With injuries to both of the starting linebackers over the past five weeks, the Vols have struggled significantly in their rush defense. Unfortunately, Jalen Reeves-Maybin is gone for the year. And he is a huge loss.
But this week, it looks like Butch Jones and Bob Shoop finally get Darrin Kirkland Jr. back. He’ll see his first action since the Virginia Tech game.
And even more impressive, it looks like he is 100 percent.
So now is his chance to step up. Tennessee has struggled in stopping the run without him, which cost them against the Texas A&M Aggies. Sure, this shouldn’t matter too much since South Carolina has an awful rushing attack.
However, with Bentley in the lineup, they look like they have found something with Rico Dowdle and David Williams in place of A.J. Turner.
So it’s going to be up to Kirkland to make sure Tennessee doesn’t have another horrendous game in stopping the run. He’ll likely be playing alongside Colton Jumper, who has been very solid but could use some help.
Elliott Berry has now shown some promise as well. However, Kirkland is the guy who needs to make sure they stop the run.
Tennessee vs South Carolina will come down to the run game on the other side too. That brings us to our next point.