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The Vols head up to Bristol this week for the mostly highly attended football game in history. Tennessee left many questions unanswered on Thursday night, and fans are left wondering, "exactly what kind of team do we have here?" Saturday night should begin to answer some of those questions.
Keys to Victory:
1. Water down the Fuente offensive attack: On one level, Fuente has a simple offensive set-up. But on another level, this is what makes it difficult to defend. He does not feature a lot of different looks on offense, but can run most of his offense from those few different looks he offers. As a result, it becomes difficult to anticipate what may be coming next, because pre-snap formations are not a tell.
Expect VT to feature the jet sweep and the inverted veer with the slot receiver coming in motion. VT seeks to use speed to get to the edge, and stretch the field horizontally. Tennessee's defensive ends need to be able to make noise on the front, and cut that off at the head. Linebacker play will be critical in not allowing the running game to extend to the secondary. I expect Shoop to bring heat off of the edge, and blitz often, killing the jet sweep in the backfield on some occasions.
The VT running backs did not do much against Liberty. It doesn't seem that there is a great degree of separation between the three who are featured most often.
The TN defensive linemen need to avoid taking themselves out of the play by biting on fakes to the RB when the QB intends to take it around the DE who has gotten too far into the backfield and cannot react quickly enough. Barnett needs to watch this, as he is aggressive, but has trouble sealing the deal.
In the passing game, the Vols need to track all-ACC WR Isaiah Ford and TE Bucky Hodges. Hodges likes to line up wide like Ethan Wolf does for TN. Fuente likes to feature a quick passing game, often overloading the short side of the field with routes, and leaving a player in isolation against a defender on the wide side of the field. If that player gets open, it is a one-on-one match-up that can end up being a disaster if it connects. Tennessee needs to have clear communication of their assignments in the secondary. Abernathy had a really good game last week, and he needs to be razor sharp this week to prevent the CB's from being left out on an island with no help.
2. A lil' more chocolate: A lot can be said about last week's game, and one thing is certain, the gameplan was vanilla as could be. Dobbs was told to hold back... which in turn, almost got him killed when he needed to go full-Dobbs. Have a look at this image attached. With no WR close to open, Dobbs does not run here, and almost gets sacked. Full-Dobbs takes this a long way. Whether it is Dobbs or Dormady this week, Tennessee has to run more than 8 plays on offense. Add a lil chocolate to that vanilla.
3. Less offensive line: The OL had a nightmare night against players 50 pounds lighter, on average. One thing VT has never struggled with is defense under Bud Foster. The VT DL is quite a bit bigger than App State, but it is hard to tell how that is going to translate under the Bristol lights. The TN OL has to tighten up it's game. If Coleman Thomas can't do better, he can't play. Whatever issues everyone else is having, the better work it out quick, or this is going to be a rough night... especially if Dobbs can't go.
4. Turnovers: Sure, it may seem like a lazy point on my part, but hear me out. TN put it on the ground way too much against App State, recovering 3 or 4 of our own fumbles. Dobbs had at least 3 balls that were really risky, one picked off. TN cannot afford to be sloppy in this game, in a complete circus environment. On the other side, Fuente QB's tend to take care of the ball, but Jerod Evans threw some jump balls up for super WR Isaiah Ford to bail him out on last week. The TN secondary will not be so forgiving, and they have the chance to welcome the JUCO transfer to big boy college football. TN needs to win the turnover battle.
Prediction
Impossible to say, given Dobbs uncertain status. I think Tennessee wins regardless, due to the fact that they are going to get some of their issues sorted out this week, the playbook will be opened up a bit, and Fuente does not have enough of "his" players to go wide open yet. Tennessee has the athletes in place to win this game... if the coaches will let them play the stinking game to begin with.
TN 34
VT 21
Keys to Victory:
1. Water down the Fuente offensive attack: On one level, Fuente has a simple offensive set-up. But on another level, this is what makes it difficult to defend. He does not feature a lot of different looks on offense, but can run most of his offense from those few different looks he offers. As a result, it becomes difficult to anticipate what may be coming next, because pre-snap formations are not a tell.
Expect VT to feature the jet sweep and the inverted veer with the slot receiver coming in motion. VT seeks to use speed to get to the edge, and stretch the field horizontally. Tennessee's defensive ends need to be able to make noise on the front, and cut that off at the head. Linebacker play will be critical in not allowing the running game to extend to the secondary. I expect Shoop to bring heat off of the edge, and blitz often, killing the jet sweep in the backfield on some occasions.
The VT running backs did not do much against Liberty. It doesn't seem that there is a great degree of separation between the three who are featured most often.
The TN defensive linemen need to avoid taking themselves out of the play by biting on fakes to the RB when the QB intends to take it around the DE who has gotten too far into the backfield and cannot react quickly enough. Barnett needs to watch this, as he is aggressive, but has trouble sealing the deal.
In the passing game, the Vols need to track all-ACC WR Isaiah Ford and TE Bucky Hodges. Hodges likes to line up wide like Ethan Wolf does for TN. Fuente likes to feature a quick passing game, often overloading the short side of the field with routes, and leaving a player in isolation against a defender on the wide side of the field. If that player gets open, it is a one-on-one match-up that can end up being a disaster if it connects. Tennessee needs to have clear communication of their assignments in the secondary. Abernathy had a really good game last week, and he needs to be razor sharp this week to prevent the CB's from being left out on an island with no help.
2. A lil' more chocolate: A lot can be said about last week's game, and one thing is certain, the gameplan was vanilla as could be. Dobbs was told to hold back... which in turn, almost got him killed when he needed to go full-Dobbs. Have a look at this image attached. With no WR close to open, Dobbs does not run here, and almost gets sacked. Full-Dobbs takes this a long way. Whether it is Dobbs or Dormady this week, Tennessee has to run more than 8 plays on offense. Add a lil chocolate to that vanilla.
3. Less offensive line: The OL had a nightmare night against players 50 pounds lighter, on average. One thing VT has never struggled with is defense under Bud Foster. The VT DL is quite a bit bigger than App State, but it is hard to tell how that is going to translate under the Bristol lights. The TN OL has to tighten up it's game. If Coleman Thomas can't do better, he can't play. Whatever issues everyone else is having, the better work it out quick, or this is going to be a rough night... especially if Dobbs can't go.
4. Turnovers: Sure, it may seem like a lazy point on my part, but hear me out. TN put it on the ground way too much against App State, recovering 3 or 4 of our own fumbles. Dobbs had at least 3 balls that were really risky, one picked off. TN cannot afford to be sloppy in this game, in a complete circus environment. On the other side, Fuente QB's tend to take care of the ball, but Jerod Evans threw some jump balls up for super WR Isaiah Ford to bail him out on last week. The TN secondary will not be so forgiving, and they have the chance to welcome the JUCO transfer to big boy college football. TN needs to win the turnover battle.
Prediction
Impossible to say, given Dobbs uncertain status. I think Tennessee wins regardless, due to the fact that they are going to get some of their issues sorted out this week, the playbook will be opened up a bit, and Fuente does not have enough of "his" players to go wide open yet. Tennessee has the athletes in place to win this game... if the coaches will let them play the stinking game to begin with.
TN 34
VT 21
