Tennessee football fans want to know if the Vols’ super success to start this season is for real.
Are the Vols this good or their opponents that bad? Or will Oklahoma exploit some soft spots that UT has hidden against weaker opponents?
UT beat Kent State 71-0 in a record-breaking rout. And now the No. 7 Vols (3-0) will play at No. 13 Oklahoma (3-0) on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) to open SEC play.
About 50 questions were submitted by UT fans via our free Vols text group for this week’s mailbag.
Topics ranged widely between the Kent State and Oklahoma games. But most fans want to know if they should believe their eyes in how good the Vols look.
So let’s dive into the latest Vols mailbag.
VOLS VS SOONERS Is Tennessee ready for Oklahoma? Vols are healthy, rested and yes, rolling
Do we know much about Tennessee considering the weak competition?
We know some things. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava has five-star talent, as advertised. He has tremendous accuracy, touch, anticipation and sound fundamentals as a passer.
Dylan Sampson can run the ball between the tackles, and DeSean Bishop is playing above his status as a redshirt freshman walk-on.
There’s more depth throughout the roster than past seasons under coach Josh Heupel, especially at wide receiver, defensive line and linebacker. And coaches are dedicated to utilizing that depth.
Oregon State transfer Jermod McCoy looks the part at cornerback. But questions in the secondary will linger until the competitions ramps up.
Is Tennessee this good or opponents that bad?
I’d say both to some degree.
Obviously, Chattanooga and Kent State are inferior to UT by a wide margin. NC State is a middle-of-the-pack ACC team, which struggled in a 30-20 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday after starting quarterback Grayson McCall was injured.
UT has played one solid opponent, NC State, which was ranked No. 23 at the time. But the Vols aren’t unique in the SEC with that type of schedule.
Alabama beat Wisconsin. Missouri beat Boston College. Ole Miss beat Wake Forest. Oklahoma beat Houston. They’ll all face tougher opponents in SEC play.
But a team can win by a comfortable margin or win by a record-breaking margin. UT has done the latter. Its 178-point margin through three games is the largest in SEC history. That level of dominance speaks for itself.
Does Josh Heupel seem more intense this season, or is it just me?
It depends on the setting that you see him in. Heupel is very comfortable in his own skin, and he rarely shows signs of stress.
I’d say focused and confident are the right words to describe his demeanor on gamedays. He knows this team has the talent and depth to challenge for a College Football Playoff spot. But there’s a thin margin between the teams that get in and those left out.
I sense a confident but humble vibe with UT players. Am I right?
From your full question, I know you’re referencing their demeanor at postgame press conferences.
What you’re seeing is the maturity of UT team leaders, who usually speak at press conferences. Those are older players like Keenan Pili, Cooper Mays, Omari Thomas, Bru McCoy and Dylan Sampson, and they’re the core of this team.
Plus, teammates always follow the quarterback’s lead. Iamaleava is confident but humble, just as you sensed from the whole team.
Can coaches convince Nico Iamaleava to slide when he runs?
Yeah, we all held our breath on some of those scrambles.
Coaches instruct him to slide, run out of bounds and avoid contact in most circumstances. If the game is on the line, he has the green light to take more chances.
Rest assured that Iamaleava was reminded sternly that he should’ve slid against Kent State.
Will Oklahoma be prepared for UT’s different offensive looks?
Oklahoma’s Brent Venables is one of the best defensive coaches in college football. He was Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator when Heupel played quarterback for the Sooners and when he was an assistant there.
Venables was also defensive coordinator for Clemson’s 2016 and 2018 national title teams. So his staff will be prepared for anything against UT, and Heupel undoubtedly has held some things back for this game.
It should be a fun chess match. But players’ execution of the game plans will determine the winner more than the play-calling.
Could routs backfire because players aren’t accustomed to playing a full game?
I don’t think so. If players hadn’t played at all, that would be a concern. But they’ve gotten some work in every game.
And if there wasn’t depth behind the starters, it could be a concern. But those backups will play plenty in the games ahead, so starters shouldn’t have to play full games.
Also, the Vols run a frenetic pace at practice. So their conditioning should be in good shape.
With the way Georgia played against Kentucky, is that a winnable game for UT?
Georgia was far from a guaranteed loss for the Vols. But, yeah, Georgia has looked vulnerable. And UT appears to have enough depth to play four quarters with the Bulldogs.
But keep in mind that Georgia usually survives a lackluster game early in the season, and then it grows stronger in the aftermath.
Also, Georgia is very strong when it’s focused. And if the Vols are in the College Football Playoff mix when that game arrives on Nov. 16, they’ll have the Bulldogs’ full attention.
Should UT’s lack of sacks be a concern?
It’s certainly something to watch as UT starts playing comparable opponents. The Vols have only four sacks in three games, and they’ll need to do more in SEC play.
But it’s not a big concern yet because opponents have chosen a minimal passing game rather than take sacks. It’s sort of like choosing a three-and-out over a negative-yardage play. The Vols have still been effective.
UT’s defense has allowed just 5.1 yards per pass attempt. Only Alabama (3.2), Georgia (4.2) and Texas (4.7) have allowed fewer yards per pass attempt in the SEC.
We’ll know more about the pass rush against Oklahoma and Arkansas because they’ll likely try to test UT’s pass defense downfield with longer developing plays.
UT broke the modern scoring record. But what is the all-time record?
Against Kent State, UT scored 71 points to break the school record in the modern era, which dates back to 1937. The scores were sometimes higher before that.
On Oct. 7, 1905, UT won 104-0 over American Temperance University, located in Harriman, Tennessee, at the time.
The Vols also beat King University (1912), Cumberland (1915) and Carson-Newman (1915) by scores of 101-0.
Those scores seem outrageous. But UT was on pace to surpass them when it led 65-0 at halftime over Kent State.
Has anyone checked on cheerleaders? How many push-ups did they do?
They start over from zero each time UT scores. And the Vols scored 12 separate times, including nine TDs, two field goals and one safety.
So by my count, the cheerleaders did 479 push-ups during that game.
That being said, the cheerleaders at the north end of the field were headed to the south end to perform between the first and second quarters when UT scored a touchdown.
So that group of cheerleaders may have gotten to skip 37 push-ups. I wouldn’t blame them if they found such a loophole.
When games get out of hand, what do reporters do in press box?
Those games are sometimes more difficult because they require a dizzying amount of quick work to keep up with the pace of scoring.
For example, Knox News published several stories throughout the game every time UT broke another record or a player made a memorable play. And we had to write new content each time the Vols scored a touchdown.
It’s hectic, but we want to get up-to-date content to the audience in the moment.
The press box gets louder in those type games because not all “working media” actually work during the game. If a reporter is bored, they probably shouldn’t be in the press box.
Now I’ll get off my soap box.
Why did the Vols attempt an onside kick with a big lead?
They saw an obvious hole in Kent State’s kick return formation on film, and they exploited it.
Kent State only had one player on the left side of its front line, and that player bailed out and back-pedaled before the ball was kicked.
The score is irrelevant in that situation. For example, if UT lined up to run the ball and the opponent didn’t cover its wide receiver, the Vols would throw a pass. It’s the same idea.
Opponents will think twice before taking UT’s kick coverage for granted.
How many UT players played against Kent State?
I counted 103 UT players getting on the field, including several walk-ons in the second half. That’s more than the Chattanooga game, when 95 UT players played.
Against Kent State, five freshmen made their UT debut. That included five-star receiver Mike Matthews, four-star receiver Braylon Staley, four-star linebacker Edwin Spillman, walk-on receiver Braylon Harmon and walk-on receiver Malcolm Kinzer.
How would you rate the new assistant coach hires so far?
There’s a small sample since they arrived in the spring, so the jury is still out. But so far, so good.
In recruiting, linebackers coach William Inge helped flip four-star linebacker Jaedon Harmon from Alabama to UT. And he has built a strong relationship with young linebackers like Arion Carter, Jeremiah Telander and Kalib Perry. They’ve all improved.
Running backs coach De’Rail Sims inherited Sampson. But he’s also accelerated DeSean Bishop’s development and helped build depth with other young running backs.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66e7e528f84d41c89c245caeae1154f4&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2Funiversity-of-tennessee%2Ffootball%2F2024%2F09%2F15%2Ftennessee-football-fans-believe-their-eyes-vols-mailbag-oklahoma-game%2F75083934007%2F&c=9602267402086248472&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-15 09:28:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.