All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football report card in Music City Bowl loss to Purdue

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. (1) runs the ball during the 2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl between Tennessee and Purdue at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Bowl Cm 1230 10
Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. (1) runs the ball during the 2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl between Tennessee and Purdue at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Bowl Cm 1230 10 /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
Tennessee placekicker Chase McGrath (40) high fives Tennessee offensive lineman Ollie Lane (78) during the 2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl between Tennessee and Purdue at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Bowl Cm 1230 14
Tennessee placekicker Chase McGrath (40) high fives Tennessee offensive lineman Ollie Lane (78) during the 2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl between Tennessee and Purdue at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Bowl Cm 1230 14 /

Special teams grades

Place kicking: B+

Chase McGrath hit a 30-yard field goal and every extra point. Every Toby Wilson kickoff went for a touchback. The only thing keeping this from being an A is McGrath missing that 56-yarder at the end of regulation to win the game for Tennessee football, and while kicks like that are the most crucial, the degree of difficulty makes it too hard for us to hold it too much against this unit.

Punting: B-

Paxton Brooks averaged 43.3 yards per punt and sailed three of his six punts inside the 20-yard line. All three punts were of 40 yards or more, and one pinned Purdue at the 10. However, he also had two go for under 40 yards and fail to pin Purdue inside the 20, which were fails in general and brought the grade to barely above average.

Return game: D+

Velus Jones Jr. fair-caught a ball at the five-yard line, and the two punts that were returned went for minus-six yards. The kick return game averaged 21.5 yards on eight kick returns. A penalty that Trevon Flowers drew on his one punt return is the only reason this wasn’t a failing grade.

Overall special teams grade: C

Place kicking and punting were fine, but punting was not as good as it should be, and the return game, a strength for UT, was awful. As a result, we have to say the kicking game in general was just average last week.

Home/Vols Football