Tennessee spring game — The Day After
Tennessee wrapped up spring practice with the orange and white game on a sun soaked Saturday in Neyland Stadium as the orange beat the white 21-14. The score is obviously irrelevant but we look back on the spring scrimmage and the last month with The Day After.
Hot and Not
HOT
The defensive front — Defensive coordinator Tim Banks called them the best in the country early in the spring. Deep and grown men, they set the tone in every scrimmage this spring. Saturday was no different as the first quarter featured no scoring and the first team offense didn’t make a first down. I don’t know if the defensive front is the best in the country, but no one is deeper than Rodney Garner’s unit and it’s hard to imagine anyone has more experience.
The newbies at receiver — Tennessee’s competition at receiver is legit thanks to the arrival of three newcomers. Braylon Staley didn’t participate in the spring game, but had a solid spring. Mike Matthews showed up in every scrimmage and Saturday was no different as Matthews made a great adjustment on deep shot from Gaston Moore for a 63 yard touchdown. Tulane transfer Chris Brazzell had 4 catches for 89 yards an a touchdown which was a 71 yard pitch and catch from Jake Merklinger. Tennessee has a lot of depth at receiver and a lot of talent. They played Saturday without two starters in Bru McCoy and Squirrel White. Bottom line Tennessee is going to play more than 3-4 receivers this fall.
The middle of the field —A year ago, Tennessee rarely played football between the hash marks in the passing game. Saturday was quite the opposite as Tennessee threw slants, square ins and some seam stuff as well. The tight ends were involved as they amassed 4 catches and were targeted 6 times. The diversity in the passing game certainly felt different on Saturday with Nico Iamaleava at quarterback.
NOT
Depth in the secondary —Tennessee is more athletic but where are they especially at corner past their top three guys and where are they at safety with a fourth guy?
Depth at tailback — Josh Heupel has an interesting decision to make quickly here at the tailback spot. With Cam Seldon out until mid-September and Peyton Lewis not getting his first college work till August, how comfortable is Heupel with Desean Bishop and Khalifa Keith at their second team tailbacks to start the year? Did they show enough this spring? How quickly do they think they can get Lewis ready? If they were to try to go to the portal what would be the realistic options when you factor in NIL and could you get someone who is a better option than Bishop or Keith to bridge the gap till Seldon returns and Lewis is ready? It is going to be interesting to see what they do over the next month.
Defining moments
Sack starts the day— The defense has set the tone in every scrimmage this spring, according to Heupel. Saturday was no different as James Pearce forced the pressure and Jeremiah Telander cleaned things up with an 8 yard sack to start the day.
Matthews introduces himself to the crowd — Tennessee has plenty of depth at receiver. But freshman Mike Matthews is making himself a part of the depth that’s going to play this fall. Matthews had made a big play in ever scrimmage and he made a big one on Saturday just before the half has he caught a 63 yard pass from Gaston Moore. Matthews did a really nice job with the route, giving himself room along the sideline to adjust and catch the ball over his outside shoulder. Matthews had been getting the attention of everyone since he went through bowl practice and Saturday he got the attention of the fans in Neyland Stadium.
Boo Carter TFL — Much of the talk about Boo Carter has been about the plays he has made in space in the spring and back in bowl practice. It wasn’t a momental play on Saturday, but Carter on 4th and 2 on the second drive of the game stuffed, Kalifa Keith for a 2 yard loss to force the turnover on downs. The nickelback was straight down hill attacking the line of scrimmage showing physicality in the run game.
Omari Thomas tackles Desean Bishop — Tennessee’s running backs didn’t get loose very often on Saturday, but Bishop found a crease and got loose in the middle of the field after a catch out of the backfield. Bishop made a cut to make the safety miss and was tackled from behind by Omari Thomas 28 yards down field. Rodney Garner is always preaching effort and Thomas showed it on that play.
Inside the numbers
7 for 9 for 63 yards and a touchdown — Iamaleava’s numbers on Saturday. The second year players was comfortable all day long. Obviously he wasn’t going to get hit but Iamaleava was certainly in rhythm. He has had a very solid spring and has been in full command of the offense.
9 — Numbers of TFL’s on Saturday with seven of them being sacks. Tennessee’s offensive front is young and have had plenty of growing pain moments this spring as they did on Saturday but since Banks has arrived as the defensive coordinator they have played vertical and in the opponents backfield. Saturday was no different as the defense got sacks and TFL’s from all three levels of the defense.
0 — Number of turnovers by the Vol offense on Saturday. That number won’t please Banks but it will please offensive coordinator Joey Halzle.
50% — Tennessee’s completion percentage on passes of 20+ yards in the air. A year ago one of the biggest frustrations was the inability to consistently stretch the field vertically. Saturday, Tennessee hit two touchdowns of 60+ yards giving everyone hope that the Vols might be closer to the 2022 offense than the 2023 offense.
Biggest question/concern moving forward
Going into spring it was obvious some questions weren’t going to get answered like who the starter would be at left guard. And while that might not be answered, there are certainly multiple candidates and options.
In the secondary, it feels like they are closer to a starting five coming out of spring than anyone expected, but that group of Jermod McCoy, Rickey Gibson, Andre Turrentine, Jakobe Thomas and Jourdan Thomas has been consistent. The other guy has been Boo Carter. It’s going to be hard to keep Carter off the field.
Tennessee answered questions at tight end and they are better at receiver for sure.
However, this team is far from a finished product. Where are they at running back behind Dylan Sampson? Who all do they feel comfortable with playing on the offensive line?
There is plenty to like about the starting 22 on this team. At some positions there’s clearly some depth. At others positions, this is clearly an important summer.
But you certainly leave spring with more to like than dislike about the 2024 Vols.
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