Vols hope to avoid spiral after loss
GAINESVILLE — Nothing needed to be said that wasn’t already written on the face of Tennessee coach
The exhaustion, the dejection and the anger were clearly visible on the face of the 49-year-old coach minutes after his No. 23 Volunteers (2-1, 0-1 SEC) dropped a heart-wrenching 26-20 game Saturday to No. 24 Florida (1-1, 1-0) in most dramatic fashion.
“It’s a team that hurts,” Jones said following the loss to the Vols’ SEC rival. “… They hurt, but again you’ve got to build upon this opportunity. I know it’s hard at this time but it’s going to make you stronger. It’s got to drive you that much more if you’re a competitor.
“It’s one of those plays that come around once every so often, but unfortunately they made the play and we didn’t.”
Jones was referring to the final play of the game, during which Florida quarterback
scrambled out of the pocket and heaved the football more than 63 yards through the evening into the arms of sophomore receiver
in the middle of the end zone for the winning score that sent the crowd at the Swamp into a frenzy.
Jones and his players could do nothing but watch as the Gators’ sideline erupted and players stormed the field in celebration. Tennessee cornerback
couldn’t hide the shock and disappointment.
“He got behind us …,” the senior said of the final play, his words trailing off.
Jones said the Vols expected the Gators to burn a timeout, but his defensive backs should have stayed as deep as the deepest receiver in case UF tried a long pass.
Tennessee didn’t and the secondary was out of position to contest the pass to Cleveland.
“… We allowed the quarterback to flush the pocket and he stepped up and made a great play,” Jones said of Franks. “But you have to stay as deep as the deepest [receiver] and knock the ball down.” COMMENTARY
The thought of Florida throwing into the end zone wasn’t necessarily on everyone’s mind.
“I didn’t think he was going to try and throw a Hail Mary,” defensive tackle said. “I definitely thought they might try [to] get into field-goal range, but at the same time they didn’t know how much time they really had, so looking back it’s not surprising they threw a Hail Mary.
“I think we were in the right defense to prepare for the nine seconds on the clock. I knew they didn’t have much time to run two plays. I knew if anything was in bounds, the clock was going to run out.”
Jones resisted solely blaming the loss on the final play.
“Everyone will remember the last play of the game, but I think there was an accumulation of plays that occurred on both halves prior to that play and it had a cumulative effect,” Jones said, pointing to the team’s passing and kicking struggles.
Tennessee missed three field goals, including 44- and 47- yard attempts.
went 21-of-39 passing for 259 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, leading an offense that struggled to avoid mistakes and extend drives.
Vickers said the Vols are mad.
“Any time you lose a tough game like that, you’re going to be mad,” Vickers said. “That shows the character of our team and the investment that we showed. We can’t let it carry on into next week. We won’t let that happen.”
Tennessee may have been undefeated and riding last year’s victory against Florida heading into Gainesville Saturday, but few teams faced as much scrutiny from a fan base than these two.
During his four seasons in Knoxville, Jones’ critics have questioned how he can consistently secure top-10 recruiting classes but fail to win an SEC East title.
The Vols haven’t won their division since they were crowned co-champions with Georgia in 2007.
The loss Saturday puts Tennessee and Jones at a crossroads.
“We’ve been through this situation a number of times throughout our four years here and we know what it’s like to have this bump in the road,” senior tight end
said of the loss. “The biggest thing is not to let this game affect us anymore than it is right now.”
The players and coaching staff may be able to move on from this loss, but the fan base may not. Volunteers fans took to social media following the game to vent their frustration.
Jones has faced blistering critiques before and knows he can only control what he can control.
“It’s a long football season and we’ll get better and we’ll improve and we’ll be ready to go next Saturday,” he said.