Butch Jones tries to explain why Tennessee didn’t run the ball at the goal line against Florida

On Saturday, everyone was up in arms at the failed goal line sequence that probably ended up costing Tennessee a win over Florida. Today, Butch Jones let us in on why that happened.

Apparently, Dormady checked into a pass on first down. That’s fine, but what about all of the other pass plays? Jones then made a pretty stunning admission.

Jones said that they couldn’t go under center with Jarrett Guarantano because he had not practiced any snaps from under center. I understand Tennessee operates almost entirely out of the gun, but it’s pretty ridiculous that you don’t feel comfortable letting your backup quarterback — one that was supposedly in the running to start all summer long — take a snap from under center.

“We would we have liked to have run it on second down, absolutely, the plan was to get under center and do QB sneak outside, but then Quinten tweaks his knee,” Jones said, referring to a low hit the Vols QB took as he delivered an incomplete first down pass. “We didn’t think it was fair to Jarrett to ask him to go in there and take the snap under center …. so there’s a lot of nuances that occurred.” (via SEC Country)

How you don’t have a backup prepared to do one of the simplest tasks is absolutely beyond me. Tennessee ended up with a false start penalty, which backed them up to the six yard line. Dormady would re-enter the game, only to be picked off.

Details. Accountability. Toughness. DAT way. Those are Butch’s words, not mine. Not having your backup quarterback ready to take a snap from under center to gain a yard and give your team a lead seems like a big detail to overlook.

If you were mad at how this game was coached on Saturday, then your blood is probably boiling over right now. This team was simply not prepared, which is inexcusable — especially in year five.