- They want to be here — It may sound like a simple thing, but it’s not always a given. I’ve seen Tennessee teams who have no desire to play in the post season. There are plenty of teams who don’t want to play in bowl games. Frankly that’s why some teams have not had enough guys to play in bowl games.
Vols will show in the Music City which only reinforces what Heupel and his staff have created over the last 11 months.
“I think it’s significant,” Tillman said of taking care of business. “We are taking this game very seriously. I think it’s very important to end the year off the right way.”
2. Finish —
This entire game is about finishing. It’s about finishing drives. It’s about finishing off an opponent. It’s about finishing off the season. Tennessee has exceeded the expectations of most everyone this year. You lose 30+ players from a year ago, enter a new coach, new style, etc. and getting to a bowl game was a really solid first year achievement. Over the last few weeks, the program has gotten good news with the return of Hendon Hooker and Cedric Tillman. They finished well in recruiting. There’s a real positive vibe surrounding everything in Heupel’s program. Tennessee doesn’t need to put any kind of dampener on that by not taking care of business on Thursday in Nashville. That’s not to suggest that Purdue is some terrible team. But their playing roster in the Music City is not what it was in the regular season. As a result, Tennessee must finish this season off the right way. If they do they might finish the season ranked.
3. Make a splash — The numbers are almost playstation like. Heupel’s offense has 64 offensive snaps of 20+ yards in 2021. They have 19 plays of 40 yards or more and have scored 12 touchdowns on those 19 snaps. To say this offense big plays you to death is a gross understatement. It’s their DNA. It’s what they are all about. Can they get the offense going at warp speed after a month off? If they can they look for big plays. Purdue is without their best pass rusher and they haven’t played a true tempo team all season. You can bet they will see a switch route early and a Javonta Payton deep shot early. Milton Mackey has 3 picks for Purdue this season, but the 5th year senior is out for this game. Vols will attack early and often.
4. Vols hit 100 — I was wrong about this in the Vanderbilt game, but I doubling down on this for the Music City Bowl. The school record for TFL’s is 100 set in 2016. Tim Banks’ squad sits at 94. Tennessee will get to 100 on Thursday. Purdue’s left tackle Greg Long is not expected to play on Thursday. Long has played in every game this year and has been a staple for them the last three years on the offensive line. Purdue struggles to run the ball and will throw it a lot.
Byron Young has continued to get better and better. Tyler Baron is as healthy as he’s been the last two months and I expect he will play more than he has been playing. I also expect Tim Banks to bring pressure. It’s the identity of this defense. Play on edges, shoot gaps, run blitz and bring extra bodies on passing downs.
5. Tennessee needs to be better in the second quarter — The numbers in the second quarter are honestly just strange for this team. After being dominant in the first quarter, the Vols have been outscored 127-109 in the second quarter. They have been terrible on third downs. Offensively in the second quarter they have converted only 28% of their third downs while the defense has given up 48%. Offensively, Tennessee has 5 games where they have failed to convert a third down in the second stanza. It’s only happened 7 times in the other three quarters combined.
Maybe it’s defenses catching up to the offensive tempo. Maybe it’s defenses playing better on early downs. Whatever it is, Tennessee hasn’t been very good in the second quarter all year.
