Sloppy Vols hurt by a couple of key calls in 29-16 loss to Florida
Let's get this out of the way quickly: Tennessee played poorly and deserved the 29-16 loss that they were handed by the Florida Gators on Saturday night. The Vols shot themselves in the foot repeatedly with penalties (10 for 79 yards), missed tackles (most notably Kamal Hadden's dreadful tackle "attempt" on Trevor Etienne's 62-yard touchdown […]
Let's get this out of the way quickly: Tennessee played poorly and deserved the 29-16 loss that they were handed by the Florida Gators on Saturday night.
The Vols shot themselves in the foot repeatedly with penalties (10 for 79 yards), missed tackles (most notably Kamal Hadden's dreadful tackle "attempt" on Trevor Etienne's 62-yard touchdown run), and poor offensive line play. It was a failure on both sides of the ball for much of the night.
However, Tennessee's efforts to try to climb back from a 26-7 halftime deficit in the third quarter were negatively affected by a couple of head-scratching moments from the officials.
After starting the half with a field goal to pull to 26-10, the Vols were in their typical hurry-up offense on their second drive and had marched from their 21 to Florida's 15-yard line in a little over two minutes. After a Jaylen Wright run on 3rd and 3 gained 2, the Vols hurried to the line of scrimmage to run a quick 4th down play, with the gassed Gators defense on its heels.
Suddenly, the official kicked the ball. Although it appeared inadvertent, the ball was re-spotted and the play paused momentarily, all to Josh Heupel's chagrin and disbelief. The Gators were allowed to substitute in two fresh defensive linemen due to the gaffe and were able to stuff Wright on 4th and 1.
"I guess the official kicked the ball, moved the ball, then re-spotted it," Heupel said after the game. "Then they allowed them to (substitute) on that."
When asked if he knew if there is a rule on that, Heupel responded: "it's been a long time since I've seen an official kick the ball. You've got to go check the rule book."
On the following possession, the Vols were again driving, and Joe Milton dumped the ball off to Jabari Small on 2nd and 13, which he took up the sideline for a first down well into Florida territory. However, a block by TE McCallan Castles was flagged for an illegal blindside block, which baffled the entire broadcast crew. It appeared that Castles had gotten his head in front of the defender and had laid off hitting him as hard as he could have.
Instead of a first down with momentum, the Vols were pushed back into 2nd and 27, which would ultimately end with a failed fourth down attempt on 4th and 6. Two big decisions by the officials, two crushing results for the Vols.
Tennessee fans should point their fingers no further than at their own team for an especially dreadful first half that saw them down 26-7. You can't expect to fall down that far and win many games, especially on the road in a hostile environment.
However, it's also fair for Vol fans to point their fingers at the officiating for affecting the Vols' attempts to get back in the game with some very questionable decisions.
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Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
