Vanderbilt's Kyle Shurmur (14) passes over Tennessee's Corey Vereen (50). The Tennessee Volunteers visited the Vanderbilt Commodores in a cross-state rivalry at Dudley Stadium on November 26, 2016. NASHVILLE - As defensive coordinator Bob Shoop went to grab a drink of water before the start of the second half of Tennessee's game at Vanderbilt on Saturday night, he shook his head and rolled his eyes.
It was that kind of game - again - for the Volunteers on defense.
After allowing 863 rushing yards in wins against Kentucky and Missouri the past two games, 17th-ranked Tennessee simply couldn't stop Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur from lighting them up through the air.
The sophomore obliterated his previous career high for passing yards in a game with 384 yards through three quarters and ended up with 416. His previous best was 279 yards against Western Kentucky earlier this season.
"There was a number of times we were right there in position," Vols coach Butch Jones, "and we just didn't play the ball in the air, whether it was a wrong hand, slipping and falling down. Sometimes applying pressure to the quarterback. I think it was a combination of all those things."
Vanderbilt receiver Trent Sherfield had receptions of 76 and 32 yards, Caleb Scott hauled in passes for 45- and 40-yard gains and tight ends Jared Pinkney and Sam Dobbs got loose for receptions of 28 and 20 yards, the latter a touchdown in the second quarter.
The Commodores had two 100-yard receivers (Sherfield and Scott) by halftime and went over the 500-yard mark for total offense on a go-ahead touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter before finishing with 608.
Kentucky lit up Tennessee for 635 yards and Missouri rolled up 740, the most ever allowed by the Vols.
"It's embarrassing," defensive tackle Kendal Vickers said. "We've got to do something to fix it. Like Derek (Barnett) said, we've got this bowl game coming up so we can fix all the mistakes we did.
"But it's embarrassing and we've got to fix it."
Tennessee entered the game seventh in the SEC in pass defense and hadn't allowed a 300-yard passer until Missouri's Drew Lock threw for 320 yards last week.
The Vols allowed just two teams (Florida and Missouri) to pass for 250 yards before Shurmur picked apart a secondary whose greatest issues this season have been defending 50-50 downfield shots and tackling in run support.
Tennessee's SEC-worst run defense actually held up surprisingly well against Vanderbilt for most of the game, but Ralph Webb, who passed Zac Stacy and become Vanderbilt's all-time leading rusher in the first half, finished with 114 yards and two touchdowns.
"I'll start when we get home tonight and see what we need to do to get better," Jones said. "I love our players and they are giving everything that they have. Again, I'll address it like I have, but I have some time now, coupled with recruiting, but I'll constantly evaluate it."
Gaulden's busy start
Nobody had a busier start to the game than Tennessee nickel cornerback Rashaan Gaulden.
Playing just up the road from his alma mater - Independence High School in Franklin - the redshirt sophomore dropped a sure interception-and-touchdown after fellow midstate product Derek Barnett deflected Shurmur's pass right to him.
Three plays later, Vanderbilt tied the game at 7.
On the opening series, Gaulden was flagged for pass interference on third down to extend Vanderbilt's drive, though the Vols got a fourth-down stop.
Gaulden later knifed into the backfield to set up fellow Nashville product Kyle Phillips' tackle for loss and also had a pair of big hits, one in pass coverage and the other on the kickoff coverage team.
Shoop has praised Gaulden throughout the season for being one of the most consistent players on a struggling defense decimated by injuries.
Safety squeeze
Starting safety Todd Kelly Jr. was in uniform and went through warmups before Saturday night's game, and it looked like he was going to miss his second straight game with an ankle injury suffered against Kentucky.
Instead he started the second half.
Freshman Nigel Warrior started in Kelly's absence against Missouri, but sophomore Stephen Griffin drew the start against Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt threw two long completions over Griffin's head for gains of 28 and 45 yards in the first half, while fellow safety Micah Abernathy had an interception that led to a Tennessee touchdown and had a near pass break-up turn into a touchdown for the Commodores.
Line it up
Tennessee was without starting right tackle Chance Hall for a third straight game, while center/guard Dylan Wiesman (ankle) was healthy enough to be in uniform and go through pregame warmups.
The Vols stuck with the same starting lineup up front, though, with (left to right) Drew Richmond, Jashon Robertson, Coleman Thomas, Venzell Boulware and Brett Kendrick going the distance.
The lineup helped Tennessee to another explosive game on offense, though Kendrick was flagged for a false start and Richmond gave up a killer sack on the opening series of the third quarter.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.