Drivers report damage from potholes in roads, but Tennessee denies every claim Jul 19, 2021 / 10:27 PM CDT MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two drivers, two days in a row, hit a massive pothole on a state road in Memphis, causing hundreds of dollars in damage — but the state of Tennessee says it’s not to blame. That’s because the state has been using an excuse to keep it from taking responsibility for any pothole damage in Shelby County over the last two years. Jasmine Matthews says March 2 started out as a great day. She was leaving work early. But on Stage Road, near Covington Pike, she came down a hill and saw a “massive, massive pothole.”