Tennessee’s struggles on the offensive line during Saturday night’s 19-14 loss at Arkansas overshadowed another disappointing aspect for the Volunteers.
The secondary had its worst outing of the season.
“We just didn’t execute,” Vols redshirt junior safety Jakobe Thomas said this week in a news conference. “I think we prepared really well for that receiving corps last week, and we went into the game prepared very well, but we just didn’t execute. We didn’t stick to the code.
“We just didn’t play like ourselves.”
Tennessee entered Fayetteville having not allowed more than 186 aerial yards in any of its first four games. That changed abruptly, as the Razorbacks completed 21 of 30 passes for 297 yards.
Three Arkansas receivers — Andrew Armstrong, Isaiah Sategna and Tyrone Broden — had gains of at least 22 yards, with Sategna’s 23-yard reception occurring down the middle of the field less than four minutes into the contest to set the tone for Tennessee’s struggles on the defensive back end.
“There were some open guys in zone coverages, but we’ve got to do a better job of tackling,” Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez said Tuesday. “That’s the first thing that shows up when you’re playing in the perimeter. We have to be elite in the perimeter game no matter what kind of offense we’re facing. We can’t have yards after the catch.
“They caught some balls in one-on-one situations. We didn’t win the one-on-ones that we’ve been winning. Arkansas is a good football team, and they deserved to win, but we’ve got to play better. We feel like there was a lot of stuff that was us.”
The Vols continued to regroup Tuesday from last weekend’s inaugural setback while preparing for Saturday night’s showdown (7 on ESPN) against Florida inside a checkerboarded Neyland Stadium.
When asked about Tennessee’s struggles with completions down the middle, Thomas said, “They attacked some of our zones, and they hit some. There is not much to say about it, but they hit us in weak spots. We weren’t in the right spots when we needed to be in the right spots, and we gave up a couple of explosive plays. We need to get those things fixed, because teams are going to attack those spots for us now.”
The most surprising completion the Vols allowed all night was when Arkansas faced a third-and-15 from inside their own 1-yard line early in the second quarter and Taylen Green found running back Ja’Quinden Jackson up the right sideline for 26 yards. Moments earlier, Tennessee had come within a whisker of producing a safety for the third straight game.
“I think we did some things well, but there are a lot of things that need to get corrected,” Vols redshirt junior safety Andre Turrentine said Tuesday. “We didn’t play to the standard that a Tennessee defense would like to play to, and we’re focused on correcting those mistakes and upping those standards.”
Tennessee’s secondary was the most uncertain position area before the season after six defensive backs with eligibility remaining on last year’s team entered the transfer portal. The Vols used the portal to acquire Thomas and cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Jalen McMurray, but it was still an inexperienced collection, especially in terms of playing together.
No individual position was more in question at the beginning of the season than the “star,” which has been occupied by junior Christian Harrison and freshman Boo Carter from Bradley Central.
“We knew there were going to be some growing pains going through it,” Martinez said, “but I think we’ve done a really good job of mixing Christian and Boo and their strengths. Neither one of them have played this position here. Christian was a corner.
“They have strengths, and they’ve proven it in games, and they’re continually growing. You can only gain experience by playing, so they’re gaining confidence.”
Spurrier weighs in
Former Florida coach Steve Spurrier, who guided the Gators to an 8-4 record against the Vols during his 12 seasons with the Gators from 1990-2001, was asked Tuesday about this weekend’s game on a podcast hosted by former Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley.
“We’re certainly capable of beating Tennessee,” Spurrier said. “If Arkansas can beat them, we can beat them.”
Taking it hard
Senior tight end Miles Kitselman was asked how redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava is handling his first defeat as Tennessee’s starting quarterback.
“As you can imagine, Nico is pretty torn up,” Kitselman said. “He’s trying to put a lot of blame on himself. I’ve put a lot of blame on myself as well.
“The biggest thing right now is keeping each other up and being positive and trying to learn from the mistakes we had.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.