London Vol
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GAME 12 – Vanderbilt
Firstly I want to say that I want Tennessee to win every game, I want us to win every quarter, I want us to win every 3rd down, heck I even want us to win the toss of the coin before the game, so last night was hard, so very hard, but In many ways it was a microcosm of the 2025 Vols, At times they have been explosive on Offense but also with a smattering of important misfires, but this Defense was littered with flaws and was an anchor (to lighten this report I have tried to add a few nautical references as last night’s opponent was the Commodores) on the teams aspirations. I remember how easily Syracuse ran up the middle and this deficiency was quite frankly apparent throughout the season, and the missed assignments and particularly miss tackles, were common. There will now be 8 months of debate, was the problem Coach Banks or the players? Probably both, but in my humble opinion, considering Arion Carter and Colton Hood will be off to play on Sundays, the ONLY starters I wish to see return in the 2026 Secondary is Ty Redmond and probably Edrees Farooq. Finally, I would like to extend my congratulations to Vanderbilt, they beat us and beat us convincingly (image without the 14 points from the two INTs), the only team that can truly say that this season.
Pregame prediction – my hopes were that the passion the Vols players showed last week (it was almost like a disruptive influence was no longer in the dressing room
) would continue and with the raucous noise of Neyland we would overwhelm Pavia and these pretenders. Combine this with Aguilar possibly signing off his all too short time at Knoxville, normal service would resume against Vanderbilt. My concern is that, when we face a QB who ad-libs off script we can be all at sea and if you ignore the logo on the helmet and look at the team, this was a better team than Tennessee. If anything was learnt in Florida it last week it was that historical results against an opponent doesn’t really count for anything when losing at Florida and winning at home to Vanderbilt was expected to be a given.
It now 27 minutes before kick-off and its pre match ritual time, I’ve got my Orange Tennessee hoodie on, I have logged into DAZN (they have our game on this week so no You Tube and hope I get a signal this time). I still have got time to fill up the glass with Pepsi and get a bag of sweets at the ready as I can’t help visiting “munchy city” during the game. GO VOLS
QUARTERBACKS B -
This loss is not on Joey Aguilar who actually had a decent game. 29-44-299 with 1 TD and 0 INTs kept Tennessee trading blow for blow for a while. If this season we would have had last year’s Defense his overall performance was plenty good enough for the playoffs and if you are still not convinced of his input, just compare the UCLA season with Tennessee. From what little I saw of Jake Merklinger and with this Defense, we would have struggled to even go bowling in the brutal SEC.
RUNNING BACKS C
In the first half we were playing complimentary football with having success in the Running game. DeSean Bishop was doing what he does most weeks but as the overall performance became disjointed the Running game took a back seat and 83 net yards is no way near what Tennessee normally rely on. I am mystified where Star Thomas has gone recently? I can only presume that there is a hidden injury that nobody knows of.
WIDE RECEIVERS B
Mainly a solid day with a combined 19 catches. Chris Brazzell II led the way with 91 yards and Mike Matthews 58 and Braylon Staley 35 but Matthews again dropped a certain TD (which almost seems a weekly event). I know that I’m being ultra critical here but I’m comparing him to the expectations of a 5 * WR and one of the top NIL recipients on this team.
TIGHT ENDS B
Ethan Davis had another season high with 7 catches and a whopping 85 yards. 2026 could be a big breakout year for him on the national stage.
OFFENSIVE LINE D -
I thought they lost the Line most of the game although there were the odd, good moments such as a David Sanders block for a Bishop TD. A big thank you to Wendell Moe who “sucked it up” by suiting up and producing a great block for another TD run which resulted in another injury for him. It’s been confusing whether this was a good O`Line or not this season? So I guess the correct word is inconsistent.
DEFENSIVE LINE E -
My pregame fear that Pavia is the type of unpredictable QB that Tennessee historically have had huge trouble with was spot on. Conceding 582 total yards starts up front. Again, people seemed to be “free lancing” on the pass rush instead of keeping lane discipline and corralling Pavia. I have written most weeks that we simply do not have those big run stuffing DTs this season that we have had recently. We need to hit the portal (as well as for Safeties) really hard here.
LINEBACKERS F +
This is not a full F because I will give Arion Carter a pass as he also played hurt with double turf toe, But I am heartily fed up with the LBs choosing wrong gaps and the middle opening up like the Red Sea did for Moses. Jeremiah Telander.is also too slow in coverage, how often do you see No 22 trailing the ball carrier? sorry call him out, and no doubt he gives his all, but we would have been more effective if stayed in the middle just to stop the run.
DEFENSIVE BACKS F +
This grade takes into account that Colton Hood was another who was clearly playing hurt and boy did he look it at times. Ty Redmond had a textbook INT and PBU but the rest of the Secondary have been not up to SEC standard all season. The Boo saga hurt us at STAR and Andre Turrentine was a liability most of the season. I understand Joel Wyatt is a big hitting safety who will hopefully sign this week, well do we need him or/and some new faces urgently in the DB room.
COACHING E
The team seemed up for the challenge early on but then the missed tackles and stupid errors started arriving. But it must be said the 3rd Quarter was awful so the Coaches must take some blame for the lack of adjustments at half time. As mentioned at the top of the report unless the Defense improves significantly then Josh Heupels reign may have plateaued.
BIG MOMENTS
The biggest was a dumb “Roughing the Passer penalty” just before half time when we finally stopped Vandy and then Matthews TD drop stopping us from being only 3 points behind late on. But in general, the continued miss tackles were back breakers. Stop going for the punch out fumble and wrap the guy up please.
The advantage of writing my report the day after is that hopefully I think more rationally than emotionally. So here is my rational summing up, back on August 30 we had no idea how the QB “trade” would work out and remember Florida and South Carolina were both ranked in the Top 25 above us and they had two of the Heisman trophy favourites in Lagway and Sellars behind Center. Now FL and USC both went 4-8 compared to Tennessee’s 8-4. So yes, I hated losing last night and particularly how badly we lost, but it should not distort the big picture that this was a good, not great, but good season.
I know often the Bowl Games seem pointless, but I hope we take it seriously and a 9-win season is none to shabby. It is also important to win as the last memory of the season is the one that sticks with you during the far too long off season, anyone remember Ohio State? so the mood will be so much better until next September with a bowl win.
It would be great to see/hear your comments.
GO VOLS
Firstly I want to say that I want Tennessee to win every game, I want us to win every quarter, I want us to win every 3rd down, heck I even want us to win the toss of the coin before the game, so last night was hard, so very hard, but In many ways it was a microcosm of the 2025 Vols, At times they have been explosive on Offense but also with a smattering of important misfires, but this Defense was littered with flaws and was an anchor (to lighten this report I have tried to add a few nautical references as last night’s opponent was the Commodores) on the teams aspirations. I remember how easily Syracuse ran up the middle and this deficiency was quite frankly apparent throughout the season, and the missed assignments and particularly miss tackles, were common. There will now be 8 months of debate, was the problem Coach Banks or the players? Probably both, but in my humble opinion, considering Arion Carter and Colton Hood will be off to play on Sundays, the ONLY starters I wish to see return in the 2026 Secondary is Ty Redmond and probably Edrees Farooq. Finally, I would like to extend my congratulations to Vanderbilt, they beat us and beat us convincingly (image without the 14 points from the two INTs), the only team that can truly say that this season.
Pregame prediction – my hopes were that the passion the Vols players showed last week (it was almost like a disruptive influence was no longer in the dressing room
) would continue and with the raucous noise of Neyland we would overwhelm Pavia and these pretenders. Combine this with Aguilar possibly signing off his all too short time at Knoxville, normal service would resume against Vanderbilt. My concern is that, when we face a QB who ad-libs off script we can be all at sea and if you ignore the logo on the helmet and look at the team, this was a better team than Tennessee. If anything was learnt in Florida it last week it was that historical results against an opponent doesn’t really count for anything when losing at Florida and winning at home to Vanderbilt was expected to be a given.It now 27 minutes before kick-off and its pre match ritual time, I’ve got my Orange Tennessee hoodie on, I have logged into DAZN (they have our game on this week so no You Tube and hope I get a signal this time). I still have got time to fill up the glass with Pepsi and get a bag of sweets at the ready as I can’t help visiting “munchy city” during the game. GO VOLS
QUARTERBACKS B -
This loss is not on Joey Aguilar who actually had a decent game. 29-44-299 with 1 TD and 0 INTs kept Tennessee trading blow for blow for a while. If this season we would have had last year’s Defense his overall performance was plenty good enough for the playoffs and if you are still not convinced of his input, just compare the UCLA season with Tennessee. From what little I saw of Jake Merklinger and with this Defense, we would have struggled to even go bowling in the brutal SEC.
RUNNING BACKS C
In the first half we were playing complimentary football with having success in the Running game. DeSean Bishop was doing what he does most weeks but as the overall performance became disjointed the Running game took a back seat and 83 net yards is no way near what Tennessee normally rely on. I am mystified where Star Thomas has gone recently? I can only presume that there is a hidden injury that nobody knows of.
WIDE RECEIVERS B
Mainly a solid day with a combined 19 catches. Chris Brazzell II led the way with 91 yards and Mike Matthews 58 and Braylon Staley 35 but Matthews again dropped a certain TD (which almost seems a weekly event). I know that I’m being ultra critical here but I’m comparing him to the expectations of a 5 * WR and one of the top NIL recipients on this team.
TIGHT ENDS B
Ethan Davis had another season high with 7 catches and a whopping 85 yards. 2026 could be a big breakout year for him on the national stage.
OFFENSIVE LINE D -
I thought they lost the Line most of the game although there were the odd, good moments such as a David Sanders block for a Bishop TD. A big thank you to Wendell Moe who “sucked it up” by suiting up and producing a great block for another TD run which resulted in another injury for him. It’s been confusing whether this was a good O`Line or not this season? So I guess the correct word is inconsistent.
DEFENSIVE LINE E -
My pregame fear that Pavia is the type of unpredictable QB that Tennessee historically have had huge trouble with was spot on. Conceding 582 total yards starts up front. Again, people seemed to be “free lancing” on the pass rush instead of keeping lane discipline and corralling Pavia. I have written most weeks that we simply do not have those big run stuffing DTs this season that we have had recently. We need to hit the portal (as well as for Safeties) really hard here.
LINEBACKERS F +
This is not a full F because I will give Arion Carter a pass as he also played hurt with double turf toe, But I am heartily fed up with the LBs choosing wrong gaps and the middle opening up like the Red Sea did for Moses. Jeremiah Telander.is also too slow in coverage, how often do you see No 22 trailing the ball carrier? sorry call him out, and no doubt he gives his all, but we would have been more effective if stayed in the middle just to stop the run.
DEFENSIVE BACKS F +
This grade takes into account that Colton Hood was another who was clearly playing hurt and boy did he look it at times. Ty Redmond had a textbook INT and PBU but the rest of the Secondary have been not up to SEC standard all season. The Boo saga hurt us at STAR and Andre Turrentine was a liability most of the season. I understand Joel Wyatt is a big hitting safety who will hopefully sign this week, well do we need him or/and some new faces urgently in the DB room.
COACHING E
The team seemed up for the challenge early on but then the missed tackles and stupid errors started arriving. But it must be said the 3rd Quarter was awful so the Coaches must take some blame for the lack of adjustments at half time. As mentioned at the top of the report unless the Defense improves significantly then Josh Heupels reign may have plateaued.
BIG MOMENTS
The biggest was a dumb “Roughing the Passer penalty” just before half time when we finally stopped Vandy and then Matthews TD drop stopping us from being only 3 points behind late on. But in general, the continued miss tackles were back breakers. Stop going for the punch out fumble and wrap the guy up please.
The advantage of writing my report the day after is that hopefully I think more rationally than emotionally. So here is my rational summing up, back on August 30 we had no idea how the QB “trade” would work out and remember Florida and South Carolina were both ranked in the Top 25 above us and they had two of the Heisman trophy favourites in Lagway and Sellars behind Center. Now FL and USC both went 4-8 compared to Tennessee’s 8-4. So yes, I hated losing last night and particularly how badly we lost, but it should not distort the big picture that this was a good, not great, but good season.
I know often the Bowl Games seem pointless, but I hope we take it seriously and a 9-win season is none to shabby. It is also important to win as the last memory of the season is the one that sticks with you during the far too long off season, anyone remember Ohio State? so the mood will be so much better until next September with a bowl win.
It would be great to see/hear your comments.
GO VOLS
