Jeremy Pruitt wants Vols to be more physical

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / BYU defenders reach for Tennessee running back Ty Chandler during Saturday night's game at Neyland Stadium.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / BYU defenders reach for Tennessee running back Ty Chandler during Saturday night's game at Neyland Stadium.
photo Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / BYU defenders reach for Tennessee running back Ty Chandler during Saturday night's game at Neyland Stadium.

KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee Volunteers showed a lot of progress on offense in their second game of the season.

When progress still doesn't equal overall success, though, sometimes it's a sobering reality of where one stands.

In a 29-26 double-overtime loss to BYU on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium, the Vols were dominant offensively - on one half of the field. Unfortunately for them it was their half, and the problems unearthed in a season-opening 38-30 loss to Georgia State re-emerged against the Cougars.

Through two games, the Vols have run 78 plays in opponents' territory, eight more than in Tennessee territory. While they have averaged 7.2 yards per play in their territory, that numbers dips to 4.1 after crossing the 50-yard line.

Tennessee ran 42 plays in BYU territory but managed only 148 yards on those plays, and the scoreboard results reflected the lack of success. The Vols had to settle for four Brent Cimaglia field goals (from 51, 39, 22 and 40 yards), with their two touchdowns coming on passes from Jarrett Guarantano to Jauan Jennings - a 5-yarder on the game's first possession and a 13-yarder in the first extra period.

The Vols' red-zone production offers more evidence of just bad things were. Tennessee had 12 opportunities to score from inside the Cougars' 20-yard line but managed only 36 yards. Considering half of those came on the two touchdown passes from Guarantano to Jennings, the other 10 plays gained a combined 18 yards, with one a turnover on downs and another a field goal.

photo Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Tennessee junior Brent Cimaglia kicks a 39-yard field goal against BYU during Saturday night's game at Neyland Stadium.

If Tennessee had turned any of those opportunities into a touchdown, BYU (1-1) would not have had the chance to settle for a field goal to force overtime - the Cougars were able to get into kicking range thanks to a 64-yard completion in the final seconds of regulation - and later have Ty'Son Williams get a huge push from his offensive line into the end zone for the winning touchdown.

The Vols host the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (1-1) at noon Saturday before opening Southeastern Conference play a week later at Florida, and after the loss to BYU, second-year Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt identified one area that will be addressed.

"We've got to be more physical," Pruitt said. "We've got to knock them off the ball. We don't have really big backs. We've got guys that weigh 200 pounds or 190 pounds. We've got to knock them back. We've got to have awareness of the down and distance.

"Tonight I thought there were three times on either third or fourth down where there was just a little bit to go that the guy with the ball in his hands didn't finish the run the right way. You've got to have awareness of where the sticks are. Sometimes you've got to be your own blocker."

The Cougars provided a lesson to the Vols even as they stunned them and the home crowd.

"For the teams that are good in the red zone, lots of times they'll line up and run through everybody, kind of like that team just did to us on that last play," Pruitt said. "Right now, we're not knocking people off the ball. We ran the ball, and we ran stretch plays. When you get down in the red area, everybody tightens it down. The windows are not as big for the throws. There are more guys closer to the line of scrimmage. You've got to get a hat on a hat. You've got to knock people off the ball. You can't have missed assignments, and the back has to make one miss down there."

Outside of BYU's 30, Tennessee had 212 yards on 33 carries for 6.4 yards per rush; inside the 30, those numbers dipped to 30 on 16 for 1.9.

Tennessee junior Ty Chandler, who has averaged 6.3 yards per carry this season, totaled 154 yards on 26 rushes against the Cougars. None of those runs crossed the goal line, though.

"We just have to finish," Chandler said. "We have to have the willpower to get the ball in the end zone. That's the biggest thing. We need to finish in the end zone, no matter how it gets done."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.

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