KNOXVILLE – Tennessee got the easy win its was expecting on Saturday afternoon.
The performance, at least from the offense, left plenty to be desired, though.
The Volunteers were lethargic and sloppy for most of the game and still were never threatened in a 24-0 victory against hapless North Texas in front of 96,197 fans on homecoming at Neyland Stadium.
“There isn’t a ‘U’ behind the ‘W’ that stands for ‘ugly win,'” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said after his team improved to 6-4. “They’re all wins. But we have to go back and we have to get better.”
That is an understatement for an offense that failed to take advantage of a matchup conducive to big numbers and plenty of playing time for the reserves.
The Vols finished with 409 yards of offense against a Mean Green defense that was allowing 541 yards per game and ranked 124th nationally out of 128 FBS teams in total defense.
Tennessee’s 24 points were fewer than Iowa (35 points), Western Kentucky (34), Louisiana Tech (28) and Portland State (45) of the FCS scored in the first half against one-win North Texas.
“I was getting a little frustrated that we weren’t moving the ball,” left tackle Kyler Kerbyson said, “but you’ve really just got to stay positive out there.”
Tennessee eased down the field to score on its opening possession, but missed blocks, poor throws by quarterback Josh Dobbs, a false start penalty and an overall lack of energy made for largely listless performance.
“I think sometimes when you go into a game like this, this is a game of patience,” Jones said. “I think sometimes from a psychological standpoint, you’re trying to get up in a hurry. And I thought we looked up (at the score) instead of just putting our heads down and playing. At times we started to press like, ‘Oh my gosh, (the lead) should be more than that.’
“We didn’t get into a rhythm all day. We have to be in a great rhythm offensively. And I didn’t think we really established a rhythm all day.”
Tennessee started its final three drives of the first half in North Texas territory and scored three points. Dobbs threw an interception inside the 10-yard line just before half. The Vols also couldn’t score after having it first-and-goal at the 9.
“I think it was just some little things,” Kerbyson said. “Certain guys not getting on blocks exactly you want it. Not reading the defense exactly how we want it. Not making a pass or catching a ball or making a cut exactly how you want it. We were close. We were one guy away from getting big gains and big rushing gains and big passing gains – just one little thing away.
“I think we kind of hurt ourselves with that, and it’s definitely something we have to look at it in the film and be able to go from for these next two weeks.”
Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said during the week he didn’t run Dobbs much in the second half against South Carolina, and the quarterback, who appears to be battling an injury that’s impacting him more than he or the team is willing to admit publicly, had just four carries on Saturday.
“It all depends on the game and how it’s going and the plays that are being called,” Dobbs said.
Jones said: “It takes an element out of your offense. Make no mistake about it. But we have to be able to execute it in other phases.”
The sluggish play on offense took attention away from a defense that pitched a shutout and limited how much time some younger reserves, particularly freshman backup quarterback Quinten Dormady, were able to play.
Dormady did not enter the game until five minutes into the fourth quarter.
“I was going to put him in at the end of the first half on the one-minute drive,” Jones said. “I wanted to try to get that rhythm going on offense and didn’t want to disrupt that and wanted to get some momentum.
“We feel comfortable at any stage of the game with Quinten playing.”
The Vols will need to be much better on offense with the stingy defenses of Missouri and Vanderbilt still left on the schedule.
“We trust in everyone on the offense, we trust in the playcalling and we just have to go out there and get it done,” Kerbyson said. “It’s not just X’s and O’s. It’s the blood and flesh and bones of the people that are out there doing it. We have to take that on ourselves to be able to work on that.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.