Tennessee Vols football has an effort problem more than a talent problem | Estes

All this time, we’ve believed Jeremy Pruitt just needed to find another Jameis Winston, Todd Gurley, Calvin Ridley or Minkah Fitzpatrick to turn around Tennessee’s program.

Turns out, he also needs a Kenneth Towns.

If Pruitt remembers Towns’ name, he didn’t say it Saturday. He hadn’t forgotten what Towns did, though. A former walk-on receiver at Georgia, Towns eventually earned a scholarship because of things like what Pruitt's Vols didn't do in a dreadful 34-7 defeat to Kentucky.

On an interception return during Georgia’s 9-6 victory over Missouri in 2015, Towns hustled to tackle a Tigers defender just shy of the end zone.

"If you could have seen the effort that this guy did, trying to run the guy down, and tackled him at the 1-foot line. It was phenomenal,” said Pruitt, the defensive coordinator for that Georgia team. “Well, guess what? We held them three plays and they kicked a field goal and we won 9-6.

“Little things that people don't see, that's how you build a winning team.”

Pruitt’s wistful memory contrasted sharply with reality in Knoxville. Saturday exposed the Vols as a pretender and showed — despite what you’ve heard — that the program ascending closer to SEC East contention plays in Lexington, not Knoxville.

No. 2 Alabama, fresh off a 41-24 win over top-five foe Georgia, is next for Tennessee.

Good luck, Vols.

"They're really disciplined. They're physical," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said afterward of Alabama. "They're everything you want to be in a football team."

And Tennessee, at the moment, is obviously not. 

The Vols even challenging the Crimson Tide, much less beating them for the first time since 2006, looks laughable after Saturday. Against Kentucky, a ranked, favored Tennessee team appeared unmotivated, unconfident, unprepared, unpolished and — for much of the second half — like it didn’t care much that it was being embarrassed by a rival that hadn’t won in Neyland Stadium since 1984.

Yup, the Vols folded, perhaps as far back as the play Pruitt harped on afterward. Kentucky’s second pick-six of the second quarter was by Jamin Davis, a 234-pound inside linebacker who somehow sprinted 85 yards through Tennessee’s offense.

Plenty of scholarship players in orange on the field, but no Towns. "Where's the offensive players to get the guy on the ground?" Pruitt said.

The listless nature of Saturday’s defeat — encapsulated by that moment — was an indictment of everyone associated with the Vols, including Pruitt, whose progress with this program has taken a large step back in the past six quarters of football.

So much to worry about, and quarterback is still a pressing concern. But it’s not the main problem. That became clearer while parsing Pruitt’s words Saturday.

We’ve known and accepted that Pruitt — who’d been a coordinator on some talent-rich teams at Florida State, Georgia and Alabama — didn’t inherit much at Tennessee. But this Vols team passes the eye test better than his two previous ones, which makes what happened Saturday even worse.

Pruitt didn’t say these Vols aren’t talented enough. He said they aren’t playing and working hard enough — especially after a preseason in which COVID-19 cases and contract tracing dwindled numbers in practice, forcing remedial, self-initiated efforts that are not happening.

While it sounds like an excuse to blame a pandemic that everyone else is dealing with, too, I didn’t think that was necessarily what Pruitt was doing.

I think he was saying that winning has to mean more than it does around Tennessee’s team. Especially in this weird season.

The more Pruitt has closed Tennessee’s talent gap, the more that intangible qualities — desire, work ethic, attention to detail — are becoming reasons why the Vols aren't farther along. 

With Pruitt in Year 3, it's not an encouraging picture. He has had time to instill that Alabama-type culture at Tennessee. But this is not a disciplined, focused, tough team.

Pruitt shouldn’t have a soft team this far into his Vols tenure. Judging by Saturday’s game, though, he does.

Talent can be blamed for losing at Georgia. But pride has to be called into question for losing to Kentucky when a few big plays early all but decided the game.

How deep are you digging to come back when, in the second half, the Wildcats accumulated more than 20 minutes of possession time with drives of 11, 8, 7 and 11 plays?

Meanwhile, the Vols got one first down on their first three possessions after halftime. Of 10 offensive plays in that sequence, six were runs and four were passes, none of which was completed for more than 7 yards. No urgency. No fire. No shot at a comeback.

“It’s sort of repetitive saying it again,” offensive lineman Trey Smith said, “but it’s up to us to do our assignments, make plays, play hard, play with effort, toughness, do the things that we know are the standard here.”

Tennessee’s program has fallen on hard times over the past decade while Kentucky’s has improved, but the Vols have nonetheless been able to keep looking down on those Big Blue rivals up the road.

Not now. Not after the worst defeat Pruitt has experienced at Tennessee were it not for the shocking Georgia State debacle last season. And even that might not have been this disappointing.

As bad as things got at the start of last season, Pruitt never lost the team. The Vols kept playing hard. They improved. They finished strong and created hopes for 2020.

But the way Tennessee gave in Saturday, it makes you wonder what's left for this team in 2020?

What reason is there to believe the Vols can get themselves off the mat for the toughest test of the season next Saturday?

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.