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Vols Will Have Tough Day With Georgia Running Game

By Randy Sharber

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In order for Tennessee to beat Georgia, the Vols will have to slow Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.

It is as simple as that. Right! These guys are as good as it gets in the SEC. Alabama had little problem stopping the tandem, Chubb in particular. But Tennessee does not necessarily have the luxury of the depth along the defensive front and linebackers that Alabama has. We will see that in two weeks as well.

The Vols are built to stop the spread defensively. They are not equipped to stop the I formation, pound it right at you style. That was made more evident by the Arkansas Razorbacks last Saturday. The Hogs limited the Vols to just four offensive possessions in the second half. Four.

Arkansas pounded the middle of the Vols defensive line time and time again with their huge offensive line and huge backs. The young guns, Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle, battled hard and played well. But the backs of Arkansas would just bounce the run outside time after time after time. And no one was there to stop them.

The Vols are weak at Middle Linebacker. We knew that going in. We went from having one of the best last season in AJ Johnson, to Darrin Kirkland, Jr who was playing on the high school fields this time last season. Kirkland is going to be good, but that is a lot to ask of a freshman. Colton Jumper has not played well, and for some reason I have seen Kenny Bynum line up everywhere but middle linebacker.

This is a position of need for the Vols, It will again be important this week. It was apparent that Vol Defensive Coordinator John Jancek was trying to help out the position last Saturday buy bunching his bigs toward the center of the Arkansas line. Again, they just bounced it outside.

That was probably what Jancek wanted, but the run support was weak from the defensive backs. I mean it was non existent. That can not happen this week.

Brian Randolph will have to play the best game of his career on Saturday. The Vols will have to play their base 4-3. Tennessee would prefer to play the nickel package with 5 defensive backs, but Chubb and Michel would run up and down Kingston Pike like a frat boy buying a case of Nati light.

Jalen Reeves Maybin will have a huge day. He will have to have twenty plus tackles to help this young defense. This time the ends will have to contain. The Georgia quarterbacks do not put fear in you with their passing game. They have both been inaccurate, and inconsistent in moving their team through the air. They were miserable at Vanderbilt, and miserable at Alabama. Please let them be miserable in Knoxville as well. That could help keep things interesting.

Tennessee will have to have some help from Georgia in order to win this one. They will have to force some Bulldog turnovers to stay in this one. They will have ot bend but not break on the day. A field goal would be a win for the Vols defensively.

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On offense the Vols can make some hay. Georgia is not great. They have good players all around, but not great players. The Vols running game is more than capable of putting up numbers on this hunker down defense. But here is the problem with the Vols offense. In order to be effective in this zone read, the Vols will have to rely on Joshua Dobbs to keep the ball as many times as he did at Florida in order to take the heat off of Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara.

That takes a toll on the Vol quarterback in the passing game. And the Vols are going to have to find a rhythm there somehow. It is crucial to get the ball downfield some. I mean completions downfield. Not just the obligatory overthrow deep to show that we will throw deep. That does not work at the Collegiate level.

No, Tennessee will have to get the ball in the receivers hands to get the Georgia defensive backs out of run support. It will be a long day if we allow their corners to roll up on our wideouts without fear that we are going to throw it to them.

The Vols will also have to do a better job of making Georgia defend the entire field in the passing game. Too many times this season has Tennessee relegated itself to just 1/3 of the field. Anyone can cover 1/3 of the field. The Vols have one of the best weapons in the SEC in Ethan Wolfe. Get him the ball in the middle of the field. It will be mandatory.

Bottom line is Tennessee is capable o winning this game. They are also capable of getting run out of their own stadium. It has been a tough week in Knoxville. We have learned that Pig Howard will miss this game and possibly the rest o the season with some sort of off the field transgression. That is just piling on at this point.

It is time for something to happen good in Knoxville. For Tennessee that is. Not for the opposing team as we have seen all to often lately.

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