‘There’s really no acceptable answer’ – Former Vols coach calls out costly choice by Tennessee’s coaching staff that cost UT against South Carolina
The Tennessee Volunteers made a few blunders in their loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday in Columbia.
Tennessee had three touchdowns erased due to penalties in their 27-24 loss to South Carolina.
One of the touchdowns that got called back was an absolute dime from quarterback George MacIntyre to wide receiver Mike Matthews.
A flag was thrown on the play for an ineligible receiver downfield. The player was true freshman wide receiver Tyreek King, who moved up to the line of scrimmage just before the snap, which made him ineligible.
Former Vols assistant coach Doug Matthews questioned why King, who hadn’t played a snap in any of Tennessee’s previous SEC games this season, was in the game in that situation (just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter).
“One of those touchdown passes was called back because we had a receiver who lined up — he was the inside receiver — and should have been off the ball,” said Matthews on Big Orange Sunday. “He lined up on the line of scrimmage, and he went downfield. It was a touchdown pass. It was called back because he was a covered receiver. That’s not good.
“But here’s the other part of it. Number 19, I’m not going to mention his name — he is a freshman wide receiver. He had not played a single snap in the previous four conference games. So the question that I would ask when I was in the staff room afterwards is, ‘What was he doing in the ball game?’ Who put a young man in a ball game — a true freshman who is probably going to be a really good player — why do you put a guy in the ball game, who has not played in a single conference game, in a crucial part of the ball game?”
“I don’t blame the young man,” continued Matthews. “I blame whoever put him in the ball game. It’s little things like that. And if I’m the head football coach, which I never was, or if I was the offensive coordinator, which I never was, I’d want to know (who put him in the game). And I guarantee you, this will be brought up by some coach when you have those staff meetings after the ball game.
“… Somebody on that staff is going to ask why was he in the ball game, and somebody’s going to have to answer that, and there’s really no acceptable answer. It wasn’t because of injury. It wasn’t because they were going to get him the football. It wasn’t his fault he was in there. In a crucial part of the ball game, one of the things that’s just an absolute must for a coach is you have to know what your personnel is at that particular time. Now, I don’t know what happened there. It doesn’t make any difference what happened. All I know is we had a young man in there who had not played a single snap before in a conference game. A true freshman who came in and wasn’t there for spring (practice). There was no reason to have him in the ball game.”
I mean, Matthews is spot on. King has the talent to be a really good player. But he hadn’t played in a game for the Vols since Kennesaw State in Week 3. Why did Tennessee choose to put him in the game in a critical spot?
The decision took seven points off the board — the Vols punted two plays later — and quite possibly cost Tennessee the game.
