Led by Pearce, Vol defensive line creating quarterback havoc

When North Carolina defensive end James Pearce surprised many by signing with the Vols in the early signing period in December of 2021, Tennessee was elated and other suitors stunned and disappointed. 

Five games into his sophomore season, Tennessee fans are seeing, along with the college football world at large, why there was great joy when Pearce inked with the Big Orange. 

After a freshman season that saw Pearce play special teams and some mop up duty while recording five tackles which included two sacks, the 6-foot-4 250 pound Pearce has made a name for himself in 2023. Pearce started the season off with two sacks against Virginia and had fans marveling at his speed. 

Saturday night in the Vols 41-20 win over South Carolina, Pearce had many in college football buzzing as he was simply dominant at times part of a defense that sacked Spencer Rattler six times.

“I didn’t see his stats. Just, every time I looked up, I felt like he was affecting the way their quarterback was playing in the pocket,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said postgame Saturday night. “Just relentless. Playing with length, fundamentally continuing to get better, grown as a person outside of the game, which has allowed him to quickly accelerate inside of the game. Playing really well right now. His best football is still a long ways out in front of him, too, which is a real compliment. And he’s playing really well right now.” 

According the Pro Football Focus, the stats were three sacks and six other quarterback pressures. For his play, Pearce was named the SEC’s defensive player of the week. 

Physical gifts, length, speed, athleticism, ability to jump the football,” Heupel said of what makes Pearce such a gifted pass rusher. “Fundamentally he’s grown so much in, in year two, understanding the pocket, and the drop point for the quarterback. How do I press an edge on the tackle? But then also when he is over setting, being able to have a counter move where he is coming inside, but he’s playing great with his hands, he’s got really fast hands, which allows you to win on tackles and the understanding of what we’re doing defensively too, across the board, up front where you’re able to set your games up.” 

Saturday night Pearce had all of his moves going. His outside rush, his inside moves, his physicality with his hands all played a part in his success and ultimately Tennessee’s defensive success which included a key pick-six by Kamal Hadden that Pearce created.

“It all starts with my get off,” Pearce said. “Once I get it going, they have no choice but to come out there or sit down inside. They have to make a choice and I just have to read and react off of it.” 

Pearce’s emergence has been a part of the entire defensive line’s growth. Tyler Baron is playing his best football. The defensive interior is pushing the pocket. Saturday night, Tennessee’s defensive line generated six sacks and nearly 20 pressures. A four man pass rush has been the focal point defensively since last season. And that rush is showing up as the defensive line has 18 of the Vols 22 sacks. 

“One of the things that we’ve talked about all off season is being able to be better with a four man rush,” Heupel said. “Not always having to bring pressure to make teams uncomfortable with the quarterback in the pocket. We absolutely have been able to do that. And so what that does is it allows you to not be in three deep coverages. When you’re in three deep there’s more holes in it. If you’re not getting home quickly against the quarterback, it allows you to play more match man principles, not always in one high safety. 

“So the combination of all those things together has taken not some of the stress, but allowed us to play differently on the back end too. And so it, when I talk about all 11 playing together, that’s a part of it and a product of it. 

“A guy like Pearce that we recruited that wasn’t a mid-year high school enrollee that got here in June of a year ago his growth, his acceleration after his first fall here, you can see what a difference a guy like him is making. But we have a lot of young guys that are making a difference. Tyler Baron is playing his best football the other night. Joshua Josephs gets in there and he’s creating havoc off the edge as well. All of those things are playing off of each other in a better way where coach (Tim) Banks has more flexibility in what he’s doing on the back end.”

The post Led by Pearce, Vol defensive line creating quarterback havoc appeared first on On3.