Tennessee looks to find the win column as they travel to the mid-state to take on the winless Vanderbilt Commodores. We empty the notebook on a loud week in the Vanderbilt installment of 10 Things I think I think.
2. Vanderbilt has real issues — The Commodores just aren’t in a good place. They have an interim coach and very limited roster numbers wise and a team that doesn’t appear to really want to play. Missouri manhandled them two weeks ago with 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. Tennessee’s plenty frustrated and I would expect them to take out the frustration on Saturday.
3. Vol offense will have explosives — Two weeks ago Missouri had 8 plays of 20+ yards. Now Missouri’s offense has gotten better as we saw against Arkansas last week, but Vanderbilt has had trouble stopping people and they have issues stopping the ball in open space. Tennessee actually should have learned last week that Velus Jones can run by people and get open. He’s more than a jet sweep athlete. Look for him to get more targets after getting 8 a week ago. Jones had 6 targets in the South Carolina game then for 6 games (Missouri-Auburn) they tried to get him the ball a whooping 9 times. I have no clue why he couldn’t be a part of the offense, but I think they might have realized last week that he could be
J.T. Shrout looked like he could get the ball down the field. Vol fans would love to see it. Vols fans would love a repeat of Memphis 2010 when Dooley and Chaney made the switch from Matt Simms to Tyler Bray. After scoring just 62 points the four previous weeks, Tennessee put up 50 on the Tigers as Bray threw 5 TD’s. The Vol have scored 66 points the last four games in 2020. Chaney might just drop back and sling it like he did that night in the Bluff City. Both Harrison Bailey and Shrout will play. Does Tennessee start to find their guy at quarterback this week?
4. Streaking — Again, stop thinking about BigCat’s Wednesday post. On second thought don’t because this streak is another head scratcher. Jim Chaney is perfect on the year to start the second half. Chaney is 8 for 8 with eight tailback off-tackle runs to start his first possession of the second half. On those 8 runs the Vols have 1 yard or less on 5 of them.
And if you are wondering, to open the game Chaney has thrown it on first down twice in 8 games.
Vandy might want to play run on first snap of each half.
5. Vanderbilt will struggle to run it — Florida couldn’t run it last week. I know they didn’t try very hard, but on their 11 tailback runs they netted 8 yards.
Vanderbilt in their last two games has averaged just 2.6 yards a rush. Tennessee’s front seven is playing the run better and their inside linebackers are much better moving forward than in open space. I will be surprised if Vanderbilt can line up and run right at the Vols. Vanderbilt might want to try a jet sweep or a reverse, both have plagued the Vol defense this season.
- Vols will show — For weeks there’s been so many questions about locker room divides, about whether or not guys want to play. Yes, Tennessee had an opt out this week, but you can’t watch Tennessee during this losing streak and say this team hasn’t played hard (with the exception of the second half of the Kentucky game). This team and yes Jeremy Pruitt deserve credit for the program not just mailing it in. There’s competitiveness on this roster and it shows. Now that doesn’t mean there’s not displeasure and unrest. That doesn’t mean there’s not major concerns and decisions to be made about things moving forward. But these players deserve credit for not mailing it in. They play hard. They may not play well or smart, but they show up.
2. Vanderbilt has real issues — The Commodores just aren’t in a good place. They have an interim coach and very limited roster numbers wise and a team that doesn’t appear to really want to play. Missouri manhandled them two weeks ago with 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. Tennessee’s plenty frustrated and I would expect them to take out the frustration on Saturday.
3. Vol offense will have explosives — Two weeks ago Missouri had 8 plays of 20+ yards. Now Missouri’s offense has gotten better as we saw against Arkansas last week, but Vanderbilt has had trouble stopping people and they have issues stopping the ball in open space. Tennessee actually should have learned last week that Velus Jones can run by people and get open. He’s more than a jet sweep athlete. Look for him to get more targets after getting 8 a week ago. Jones had 6 targets in the South Carolina game then for 6 games (Missouri-Auburn) they tried to get him the ball a whooping 9 times. I have no clue why he couldn’t be a part of the offense, but I think they might have realized last week that he could be
J.T. Shrout looked like he could get the ball down the field. Vol fans would love to see it. Vols fans would love a repeat of Memphis 2010 when Dooley and Chaney made the switch from Matt Simms to Tyler Bray. After scoring just 62 points the four previous weeks, Tennessee put up 50 on the Tigers as Bray threw 5 TD’s. The Vol have scored 66 points the last four games in 2020. Chaney might just drop back and sling it like he did that night in the Bluff City. Both Harrison Bailey and Shrout will play. Does Tennessee start to find their guy at quarterback this week?
4. Streaking — Again, stop thinking about BigCat’s Wednesday post. On second thought don’t because this streak is another head scratcher. Jim Chaney is perfect on the year to start the second half. Chaney is 8 for 8 with eight tailback off-tackle runs to start his first possession of the second half. On those 8 runs the Vols have 1 yard or less on 5 of them.
And if you are wondering, to open the game Chaney has thrown it on first down twice in 8 games.
Vandy might want to play run on first snap of each half.
5. Vanderbilt will struggle to run it — Florida couldn’t run it last week. I know they didn’t try very hard, but on their 11 tailback runs they netted 8 yards.
Vanderbilt in their last two games has averaged just 2.6 yards a rush. Tennessee’s front seven is playing the run better and their inside linebackers are much better moving forward than in open space. I will be surprised if Vanderbilt can line up and run right at the Vols. Vanderbilt might want to try a jet sweep or a reverse, both have plagued the Vol defense this season.
