Kahlil McKenzie (99) tackles a Ohio ballcarrier. The Ohio University Bobcats visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium in a non-conference NCAA football game on Saturday September 17, 2016. KNOXVILLE – For weeks now, Tennessee’s coaches and players have stressed the importance of starting games faster.
The Volunteers have yet to turn the talking into action, but after four comeback wins in five games, perhaps fast starts simply aren’t in this team’s DNA.
Instead Tennessee seems to thrive when it’s pushed into desperation mode by a healthy first-half deficit, as evidenced by the Vols overcoming 62 combined points in deficits to beat Appalachian State, Virginia Tech, Florida and Georgia.
Last season the Vols struggled to finish games, and so far this season they struggle starting them.
“We’re the hunted team now,” defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie said Tuesday. “I think last year we would come out swinging, because we were trying to get after everybody we played. Being that kind of underdog kind of put us in this position, where now everybody wants to play us and wants to give us their best shot.
“Now it’s just transitioning to how we prepare for teams knowing they want to come after us and all that type of stuff. It’s just about playing better off the bat, knowing teams are going to give us their all. We’ve got to match that intensity, because clearly we can. We’ve shown that in second halves of games.
“It’s just about coming out not stooping to our opponent’s level, playing our style of football and our brand of football and putting it on teams early.”
Tennessee certainly would enhance its chances of winning at eighth-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday with its best start of the season. The ninth-ranked Vols were outscored by 26 points (77-51) in the first halves of their first five games. Opponents have outscored Tennessee 41-10 in the first quarters.
The 5-0 Vols outscored those same opponents 107-38 in the second halves and 76-21 in the fourth quarters and overtime.
Coach Butch Jones often uses the term “resiliency” to describe his team, but perhaps it’s more accurate that Tennessee clicks into desperation mode when its back is against the wall.
“Obviously we don’t want to be in those situations, but when you are down, you kind of have to look at yourself in the mirror,” quarterback Josh Dobbs said. “You just have to go out and play from there. You can’t really think about the hype or going out and making mistakes. You’re down, you just go out and play and make plays to get your team back in the game.
“I think that’s kind of where the team gets it. We’re a very competitive team. It obviously has shown throughout the season. Obviously we have to do some things better not to be in those drastic situations, but that competitiveness is something you can’t really take from us. We’re going to fight for 60 minutes to get the victory.”
Jones said Monday he’s spoken to “anyone and everyone,” including sports and performance psychologists, about his team’s slow starts. The coach said the Vols were “nonchalant” in the first half against Georgia, and they appeared to play tight against longtime nemesis Florida. The problems likely just come down to execution.
Defensively Tennessee is allowing an average of 213 yards in the first half and 146.8 yards in the second half, while on offense the Vols, which didn’t scored in the first quarter against their three Power Five conference opponents, average 159.2 yards before halftime and 222.4 after the break.
“The only person who can defeat us is us,” McKenzie said. “When we’re not playing 100 miles per hour, when we’re not playing together, we suffer. We saw that in the first half and throughout the game a little bit, that when we weren’t playing 11 men all together functioning as one, we suffered at times.
“I promise we want to just be beating teams from start to finish.”
After beating Georgia on a Hail Mary and losing only three of its 15 fumbles, Tennessee has been labeled by some a “team of destiny,” but the Vols know they can’t keep counting on such fortune and their rallying ability.
“It gives you confidence,” Dobbs said. “But it also raises the question of if you can do it when you’re down 14, why can’t you just do it from the beginning of the game? It might change the whole outcome and complexion of the game.
“That’s what we’re trying to get across and that’s what we’re trying to understand is we need to come out stronger in the first half and not make uncharacteristic mistakes in the first half to put us in large deficits we have to fight out of, and just come out and execute from the beginning of the game and play a full 60-minute game.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.