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Failures to capitalize on offense and special-teams issues hurt Vols again

By: Wes Rucker
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Filed Tuesday, 1:15 a.m.

PASADENA, Calif. — Warning: I’m about to heave myself into a heap of hypocrisy.

I wrote Sunday that fans and media should caution against assuming too much about any team’s future after just one game.

There’s a chance I was wrong. Very wrong. Completely wrong.

UCLA shouldn’t have beaten Tennessee last night. But the Bruins did. They overcame a four-interception first half from their third-string quarterback and came back to win with their best wide receiver, best tight end and best running back on the sideline for the final 45 minutes. UCLA wasn’t particularly healthy to begin this game, either, thanks to a ridiculous run of injuries that started in spring practice.

An awkward game had a thrilling conclusion, and here we are trying to make sense of a bizarre series of events.

With a few glaring exceptions, UT’s offense was the opposite of opportunistic. With a few glaring exceptions, its special teams were again abysmal: Is it time to hire a full-time special-teams coach? At some point, this has to be a discussion in the Neyland Thompson Sports Center.

The Vols’ defense made several slips, but they didn’t deserve the fate their offense and special teams gave them. UT should have been ahead by at least two possessions in the fourth quarter, but the offense kept stalling (or reversing), and the defense had a somewhat inevitable crack — or cracks.

I only have two clear criticisms of the defense: Why does it seem that the Vols consistently play unnecessarily soft coverage on third-and-long? And why does it seem they consistently leave the middle of the field wide open?

Here comes my hypocritical hypothesis: If the Vols keep making this many mistakes — the same kind that have caused several losses the past few seasons — they will not play in a January bowl game.

This UCLA team didn’t look that impressive. Its absurdly rising number of injuries won’t help that, either. And I seriously doubt that many teams will give the Bruins as many chances as the Vols handed them.

As I’ve repeatedly stated, though, this was just one game. One out-of-conference game. One September game.

But I don’t think UT’s situation seemed this bleak after last season’s loss at California. Last year’s Golden Bears were more talented, and Memorial Stadium that night was a much more hostile environment than this one.

Quite simply, I just didn’t think UT would lose this game. Most people didn’t, and they had their reasons. Rational reasons.

What we’re left with, though, is another Tennessee team that talked about putting this program back on top yet opened the season with a big step back toward mediocrity.

E-mail Wes Rucker at wrucker@timesfreepress.com

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