Tennessee may have a gotten rid of Butch Jones, but the results on the field remain the same for the Vols as LSU came into Neyland Stadium and walked away with an easy 30-10 win.

It’s hard to say which was uglier Saturday night in Neyland, Tennessee’s offensive performance or the weather. That’s really saying something considering the stadium lights went out, huge metal sections of the scoreboard fell during pregame, the uprights were shifted by the wind and debris littered the field due to wild bursts of wind and blistering rain. Equally as disturbing were the bad snaps, poor run blocking, busted assignments in pass blocking, overthrows and lack of creativity in play calling by the Vols.

Once LSU got its ground game running behind Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams, Tennessee didn’t stand a chance in this one. The two running backs combined to rush for 155 yards and three touchdowns in this one.

Keys to the game:

  • Marquez Callaway muffed punts — While he did make a couple of big catches on a drive just before the half, basically single-handedly scoring Tennessee’s only touchdown of the game by himself, he hurt Tennessee with two muffed punts early in the game that resulted in LSU’s first 10 points of the game. Why the sophomore even attempted to field both punts with the windy conditions is a mystery, but the results shifted the momentum of the game early.
  • Monsoon weather — During halftime, the weather took it up a notch, which is remarkable given all the issues before kickoff. Throwing the ball wasn’t an option early in the third quarter as the players were forced to play smashmouth style football. Given the lack of depth on Tennessee’s offensive line, the result were quite predictable. The Vols managed to go backward, after Callaway muffed the second half kickoff, and were forced to punt from the two-yard line.
  • Long bombs by Guarantano — The only time Tennessee threatened the Tigers in this game was when the offense decided to go vertical down the field. Callaway came up with two catches for 75 yards and a touchdown just before the half. That’s about all the offense the Vols had on this day.
  • Fourth down stand by LSU’s — Despite being down to four scholarship offensive linemen, Tennessee decided to go for it on 4th and inches from its own 22 late in the third quarter down 13. The Vols, again, went backward when push came to shove, literally, and LSU converted that stop into seven points. The 30-10 deficit felt about the size of the Appalachian Mountains at that point.