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1. Keep Petrino's offense off the field- Tennessee is going to play fast on offense. It's in Butch Jones' DNA and he's not going to slow the pace for anyone, especially game two of his first season against a non-SEC opponent. That means Tennessee will have to have long, sustaining drives. Rajion Neal and Marlin Lane must move the chains, while Justin Worley must make smart decisions with the football. No unnecessary risks on deep throws.
2. Interior Pressure- Bobby Petrino LOVES to attack the middle of the field in a myriad of ways. He uses draws, screens, slants, drag routes, and even on deeper routes; he's the father of the college crossing route. That means getting in the face of QB Brandon Doughty and disrupting his vision. If Daniel McCullers and Daniel Hood (along with Mo Couch) can force Doughty to move outside the pocket, it will ruin the flow of Petrino's route tree and cause bad drives for WKU.
3. Don't bite on play action- With a hell of a run game in RB's Antonio Andrews and Leon Allen, Petrino is going to try and use it. Petrino actually likes using the run to set up the pass. With that comes multiple variances of play action to make big plays. The linebackers have to watch the ball and stay in their assignments, especially since Petrino will attack the middle of the field. Watch to see how deep the linebackers play and if John Jancek tries to stop the run with four man fronts, while using the linebacking crops mainly in pass coverage.
4. Mix coverages in order to create turnovers- Petrino threw 37 times last week, and I would venture to say he wants to go with about 30 passes minimum going into Saturday. That means Jancek needs to disguise and confuse Doughty. Look for zone blitzes, stunts, and new sets Saturday to make plays on defense and give UT the ball back.
5. Defensive player to watch: Brent Brewer- Brewer is going to be very important to help out in the middle of the field as the "Star" linebacker we talked about earlier. He will have to help in the run, and will have to cover the 5-10 yard passing zone Petrino likes to use. Also, he will be largely responsible to help contain dump offs and designed backfield passes.
6. Use your size advantage on the outside- UT has a nice size differential with the wideouts. They can definitely make plays and create mismatches. Worley needs to get the ball up and high for the wideouts to make plays over the corners. I'll be interested to see if Bajikan uses some fade routes in the red zone with North and Croom this week.
7. Get to the second level- UT had a nice performance last week running the ball, but the offensive line did not get to the second level enough. This must change in order to get optimal performance from the offense. Fulton and Bullard must push back the initial rush and get to the linebackers to create bigger holes and give Neal/Lane more room to operate.
8. Offensive player to watch: Brendan Downs- Downs did not have a great game Saturday, but he will be important this week. He can be a viable third down target and with no fullback in the offense, he is crucial to the run game and setting the edge and must have a better blocking game. Look for him on pull plays and outside zone runs. Also, see if Bajakin uses him on drags to give Worley a safety valve.
9. Establish play action- Bajikan and Jones were very vanilla (as expected) against Austin Peay. Western Kentucky is too talented to be basic. They must use the full playbook and the play/run action is going to be a factor. UT needs a solid balance and play action will accomplish this.
10. Don't take this week off- Despite his deplorable morals, Bobby Petrino is a top 10 coach in college football from a strategic perspective. The man can coach offensive football, and he can find mismatches as well as anybody in the country. Tennessee must play hard and efficient for sixty minutes, and cannot get lazy in preparation. The defense must get pressure, and the offense must protect the ball for Tennessee to win.
Go Vols!!! :hi:
2. Interior Pressure- Bobby Petrino LOVES to attack the middle of the field in a myriad of ways. He uses draws, screens, slants, drag routes, and even on deeper routes; he's the father of the college crossing route. That means getting in the face of QB Brandon Doughty and disrupting his vision. If Daniel McCullers and Daniel Hood (along with Mo Couch) can force Doughty to move outside the pocket, it will ruin the flow of Petrino's route tree and cause bad drives for WKU.
3. Don't bite on play action- With a hell of a run game in RB's Antonio Andrews and Leon Allen, Petrino is going to try and use it. Petrino actually likes using the run to set up the pass. With that comes multiple variances of play action to make big plays. The linebackers have to watch the ball and stay in their assignments, especially since Petrino will attack the middle of the field. Watch to see how deep the linebackers play and if John Jancek tries to stop the run with four man fronts, while using the linebacking crops mainly in pass coverage.
4. Mix coverages in order to create turnovers- Petrino threw 37 times last week, and I would venture to say he wants to go with about 30 passes minimum going into Saturday. That means Jancek needs to disguise and confuse Doughty. Look for zone blitzes, stunts, and new sets Saturday to make plays on defense and give UT the ball back.
5. Defensive player to watch: Brent Brewer- Brewer is going to be very important to help out in the middle of the field as the "Star" linebacker we talked about earlier. He will have to help in the run, and will have to cover the 5-10 yard passing zone Petrino likes to use. Also, he will be largely responsible to help contain dump offs and designed backfield passes.
6. Use your size advantage on the outside- UT has a nice size differential with the wideouts. They can definitely make plays and create mismatches. Worley needs to get the ball up and high for the wideouts to make plays over the corners. I'll be interested to see if Bajikan uses some fade routes in the red zone with North and Croom this week.
7. Get to the second level- UT had a nice performance last week running the ball, but the offensive line did not get to the second level enough. This must change in order to get optimal performance from the offense. Fulton and Bullard must push back the initial rush and get to the linebackers to create bigger holes and give Neal/Lane more room to operate.
8. Offensive player to watch: Brendan Downs- Downs did not have a great game Saturday, but he will be important this week. He can be a viable third down target and with no fullback in the offense, he is crucial to the run game and setting the edge and must have a better blocking game. Look for him on pull plays and outside zone runs. Also, see if Bajakin uses him on drags to give Worley a safety valve.
9. Establish play action- Bajikan and Jones were very vanilla (as expected) against Austin Peay. Western Kentucky is too talented to be basic. They must use the full playbook and the play/run action is going to be a factor. UT needs a solid balance and play action will accomplish this.
10. Don't take this week off- Despite his deplorable morals, Bobby Petrino is a top 10 coach in college football from a strategic perspective. The man can coach offensive football, and he can find mismatches as well as anybody in the country. Tennessee must play hard and efficient for sixty minutes, and cannot get lazy in preparation. The defense must get pressure, and the offense must protect the ball for Tennessee to win.
Go Vols!!! :hi:
