By: Matt Laws (matt.laws@averyjournal.com)Avery Journal-Times
For Tennessee, it took the offense a long time to get going. Unfortunately by the time they did, it was almost too late. The Volunteers lost 26-22 to the Auburn Tigers in Neyland Stadium after scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter.
“So I thought we lost in all three phases of the game,” UT Coach Lane Kiffin said. “Which is very disappointing, especially for our SEC home opener."
Tennessee continued to have offensive issues in the early going as it seemed if quarterback Jonathon Crompton and the rest of the offense wasn’t on the same page.
"It was a tough first half,” Kiffin said. “Luckily, we had the 2-minute series to go down there to end the first half. That was about as poorly as an offensive half you could play all-around. There was no rhythm, there were drops. It was bad.”
Auburn built a six point lead on two field goals after UT missed a field goal on their opening drive after moving to the Tiger 22-yard line. Auburn got back on the board after they drove 87 yards, and Ben Tate capped it off with an 11-yard touchdown run.
Tennessee was able to get clicking on their final possession of the drive as they went no huddle and marched seventy yards in 1:02. Montario Hardesty capped it off with a one yard dive. Daniel Lincoln’s extra point was blocked as the Vols entered the locker room trailing 13 to 6.
In the second half, the Volunteer offense continued to struggle as the defense battled with the Auburn offense. The lone score of the quarter belonged to Auburn as they hit a 19-yard field goal. The Tigers
started the scoring in the fourth when Chris Todd hit Terrell Zachary for an 11-yard touchdown that put the Tigers up 23-6 with 13:41 remaining.With that score, the Volunteers went to a no huddle offense that seemed to suddenly set the offense off.
"We were going to in that series we went to it, even if they didn't score,” Kiffin said. “It worked well to end the second quarter. We needed a tempo change. There was no rhythm today to our offense. There were some big plays, but there was no rhythm. There was no six yards, six yards. We never really got into a rhythm in our run game, and play-action was kind of all over the place today. They did a good job."
Crompton hit Hardesty on a 31-yard screen play that pulled the Volunteers within a touchdown. The UT defense forced a punt and the Vol offense once again took advantage as they got a Lincoln field goal to cut the gap to four points. Auburn benefited from a 52-yard kickoff return and managed to get a field goal to secure the win.
The Vols managed to get back on the board as time expired as Crompton hit Denarius Moore for a 32-yard touchdown to make the score closer.
For the Vols, the problems seemed to be most visible on offensive third downs.
“From the beginning in the first half, I thought our offense really put our defense in a number of bad situations by not converting on third down,” Kiffin said. “When you have an offense that's as hard to play as that [Auburn's] offense, the last thing you need to do is afford three-and-outs and put eight times. We were [4]-of-17 on third downs. I don't know that you can
ever win a game like that. I think that's a big storyline for the game.”Despite the rough start, Crompton ended the game 20 of 43 for 259 yards and two touchdowns in part because of the two minute offense.
"It was good to see him in no-huddle,” Kiffin said of Crompton. “Last week we had a big series before the half to score a field goal, and this week as well in no-huddle to score at the end of the first half and in the second half.
That was good to see."
Hardesty continued to be the backbone of the offense as he had 90 yards on 21 carries, while Gerald Jones has 75 yards on seven catches.
For Tennessee, they must rebound in a hurry as Georgia comes into Neyland on Saturday after falling in a heartbreaker to LSU. The kickoff is slated for 12:21.
