Vols Late Rally Falls Short Against Auburn

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Tennessee-Auburn 1999 Bonus Video 

As a lifelong Tennessee fan, I'll have to admit I don't think that I can remember such a desperate time in Big Orange Country. I was there in 1977 when Johnny Majors stepped onto the field for the first time at UT head coach and it was obvious that we had a supportive fan base that was excited about the future of Tennessee football.   

Whatever excitement that seemed to have been generated by the hiring of Lane Kiffin seems to be dissipating fast in light of the disappointing losses of 2009, not to mention, some are wondering if Tennessee will earn an SEC victory this season.  

Auburn, also in rebuilding mode, came out with an exciting, imaginative offensive game plan that Tennessee never got a handle on leading to a 26-22 victory over Tennessee Saturday night.   

There has been a lot of talk as to why Tennessee is struggling to show progress on the gridiron.

Theories include:   Kiffin is not as good as advertised and that he is getting out-coached by his SEC counterparts.  

The Tennessee team is so devoid of talent that even the use of smoke and mirrors could not mask the obvious deficiencies on this years roster.  

This year is a re-building year, a year in which you have a new system to be learned, and it is going to take time for all the players to get on the same page with the coaches and improvement will come later. 

Whichever theory you choose to subscribe too, it was obvious last night that Auburn is ahead in their rebuilding efforts. Although the game was close late in the fourth quarter, it seems to me that Auburn let a couple of chances at the knockout get away from them.

Had the Tigers punched it into the end zone on a couple of occasions deep in Tennessee territory, this game could have been a route.  You do have to give Tennessee's defensive players some credit though, they did play with several injured defenders and they did have something to do with the Tigers not making into the end zone in the third quarter.  

Personally, I believe that Saturday evenings game proved that Tennessee does have some athletes, just not enough to compete for championships in the rugged SEC.  

The Good:
Right tackle Aaron Douglas making his second career start looked really good for a freshman. He blocked well for the run and also did an excellent job in pass protection. He wasn’t perfect, but for a freshman he minimized his mistakes and did his job.  

The offensive line played its best game of the season in my opinion. Good pass protection and they also opened some nice holes in the running game.  

Monterio Hardesty: Although not at 100% physically Monterio ran as hard as he has all season. He made some nice moves and continues to display good field vision. This guy gets every yard he can get. Hardesty finished with 90 yards on 21 carries. Middle Linebacker

Savion Frazier finished the game with 11 total tackles. For a freshman making his first start I think he played about as well as you could expect.  

Rico McCoy played a heck of a game in run support and was flying all over field chasing down Auburn receivers. He does continue on occasion to have trouble in pass coverage. Of course, much of that can be contributed to the zone which the Vols used quite a bit Saturday night.  Gerald Jones who could be listed in the good and bad category finally showed up by catching 7 passes for 75 yards.  

NuKeese Richardson did a nice job on kickoff returns. He managed 90 yards on 4 returns. The best the Vols have done this season to date. 

The Bad:
Much has been said about Tennessee’s woes at the quarterback position and Crompton did struggle again, but he did not get much help from his receivers, especially in the first half.

Denarius Moore just continues to drop passes that hit him right between the numbers and I don’t think anyone could put into words the frustration that Crompton must have felt after watching the performance of Quintin Hancock in the first half.  

Tennessee’s defense may not be as bad as it looked at times. The Vol offense left the Big Orange D on the field way too much. Although the defenders would tell you that it is their job to get off the field on 3^rd down, they simply did not make the plays needed to win this game. The Vols allowed Auburn to rack up 459 total yards.  

Rushing Defense:
Ben Tate bludgeoned the Vol defense for 135 yards averaging 5.1 yards per carry. 

The kick coverage was a disaster, no need to go into detail. Auburn had three big returns over 30 yards and one that put the final nail in the coffin.