Tennessee Football Report Card: Grading the Vols vs Appalachian State

Sep 1, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey during the second half against the Appalachian State Mountaineers at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won in overtime 20 to 13. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee football survived a 20-13 overtime victory in Week One over the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Here are the grades for the Volunteers’ units.

It was an ugly game all the way around, but the Vols pulled it out. Tennessee football gave its fans a scare with a 20-13 overtime home victory over Appalachian State Thursday night.

Given the fact that this is a team that beat the Michigan Wolverines in 2007, finished 11-2 in the Sun Belt last year, and returned a ton of talent, the win is not too embarrassing for the Vols.

But when you need a fumble recovery in the end zone in overtime to win the game, there are some serious issues.

As we get set to grade the Vols in all of their performances, it’s hard to determine which unit was decent.

After all, these guys struggled in every way possible in what could have been one of the ugliest victories in school history.

This game was the first game since 2006 that Tennessee football played in the Top 10. The Vols will likely drop out of that Top 10 ranking after this week.

It was reminiscent of their 17-10 opening day victory over the UAB Blazers in 2005 when they started the year ranked No. 3 in the country.

Yes, Appalachian State is a tough team. Yes, they will make the Vols look good with their play down the stretch this year.

No, they did not have any business hanging tough in this game the way they did. And it has left a lot to be concerned about among the Vols.

Here are the grades for each of the Tennessee football units against Appalachian State.

Sep 1, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Josh Malone (3) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Appalachian State Mountaineers during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won in overtime 20 to 13. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive Grades

Quarterback: D

Joshua Dobbs should get an F. He had a fumble, a terrible interception, and an awful stat line, going 16 of 29 for only 192 yards.

Meanwhile, he was no threat on the grounds, constantly made poor decisions, and was wildly inconsistent in terms of accuracy.

However, he did make some key clutch plays that warrant credit. Dobbs did have the nice bomb to Josh Malone for a touchdown. He also had a couple of nice runs down the stretch to set the Vols up for scores.

Running Backs: B-

Tennessee football faced a Top 25 rush defense that returned six of its seven starters from a year ago. Naturally, the Vols would struggle as a result, especially with them breaking in a new left tackle and facing a complex 3-4 defense.

Still, Jalen Hurd was the workhorse he always is,picking up 110 yards on the ground 28 carries. Alvin Kamara added 21 yards on six carries along with 20 yards on three receptions. Hurd had a six-yard reception.

Hurd also saved the Vols in overtime by recovering Dobbs’s fumble in the end zone in overtime. Was this an elite performance by the backs? No.

But it was more than good enough for them to earn praise.

Offensive Line: F

If there was such thing as an F-, the Tennessee football offensive line would have earned it. This unit was atrocious all night.

Drew Richmond struggling against a complex 3-4 is one thing. But the whole unit struggled. That is unforgivable. Brett Kendrick had a terrible holding penalty. And Coleman Thomas flat-out collapsed at center, missing multiple blocks, causing blatantly bad snaps, and creating far too many penalties.

This was by far the worst unit of the night, and they deserve no passes. Heck, they couldn’t block well enough to create nice passes.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B

It’s hard to give a certain grade to the Tennessee football receiving corps. However, what is true is that despite an atrocious offensive line and terrible quarterback play, the Vols receivers still managed to make huge plays.

Josh Malone came away with the huge touchdown reception in regulation, Ethan Wolf was a model of consistency, and Preston Williams and Josh Smith found some lanes. Overall, this unit played well. They just had a lot to deal with. Drops by Williams and Smith keep this from being an A.

Overall Offensive Grade: D

The skill players may have played nicely, but the terrible play of Joshua Dobbs and the offensive line was unacceptable. As a result, this unit earns a D.

Sep 1, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers defensive back Cameron Sutton (23) motions to the crowd during the second half against the Appalachian State Mountaineers at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won in overtime 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Defensive Grades

Defensive Line: C

The Tennessee football defensive line play against the Appalachian State Mountaineers was a mixed bag. The Vols were fine at end, particularly with Derek Barnett and Corey Vereen getting pressure.

Meanwhile, Kendal Vickers was a playmaker in the middle. However, this unit was overall mediocre. They constantly got fooled on misdirection plays, and they constantly had trouble stopping Marcus Cox and Taylor Lamb. Sure, they made some nice plays, but Bob Shoop didn’t earn his money here. That’s why we give this unit a C.

Linebackers: D-

Tennessee football gets a bit of a break here. We already knew they were thin at linebacker. Jalen Reeves-Maybin’s ejection only made that worse.

Still, there’s no way around this. The Vols struggled all night here, getting fooled worse than the defensive line on running plays. Darrin Kirkland Jr. only had nine tackles, along with Reeves-Mabin’s replacement in Cortez McDowell. However, neither did anything of significance.

Secondary: B

Most defensive secondaries would kill for a stat line in any game that includes holding a team to 108 yards and forcing an interception.

Such was the case for the Vols against Taylor Lamb.

However, even with the Cameron Sutton interception, the Vols made plenty of mistakes here. They blew a coverage in the flats to allow a huge touchdown. And they always allowed key plays that kept the Mountaineers on the field.

This unit is still good, and it was good in this game. But it could have been better.

Overall Defensive Grade: C

This could be considered unfair considering the fact that the Appalachian State Mountaineers were held to just two scores and one was off a turnover.

But they still drove into Tennessee territory three other times, and they had complete control of the clock. Because of the failures mostly at linebacker, Scott Satterfield could control the tempo of the game. It almost cost the Vols.

Therefore, this unit gets a C.

Sep 1, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Appalachian State Mountaineers defensive back Alex Gray (3) recovers a fumbled punt in front of Tennessee Volunteers defensive back Cameron Sutton (23) during the first quarter at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Kicking: A

There wasn’t much too this, but Aaron Medley’s clutch gene and consistency were enough. He nailed a a short kick and a 39-yard field goal, and both were crucial in this game.

Meanwhile, on kickoffs, Medley never let the Mountaineers get past the 20 yard line. He also was perfect on extra points. All of these things were a fundamental difference from Appalachian State’s kicking situation, and it hugely affected the game. As a result, Medley deserves credit for his performance here.

Punting: B-

It seemed like Tennessee was forced to punt all game, but Trevor Daniel picked up right where he left off.

In terms of power, Daniel booted six punts for an impressive 295 yards, averaging over 49 yards per punt. That was huge in this game since Appalachian State tried to control the clock and field position.

Tennessee football could continue its tradition of Punter U as well. However, this only gets a B- due to the factors outside of power. Daniel only had a net average of 38 yards after he had one punt for a touchback and Appalachian State returned one punt into Tennessee territory. Overall, though, it was a decent performance.

Return Game: F

Are the Vols already missing Mark Elder? They may be. After the first drive, Cameron Sutton set the tempo of the game by fumbling a punt.

It doesn’t matter that Evan Berry returned a kickoff past the 40. A return fumble automatically meets a failure in special teams. On top of that, Sutton had another return called back for an illegal block.

Therefore, we give this unit an automatic F.

Overall Special Teams Grade: D

The place-kicking was fine, but it was nothing special. Trevor Daniel’s power was there as well at punter.

But Daniel failed to change field position the way he usually does, and the return game nearly cost the Vols. As a result, this unit gets a D, and Larry Scott has some work to do before Virginia Tech.

Sep 1, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones during the first quarter against the Appalachian State Mountaineers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Coaching: F

Butch Jones deserves credit for keeping his players from panicking. Bob Shoop did a decent job as defensive coordinator really only holding the Appalachian State Mountaineers to one score.

However, Jones still struggled all night to get his team more energetic. And Shoop got outsmarted on too many misdirection plays.

On top of both of those things, Mike DeBord deserves a big fat F for his playcalling. Against a team with a loaded and complex 3-4 defense, he failed to take advantage of Appalachian State’s one weakness: the secondary.

This unit was awful and only helped by the front seven. The only time he elected to take a shot against that group, it resulted in a touchdown pass. Why did he fail to do that more often?

These questions are why the coaching gets such a failure performance. Jones also blew all three timeouts in the first half.

However, like we said, Jones and Shoop made questionable decisions all night. The real blame for this epic collapse was DeBord. He was so beyond predictable on his running plays and out routes that the Vols should have had three more turnovers.

When you put it altogether, even the nice things Jones and Shoop did can’t get this overall grade from being an F. The whole staff failed miserably to have this team ready to play, and it almost cost them.

That could have been the first step to costing Jones his job to. As it is, he survived to keep all the goals of this program alive.

But the pressure is even greater than it was before.