Last Saturday marked the beginning of the 117th season of Tennessee football and the first season of the Butch Jones era. I was among the over 97,000 people in attendance to watch the season opener. The outcome was never in doubt. Austin Peay should have just taken their money and gone home to save them the embarrassment. At halftime, it was 42-0. By the end of the game, UT won 45-0. It could have been much worse had we not played our subs in the 2nd half. The win gave Butch Jones a W in his coaching debut. Let us not forget that both Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley were both 1-0 and remember what happened after that.
There were some positive signs that we have taken a step in the right direction. However, there were some negative aspects that I noticed that we need to work on before we get into the SEC portion of the schedule.
Positives:
There were many positives to take away from this game. Justin Worley was consistent, completing 11 of 13 passes. He showed that he is capable of leading the new offense. Marlin Lane set the pace with the running game, scoring on a 47 yard touchdown run early in the game and rushing for over 160 yards in just the first half. Remember the defense last year that gave up nearly 40 points a game. The one we saw Saturday was a stark contrast from that defense. We committed 0 penalties which shows that we are well coached and well disciplined. Michael Palardy converted a 37 yard field goal in the 3rd, which is a welcome sight since we have not had a consistent kicking game in the past few years.
Negatives:
Not too many negatives to report after a game like that but there are a couple areas I noticed that we need to improve on. One thing that Worley needs to work on is that he seemed to under throw or not lead his receivers with his passes. One play in particular was a long pass to Marquez North he under threw. North did catch the ball but had Worley hit him in stride he would have walked into the end zone. Another thing to work on is Worley needs to hold onto the ball more during the Read-Option. It looked like he was afraid to take off running and there were times where he should have kept it himself instead of giving it to the running back. We have to keep the defense honest by changing up who has the ball on that play.
Overall, it was a fun night to be a Tennessee fan. It feels great to be 1-0. Next week we have a bigger challenge in Western Kentucky, who beat Kentucky last week. They are no pushover and they are lead by former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. This is a big game and one we must have before we head to Oregon.
Go Big Orange!
Until next time,
Nathan Krispin
Red, White and Orange Sports
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