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Butch Jones: We played winning football except for lack of red zone TDs

Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

To say it's been a rocky season for Butch Jones at Tennessee would be an understatement, and the chatter around his job status only grew more hostile with Saturday's 15-9 loss to South Carolina.

The Volunteers were held out of the end zone yet again, meaning they haven't scored a touchdown in 10 straight quarters of action. While that is certainly a massive area of concern, Jones admitted in Monday's press conference that he was very happy with the rest of the team's performance against the Gamecocks.

"I thought we did all the things it takes to play winning football except one element, and we spoke about it after the game, and that's score touchdowns in the red zone. We had to kick field goals," Jones said.

The Volunteers looked sharp early in Jarrett Guarantano's debut at quarterback, rolling up over 130 yards of offense in the first quarter. Despite their ability to move the ball, the offense sputtered in the red zone, settling for field goals.

That would eventually come back to haunt them, as the offense couldn't get anything going in the second half, allowing South Carolina to score 12 unanswered points and secure the win.

The news doesn't get much better for Tennessee this week either, as the touchdown-less drought is likely to grow with a daunting trip to No. 1 Alabama on the schedule.

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