UT’s brightest spot is punter Ross
COLUMBIA, Mo. — It’s rarely a good thing when a team MVP is its punter.
Such was the case Saturday afternoon in Tennessee’s 36-7 loss to Missouri at Faurot Field, as the brightest spot for the Volunteers came in the form of redshirt freshman Jackson Ross. The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder from Melbourne, Australia, matched season highs with two punts in excess of 50 yards and three that were downed inside the 20-yard line.
Ross, who has the unique talent of rolling to either side and kicking with either foot, had a 34-yard punt that was downed at Missouri’s 14-yard line less than five minutes into the game. He had a 45-yard punt that was downed at the Mizzou 3 at the 9:08 mark of the second quarter, and he placed a 37-yarder at the 1 during the final minute of the third quarter.
“He did a nice job,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said, “and our coverage team obviously had the ability to pin them deep and put them inside the 1 when it’s still a ballgame. It was a two possession game right there, and he did a nice job, and the unit as a whole did a nice job.”
Tennessee had a 6-yard loss on its first play of the second half and ultimately punted from its own 26, but Ross launched one of his two 54-yard efforts that was fair caught by the Tigers at their 20.
Ross wound up punting six times for a 43.7-yard average.
Too much yellow
Tennessee entered Saturday tied for 125th nationally in fewest penalty yards per game with 70.0, and the Vols had another undisciplined performance with nine flags for 95 yards.
“It was huge in the way the game was played,” Heupel said. “There were huge penalties that put us in first-and-20 and secondand-20, and those are tough to overcome. We had a personalfoul penalty on the defensive side. It’s self-accountability, man. You’ve got to play smart.”
Said sixth-year senior quarterback Joe Milton III: “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot. It was pretty much the same thing that happened at Florida with all the self-inflicted wounds — false starts, holdings, things like that. That’s what happened.”
Hamilton remembered
Several hours before Saturday’s kickoff, Tennessee announced that former athletic director Mike Hamilton died Friday at the age of 60.
Hamilton replaced Doug Dickey as AD in 2003 and remained in the role until resigning in June 2011. Tennessee had a pair of top-10 finishes in the NACDA Directors’ Cup during his tenure, with the men’s basketball program ascending sharply under the guidance of Bruce Pearl, but Hamilton also delivered the polarizing dismissals of football coach Phillip Fulmer in November 2008 and of Pearl in March 2011.
Fundraising under Hamilton’s watch went from $19.5 million in 2003 to $45.2 million in 2011.
“It’s a sad day for everyone here on Rocky Top with the loss of Mike Hamilton,” current Tennessee AD Danny White said in a university release. “Everyone who was fortunate to spend time with Mike knew how special the University of Tennessee was to him. He will be sorely missed.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Mike’s family and loved ones.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee and Mizzou have played 12 times since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012, with the two teams evenly splitting those contests. … The Vols remain one of five FBS teams to play every game this season before sellout crowds, joining Colorado, Georgia, Iowa and Notre Dame . … Tennessee sophomore edge rusher James Pearce Jr. made his first career start. … Milton now has 14 consecutive contests with at least one touchdown pass, trailing only Hendon Hooker (20) and Heath Shuler (18) in program history. … Tennessee tallied eight tackles for loss, essentially matching its 8.2 average this year. … Junior guard Andrej Karic and freshman linebacker Arion Carter were announced as inactive for the Vols before Saturday’s kickoff.