It's Friday afternoon and that means it's time to empty the notebook in another edition of 10 things I think I think.
2. Win the money down — I have been talking about it for two weeks. Tennessee’s defense has to get off the field on third down. They have given up 18 3rd down conversions the last two games where the yard to gain was 7+ yards. That has to stop. Tennessee can’t let Will Levis scramble for first downs like they have let Kenny Pickett, Emory Jones, Matt Corral and Bryce Young. Tim Banks unit has to get off the field, plain and simple.
“Yeah, that’s important,” Banks said. “Some of the things we’re obviously looking at from week to week, but there are a number of things. Continuing to put pressure on the quarterback, obviously covering better, everything goes hand in hand. I think it’s too much of a global issue that we have to make sure we are handling. I don’t think we can pinpoint one particular group or one particular scheme, I just think we have to do a better job of understanding how many yards they need and don’t let them get it. It’s simple as that, but we’re definitely working towards trying to get that done.”
In terms of a running quarterback, Kentucky hasn’t run Levis much this season, but Banks knows it might be coming.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Banks said. “Typically, if you struggle with anything on tape, the offense the following week finds a way to put it in their scheme. We’re aware of it, and like I said, I know he (Will Levis) can run it. They haven’t run him a ton all year, but he has scrambled and made some guys miss, and guys have fell off of him. Our guys are very aware of how strong he is and that he can run. We’ve worked very hard during the bye week and this week to try to sure up some things, but obviously we have to do it in a game.”
3. No freebies —
Tennessee has to be pretty stingy. Kentucky struggles to drive the ball the length of the field so defensively limit chunk plays. The Wildcats have 16 offensive plays of 30+ yards. By comparison, the Vol offense has 21. Defensively, Tennessee has give up 14 plays of 30+ yards and 4 of them have come the last two games.
The Wildcats have a punt return for a touchdown and a blocked field goal for a touchdown and an interception return for a score. In total the Wildcats have scored 8 touchdowns of 30+ yards. Tennessee simply can’t give Kentucky cheap scores in any phase of the game.
4. Kentucky hasn’t seen tempo — OC Alex Golesh said when teams start faking injuries on defense then he knows his offense has them where he wants them. Kentucky hasn’t been faking any injuries and they also haven’t faced any tempo this season.
Opponents are averaging 65 snaps a game against Mark Stoops’ team. The Vols average 73 snaps a game and in their 4 wins they have averaged right at 80 snaps a game. If the Vols can get their first first down and get in a rhythm then tempo could certainly be a factor Saturday night. Offensively, the Wildcats will play slow. They average 61 snaps a game and have only had 70+ offensive snaps in one game this season.
5. Middle of the field must be better defensively — Alabama more than any opponent this year attacked Tennessee in the middle of the field. Bryce Young according to PFF stats was 22 of 29 for 285 yards in the middle of the field. Young threw for 371 total and only had 9 completions outside the hash marks.
On the year power 5 quarterbacks are completing 72% of their throws across the middle against Banks’ defense. They are 98 of 136 for 1,093 yards 4 td’s and 2 int’s over the middle.
Coverage has been a struggle for the linebackers and the safeties in the middle of the field. Can they defend it better this week? Will Kentucky attack the middle with crossing routes the same way others have?
- Stress Kentucky offensively —
And that’s on the Vol offense to accomplish. The fact is that Kentucky isn’t a high scoring offensive attack. They don’t want a track meet. The ‘Cats are 12th in the SEC in total offense ahead of Vanderbilt and South Carolina at 366 yards a game. They are 12th in scoring at 27 points per game. They only average 191 yards passing a game and they have only scored more than 28 points three times this season and two of those were the first two games of the season where there was no book on the Kentucky offense.
2. Win the money down — I have been talking about it for two weeks. Tennessee’s defense has to get off the field on third down. They have given up 18 3rd down conversions the last two games where the yard to gain was 7+ yards. That has to stop. Tennessee can’t let Will Levis scramble for first downs like they have let Kenny Pickett, Emory Jones, Matt Corral and Bryce Young. Tim Banks unit has to get off the field, plain and simple.
“Yeah, that’s important,” Banks said. “Some of the things we’re obviously looking at from week to week, but there are a number of things. Continuing to put pressure on the quarterback, obviously covering better, everything goes hand in hand. I think it’s too much of a global issue that we have to make sure we are handling. I don’t think we can pinpoint one particular group or one particular scheme, I just think we have to do a better job of understanding how many yards they need and don’t let them get it. It’s simple as that, but we’re definitely working towards trying to get that done.”
In terms of a running quarterback, Kentucky hasn’t run Levis much this season, but Banks knows it might be coming.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Banks said. “Typically, if you struggle with anything on tape, the offense the following week finds a way to put it in their scheme. We’re aware of it, and like I said, I know he (Will Levis) can run it. They haven’t run him a ton all year, but he has scrambled and made some guys miss, and guys have fell off of him. Our guys are very aware of how strong he is and that he can run. We’ve worked very hard during the bye week and this week to try to sure up some things, but obviously we have to do it in a game.”
3. No freebies —
Tennessee has to be pretty stingy. Kentucky struggles to drive the ball the length of the field so defensively limit chunk plays. The Wildcats have 16 offensive plays of 30+ yards. By comparison, the Vol offense has 21. Defensively, Tennessee has give up 14 plays of 30+ yards and 4 of them have come the last two games.
The Wildcats have a punt return for a touchdown and a blocked field goal for a touchdown and an interception return for a score. In total the Wildcats have scored 8 touchdowns of 30+ yards. Tennessee simply can’t give Kentucky cheap scores in any phase of the game.
4. Kentucky hasn’t seen tempo — OC Alex Golesh said when teams start faking injuries on defense then he knows his offense has them where he wants them. Kentucky hasn’t been faking any injuries and they also haven’t faced any tempo this season.
Opponents are averaging 65 snaps a game against Mark Stoops’ team. The Vols average 73 snaps a game and in their 4 wins they have averaged right at 80 snaps a game. If the Vols can get their first first down and get in a rhythm then tempo could certainly be a factor Saturday night. Offensively, the Wildcats will play slow. They average 61 snaps a game and have only had 70+ offensive snaps in one game this season.
5. Middle of the field must be better defensively — Alabama more than any opponent this year attacked Tennessee in the middle of the field. Bryce Young according to PFF stats was 22 of 29 for 285 yards in the middle of the field. Young threw for 371 total and only had 9 completions outside the hash marks.
On the year power 5 quarterbacks are completing 72% of their throws across the middle against Banks’ defense. They are 98 of 136 for 1,093 yards 4 td’s and 2 int’s over the middle.
Coverage has been a struggle for the linebackers and the safeties in the middle of the field. Can they defend it better this week? Will Kentucky attack the middle with crossing routes the same way others have?
