Last week, I previewed a new weekly piece where I’ll riff on 10 quick thoughts I think I think heading into Saturday’s game.
10 Things I Think I Think in Week 2…
1. Jarrett Guarantano threw just two passes north of 20 yards in the air against West Virginia last Saturday, both of which fell incomplete. That number should at least double vs. ETSU. The Vols must push the ball vertically to generate explosive plays, and the Bucs allowed 249 passing yards to Mars Hill a week ago. Saturday is a perfect opportunity for Guarantano to register his first-career 300-yard passing performance. Even if the redshirt sophomore doesn’t hit that benchmark, tomorrow should be a banner game for Tennessee’s passing offense.
2. I expect Tennessee’s offensive line to start (L-R) Trey Smith, Jahmir Johnson, Ryan Johnson, Jerome Carvin and Drew Richmond … But the Vols will experiment with lots of different combinations against ETSU. Jahmir Johnson, who graded out as the second-best lineman vs. WVU, could see snaps at right tackle, while Riley Locklear and K’Rojhn Calbert will get reps at guard after neither player saw a single snap in the opener. Which leads me to …
3. The next two weeks are huge for Calbert’s development, IMO. The staff is very high on his potential and physicality. But the 6-foot-5, 326-pound redshirt freshman hasn’t played much football in the last four years. He’s still very raw, especially when it comes to picking up the game mentally. Yes, Tennessee will pummel both ETSU and UTEP, but these tuneup games could be critical for Calbert’s development if the staff truly believes he will help the team later this season. Brandon Kennedy’s injury has opened up an opportunity for several players — with Calbert or Carvin having the most upside of any options. But Calbert needs to play. If he doesn’t get a lot of burn over the next two weeks, it’s hard to see him suddenly contributing against Georgia, Auburn or Alabama.
4. Michigan State grad transfer Madre London played six snaps in the opener and received five carries for 12 yards. He had a long run of nine yards and then went backwards twice and had two other carries for two yards apiece. London is certainly a veteran presence in a young backfield, but freshman Jeremy Banks’ time is coming. Probably sooner than later. The Memphis native has a much more complete skill-set and should see a bunch of carries Saturday as he beings to leapfrog London on the depth chart.
5. Last week, Mars Hill registered three sacks and three additional hurries against ETSU. If Tennessee can’t equal those numbers (counting hits, hurries or sacks) tomorrow then the alarms on its pass rush problems will reach foghorn levels.
6. I outlined the garish stats from Tennessee’s secondary in the Beyond the Boxscore piece yesterday, so I won’t rehash them here. But I will reiterate that both Shawn Shamburger and Theo Jackson deserve — and likely will receive — a long took tomorrow. Shamburger has battled inconsistencies and poor practice habits, but he’s had a strong week of work the last few days and appears to in line to get plenty of snaps at the nickel — including real run with the 1s. After not playing a single defensive snap in Week 1, that’s big a development. As for Jackson, he played 14 snaps on defense against WVU, but that number should double tomorrow, too.
7. Another defensive backup in line for an added workload is Emmitt Gooden. The JUCO transfer has as much upside as any lineman in the interior and is pushing Shy Tuttle, Alexis Johnson and Kyle Phillips for snaps. The bonus with Gooden is his versatility. He can play the nose or slide over as 3 or 5-technique.
8. We discussed it on the podcast, but two starters who need bounce back games are Nigel Warrior and Daniel Bituli. Both had openers they’d like to forget. I will be curious how Tennessee rotates its inside linebackers tomorrow, as neither Bituli, Darrin Kirkland Jr. or Quart’e Sapp graded out well vs. WVU. Does Will Ignont get a look at all?
9. Tennessee’s special teams were mostly solid against WVU, but one area to watch the next two weeks is kickoffs. Freshman Paxton Brooks held the duties in Week 1, but the punter had just a single touchdown on three attempts. Brooks’ average hangtime (3.44 seconds) ranked No. 167 among all kickers, per PFF. Hangtime isn’t an issue if you’re booming it through the end zone, but Tennessee allowed a 32-yard return on one short kick. Brooks has a nice leg and handled kickoffs throughout high school, so we’ll see if he hangs onto the job or if starting placekicker Brent Cimaglia gets a look since the Vols will face dynamic kick returners on UGA, AU, Alabama and South Carolina.
10. Lastly, I noted in my pick that Tennessee hadn’t scored more than 45 points in 16 games, and while I tabbed the Vols to just eclipse that number, I thought about picking them to hang more than half a hundred Saturday. But then I remembered that Jeremy Pruitt, taking after his mentor Nick Saban, will likely pull back the reins in the second half and take it easy on his former friend and colleague Randy Sanders.
Enjoy the game everyone.
10 Things I Think I Think in Week 2…
1. Jarrett Guarantano threw just two passes north of 20 yards in the air against West Virginia last Saturday, both of which fell incomplete. That number should at least double vs. ETSU. The Vols must push the ball vertically to generate explosive plays, and the Bucs allowed 249 passing yards to Mars Hill a week ago. Saturday is a perfect opportunity for Guarantano to register his first-career 300-yard passing performance. Even if the redshirt sophomore doesn’t hit that benchmark, tomorrow should be a banner game for Tennessee’s passing offense.
2. I expect Tennessee’s offensive line to start (L-R) Trey Smith, Jahmir Johnson, Ryan Johnson, Jerome Carvin and Drew Richmond … But the Vols will experiment with lots of different combinations against ETSU. Jahmir Johnson, who graded out as the second-best lineman vs. WVU, could see snaps at right tackle, while Riley Locklear and K’Rojhn Calbert will get reps at guard after neither player saw a single snap in the opener. Which leads me to …
3. The next two weeks are huge for Calbert’s development, IMO. The staff is very high on his potential and physicality. But the 6-foot-5, 326-pound redshirt freshman hasn’t played much football in the last four years. He’s still very raw, especially when it comes to picking up the game mentally. Yes, Tennessee will pummel both ETSU and UTEP, but these tuneup games could be critical for Calbert’s development if the staff truly believes he will help the team later this season. Brandon Kennedy’s injury has opened up an opportunity for several players — with Calbert or Carvin having the most upside of any options. But Calbert needs to play. If he doesn’t get a lot of burn over the next two weeks, it’s hard to see him suddenly contributing against Georgia, Auburn or Alabama.
4. Michigan State grad transfer Madre London played six snaps in the opener and received five carries for 12 yards. He had a long run of nine yards and then went backwards twice and had two other carries for two yards apiece. London is certainly a veteran presence in a young backfield, but freshman Jeremy Banks’ time is coming. Probably sooner than later. The Memphis native has a much more complete skill-set and should see a bunch of carries Saturday as he beings to leapfrog London on the depth chart.
5. Last week, Mars Hill registered three sacks and three additional hurries against ETSU. If Tennessee can’t equal those numbers (counting hits, hurries or sacks) tomorrow then the alarms on its pass rush problems will reach foghorn levels.
6. I outlined the garish stats from Tennessee’s secondary in the Beyond the Boxscore piece yesterday, so I won’t rehash them here. But I will reiterate that both Shawn Shamburger and Theo Jackson deserve — and likely will receive — a long took tomorrow. Shamburger has battled inconsistencies and poor practice habits, but he’s had a strong week of work the last few days and appears to in line to get plenty of snaps at the nickel — including real run with the 1s. After not playing a single defensive snap in Week 1, that’s big a development. As for Jackson, he played 14 snaps on defense against WVU, but that number should double tomorrow, too.
7. Another defensive backup in line for an added workload is Emmitt Gooden. The JUCO transfer has as much upside as any lineman in the interior and is pushing Shy Tuttle, Alexis Johnson and Kyle Phillips for snaps. The bonus with Gooden is his versatility. He can play the nose or slide over as 3 or 5-technique.
8. We discussed it on the podcast, but two starters who need bounce back games are Nigel Warrior and Daniel Bituli. Both had openers they’d like to forget. I will be curious how Tennessee rotates its inside linebackers tomorrow, as neither Bituli, Darrin Kirkland Jr. or Quart’e Sapp graded out well vs. WVU. Does Will Ignont get a look at all?
9. Tennessee’s special teams were mostly solid against WVU, but one area to watch the next two weeks is kickoffs. Freshman Paxton Brooks held the duties in Week 1, but the punter had just a single touchdown on three attempts. Brooks’ average hangtime (3.44 seconds) ranked No. 167 among all kickers, per PFF. Hangtime isn’t an issue if you’re booming it through the end zone, but Tennessee allowed a 32-yard return on one short kick. Brooks has a nice leg and handled kickoffs throughout high school, so we’ll see if he hangs onto the job or if starting placekicker Brent Cimaglia gets a look since the Vols will face dynamic kick returners on UGA, AU, Alabama and South Carolina.
10. Lastly, I noted in my pick that Tennessee hadn’t scored more than 45 points in 16 games, and while I tabbed the Vols to just eclipse that number, I thought about picking them to hang more than half a hundred Saturday. But then I remembered that Jeremy Pruitt, taking after his mentor Nick Saban, will likely pull back the reins in the second half and take it easy on his former friend and colleague Randy Sanders.
Enjoy the game everyone.
