The University of Tennessee Volunteers and Head Coach Butch Jones have successfully navigated their first two games of the season and now move on to some significantly tougher match-ups starting with a trip to Norman to face SEC anti-fan Bob Stoops and an Oklahoma Sooners team that is in fine form right now.
Tennessee Volunteers Week Two Analysis and Oklahoma Preview
Tennessee faced the Arkansas State Red Wolves in week two and came away with another quality win. On paper, the Arkansas State team did not appear to be as good as Tennessee’s first opponent, Utah State, but they provided much more of a test for the Vols. Red Wolves quarterback Fredi Knighten provided the dual threat component many thought they would see with Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton. Tennessee’s defense did a great job against Keeton and continued their success against Knighten, although Knighten was able to do a little more damage against the Tennessee defense. Notably, Knighten ran for 65 yards on the ground (Team total of 141 yards) and engineered a Red Wolves touchdown drive on the first series of the day. Overall, however, Tennessee’s defense had a solid effort. Their pass defense – both the four man pass rush and the secondary play – continues to be excellent.
Of course Oklahoma comes in with Trevor Knight and a high-powered passing offense. Tennessee will have to continue their excellent pass defense to be successful against Oklahoma
Most notably, however, is their tackling. Tennessee has always had talent, but many fans and analysts in the past have expressed disappointment with how well the team was coached at the fundamentals and tackling on defense was compliant number one. If you’ve had the chance to watch this defense play you have seen 15 tackles for loss (TFL) already this season and solid fundamental play all over the defense. That is what is driving their excellent third down conversion rate (7/31, 22%), their TFL totals, and their ability to wear down both Utah State and Arkansas State physically and mentally. This is the improvement that Vol fans should be most happy about in the early season on defense.
The Vol defense will have to play poised and solid fundamentally to keep the high-powered Sooner offense from blowing the game wide open. With half of the Vol team making their first away trip (yes, you heard that right … 50% will be making their first trip) and with Oklahoma’s fast start in the first two games, the first four possessions for Tennessee’s defense will be absolutely critical in the mental aspect of this game.
Tennessee’s offense had another efficient and effective performance against Arkansas State. While not keeping up the Jones (Arkansas and A&M put up 73 points, Florida 65, Auburn 59, and LSU 59), the offense did continue to put together scoring drives and avoided turnovers. Tennessee only has one turnover in its’ first two games of the season. They did have two key players, WR Von Pearson and TE Daniel Wolf, suffer injuries that will affect the passing game. Pearson is out and Wolf is questionable for the upcoming Oklahoma game. Effective and efficient won’t work, however, to beat Oklahoma. Worley will have to have a tremendous game. He does have starts at Alabama and at Oregon under his belt, so he is the Vols best option on offense. The Tennessee running game has to show some life early as well to keep the Sooner defense honest; Worley can’t do this himself.
The offensive continues to be a concern. Tennessee has not been able to establish a solid run game as yet, although they were able to put together some sustained ground success in the second half against Arkansas State. And their pass protection has been decent for the most part but still allows too much pressure on quarterback Justin Worley too often. Oklahoma’s defense will obviously be bigger, stronger and faster than Arkansas State. The young offensive line will have to grow up a lot this week in practice and during the game if Tennessee wants to be competitive in this game.
The Tennessee coaching staff has offset this weakness by relying heavily on the short passing game. WR screens, flat routs, quick slants, and isolation routes to their tall and very talented receivers along with check down and swing passes to the running backs out of the backfield has comprised the majority of the play calling this season. Expect more of the short, quick plays early in the game to get the offense in rhythm and build confidence. Expect to see some deep and, for the first time this season, intermediate routes in the second half against Oklahoma, especially if the game is still competitive.
The other major area of concern is special teams. Matt Darr punted well this season, but had a partially blocked punt against Arkansas State. Both coverage teams have been decent but haven’t faced the talent that Oklahoma will put on the field. Neither return team has looked sharp, although the primary focus on punt return is maintaining possession and field position. Aaron Medley continues to find his form as the field goal kicker. He was 2/3 against Arkansas State with another bad miss early in the game. It will be interesting to see how he fares in a hostile and unfamiliar environment for the first time this week. Tennessee cannot afford any mistakes on special teams if they want to keep the contest close against Oklahoma.
Tennessee has done what it needed to do its first two games of the season. They played fundamentally sound, efficient and effective football and beat two quality opponents. No one outside of Knoxville expects Tennessee to beat Oklahoma, and they probably won’t. But expect the young Tennessee team to travel well and put up a much better performance than Week Three last year when they were soundly beaten at Oregon. Oklahoma is a 21-point favorite. Tennessee will be better than that. I’m sticking to my early season preview and think it’ll be Oklahoma 38, Tennessee 27. Look for Oklahoma to start strong and Tennessee to hang around until a strong fourth quarter makes it competitive late.
As they progress through the season – including this week’s trip to Norman – they must continue to build on their youth, athleticism and team attitude if they are to vie for a bowl berth.
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