Each week I'll dig deeper than the traditional box score, so let’s dive into Tennessee's Week 7 advanced stats, courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
As a reminder, this is the PFF grading scale.
< 50 = Backup
50-59 = Below average starter
60-69 = Average starter
70-79 = Above average starter
80-89 = Very good
90-99 = Elite
With that … the PFF data Tennessee-Alabama advanced stats…
OFFENSIVE GRADES
Others who were in the rotation included tailback Eric Gray (10 snaps, 61.9 grade), senior wideout Tyler Byrd (57.4 on 11snaps) and redshirt freshman Cedric Tillman (seven snaps).
Deep reserves who saw limited time included Jerrod Means (one snap), Jacob Warren (one snap) and Andrew Craig (three snaps).
K’Rojhn Calbert (at tight end) and Quavaris Crouch both played two snaps on the ill-fated red zone trip.
Notably, Ryan Johnson did not play at all Saturday. The Vols’ starting offensive line played all 69 snaps together.
Off the jump, I’ll say that a few of these grades don’t make much sense to me. Tennessee scored just 13 points, but the Vols did not have just a single offensive lineman who graded out as simply average, in my opinion. I thought Kennedy and Carvin both were solid. Wright and Morris got dinged hard for a combined six penalties, which I understand. Wright also allowed the only two sacks on the night, while Morris was tagged for three pressure (two quarterback hurries). Notably, Tennessee’s starting offensive line played all 69 snaps together on Saturday — the first time that’s happened in a game this season.
Elsewhere, the tight ends grading out poorly did not surprise me. Despite some success in the running game, neither Pope or Wood-Anderson were very effective sealing the edge.
Of the 69 offensive snaps, Jordan got the lion’s share of work at tailback, playing 44 snaps. Jordan averaged 5.5 yards per attempt, had the 33 yard run, converted five first downs and rushed for 63 of his 94 yards after contact.
Jarrett Guarantano finished the game just 7 of 16 for 55 yards (3.4 yards per attempt). I noted in the review piece the missed touchdown to Jennings and not seeing Jordan on the wheel route, and for the game, the redshirt junior quarterback was 0-of-6 on throws over 10 yards. Meanwhile, the RPO game continues to be Brian Maurer’s best friend, as the freshman completed 4-of-5 attempts (42 yards) between the hashes, and the lone incompletion was the ball that went off Jennings’ hand for a pick.
How much are the Vols looking to get the ball to Jennings? The senior had 12 targets (six receptions, one drop and one-tipped pick). The rest of Tennessee’s receivers, tailbacks and tight ends had 11 total targets.
DEFENSIVE GRADES
1. Aubrey Solomon (72.7)
2. FS Nigel Warrior (71.7)
3. DT Kurott Garland (69.4)
4. OLB Kivon Bennett (63.8)
5. DE John Mincey (63.6)
6. FS Theo Jackson (61.9)
7. CB Kenneth George (60.6)
8. CB Alontae Taylor (57.7)
9. FS Jaylen McCollough (57.1)
10.DT Greg Emerson (55.4)
11. FS Shawn Shamburger (55.4)
12. OLB Darrell Taylor (54.3)
13. DE Darel Middleton (50.9)
14. ILB JJ Peterson (45.9)
15. LB Henry To’oto’o (45.1)
16. MLB Daniel Bituli (42.4)
17. CB Bryce Thompson (35.1)
DT Matthew Butler (30.4)
MLB Quavaris Crouch (27.1)
Above grades were for players who saw at least 17 snaps Saturday, with Mincey (17), Solomon (18) and Peterson (19) seeing the fewest snaps among the group.
Others who saw multiple snaps included Deandre Johnson (66.5 grade on 12 snaps), freshman cornerback Warren Burrell, who returned from his ankle injury with eight snaps, outside linebacker Roman Harrison (one snap), Ja’Quain Blakely (six snaps) and Solon Page (five snaps).
Savion Williams did not play for the second-straight week, while Latrell Bumphus sat out with an injury.
The Vols held Alabama to season-lows in points and yards, with the Tide looking human after scoring three touchdowns in four possessions with Tua Tagovailoa, so once again, I think some of these grades look a bit skewed.
Solomon, Emerson and Middleton all registered multiple ‘stops’ in the run game, as Alabama’s longest run of the game was 15 yards.
Tackling, especially at linebacker and in the secondary, was an issue at times for the Vols, with Tennessee missing a dozen tackles. McCollough (three), Darell Taylor (two) and Crouch (two) were the most victimized.
Crouch, Taylor, Emerson and Kivon Bennett all had at least two hurries against Alabama quarterbacks.
In coverage, Alabama had plenty of success targeting the inside linebackers and Bryce Thompson.
On throws against Crouch, Bituli, Peterson, To’oto’o and Page, the Tide completed 9 of 10 passes for 90 yards. Notably, most of these throws were quick targets or screens that went for lots of YAC.
Alabama also had success targeting Thompson, going 4 of 4 for 79 yards and a pass interference penalty. The rest of Tennessee’s cornerbacks (Alontae Taylor, Kenneth George and Shawn Shamburger) combined to allow just three receptions on six targets for 44 yards. Outside of Nigel Warrior’s interception, the Vols didn’t have a single other pass breakup Saturday.
As a reminder, this is the PFF grading scale.
< 50 = Backup
50-59 = Below average starter
60-69 = Average starter
70-79 = Above average starter
80-89 = Very good
90-99 = Elite
With that … the PFF data Tennessee-Alabama advanced stats…
OFFENSIVE GRADES
- RB Tim Jordan (72.0)
- LG Trey Smith (70.0)
- QB Brian Maurer (69.2)
- RB Ty Chandler (68.1)
- WR Jauan Jennings (62.9)
- C Brandon Kennedy (58.4)
- WR Josh Palmer (57.0)
- RG Jerome Carvin (55.4)
- WR Marquez Callaway (54.7)
- WR Ramel Keyton (54.6)
- TE Dominick Wood-Anderson (50.3)
- QB Jarrett Guarantano (47.3)
- RT Darnell Wright (43.7)
- TE Austin Pope (41.6)
- LT Wanya Morris (37.9)
Others who were in the rotation included tailback Eric Gray (10 snaps, 61.9 grade), senior wideout Tyler Byrd (57.4 on 11snaps) and redshirt freshman Cedric Tillman (seven snaps).
Deep reserves who saw limited time included Jerrod Means (one snap), Jacob Warren (one snap) and Andrew Craig (three snaps).
K’Rojhn Calbert (at tight end) and Quavaris Crouch both played two snaps on the ill-fated red zone trip.
Notably, Ryan Johnson did not play at all Saturday. The Vols’ starting offensive line played all 69 snaps together.
Off the jump, I’ll say that a few of these grades don’t make much sense to me. Tennessee scored just 13 points, but the Vols did not have just a single offensive lineman who graded out as simply average, in my opinion. I thought Kennedy and Carvin both were solid. Wright and Morris got dinged hard for a combined six penalties, which I understand. Wright also allowed the only two sacks on the night, while Morris was tagged for three pressure (two quarterback hurries). Notably, Tennessee’s starting offensive line played all 69 snaps together on Saturday — the first time that’s happened in a game this season.
Elsewhere, the tight ends grading out poorly did not surprise me. Despite some success in the running game, neither Pope or Wood-Anderson were very effective sealing the edge.
Of the 69 offensive snaps, Jordan got the lion’s share of work at tailback, playing 44 snaps. Jordan averaged 5.5 yards per attempt, had the 33 yard run, converted five first downs and rushed for 63 of his 94 yards after contact.
Jarrett Guarantano finished the game just 7 of 16 for 55 yards (3.4 yards per attempt). I noted in the review piece the missed touchdown to Jennings and not seeing Jordan on the wheel route, and for the game, the redshirt junior quarterback was 0-of-6 on throws over 10 yards. Meanwhile, the RPO game continues to be Brian Maurer’s best friend, as the freshman completed 4-of-5 attempts (42 yards) between the hashes, and the lone incompletion was the ball that went off Jennings’ hand for a pick.
How much are the Vols looking to get the ball to Jennings? The senior had 12 targets (six receptions, one drop and one-tipped pick). The rest of Tennessee’s receivers, tailbacks and tight ends had 11 total targets.
DEFENSIVE GRADES
1. Aubrey Solomon (72.7)
2. FS Nigel Warrior (71.7)
3. DT Kurott Garland (69.4)
4. OLB Kivon Bennett (63.8)
5. DE John Mincey (63.6)
6. FS Theo Jackson (61.9)
7. CB Kenneth George (60.6)
8. CB Alontae Taylor (57.7)
9. FS Jaylen McCollough (57.1)
10.DT Greg Emerson (55.4)
11. FS Shawn Shamburger (55.4)
12. OLB Darrell Taylor (54.3)
13. DE Darel Middleton (50.9)
14. ILB JJ Peterson (45.9)
15. LB Henry To’oto’o (45.1)
16. MLB Daniel Bituli (42.4)
17. CB Bryce Thompson (35.1)
DT Matthew Butler (30.4)
MLB Quavaris Crouch (27.1)
Above grades were for players who saw at least 17 snaps Saturday, with Mincey (17), Solomon (18) and Peterson (19) seeing the fewest snaps among the group.
Others who saw multiple snaps included Deandre Johnson (66.5 grade on 12 snaps), freshman cornerback Warren Burrell, who returned from his ankle injury with eight snaps, outside linebacker Roman Harrison (one snap), Ja’Quain Blakely (six snaps) and Solon Page (five snaps).
Savion Williams did not play for the second-straight week, while Latrell Bumphus sat out with an injury.
The Vols held Alabama to season-lows in points and yards, with the Tide looking human after scoring three touchdowns in four possessions with Tua Tagovailoa, so once again, I think some of these grades look a bit skewed.
Solomon, Emerson and Middleton all registered multiple ‘stops’ in the run game, as Alabama’s longest run of the game was 15 yards.
Tackling, especially at linebacker and in the secondary, was an issue at times for the Vols, with Tennessee missing a dozen tackles. McCollough (three), Darell Taylor (two) and Crouch (two) were the most victimized.
Crouch, Taylor, Emerson and Kivon Bennett all had at least two hurries against Alabama quarterbacks.
In coverage, Alabama had plenty of success targeting the inside linebackers and Bryce Thompson.
On throws against Crouch, Bituli, Peterson, To’oto’o and Page, the Tide completed 9 of 10 passes for 90 yards. Notably, most of these throws were quick targets or screens that went for lots of YAC.
Alabama also had success targeting Thompson, going 4 of 4 for 79 yards and a pass interference penalty. The rest of Tennessee’s cornerbacks (Alontae Taylor, Kenneth George and Shawn Shamburger) combined to allow just three receptions on six targets for 44 yards. Outside of Nigel Warrior’s interception, the Vols didn’t have a single other pass breakup Saturday.
