Serious expectations of the defense

[JRich]

Need to improve at middle linebacker. Secondary is questionable now with a couple of good players gone. D line will be better, IMO.

 

[JRich]

I figure Rodney will have the Dline ready. I expect out Lbers to be a little better; Banks had made some strides as the season went on, we’ve also had some additions at the position. I have very low expectations for our secondary.

Banks got better but Beasley was like a wet paper bag.

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

Better play on both sides of the ball is great. But the idea that defense is of greater importance, I highly disagree with

. We spent years with solid or at least middling defenses and offenses that couldn’t spit in the ocean. I’m talking since the Fulmer years. 2012 and 2021 are exceptions. Wasn't the old adage “defense wins championships” coined in reference to basketball anyway?

 

[vols 30]

Need to improve at middle linebacker. Secondary is questionable now with a couple of good players gone. D line will be better, IMO.

Secondary is the biggest question mark for the team going into this season. Just a little imrpovemt there and we win 8/9 games

 

[birdie74]

We did not pickup the number of transfers i was hoping for. Did we get quality PWO that could fill the depth issues? I am hoping for great things out of Jackson Hannah. He was a highly rated (4 star) linebacker out of MBA who went to Nebraska and transfered here.

Is there a possibility that we will pick up any additional quality transfers for 2022 - or has that ship sailed?

 

[Tnphil]

Almost 66 years old and been a UT fan since I could walk.......If I've seen a worse defense than I saw last season I either forgot or totally blocked it out of my mind....Yes Sal's defense was real bad under Dooley who had a pretty darn good offense with Bray at QB....IIRC we averaged around 34 points per game and had a losing record......But there was times last season I would have taken that Sal defense...

We were bad on the front...at linebacker and DBs a lot of times as in many times were nowhere close the other teams WRs and they were wide open....I never bought in to all the tackles for loss stat because when your defense is out there 90 snaps...can't get off the field on 3rd down then the law of averages say you will have more tackles for loss than a defense out there only 60 snaps and getting off the field on 3rd down at a high rate.....Did our defense have some bright spots....Yes....a few...That Ole Miss QB sitting his all time record on rushing with QB draws up the middle that we never stopped for 4 dang quarters was just proof how bad our D was.....Our defense can improve on last seasons by quite a bit and still be below average...That's what bothers me. Really surprised we didn't address it more for help with transfers. JMO.

 

[vols 30]

Just like last year, we need to score on almost every possesion, which i think we'll do for the most part

Holding teams to field goals will be a win

 

[MSME Vol]

It is puzzling that we didn't get more help on defense from the transfer portal. Was it that the right fits were just not available? Will more be added later?

We self imposed scholarship reductions that carried through the spring. It was an attempt to convince the NCAA that time was served in our Pruitt investigation. Hence we were unable to really have spots for all the players I'm sure they would have liked to approach

 

[Tnphil]

Don't know the exact number but it seems we took a lot of WR's when I was hoping we would have used some spots on defense......Maybe we can use some of those receivers we took on defense....just turn them around and teach em how to run backwards.

 

[OrangeAllDay]

Offense will be good, but not as good as last season, SEC won't be taken by surprise by it and will be better prepared. Defense is a huge question mark, and I fear they did not address the depth needed to be on the field so long. I think 8 wins with a good chance to beat Florida

It’s going to be hard for the offense to be better than last years, but I completely disagree that the SEC will be better prepared. The formations maybe different, but our veer and shoot ( like a air raid veer) is based on Art Briles offense at Baylor. This offense has been around for more than a decade at this point. Heupel has run this offense since being at mizzou. There’s been plenty of film of this specific offense for years. Also Ole Miss basically ran the same offense, with Jeff Lebby, for two years. The SEC has seen this offense, we aren’t really doing anything new. Although I will say Heupel is way more multiple than people give him credit for, and I maybe bias, but our version of the veer and shoot is my favorite out of anybody else’s that I’ve seen.

To stop this offense there’s probably going to have to be a rule change, to either let the defense sub when ever, or something with the play clock. Everyone knows what’s coming, what really hurts defense’s is how fast we go and that they can’t get lined up properly. Look at the bama game last year, Bama knew exactly what we were gonna do, but they had blown coverage after blown coverage because you can’t defend when you can’t line up properly. It’s why a lot of the times we get by, by running simple concepts. I kid you not there was a drive against ole miss (I think) last year where we ran an inside zone, same formation and ran it up the same side, 3 times in a row and scored. Their defense literally saw that play, and just couldn’t get lined up properly to stop it.

I think over all the veer and shoot/no huddle is a lot like the read option. It’s the new thing that’s blowing up football, and it’s easy to teach. I just don’t think with out a rule change anyones going to be able to stop it, unlike the read option, where once the film was out how to stop the read option, everyone from High school to the NFL stopped it in its tracks. That’s why Butch Jones had a lot of problems in his last year, it was around that time everyone figured out how to defend it. I just don’t think there’s anything schematically you can do to stop this offense like the read option, heck some of the times the receivers on one side won’t even run routes in this offense, they’re just decoys.

 

[LittleVol]

Still gonna struggle. 7 wins is realistic I think.

Statistically, Tennessee will never have a top tier defense with Heupels offense philosophy. Unless (beating a dead horse here) he adjusts his speed and/or attack methods (different formations personnel).
Problem is, when we played a good defense, they adjusted and our offense left the quickly with no points...and the defense suffered.
And i think the defense was actually upper middle of the conference in defensive stops.
Problem is they had to defend 4 more offensive possessions per game than the the number 2 team in that stat

Even though they will eventually have NFL level players at every level of the defense.
It will still be a track meet for them if the offense doesn't control the time longer and score.

 

[TheRealUT98]

it’ll be the difference between 8 and 10 wins.
Tennessee has to find consistency upfront to take the next step
Do that and everything else will come around. Imo.

With the experienced depth we return I am more concerned about the CB depth not a lot of game time returning for the production we lost. We have to put a lot on Hadden and Turnage to be reliable starters or 8 wins may be the ceiling

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Offense will be good, but not as good as last season, SEC won't be taken by surprise by it and will be better prepared. Defense is a huge question mark, and I fear they did not address the depth needed to be on the field so long. I think 8 wins with a good chance to beat Florida

This right here. I have heard people on here say our offense will be better this year. I don’t see it. I don’t see us averaging over 40 ppg. Several of our opponents made significant upgrades in the portal while we really didn’t.

I agree with 8 wins. Also, I don’t think we will blow SC and Missouri out this year. I can see both games as dog fights.

 

[DaddyChad]

Almost 66 years old and been a UT fan since I could walk.......If I've seen a worse defense than I saw last season I either forgot or totally blocked it out of my mind....Yes Sal's defense was real bad under Dooley who had a pretty darn good offense with Bray at QB....IIRC we averaged around 34 points per game and had a losing record......But there was times last season I would have taken that Sal defense...

We were bad on the front...at linebacker and DBs a lot of times as in many times were nowhere close the other teams WRs and they were wide open....I never bought in to all the tackles for loss stat because when your defense is out there 90 snaps...can't get off the field on 3rd down then the law of averages say you will have more tackles for loss than a defense out there only 60 snaps and getting off the field on 3rd down at a high rate.....Did our defense have some bright spots....Yes....a few...That Ole Miss QB sitting his all time record on rushing with QB draws up the middle that we never stopped for 4 dang quarters was just proof how bad our D was.....Our defense can improve on last seasons by quite a bit and still be below average...That's what bothers me. Really surprised we didn't address it more for help with transfers. JMO.

You’re out of your mind Sunseri’s defense was atrocious. Teams could pretty much score at will against that defense. We were woeful last year also but we generated some big turnovers, secondary was out of position a lot but Sunseri’s entire defense was lost.

 

[sunnyvol79]

This right here. I have heard people on here say our offense will be better this year. I don’t see it. I don’t see us averaging over 40 ppg. Several of our opponents made significant upgrades in the portal while we really didn’t.

I agree with 8 wins. Also, I don’t think we will blow SC and Missouri out this year. I can see both games as dog fights.

i think we handle Mizzou at home easily, I’m more worried about the SC game

 

[Schasz]

With the way the offense moved the ball...it's imperative for the defense to get better in order to improve the overall record. Not real confident it will be this year as the recruiting class and transfers did not seem to spell a large improvement. Hoping with this next recruiting class that the defense receives a real boost. IMHO with Heupel's high powered offense Defensive Depth will be very important in order to move up in the SEC pecking order.

 

[TennMan101]

it’ll be the difference between 8 and 10 wins.
Tennessee has to find consistency upfront to take the next step
Do that and everything else will come around. Imo.

Thankfully, we have a few studs coming in on the d-line! We really need to address the backside of our D. I believe in Burrell, Flowers and McCullough, but I'm not quite sure about Charles, yet. The staff had nothing but raving reviews on him through spring practice. JMO

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

We are going to be better on both sides of the ball barring significant injuries.

It will be a matter of whether or not we can win some close games to win as many as 10 games.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Offense will be good, but not as good as last season, SEC won't be taken by surprise by it and will be better prepared. Defense is a huge question mark, and I fear they did not address the depth needed to be on the field so long. I think 8 wins with a good chance to beat Florida

This right here. I have heard people on here say our offense will be better this year. I don’t see it. I don’t see us averaging over 40 ppg. Several of our opponents made significant upgrades in the portal while we really didn’t.

I agree with 8 wins. Also, I don’t think we will blow SC and Missouri out this year. I can see both games as dog fights.

 

[wmcovol]

Statistically, Tennessee will never have a top tier defense with Heupels offense philosophy. Unless (beating a dead horse here) he adjusts his speed and/or attack methods (different formations personnel).
Problem is, when we played a good defense, they adjusted and our offense left the quickly with no points...and the defense suffered.
And i think the defense was actually upper middle of the conference in defensive stops.
Problem is they had to defend 4 more offensive possessions per game than the the number 2 team in that stat

Even though they will eventually have NFL level players at every level of the defense.
It will still be a track meet for them if the offense doesn't control the time longer and score.

I can’t say you’re wrong but the object of the game is to outscore the opponent not simply control the ball. I do think that calling defense is easier if your offense is scoring pts consistently. Tennessee’s issue last year was 1) lack of turnovers & 2) failure to win 3rd & 4th downs. Both of those point to lack of talent & depth.

Imagine the quandary opponents will be in if Tennessee can start getting 3rd & 4th down stops regularly & turning the ball over to the offense? When that happens (see Missouri & SC games last year) someone gets beat bad.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

Not anymore.

5 of the 8 CFCG ended in blowouts.

Defense still wins it’s share. Georgia proved it, Even in Bama’s great offenses the Tide had folks up front that could get to the quarterback. You can’t win the Sec with a mediocre defense, teams like Georgia and Bama will wear you down and run over you as the game goes. Football is always evolving. If you want to win in the sec you better have a good defense and offense. I do think our O-Line is going to have a better year, I think it is going to help us in short yardage. Scoring quick is great but to be able to work the field and switch gears once we are up good is another dimension, being about to produce some good 7-8 minute scoring drives and really tiring their D while ours can rest some. Becoming a tough overall offense that can strike fast and also keep drives going. Being able to adjust our speed game back and forth at times could mess with defenses that want to flop all the time. GBO!

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Not anymore.

5 of the 8 CFCG ended in blowouts.

Only twice in 8 CFCG's (and not at all the last 5 years) has the winner needed more than 26 points, so the winning team has still generally played pretty good defense in the playoff era.

 

[Cartervol]

Yeah but, if we can get Jeremy Banks to teach the rest of the team how to lay on a proper pile driver then the opposition might be hesitant to come up to middle.

Jerry Lawler approves of this message.

If the strap comes down then it's going to be one hell of a year.

 

[livefaith]

It's so odd to me. We've signed like 57 linebackers in the last 5 years. And were still thin.

 

[SoddyAllVol]

This right here. I have heard people on here say our offense will be better this year. I don’t see it. I don’t see us averaging over 40 ppg. Several of our opponents made significant upgrades in the portal while we really didn’t.

I agree with 8 wins. Also, I don’t think we will blow SC and Missouri out this year. I can see both games as dog fights.

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