West Virginia 40 Tennessee 14
Tennessee was defeated by West Virginia by a score of 40-14 in the Belk College Kickoff on Saturday. The attendance was 66,793 and I have to give the edge to Tennessee fans, despite the West Virginia athletic director predicting 60% of the fans would be West Virginia's. After watching the game's opening drive, it appeared as if Tennessee was going to get run out of the stadium, as their 3-and-out resulted in negative 7 yards. Jarrett Guarantano was blasted on the very first play of the season, as an inexcusable lapse in the offensive line allowed a defender to freely rush him. The offensive line improved when Tennessee offensive coordinator, Tyson Helton began to make adjustments, such as getting the ball out of Guarantano's hands quicker on first down. The Mountaineers marched down the field with ease on their first drive, but the Vols' defense stood their ground and forced West Virginia to settle for a field goal.
Later, West Virginia took a 10-0 lead after a 5-play, 85-yard scoring drive. Then, several tough runs by Tim Jordan set Tennessee up to score. Guarantano orchestrated the 17-play, 78 yard scoring drive, which was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown reception on fourth down by Dominick Wood-Anderson. After a weather delay of over an hour temporarily postponed the start of the second half, it took West Virginia just 4 plays to find the endzone in the third quarter. Another score put West Virginia up 27-7, but Tim Jordan sparked the next Tennessee drive with a 30-yard run, finishing the play by running over a Mountaineer defender. Just 4 plays later, Jordan surpassed the 100-yard mark on a 4-yard touchdown, running into the end zone untouched. With 9:57 remaining in the game, Tennessee's Paul Bain recovered a West Virginia fumble, but the Vols would turn the ball over on downs on a fourth-and-goal play from the 2-yard line. Nigel Warrior returned the final kickoff of the game 41 yards to the Tennessee 46-yard line. Although the game was out of hand, Jeremy Banks drew my attention with his powerful runs on the Vols' final possession of the game.
Tennessee's leading receiver was Marquez Callaway, whose 7 receptions went for 85 yards. Defensively, Darrin Kirkland Jr. totaled 10 tackles, Nigel Warrior had 8, while Shy Tuttle, Micah Abernathy, Trevon Flowers and Daniel Bituli each made 5 tackles. As a team, Tennessee totaled 301 total yards of offense and possessed the ball for 32:23.
5 Takeaways
1. Jarrett Guarantano is much more confident than last season: While completing 19-25 passes for 172 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, Guarantano stood tall in the pocket all game. He took a beating early on, but did not lose his composure, which is a major improvement from last season. I am very happy with how he performed in the season opener.
2. Jeremy Pruitt has guts: In the second quarter, the Vols were in prime scoring position with a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Fast forward 3 plays and Tennessee had still not found the endzone. Flashbacks from Butch Jones' play calling, forgive my mention of him, immediately crept into my mind. Fortunately, Pruitt called a timeout and went for it, which resulted in Tennessee scoring on a 1-yard pass to Dominick Wood-Anderson. It was a breath of fresh air to have a coach not afraid to go for the touchdown, rather than settle for a field goal.
3. Tim Jordan's breakout performance: Jordan may have solidified himself as the staring running back for Tennessee this season. After Ty Chandler was injured early in the contest, Tim dominated the Mountaineer defense, totaling 118 yards and 1 touchdown on 20 carries. His average of 5.9 yards per carry was not only a pleasant surprise, but a sign that he will be able to duplicate this performance in the future. I am very excited about Jordan's emergence this season.
4. Uniform changes: Upon hearing about the initial uniform changes, I was very skeptical. After seeing them today, I barely even noticed the fact that Tennessee was wearing black cleats and I may be able to get used to the stripe-less pants.
5. The turnaround will take some time: Vol fans are often labeled as being impatient. We, as the best fanbase in the country, need to realize that Pruitt and the new staff can not completely turn things around over night. Still, he already has the team bought into his philosophy and I believe that he will bring the program back to national prominence faster than expected. Whether that is this season or not, we need to be patient and supportive, because I could sense during his first game that he has the program headed in the right direction.
