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Dave Hooker's post-game audio
Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton heads to the bench after being sacked by Ole Miss during Saturday's game in Oxford, Miss.
OXFORD, Miss. - Tennessee couldn't finish blocks or drives.
It couldn't capitalize on sudden change after a turnover.
The Vols weren't able to avoid negative plays.
Mississippi took away more from UT than a chance to clinch bowl eligibility or win coach Lane Kiffin his first game on the road Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. In throttling the Vols 42-17, the Rebels stripped them of everything they've been proud of lately.
"It comes down to individual matchups in games like this, and there were times when we were beat," running back Montario Hardesty said. "It was a good effort by Ole Miss, and there were a lot of things that we could have done better that we didn't.
"It comes down to individual matchups, and they had a great game plan for us. We didn't ever really adjust and get into our game."
Since seemingly turning the corner last month, that's been establishing the reliable Hardesty on the ground since the senior is rarely brought down behind the line of scrimmage. The Rebels piled up 16 yards in losses on a back who only had 31 through nine games this season.
The Vols have hung their hats on turning takeaways into touchdowns, but they couldn't do it after a gift interception in the third quarter set the table for them to take control of the game.
Their emphasis all year has been taking pride in responding to adversity and finishing everything they start, regardless of time or situation.
But the failure to really do any of those things was neatly summed up at once when Hardesty was blown up on a corner blitz on third-and-short, a fourth-down pass fell off target and the only sudden change after a turnover was UT's momentum disappearing.
"There was a big difference (up front)," Kiffin said. "Watch warmups. We got exposed today. We tried to do a bunch of stuff as far as formations and things to slow them down, but they have great players. It's a really good team, and we had kind of masked some things this year. We got exposed today. I've got to do a better job of finding different ways to move the ball.
"I think the game really turns, it's third-and-2, we run a play and have an alignment issue and miss the corner blitz, the guy gets us for (a loss of) 3 yards, we go for it on fourth down and miss the slant. I thought the game really turned there. Up to that point we're exchanging blows with them and hanging in there."
The Vols never even came close to landing another shot, and they were consistently beaten to the punch by the Rebels' tenacious defensive line.
UT did a decent job protecting quarterback Jonathan Crompton and had moderate success in the passing game, but seemingly every time the Vols tried to get moving on the ground there was a defender deep in their backfield.
"They had a lot of talent up front, but I didn't think it was anything we couldn't handle," center Cody Sullins said. "I thought we didn't finish on blocks the way we should have, I didn't think we maintained our blocks as well as we could have or as well as we have in other games.
"It's just one of those things. It's a game of inches, and if you don't hold your guy a second longer or take the right angle, teams like that are going to beat you."
The Rebels did that soundly, and they didn't leave much for the Vols to feel good about in the process.
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Comments » 13
volatil writes:
The understatement of the year award goes to....
CLK!
AZvolFan writes:
I think the team has come along way from last season they had a bad game today but they are starting third string guys in the defensive back field. They can still go 7-5 which would be an improvement over last year. Go Vols...keep believing in CLK and the rest of the staff.
FWBVol writes:
Cody, you might not have thought the Ole Miss talent up front wasn't anything you could handle, but it is now obvious you were wrong.
tE8OwPHELch35 writes:
your a felcher
TheFuj writes:
Kiffen did not do well with the offense today. Every 3rd or 4th down and 4 or 5 yards we run the slant. We have to go deep more. Successful or not, it will open up more things. Need to use the TE more in the middle crossing and 15-20 yards. Throw to Hardesty more down the field. Meaning out of the backfield and 10-15 yards down the field.
Pdiddy10 writes:
rebuilding yeaR. remember?
69vol08 writes:
VERY embarrassing loss! I thought that this staff had moved us past losing games like this. We were outplayed and out coached today. I hope that this is an aberration in a rebuilding year. So far, even with this loss, we have looked better than Saban's first year. So move on and keep getting better!
Stay focused for two more weeks and the Chick-fil-a bowl is still possible! Oh, and let's cut the three players loose and move on...
jsm67vol writes:
This one's history, move on to Vandy. I hope CLK can get there focus back. We can expect Vandy to give us their best game of the year next weekend.Go Vols!!!!!!!!!!
ellerbee123 writes:
AMEN!!! Wish all of our fans would just step back, take a deep breath and "THINK".
westennvol writes:
Today was a bad day. F- it! Move on, win the last two and get us to any bowl game. Things will get better. Truth be told, we might have lost this one anyway, but the gun-toting freshmen was a distraction we didn't need this week.
chucker6 writes:
Tennessee was still swinging @ the end, even when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Last year they were laying down @ this point in the game. I was puzzled by our offensive game plan @ times, but I think it relly came down to UT being distracted by the events of this past week and Ole Miss playing their best ball of the year.
brokebackvol writes:
Why is no one mentioning Ole Miss was playing for a better bowl and had not beaten the Vols since 1983? Think maybe they were hungry?
utvol2485 writes:
At least we didn't have to hear Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson for three hours.
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