Each week I'll dig deeper than the traditional box score, so let’s dive into Tennessee's Week 3 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-Chattanooga advanced stats…
OFFENSIVE GRADES
Freshman quarterback Brian Maurer (49.5) saw 14 snaps compared to Shrout’s 20.
WR Josh Palmer (67.6) played just 13 snaps, while Tim Jordan (82.5) returned to action but saw just half a dozen snaps, getting five carries. Redshirt sophomore wideout Jacquez Jones (51.7) saw 12 snaps of action, while freshman tight end Sean Brown played the final four snaps of the game.
I complemented Pope, Wood-Anderson and the tight end room as a whole for its run-blocking Saturday, and the PFF stats confirm what my eyes saw. Wideout Cedric Tillman, who has been used as a physical edge blocker, rated as the team’s best run blocker against Chattanooga, and after the redshirt freshman, Pope, DWA, Andrew Craig and Jacob Warren all graded out north of 79.0.
In what continues to be an interesting trend for Tennessee’s freshman offensive tackles, Wright and Morris both graded out as very competent pass protectors while both freshman struggled in the run game. It’s strange for Wright, who had so little experience as a pass protector in high school and was a five-star largely because of his ability to eat up defensive lineman in the run game. On Saturday, the duo bizarrely finished as Tennessee’s best two pass blockers on the offensive line, and the team’s worst two run blockers.
Overall, the line’s protection was sublime against Chattanooga, as Calbert was the only lineman to allow a pressure (he had two) or a quarterback hit. Obviously the Mocs didn’t present many challenges, but that’s a nice confidence booster heading into a matchup against a defense that leads the nation in sacks.
A couple final OL notes: Ryan Johnson played mostly mop-up duty Saturday, but it’s interesting that he was much more effective at right tackle compared to his time at either left and right guard this season. In a couple JUMBO packages, Carvin played four snaps at tight end and Locklear saw a pair.
Moving onto the quarterbacks, after struggling to throw between the numbers the first two weeks of the season, Guarantano went 4 of 4 for 79 yards and two scores Saturday. Granted it was a small sample size, but he was much better on play action, too, going 3 of 4 for 86 yards and two touchdowns. On the whole, Guarantano averaged a whopping 17.8 yards per attempt against the Mocs. Comparatively, Shrout was at just 3.3 ypa on seven throws.
The Vols didn’t bust off many long runs Saturday, with walk-on Chip Omar having the longest rush (18 yards) of the afternoon. Chandler did convert four first downs.
DEFENSIVE GRADES
I mentioned in my review piece that Will Ignont appeared to get benched after his personnel foul penalty and the junior saw just six total snaps Saturday.
Bituli’s grade is a bit harsh in my opinion, as his impact to the defense was obvious from the get-go. Him lining folks up and calling the signals isn’t quantifiable, though. Bituli missed a tackle and allowed a reception in just 10 snaps, which is why he rates so low. He also had a batted pass and a hurry though.
Tennessee’s defensive line continues to be a suspect unit, even against subpar competition. That better change Saturday. Butler, Middleton and Mincey recorded the DL’s three total pressures Saturday — and those all came in the fourth quarter, which was all garbage time. Outside of Bumphus’ two sacks, this group has not affected the quarterback much at all this season.
Kenneth George played a career-high 41 snaps, and the JUCO product performed well in his first start. On five targets, he allowed zero receptions, and had a pair of PBU’s on slants — becoming Tennessee’s first cornerback this season to breakup more than one pass in a game.
The Vols were the beneficiary of six drops by the Mocs, with all three targets toward Warren Burrell being dropped.
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-Chattanooga advanced stats…
OFFENSIVE GRADES
- WR Marquez Callaway (91.2)
- QB Jarrett Guarantano (87.0)
- RT Ryan Johnson (82.7)
- WR Cedric Tillman (82.0)
- RB Ty Chandler (77.1)
- TE Dominick Wood-Anderson (76.7)
- RG Riley Locklear (76.4)
- TE Austin Pope (75.8)
- WR Jauan Jennings (71.9)
- TE Andrew Craig (70.5)
- LG Jackson Lampley (68.8)
- TE Jacob Warren (68.1)
- RB Eric Gray (65.4)
- LG Trey Smith (64.6)
- LT Marcus Tatum (61.9)
- C Jerome Carvin (56.9)
- RT K’Rojhn Calbert (56.9)
- LT Wanya Morris (55.2)
- WR Brandon Johnson (54.9)
- RG Darnell Wright (52.2)
- QB JT Shrout (50.8)
- WR Ramel Keyton (49.0)
- C Brandon Kennedy (48.3)
Freshman quarterback Brian Maurer (49.5) saw 14 snaps compared to Shrout’s 20.
WR Josh Palmer (67.6) played just 13 snaps, while Tim Jordan (82.5) returned to action but saw just half a dozen snaps, getting five carries. Redshirt sophomore wideout Jacquez Jones (51.7) saw 12 snaps of action, while freshman tight end Sean Brown played the final four snaps of the game.
I complemented Pope, Wood-Anderson and the tight end room as a whole for its run-blocking Saturday, and the PFF stats confirm what my eyes saw. Wideout Cedric Tillman, who has been used as a physical edge blocker, rated as the team’s best run blocker against Chattanooga, and after the redshirt freshman, Pope, DWA, Andrew Craig and Jacob Warren all graded out north of 79.0.
In what continues to be an interesting trend for Tennessee’s freshman offensive tackles, Wright and Morris both graded out as very competent pass protectors while both freshman struggled in the run game. It’s strange for Wright, who had so little experience as a pass protector in high school and was a five-star largely because of his ability to eat up defensive lineman in the run game. On Saturday, the duo bizarrely finished as Tennessee’s best two pass blockers on the offensive line, and the team’s worst two run blockers.
Overall, the line’s protection was sublime against Chattanooga, as Calbert was the only lineman to allow a pressure (he had two) or a quarterback hit. Obviously the Mocs didn’t present many challenges, but that’s a nice confidence booster heading into a matchup against a defense that leads the nation in sacks.
A couple final OL notes: Ryan Johnson played mostly mop-up duty Saturday, but it’s interesting that he was much more effective at right tackle compared to his time at either left and right guard this season. In a couple JUMBO packages, Carvin played four snaps at tight end and Locklear saw a pair.
Moving onto the quarterbacks, after struggling to throw between the numbers the first two weeks of the season, Guarantano went 4 of 4 for 79 yards and two scores Saturday. Granted it was a small sample size, but he was much better on play action, too, going 3 of 4 for 86 yards and two touchdowns. On the whole, Guarantano averaged a whopping 17.8 yards per attempt against the Mocs. Comparatively, Shrout was at just 3.3 ypa on seven throws.
The Vols didn’t bust off many long runs Saturday, with walk-on Chip Omar having the longest rush (18 yards) of the afternoon. Chandler did convert four first downs.
DEFENSIVE GRADES
- FS Nigel Warrior (93.9)
- OLB Roman Harrison (79.0)
- OLB Quavaris Crouch (77.6)
- Henry To’oto’o (75.0)
- CB Kenneth George (75.0)
- MLB Shanon Reid (73.5)
- MLB Jeremy Banks (72.1)
- WLB JJ Peterson (70.8)
- CB Shawn Shamburger (67.8)
- CB Warren Burrell (66.4)
- S Theo Jackson (66.4)
- SS Jaylen McCollough (66.1)
- NT Kurott Garland (65.8)
- DL Aubrey Solomon (64.5)
- OLB Darrell Taylor (64.1)
- S Trevon Flowers (61.5)
- DE John Mincey (61.5)
- SCB Cheyenne Labruzza (60.9)
- DE Matthew Butler (59.8)
- CB Alontae Taylor (55.7)
- DE Latrell Bumphus (53.7)
- DE Darel Middleton (51.8)
- DT Greg Emerson (46.9)
I mentioned in my review piece that Will Ignont appeared to get benched after his personnel foul penalty and the junior saw just six total snaps Saturday.
Bituli’s grade is a bit harsh in my opinion, as his impact to the defense was obvious from the get-go. Him lining folks up and calling the signals isn’t quantifiable, though. Bituli missed a tackle and allowed a reception in just 10 snaps, which is why he rates so low. He also had a batted pass and a hurry though.
Tennessee’s defensive line continues to be a suspect unit, even against subpar competition. That better change Saturday. Butler, Middleton and Mincey recorded the DL’s three total pressures Saturday — and those all came in the fourth quarter, which was all garbage time. Outside of Bumphus’ two sacks, this group has not affected the quarterback much at all this season.
Kenneth George played a career-high 41 snaps, and the JUCO product performed well in his first start. On five targets, he allowed zero receptions, and had a pair of PBU’s on slants — becoming Tennessee’s first cornerback this season to breakup more than one pass in a game.
The Vols were the beneficiary of six drops by the Mocs, with all three targets toward Warren Burrell being dropped.
