Tennessee 45, UTSA 14: Ten Points
Tennessee got back on the winning track against Texas-San Antonio on Saturday, jumping out to a 31-0 halftime lead and winning 45-14. Here are 10 things that stood out.
1.) A great first half
Don’t let a bad third quarter cloud your judgment on how well Tennessee played in the first half. “But it was just UTSA…” True, UTSA isn’t Florida — nor any other SEC team. But the Roadrunners are the second-best team Tennessee has faced through the first four games of the 2023 season, and that first half effort was the best half of football we’ve seen from the Vols so far, by a wide margin.
It wasn’t a perfect half. There were some issues that were slightly visible around the edges that UTSA was able to expose in a big way once the second half started. But the offense got off to a really fast start, which was great to see. It’s the first time this season that the high-flying Josh Heupel offense has started off strong.
Even though UTSA was banged up, it’s still a solid UTSA team that put up 29 points against Army last week. This UTSA team received votes in the preseason Top 25 polls. In fact, it was the fourth team out in the poll — just behind the same Florida team that took Tennessee to the woodshed last weekend. The Roadrunners are the two-time defending Conference USA champion.
2.) The best and worst of Joe Milton
After the Vols’ season-opening win over Virginia, I noted that Milton would both excite and frustrate Tennessee fans this season. When he’s good, he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC (perhaps second-best behind South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler). But when he’s bad, he’s really bad.
Milton has indeed turned out to be a polarizing figure. It’s interesting to watch fans clamor for backup Nico Iamaleava since the Vols’ egg-laying episode down at The Swamp a week ago, as if a quarterback change would have helped the offensive line block better and the defense tackle better. On the flip side, Milton’s defenders sometimes act as if he can do no wrong. See UT beat writer Wes Rucker from GoVols247, who was tweeting during Saturday’s game that a pass thrown well behind a wide-open Squirrel White was White’s fault for not adjusting his route. It was a really bizarre take from a guy who becomes more stubborn in his defense of Milton every time someone posts in response to his tweets that Milton should be benched.
Saturday’s win over UTSA featured both the best of and the worst of Joe Milton. In the first half, before he was shaken up on a play near the intermission, he completed 12 of 14 passes and looked to be in command of the offense. Neither of the incompletions was his fault. One was a drop and one was an excellent pass defense in the end zone by a UTSA defender. Milton also had the 81-yard touchdown run on the game’s opening play.
Once Milton tweaked his knee on a sack near the goal line just before the end of the first half, however, he looked completely different. The play appeared to shake him up mentally as well as physically. At one time he threw seven straight incomplete passes, many of them overthrows or off-target passes. He finished the game 18 of 31 for 209 yards. His average yards per completion was 6.7, signifying how many of his 18 completions came in the horizontal passing game. His 48-yard strike to Ramel Keyton was a beautiful pass down the field, but it was one of his few vertical passes that was on-target all night.
Milton presents an interesting quandary. He’s not good enough to win games all on his own, like Hendon Hooker was. But he’s not bad enough to warrant putting in the backup.
3.) Sometimes rumors are just rumors
There was messageboard scuttlebutt this week that talented freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava was throwing stuff in the locker room because he wasn’t inserted into the game at Florida, and that the team was dividing itself between young players who back Iamaleava and older players who back Joe Milton.
The start of Tennessee’s last series of the first half should put that nonsense to rest. With Milton in the medical tent after tweaking his knee on a sack on the previous possession, Iamaleava was preparing to enter the game. But Milton came running out of the tent at the last possible moment, grabbed his helmet, and joined the huddle. Iamaleava’s body language told everything that needed to be told about the situation. If he was disappointed at not getting to enter the game, he didn’t show it; instead, he was very encouraging towards Milton. SEC Network sideline reporter Taylor Davis also reported during the game that Iamaleava was shadowing Milton on the sideline throughout the game, asking questions and taking advice.
4.) Dylan Sampson’s reapparance
Every time Dylan Sampson touched the ball Saturday, it begged the question all over again: “Where was this dude last week at Florida?!?”
Sampson didn’t get a single rep against the Gators. It was mind-boggling at the time, especially since Tennessee struggled so much offensively, and it was even more mind-boggling Saturday when Sampson rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. He was easily the Vols’ best runningback, which shouldn’t have surprised anyone. At worst, he’s the second-best runningback on the team, behind Jaylen Wright and ahead of Jabari Small.
That’s not a knock on Small, who is good enough to play for most teams in the SEC. It’s just a testament to how good Sampson is. Again: Where in the world was this guy against Florida?
5.) Poor OL play continues
Sadly, most of the issues that were exposed at Florida remain issues for Tennessee heading into next week’s pivotal showdown with South Carolina at Neyland Stadium. Namely: Poor offensive line play, and poor tackling technique by the defense.
UTSA only had two sacks against Tennessee, and the Vols averaged 9.2 yards per carry. It may sound weird, then, to say that the OL played poorly. But this is an offensive line that is going to be exposed badly against SEC defenses like Georgia and Alabama. Some of Milton’s incompletions were due to poor protection by his blockers up front, and poor protection cost UT a touchdown opportunity late in the first half.
6.) Tackling woes creep up
Tennessee’s defense played really well in the first half, getting consistent pressure on the quarterback and limiting UTSA to fewer than 100 yards of total offense.
The second half was a different story. Owen McCown came off the bench to complete his first 10 passes, and finished 18 of 20 through the air. Tennessee’s secondary couldn’t cover and couldn’t tackle.
Willie Martinez, Tennessee’s defensive backs coach, hasn’t been spared by irate fans. He’s widely regarded as an exceptional recruiter but only a so-so position coach. Unfortunately, Tennessee may need to make some coaching changes if the Heupel era is going to see this team make it to the next level. Those changes might need to include Martinez, and maybe even his boss, defensive coordinator Tim Banks.
Tennessee looked much improved defensively against Virginia and Austin Peay. But it was worth noting after those two games that Tennessee had much tougher tests ahead. And we’ve seen two of those tests the last two weeks. Tennessee’s defense got a failing grade against Florida. It graded well in the first half of the UTSA game, but that dismal third quarter leaves huge question marks heading into next week’s game against South Carolina, which will be the Vol defense’s toughest test so far.
It was Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks who derailed Tennessee’s playoff hopes a year ago, putting 63 points up on Banks, Martinez and the Vols in Columbia. The same thing cannot happen again at Neyland Stadium next week. If it does, it’s going to be a very long season for Tennessee.
6.) Not all bad though…
At the end of the day, UTSA averaged only 2.2 yards per carry on the ground, and Tennessee’s defense finished with four sacks, seven tackles for loss, and three takeaways. That’s not a bad day’s work. Let’s see what next week’s game against South Carolina tells us about this unit’s progress.
7.) Another big game for Beasley
Aaron Beasley continues to play very well for the Tennessee defense. He led all tacklers against UTSA, with nine.
8.) Poor officiating continues
Poor OL technique, poor tackling technique, and poor officiating: Three things from Florida that continued against UTSA.
In fact, the UTSA game marked the third consecutive game that has seen really lackluster officiating for Tennessee. Unlike the previous two games, against the Gators and Austin Peay, this was a Conference USA crew. But the result was the same.
UTSA’s first touchdown came with the help of a textbook offensive pass interference. The official on top of the play flagged it, then the crew conferred and wiped off the flag. It was a bizarre no-call, especially since the official with the best view made the right call to start with. Moments later, UTSA got away with a blatant defensive pass interference on third down that forced Tennessee to punt. Later, Nico Iamaleava nearly had his headgear ripped off by a UTSA defender on a sack, and no facemask was called.
Those were all blatant misses.
9.) Jackson Ross is improving
Australian newcomer Jackson Ross caught plenty of flack early in the season, but the freshman punter is improving. Against UTSA, Ross averaged 44.3 punts on six kicks, with a long of 52. He pinned the Roadrunners inside the 20 three times and only had one kick go into the end zone. It was a quality effort for him.
10.) Adjusting expectations
Prior to the start of the season, I would’ve probably said four or five losses was the absolute carpet for this Tennessee team. Any reasonable fan knew this year’s team wouldn’t be as good as last year’s team; you simply don’t replace the production of guys like Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman. Still, the Vols have one of the best offensive backfields in the SEC, a good group of receivers, and veteran leadership all over the field on both sides of the ball.
After four games, it is obvious that this team is much more like the 2021 version of the Vols than the 2022 version. There’s plenty of football to be played, and thus plenty of time for improvement. But I would adjust my preseason expectations and say that 5-7 is probably the floor for this UT team. Yes, I think it’s very possible that Tennessee misses bowl eligibility, based on what we’ve seen so far.
Tennessee already has three wins, so it needs only three more for bowl eligibility. UConn and Vanderbilt are pretty close to guaranteed wins, so that would leave just one more. Surely they can get it, right?!?
You’d think so. But the remaining games include South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri and Georgia, in that order. I think Tennessee can beat Mizzou, and I’d rank Kentucky as a tossup, at this point. Winning both would give Tennessee seven wins. I’m not sure Tennessee can beat South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama or Georgia, though South Carolina is certainly the most winnable game in that group.
I don’t think Tennessee will go 5-7. I think the Vols probably go 7-5, with an outside shot at 8-4 if they can clean up enough stuff to beat the Gamecocks next week. With continued progression throughout the rest of the season, they might even slip in a win against Texas A&M to go 9-3. But South Carolina and Texas A&M are far from sure bets, and Tennessee at its worst so far this season has looked plenty capable of losing to Kentucky and even Missouri (which has already knocked off then-No. 15 Kansas). That’s why I say 5-7 is the floor.