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The dead zone: Tennessee's month without an offensive TD

Marvin Gentry / USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee scored an offensive touchdown Saturday for the first time in a month - PSYCH!

For a moment, it did appear that Tennessee's offense had found the end zone, but the score was wiped out after a video review, and the fourth-and-goal attempt resulted in an interception for Alabama.

Alas, the Volunteers still haven't scored an offensive touchdown since the second quarter of a Sept. 23 contest versus UMass. Not coincidentally, the Vols haven't won a game since meeting UMass. Here's a look at their slump.

The streak

vs. UMass

Tennessee scored its last offensive touchdown on its final drive of the second quarter of that glorious aforementioned matchup with the Minutemen. The Vols had seven offensive possessions in the second half, excluding a kneel-down to run out the clock at the end of the fourth quarter, but couldn't punch in an offensive touchdown against a winless squad.

vs. Georgia

Tennessee got whipped 41-0 versus Georgia, and never really came close to the end zone. The Vols had 14 offensive drives against the Bulldogs - though "drives" may not be the appropriate word, because it looked like they'd forgotten to turn on their engines. Tennessee only managed to advance more than 28 yards in one offensive series, and that possession ended in a fumble.

vs. South Carolina

The Vols mustered three field goals against South Carolina, but still no offensive touchdowns. They had 10 more offensive possessions to get the job done, but failed on each and every one of them en route to a 15-9 loss.

at Alabama

Add another 11 possessions to the streak of offensive series that didn't produce a touchdown. If it's any consolation (it's not), the Vols finally managed to score on a six-point play of some kind, as the defense returned a Tua Tagovailoa interception for the team's first touchdown in almost one full month.

Bottom line

Butch Jones' offense has now gone three-and-a-half games - that's 14 quarters spanning 42 series and nearly 200 plays - without recording a touchdown.

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