Offense pulls out win in Vols' situational scrimmage

Tennessee defensive lineman Quay Picou, center left, is pressured by offensive lineman Venzell Boulware (50), as offensive line coach Don Mahoney, left, and head coach Butch Jones, right, watch during spring NCAA college football practice Saturday, April 2, 2016, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. (Adam Lau/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Tennessee defensive lineman Quay Picou, center left, is pressured by offensive lineman Venzell Boulware (50), as offensive line coach Don Mahoney, left, and head coach Butch Jones, right, watch during spring NCAA college football practice Saturday, April 2, 2016, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. (Adam Lau/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

KNOXVILLE - On multiple occasions during Tennessee's football practice Saturday in windy Neyland Stadium, coach Butch Jones asked for "clutch plays" from "clutch players."

It turns out the program's offseason mantra - "searching" for the 25 points that combined to cost the Volunteers five defeats in their last 18 games - is more than just that.

With a handful of students and a couple hundred family members of the players in attendance, situational football was the focus for Tennessee with two- and four-minute drills and overtime scenarios dominating the practice docket.

Those situations came up often for the Vols last season.

"He's saying it a lot, but when you look back at the last five games we've lost over the last two seasons, it's come down to one or two plays that literally have changed the game," quarterback Josh Dobbs said after practice.

"We're just looking for guys that are able to embrace the moment, step up when their number's called and go up and make a play when we need them to as an offense and defense."

Tennessee's offense wound up winning the scrimmage - those players will wear the Smokey Gray helmets and orange jerseys next week in practice as their reward - after both the first and second groups answered the bell in an overtime period in which they were down eight points.

Dobbs scored on a short touchdown run and ran in the two-point conversion after a fourth-down pass-interference penalty extended the series. Wide receiver Vincent Perry then caught the two-pointer after Jayson Sparks scored.

"We have some individuals who are very, very competitive," Jones said, "and Josh is one of those."

Perry was one of the standouts for the offense. Running back Alvin Kamara broke a couple of tackles on a long touchdown run, and John Kelly was productive in increased opportunities. Tight end Ethan Wolf also made some nice plays.

Defensively, Rashaan Gaulden was very active, while Kahlil McKenzie continues to be difficult to block at his defensive tackle position. Corey Vereen had a disruptive day at defensive end. The team was without two cornerbacks, and the absence of a couple of defensive ends meant the second-team line was almost entirely walk-ons.

Linebacker Quart'e Sapp recovered a fumbled handoff in one of the overtime periods.

"It helps a lot," linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. said. "A lot of our mishaps (last season) came up with the situations that we went through today. We're focusing on critical (situations), trying to make those big plays in big moments. That's what we were practicing today."

Tennessee's ground game had a productive afternoon, while the passing game continues to be hit-and-miss, though the windy conditions played a role, particularly on downfield throws.

Jones remains pleased with the progress of the receiving corps and the starting quarterback.

"He's asking all the appropriate questions when it comes to situational football and situational awareness," he said of Dobbs. "Also, his leadership continues to grow and our players believe in him. We've really challenged him from an accuracy standpoint, and he's done a good job. I thought with the wind conditions today, I thought he threw the ball fairly well.

"The one element we've got to continue to work on as a football team is our overall progression of being able to throw and catch the deep ball."

The shorthanded defense started strong with the first-team group producing back-to-back stops, but the offense had the edge from there, though the defense produced a few sacks and the one turnover.

The most notable former Vols in attendance were Eric Berry, Ramon Foster and Inky Johnson, who spoke to the team and their family members, in town for the program's annual family day, on Saturday morning before the situational work began.

"We want to create as many live-game situations as possible," Jones said. "When you do days like this, you can't manufacture these (enough) in practice.

"We had a situation where we had an illegal forward pass, and it was a completed pass. Now you march off the penalty and (the clock) starts on the official. If it would have been an incomplete pass, it would have been a 10-second run-off.

"Those are all end-of-the-game management situations that as a coach you try to manufacture and put your players in those, but really when you have them occur in the live situations, those are tremendous teaching points."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com

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