purdue at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Hpt Music City Bowl First Half 02
Tennessee running back Jabari Small (2) finds a line through the Purdue defense during the 2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl between Tennessee and Purdue at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Hpt Music City Bowl First Half 02 /
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Dec 30, 2021; Nashville, TN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver Jackson Anthrop (33) runs a s Tennessee Volunteers defensive back Warren Burrell (4) chases during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2021; Nashville, TN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver Jackson Anthrop (33) runs a s Tennessee Volunteers defensive back Warren Burrell (4) chases during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Penalties were a killer for Vols.

It was obvious going into this matchup that the Tennessee football team that showed up in terms of penalties would determine how this game went. The Vols have been wildly inconsistent all year on this front, while Purdue has consistently been a top 25 team nationally at limiting penalties.

Well, the UT team prone to penalties showed up in this one. With Purdue committing just five penalties for 61 yards, which is still not up to their standard, the Vols committed 15 penalties for 128 yards. It was probably their worst performance on the year in terms of drawing flags, and that proved costly in a huge way.

At issue specifically were pass interference calls. The Vols were caught for six pass interference calls, some of which kept drives alive on third down. Outside of one call on Warren Burrell late, they were all good calls too. A few more actually could have been called. UT couldn’t stop O’Connell, so they had to commit such penalties all game.

Burrell was the biggest culprit in the secondary all night, but nobody was great on this front. Tennessee football has a lot of work to do going forward without Alontae Taylor, because this game did not show promise. It led to lots of flags.

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