Ohio Bobcats

Tennessee Football Report Card: Grading the Vols vs the Ohio Bobcats

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

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Sep 17, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Alvin Kamara (6) runs the ball against the Ohio Bobcats during the first half at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee football beat the Ohio Bobcats with a 28-19 win at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. Saturday. Here are the Volunteers’ grades from the game.

We can safely say Tennessee football didn’t reach honor roll status after this game. The Vols looked ugly all day against a dangerous MAC team, but they still pulled out a victory in a mistake-prone game.

Now, it’s Florida week, and Vols fans are less confident than ever.

Looking towards the start of SEC season, we have to give another evaluation of where the different units stand after their play in the third game of the year.

Obviously, some units played atrociously and need to be called out. At the same time, a few units actually played better than people are giving them credit for.

So as we get set to grade the Vols for their performance against Ohio, we have to account for everything.

That includes the injuries, the sloppy mistakes, and the impressive plays.

It also includes the composure they showed at certain times. And it includes making sure to blame the right person for certain mistakes.

What is clear, though, is that the Vols will have to achieve much higher scores in all departments to beat the Florida Gators next week.

Otherwise, they will derail their season before it even begins. Butch Jones certainly doesn’t need that in his fourth year.

So with the hopes that things improve, here is the official Tennessee football report card for the Vols’ 28-19 win over the Ohio Bobcats.

Sep 17, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) hands the ball off to running back Jalen Hurd (1) during the second half against the Ohio Bobcats at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 28 to 19. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Offense

Quarterback: B+

Believe it or not, Joshua Dobbs was one of the most consistent performers on the night for the Vols. As the senior leader of the Tennessee football offense, he completed 19 of 27 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 14 carries for 59 yards and another touchdown.

Dobbs did have an interception, but that wasn’t his fault. It was due to Preston Williams not being able to hold onto the ball. Then he overthrew Josh Malone twice, but Malone misplayed it one time. So Dobbs really only had one mistake for the game. As a result, although we can’t give him an A, Dobbs was not the problem Saturday. He was a consistent playmaker and gets points for that.

Running Backs: B-

Alvin Kamara finally had a breakout game this season. The junior running back started things off right with a 35-yard run in the opener. He finished with 11 carries for 67 yards and another two receptions for nine yards.

Meanwhile, Jalen Hurd was once again Jalen Hurd, with 15 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown. That’s enough to call this a solid performance.

However, the unit wasn’t eye-popping, so they can’t get anywhere close to an A. And Hurd missed a first down chance on a key short-yardage third down play. As a result, we have to doc the grade. But it was just enough to be better than a C.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B

Josh Malone would give this unit an A if it were just him. After all he had five receptions for 69 yards and two touchdowns, both of which were plays completely made by him.

Meanwhile, the tight ends added to it with Jason Croom catching three passes for 54 yards and Ethan Wolf adding another catch for seven yards.

However, a few miscues knock this down. Malone misplayed one pass by Dobbs that should have been a touchdown. And Preston Williams dropped a pass that turned into an interception. Those were key mistakes, so we have to doc the receiver grade to a B, even if they made enough plays to make Tennessee football look more like Wide Receiver U again.

Offensive Line: D-

Yes, this one unit is the reason the Vols did not score more points on the day. However, we first have to start by giving some credit. Dylan Wiesman was actually pretty solid at center, as was Brett Kendrick at blindside tackle.

On top of that, the interior blocking was okay.

Then comes Coleman Thomas. He alone was so awful that the line’s grade got knocked to a D-. Everybody else kept it from a failing grade. But Thomas’s move to tackle from center caused even more problems. He alone kept the running game and Dobbs from being elite in this game, and honestly, he alone held back the whole offense.

It’s hard to put the entire struggles on one person, but fair or not, Thomas’s presence in the game cost the whole offense at least two more touchdowns. We don’t know what happened to him this year. He was solid last year. Maybe he’s in a funk. But he gets an F- times infinity for his play so far.

Overall offensive grade: C

Yes, terrible play by one offensive lineman and a series of miscues cost the Tennessee football offense in this game. The Vols easily could have had an A. But as a result of those things, they get a C.

Sep 17, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Ohio Bobcats running back Papi White (4) runs the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first quarter at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Defense

Defensive Line: B+

This was probably the brightest spot for Tennessee football all day. The Vols’ defensive line can’t get an A because they actually went against a pretty weak Ohio Bobcats offensive line and didn’t make enough plays.

But Derek Barnett anchored the unit and was a disruptive playmaker all night, while Kahlil McKenzie, Shy Tuttle and Danny O’Brien kept getting pushes up front. So this unit set the tone for the rest of the defense, and as a result, they get a solid grade.

Linebackers: B+

Yes, we are going to be fair to the linebackers here. For starters, I have to openly apologize to Colton Jumper. He played his heart out Saturday filling in for Darrin Kirkland Jr. And once Jalen Reeves-Maybin went out, the Vols still played hard.

Tennessee football is in trouble long-term without Kirkland and Reeves-Maybin, but against Frank Solich’s misdirection offense and an elite quarterback in Greg Windham, they deserve a ton of credit for not getting torched too often.

And given the fact that it was the backups, they get a B+.

Secondary: C-

We are first going to be fair. Cameron Sutton getting hurt and Malik Foreman getting suspended caused quite a few problems.

However, Emmanuel Moseley got burned far too many times on Saturday. But he had to move over to the No. 1 cornerback. The biggest atrocity was Todd Kelly Jr.

Kelly misplayed far too many passes and did not provide any safety help to Moseley. Given all of his preseason hype, he has been a huge disappointment so far and was the worst player in the unit Saturday.

Micah Abernathy, Baylen Buchanan, and Rashaan Gaulden were all fine and kept this from being an F. But like the offensive line, bad play by one or two people can ruin the whole unit.

Overall Defensive Grade: B-

The 2016 Tennessee football defense has been solid for the most part, and Bob Shoop has made good adjustments each game. This game, they really only gave up 6 points. They kept two drives alive due to a special teams penalty and a terrible pass interference call, which spotted the Bobcats 10 points. A Dobbs interception allowed another field goal.

So the defense gets credit overall. However, they still stayed on the field far too long. So they can’t get an amazing grade.

Sep 17, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers defensive back Cameron Sutton (23) returns a kick against the Ohio Bobcats during the first quarter at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Special Teams

Place-Kicking: B-

Aaron Medley did nothing special, so we can’t give him an A. But he also did nothing bad. All of his kickoffs were touchbacks. He was perfect on extra points. However, he did miss another field goal. The only reason we don’t knock him further for that is because the kick was a 55-yard field goal.

Still, he missed it so awfully that it made many Tennessee football fans lose all faith in him. We can’t knock him too much for that. But we can’t give him too much credit either.

Punting: C

Despite his strong leg, Trevor Daniel is having a serious issue with accuracy right now. His 39.3 yards per punt average isn’t terrible considering so many of his punts were at or near midfield. However, in trying to aim three of those punts inside the 20 while avoiding a touchback, he couldn’t even get beyond the 20. That killed his average, and it’s a double-knock against him.

At the same time, he still had two 50-plus yard punts and nailed a couple inside the 20, so he still deserves some credit. But the mistakes make this an uncharacteristically mediocre performance by Daniel.

Return Game: F

Tennessee football was supposed to make special teams its trademark under Butch Jones. Now, the departure of Mark Elder looks worse than ever.

The Vols were atrocious in the return game Saturday. Alvin Kamara averaged only one yard per punt return, and he had two fumbles in trying to field line drive Ohio punts.

At the same time, Micah Abernathy, Evan Berry, and Cam Sutton (when he was in) all failed to generate any big kickoff return. The one good return was called back due to an unnecessary penalty. So yes, the return game was awful all the way around. And it cost the Vols on special teams.

Overall Special Teams grade: D

Is this a big concern for the Vols going forward? Kicking was right where we would expect it to be, but the return game and the punting were surprisingly bad. That can’t be a recurring thing for the Vols in the future.

Sep 17, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones during the first quarter against the Ohio Bobcats at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Coaching: D

Once again, Bob Shoop is the one guy who keeps this from being a failing grade. However, he had a fast start and did not catch up to Frank Solich’s adjustments fast enough in the second quarter, so even he was a bit of a disappointment in this game.

Meanwhile, Mike DeBord’s coaching was awful. He stuck with the offensive line set that included Coleman Thomas and allowed Joshua Dobbs and the Tennessee football running game to get rocked far too many times.

He was also far too predictable with his play-calling. With an elite receiving corps. and a weak secondary on the other side, DeBord still showed his timidness in throwing it downfield, even though he had about a 50 percent big play rate when doing it.

So DeBord was the failure by far.

Larry Scott also gets a failing grade simply because of the fact that special teams struggled far beyond what it usually does.

And Butch Jones, the head coach, also gets a failing grade. Jones has to get some of the blame for all of the penalties the Vols had. He also gets blame for the number of times Tennessee continues to put the ball on the ground.

The Vols have been lucky to recover so many of their own fumbles at this point. That won’t hold up in SEC play.

So altogether, coaching was once again a failure. Shoop kept it fro being a failing grade. Are they just holding off on showing their stuff until Florida?

That’s what Vol Nation is hoping for. We’ll find out next week.