Where was the "talent factor/differential" when UT was up 9-0 through 3 quarters and thoroughly controlling the game? The game was being won by the defense and only a boneheaded mistake(s) which gave Florida a short field was gonna get em back in it imo.
It's all hindsight 20/20 type stuff, but Doug Mathews, who is a great supporter and proponent of Jones and his staff, pointed this out on Sunday..... he questioned why Jones/Bajakian called any sort of long developing play, such as the strip sack play of Worley deep in UT territory, late in the game, when given how our defense was playing, we really should've only been doing everything we could do to protect the lead and limit potential mistakes. That didn't happen.
Additionally, why throw the deep seam route, ON FIRST DOWN, into double (bracketed) coverage to Pig WITH ONE MINUTE LEFT in the game..... when all we needed was 18-20 more yards to get into game-winning field goal position and we had plenty of time and downs to get there?
IMHO, Jones and company get high marks for getting the team a two possession lead through 3 qtrs with a less talented team, they really do. However, the game was infinitely winnable vs a deeply flawed team that was on the verge of conceding the loss..... until a couple of poor game management calls by Jones/Bajakian gave them life late, and they took full advantage of it.