RTI Film Study: What Went Wrong vs. Florida

Throwing the Ball

Tennessee abandoned it’s intermediate passing game far too early. When the Vols went outside to the perimeter, they made mistakes and turned the ball over.

A lot of that is due to the offensive line, who didn’t protect Dormady well in the first half. Florida went to quick passes over the middle to carve up the Vols. Tennessee showed this look a few times, but didn’t trust its receivers enough to find open pockets in the coverage.

When Tennessee found space over the middle, it was successful. On the first drive, Quinten Dormady found Josh Smith to move the chains on first down.

#RTIFilmStudy UT needed to rely more on its veterans against Florida. Josh Smith finds the hole in the coverage here & moves the chains. pic.twitter.com/6tCgvE3jcg

— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 18, 2017

Dormady lets this ball fly before Smith turns around, showing the advantage of having a veteran wide receiver on the field. I don’t think Dormady has the same level of trust with some of his younger wide receivers.

When Dormady does the same thing with Josh Palmer near the goal line, the freshman can’t get in front of the corner, causing an easy interception.

Josh Palmer can't get inside of the DB here, and Dormady's quick pass is picked. Johnson looked open in the endzone here. #RTIFilmStudy pic.twitter.com/oaEfHIaVZo

— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 18, 2017

Palmer doesn’t run inside the defensive back, and there’s not much Quinten Dormady can do. He has to fire that ball off quickly, trusting that his wide receiver will make a play.

That being said, if he waits for one second, Brandon Johnson breaks right through the middle, and would’ve been wide open for a score.

Although this is not totally on Dormady, if he sits in the pocket to wait for Johnson to get open, Tennessee probably scores here.

But if you’re Butch Jones, you don’t put your team in this position. You have to rely on your workhorse running back to punch it in from a few yards out. Last year, this call would’ve worked. But Tennessee doesn’t have seasoned veterans in the passing game anymore.

This team will learn how to execute through the air, because I think the talent is there. But they haven’t learned how to make a play when the primary option isn’t available.

But when Dormady has time to throw, and his primary receiver has room, he shows flashes of greatness. He is exceptional at throwing a wheel route to the outside.

When Dormady had time to throw, he did a great job. Ethan Wolf needs more touches like this. #RTIFilmStudy pic.twitter.com/NB24xIIhUM

— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 18, 2017

When Tennessee relied on its veterans, it was successful. If Ethan Wolf, Josh Smith and John Kelly had more touches, Tennessee would’ve won this game.

I’ll even count Marquez Callaway as a semi-veteran.

Great play design here. The defense gets distracted by Kelly, and Dormady finds Callaway for an easy catch. #RTIFilmStudy pic.twitter.com/8aj3oOlIcc

— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 18, 2017

When you have an elite running back and offensive line, you just need the quarterback to manage the game. Tennessee needs more of this — keeping it simple and just dumping the ball off to its playmakers in space.

Coach Jones said on Monday that Tennessee was dealing with man coverage all game. He should have utilized that to free up Wolf over the middle against a linebacker. Jones didn’t trust his athletes to consistently beat Florida’s defenders one-on-one, and when he attempted to beat man coverage, he looked to his freshmen.

On Wolf’s above catch, he passed Jason Witten for fourth-most receiving yards by a tight end in Tennessee history.

He deserves more opportunities to add to that total.