Lethargic Tennessee Struggles Past Minutemen 17-13

Vols Were Scoreless Over Final 22-Plus Minutes

  • Saturday, September 23, 2017
  • Larry Fleming
Tennessee defensive end Jonathan Kongbo takes aim at UMass quarterback Ross Comis while being held during Saturday's non-conference football game in Knoxville. Kongbo had one of the Vols' seven sacks in a hard-earned 17-13 victory.
Tennessee defensive end Jonathan Kongbo takes aim at UMass quarterback Ross Comis while being held during Saturday's non-conference football game in Knoxville. Kongbo had one of the Vols' seven sacks in a hard-earned 17-13 victory.
photo by Dennis Norwood

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Lethargy was Tennessee’s constant companion here Saturday.

With the Vols’ offense sputtering like an old Ford Pinto hitting on two cylinders, the defense kept winless UMass at bay and Tennessee managed to post an uninspired 17-13 victory before a crowd announced as 95,324, although the in-person total at Neyland Stadium appeared much less.

“At the end of the day it’s all about getting the victory,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said, “but the performance was just flat-out unacceptable.”

The only points Tennessee (3-1) would add came on Aaron Medley’s 40-yard field goal midway through the third quarter.

The Vols went scoreless over the final 22-plus minutes.

“I think it was just execution,” said sophomore wideout Brandon Johnson, who led all receivers with seven catches for 123 yards. “The formula is there. The game plan is there. I just say it comes down to execution.”

After touchdowns by running back John Kelly (12-yard run) and Tyler Byrd’s 8-yard catch in the end zone from quarterback Quinten Dormady, the Vols played like they were content to sit on the lead.

But when UMass, a 28-point underdog and now winless after five games this season, got a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Ford to wide receiver Sadiq Palmer with 2:51 left in the third period, the Vols’ lead was 17-13 and they were sweating. And it wasn’t from the 85-degree heat.

Over the final 15 minutes, it was a struggle for Tennessee just to get a first down. The Vols managed two first downs and never cross the midfield stripe.

However, the Tennessee defense, especially linebackers Quart’e Sapp, Colton Jumper and tackle Kahlil McKenzie, kept the Minutemen out of the end zone as well.

Sapp, in his first college start, led the team with nine tackles. Jumper had 2 ½ sacks and 3 ½ tackles for loss and McKenzie added a sack and 1 ½ tackles for loss.

In all, the Vols were credited with seven sacks, the most since they got seven against Vanderbilt in November 2008.

“(In the second half), we’ve got the offense’s back,” McKenzie said. “We’ve got to get the back for them as much as we can and try to get them going. We were trying to make plays and stop UMass and get them off the field.”

The bottom line Saturday was this: the Vols’ defense played with the passion that wasn’t evident from the offense. A quick look at the statistics might fool some of the disgruntled Tennessee fans that voiced their opinions on radio shows after the game.

“I wouldn’t say it (passion) wasn’t there completely,” defensive end Jonathan Kongbo said. “But it wasn’t the whole game. We need to do a better job, myself as a leader to get the other guys going as well.

“A win is a win, so we’re happy about that. There’s definitely improvement to need to make across the board.”

The Vols need to address the passion problem quickly because nationally ranked Georgia comes to Neyland Stadium next Saturday for a big SEC East game. CBS will televise the action and the kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

Tennessee was coming off a heartbreaking 26-20 loss to Florida when the Gators’ Hail Mary play produced the winning touchdown after time expired.

That’s the same way Tennessee beat Georgia in 2016.

It was obvious the Vols’ Florida hangover effect had not dissipated and the Minutemen’s reputation as a weak opponent failed to prepare Tennessee during practice sessions leading up to Saturday’s contest.

“Everything is about your preparation,” said Jones, who called the week’s practices as mostly “average.” He added: “In today’s world, it’s a challenge every day with outside clutter and distractions.”

Neither team was able to dent the scoreboard in the first 15 minutes.

Vols running back John Kelly ran 12 yards for the game’s first touchdown late in the second period. The score was set up when Dormady fired a strike to Brandon Johnson, who turned the play into a 66-yard gain to the UMass 12.

Kelly’s run capped the four-play, 80-yard drive in 1:44. The SEC’s leading rusher going into Saturday, Kelly finished with 101 yards on 25 carries.

Johnson had seven catches for 123 yards.

UMass countered with a five-play, 75-yard march to paydirt, a drive aided by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Jones that moved the ball to the Vols’ 5. Back-up quarterback Ross Comis scored on the next snap with 2:57 left in the first half.

Dormady, who was 17-for-27 for 187 yards, hit Tyler Byrd in the end zone for a TD with 0:25 on the clock that produced a 14-6 halftime lead.

Dormady gave way to reserve quarterback Jarrett Guarantano in the third quarter, but the redshirt freshman was ineffective, completing 2 of 5 passes for minus-3 yards. He ran three times for 4 yards.

“We were looking for a spark,” Jones said. “We were looking for some energy.”

Running back John Kelly ran for 101 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown.

The Vols, who have won 11 straight games against non-conference opponents, finished with 319 total yards, including 184 passing and 135 rushing.

The Minutemen, who have dropped five games this season by a combined 35 points and never more than 10, admittedly had trouble with the southern heat. At one point in the second half, UMass players were sitting in the midfield portal taking full advantage of the shade.

“It was a tough place to play,” UMass coach Mark Whipple said. “I think the heat zapped both teams a little bit. It was a factor, no question about it. There is no way to prepare for it. We kept looking for clouds to come over, but it never happened.

“I’m proud of the way our guys played. We wanted to get it to a one score game in the fourth quarter, and we did. We just couldn’t make the play that we needed to push us over the top.”

The Minutemen were scoreless over the game’s final 17 minutes.

UMass was held to 281 yards of total offense. Ford was 11 for 17 and 129 yards. Marquis Young rushed for 76 yards on 14 carries. Ford threw to eight different receivers with Andy Isabella had three receptions for 46 yards.

Sapp led the Vols’ with nine tackles. Jumper registered 2 ½ sacks and 3 ½ tackles for loss.

“We have to be a better version of ourselves every week and every day,” McKenzie said. “So, that’s the approach we’re going to have to take going into this week’s game.”

SCORING

UMass                        0 6 7 0 – 13

Tennessee                0 14 3 0 – 17

Second Quarter

UT – John Kelly 12 run (Aaron Medley kick), 4:33

UM – Ross Comis 5 run (kick failed), 2:57

UT – Tyler Byrd 8 pass from Quinten Dormady (Medley kick), 0:25

Third Quarter

UT – FG Medley 40, 7:32

UM – Sadiq Palmer 13 pass from Andrew Ford (Logan Laurent kick), 2:51

Attendance: 95,324

YARDSTICK

                                              UM                  UT

First Downs                           14                    18

Rushes-Yds                          37-144            39-135

Passing Yards                      137                 184

Comp-Att-Int                         13-22-0          19-32-0

Plays-Tot Yds                        59-281            71-319

Fumbles-Lost                        1-0                  2-1

Punts-Avg                              10-40.4          8-48.9

Penalties-Yds                        7-43                5-51

INDIVIDUALS

RUSHING – UMass: Marquis Young 14-85, Bilal Ally 10-49, Andy Isabella 2-44; Tennessee: John Kelly 25-113, Tyler Byrd 1-15, Ty Chandler 5-15, Carlin-Fils-Aime 2-6.

PASSING – UMass: Andrew Ford 11-17-0-129, Ross Comis 2-5-0-8; Tennessee: Quinten Dormady 17-27-0-187, Jarrett Guarantano 2-5-0-minus 3.

RECEIVING – UMass: Isabella 3-46, Sadiq Palmer 3-43, Young 2-20, Jacob Herring 1-14, Jyvon Brown 1-7, Travis Reynolds 1-5, Jessie Britt 1-3, Kyle Horn 1-minus 1; Tennessee: Brandon Johnson 7-123, Byrd 2-21, Ethan Wolf 2-17, Josh Smith 2-10, Kelly 2-minus 9, Chandler 1-11, Josh Palmer 1-6, Jeff George 1-6, Austin Pope 1-minus 1.

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

Linebacker Quart'e Sapp was Tennessee's leading tackler with nine against UMass on Saturday. Sapp had six solo stops and three assists as the Vols' defense held the Minutemen scoreless over the final 17 minutes.
Linebacker Quart'e Sapp was Tennessee's leading tackler with nine against UMass on Saturday. Sapp had six solo stops and three assists as the Vols' defense held the Minutemen scoreless over the final 17 minutes.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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