Jones explains decision to kick extra point

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The first question of Tennessee coach Butch Jones’s postgame news conference in the bowels of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday night was a predictable one.

His Volunteers had just lost to the Gators 28-27, and that one-point difference might have been avoided if Tennessee had gone for a two-point conversion after Jalen Hurd’s second touchdown run made it 26-14 with 10:19 to go.

“We were discussing that prior to the drive, if we did score, whether we’d go for one or two,” Jones explained. “We have a chart that’s pretty standard in football that kind of maps it out. We just felt at that stage of the game we had great confidence in our defense of getting off the football field and (not) allowing them to push the ball down the field.

“We felt very comfortable with that decision.”

The decision not to go for two came back to bite the Vols after Florida picked up three fourth-down conversions, the last a 63-yard touchdown catch-and-run on third-and-14, on its two touchdown drives in the final frame.

The Gators had 145 yards of offense in the fourth quarter after totaling 247 in the first three.

Florida converted more times on fourth down (five) than on third down (three) Saturday.

“We’ve just got to find a way of finishing on fourth down better,” Vols linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. “It’s been kind of an Achilles’ heel on us all year, not being able to get off the field on fourth down. We’ve just got to prepare for that.

“Our fourth-down focus has to be a lot better. We’ve been great on third down and terrible on fourth down. It’s just being prepared to play four downs. We’ve just got to have that mentality.”

Prior to its late heroics, Florida picked up two first downs on fourth downs following Tennessee timeouts. The Gators ran the punt team out prior to one in the second quarter and converted when Will Grier hit Jake McGee for a 13-yard gain. They also lined up for a field goal in the third quarter, and Grier hit Brandon Powell for a 21-yard gain to set up a touchdown.

Jones said the Vols called one because they expected a fake and the other to make sure they had the right personnel on the field.

The decision to kick the extra point up 12, however, was the big one that came back to bite Jones and Tennessee.

“It has a time frame as well. Where we’re at in the game, you get one stop and it’s irrelevant,” he said. “But we take all that into consideration. That’s the decision we made. That’s the choice that we made.”

Passing (not so) fancy

Tennessee had by far its best day running the ball against Florida it’s had since Travis Stephens gained 226 yards in the Vols’ win here in 2001, but the passing game left plenty to be desired.

Dobbs completed just 10 passes, and Tennessee receivers combined to catch three passes for 17 yards as tight end Ethan Wolf and running back Alvin Kamara led the team with three receptions apiece. Tennessee had 165 passing yards, but roughly half of it (82 yards) came on trick plays.

“We were successful, for the most part, in the pass game,” Dobbs said. “There’s always a couple of throws you want back, but we were successful. The last drive showed it. We were able to get the ball in opposing territory to kick a field goal.”

Bumps and bruises

Cornerback Cameron Sutton left the locker room after the game with a bag of ice on his mouth and face, and defensive end Derek Barnett walked to the team bus with ice on his left knee after missing part of the second half.

The Vols were without wide receiver Pig Howard, their leading receiver in each of the past two years. The senior did not make the trip. Jones said earlier in the week Howard tweaked an ankle and would be limited while “nursing some things.”

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com