Tennessee Football DEFENSE BETTER than Stats show

#4
#4
Consider the fact we lead the country in sacks. We're second in the nation in defensive scores. So we're obviously not terrible. I'd say that we aren't a big, physically imposing defense that makes sure tackles and stops people in their tracks. We are awful in zone coverage. I'd like to see defensive linemen make tackles in the run game. And of course more size and athletic ability up the middle. Telander & Turpentine are a bit suspect..
 
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#5
#5
Mississippi State scored 4 touchdowns last weekend. Let's look at where those drives started.

7-0 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 20 after Staley muffed punt

14-10 Mississippi State
75-yard drive

24-20 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 26 after INT/Return/Penalty

34-27 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 17 after INT/Return

The offense/special teams cost us more than our defense. I get that we had trouble with their rush, but their RB also weighs 230lb, so that was definitely a contributor.
 
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#7
#7
adam.vol said:
NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

The Good:
View attachment 777829
View attachment 777825
Fumbles recovered:
View attachment 777831
Passing yards per completion:
View attachment 777833
View attachment 777835

The Bad:
View attachment 777826

Total defensive yards allowed:
View attachment 777827

View attachment 777832
Team Passing Efficiency Defense:
#82

Can only attach 8 files.
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I wonder if fans even remember that this defensive scheme usually gives up a lot of passing yards just by virtue of how well they stop the run and that that has always skewed the passing yardage stats? Ultimately I'm less concerned with how we got there and more concerned with the record and we have one loss and most of us realize that Tennessee did everything right to win that game but a kid missed a kick.
 
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#8
#8
What I want to know is how much of a difference will the return of Hobbs and possibly McCoy make? How good is Hobbs expected to be?
 
#9
#9
dduncan4163 said:


Really good video.
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100% correct. Even Saturday the defense was put in horrible positions by special teams and occasionally the offense. As shown in posts above we are great at sacks, TFLs, getting turnovers and scoring on defense.

We have really struggled in 3rd and medium/long and on 4th downs. It is absolutely killing our defense. The LBs have struggled in coverage at times but not been too bad. The Safeties are killing us. Again. Same problem last 5 years. Taking bad angles on the edge vs running plays but ESPECIALLY in coverage. Turrentine got smoked for a long TD against MSU that was flat dropped. Farooq got beat deep too. Our Safeties have really struggled this year. Will Brooks would never come off the field if he was still here.

We need to hit the portal for Safety this winter. Maybe 2 safeties. That position and Defensive Tackle are our only positions of need IMO. Be great to get 2 of each. We signed 6DBs in 2025, and the 2026 class has 2 kids that should play at Safety including 5* and 6ft4in Wyatt. Hope they can make an immediate impact next year in the rotation. Right now Turrentine is playing nearly every single snap on defense. Cant have that.
 
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#11
#11
We are good at rushing the passer. But when we don’t get home, which you never will all the time, we really struggle with defending the pass. We also have been worse at stopping the run than in years past. There’s no getting around that. We can hope that we will get fully healthy and fix some of those woes, but we don’t know when or even if that happens.
 
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#12
#12
mrmax86 said:
Mississippi State scored 4 touchdowns last weekend. Let's look at where those drives started.

7-0 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 20 after Staley muffed punt

14-10 Mississippi State
75-yard drive

24-20 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 26 after INT/Return/Penalty

34-27 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 17 after INT/Return

The offense/special teams cost us more than our defense. I get that we had trouble with their rush, but their RB also weighs 230lb, so that was definitely a contributor.
Click to expand...
This right here. We gave them short fields all day and they took advantage of it. You can't blame the defense for those
 
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#13
#13
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
We are good at rushing the passer. But when we don’t get home, which you never will all the time, we really struggle with defending the pass. We also have been worse at stopping the run than in years past. There’s no getting around that. We can hope that we will get fully healthy and fix some of those woes, but we don’t know when or even if that happens.
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We lead the nation in sacks but I agree our Run D has downgraded
 
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#15
#15
marcusluvsvols said:
100% correct. Even Saturday the defense was put in horrible positions by special teams and occasionally the offense. As shown in posts above we are great at sacks, TFLs, getting turnovers and scoring on defense.

We have really struggled in 3rd and medium/long and on 4th downs. It is absolutely killing our defense. The LBs have struggled in coverage at times but not been too bad. The Safeties are killing us. Again. Same problem last 5 years. Taking bad angles on the edge vs running plays but ESPECIALLY in coverage. Turrentine got smoked for a long TD against MSU that was flat dropped. Farooq got beat deep too. Our Safeties have really struggled this year. Will Brooks would never come off the field if he was still here.

We need to hit the portal for Safety this winter. Maybe 2 safeties. That position and Defensive Tackle are our only positions of need IMO. Be great to get 2 of each. We signed 6DBs in 2025, and the 2026 class has 2 kids that should play at Safety including 5* and 6ft4in Wyatt. Hope they can make an immediate impact next year in the rotation. Right now Turrentine is playing nearly every single snap on defense. Cant have that.
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Safeties have been our biggest problem all season. I was expecting so much better from them.

The big positive I've seen from this D is it's aggressiveness. We our giving up yards but we are getting turnovers too. It's feast or famine and I believe it goes well with our offense.
 
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#17
#17
dduncan4163 said:
We lead the nation in sacks but I agree our Run D has downgraded
Click to expand...

Running up the middle is about to come to an end with Hobbs and Moi back for Arkansas. Telanders strength as a MLB is being a run stuffing thumper between the Tackles.

We have been bad on the edges/containment this year vs the run. Some of that is on our Edge/SDE not containing the RB and turning him upfield. Thats not always on them though, due to Stunts or play action fooling them into thinking they're rushing the passer when actually its a running play. Also, there is ALWAYS an Olineman/TE etc assigned to "seal the Edge" on those running plays. They can't always defeat the block.

The VQ podcast this morning said that we gave up 93 rushing yards outside vs UGA, and 100+ vs MSU outside. That is on the Linebackers and Safeties. Telander has struggled outside to tackle guys in space, and our Safeties especially have taken bad angles so many times or just flat missed tackles on the outside. Turrentine lead our team with 12 missed tackles last year according to PFF. He has to be on pace to shatter that number this year. In his defense, he NEVER comes off the field this season. He plays nearly every single snap on defense. Farooq is playing like 60 snaps per game with Beasley playing a dozen or so in his place. Our coaches have 2 weeks to get Beasley or somebody ready to share the load back there. We have several 4* kids who literally NEVER see the field. Where is Merritt? He flashed in fall camp...is he hurt? Is there truly nobody else on our roster that can play Safety? We have at least a dozen scholarship DBs that havent played all year. None of them can play as well as the 2 guys we see every week?
 
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#18
#18
marcusluvsvols said:
Running up the middle is about to come to an end with Hobbs and Moi back for Arkansas. Telanders strength as a MLB is being a run stuffing thumper between the Tackles.

We have been bad on the edges/containment this year vs the run. Some of that is on our Edge/SDE not containing the RB and turning him upfield. Thats not always on them though, due to Stunts or play action fooling them into thinking they're rushing the passer when actually its a running play. Also, there is ALWAYS an Olineman/TE etc assigned to "seal the Edge" on those running plays. They can't always defeat the block.

The VQ podcast this morning said that we gave up 93 rushing yards outside vs UGA, and 100+ vs MSU outside. That is on the Linebackers and Safeties. Telander has struggled outside to tackle guys in space, and our Safeties especially have taken bad angles so many times or just flat missed tackles on the outside. Turrentine lead our team with 12 missed tackles last year according to PFF. He has to be on pace to shatter that number this year. In his defense, he NEVER comes off the field this season. He plays nearly every single snap on defense. Farooq is playing like 60 snaps per game with Beasley playing a dozen or so in his place. Our coaches have 2 weeks to get Beasley or somebody ready to share the load back there. We have several 4* kids who literally NEVER see the field. Where is Merritt? He flashed in fall camp...is he hurt? Is there truly nobody else on our roster that can play Safety? We have at least a dozen scholarship DBs that havent played all year. None of them can play as well as the 2 guys we see every week?
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I'm with you. We have plenty of depth at safety, quality depth from looking at the chart but for whatever reason we don't use them. It's a head scratcher
 
#19
#19
csheaton said:
What I want to know is how much of a difference will the return of Hobbs and possibly McCoy make? How good is Hobbs expected to be?
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The return of those two alone won’t be enough to get this defense where we want it to be. Safeties and LBs have to play better. And communion/lining up has to get better. I think that last part is most doable.
 
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#20
#20
RandomUTfan said:
I wonder if fans even remember that this defensive scheme usually gives up a lot of passing yards just by virtue of how well they stop the run and that that has always skewed the passing yardage stats? Ultimately I'm less concerned with how we got there and more concerned with the record and we have one loss and most of us realize that Tennessee did everything right to win that game but a kid missed a kick.
Click to expand...
Exactly this, we are a missed kick away from being 5-0 and having a top 5 ranking. I really do believe we go 6-1 the rest of the way and make the playoff. We got a legit shot at making Atlanta too. Oklahoma doesn't scare me at home and this should be the year we win in the Swamp. Bama will be tough on the road but we have the talent to win that game. Vandy is tough but we got them at home. We own CanTurkey so that's a win.

We usually have one by road game every year and it happened Saturday. The difference is we won. I thought 9-3 before the season and now I'm saying we go 10-2 with a outside chance of winning out. Joey has elevated this team. Best trade in the history of sports
 
#21
#21
mrmax86 said:
Mississippi State scored 4 touchdowns last weekend. Let's look at where those drives started.

7-0 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 20 after Staley muffed punt

14-10 Mississippi State
75-yard drive

24-20 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 26 after INT/Return/Penalty

34-27 Mississippi State
Started at the UT 17 after INT/Return

The offense/special teams cost us more than our defense. I get that we had trouble with their rush, but their RB also weighs 230lb, so that was definitely a contributor.
Click to expand...

Seems to be what not many people are talking about. Take away the mistakes and you win 34-10. It was ,however, nice that we were able to overcome a road stinker and find a way to win.
 
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#22
#22
NighthawkVol said:
The return of those two alone won’t be enough to get this defense where we want it to be. Safeties and LBs have to play better. And communion/lining up has to get better. I think that last part is most doable.
Click to expand...
That’s kind of where I am too. I still think the defense is better overall than 2022, and there seems to be no true dominant teams this year so it could play into our favor.
 
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