Final Grades: Tennessee vs Georgia

It wasn’t as nearly as bad as expected, but it was still pretty bad.

In all, the Vols walked out of the hedges more encouraged than discouraged, but it’s very doubtful that this team will make much noise in 2018.

With that being said, let’s dive into this week’s final grades.

Offense

It sure as hell wasn’t the offense that kept this game somewhat competitive. They didn’t cross midfield until about eight minutes left in the game and had to draw a pass interference call on fourth down to finally get on the board.

Ty Chandler made some big plays and it’s pretty clear that he is this team’s best offensive weapon. He’s also the best player on the entire team.

The offensive line still struggled and Jarrett Guarantano is still taking forever to throw the ball when he should be getting it out quicker. The receivers are able to make plays from time to time, but Marquez Callaway suffered a concussion against the Bulldogs. The Vols can’t afford to lose him for an extended period of time.

Ball security was also a major improvement from the week before, but you really have nowhere to go but up when you commit six turnovers.

Overall Grade: 1.0 (D)

Defense

The defense was surprisingly effective throughout the game, despite giving up 24 first half points. A lot of that had to do with how much they were on the field due to the offense’s inability to move the ball.

Darrell Taylor recorded two sacks and two forced fumbles in the first quarter, but one of the fumbles was negated as Georgia’s Isaac Nauta scooped up the ball and rumbled for a 40-yard touchdown.

Jeremy Pruitt’s schemes had Jake Fromm confused throughout the game, which was very encouraging to see.

They just couldn’t keep up in the end, but they played well enough to leave the field with some dignity.

Overall Grade: 2.0 (C)

Special Teams

Despite the dumb formation penalties the special teams had a good day. Brent Cimaglia didn’t have a chance at any field goal attempts, but Joe Doyle played very well. It’s easy to say that he saw the most action of the season on Saturday and took full advantage of it. If it weren’t for the penalties, he would’ve had a great punt that pinned Georgia inside their own 5-yard line.

Overall Grade: 3.0 (B)

Coaching

This is staff is working their assess off, there is no doubt about that. Unfortunately for them, the results aren’t showing through.

There are flashes of progress and what this team could look like one day, but that day is very far off. It’s easy to see that this staff knows what they want out of there players and they know the type of system they want to run - it’s just a matter of getting there.

In the end it’s results that matter. This staff will get there, but it won’t be in 2018.

Overall Grade: 2.0 (C)

Overall Grade: 2.0 (C)

While it was still a blowout, the Vols were more competitive than anticipated. I picked them to lose by 39 points and I’m sure there were many takers on the 32-point spread.

But they still lost by 26 points and were underwhelming throughout most of the game. They get a bye week before gearing up for Auburn.

Overall Grade For The 2018 Season: 2.35 (C)