Coaching
Nathanael: A
I said after the game in our post-game show that I thought Tennessee’s coaching staff out-coached Alabama’s coaches in this game, and I still maintain that. I thought Jeremy Pruitt and Derrick Ansley made a lot of good calls on defense, and I really liked the game plan Jim Chaney went with on offense, even when he had to adjust once Brian Maurer got hurt. Unfortunately for the coaches, Tennessee still doesn’t have the depth or overall talent to win when they make the types of mistakes they did (or when the officiating is skewed against them). But this was a very well-coached game.
Ben: A
I thought Tennessee out-coached Alabama to a certain extent. The difference was the talent on one side of the field compared to the other. Sure, the final score was 35-13, but Tennessee could have cut it to a one-score game in the fourth quarter had Guarantano not tried to sneak it at the goal line. Jeremy Pruitt and his coaching staff gave the Vols a legitimate chance to win when nobody expected them to. The execution simply wasn’t there.
