Coaching
This one will be highly debated. The Vols followed a scary path again on Saturday, using a great gameplan and fast start to jump out to a big lead early before letting their foot off the gas a bit, as Dobbs put it, to let South Carolina get back in the game. The Gamecocks had every opportunity to send that game into overtime or win it late before Malik Foreman made a big play to save the day. South Carolina interim head coach Shawn Elliott and a Steve Spurrier-less staff seemed to win the adjustments battle and probably, considering overall talent level, got more out of their team than the Vols did.
But just as we always say when the Vols don’t get the job done, this is a results-oriented business. Wins – especially of the SEC variety – have been difficult to come by for this program for the last decade. That was almost a disastrous evening for this staff, but credit it for keeping the Vols fighting and finding a way to get a win, even though it wasn’t always pretty.
Grades:
Daniel: C
Houston: C-
Reed: C
Stephen: B
Average Grade: C
