KNOXVILLE—The Vols fell 45-10 to Alabama over the weekend. I took a few looks at the film and graded the performance of each unit. Agree or disagree with my grades? Leave a comment below!

Quarterbacks

Justin Worley’s thumb clearly bothered him during an ineffective first half even before he appeared to reinjure it while tackling an Alabama defensive back who picked off one of his errant passes. In one half of football, he was 8-15 for 120 yards and two interceptions with one rush for two yards. Alabama returned those two interceptions for a combined 117 yards (a number that would have been higher had Worley not tackled an Alabama defensive back on one return) and one TD. Worley was responsible for a net five (!) yards gained when you account for INT returns. You simply cannot question Worley’s toughness, but he needs to be healthy for Butch Jones to throw him back out there. Grade: D 

Freshman QB Josh Dobbs was effective in the second half and led the Vols to ten points in his debut, including the first TD Alabama surrendered at home all season. He was composed in a hostile environment, ran the offense effectively, was consistently accurate with the football, had good velocity to his passes and added another dimension to the offense with his legs. Though his finals numbers weren’t eye-popping (5-12 for 75 yards, three carries for 19 yards), he didn’t turn the ball over and was more accurate than I expected (Vol WRs were responsible for multiple second half drops which hurt his final numbers). He earned the right to compete for the starting job this week and will likely split first team reps with Worley in practice. Grade: B

Running backs

It wasn’t a great day for the Vol ground game. Though Rajion Neal gained 70 yards on 13 carries (5.4 yards per carry), the majority of his production came on a 43-yard run in the second half when the game was already in hand for Alabama. Take away that 43-yard dash and Neal totaled 27 yards on 12 carries (2.25 yards per carry). The offensive line struggled to get a consistent push, so it’s tough to fault Neal too much, but when holes were there, he often missed them. Give him credit for running hard, taking care of the football, and scoring Tennessee’s lone touchdown. Marlin Lane struggled to get anything going and mustered just 25 yards on six carries. The Vol running backs have been averaging close to 200 yards per game but were held to 105 yards Saturday. Grade: C-

Receivers/tight ends

With the exception of Marquez North, the Vol receivers and tight ends struggled against a physical Alabama secondary. North has emerged as Tennessee’s No. 1 receiver in recent weeks and continued that trend with four catches for 87 yards. He was the only Vol receiver with more than two catches. Josh Smith clearly wasn’t 100% (he’s recovering from a hamstring injury) and tallied just one catch for nine yards. Smith also had a couple of costly drops.

Pig Howard was a non-factor (two catches for four yards) as was Jason Croom (two catches for 12 yards). Cody Blanc made a nice adjustment on a jump ball while hauling in his first career catch (for a 43-yard gain). On the bright side, the Vol receivers did a decent job of getting open but an injured Worley struggled to connect with them in the first half. With more consistent play at QB, this unit could turn some heads in the final month of the season. One thing is certain: Tennessee will need more production from its receiving corps to knock of Missouri or Auburn in the coming weeks. Grade: C+

Offensive line

Though they didn’t give up a sack, the Vol QBs were under pressure for most of the game. The line struggled to get a consistent push in the ground game and Tennessee averaged just 2.8 yards per carry if you take away Neal’s 43-yard run. This team needs to run for close to 200 yards to knock off Missouri or Auburn and the offensive line will have to be more effective for that to happen. Grade: C

Defensive line

Tennessee’s defensive line played its worst game of the season. Alabama QB A.J. McCarron had all day to throw and the Crimson Tide rushed for 210 yards on 37 carries (5.5 yards per carry). The Vol defensive front didn’t record a sack or tackle for a loss and finished the day with just 16 tackles. Tennessee’s defense relies on its front four to make plays and they weren’t able to do so Saturday. Grade: F

Linebackers

As has been the norm for some time, A.J. Johnson led the team in tackles (four solo and six assists). Dontavis Sapp also turned in a solid performance with seven tackles and a QB hurry, but this unit as a whole struggled to contain Alabama’s running backs and was victimized in pass coverage on several occasions. Missed tackles and a lack of discipline from linebackers allowed Alabama’s running backs and receivers to pick up extra yards. That said, of the Vol defensive units the linebackers had the best day. Grade: C

Defensive backs

The Vol secondary had a really rough outing. Alabama’s speedy receivers were wide open for the majority of the contest, and when they weren’t, Tennessee’s defensive backs struggled to bring them to the ground. McCarron was 19-27 for 275 yards and two touchdowns; granted, he had all day to throw, but Tennessee’s DBs left someone wide open on nearly every play. McNeil was a semi-bright spot as Tennessee’s second-leading tackler with nine stops. Grade: D-

Special teams

Tennessee’s kick coverage was exposed by Bama’s Christion Jones—he averaged over 50 yards per kick return and over 9 per punt return. For the Vols, Devrin Young provided a spark with a 45-yard kick return while Michael Palardy continued his impressive senior campaign by averaging 46.2 yards per punt and nailing a 37-yard field goal. The Vols needed to decisively win special teams to have a shot at upsetting the Tide and weren’t able to do so. Grade: C

Coaching

The Vols were clearly outmatched, so it’s tough to criticize the coaching staff too much, but they failed to changed up a game plan that clearly wasn’t working early. They were too tentative on offense (yes, I know they were limited by an injured Worley, but if he couldn’t execute the offense, he shouldn’t have been out there) and failed to pressure McCarron on defense. Their vanilla defensive game plan made it easy for McCarron, especially once it was clear the Vol corners couldn’t cover Bama’s receivers 1-on-1. That said, any potential adjustments probably wouldn’t have made much of an impact on the final score. Grade: C