The lasting image of Tennessee’s 35-13 loss to Alabama will be Jarrett Guarantano’s ill-advised sneak attempt that ended as horribly as conceivable possible considering the ball was on the one-inch line before the snap.

Historically, the worst thing that could happen in that scenario was an offense may lose a few yards and turn the ball over. However, Tennessee found a new way to show its ineptitude on the field and actually coughed up the ball and had it returned for a touchdown instead.

That ended any chance the Vols had at upsetting top-ranked Alabama and extended the Crimson Tide’s streak to 13 in the annual series.

While no one could have seen an Alabama touchdown coming on that play, no one should have been surprised to see Tennessee get stopped short of the goal line on the play as the Volunteers have struggled all season to punch the ball into the end zone near the goal line.

As a matter of fact, Tennessee’s offense is on pace to be historically bad at scoring touchdowns in goal-to-go situations.

According to ESPN’s David Hale, “Tennessee has scored TDs on just 22.2% of its goal-to-go opportunities (2 of 9). No other team in the country is worse than 43%.”

That stat is remarkable when you consider Tennessee’s offensive line continues to progress and is playing as well as they have in years. If Tennessee is going to pull some upsets down the stretch and turn around the team’s record in the weeks to come, punching the ball in near the goal line has to be one of the team’s focuses the rest of the season.

Otherwise, Tennessee will come up just short of the postseason for the third year in a row.