SEC
The difference between a thrilling victory and a crushing loss can boil down to a handful of plays on any given Saturday.
Sometimes just one play.
No coach knows this better that Tennessee’s Butch Jones, and no fan base knows it better that the Vol Nation that sometimes supports him.
As the Vols enter a Week 9 matchup with Kentucky, fans stare at their 3-4 record on the stat sheet and wonder what might have been during four close losses to Oklahoma, Florida, Arkansas and Alabama.
In fact, one could argue that Tennessee is simply four plays away from a completely different tone to the season.
If you could tweak the outcome of just one play in each of the Vols’ losses, they could be sitting at 7-0 right now and plotting whether a trip to the College Football Playoff was feasible with games against Kentucky, South Carolina, North Texas, Missouri and Vanderbilt left on the schedule.
Instead, they’re hoping to merely secure bowl eligibility.
Here are the plays that could have changed the destiny of the 2015 Tennessee football season:
1. Week 2 vs. Oklahoma: Baker Mayfield’s overtime TD run to extend the game
Oklahoma rallied from a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime and ultimately beat Tennessee 31-24 at Neyland Stadium.
Even if we grant the Sooners full credit for the comeback and ignore any number of plays the Tennessee defense could’ve made to stop the rally in the fourth quarter, we can boil this loss down to one play in the first overtime.
Tennessee took the ball first in overtime and scored quickly on a Jalen Hurd touchdown run, meaning the Sooners needed to match the touchdown to keep the game going.
Facing a fourth down that could have been the final play of the game, Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield extended the contest by keeping the ball on a read-option play and finding his way into the end zone. A stop there from the Vols defense would have meant a victory.
2. Week 4 at Florida: Antonio Callaway’s 63-yard TD reception in final two minutes
This play may be the one that defines the Vols’ entire season.
Tennessee kept Florida right where they wanted them for the better part of 58 minutes, but when it came to keeping the lid on what was once a 13-point fourth quarter lead, the Vols failed in the most advantageous of spots.
Facing fourth-and-14 from their own 37-yard line and trailing 27-21 with under two minutes remaining, the Gators were down to their last chance. If the Vols make a stop here, the game is over.
Instead, Florida freshman QB Will Grier connected with freshman WR Antonio Callaway on a pass that not only netted a first down, but went for a 63-yard go-ahead touchdown after Callaway picked up a block and eluded Tennessee tacklers on his way down the sideline.
Tennessee had a chance to win the game later on a last-second field goal attempt, but the game was ultimately lost on this play.
3. Week 5 vs. Arkansas: Tevin Beanum sacks Joshua Dobbs on Vols’ final drive
Tennessee once held a 14-point lead in this game as well, but we’ll have to concede that Arkansas was the team that was in the driver’s seat for the majority of the second half of a 24-20 Razorbacks win at Neyland Stadium.
Still, the Vols had a chance to win this game on their final drive of the fourth quarter, as they had moved into Arkansas territory with a little more than three minutes remaining. The Vols faced a manageable second-and-5 scenario following a first-down run by QB Joshua Dobbs.
But what happened next essentially cost the Vols a chance at the home win, when Dobbs went down in the backfield for an 8-yard loss, pushing the Vols back into their own territory for third-and-long.
After a couple of incomplete passes, Arkansas was running out the clock on a Hogs victory. If Dobbs gets rid of that ball or avoids the sack, we may be talking about this game differently.
4. Week 8 at Alabama: Joshua Dobbs fumbles on Vols’ final drive
When Tennessee scored to go ahead 14-13 with 5:49 remaining in the game, it looked the Vols might be on the verge of breaking an eight-game losing streak to Alabama, and doing so on the road in Tuscaloosa.
But you have to give credit to the Crimson Tide for taking the ball and marching it right back down the field on the ensuing possession, with a Derrick Henry touchdown run putting Alabama ahead 19-14 with 2:24 remaining.
The Vols had plenty of time on the clock to answer that drive, but after completing one first down, the drive started to fall apart.
An illegal formation penalty, followed by a sack by Alabama’s Jonathan Allen put the Vols up against the wall.
They were defeated on the next play, when Crimson Tide OLB Ryan Anderson got to the quarterback for a second sack in as many plays, but this time Dobbs was unable to hold on to the football and turned it over to Alabama, which ran out the clock from there.
Sounds like the South Carolina 2014 excuse (except for the Texas A&M) game.
Man, if only they could of scored more points than their opponents in each game, they would be 7-0. Too bad….
Exactly. The season isnt a loss but everyone is acting like it is. Yes we lost those games. Should we have won them? Maybe 1 or 2 but we didnt so it counts as an L
ifs and buts don’t matter, but there is no doubt that the vols are the absolute best 4 loss team in the country! haha sounds like im making fun but im not. seriously. thats actually a pretty good team…
True.. but it’s no one’s fault but our own. We didn’t lose those games due to “bad luck”. We lost them because we couldn’t keep the intensity going for 60 minutes… Oh, and terrible play calling… almost forgot that one.
I actually disagree with you… Butch Jones is doing all he can do as far as play calling. He calls the plays and he counts on his players to execute the plays… Our problem isn’t the lack of “good play calling” rather lack of execution.
Totally agree with this. There were clear moments where the coaching fell objectively short. For example, not going for two against Florida. Another example is the overly conservative playcalling against Oklahoma. That has since been corrected. Nevertheless, this team is young, and this is the first year they were expected to be remotely good. But they are still young. They are just now learning how to finish games. Look at how gassed the defense was against Oklahoma and Florida early in the season. The offense put the team in a position to win (granted the conservative plays didn’t pad the lead), but the defense just could not execute on the field. It’s not for a lack of scheme or coaching, or even motivation. You think being up against the No. 19 team in OU doesn’t give you motivation? It definitely does. But the kids on the field could not execute. Their endurance was not there. That’s a matter of development–not coaching. Yes, development is a part of coaching, but it’s one of those things that is far from immediate. Hurd and Dobbs and the O-Line have all developed over the past year. Dobbs and the O-Line continue to develop. We see that each week. The defense too. We wouldn’t beat Georgia or play Bama close if the defense did not learn to play with the endurance required for 60 minutes. It’s a development issue. With a young team it’s not unheard of. The O-Line is still incredibly young, and has been stricken with injuries–same with the defense. Now you have new players in rotation having to develop all this on the fly. Unfortunate, but part of the game. It will get better. They get some reprieve as the season ends. But I expect the offseason to do wonders for our new touted recruits on the D-Line, for example. An 8- or 9- win season is great considering where we were at and as young as this team is. We will be right in that range. When a young team fails to execute as games end, it’s something that can and will be fixed over time, and we have seen that in the past three weeks. People need to calm down. No reason to go back and ask “if.” We lost the games we lost. It’s a learning experience, and it has shown that the team has learned from it. Move on. The team already has.
You can’t expect your defense to hold up for 60 minutes if late in the game ur ultra conservative play calling keeps ur defense on the field bc of 3 and outs by the offense… so many people over look that aspect of the game… name a team that runs a no huddle that has an awesome defense? There aren’t any… that’s why the Baylor, TCU’s, and Oregon’s of the CFB world allow 40 plus points a game… So ultimately the majority of the blame rest soley on the shoulders of ur coach… You guys should be 6-1 no doubt about it
Butch doesn’t call the plays. Debord does… And his play calling has been good probably 80% of the time.. He just gets too conservative towards the end and tries to run the clock instead of putting up more points. That is the reason we lost to both Florida and Oklahoma. He has been doing better since people started calling for his job after the Arkansas game.
Butch does actually call the plays… When debord was hired butch said he would continue the plat calling duties
Firstly, this isnt a list of excuses. It is merely a demonstration that UT is better than their record shows. Being an Alabama fan, I was offended at the trash the sports media is putting out there about the Alabama / UT game, labeling Alabama as “questionable” and “inconsistent” because they defeated a below-.500 UT team. I mean, the media’s use of “click-bait” headlines and material is laughable at best. UT is a very talents, well coached team, with a very difficult offensive scheme to defend. Alabama might have been tired, but I had been fearing this game the whole season. Its time to acknowledge that this program is not only in the right direction, but is just one-or-two plays away from being a top 5-10 caliber team.
Thanks for that – folks who haven’t been following the Vols very long (often due to age) have a distorted view of the ups-n-downs. They don’t recall the 0-6 start of ’88, for example. Coach Doofus had really run the program to a low level and alienated the lettermen, so while an SEC East title was a dream, there was too much hype for this year with a team that is certainly improving but not quite there yet. 8-4 with a bowl win would be a good step towards next season.
Georgia fans have been doing this for years. *yawn, a loss is a loss. Ya’ll have four of them. Congratulations on beating Georgia though. Salvage the rest of your season and look forward to next year.
Congratulations on beating Georgia? Auburn fan hiding behind the Georgia logo?
People in hell are close to getting ice water too.
Vols are back!