Virginia Tech Hokies

Battle at Bristol Report Cart: Grading the Tennessee Vols in their 45-24 Win Over the Virginia Tech Hokies

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 10, 2016; Bristol, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) celebrates scoring a touchdown against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the second quarter at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

The Battle at Bristol ended with Tennessee beating Virginia Tech 45-24. Here is the report card for the Volunteers in their win over the Hokies.

For a quarter, everybody on here deserved an F. But when the dust settled at the end of the Battle at Bristol, Butch Jones’s Vols capitalized off numerous breaks and made lots of key plays to win the game 45-24.

Gen. Neyland’s first two game maxims say it all: the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win, and play for and make the breaks, and when one comes your way, score.

Five Virginia Tech turnovers and a dumb decision by Justin Fuente to kick a field goal on their opening drive all helped the Vols.

However, it wasn’t this way in the first quarter.

After that first drive, Virginia Tech scored two touchdowns to jump to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. They had over 220 yards in that quarter alone, and Tennessee’s offense couldn’t get anything going.

It took a crucial fumble by the Hokies early in the second quarter to give the Vols the spark they needed. After that, all the units came together to collectively give themselves passing grades.

As we get set to grade the Vols for all of their performances, it’s important to note that the strong finish is a huge boost for all the units.

Really, it’s the strong second and third quarters.

But after last week, a blowout victory in front of the largest college football crowd ever is something to be excited about.

Here is the official Tennessee football report card from the Battle at Bristol.

Sep 10, 2016; Bristol, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) runs the ball against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the second half at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tennessee won 45 to 24. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive Grades

Quarterback: B+

Joshua Dobbs had 197 yards of total offense: 91 passing and 106 rushing. He also had five total touchdowns. Any time you do that, you’ve done enough to at least flirt with an A.

However, Dobbs can’t get an A for two reasons. He missed on a couple of passes, gong 10 of 19 overall, and he did throw an interception. That interception was all on him as well.

Still, despite some inconsistencies, he remains a playmaker for the Vols at quarterback. And with five touchdowns, he gets a solid grade at the Battle at Bristol.

Running Backs: A-

Once again, it’s a great performance. There was nothing flashy by Jalen Hurd, but he was his usual self with 99 yards on 22 carries as the workhorse for the Vols.

Meanwhile, Alvin Kamara added nine yards on three carries, and he also had the play to break the game open. With the Vols holding onto a two-score lead in the third, Kamara took a third and long pass from Dobbs and marched into the end zone for a touchdown.

The play wasn’t flashy, but it was everything Tennessee needed in this game.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B

This isn’t fair because Joshua Dobbs didn’t have one of his most accurate games. But the receivers could have made a few more plays throughout the game.

To be fair, they did make two key plays. Jauan Jennings caught a fade pass for a touchdown that he had to wrestle away from the defender for Tennessee’s first score. On the next drive, Dobbs hit Josh Malone for another bomb to tie the game up.

So the receiver play was enough to swing the momentum right back in Tennessee’s favor. Unfortunately, they were silent after that. The key plays make this grade a B, but the lack of stats keep it from being higher.

Offensive Line: C

This unit is getting much better, but Joshua Dobbs still had too many instances in which he didn’t have proper protection. Meanwhile, the running backs could have had higher averages on the ground as well.

Butch Jones and Mike DeBord made a smart move switching Dylan Wiesman over to center in place of Coleman Thomas. That was a splash move, and the unit got much better afterward. However, the struggles of Thomas at center combined with Drew Richmond still learning left tackle make this grade a C.

Overall Offensive Grade: B

Tennessee’s offense only generated 330 yards all night in the Battle at Bristol. However, they were given the short field a lot. As a result, it’s hard to fully gauge how good this offense was.

What’s clear is they did make key plays, and they took advantage of their breaks. That’s enough for a B. But some concerns in the unit keep this from being an A.

Sep 10, 2016; Bristol, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers defensive lineman Shy Tuttle (2) is congratulated by team mates after recovering a Virginia Tech Hokies fumble during the second half at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tennessee won 45 to 24. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Defensive Grades

Defensive Line: A-

It took the second quarter of the Battle at Bristol for us to finally see the Tennessee football defensive line we expected to see at the beginning of last game. But after that, they were superb.

The unit had an atrocious first quarter, allowing the Hokies to go for over 200 yards. But Bob Shoop made key adjustments, and everybody stepped up after that. Corey Vereen and Jonathan Kongbo both had sacks.

Derek Barnett had a key tackle for a loss. Shy Tuttle emerged as a star, getting huge pushes up front to force Virginia Tech turnovers. This unit was great the rest of the night and gets an A, albeit barely, as a result.

Linebackers: B+

After the first quarter, the linebackers went the same route as the defensive line, stepping their game up significantly.

The Vols showed why they need Jalen Reeves-Maybin on the field at all times, as he had 13 tackles and a tackle for a loss. Darrin Kirkland Jr. was just as elite before his injury.

However, this unit can’t get an A because of the lack of depth. Once again, when Colton Jumper was on the field, the offense had a field day. If Jerod Evans wasn’t turning the ball over, Justin Fuente was making a play call to torch the defense at those points. The lack of depth keeps this unit from getting an A.

Secondary: B

They were going up against an inexperienced quarterback in Jerod Evans, and they allowed over 200 yards through the air.

However, 52 of those yards came on a late drive in which the Vols were playing soft coverage and not really caring. Outside of that, the secondary was pretty solid.

Rashaan Gaulden helped the rush defense a lot by cheating up, another great adjustment by Bob Shoop. As a result, this unit gets a B.

Overall Defensive Grade: B+

Bob Shoop made great adjustments, and the defense capitalized off of a series of Virginia Tech mistakes. Even though they allowed 400 yards of total offense, they only allowed 180 after the first quarter, and 70 came on one drive. So they did more than what they needed to do overall and earned a B+ as a result.

Sep 10, 2016; Bristol, TN, USA; The Tennessee Volunteers celebrate after the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tennessee won 45 to 24. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Special Teams Grades

Kicking: B

Aaron Medley was one of two on field goals and perfect on extra points. His one field goal made was from 34 yards, and he missed one from 47, proving he’s still the same Medley. Still, that alone is a B performance.

Medley almost had a case to get a B+ because all of his first half kickoffs were either a touchback or ended inside the 20. However, many of his kickoffs were returned past the 30-yard line. So his grade is still knocked to a B, but it was still a decent performance.

Punting: C

Trevor Daniel was decent all night, but he did not meet Trevor Daniel standards. After all, he only averaged 42.5 yards per punt, and in the first half he didn’t help the Vols too much as they were struggling.

Daniel had one punt near midfield and another go into the end zone for a touchback. He’s still a great punter, but he did not do his job that well on Saturday.

Return Game: B

There’s not much to this one. The Vols had no chances to return any kickoffs, and they only had a chance to return one punt. On that punt, Cameron Sutton gained 14 yards. If that was his average, this grade might be a B+ or an A.

However, your return game can’t get much credit if it has no chance to make an impact. So we’re going to be fair and give it a B right now.

Overall Special Teams Grade: B-

There was nothing special anywhere on the special teams unit in the Battle at Bristol, but it did nothing to lose the game.

At the same time, there were still a few nice plays. So we can be fair and give it a B-.

Sep 10, 2016; Bristol, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones congratulates Tennessee Volunteers running back Parker Henry (31) during the second half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tennessee won 45 to 24. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Coaching Grade: B+

Butch Jones gets an A+ for keeping his players composed and making sure they didn’t panic after falling behind 14-0. He also gets an A+ for making sure that his team took care of the football and also took advantage of other teams’ mistakes.

Meanwhile, Bob Shoop gets an A+ for his in-game adjustments. After all, Virginia Tech had no offense once the first quarter ended.

For a match-up in front of 150,000 fans, all the coaches deserve credit for keeping their guys composed and able to tune out the crowd.

However, preparation gets a C since Shoop, Jones, and Mike DeBord were caught off-guard early by Justin Fuente.

That was why they fell behind so early.

At the same time, DeBord was far too predictable on offense. He got lucky because of all the Appalachian State turnovers. And Joshua Dobbs bailed him out with a few impressive plays. Josh Malone and Jauan Jennings did as well.

But overall, there was nothing impressive about DeBord’s coaching in this game. Through the first two games, Vol Nation is holding out hope that DeBord is keeping his playbook under wraps to this point.

He’ll likely do the same thing next week.

But the Virginia Tech mistakes bailed him out of that in the Battle at Bristol. DeBord’s lack of creativity and the coaches’ lack of preparation knocked this grade from an A to a B+.

Still, the Jones’s and Shoop’s adjustments along with Jones’s ability to keep his team focused all warrant the coaching staff some real points.