Let’s dive into the Week 2 advanced stats, courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
In case you missed last week’s breakdown, each game I’ll comb over the numbers and data and do my best to put it into context.
As a reminder, this is the PFF grading scale (although I won’t ever just list a number without any added explanation or context).
> 50 = Bad
50-60 = Average
70-80 = Above Average
80-84 = Good
85 and up = Very, very good.
With that … the ETSU advanced stats…
***Jordan Murphy technically graded out as Tennessee’s best offensive player Saturday, as the sophomore caught all three targets in just 12 snaps, finishing the game with 75 yards and a touchdown.
Still, redshirt sophomore quarterback Jarrett Guarantano finished the game as the offense’s true top performer, earning a grade of 85.5 from PFF on 35 snaps. Guarantano was really sharp throwing between the numbers against the Bucs, completing 5 of 6 attempts for 86 yards. This was not an area of the field JG excelled completing passes last season.
*** For the second straight week, Guarantano was really productive off play action, too, completing 3 of 5 passes for 114 yards. In two games, Guarantano is 10 of 12 for 175 yards and a touchdown off a play fake, going 17 of 26 for 151 yards on all other drop-backs. For Tennessee’s offense to generate explosive shots, the Vols need to utilize play action as much as possible … which is why it’s so important the offensive line find some traction in the run game.
Of note, three of Guarantano’s four incompletions Saturday were a result of pressure. He had one throw away, one “hit as thrown” and a completion for -2 yards.
*** At tailback, Jeremy Banks easily had the highest grade, per PFF, registering nearly 20 points better than his counterparts Madre London and Tim Jordan. Banks had just a long run of 15 yards, but 50 of his 62 yards came after contact. He also forced five missed tackles.
*** The flip side of those numbers are the continued growing pains along the offense line. Trey Smith, who struggled early, and Jahmir Johnson were the only two lineman to grade out as average in the run game. Freshman Jerome Carvin, who made his first-career start Saturday, continued his almost bizarre reverse LOOGY-esque splits, finishing as the OL’s worst run blocker on Saturday (in 34 snaps) but its best pass blocker. Chance Hall, who played 32 snaps at RG, Ryan Johnson, Marcus Tatum, Riley Locklear and Drew Richmond all graded out poorly as run blockers. The Vols certainly know where their bread is buttered in the ground game, running 24 times behind Smith and Johnson for 135 yards. That’s more than 70 percent of the team’s total success on the ground on half the overall carries.
But while the run blocking was middling, perhaps more concerning was Tennessee’s issues in pass blocking vs. an FCS foe. As I noted in my review piece Sunday, the Vols attempted just 16 throws against ETSU, and they were pressured on half of their attempts. Smith, Tatum and both Johnson’s all had grades under 40.0 in pass pro, with the group combining for seven of the eight pressures. That’s really bad. Those four guys also each played the most snaps up front for Tennessee on Saturday. If the Vols want to reach a bowl game, they have to shore up their pass protection, especially when they start facing conference teams.
*** On the eye test I thought JUCO tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson looked much more physical run blocking yesterday, and the stats bear that out. DWA whiffed once down on the goal line, but otherwise, he was among Tennessee’s top performers sealing the edge. As for the wideouts, the unit combined for zero drops for the second straight week. That’s huge for a group that struggled at times during routes on air in fall camp. Tennessee certainly picked on ETSU corner Karon Delince for both of its big plays. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound sophomore was victimized by Callaway and Palmer on each 51-yard completions.
*** Couple notes on snaps: Latrell Bumphus saw a big uptick this week, nearly playing as much (19 offensive snaps) as Eli Wolf (21). At wideout, Murphy cut into Brandon Johnson’s snaps, while Josh Palmer continues to receive the bulk of playing time over Jauan Jennings. The wideout rotation continues to be very small, especially as the Vols use more max-protection and 12 personnel.
*** Defensively, freshman Bryce Thompson predictably led the way. He finished with the highest overall grade (84.8), aided by an excellent showing in coverage. The 6-foot, 185-pound corner allowed just two receptions on seven targets for a meager six yards. He also had a pick and another PBU.
Both live and rewatching the film, Darrin Kirland Jr. and Micah Aberanthy stood out. That makes sense, per PFF. Both had nice rebounded performances after rough debuts in Week 1. Emmitt Gooden led the team with four “stops” and was Tennessee’s top interior lineman Saturday. Kyle Phillips (three batted balls) and Alexis Johnson (two stops, one batted ball) were quietly solid, too.
*** Among the starters, Baylen Buchanan, Theo Jackson, Shy Tuttle and Nigel Warrior graded out the worst performers for the Vols. Warrior has now allowed six completions on seven targets this season.
*** While Jeremy Pruitt was critical of his second and third-team guys postgame Saturday, two defensive players who didn’t see a snap against WVU performed decently, per PFF. Shanon Reid played 17 snaps and finished second on the team with three stops and a couple solo tackles. Shawn Shamburger saw 32 snaps at STAR and Will Ignont received the most burn of his career (37 snaps). Live, the sophomore didn’t look comfortable moving laterally at times, but the Alabama native certainly received lots of experience.
*** A week after missing 11 tackles, the Vols had just five missed tackles Saturday, with no player having more than one apiece. On the flip side, I noted this in my review piece Sunday, but the pressure stats (or lack there of) remain alarming for the Vols. They finished with just five total pressures and only hit the quarterback one time.
*** Other snap notes: Jordan Allen saw 15 snaps but struggled, especially as a pass rusher. Quart’e Sapp might’ve been battling an injury because the junior played just two snaps early in the game, fewest among any defensive players, and was not seen on the field again. Freshman corner Alontae Taylor didn’t start after a so-so week of practice, but he still saw the second-most snaps on team behind Nigel Warrior and was excellent in pass coverage, allowing zero receptions on five targets. Lastly, Trevon Flowers wasn’t on the field much at all after playing 39 snaps against WVU.
*** As of Monday night, PFF had not graded Tennessee’s special teams, but after Joe Doyle was solid punting, the Vols blocked a punt and Paxton Brooks had just one kickoff returned, suffice it to say the unit probably graded out pretty well. The one area of concern with Tennessee’s special teams is a lack of execution/production on punt returns.
Discuss away.
In case you missed last week’s breakdown, each game I’ll comb over the numbers and data and do my best to put it into context.
As a reminder, this is the PFF grading scale (although I won’t ever just list a number without any added explanation or context).
> 50 = Bad
50-60 = Average
70-80 = Above Average
80-84 = Good
85 and up = Very, very good.
With that … the ETSU advanced stats…
***Jordan Murphy technically graded out as Tennessee’s best offensive player Saturday, as the sophomore caught all three targets in just 12 snaps, finishing the game with 75 yards and a touchdown.
Still, redshirt sophomore quarterback Jarrett Guarantano finished the game as the offense’s true top performer, earning a grade of 85.5 from PFF on 35 snaps. Guarantano was really sharp throwing between the numbers against the Bucs, completing 5 of 6 attempts for 86 yards. This was not an area of the field JG excelled completing passes last season.
*** For the second straight week, Guarantano was really productive off play action, too, completing 3 of 5 passes for 114 yards. In two games, Guarantano is 10 of 12 for 175 yards and a touchdown off a play fake, going 17 of 26 for 151 yards on all other drop-backs. For Tennessee’s offense to generate explosive shots, the Vols need to utilize play action as much as possible … which is why it’s so important the offensive line find some traction in the run game.
Of note, three of Guarantano’s four incompletions Saturday were a result of pressure. He had one throw away, one “hit as thrown” and a completion for -2 yards.
*** At tailback, Jeremy Banks easily had the highest grade, per PFF, registering nearly 20 points better than his counterparts Madre London and Tim Jordan. Banks had just a long run of 15 yards, but 50 of his 62 yards came after contact. He also forced five missed tackles.
*** The flip side of those numbers are the continued growing pains along the offense line. Trey Smith, who struggled early, and Jahmir Johnson were the only two lineman to grade out as average in the run game. Freshman Jerome Carvin, who made his first-career start Saturday, continued his almost bizarre reverse LOOGY-esque splits, finishing as the OL’s worst run blocker on Saturday (in 34 snaps) but its best pass blocker. Chance Hall, who played 32 snaps at RG, Ryan Johnson, Marcus Tatum, Riley Locklear and Drew Richmond all graded out poorly as run blockers. The Vols certainly know where their bread is buttered in the ground game, running 24 times behind Smith and Johnson for 135 yards. That’s more than 70 percent of the team’s total success on the ground on half the overall carries.
But while the run blocking was middling, perhaps more concerning was Tennessee’s issues in pass blocking vs. an FCS foe. As I noted in my review piece Sunday, the Vols attempted just 16 throws against ETSU, and they were pressured on half of their attempts. Smith, Tatum and both Johnson’s all had grades under 40.0 in pass pro, with the group combining for seven of the eight pressures. That’s really bad. Those four guys also each played the most snaps up front for Tennessee on Saturday. If the Vols want to reach a bowl game, they have to shore up their pass protection, especially when they start facing conference teams.
*** On the eye test I thought JUCO tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson looked much more physical run blocking yesterday, and the stats bear that out. DWA whiffed once down on the goal line, but otherwise, he was among Tennessee’s top performers sealing the edge. As for the wideouts, the unit combined for zero drops for the second straight week. That’s huge for a group that struggled at times during routes on air in fall camp. Tennessee certainly picked on ETSU corner Karon Delince for both of its big plays. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound sophomore was victimized by Callaway and Palmer on each 51-yard completions.
*** Couple notes on snaps: Latrell Bumphus saw a big uptick this week, nearly playing as much (19 offensive snaps) as Eli Wolf (21). At wideout, Murphy cut into Brandon Johnson’s snaps, while Josh Palmer continues to receive the bulk of playing time over Jauan Jennings. The wideout rotation continues to be very small, especially as the Vols use more max-protection and 12 personnel.
*** Defensively, freshman Bryce Thompson predictably led the way. He finished with the highest overall grade (84.8), aided by an excellent showing in coverage. The 6-foot, 185-pound corner allowed just two receptions on seven targets for a meager six yards. He also had a pick and another PBU.
Both live and rewatching the film, Darrin Kirland Jr. and Micah Aberanthy stood out. That makes sense, per PFF. Both had nice rebounded performances after rough debuts in Week 1. Emmitt Gooden led the team with four “stops” and was Tennessee’s top interior lineman Saturday. Kyle Phillips (three batted balls) and Alexis Johnson (two stops, one batted ball) were quietly solid, too.
*** Among the starters, Baylen Buchanan, Theo Jackson, Shy Tuttle and Nigel Warrior graded out the worst performers for the Vols. Warrior has now allowed six completions on seven targets this season.
*** While Jeremy Pruitt was critical of his second and third-team guys postgame Saturday, two defensive players who didn’t see a snap against WVU performed decently, per PFF. Shanon Reid played 17 snaps and finished second on the team with three stops and a couple solo tackles. Shawn Shamburger saw 32 snaps at STAR and Will Ignont received the most burn of his career (37 snaps). Live, the sophomore didn’t look comfortable moving laterally at times, but the Alabama native certainly received lots of experience.
*** A week after missing 11 tackles, the Vols had just five missed tackles Saturday, with no player having more than one apiece. On the flip side, I noted this in my review piece Sunday, but the pressure stats (or lack there of) remain alarming for the Vols. They finished with just five total pressures and only hit the quarterback one time.
*** Other snap notes: Jordan Allen saw 15 snaps but struggled, especially as a pass rusher. Quart’e Sapp might’ve been battling an injury because the junior played just two snaps early in the game, fewest among any defensive players, and was not seen on the field again. Freshman corner Alontae Taylor didn’t start after a so-so week of practice, but he still saw the second-most snaps on team behind Nigel Warrior and was excellent in pass coverage, allowing zero receptions on five targets. Lastly, Trevon Flowers wasn’t on the field much at all after playing 39 snaps against WVU.
*** As of Monday night, PFF had not graded Tennessee’s special teams, but after Joe Doyle was solid punting, the Vols blocked a punt and Paxton Brooks had just one kickoff returned, suffice it to say the unit probably graded out pretty well. The one area of concern with Tennessee’s special teams is a lack of execution/production on punt returns.
Discuss away.
