Why Tennessee Wins Saturday Night
This has been a tough week for Tennessee fans, players and coaches, but here is why Tennessee wins Saturday Night. The Vols need one more win to become Bowl Eligible, and they don’t want it to come down to having to beat Vanderbilt in Nashville next week.
The Vols would like to do it against Missouri at home on Senior Night. They want to get this win out of the way, and they want to do it in style.
The week started on a good note as the Vols had wrecked Kentucky early Saturday evening. Josh Dobbs and Jalen Hurd continued their offensive onslaught with impressive performances against the Wildcats. The Tennessee offense had the Wildcat defense on their heels all night long. They mixed the pass with the run beautifully, and it was a blowout.
Then came some terrible news for the team early Sunday. The Vol Coaching Staff was notified that Senior Linebacker and team leader AJ Johnson and Sophomore defensive back Michael Williams had been named as possible suspects in a possible sexual assault off campus. The two were suspended indefinitely while an investigation goes on. It is Butch Jones policy.
Live Feed
FanSided
The loss of Williams will hurt depth. The loss of Johnson will hurt the soul of the Tennessee team. He is the leader. Make no mistake about it. He is the signal caller on the defense and makes sure all of the youngsters around him are aligned properly. He is a tackling machine, and leads the team in that category. He is as good as it gets sideline to sideline, but the Vols must move on.
Tennessee is hot at the moment. Bajakian’s offense is a new machine with Dobbs at the controls. The Vols can play with finesse, speed and physical power. Pick your poison. Missouri has been beaten twice this season by teams that run the ball. Indiana beat them. Georgia killed them.
The Vols have the ability to run inside and outside. Hurd is the back that the Missouri Tigers defense does not like. They don’t like the big physical backs as seen in the Georgia game. Hurd has just as much power as Gurley and Chubb, it just looks a little different when he runs. I believe he can be successful against this front.
The defensive ends of Missouri are the two best in the SEC east…with exception of Derek Barnett. However, the two defensive lineman in the interior are good, not great. The defensive ends will be kept off balance by having to respect Dobbs ability to pull it down and run it. That will be the neutralizer. Dobbs will have to keep the ball almost as much as he did in the South Carolina game.
Tennessee’s offensive line will be a man down again. This time it is starting Center Mack Crowder. Crowder sustained an ankle and knee injury during the game against Kentucky. He has been Tennessee’s most consistent lineman all season and is the “trigger” as Coach Jones calls him of the offense. Sophomore Dylan Wiesman came in last week and did an outstanding job against Kentucky.
Missouri runs a four more front. One of the things that Tennessee can do that a four man front hates is go to two tight ends. The Vols have the personnel to do this, and to do it successfully. It creates one more gap than the four can cover, and it can be exploited….if you have the talent. The Vols have two very good tight ends in Ethan Wolf and Daniel Helm. I would not be surprised to see this look some Saturday.
Tennessee’s receivers are a tough group to cover. Although the Tigers have good cover corners, they do not have the size that Tennessee will throw at them, or the speed. Tennessee has so much depth at this position, and the Tigers are thin. Look for Von Pearson, Josh Malone and Pig Howard to play big roles on third down. Jason Croom will be a tough match up in the red zone.
As far as the defense goes, the Vols will be short handed. Freshman Jakob Johnson will more than likely get the start in the middle. He is a stud. He is a thumper. He is also inexperienced. Mauk will try to exploit him with his arm and with his legs. Mauk can run, and his running ability scares me more than his passing ability. This will be a tough spot for Jakob, but look for the Vols to put a lot of pressure on Mauk to try and bottle him up from Derek Barnett and Corey Vereen.
Another tough blow to the defense came in the Kentucky game as starting safety and enforcer Brian Randolph was called for targeting in the second half. He will have to sit out the entire first half of the Missouri game. Freshman Todd Kelly will take his place. I like Kelly better any way in passing situations, but the Tigers have a really good running back in Junior Russell Hansbrough. He is fast, and he runs hard. Tennessee will have to stop him first and foremost, and it would be much better to have Randolph in to play downhill on Hansbrough. TK Jr is not ready to be that physical yet.
The keys to the win are simple. Run the ball effectively on offense with Dobbs and Hurd, and stop Hansbrough and Mauk from gaining yards on the ground. We have a better passing game than Missouri, so if both teams stuff the run, I still like our chances. The intangibles are that Missouri just finds a way to win. Tennessee is trying to learn how to win. That can be a difference maker.
I think Tennessee will play angry. I think they will play physical. I think they will play with everything they can give. I think this may be the edge Tennessee needs to beat Missouri. This team is resilient, and when one goes down, another steps in and performs. Tennessee will look to prove this Saturday Night. It will be a great football game.