Tennessee played lossless football in the 31-27 win over South Carolina in its first game of the season on Saturday, allowing the Flights to triumph despite some shortcomings.
Here are five observations emerging from the victory film.
Collin Hill’s graduate movement ended 25 of 39 passes for 290 yards in its first start for the Gamecocks. Most of his good fortune came here in the middle. Hill finished 12 of 18 passes for 176 yards in target pitches between hash marks.
via GIPHY
Hill chose Doneiko Slaughter. La rookie started in the position of Shawn Shamburger, who was unavailable for uns disguised reasons.
Shi Smith is South Carolina’s most sensible shipowner, and it proved a tough game for Slaughter when Smith covered himself in the slot machine. Smith beat Slaughter in 20-yard and 29-yard receptions.
via GIPHY
But the interruption wasn’t just in Slaughter: Tennessee supporters had trouble making canopy passes.
via GIPHY
Hill connected with the final closed Nick Muse for a 19-yard gain when Muse beat Quavaris Crouch and discovered offensive mediaman Back Deshaun Fenwick for a 20-yard gain when he paired with Morven Joseph.
via GIPHY
via GIPHY
Jeremy Banks carried out a greater policy of passage. Twice he stopped the screen passes on the punch line and closed the policy in an incomplete one intended for Smith.
Jarrett Guarantano finished 19 of 31 passes. Only 3 of his incompletes were in passes thrown into small windows in the middle of a narrow blanket. This is news or bad news.
On the plus side, Guarantano made possible wise choices with the ball, never under the threat of being intercepted.
via GIPHY
Instead, Guarantano may have had somewhere else have had a dozen full passes if it had been more accurate. Seven times, Guarantano threw the ball up or opened goals and failed to connect.
Guarantano said he thought he had leaned on some pitches, worried about the tension of the defenders, that some passes were high.
via GIPHY
Guarantano hit five out of five for 47 yards in passes to the punch line; He hit 8 out of thirteen for 84 yards in passes when the target was beyond the hitting line but less than 10 yards on the field, and was 6 out of thirteen for 128 yards and landed on passes where his catcher was at least 10 yards on the field.
via GIPHY
At its most productive moment in the decisive series in the middle of the last quarter. With the strain on him, Guarantano discovered Brandon Johnson for a 33-yard gain. On the next play, he handed Josh Palmer a 32-yard strike for a touchdown. Palmer burned Cam Smith. Smith had entered position of the off-competition defensive part Israel Mukuamu, who came out with a groin injury.
via GIPHY
The statistic sheet indicates that Tennessee defensive linemen have combined for two tackles, while Elijah Simmons had one. Omari Thomas had the other one.
Sure that’s not all, right? Well a review of the tape showed those numbers seemed accurate, that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Tennessee has one or two outer supporters covered with one hand on the lawn like a de facto liner. External supporters Deandre Johnson, Kivon Bennett, Tyler Baron, Roman Harrison and Joseph combined for 15 tackles.
But this excuses the fact that classic lineups have been especially disruptive.
via GIPHY
“I feel like we made a lot of mistakes from the beginning,” Coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “I felt like our kids played a lot, but we didn’t play smart.
Tennessee defensive backs, cornerman Alontae Taylor, played a key role in supporting the race.
via GIPHY
Velus Jones Jr. , a graduate transferred from Southern Cal, has an additional laugh at Jim Chaney’s attack.
via GIPHY
Guarantano made a pass to Jones once when Jones covered himself in the backfield as H-back and twice more when he covered himself as a catcher. Jones also received a pass at a widescreen receiver and had a reception on a classic passing route.
He finished with 29 yards in receptions, three of which were glorified transfers.
via GIPHY
Simmons sniffed a blocking assignment from Brent Cimaglia’s 46-yard basket attempt, allowing Kingsley Enagbare to exert pressure on the kick.
Cimaglia fired the left side kick and, as Pruitt pointed out on Monday, if Cimaglia had hit him on target, Enagbare would have blocked it.
Blake Toppmeyer covers Football from the University of Tennessee. Email your blake. toppmeyer@knoxnews. com stay with him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, a virtual subscription will give you access to everything. Current subscribers can click here to sign up for Blake’s subscriber-only texting organization that provides updates and research on Football Flights.