Instant Analysis: Guarantano’s Late Fumble Proves Costly as Tennessee falls to No. 1 Alabama
For a moment, it seemed as if the unthinkable was about to unfold.
Tennessee found itself deep in Alabama territory with a a chance to cut the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s lead to four in the opening minutes of the second half.
Heisman candidate Tua Tagavailoa had gone down with an ankle injury and the Vols held all of the momentum. In two consecutive tosses of a yellow flag, all of that positive energy was gone.
Despite a valiant effort through three quarters, the Vols were once again victims of their own success as countless self-inflicted wounds propel the Crimson Tide to an emphatic 35-13 victory at home.
Here are some takeaways from UT’s 13th consecutive loss at the hands of Alabama:
Tennessee impressively answers the bell through three quarters
Carrying over their momentum from a week ago, the Vols’ defense picked up where it left off against Mississippi State.
With Tagavailoa attempting to avoid pressure in the red zone, the junior quarterback was forced to try an errant pass that landed right in the hands of Nigel Warrior.
Tennessee immediately marched down the field for an easy score, with Maurer sneaking in from one yard out. Similar to their start against Georgia at home, the Vols were in a position that frankly, not many expected them to be in.
Alabama would go on to take the lead on the next drive, but the fact that UT was able to match the Crimson Tide punch-for-punch with their Heisman candidate under center was impressive in itself.
Maurer goes down with a head injury once again
Freshman quarterback Brian Maurer’s luck couldn’t be any worse throughout the past two weeks.
After suffering a concussion following an awkward landing against Mississippi State last week, the Ocala, Florida native went down hard once again after a hit by Alabama linebacker Shane Lee that sent him tumbling into teammate Darnell Wright’s leg.
Maurer was 5-of-7 for 62 yards and one interception when he was forced to leave the game and was replaced by Jarrett Guarantano.
Luckily for Maurer, he’ll have an entire week to get ready for Tennessee matchup with South Carolina, but his inability to stay healthy has to be a concern for the Vols moving forward.
Vols unable to capitalize in Tagavailoa’s absence
Once Tagavailoa was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a high ankle sprain, it seemed the stars were aligning for Tennessee to pull off a monumental upset.
Then, in typical UT fashion, the Vols continuously shut themselves in the foot.
Tennessee was unable to find the end zone twice from inside the 10-yard line as foolish penalties backed it out of scoring range.
Guarantano’s inability to find an open Jennings in the end zone didn’t help, but the Vols were once again left kicking themselves and wondering what could have been.
Self-inflicted wounds prove to be Tennessee’s undoing
Much like in their loss to BYU, the Vols were victims of their own mistakes once again on Saturday.
By no means did Tennessee play a perfect game, far from it. In fact, one could argue that aside from a couple of drives on both sides of the ball, UT looked inept.
Regardless, the fact remains that the Vols has a chance to cut the deficit to four to start the second half. Instead, they had to settle for a field goal that trimmed Alabama’s lead to eight.
During the first half, UT was yards away from knotting the score at 14, but instead two penalties backed the Vols out of scoring range.
Overall, Tennessee continues to look much better as a unit, but as the season wears on, it’s all about the “little details” and Jeremy Pruitt’s team has struggled with those through seven games.
Guarantano’s late fumble seals the deal
Outside of Butch Jones, Guarantano may be the most hated man in Knoxville at the moment.
Not that he deserves to be, but his decision to try and stretch the ball across the goal line himself rather than handing the ball off ultimately cost Tennessee a golden opportunity to make it a game late.
Upon reviewing the play, offensive lineman Trey Smith pulls away from the line of scrimmage as if to create a hole in a run block scheme.
Just seconds later, Alabama’s Trevon Diggs was on the opposite side of the field with the ball in his hands.
Guarantano heard about it on the sideline as well. Pruitt was so furious that at one point, he grabbed the redshirt junior quarterback’s face mask and tugged on it a bit.
It would come as no surprise that sophomore J.T. Shrout would be taking reps under center during the next drive, but by then it was too little, too late.
If Tennessee wishes to end its now 13-year losing streak to Alabama in the near future, Pruitt and his staff must eliminate the minor mental errors that have continuously plagued this team for the last decade.
