2nd Half D

[Woodlawn VOL]

We will continue to get better on D. Strong points are rushing and redzone defense both our up near the top of the sec. We have played aggressive up front many games this year. We have had a lot of sacks and quarterback hurries. We have also caused some turnovers. Our pass defense is what has given up most of the yards, when we don’t get after the passer is when we seem to have the most trouble. We have made good second half adjustments in many games which is good. Our D might not be the best but it is far from the bottom of the sec as well. After Missouri cut the lead to 28-24 Tennessee Defense stopped Missouri on 3 consecutive 3and out series and Tennessee scored on all of them. I think the defense has played with great effort and continues to improve. It has come a long way but can and will continue to get better. I see individual improvement with many players on D. And upfront our guys have had a very good year so far. Keep it up guys! GBO!

 

[PureOrange]

The only loss wasn't on the defense.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Not necessarily. If you get off the field on 3rd down, limit 1st downs, and do not allow long drives then opponents may not run more plays or score lots of points.

UT's problem hasn't been scoring very much. When the field is compressed, they seem to do better. The problem is that they give up A LOT of 1st downs... which allows opponents to control clock... which keeps the O off the field. UT gives up the 2nd most 1st downs per game in the SEC. That's not good. And it is primarily caused by UT giving up the 10th most pass yds/play in the SEC... and that is because UT consistently gives up medium pass plays. Teams pass more against UT than any other SEC team- over 40 times per game on average. Teams get all of those 5-12 yd completions because UT doesn't play aggressive at the LOS.

One factor is Tennessee scores so quickly, it gives the other team's offense more possessions to be on offense which can lead to scoring more points. However, only one team has outscored Tennessee this year. When we get better-more consistent defensive play in the secondary, our defense will give the ball back to our offense and we will score even more points. Many of the CDs the defense gives up are blown coverages in the secondary. this is also the position where a number of really good recruits are seriously considering or have already committe to Tennessee. I am rather amazed that the defense has played as well as they have. mmIt will get better as will the offense. We are probably two years ahead of schedule with our play on both sides of the ball. We may take a dip in our record next year, but it would not surprise me if we continue to be in the mix for the SEC championships in the future.

 

[hUTch2002]

Is there a metric or several metrics you lean on to assess defense?

 

[hUTch2002]

AR a terrible passer had a career day vs UT. Mizzou averaged more yds per play vs UT than any other opponent except Abilene Christian and La Tech. Their 24 points were the most they’ve scored against an FBS opponent this year.

That’s just two games. Statistically they’re in the bottom half of the SEC in many categories including pass D and total D.

I just don’t feel good about Banks. After showing some aggressiveness and what it could do he seems to have crawled back into bend don’t break. Except he keeps breaking

I think teams are spreading us out more so it’s harder for us to disguise a blitz. Bama started doing it after we stopped them a couple times and MO did it at times too. They said during the MO game that we blitz on more than half our plays and that we were second in the country in blitz %.

 

[sjt18]

One factor is Tennessee scores so quickly, it gives the other team's offense more possessions to be on offense which can lead to scoring more points. However, only one team has outscored Tennessee this year. When we get better-more consistent defensive play in the secondary, our defense will give the ball back to our offense and we will score even more points. Many of the CDs the defense gives up are blown coverages in the secondary. this is also the position where a number of really good recruits are seriously considering or have already committe to Tennessee. I am rather amazed that the defense has played as well as they have. mmIt will get better as will the offense. We are probably two years ahead of schedule with our play on both sides of the ball. We may take a dip in our record next year, but it would not surprise me if we continue to be in the mix for the SEC championships in the future.

I don't think it will ever be fair to judge this D "traditionally". Other teams will get more possessions which may result in more points and especially against better teams.

The things I think matter are scoring of course then 1st downs, 3rd/4th down conversions, and yds/play.

UT's scoring D has improved by about a TD year over year but Purdue helped skew that number last year. Common opponent vs common opponent they all scored less this year.

Yds/play is essentially unchanged. Rush D btw is improved but maybe not as much as you think. Teams are ran about 40 times per game last year. This year it is 32. Pass attempts are essentially the reverse of that. Teams know they can often get easy completions against UT's scheme.

UT is 13th in 1st downs allowed this year at 22.1/gm. Last year they were 12th @22.6/gm So essentially no improvement.

Third down efficiency is a pretty significant improvement from 42% to 33%- 13th to 4th in the SEC. Fourth down efficiency is not good and is unchanged at around 50%.


I would like to see a D that makes opponents earn 1st downs and is near the top of the SEC in yds/play and 3rd/4th down conversions.

 

[sjt18]

Is there a metric or several metrics you lean on to assess defense?

Post 81 if I haven't answered that question before.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

I don't think it will ever be fair to judge this D "traditionally". Other teams will get more possessions which may result in more points and especially against better teams.

The things I think matter are scoring of course then 1st downs, 3rd/4th down conversions, and yds/play.

UT's scoring D has improved by about a TD year over year but Purdue helped skew that number last year. Common opponent vs common opponent they all scored less this year.

Yds/play is essentially unchanged. Rush D btw is improved but maybe not as much as you think. Teams are ran about 40 times per game last year. This year it is 32. Pass attempts are essentially the reverse of that. Teams know they can often get easy completions against UT's scheme.

UT is 13th in 1st downs allowed this year at 22.1/gm. Last year they were 12th @22.6/gm So essentially no improvement.

Third down efficiency is a pretty significant improvement from 42% to 33%- 13th to 4th in the SEC. Fourth down efficiency is not good and is unchanged at around 50%.


I would like to see a D that makes opponents earn 1st downs and is near the top of the SEC in yds/play and 3rd/4th down conversions.

We are much better against the run than a year ago and much better in red zone defense. We have caused more turnovers than a year ago and overall we have tackled better than a year ago. We are getting there, I predict we will have a top 5-10 defense overall in 2-3 years. GBO!

 

[norrislakevol]

One factor is Tennessee scores so quickly, it gives the other team's offense more possessions to be on offense which can lead to scoring more points. However, only one team has outscored Tennessee this year. When we get better-more consistent defensive play in the secondary, our defense will give the ball back to our offense and we will score even more points. Many of the CDs the defense gives up are blown coverages in the secondary. this is also the position where a number of really good recruits are seriously considering or have already committe to Tennessee. I am rather amazed that the defense has played as well as they have. mmIt will get better as will the offense. We are probably two years ahead of schedule with our play on both sides of the ball. We may take a dip in our record next year, but it would not surprise me if we continue to be in the mix for the SEC championships in the future.

Exactly. We should have the personnel over the next couple of years to play more man coverage. You can get eaten alive with zone. I huge difference this year is that we go 3 deep on the DL. We will have even more depth next year in the defensive front 4 and in the secondary.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

We lead defensively in creating turnovers in the SEC. A very overlooked stat. Defense has created 19 turnovers, the most in conference. When you give our offense 19 extra possessions it helps tremendously. GBO!