Sports Editor David Cobb covered UT’s game against Missouri on Saturday. He assessed grades for each position based on the group’s performance in the Vols‘ 31-3 loss to the Tigers.
Quarterbacks: C+
Joshua Dobbs played formidably in his first career start considering the caliber of his opponent and his inexperience. Without a backbreaking second quarter interception and a fumble late in the first half, he would earn a “B” grade. Dobbs is an aerospace engineering major though, so he is likely more concerned with his academic grades than The Daily Beacon’s football GPA.
Running backs: D+
The running backs did nothing to aid Dobbs. Senior Rajion Neal averaged 1 yard per carry on his eight rushes. Although Marlin Lane found a couple of gaps early in the game, this group established no consistency as the Vols passed the ball 42 times, a season-high.
Wide Receivers: B
A glaring drop by Josh Smith on a perfect throw from Dobbs late in the second quarter probably kept the Vols out of the end zone. Otherwise, the receivers played an average game and did less to strain their quarterback than the offensive line and running backs did. As a result, they are one of few groups to receive a good grade.
Offensive line: F
The offensive line let the Vols down on Saturday. Missouri’s swarming front seven sacked Dobbs twice and flushed him from the pocket numerous times. Without the bailout of Dobbs’ mobility, it would have been even worse. Six of UT’s nine penalties came against the offensive line, including five false starts.
Defensive line: D+
Against a similarly inclined Connor Shaw of South Carolina, the UT defensive line contained quarterback scrambles fairly well for most of the game. It was a different story Saturday in Missouri as redshirt freshman Maty Mauk ran wild for 114 yards on 13 carries without being sacked.
Linebackers: D
In his freshman and sophomore seasons, A.J. Johnson racked up a combined 32 tackles for loss. Through nine games in 2013, the anchor of UT’s defense has just seven, which is indicative of a season-long stagnation by the linebackers in the midst of overall improvement from the defensive line and secondary. They did nothing of note Saturday.
Secondary: D
Mauk completed less than 50 percent of his passes, but found gaping holes in the UT secondary when he decided to be accurate. To borrow some phrasing from another item I wrote, he found L’Damian Washington “wide open as the Missouri plains” in the second quarter to put the Tigers ahead 17-0. With no turnovers caused by this group on the day, it was a step back towards 2012.
Special teams: A
Michael Palardy recently described the change in his play during 2013 as “a complete 180” from his first three years, and he is exactly right. The do-it-all senior specialist continued to make his case for an NFL roster on Saturday with precise punting and a 51-yard field goal, although he did shank one punt. UT’s return game performed decently.
Game 9 GPA: The Vols earn a 1.74 football GPA for their performance against Missouri.
Season GPA: After nearly regaining their Hope Scholarship by pushing their cumulative GPA to 2.96 with a win against South Carolina, the Vols now hold a 2.68 for the year.
