In 2019, Tennessee outscored opponents 61-38 in the 3rd quarter. On a per game basis, that’s 5.1 to 3.2. Low-scoring as hell, but it got the job done—especially down the stretch. The Vols didn’t give up more than 7 third quarter points in a game all year, and gave up just 7 total in the last five games combined. The worst third quarter of the calendar year was being outscored 7-0 by BYU (who took advantage of a Guarantano interception to score on a short field). In 2020, Tennessee has been outscored 98-27 in the third quarter. That’s an average of 14-3.9. The Vols have been outscored in the third in six of their last seven games, and their opponents have scored in double-digits in the third quarter in six of the last seven. In both cases, the only exception was a 7-6 edge against Missouri. So when the calendar hit January, we went from absolutely locking down defensively in the second half to being absolutely helpless. I honestly do not have an explanation. If our defensive staff were just bad in-game coaches, I would’ve expected it to come up last year. But coming out of halftime has gone from a genuine strength to an absolute cluster. Seriously, what gives?
Well, the defensive coaching staff changed quite a bit. I’m sure someone will pipe in about it being Pruitt’s defense both years, but the devil’s in the details in football, and we have gotten really sloppy. Smiff said that it looks like there are only 10 men out there at times, and he is right.
Sherrer, Rocker, Rumph. (Did Sherrer help pull Fitzgerald to the Giants?) I’m not smart enough to know which one(s) were most valuable, but it’s clear that they were better coaches than the group we’ve got now.
