KNOXVILLE—The Vols fell 14-10 in a heartbreaker to Vanderbilt over the weekend. I took a few looks at the film and graded the performance of each unit. Agree or disagree with this week’s Vol report card? Leave a comment below!

Quarterback

Simply put, it was a miserable day for Josh Dobbs. Heading into Tennessee’s final drive, he was 9 for 16 for 16 (!) yards through the air. Sixteen. yards. With two interceptions. As he has in each of his starts, he showed he can break down a defense with his legs (11 carries for 50 yards), but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome his horrid day through the air. He wasn’t the same QB we saw throw for 240 yards in his first start at Missouri. In his two starts since, he’s thrown for just 181 yards. The cold and wind clearly affected him, as did an injury to his throwing hand which required treatment; regardless, he’ll have to be much better Saturday for the Vols to beat Kentucky and pickup their first SEC road-win since 2010. One word of caution, don’t rush to judgment and rule him out as the QB of the future. He’ll compete with Ferguson and Worley for the starting job this offseason. Though he didn’t show it Saturday, he has all the necessary tools to be successful in the SEC. Grade: F

Running backs

Neal had another solid day (22 carries for 95 yards and a TD) while Lane (nine carries for 53 yards) was effective in limited relief. The Vols dodged a bullet when they recovered a Neal fumble in the redzone. Lane averaged 5.9 yards per carry but only saw three carries in the second half. He needs more touches. For the year, both backs average over five yards per carry and have certainly surpassed the expectations of many. They’ll need another solid performance to close the season with a victory.  Grade: B

Receivers

I didn’t grade the tight ends this week and why should I? They were once again ineffective in the running game and caught just 1 pass for 3 yards. Backup tight end A.J. Branisel tore his ACL in the middle of the week and will be out for the Kentucky game. The receivers weren’t much better. They struggled to get open, and when they did, they generally failed catch the football. Pig Howard and Josh Smith once again had costly drops. When Marquez North went down with an ankle injury, no one was able to step in and come close to filling his shoes. North is day-to-day this week and if he can’t play at Kentucky, the Vols could be in serious trouble. Grade: F

Offensive line

This line isn’t the best in the SEC. They’re not terrible, but they’re not great, either. With the notable of exception of Ja’Wuan James, they have underachieved this year. When Tennessee needed a long yard late in the game, a yard that would have all but clinched a win, they couldn’t pick it up. That’s on the offensive line and a microcosm of the past few seasons. On the bright side, they were able to pave the way for a Vol ground attack which gained 184 yards against a Vandy defense which regularly put 8 or 9 guys in the box, but they also surrendered two sacks. Grade: C

Defensive line

This group was better, but still wasn’t near as disruptive as they were earlier in the year. Tennessee’s defensive front features five seniors, but didn’t record a sack for the fourth consecutive game. Danny O’Brien and Marlon Walls each recorded a tackle for loss and the line as a whole played its best game since knocking off South Carolina. They did an excellent job against the Vanderbilt ground-game (holding them to 2.9 ypc), but that was to be expected as the Commodores entered the game last in the SEC in rushing. Grade: C

Linebackers

Tennessee’s linebackers had a nice night despite being fooled on Vandy’s game-winning touchdown. Their pass coverage has improved the past few months and for the most part they did their job. A.J. Johnson made several impact plays (two tackles for loss plus a recovered fumble) and led the Vols with 13 tackles. Johnson has been heavily criticized this year but has improved, especially in pass coverage. Dontavis Sapp turned in a nice performance with five tackles, two for a loss, and a fumble recovery. Though he hasn’t put up eye-popping numbers, he’s been consistently good this season. Grade B

Defensive backs

This unit was solid until Vandy’s 92-yard game-winning drive. Playing off Matthews worked for much of the game and they didn’t miss near as many tackles as we’ve seen in recent weeks. Randolph forced a fumble and returned an interception 41 yards and there weren’t many notable missed assignments. Cam Sutton did a great job on Matthews, but when Coleman lined up on VU’s talented receiver, Vandy frequently exploited that matchup. On Vandy’s final drive, UT’s coverage was simply too soft. Swafford committed a critical facemask penalty on VU’s last possession, while McNeil failed to break up a key 25-yard completion to Jordan Matthews. Grade: C-

Special Teams

The Vols aren’t good enough to lose the special teams game and consistently emerge victorious no matter who they play; Saturday was a perfect example of that. Palardy struggled kicking the ball in the cold and windy weather. He missed a field goal and shanked a punt. Still, he managed to pin Vandy at the 8-yard line on his final punt of the night. Tennessee also allowed a 71-yard kick return to one of the worst teams at returning kicks in the SEC. Devrin Young made the extremely questionable decision to bring VU’s final kick out of the end zone—a decision which cost the Vols both yards and time.  Grade: D-

Coaching

The Vols had two weeks to prepare and came out with an offensive game plan that was, well, miserably inept. Marquez North’s injury clearly hampered the offense, but they didn’t do a good job putting the ball in the hands of their other playmakers. Pig Howard had four touches for 38 yards while Marlin Lane had 10 touches for 62 yards. It’s no secret the Vols need more playmakers, but the staff did a poor job of getting the ball into the hands of the ones they have. Jones and Co. also failed to quickly snap the ball after a Pig Howard catch which would be reviewed and overturned—a review which took the Vols out of field-goal range and killed a promising drive. Defensively, their plan to give Vandy’s receivers, especially Matthews, a sizable cushion at the line worked until that soul-crushing final drive. Jones’ decision to fake a field goal was probably his worst call of the season. After the game he said the “cross breeze” would have made a field goal difficult. Yes, it was windy on the field, but did he really think it wise to trust his kicker to throw the ball 20+ yards off his back foot in such windy conditions? Grade: F

That said, good coaches make bad decisions at times and Vol fans shouldn’t jump to too many conclusions about Butch Jones and his staff after less than a year on the job. Tennessee’s offense was forced to play without a No. 1 receiver and without a serviceable tight end. That’s not on this staff but is a reality of where this team stands from a talent perspective. Despite several poor decisions this season, I’ve seen more positive signs from this team and staff than I saw during Dooley’s three years at the helm. Let Jones get some of his players in (the 2014 class ranks second nationally) before rushing to any sort of judgment, whether positive or negative. Despite the loss, this program is still trending upward, even though at times you have to look hard to find progress on the field.