NASHVILLE – The University of Tennessee finished its first season under football coach Jeremy Pruitt in uninspiring fashion Saturday, losing 38-13 to Vanderbilt in front of 35,887 at Vanderbilt Stadium.
The Volunteers finished 5-7 – they went 2-6 against Southeastern Conference competition – which was a one-game improvement from the 2017 campaign that was the program’s worst in terms of losses and ended the tenure of Butch Jones. But for the second straight year, the Vols fell shy of the six wins needed for bowl eligibility.
Vanderbilt senior quarterback Kyle Shurmur completed his first 15 passes of the game, including a touchdown throw to Jared Pinkney on the Commodores’ second possession. The Commodores led 17-0 by halftime, but the Vols cut into the lead on the third quarter’s first play from scrimmage when Ty Chandler took a handoff and went 75 yards untouched for a score.
Vanderbilt’s Ryley Guay missed a 20-yard field goal on the Commodores’ next possession, but the Vols weren’t able to capitalize and the Commodores eventually pulled away.
Here are three observations from the game:
Slow start killer: Missed tackles, missed assignments and lackluster play pretty much summarized the Vols’ first half against Vanderbilt. Shurmur had only one incompletion in a 165-yard first half, which masked the fact that Tennessee actually did a decent job against the run. But the Vols’ offense was poor, with 85 yards in the first 30 minutes, and they were never able to mount a quality offensive possession, running only one of their 26 first-half plays in Commodores territory.
No balance on offense: Chandler’s 75-yard touchdown run to start the second half gave the Vols some life offensively – as did a 19-yard run by Tim Jordan on the first play of the ensuing drive – but that was followed by three consecutive pass plays gaining 5 yards and a punt. The next two drives also resulted in three-and-outs, and while the defense had played well in the second half, the Vols on that side of the ball grew tired, which led to a back-breaking drive by the Commodores to put the game away.
Plenty of time to think about it: The Vols had an opportunity in an up-and-down season for a special finish, one that was in parts improbable considering the struggles the team had. But they never were able to muster up the consistency needed to pull off what would have been a big win on the road, and now the focus turns to recruiting and building. Pruitt has constantly said he needs better players in the program, and now he gets his first chance to show what he can do with a full year on the trail.
This is developing coverage. For more, check back later and see Sunday’s Times Free Press.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley and on facebook.com/VolsUpdate.