University of Tennessee Athletics
Regardless of Tempo, Vols Can't Find Rhythm Against Auburn
October 04, 2009 | Football
Oct. 4, 2009
BY DREW EDWARDS
UTSports.com
Tennessee's 26-22 loss to Auburn on Saturday night was a lesson in tempo.
Sped up, Tennessee's defense struggled to find a way to get off the field and keep Auburn's offense from scoring points.
Sped up, Tennessee's offense managed to find new life in the second half.
Even so, the tempo never stayed locked in for long. And the Vols stayed out of rhythm on offense - and out of the win column in the SEC.
"That was about as poorly as an offensive half you could play all around," UT coach Lane Kiffin said. "There was no rhythm. There were drops. It was bad."
Just before halftime, it got better. Into its two-minute offense, the Vols (2-3, 0-2 SEC) moved 70 yards for a touchdown in just 1:02.
Then it got worse again in the third quarter.
"The first play of the second half, we get stepped on and fall and lose 3 (yards) there," Kiffin said. "That was kind of the storyline there right there."
Part of it, anyway.
Auburn, which entered the game ranked third in the nation in scoring offense and total offense, kept the defense off balance by going up tempo. Despite being held 19 points below their season average entering the game, the Tigers frequently snapped the ball with 20 or more seconds left on the play clock.
That caused problems - and fatigue - for the Vols' defense.
"You've got to think on the fly," said linebacker Rico McCoy, who led the Vols with a career-high 16 tackles. "You don't really get time to look at the formation when they're sprinting to the line. You're looking to the sideline for your call, and they're rushing up to the line of scrimmage. By the time you get the call, you've got to be ready to react. It made it pretty difficult a couple times in the game."
That was never more evident than during Auburn's nine-play, 87-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. And the Tigers (5-0, 2-0 SEC) covered all that ground in just 2:32.
"We worked on it during the week," defensive tackle Wes Brown said. "Coach Monte (Kiffin) told us they were going to be really quick. We were prepared for that. But practice is going to be different from the game. When it really happened, it was a little different for us. It was tough keeping up, but that's something we worked on and it's no excuse."
Tennessee's offensive woes in the first half sure didn't help matters.
The Vols went punted five times - including three three-and-outs - lost a fumble and missed a field goal before scoring a touchdown to end the half. And for the game, Tennessee converted just four of its 17 third downs.
It got better in the fourth quarter, thanks again to a change in speed. The same applied to quarterback Jonathan Crompton, who finished with a career-high 259 yards and two touchdowns.
"He played extremely well in hurry-up mode," Kiffin said. "Outside of that, as you guys saw, we didn't play very well. He didn't play very well early on because of some accuracy things. It wasn't decisions, though, which is good.
"It was good to see him in the no-huddle. Last week, we had a big series before the half to score a field goal, and this week as well in the no-huddle to score at the end of the first half and in the second half. That was good to see."
Still, Tennessee's offense wasn't nearly as consistent as it needed to be for the Vols to secure their first SEC win of the season. Even the running game, reliable for the most part heading into Saturday's game, had its frustrations, too.
"It is frustrating, and you end up trying everything to kind of look for a spark," Kiffin said. "In the end, usually we go back to (Montario) Hardesty for the most part. Our run game was sporadic, like our offense was today. It was big-little. That's not what you want to be. We'd have an 8- or 10-yard run and then have negative-2. It creates no rhythm in your offense."
Regardless of the tempo, though, the Vols need to lock into a rhythm entering the teeth of its conference schedule.
"Football's a game of inches," guard Jacques McClendon said. "It's a game of adversity. Whoever handles it better wins the game. And we didn't handle it well tonight."
Follow the Vols on Twitter @UTAthletics, and read Drew Edwards' blog, The Inside Source.
