Week 2 Preview: Tennessee Volunteers vs. ETSU Buccaneers
By Kyle Schmidt
After a loss in week one, the Volunteers are looking to bounce back against Buccaneers of nearby ETSU. The Buccaneers are looking to upset the Volunteers after winning big in their opener.
Typically, there is not a whole of interest when a power-five team is playing an FCS school; however, the matchup between the Volunteers and Buccaneers is a little different because of who their head coach is.
Randy Sanders was a player at Tennessee from 1984-1988, and then was a coach from 1989-2005. Sanders accepted the job at ETSU earlier this year and has the Buccaneers off to a 1-0 start.
ETSU started the season against the Mountain Lions of Mars Hill. The Mountain Lions went into the second quarter winning 7-0 but it was all Buccaneers from that point on. ETSU scored 28 unanswered points, winning the game 28-7.
The Volunteers are coming into this game with a 0-1 record, as they lost this past Saturday to a West Virginia team led by Heisman hopeful Will Grier.
The Volunteers have a lot to work on this week during practice, especially with the secondary and the offensive line. Although they have a lot of work to do, the Volunteers should come out of this game with their first win of the year.
Despite the season-opening loss, Neyland Stadium will still be loud, considering it will be the Volunteers first game of the year and Jeremy Pruitt’s first game at home.
Offense
The Buccaneers offense was led by quarterback Logan Marchi. Marchi went 17-29 for 273 yards and 3 touchdowns. Marchi and company also had some help on the ground. The running backs combined for a total of 238 yards on the ground and one touchdown.
The leader on the ground was running back Quay Holmes, who carried the ball 17 times for a total of 118 yards and added a touchdown. Other contributors to the rushing attack were Jacob Saylors (9 car/70yds), Matt Thompson (4 car/39yds), and Logan Marchi (5 car/11yds). In total, ETSU gained 511 yards of total offense.
The Volunteers will need to keep an eye out for WR Quan Harrison, who ended up with five receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown.
Defense
After giving up seven points early, the Buccaneers defense was very stingy, giving up 249 yards through the air, while only allowing 16 total yards on the ground. The Buccaneers defense also forced four fumbles (recovered 2) and four sacks for a loss of 27 yards. The stars of the defensive unit were linebacker Dylan Weigel and defensive back Jeremy Lewis, who had 10 tackles apiece and a combined two tackles for loss.
Despite the Bucs only allowing 16 yards on the ground, I’m sure the Volunteers will still look to dominate the run game. Tim Jordan, who had a career day last Saturday, will look to build off that game and get another 100-yard performance.
What to Expect
If ETSU expects to upset the Volunteers, they will have to play mistake-free football. As good as their offense was Saturday, they still gave up three fumbles. They will not be able to afford to make those kinds of mistakes when they head to Neyland Stadium.
On the other side of this matchup, Tennessee can ill afford to look past ETSU and expect them to roll over for them. The Volunteers will have to put their loss to West Virginia behind them quickly if they want to get themselves on the winning track this season.