- Communicate —
Yes, there will be some let down in intensity this weekend for the Gator fans after last week’s game with Alabama. Tennessee doesn’t appear to be a threat and last weekend was exhausting. But it’s a night game and it will be loud enough. Tennessee has worked with crowd noise all week, but this will be different for Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton if he plays.
Alabama admittedly had trouble communicating at times.
“The center had a tough time hearing a couple of times and we snapped the ball late and got some penalties,” Nick Saban said.
Tennessee has to be able to communicate and has to have some offensive poise. The Vol offensive line has 6 pre-snap penalties on the year and they haven’t been on the road yet. Communication will be a challenge and will be a key Saturday night.
2. Protect the edge —
It’s no secret how much Florida likes to run the football. In three games, the Gators have 1007 yards rushing. Florida’s top two leading rushers are their quarterbacks. Starter Emory Jones also leads the team in carries with 42. Jones will run it up the middle on designed runs, he will go outside on designed runs and certainly likes to scramble.
One of the keys for Tim Banks’ defense is the ability to keep Jones in the pocket and not lose contain on the edge.
Against Pittsburgh the Vols loss contain on two key 3rd and 10 plays in the first half including one on the last drive that cost Tennessee points. Tennessee has been a solid tackling team including in space. They have to tackle well Saturday night and to do that they most hold up on the edges not allowing the chunk scramble plays by the quarterbacks.
3. Play all four downs —
Florida runs the ball well. The don’t throw it great but because they run it so well, they aren’t afraid to go for it on 4th down. Three times against Alabama, the Gators had third and long. Got it to fourth and manageable and went for it. Willie Martinez had talked since he got back to Tennessee about how the game has changed and you now have to play all four downs noting you better not celebrate a 3rd down stop.
“It’s no longer coaching just to get to 3rd down and get that done. You have to defend four downs. It doesn’t matter where you are at on the field,” Martinez said.
Dan Mullen has never been one who’s afraid to take risk and has rarely hesitated about going for it on fourth and short. He did it three times last week and he has shown he will do it from anywhere on the field.
I mentioned last week how the key word for Tennessee is finish. For the defense this week it’s about finishing a full set of downs.
4. Speed it up —
Josh Heupel wants to play fast. His offense is not playing nearly fast enough for him. In the first quarter against Bowling Green with Cooper Mays at center, the Vols ran 28 plays and finished with 88 in the game. Remember they ran only 6 snaps in the second quarter after Mays got hurt. The last two weeks, the Vols numbers have dropped. They had 66 snaps an average of 16 a quarter against Pitt. Against Tennessee Tech they had 79 snaps an average of 19 a quarter.
So assuming Mays plays this week does the offense go back into warp speed? It appears that’s what Josh Heupel wants. And the key to doing that starts with the center position.
“It’s really the center’s job to push tempo in the offense,” Jerome Carvin, the center the last two weeks said. “I feel I could have pushed the tempo faster. I feel like I could have gotten my guys lined up faster so the outside guys can get lined up and we can rock and roll. I feel like I could do a much better job pushing tempo because we haven’t gotten close to how fast we can play.”
Tempo is obviously a key part of the scheme in this offense. Tennessee wants to speed it up this weekend. Can they is the question.
5. Be special in the kicking game —
Tennessee has been terrific in the kicking game through three games. They have made all their field goals. They have pinned teams deep with a punt. Their kickoff coverage has been terrific. They have a blocked punt. Velus Jones has been good in kickoff return. To this point, the Vols have won the kicking game every week.
Florida hasn’t been elite in the kicking game. Xavier Henderson is averaging 12 yards a punt return. The Gators have given up a 45 yard punt return. The other two returns have gone for 2 yards total.
Florida is averaging 10 yards a kickoff return. They are giving up 19 yards a kickoff return. Based on the stats there appears to be some opportunity to make some plays in the kicking game.
Tennessee needs to continue to win kicking game especially as a double digit underdog.
