Our Defense in SEC play

#28
#28
For the first time, I'm legit questioning our D staff. I can't justify any of this. We can't defend the pass. We can't defend the run game. We are great at blitzing and generating turnovers. And that's fine and dandy. But if Helen Keller School for the Blind and Infirmed can run and pass on you almost at will, all that doesn't mean much. This has gone one for years. Last year was an anomaly.
 
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#30
#30
xpsyclonex2002 said:
For the first time, I'm legit questioning our D staff. I can't justify any of this. We can't defend the pass. We can't defend the run game. We are great at blitzing and generating turnovers. And that's fine and dandy. But if Helen Keller School for the Blind and Infirmed can run and pass on you almost at will, all that doesn't mean much. This has gone one for years. Last year was an anomaly.
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Agreed! We had some dogs last year. We've recruited too well to play this bad on D. I honestly don't understand why these guys aren't developing.
 
#31
#31
I’m convinced Heupel put the cuffs on Banks once we went up by 17. We stopped blitzing (the only thing that was working) and it was accompanied by Heupel electing to run into 8 guys in the box on 3rd & 4 when we were up 10 with a chance to put the game away.

Heupel’s late game conservatism cost us the Georgia game and dang near cost us this one. Dude needs to grow a pair.
 
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#33
#33
Not been impressed but its not like we've played bums either. MSU and Arkansas both have really good offenses. Stockton hit throws on UTs secondary he hadn't hit all year. We still suck at slants and Simpson will go middle all game on us so ill hold judgements until I see what happens in Tuscaloosa. I will say, you can at least see Banks adjustments in the second half. Im not sure what Arkansas' numbers were in the 2nd half tonight, but it seemed like the pass rush showed up and we didnt get as gashed on the run.
 
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#35
#35
xpsyclonex2002 said:
For the first time, I'm legit questioning our D staff. I can't justify any of this. We can't defend the pass. We can't defend the run game. We are great at blitzing and generating turnovers. And that's fine and dandy. But if Helen Keller School for the Blind and Infirmed can run and pass on you almost at will, all that doesn't mean much. This has gone one for years. Last year was an anomaly.
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This sums up my thoughts exactly.

Two areas that are positive: tackles for loss and creating of turnovers. I would argue that TFL is meaningless because they consistently give up 2nd / 3rd and long chunk plays of 10-20 yards.

Creating turnovers is legit . . . But if they have a game where they fail at that with their inability to stop the pass or run . . . A team like Bama could easily put 50 plus on them.

People arguing our defense is really not that bad are trying to polish a turd. This defense is bad.

At one point in game . . . Some argued we had only given up 17. Well we ended up giving up 31 . . . And Arkansas had 3 turnovers. Take away one turnover and I think they score 38. And there is zero reason to think that would not have been the case. They gashed us all game.
 
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#36
#36
xpsyclonex2002 said:
For the first time, I'm legit questioning our D staff. I can't justify any of this. We can't defend the pass. We can't defend the run game. We are great at blitzing and generating turnovers. And that's fine and dandy. But if Helen Keller School for the Blind and Infirmed can run and pass on you almost at will, all that doesn't mean much. This has gone one for years. Last year was an anomaly.
Click to expand...
This sums up my thoughts exactly.

Two areas that are positive: tackles for loss and creating of turnovers. I would argue that TFL is meaningless because they consistently give up 2nd / 3rd and long chunk plays of 10-20 yards.

Creating turnovers is legit . . . But if they have a game where they fail at that with their inability to stop the pass or run . . . A team like Bama could easily put 50 plus on them.

People arguing our defense is really not that bad are trying to polish a turd. This defense is bad.

At one point in game . . . Some argued we had only given up 17. Well we ended up giving up 31 . . . And Arkansas had 3 turnovers. Take away one turnover and I think they score 38. And there is zero reason to think that would not have been the case. They gashed us all game.
 
#37
#37
No containment of the QB and using cover when it should clearly be man-to-man. It’s very difficult to watch. But we’re TENNESSEE. Where we can’t have it all - it’s either offense or defense. Zero balance.
 
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#38
#38
Very eloquent.

It’s pretty simple. When UT plays man and blitzes, they make plays. When they drop back in zone they give up big plays. The DBs haven’t properly played zone in quite a few years.
 
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#39
#39
VOL RN said:
No containment of the QB and using cover when it should clearly be man-to-man. It’s very difficult to watch. But we’re TENNESSEE. Where we can’t have it all - it’s either offense or defense. Zero balance.
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Although I agree they struggle to set the edge and contain, that was a hell of an athletic QB they faced today. Give credit where it is due.
 
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#41
#41
JRich said:
Although I agree they struggle to set the edge and contain, that was a hell of an athletic QB they faced today. Give credit where it is due.
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Yep. Our defense is suspect but Green is probably the most athletic qb we will face all season. Not the best, but the most athletic. He’s a great runner.
 
#42
#42
I don't think our defense is beyond hope. They play well for stretches but it just hasn't clicked for 4 quarters. Take our third quarter defense today, bottle that and roll that beautiful bean footage for the rest of the season.

I wish the coaches had not gone prevent because we were on a roll.
 
#43
#43
Honestly big play defense due to the line. It’s weird to see but they almost play like our offense does with chunk plays and sacks. Our interior is def weaker than last year.

Carter is legit. Rest of backers are average.

Hood has been the sole bright spot in secondary.

Boo is inconsistent.

Redmond needs time to develop. He’s overmatched often.

Both safeties are liabilities in coverage.
 
#44
#44
vol75 said:
Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Volunteers entered the 2025 season with a defense that promised dominance, building on a No. 6 national ranking from 2024. Yet, through six games (including this one), the defense has been a tale of two extremes: decent play in the season's marquee matchup against Georgia, but riddled with misalignment and evident unpreparedness in other conference tests. This inconsistency underscores deeper coaching flaws under defensive coordinator Tim Banks, where schematic rigidity and poor pre-game adjustments have left the Vols vulnerable to SEC offenses thus far.

Just my two cents after one half against Arkansas.
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They were awful against Georgia lmao probably the worst game of the season. Georgia is by far the worst offense we’ve played including UAB (besides Chat obviously).
 
#45
#45
No saying the
fossilfiction said:
Look, man — y’all are just gonna have to suck it up this year. This feels a lot like Hooker’s big season. Points, points, points. We’ve seen enough to know what this team is: they fight to win, they make plays when they have to, it’s never boring, and the Vols are 5–1. They don’t suck. Stating the obvious the remainder of the season won't change it.
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I’m not saying we suck, but I do believe the defense needs some concern. While Tennessee can score, teams with top-notch defenses tend to be more successful in the league. Our run support is abysmal, and we’ve given up too many third-and-longs. I’ll admit that most of our defensive errors are due to scheming, and I’ll even go further to say that our fundamentals are questionable.
 
#46
#46
vol75 said:
No saying the

I’m not saying we suck, but I do believe the defense needs some concern. While Tennessee can score, teams with top-notch defenses tend to be more successful in the league. Our run support is abysmal, and we’ve given up too many third-and-longs. I’ll admit that most of our defensive errors are due to scheming, and I’ll even go further to say that our fundamentals are questionable.
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I just wouldn't expect the defense to improve too much this season.
 
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#47
#47
fossilfiction said:
I just wouldn't expect the defense to improve too much this season.
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I agree. They are what they are.

They will either create turnovers and score points off of turnovers . . . Or they will give up a lot of yardage and points. Outside of a turnover, they won’t stop any good offense.
 
#48
#48
The tackling technique is bad, the zone defense is pathetic, the edges on the pass rush are abysmal, the secondary is atrocious, typical Willie Martinez, Larry Slade incompetence, aside from last season, defense has been a problem since Heupel got here and he has got to recognize what everybody else sees since this isn't Conference USA, this is the SEC and we are not going to boatrace anybody in this conference and another school may hang 60 something on us this season as South Carolina did in 2022
 
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