Armchair Quarterback: Vols’ Peach Bowl effort was the pits
The Vols did the sponsors of the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl proud Friday as they came out and played like a bunch of chicks, marking a second straight Georgia Dome meltdown.
As a matter of fact, there must be something about the Georgia Dome which causes the Vols to lose all ability to make plays.
They flopped 27-14 to a mediocre Clemson squad Friday after laying an egg against the Maryland Terrapins 30-3 last year in the Peach Bowl. And the year before that, they blew a chance at the national championship in the Georgia Dome when they came apart in the second half against LSU in a 31-20 loss.
Given this track history, the best thing the Vols can do in the future is decline a Peach Bowl invitation. Go play the Humanitarian Bowl on the blue field in Boise if you have to, just don’t go to the Peach or play Penn State or Nebraska in a bowl.
I just don’t get what the problem is with the Vols and bowls lately. Something very bad is happening during the month off leading up to the bowls as they come out looking like the shell of the team they were during the regular season. This following a huge 45-17 win over Michigan just two years ago in a bowl.
If you just looked at the stats from Friday’s game, you’d think the Vols won as Casey Clausen had a brilliant day in his final game as a Vol, going 31-of-55 for 384 yards and throwing two touchdowns. The Vols outgained the Tigers 422 to 399 and possessed the ball five more minutes than did their opponents. Both teams had one turn over.
However, there are two telling stats which reveal where the Vols went south Friday. The first is the yards rushing where the Tigers controlled the line of scrimmage, outrushing the Vols 153 to 38. This is the same Vols team which prides itself on its grinding ground game, yet they gave up the ground game early as evidenced by the ground yardage and the 55 passing attempts by Clausen.
Granted, the first half was a score-fest as they went into the locker room with a 24-14 Clemson advantage. However, the adjustments at halftime made the second half a defensive struggle, just as is the case in most bowls where the offense controls the first half and the defense the second half.
The most telling stat of the whole game came in the penalties where the Vols killed themselves with 10 penalties for 119 yards. And, it wasn’t just the penalties, it was the timing of the penalties. Three times during the game, stupid penalties came on what would have been fourth down for the Tigers. These included two interference penalties, both of which, in my humble opinion, were called on uncatchable balls. Then there was a roughing the quarterback penalty. Two of these penalties, which continued drives, ended up with the Tigers scoring.
And, on offense, there was an unsportsmanlike penalty on Clausen on an end zone play where the back judge obviously missed the call on what should have been a Tennessee touchdown, which pushed the Vols back on fourth down and led to a James Wilhoit missed field goal.
This horrible performance, where the Vols basically beat themselves, is especially bad after some members of the organization whined about not getting a BCS bid, insinuating the Peach Bowl was beneath them. Face it, if you can’t compete with Clemson, whose only claim to fame is a fluke win over Florida State, then you’re going to get drilled by an Ohio State.
There should have been less whining and more devotion to discipline leading into the game, because it was a lack of discipline which led to another horrible bowl showing by the Vols.